The real Utah was sunk, and still remains, at Pearl Harbor. Why a de-miltarized aerial target ship should attract Japanese attention (they supposedly knew that Utah was merely a target ship like their own old Settsu) lay in its large size and planked-over deck making it resemble an aircraft carrier. A few torpedoes and bombs were wasted on her that could have been aimed at any of the more important ships in port.

In "Grand Fleet" the sunken Utah is raised mid-war. She was so successful at her unintended rôle as a decoy carrier that the US Navy sought to make it a more permanent feature. In her new guise, Utah's crude planking is customized and her sparse upperworks relocated to the right to more closely resemble a real carrier. Strobe lights along the gallery deck simulate AA fire for a realistic effect. Downsized dummy aircraft are put on deck to make her seem larger. A foaming agent can be pumped through nozzles bow and stern to make the nearly wakeless Utah seem to be travelling at high speed.

Off Samar during the Leyte landings, Utah attracted and absorbed several Kamikazes. During the daring Japanese surface attack on the US task group covering the landings, Utah absorbed precious time and ammunition from ships that shot too far in front of this "speedy" ship. Utah's ruse allowed a real carrier to escape. Vice Admiral Kurita ordered the foundering Takao to ram Utah and sink her. She did.