content="U.S. Battleships of WWII">
The Battleship represents the hitting power of a Navy in its most copious, compact, and durable form. Since its chief purpose is to fight the strongest forces which the enemy can send to sea. The battleship is designed to give and take the heaviest blows that modern science can devise and to be able to assert its strength almost anywhere on the high sea. A Battleship is born, not from a blueprint, but from discussions among the experts in the Navy's Bureau of Ships. After painstaking tests of model hulls, the ideas around which she is to be shaped are ready for conversion to the blueprint stage. More than 30,000 plans are drawn before the Battleship becomes reality. "The primary purpose of a battleship is to carry destruction to the enemy", say a Navy Dept. release. Early in the war there were many who believed this concept obsolete, arguing that the increased use of the carrier or land-based planes spelled the end of the big ships. This gloomy prediction seemed justified after the sinking of Britain's Prince of Wales and Repulse early in 1942. But ships like South Dakota and Washington, operating in a tightly-knit carrier- destroyer unit, soon proved that the heavily armored battleship, with it's formidable array of 148 anti-aircraft guns, was still a vital part of the fleet. Radar, carrier-plane coverage and the proximity fuze (which cause shells to explode automatically upon nearing a target) all played important roles in this comeback. The life span of a battleship is defined by international treaties and by the U.S. to be 26 years. In 1942 several battleships of the various belligerents were of that age and even older. Did you know? That fifteen battleships of the NORTH CAROLINA Class could fire in one hour their entire load of 13,500 large shells of over a ton each, or above four time the load of the bombs dropped in the R.A.F. raid on Cologne in the May 1942, more than 1000 bombers. If anyone has served on or knows someone who has served on any of the ships listed below, please E-mail me the name, rank, and the time served and I will list it in the Personnel Section of the that ship.
(BB-31)U.S.S. UTAH | (BB-32)U.S.S. WYOMING |
(BB-33)U.S.S. ARKANSAS | (BB-34)U.S.S. NEW YORK |
(BB-35)U.S.S. TEXAS | (BB-36)U.S.S. NEVADA |
(BB-37)U.S.S. OKLAHOMA | (BB-38)U.S.S. PENNSYLVANIA |
(BB-39)U.S.S. ARIZONA | (BB-40)U.S.S. NEW MEXICO |
(BB-41)U.S.S. MISSISSIPPI | (BB-42)U.S.S. IDAHO |
(BB-43)U.S.S. TENNESSEE | (BB-44)U.S.S. CALIFORNIA |
(BB-45)U.S.S. COLORADO | (BB-46)U.S.S. MARYLAND |
(BB-48)U.S.S. WEST VIRGINIA | (BB-55)U.S.S. NORTH CAROLINA |
(BB-56)U.S.S. WASHINGTON | (BB-57)U.S.S. SOUTH DAKOTA |
(BB-58)U.S.S. INDIANA | (BB-59)U.S.S. MASSACHUSETTS |
(BB-60)U.S.S. ALABAMA | (BB-61)U.S.S. IOWA |
(BB-62)U.S.S. NEW JERSEY | (BB-63)U.S.S. MISSOURI |
(BB-64)U.S.S. WISCONSIN |
Built at New York SB Co., Camden, N. J.
Keel Laid 03/15/09, Commissioned
08/31/11
Capt. W. S. Benson commanding
UTAH (Battleship No. 31) was laid
down on 9 March 1909 at
Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Co.;
launched on 23
December 1909; sponsored by Miss Mary Alice Spry, daughter of
Governor William Spry of Utah; and commissioned at the
Philadelphia Navy
Yard on 31 'August 1911,
Capt. William S. Benson in command.
Utah BB-31 Utah (Battleship No. 31) was laid down on 9 March 1909 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 23 December 1909; sponsored by Miss Mary Alice Spry, daughter of Governor William Spry of Utah; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 31 August 1911, Capt. William S. Benson in command. After her shakedown cruise-a voyage that took her to Hampton Roads, Va.; Santa Rosa Island and Pensacola, Fla.; Galveston, Tex.; Kingston and Portland Bight, Jamaica; and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba-Utah was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet in March 1912. She operated with the Fleet early that spring, conducting exercises in gunnery and torpedo defense, before she entered the New York Navy Yard on 16 April for an overhaul. Departing New York on 1 June, Utah briefly visited Hampton Roads and then steamed to Annapolis, Md., where she arrived on the 5th. There, she embarked Naval Academy midshipmen and got underway on the 10th for the Virginia capes and the open Atlantic. She conducted a midshipmen training cruise off the New England seaboard well into the summer before disembarking her contingent of officers-to-be back at Annapolis on 24 and 25 August. Soon thereafter, the battleship headed for the Southern Drill Grounds to conduct gunnery exercises. For a little over two years, the dreadnought maintained that schedule of operations off the eastern seaboard, ranging from the New England coast to Cuban waters. During that time, she made one cruise to European waters, visiting Villefranche, France, from 8 to 30 November 1913. Utah began the year 1914 at the New York Navy Yard and sailed south on 5 January. After stopping at Hampton Roads, she reached Cuban waters later in the month for torpedo and small arms exercises. However, due to tension in Mexico, Utah sailed for Mexican waters in early February and reached Vera Cruz on the 16th. She operated off that port until getting underway for Tampico on 9 April with several hundred refugees embarked. Soon thereafter, it was learned that a German steamship, SS Ypiranga, was bound for Vera Cruz with a shipment of arms and munitions earmarked for the dictator Victoriano Huerta. Utah received orders to search for the ship and put to sea and reached Vera Cruz on the 16th. When it appeared that the shipment might be landed, the Navy took steps to take the customs house at Vera Cruz and stop the delivery. Accordingly, plans were drawn up for a landing at Vera Cruz, to commence on 21 April 1914. Utah consequently landed her "battalion"-17 officers and 367 sailors under the command of Lt. Guy W. S. Castle-as well as her Marine detachment, which formed part of the improvised "First Marine Brigade," made up of detachments of marines from the other ships that had arrived to show American determination. In the ensuing fighting, in which the men of Utah's bluejacket battalion distinguished themselves, seven won medals of honor. Those seven included Lt. Castle, the battalion commander; company commanders Ens. Oscar C. Badger and Ens. Paul F. Foster; section leaders, Chief Turret Captains Niels Drustrup and Abraham Desomer; Chief Gunner George Bradley; and Boatswain's Mate Henry N. Nickerson. Utah remained at Vera Cruz for almost two months before returning north to the New York Navy Yard in late June for an overhaul. Over the next three years, the battleship operated on a regular routine of battle practices and exercises from off the eastern seaboard into the Caribbean, as the United States readied its forces for the possible entry of the United States into the worldwide war that broke out in July 1914. After the United States finally declared war on 6 April 1917, Utah operated in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay as an engineering and gunnery training ship and continued that duty until 30 August 1918, when she sailed for the British Isles with Vice Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Fleet, embarked. Fears of possible attacks by German heavy units upon the large convoys crossing the Atlantic with troops and munitions for the western front prompted the dispatch, to European waters, of a powerful force of American dreadnoughts to Irish waters. Utah-as part of that movement-reached Brerehaven, Bantry Bay, Ireland, on 10 September. There, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Thomas S. Rodgers, Commander, Battleship Division 6. Until the signing of the armistice on 11 November 1918, Utah, along with the sisterships Oklahoma (Battleship No. 37) and Nevada (Battleship No. 36), operated from Bantry Bay, covering the Allied convoys approaching the British Isles, ready to deal with any surface threat that the German Navy could hurl at the valuable transports and supply ships. After the cessation of hostilities, Utah visited Portland, England, and later served as part of the honor escort for the transport George Washington (Id. No. 3018), as that ship bore President Woodrow Wilson into the harbor of Brest, France, on 13 December 1918. The following day, Utah turned homeward and reached New York on Christmas Day 1918. Utah remained at anchor in the North River, off New York City, until 30 January 1919. During that time, she half-masted her colors at 1440 on 7 January due to the death of former President Theodore Roosevelt and, on the 8th, fired salutes at half-hour intervals throughout the day in memory of the great American statesman. Utah carried out a regular routine of battle practices and maneuvers, ranging from the New England coast to the Caribbean, into mid-1921. During that time, she was classified as BB-31 on 17 July 1920, during the Navy- wide