American Historical Ephemera and Photography Featuring the Civil War and American Militaria Collection of Bruce B. Hermann

Diameter approx. 25 in., ring width 6 in. painted life ring with rope, housed in wood shadowbox 35 x 35 in. with brass plaque (some paint flaking, light scuffing/soiling). Black letters bear the ship identification: "USS / Oklahoma" on white. Provenance: salvaged by a merchant marine during cleanup efforts in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attacks (notarized letter of provenance included).

The U.S.S. Oklahoma was a Nevada-class battleship in the United States Navy. Ordered in 1911 and commissioned on 2 May 1916, the Oklahoma served in World War I in Battleship Division Six, protecting Allied convoys. She was modernized at the end of the 1920s and engaged in rescue missions to transport American citizens and refugees from the Spanish Civil War in 1936. She moved to the Pacific in 1936 and was at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. She was hit with several torpedoes from torpedo-bomber airplanes to the hull and the ship capsized, resulting in 429 crew deaths. She was righted and salvaged in 1943, but was too damaged to return to duty.