assignment of hull numbers. Ultimately departing Boston on 9 July 1921, Utah proceeded via Lisbon, Portugal, and reached Cherbourg, France, soon thereafter. There, Utah became the flagship for the United States naval forces in European waters. She "showed the flag" at the principal Atlantic coast ports of Europe and in the Mediterranean until relieved by Pittsburgh (CA-4) in October 1922. Returning to the United States on 21 October 1922, Utah then became the flagship of Battleship Division (BatDiv) 5, United States Scouting Fleet and operated with the Scouting Fleet over the next three and one-half years. Late in 1924, Utah was chosen to carry the United States diplomatic mission to the centennial celebration of the Battle of Ayacucho (9 December 1824), the decisive action in the Peruvian struggle for independence. Designated as flagship for the special squadron assigned to represent the United States at the festivities, Utah departed New York City on 22 November 1924 with General of the Armies John J. Pershing USA, and former congressman, the Honorable F C. Hicks, embarked, and arrived at Callao on 9 December. Utah disembarked General Pershing and the other members of the mission on Christmas 1924, so that the general and his mission could visit other South American cities inland on their goodwill tour. Meanwhile, Utah, in the weeks that followed, called at the Chilean ports of Punta Arenas and Valparaiso before she rounded Cape Horn and met General Pershing at Montevideo, Uruguay. Re-embarking the general and his party there, the battleship then visited in succession: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; La Guaira, Venezuela; and Havana, Cuba, before ending her diplomatic voyage at New York City on 13 March 1925. Utah spent subsequent summers of 1925 and 1926 with the Midshipman Practice Squadron and, after disembarking her midshipmen at the conclusion of the 1925 cruise, entered the Boston Navy Yard and was decommissioned on 31 October 1925 for modernization. During that period of alterations and repairs, the ship's "cage" mainmast was replaced by a lighter pole mast; she was fitted to burn oil instead of coal as fuel; and her armament was modified to reflect the increased concern over antiaircraft defense. Interestingly, Utah and her sistership Florida (BB-30) never received the more modern "tripod" masts fitted to other classes. Utah was placed back in commission on 1 December 1925 and, after local operations with the Scouting Fleet, departed Hampton Roads on 21 November 1928, bound for South America. Reaching Montevideo on 18 December, she there embarked President-elect and Mrs. Herbert C. Hoover; the Honorable Henry T. Fletcher, Ambassador to Italy; and members of the press. Utah transported the President-elect's party to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between 21 and 23 December, and then continued her homeward voyage with Mr. Hoover embarked. En route, the President-elect inspected the battleship's crew while at sea, before the ship reached Hampton Roads on 6 January 1929. However, Utah's days as a battleship were numbered. Under the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, Utah was selected for conversion to a mobile target, in place of the former battleship North Dakota; and, on 1 July 1931, Utah's classification was changed to AG-16. Her conversion-carried out at the Norfolk Navy Yard-included the installation of a radio-control apparatus. After having been decommissioned for the duration of the conversion, Utah was re-commissioned at Norfolk on 1 April 1932, Comdr. Randall Jacobs in command. Utah departed Norfolk on 7 April to train her engineers in using the new installations and for trials of her radio gear by which the ship could be controlled at varying rates of speed and changes of course- maneuvers that a ship would conduct in battle. Her electric motors, operated by signals from the controlling ship, opened and closed throttle valves, moved her steering gear, and regulated the supply of oil to her boilers. In addition, a Sperry gyro pilot kept the ship on course. Returning to port on 21 April, Utah passed her radio control trials off the Virginia capes on 5 May. On 1 June, Utah ran three hours under radio control, with all engineering stations manned; over the next two days, she made two successful runs, each of four hours duration, during which no machinery was touched by human hands. Observers, however-two in each fire room and two in each boiler room-kept telephone information and recorded data. Her trials completed, Utah departed Norfolk on 9 June. After transiting the Panama Canal, she reached San Pedro, Calif., on 30 June, reporting for duty with Training Squadron 1, Base Force, United States Fleet. She conducted her first target duty, for cruisers of the Fleet, on 25 July, and later, on 2 August, conducted rehearsal runs for Nevada (BB-36), Utah being controlled from Hovey (DD-208) and Talbot (DD-114). Over the next nine years, the erstwhile battleship performed a vital service to the fleet as a mobile target, contributing realism to the training of naval aviators in dive, torpedo, and high level bombing. Thus, she greatly aided the development of tactics in those areas. On one occasion, she even served as a troop transport, embarking 223 officers and men of the Fleet Marine Force at Sand Island, Midway, for amphibious operations at Hilo Bay, Hawaii, as part of Fleet Problem XVI in the early summer of 1935. She then transported the marines from Hawaii to San Diego, Calif., disembarking them there on 12 June 1935. That same month, June 1935, saw the establishment of a fleet machine gun school on board Utah while she continued her mission as a mobile target. The former dreadnought received her first instructors on board in August 1935, and the first students-drawn from the ships' companies of Raleigh (CL-7), Concord (CL-10), Omaha (CL-4), Memphis (CL-13), Milwaukee (CL-5), and Ranger (CV-4)-reported aboard for training on 20 September. Subsequently, during the 1936 and 1937 gunnery year, Utah was fitted with a new quadruple 1.1-inch machine gun mount for experimental test and development by the machine gun school. Some of the first tests of that type of weapon were conducted on board. Utah-besides serving as a realistic target for exercises involving carrier-based planes-also towed targets during battle practices conducted by the Fleet's battleships and took part in the yearly "fleet problems." She transited the Panama Canal on 9 January 1939 to participate in Fleet Problem XX-part of the maneuvers observed personally by President Franklin D. Roosevelt from the heavy cruiser Houston (CA-30). After providing mobile target services for the submarines of Submarine Squadron 6 in the late autumn and early winter of 1939, Utah devoted the eight months that followed to special machine gun practices. The following summer, Utah sailed for the Hawaiian Islands, reaching Pearl Harbor on 1 August 1940, and fired advanced antiaircraft gunnery practice in the Hawaiian operating area until 14 December 1940, when she sailed for the west coast, returning to Long Beach four days before Christmas. For the next two months, Utah operated as a mobile bombing target off San Clemente Island, Calif., for planes from Patrol Wing 1, and from the carriers Lexington (CV-2), Saratoga (CV-3), and Enterprise (CV-6). Utah returned to Hawaiian waters on 1 April 1941, embarking gunners for the Advanced Antiaircraft Gun School, men drawn from West Virginia (BB-48), Oklahoma (BB-37), Colorado (BB-45), Phoenix (CL-46), Nashville (CL-43), Philadelphia (CL-41), and New Orleans (CA-32). Over the weeks that followed, she trained her embarked gunnery students in control and loading drills for the 5-inch batteries, firing runs on radio-controlled drone targets as well as .50-caliber and 1.1-inch firing on drones and balloons. Utah put into Los Angeles harbor on 20 May and there embarked Fleet Marine Force passengers for transportation to Bremerton, Wash. Putting the marines ashore a week later, the ship entered the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 31 May 1941. During the ensuing overhaul, Utah received repairs and alterations designed to make her a more effective gunnery training ship. The alterations included the addition of 5-inch/38-caliber guns in single mounts with gunshields-similar to those fitted on the more modern types of destroyers then in service. She also lost her prewar colors, being repainted in overall measure one camouflage-dark gray with pale gray tops. With war paint thus donned, Utah sailed for Hawaiian waters on 14 September, after visits to Port Townsend, Wash., and San Francisco and San Pedro, Calif. She arrived at Pearl Harbor soon thereafter and carried out antiaircraft training and target duties through the late autumn. Utah completed an advanced antiaircraft gunnery cruise in Hawaiian waters shortly before she returned to Pearl Harbor in early December 1941, mooring off Ford Island in berth F-ll. On the morning of 7 December 1941, the senior officer on board-the captain and executive officer were ashore on leave-was Lt. Comdr. Solomon S. Isquith, the engineer officer. Shortly before 0800, men topside noted three planes- taken for American planes on maneuvers-heading in a northerly direction from the harbor entrance. They made a low dive at the southern end of Ford Island- where the seaplane hangers were situated-and began dropping bombs. The attack on the fleet at Pearl Harbor lasted a little under two hours, but for Utah, it was over in a few minutes. At 0801, soon after sailors had begun raising the colors at the ship's fantail, the erstwhile battleship took a torpedo hit forward, and immediately started to list to port. As the ship began to roll ponderously over on her beam ends, 6-by-12-inch timbers-placed on the decks to cushion them against the impact of the bombs used during the ship's latest stint as a mobile target-began to shift, hampering the efforts of the crew to abandon ship. Below, men headed topside while they could. One, however, Chief Watertender Peter Tomich, remained below, making sure that the boilers were secured and that all men had gotten out of the engineering spaces. Another man, Fireman John B. Vaessen, USNR, remained at his post in the dynamo room, making sure that the ship had enough power to keep her lights going as long as possible. Comdr. Isquith made an inspection to make sure men were out and nearly became trapped himself. As the ship began to turn over, he found an escape hatch blocked. While he was attempting to escape through a porthole, a table upon which he was standing-impelled by the ever-increasing list of the ship-slipped out from beneath him. Fortunately, a man outside grabbed Isquith's arm and pulled him through at the last instant. At 0812, the mooring lines snapped, and Utah rolled over on her beam ends; her survivors struck out for shore, some taking shelter on the mooring quays since Japanese strafers were active. Shortly after most of the men had reached shore, Comdr. Isquith, and others, heard a knocking from within the overturned ship's hull. Although Japanese planes were still strafing the area, Isquith called for volunteers to return to the hull and investigate the tapping. Obtaining a cutting torch from the nearby Raleigh (CL-7)-herself fighting for survival after taking early torpedo hits-the men went to work. As a result of the persistence shown by Machinist S. A. Szymanski; Chief Machinist's Mate Terrance MacSelwiney, USNR; and two others whose names were unrecorded, 10 men clambered from a would-be tomb. The last man out was Fireman Vaessen, who had made his way to the botton of the ship when she capsized, bearing a flashlight and wrench. Utah was declared "in ordinary" on 29 December 1941 and was placed under the control of the Pearl Harbor Base Force. Partially righted to clear an adjacent berth, she was then declared "out of commission, not in service," on 5 September 1944. Utah's name was struck from the Navy list on 13 November 1944. Her partially submerged hulk still remains, rusting, at Pearl Harbor with an unknown number of men trapped inside. Of Utah's complement, 30 officers and 431 enlisted men survived the ship's loss; 6 officers and 58 men died-four of the latter being recovered and interred ashore. Chief Watertender Tomich received the Medal of Honor posthumously for his selfless act in ensuring the safety of others. Utah (AG-16) received one battle star for her World War II service.
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Built at Wm. Cramp and Sons,
Philadelphia,Pa.
Keel Laid 02/09/10, Commissioned 09/25/12
Capt. F. L.
Chapin commanding
The third WYOMING (Battleship No. 32) was laid down on 9
February 1910 at Philadelphia, Pa., by William Cramp and Sons;
launched
on 25 May 1911; sponsored by Miss Dorothy Eunice
Knight, the daughter of
former Chief Justice Jesse Knight of the
Wyoming Supreme Court; and
commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy
Yard on 25 September 1912, Capt.
Frederick L. Chapin in command.
The third Wyoming (Battleship No. 32) was laid down on 9 February 1910 at Philadelphia, Pa., by William Cramp and Sons; launched on 25 May 1911; sponsored by Miss Dorothy Eunice Knight, the daughter of former Chief Justice Jesse Knight of the Wyoming Supreme Court; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 25 September 1912, Capt. Frederick L. Chapin in command. Wyoming departed Philadelphia on 6 October and completed the fitting-out process at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., before she joined the fleet in Hampton Roads, Va. Reaching the Tidewater area on 30 December 1912, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Charles J. Badger, Commander, United States Atlantic Fleet, soon thereafter. Sailing on 6 January 1913, the new battleship visited the soon to be completed Panama Canal and then conducted winter fleet maneuvesr off Cuba before she returned to Chesapeake Bay on 4 March. After gunnery practice off the Virginia capes, on the southern drill grounds, Wyoming underwent repairs and alterations at the New York Navy Yard between 18 April and 7 May. She then participated in war games off Block Island between 7 and 24 May-a period of activity broken by repairs to her machinery, carried out at Newport, R.I., between 9 and 19 May-before she underwent more repairs at Newport. She then visited New York City from 28 to 31 May for the festivities surrounding the dedication of the monument honoring the battleship Maine, destroyed in Havana harbor on 15 February 1898. Shifting to Annapolis, Md., on 4 June, Wyoming embarked a contingent of Naval Academy midshipmen and took the young officers-to-be on a summer cruise off the coast of New England that lasted into late August. Disembarking the "middies" at Annapolis on 24 and 25 August, Wyoming then conducted torpedo and target practices in the southern drill grounds, out of Hampton Roads, into the late autumn. She was docked at New York for repairs between 16 September and 2 October and then ran a full-power trial as she headed south to Norfolk to resume exercises off the Virgina capes before sailing for Europe on 25 October. Reaching Valetta, Malta, on 8 November, the dreadnought-type battleship visited Naples, Italy, and Ville-franche, France, during the course of her Mediterranean cruise. The battleship then left French waters astern on the last day of November and reached New York on 15 December. Wyoming then underwent voyage repairs at the New York Navy Yard, remaining there through the end of 1913. Getting underway on 6 January 1914, the battleship reached Hampton Roads on the morrow and spent the next three days coaling to prepare for the annual fleet exercises in the warmer Caribbean climes. Wyoming exercised with the fleet, out of Guantanamo Bay and Guacanayabo Bay, Cuba, between 26 January and 15 March, before setting her course northward for Cape Henry, Va. She then ranged with the fleet from the southern drill grounds, off the Virginia capes, to Tangier Sound, for gunnery drills and practices. She remained engaged in that routine until 3 April, when she headed for the New York Navy Yard and an overhaul. After that period of repairs, which lasted from 4 April to 9 May, Wyoming subsequently embarked a draft of men for transport to the fleet, departed Hampton Roads on 13 May, and headed for Mexican waters. She reached Veracruz on 18 May-less than a month after American sailors and marines had occupied that Mexican port. Wyoming remained at Vera Cruz over the months that ensued, into the late autumn of 1914, before she returned northward. After conducting exercises off the Virginia capes en route, she put into the New York Navy Yard on 6 October and then underwent repairs and alterations which lasted until 17 January 1915. Shifting down the coast upon completion of that yard period, Wyoming left Hampton Roads in her wake on 21 January for the annual exercises in Cuban waters and in the Caribbean. Returning to the Tidewater area on 7 April, the battleship carried out tactical exercises and maneuvers along the eastern seaboard-primarily off Block Island and the southern drill grounds-into the late autumn, when she again entered the New York Navy Yard for an overhaul. After repairs lasting from 20 December 1915 to 6 January 1916, Wyoming got underway on the latter day, bound for war games in the southern drill grounds. She subsequently headed farther south, reaching Culebra, Puerto Rico, on 16 January. After visiting Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on 27 January, Wyoming put into Guantanamo Bay on the 28th and then operated in Cuban waters-off Guantanamo and Guacanayabo Bays and the port of Manzanillo-until 10 April, when she sailed for New York. Wyoming remained in the New York Navy Yard from 16 April to 26 June, undergoing repairs; she then operated off the New England coast, out of Newport, and off the Virgina capes through the remainder of 1916. Departing New York on 9 January 1917, Wyoming then conducted routine maneuvers in the Guantanamo Bay region through mid-March. She departed the Caribbean on 27 March and was off Yorktown, Va., when the United States entered World War I on 6 April 1917. Over the months that ensued, Wyoming served in the Chasepeake Bay region as an engineering ship until until 13 November 1917. On that day, Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman broke his flag in New York (Battleship No, 34) as Commander, Battleship Division 9. After preparations for "distant service," Wyoming, New York, Delaware (Battleship No. 28), and Florida (Battleship No. 30) sailed for the British Isles on 25 November and reached Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, on 7 December 1917. Although retaining their American designation as Battleship Division 9, those four dreadnoughts became the 6th Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet upon arrival in British waters. Wyoming carried out maneuvers and tactical exercises with the units of the British Grand Fleet until 6 February 1918. On that day, she got underway with the other ships of the 6th Battle Squadron and eight British destroyers to guard a convoy routed to Stavanger, Norway. En route, Wyoming dodged torpedo wakes off Stavanger, on 8 February but reached Scapa Flow safely two days later. In the following months, Wyoming continued to patrol off the British Isles, guarding the coastwise sea lanes against the danger posed by the still-powerful German High Seas Fleet. Between 30 June and 2 July 1918, Wyoming operated with the 6th Battle Squadron and a division of British destroyers, guarding Allied minelayers as they planted the North Sea Mine Barrage. Later, Wyoming returned to the Firth of Forth, where she was inspected by the King of England, His Majesty George V, along with other units of the Grand Fleet. Although American and German capital ships never met in combat on the high seas, they nevertheless made rendezvous. On 21 November 1918-10 days after the armistice ended World War I-Wyoming, New York, Texas (Battleship No. 35), and Arkansas (Battleship No. 33) joined the Grand Fleet as it escorted the German High Seas Fleet into the Firth of Forth to be interned following the cessation of hostilities. Later, Wyoming, hoisting the flag of Rear Admiral William S. Sims, Commander, Battleship Division 9, sailed on 12 December 1918 from Portland, England, bound for France. The following morning, she and other battleships rendezvoused with George Washington (Id. No. 3018) off Brest, France. Embarked in the transport was the President of the United States, Woodrow Wilson, enroute to the Paris Peace Conference. After serving in the honor escort for the President and his party, Wyoming returned Admiral Sims to Plymouth, England, along with the newly appointed ambassador to Great Britain. Debarking her distinguished passengers on 14 December, the battleship loaded 381 bags of mail and, within a few hours, sailed for the United States. Reaching New York City on Christmas Day 1918, she remained there through New Year's Day 1919. On 13 January 1919, she became the flagship of Battleship Division 7, 3d Squadron, and broke the flag of Rear Admiral Robert E. Coontz. Wyoming departed New York on 1 February and, following winter maneuvers in Cuban waters, returned north, reaching New York on 14 April. However, she stood out to sea soon thereafter, getting underway on 12 May to serve as a link in the chain of ships stretching across the Atlantic to guide the NC-boats on their flight across that ocean. After completing her duty as plane guard and meteorological station, Wyoming returned to Hampton Roads on the last day of May. Later embarking midshipmen and taking them on their southern cruise in the Chesapeake Bay-Virginia capes area, Wyoming entered the Norfolk Navy Yard on 1 July to prepare for service in the Pacific. On that day, she became a unit of the newly designated Pacific Fleet, assigned the duty as flagship for Battleship Division 6, Squadron 4. On the morning of 19 July, the fleet, led by flagship New Mexico (Battleship No. 40), got underway for the Pacific. Transiting the Panama Canal soon thereafter, the fleet reached San Diego, Calif., on 6 August. Shifting to San Pedro, Calif., three days later, Wyoming operated out of that port into the autumn. After an overhaul at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., from 15 September 1919 to 19 April 1920, Wyoming returned to her base at San Pedro on 4 May. Over the next few months, the battleship exercised off the southern California coast. During that time, she was reclassified BB-32 on 17 July 1920. Departing San Diego on the last day of August 1920, Wyoming sailed for Hawaiian waters and conducted exercises and maneuvers there through September. Returning to San Diego on 3 October, Wyoming subsequently conducted tactical evolutions off the western seaboard, ranging north to Seattle. Departing San Francisco, Calif., on 5 January 1921, Wyoming, over the ensuing weeks, conducted further drills, exercises, and maneuvers reaching from Panama Bay to Valparaiso, Chile, and was reviewed by the President of Chile on 3 February. Returning north via Panama Bay and San Pedro, Wyoming arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 18 March and remained there into the summer. Upon completion of repairs, Wyoming headed south and, on 2 August, reached Balboa, Canal Zone, where she embarked Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman and members of the commission to Peru for transportation to New York City. Reaching her destination on 19 August, she disembarked her passengers and, that afternoon, broke the flag of Admiral Hilary P. Jones, the Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Fleet. Over the next 41 months, Wyoming operated primarily in the Atlantic, off the eastern seaboard of the United States, participating in Atlantic Fleet exercises, ranging from the coast of New England to the Virginia capes. She took part in the routine winter maneuvers of the fleet in Caribbean and Cuban waters, serving at various times as flagship for Vice Admiral John D. McDonald, Commander, Battleship Force; and, later, Commander, Scouting Fleet, and his successors, Vice Admiral Newton A. McCully and Vice Admiral Josiah S. McKean. During that time, the ship received routine repairs and alterations at the New York Navy Yard and conducted a midshipman's training cruise in the summer of 1924, cruising to Torbay, England; Rotterdam, Holland; Gibraltar; and the Azores. Departing New York on 26 January 1925, the battleship conducted battle practice in Cuban waters, out of Guantanamo Bay, and then transited the Panama Canal on 14 February to join the Battle Fleet for exercises along the coast of California. Wyoming next sailed for Hawaiian waters and operated in those climes from late April to early June. After a visit to San Diego from 18 to 22 June, the battleship returned to the east coast, via the Panama Canal, and arrived back at New \York City on 17 July to resume operations off the coast of New England. Following those training evolutions with a cruise to Cuba and Haiti, Wyoming underwent an overhaul at the New York Navy Yard from 23 November 1925 to 26 January 1926. During her yard period, Comdr. William F. Halsey, Jr., reported on board as the battleship's executive officer. The future fleet admiral served in Wyoming until 4 January 1927. Wyoming subsequently took part in the Fleet's annual winter maneuvers in the Caribbean and then returned northward, reaching Annapolis on 29 May to embark midshipmen for their summer training cruise. After touching at Newport, R.I.; Marblehead, Mass.; Portland, Maine; Charleston, S.C.; and Guantanamo Bay, Wyoming returned to Annapolis on 27 August, disembarking the officers-to-be upon arrival. The ship then put into the Philadelphia Navy Yard for modernization. Converted from a coal burner to an oil burner, Wyoming also received new turbines, blisters for added underwater protection against torpedoes, and other alterations. Completing the overhaul on 2 November 1927 and heading south for Norfolk, Wyoming then underwent a post-modernization shakedown cruise to Cuba and the Virgin Islands before returning to Philadelphia on 7 December. Two days later, she hoisted the flag of Commander, Scouting Fleet, Vice Admiral Ashley H. Robertson. Over the next few years, Wyoming operated out of Norfolk, New York, and Boston, making training cruises for the Naval Reserve Officers' Training Corps (NROTC) units hailing from Yale, Harvard, Georgia Tech, and Northwestern. That duty took her from the Gulf of Mexico to Nova Scotia and into the Caribbean, as well as to the Azores. During the course of that duty, she departed Hampton Roads on 12 November 1928; and, on the night of 13 and 14 November, picked up eight survivors of the sunken British merchant steamship Vestris; and landed them at Norfolk the following day, 15 November. Relieved as flagship of the Scouting Force on 19 September 1930, Wyoming then became the flagship of Rear Admiral Wat T. Cluverius, Commander, Battleship Division 2, and performed that duty until 4 November. After then hoisting the flag of Rear Admiral H. H. Christy, Commander, Training Squadron, Scouting Fleet, the battleship conducted a training cruise into the Gulf of Mexico, during which she visited New Orleans. Returning north after that cruise, Wyoming was placed in reduced commission at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 1 January 1931 to prepare for demilitarization and conversion to a training ship in accordance with the 1930 London Treaty for the limitation and reduction of naval armaments. During that process, Wyoming lost her blisters, side armor, and the removal of guns and turret machinery from three of her six main battery turrets. On 21 May 1931, Wyoming was relieved of her duties as flagship for the Scouting Force by Augusta (CA-31) and by Arkansas (BB- 33) as flagship of the Training Squadron. Wyoming subsequently visited Annapolis upon the completion of her demilitarization and, between 29 May and 5 June 1931, embarked Naval Academy midshipmen for a cruise to European waters. Sailing on 5 June, the ship was in the mid-Atlantic 10 days later, when she went to the aid of the foundering ice-cutting submarine Nautilus, commanded by the famed British Arctic explorer, Sir Hubert Wilkins. Wyoming took the disabled submersible in tow and took her to Queenstown, Northern Ireland. Later in the course of the cruise, the former battleship visited Copenhagen, Denmark; Greenock, Scotland; Cadiz, Spain; and Gibraltar, before she returned to Hampton Roads on 13 August. During her cruise, she had been redesignated from a battleship, BB-32, to a miscellaneous auxiliary, AG-17, on 1 July 1931. Over the next four years, Wyoming continued summer practice cruises for Naval Academy midshipmen and training cruises for NROTC midshipmen with units from various universities. Her service took her throughout the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as to northern European ports and into the Mediterranean. However, there were new jobs for the old campaigner. On 18 January 1935, she embarked men of the 2d Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, at Norfolk, for the winter-spring landing assault practices at Puerto Rico and the Panama Canal Zone. In almost every succeeding year, Wyoming took part in amphibious assault exercises, as the elements of the Fleet Marine Force and Navy developed tactics for use in possible conflicts of the future. Departing Norfolk on 5 January 1937, Wyoming transited the Panama Canal; headed for San Diego soon thereafter; and spent the following weeks engaged in assault landing exercises and gunnery drills at San Clemente Island, off the coast of California. On 18 February 1937, during the culminating phase of a multi-faceted (land, sea, and air) exercise, a shrapnel shell exploded prematurely as it was being rammed into one of the ship's 5-inch broadside guns. Six marines were killed, and 11 were wounded. Immediately after the explosion, Wyoming sped to San Pedro, where she transferred the wounded marines to the hospital ship Relief (AH-1). Completing her slate of exercises and war games off the California coast on 3 March, Wyoming stood out of Los Angeles harbor on that day and headed back to the east coast. Returning to Norfolk on the 23d of the same month, the ship served as temporary flagship for Rear Admiral Wilson Brown, Commander, Training Squadron, from 15 April to 3 June, during the preparations for the upcoming Naval Academy practice cruise. Putting to sea on 4 June from Hampton Roads, Wyoming reached Kiel, Germany, on 21 June 1937, where she was visited by officers from the ill-fated German "pocket battleship" Admiral Graf Spec. Her embarked midshipmen subsequently toured Berlin before Wyoming sailed for home on 29 June, touching at Torbay, England, and Funchal, Madeira, before returning to Norfolk on 3 August. After local exercises, Wyoming disembarked her midshipmen at Annapolis on 26 August. For the next few months, Wyoming continued in her role as training ship -first for Naval Reserve units and then for Merchant Marine Reserve units, ranging from Boston to the Virgin Islands and from New York to Cuba, respectively, before she underwent an overhaul at the Norfolk Navy Yard between 16 October 1937 and 14 January 1938. For the next three years, Wyoming continued her operations out of Norfolk, Boston, and New York, visiting Cuban waters, as well as Puerto Rico and New Orleans. In addition, she conducted a Naval Academy midshipman's practice cruise to European waters in 1938, visiting Le Havre, France; Copenhagen; and Portsmouth, England. Ultimately, on 2 January 1941, Wyoming became the flagship for Rear Admiral Randall Jacobs, Commander, Training, Patrol Force, and continued in her training ship duties into the autumn months. In November 1941, Wyoming embarked on yet another phase of her career-that of a gunnery training ship. She departed Norfolk on 25 November 1941 for gunnery training runs out of Newport, R.I., and was off Platt's Bank when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, on 7 December 1941. Putting into Norfolk on 28 January 1942, Wyoming sailed out into the lower reaches of Chesapeake Bay on 5 February to begin a countless chain of gunnery training drills in that area that would carry her through World War II. So familiar was her appearance in that area that Wyoming earned the nickname of the "Chesapeake Raider." Assigned to the Operational Training Command, United States Atlantic Fleet, the former dreadnought battleship provided the platform on which thousands of gunners trained in guns, ranging from 5-inch to .50-ealiber. Refitted at Norfolk between 12 January and 3 April 1944, Wyoming took on a different silhouette upon emerging from that yard period; the rest of her 12-inch turrets were removed, and replaced with twin-mount 5-inch guns; in addition, newer models of fire control radars were installed. She resumed her gunnery training activities on 10 April 1944, operating in the Chesapeake Bay region. The extent of her operations can be seen from a random sampling of figures; in a single month, November 1944, Wyoming trained 133 officers and 1,329 men in antiaircraft gunnery. During that month, she fired 3,033 5-inch shells, 849 3-inch; 10,076 40-millimeter; 32,231 20-millimeter; 66,270 .30-caliber; and 360 1.1-inch ammunition. She claimed the distinction of firing off more ammunition than any other ship in the fleet, training an estimated 35,000 gunners on some seven different types of guns. On 30 June 1945, Wyoming completed her career as "Chesapeake Raider" when she departed Norfolk for the New York Navy Yard and alterations. Leaving the yard on 13 July 1945, she entered Casco Bay soon thereafter, reporting for duty to Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee, Commander, Composite Task Force 69. She fired her first experimental gunnery practice at towed sleeves, drone aircraft, and radio-controlled targets, as the largest operating unit of the force established to study methods and tactics for dealing with the Japanese kamikazes. Subsequently, Composite Task Force 69 became the Operational Development Force, United States Fleet, on 31 August 1945. Upon the death of Admiral Lee, the reins of command passed to Rear Admiral R. P. Briscoe. Even after the broadening of the scope of the work of the force to cover all the operational testing of new devices of fire control, Wyoming remained the backbone of the unit through 1946. On 11 July 1947, Wyoming entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and was decommissioned on 1 August 1947. Her men and materiel were then transferred to Mississippi (AG-128) (ex-BB-41). Wyoming's name was struck from the Navy list on 16 September 1947, and her hulk was sold for scrapping on 30 October 1947. She was then delivered to her purchaser, Lipsett, Inc., of New York City, on 5 December 1947
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Built at New York SB Co.,
Camden, N. J.
Keel Laid 01/25/10, Commissioned 09/17/12
Capt. R. C. Smith
commanding
The third ARKANSAS (Battleship No. 33) was laid down on
25
January 1910 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Co.;
launched on 14 January 1911; sponsored by Miss Nancy Louise
Macon; and
commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17
September 1912, Capt. Roy
C. Smith in command.
WYOMING CLASS
BB-33
Length Overall:
562'
Extreme Beam: 93'3"
Displacement: Tons: 26,000 Mean
Draft: 28'6"
Complement: Off.: 58 Enl.:
1,005
Armament:
Main: (12) 12"/50 cal
Secondary:
(21) 5"/51 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Armor: Max.
Thickness: 12"
Speed: 20.5 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
28,000
Engines: Mfr.: Parsons (NYSB)
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 12
Drive:
TD
Fuel: (coal) Tons: 2,699 plus 400 fuel oil
Arkansas BB-33 The third Arkansas (Battleship No. 33) was laid down on 25 January 1910 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 14 January 1911; sponsored by Miss Nancy Louise Macon; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 17 September 1912, Capt. Roy C. Smith in command. The new battleship took part in a fleet review by President William H. Taft in the Hudson River off New York City on 14October, and received a visit from the Chief Executive that day. She then transported President Taft to the Panama Canal Zone for an inspection of the unfinished isthmian waterway. After putting the inspection party ashore, Arkansas sailed to Cuban waters for shakedown training. She then returned to the Canal Zone on 26 December to carry President Taft to Key West, Fla. Following this assignment, Arkansas joined the Atlantic Fleet for maneuvers along the east coast. The battleship began her first overseas cruise in late October 1913, and visited several ports in the Mediterranean. At Naples, Italy, on 11 November 1913, the ship celebrated the birthday of the King of Italy. Earlier in October 1913, a coup in Mexico had brought to power a dictator, Victoriano Huerta. The way in which Huerta had come to power, however, proved contrary to the idealism of President Woodrow Wilson, who insisted on a representative government, rather than a dictatorial one, south of the American-Mexican border. Mexico had been in turmoil for several years, and the United States Navy maintained a force of ships in those waters ready to protect American lives. In a situation where tension exists between two powers, incidents are bound to occur. One such occurred at Tampico in the spring of 1914, and although the misunderstanding was quickly cleared up locally, the prevailing state of tension produced an explosive situation. Learning that a shipment of arms for Huerta was due to arrive at Veracruz, President Wilson ordered the Navy to prevent the landing of the guns by seizing the customs house at that port. While a naval force under Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo was already present in Mexican waters, the President directed that the Atlantic Fleet, under Rear Admiral Charles J. Badger, proceed to Veracruz. Arkansas participated in the landings at Veracruz, contributing a battalion of four companies of bluejackets, a total of 17 officers and 313 enlisted men under the command of Lt. Comdr. Arthur B. Keating. Among the junior officers was Lt. (jg.) Jonas H. Ingram, who would be awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism at Veracruz, as would Lt. John Grady, who commanded the artillery of the 2d Seaman Regiment. Landing on 22 April, Arkansas's men took part in the slow, methodical street fighting that eventually secured the city. Two Arkansas sailors, Ordinary Seamen Louis 0. Fried and William L. Watson, died of their wounds on 22 April. Arkansas's battalion returned to the ship on 30 April, and the ship remained in Mexican waters through the summer before setting course on 30 September to return to the east coast. During her stay at Veracruz, she received calls from Capt. Franz von Papen, the German military attache to the United States and Mexico, and Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, on 10 and 30 May 1914, respectively. The battleship reached Hampton Roads, Va., on 7 October, and after a week of exercises, Arkansas sailed to the New York Navy Yard, for repairs and alterations. She then returned to the Virginia capes area for maneuvers on the Southern Drill Grounds. On 12 December, Arkansas returned to the New York Navy Yard for further repairs. She was underway again on 16 January 1915, and returned to the Southern Drill Grounds for exercises there from 19 to 21 January. Upon completion of these, Arkansas sailed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for fleet exercises. Returning to Hampton Roads on 7 April, the battleship began another training period in the Southern Drill Grounds. On 23 April, she headed to the New York Navy Yard for a two-month repair period. Arkansas then left New York on 25 June bound for Newport, R.I. She conducted torpedo practice and tactical maneuvers in Narragansett Bay through late August. Returning to Hampton Roads on 27 August, the battleship engaged in maneuvers in the Norfolk area through 4 October, then sailed once again to Newport. There, Arkansas carried out strategic exercises from 5 to 14 October. On 15 October, the battleship arrived at the New York Navy Yard for drydocking. Underway on 8 November, she returned to Hampton Roads. After a period of routine operations, Arkansas went back to Brooklyn for repairs on 19 October. The ship sailed on 5 January 1916 for Hampton Roads. Pausing there only briefly, Arkansas pushed on to the Caribbean for winter maneuvers. She visited the West Indies and Guantanamo Bay before returning to the United States on 12 March for torpedo practice off Mobile Bay. The battleship then steamed back to Guantanamo Bay on 20 March and remained there until mid-April. On 15 April, the battleship was once again at the New York Navy Yard for overhaul. On 6 April 1917, the United States entered World War I on the side of the Allied and Associated Powers. The declaration of war found Arkansas attached to Battleship Division 7 and patrolling the York River in Virginia. For the next 14 months, Arkansas carried out patrol duty along the east coast and trained gun crews for duty on armed merchantmen. In July 1918, Arkansas received orders to proceed to Rosyth, Scotland, to relieve Delaware (Battleship No. 28). Arkansas sailed on 14 July. On the eve of her arrival in Scotland, the battleship opened fire on what was believed to be the periscope wake of a German U-boat. Her escorting destroyers dropped depth charges, but scored no hits. Arkansas then proceeded without incident and dropped anchor at Rosyth on 28 July. Throughout the remaining three and one-half months of war, Arkansas and the other American battleships in Rosyth operated as part of the British Grand Fleet as the 6th Battle Squadron. The armistice ending World War I became effective on 11 November. The 6th Battle Squadron and other Royal Navy units sailed to a point some 40 miles east of May Island at the entrance of the Firth of Forth. Arkansas was present at the internment of the German High Seas Fleet in the Firth of Forth on 21 November 1918. The American battleships were detached from the British Grand Fleet on 1 December. From the Firth of Forth, Arkansas sailed to Portland, England, thence out to sea to meet the transport George Washington, with President Wilson on board. Arkansas-along with other American battleships-escorted the President's ship into Brest, France, on 13 December 1918. From that French port, Arkansas sailed to New York City, where she arrived on 26 December to a tumultuous welcome. Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels reviewed the assembled battleship fleet from the yacht Mayflower. Following an overhaul at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Arkansas joined the fleet in Cuban waters for winter maneuvers. Soonthereafter, the battleship got underway to cross the Atlantic. On 12 May 1919, she reached Plymouth, England; thence she headed back out in the Atlantic to take weather observations on 19 May and act as a reference vessel for the flight of the Navy Curtiss (NC) flying boats from Trepassey Bay, Newfoundland, to Europe. Her role in that venture completed, Arkansas proceeded thence to Brest, where she embarked Admiral William S. Benson, the Chief of Naval Operations, and his wife, on 10 June, upon the admiral's return from the Peace Conference in Paris, before departing for New York. She arrived on 20 June 1919. Arkansas sailed from Hampton Roads on 19 July 1919, assigned to the Pacific Fleet. Proceeding via the Panama Canal, the battleship steamed to San Francisco, where, on 6 September 1919, she embarked Secretary of the Navy and Mrs. Josephus Daniels. Disembarking the Secretary and his wife at Blakely Harbor, Wash., on the 12th, Arkansas was reviewed by President Wilson, on the 13th, the Chief Executive having embarked in the famed Oregon (Battleship No. 3). On 19 September 1919, Arkansas entered the Puget Sound Navy Yard for a general overhaul. Resuming her operations with the fleet in May 1920, Arkansas operated off the California coast. On 17 July 1920, Arkansas received the designation BB-33 as the ships of the fleet received alphanumeric designations. That September, she cruised to Hawaii for the first time. Early in 1921, the battleship visited Valparaiso, Chile, manning the rail in honor of the Chilean president. Arkansas's peacetime routine consisted of an annual cycle of training interspersed with periods of upkeep or overhaul. The battleship's schedule also included competitions in gunnery and engineering and an annual fleet problem. Becoming flagship for the Commander, Battleship Force, Atlantic Fleet, in the summer of 1921, Arkansas began operations off the east coast that August. For a number of years, Arkansas was detailed to take midshipmen from the Naval Academy on their summer cruises. In 1923, the battleship steamed to Europe, visiting Copenhagen, Denmark (where she was visited by the King of Denmark on 2 July 1923); Lisbon, Portugal; and Gibraltar. Arkansas conducted another midshipman training cruise to European waters the following year, 1924. In 1925, the cruise was to the west coast of the United States. During this time, on 30 June 1925, Arkansas arrived at Santa Barbara, Calif., in the wake of an earthquake. The battleship, along with McCawley (DD-276) and Eagle Sit (PE-34) landed a patrol of bluejackets for policing Santa Barbara, and established a temporary radio station ashore for the transmission of messages. Upon completion of the 1925 midshipman cruise, Arkansas entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard for modernization. Her coal-burning boilers were replaced with oil-fired ones. Additional deck armor was installed, a single stack was substituted for the original pair, and the after cage mast was replaced by a low tripod. Arkansas left the yard in November 1926 and, after a shakedown cruise along the eastern seaboard and to Cuban waters, returned to Philadelphia to run acceptance trials. Resuming her duty with the fleet soon thereafter, she operated from Maine to the Caribbean; on 5 September 1927, she was present at ceremonies unveiling a memorial tablet honoring the French soldiers and sailors who died during the campaign at Yorktown in 1781. In May 1928, Arkansas again embarked midshipmen for their practice cruise along the eastern seaboard and down into Cuban waters. During the first part of 1929, she operated near the Canal Zone and in the Caribbean, returning in May 1929 to the New York Navy Yard for overhaul. After embarking midshipmen at Annapolis, Arkansas carried out her 1929 practice cruise to Mediterranean and English waters, returning in August to operate with the Scouting Fleet off the east coast. In 1930 and 1931, Arkansas was again detailed to carry out midshipmen's practice cruises; in the former year she visited Cherbourg, France; Kiel, Germany; Oslo, Norway; and Edinburgh, Scotland; in the latter her itinerary included Copenhagen, Denmark; Greenock, Scotland; and Cadiz, Spain, as well as Gibraltar. In September 1931, the ship visited Halifax, Nova Scotia. In October, Arkansas participated in the Yorktown Sesquicentennial celebrations, embarking President Herbert Hoover and his party on 17 October and taking them to the exposition. She later transported the Chief Executive and his party back to Annapolis on 19 and 20 October. Upon her return, the battleship entered the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where she remained until January 1932. Upon leaving the navy yard, Arkansas sailed for the west coast, calling at New Orleans, La., en route, to participate in the Mardi Gras celebration. Assigned duty as flagship of the Training Squadron, Atlantic Fleet, Arkansas operated continuously on the west coast of the United States into the spring of 1934, at which time she returned to the east coast. In the summer of 1934, the battleship conducted a midshipman practice cruise to Plymouth, England; Nice, France; Naples, Italy, and to Gibraltar, returning to Annapolis in August; proceeding thence to Newport, R.I., where she manned the rail for President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he passed on board the yacht Nourmalhal, and was present for the International Yacht Race. Arkansas' cutter defeated the cutter from the British light cruiser HMS Dragon for the Battenberg Cup, and the City of Newport Cup. In January 1935, Arkansas transported the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, to Culebra for a fleet landing exercise, and in June conducted a midshipman practice cruise to Europe, visiting Edinburgh, Oslo (where King Haakon VII of Norway visited the ship), Copenhagen, Gibraltar and Funchal on the island of Madeira. After disembarking Naval Academy midshipmen at Annapolis in August 1935, Arkansas proceeded to New York. There she embarked reservists from the New York area and conducted a Naval Reserve cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia in September. Upon completion of that duty, she underwent repairs and alterations at the New York Navy Yard that October. In January 1936, Arkansas participated in Fleet Landing Exercise No. 2 at Culebra, and then visited New Orleans for the Mardi Gras festivities before she returned to Norfolk for a navy yard overhaul which lasted through the spring of 1936. That summer she carried out a midshipman training cruise to Portsmouth, England; Goteborg, Sweden; and Cherbourg, before she returned to Annapolis that August. Steaming thence to Boston, the battleship conducted a Naval Reserve training cruise before putting into the Norfolk Navy Yard for an overhaul that October. The following year, 1937, saw Arkansas make a midshipman practice cruise to European waters, visiting ports in Germany and England, before she returned to the east coast of the United States for local operations out of Norfolk. During the latter part of the year, the ship also ranged from Philadelphia and Boston to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and Cuban waters. During 1938 and 1939, the pattern of operations largely remained as it had been in previous years, her duties in the Training Squadron largely confining her to the waters of the eastern seaboard. The outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939 found Arkansas at Hampton Roads, preparing for a Naval Reserve cruise. She soon got underway and transported seaplane moorings and aviation equipment from the naval air station at Norfolk to Narragansett Bay for the seaplane base that was to be established there. While at Newport, Arkansas took on board ordnance material for destroyers and brought it back to Hampton Roads. Arkansas departed Norfolk on 11 January 1940, in company with Texas (BB- 35) and New York (BB-34), and proceeded thence to Guantanamo Bay for fleet exercises. She then participated in landing exercises at Culebra that February, returning via St. Thomas and Culebra to Norfolk. Following an overhaul at the Norfolk Navy Yard (18 March to 24 May), Arkansas shifted to the Naval Operating Base (NOB), Norfolk, where she remained until 30 May. Sailing on that day for Annapolis, the battleship, along with Texas and New York, conducted a midshipman training cruise to Panama and Venezuela that summer. Before the year was out, Arkansas would conduct three V-7 Naval Reserve training cruises, these voyages taking her to Guantanamo Bay, the Canal Zone, and Chesapeake Bay. Over the months that followed, the United States gradually edged toward war in the Atlantic; early the following summer, after the decision to occupy Iceland had been reached, Arkansas accompanied the initial contingent of marines to that place. That battleship, along with New York, and the light cruiser Brooklyn (CL-40) provided the heavy escort for the convoy. Following this assignment, Arkansas sailed to Casco Bay, Maine, and was present there when the Atlantic Charter conferences took place on board Augusta (CA-31) between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. During the conference, the battleship provided accommodations for the Under Secretary of State, Sumner Welles, and Mr. Averell Harriman, from 8 to 14 August 1941. The outbreak of war with the Japanese attack upon the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor found Arkansas at anchor in Casco Bay, Maine. One week later, on 14 December, she sailed to Hvalfjordur, Iceland. Returning to Boston, via Argentia, on 24 January 1942, Arkansas spent the month of February carrying out exercises in Casco Bay in preparation for her role as an escort for troop and cargo transports. On 6 March, she arrived at Norfolk to begin overhaul. Underway on 2 July, Arkansas conducted shakedown in Chesapeake Bay, then proceeded to New York City, where she arrived on 27 July. The battleship sailed from New York on 6 August, bound for Greenock, Scotland. Two days later, the ships paused at Halifax, Nova Scotia, then continued on through the stormy North Atlantic. The convoy reached Greenock on the 17th, and Arkansas returned to New York on 4 September. She escorted another Greenock-bound convoy across the Atlantic, then arrived back at New York on 20 October. With the Allied invasion of North Africa, American convoys were routed to Casablanca to support the operations. Departing New York on 3 November, Arkansas covered a troop convoy to Morocco, and returned to New York on 11 December for overhaul. On 2 January 1943, Arkansas sailed to Chesapeake Bay for gunnery drills. She returned to New York on 30 January and began loading supplies for yet another transatlantic trip. The battleship made two runs between Casablanca and New York City from February through April. In early May, Arkansas was drydocked at the New York Navy Yard, emerging from that period of yard work to proceed to Norfolk on 26 May. Arkansas assumed her new duty as a training ship for midshipmen, based at Norfolk. After four months of operations in Chesapeake Bay, the battleship returned to New York to resume her role as a convoy escort. On 8 October, the ship sailed for Bangor, Ireland. She was in that port throughout November, and got underway to return to New York on 1 December. Arkansas then began a period of repairs on 12 December. Clearing New York for Norfolk two days after Christmas of 1943, Arkansas closed the year in that port. The battleship sailed on 19 January 1944 with a convoy bound for Ireland. After seeing the convoy safely to its destination, the ship reversed her course across the Atlantic and reached New York on 13 February. Arkansas went to Casco Bay on 28 March for gunnery exercises, before she proceeded to Boston on 11 April for repairs. On 18 April, Arkansas sailed once more for Bangor, Ireland. Upon her arrival, the battleship began a training period to prepare for her new role as a shore bombardment ship. On 3 June, Arkansas sailed for the French coast to support the Allied invasion of Normandy. The ship entered the Baie de la Seine on 6 June, and took up a position 4,000 yards off "Omaha" beach. At 0552, Arkansas's guns opened fire. During the day, the venerable battleship underwent shore battery fire and air attacks; over ensuing days she continued her fire support. On the 13th, Arkansas shifted to a position off Grandcamp les Bains. On 25 June 1944, Arkansas dueled with German shore batteries off Cherbourg, the enemy repeatedly straddling the battleship but never hitting her. Her big guns helped support the Allied attack on that key port, and led to the capture of it the following day. Retiring to Weymouth, England, and arriving there at 2220, the battleship shifted to Bangor, on 30 June. Arkansas stood out to sea on 4 July, bound for the Mediterranean. She passed through the Strait of Gibraltar and anchored at Oran, Algeria, on 10 July. On the 18th, she got underway, and reached Taranto, Italy, on 21 July. The battleship remained there until 6 August, then shifted to Palermo, Sicily, on the 7th. On 14 August, Operation "Anvil" the invasion of the southern French coast between Toulon and Cannes, began. Arkansas provided fire support for the initial landings on 15 August, and continued her bombardment through 17 August. After stops at Palermo and Oran, Arkansas set course for the United States. On 14 September, she reached Boston, and received repairs and alterations through early November. The yard period completed on 7 November, Arkansas sailed to Casco Bay for three days of refresher training. On 10 November, Arkansas shaped a course south for the Panama Canal Zone. After transiting the canal on 22 November, Arkansas headed for San Pedro, Calif. On 29 November, the ship was again underway for exercises held off San Diego. She returned on 10 December to San Pedro. After three more weeks of preparations, Arkansas sailed for Pearl Harbor on 20 January 1945. One day after her arrival there, she sailed for Ulithi, the major fleet staging area in the Carolines, and continued thence to Tinian, where she arrived on 12 February. For two days, the vessel held shore bombardment practice prior to her participation in the assault on Iwo Jima. At 0600 on 16 February, Arkansas opened tire on Japanese strong points on Iwo Jima as she lay off the island's west coast. The old battlewagon bombarded the island through the 19th, and remained in the fire support area to provide cover during the evening hours. During her time off the embattled island, Arkansas shelled numerous Japanese positions, in support of the bitter struggle by the marines to root out and destroy the stubborn enemy resistance. She cleared the waters off Iwo Jima on 7 March to return to Ulithi. After arriving at that atoll on the 10th, the battleship rearmed, provisioned, and fueled in preparation for her next operation, the invasion of Okinawa. Getting underway on 21 March, Arkansas began her preliminary shelling of Japanese positions on Okinawa on 25 March, some days ahead of the assault troops which began wading ashore on 1 April. The Japanese soon began an aerial onslaught, and Arkansas fended on several kamikazes. For 46 days, Arkansas delivered fire support for the invasion of Okinawa. On 14 May, the ship arrived at Apra Harpor, Guam, to await further assignment. After a month at Apra Harbor, part of which she spent in drydock, Arkansas got underway on 12 June for Leyte Gulf. She anchored there on the 16th, and remained in Philippine waters until the war drew to a close in August. On the 20th of that month, Arkansas left Leyte to return to Okinawa, and reached Buckner Bay on 23 August. After a month spent in port, Arkansas embarked approximately 800 troops for transport to the United States as part of the "Magic Carpet" to return American servicemen home as quickly as possible. Sailing on 23 September, Arkansas paused briefly at Pearl Harbor en route, and ultimately reached Seattle on 15 October. During the remainder of the year, the battleship made three more trips to Pearl Harbor to shuttle soldiers back to the United States. During the first months of 1946, Arkansas lay at San Francisco. In late April the ship got underway for Hawaii. She reached Pearl Harbor on 8 May, and stood out of Pearl Harbor on 20 May, bound for Bikini Atoll, earmarked for use as target for atomic bomb testing in Operation "Crossroads." On 25 July 1946, the venerable battleship was sunk in Test "Baker" at Bikini. Decommissioned on 29 July 1946, Arkansas was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 August 1946. Arkansas received four battle stars for her World War II
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Built at New York Navy Yard,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Keel Laid 09/11/11, Commissioned 04/15/14
Capt. T. S.
Rogers commanding
The fifth NEW YORK (BB-34) was laid down 11 September 1911
by
Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York; launched 30 October 1912;
sponsored by
Miss Elsie Calder; and commissioned 15 April 1914,
Captain Thomas S. Rodgers
in command.
NEW YORK CLASS
BB-34
Length Overall:
573"
Extreme Beam: 95'3"
Displacement: Tons: 27,000 Mean
Draft: 28'6"
Complement: Off.: 58 Enl.:
994
Armament:
Main: (10) 14"/45 cal
Secondary:
(21) 5"/51 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (4) 21" sumberged
Armor: Max.
Thickness: 14"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
28,100
Engines: Mfr.: NYNY
Type: Vert. 3-Exp.
Recip.
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 14
Fuel: (coal) Tons:
2,850 plus 400 tons fuel oil
New York BB-34 The fifth New York (BB-34) was laid down 11 September 1911 by Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York; launched 30 October 1912; sponsored by Miss Elsie Calder; and commissioned 15 April 1914, Captain Thomas S. Rodgers in command. Ordered south soon after commissioning, New York was flagship for Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher, commanding the fleet occupying and blockading Vera Cruz until resolution of the crisis with Mexico in July 1914. New York then headed north for fleet operations along the Atlantic coast as war broke out in Europe. Upon the entry of the United States into the war, New York sailed as flagship with Battleship Division 9 commanded by Rear Admiral Hugh Rodman to strengthen the British Grand Fleet in the North Sea, arriving Scapa Flow 7 December 1917. Constituting a separate squadron in the Grand Fleet, the American ships joined in blockade and escort missions and by their very presence so weighted the Allies' preponderance of naval power as to inhibit the Germans from attempting any major fleet engagements. New York twice encountered U-boats. During her World War I service, New York was frequently visited by royal and other high-ranking representatives of the Allies, and she was present for one of the most dramatic moments of the war, the surrender of the German High Seas Fleet in the Firth of Forth 21 November 1918. As a last European mission, New York joined the ships escorting President Woodrow Wilson from an ocean rendezvous to Brest en route the Versailles Conference. Returning to a program which alternated individual and fleet exercises with necessary maintenance, New York trained in the Caribbean in spring 1919, and that summer joined the Pacific Fleet at San Diego, her home port for the next 16 years. She trained off Hawaii and the West Coast, occasionally returning to the Atlantic and Caribbean for brief missions or overhauls. In 1937, carrying Admiral Hugh Rodman, the President's personal representative for the coronation of King George VI of England, New York sailed to take part in the Grand Naval Review of 20 May 1937 as sole U.S. Navy representative. For much of the following 3 years, New York trained Naval Academy midshipmen and other prospective officers with cruises to Europe, Canada, and the Caribbean, and in mid1941 she joined the Neutrality Patrol. She escorted troops to Iceland in July 1941, then served as station ship at Argentia, Newfoundland, protecting the new American base there. From America's entry into World War II, New York guarded Atlantic convoys to Iceland and Scotland when the U-boat menace was gravest. Submarine contacts were numerous, but the convoys were brought to harbor intact. New York brought her big guns to the invasion of North Africa, providing crucial gunfire support at Safi 8 November 1942. She then stood by at Casablanca and Fedhala before returning home for convoy duty escorting critically needed men and supplies to North Africa. She then took up important duty training gunners for battleships and destroyer escorts in Chesapeake Bay, rendering this vital service until 10 June 1944, when she began the first of 3 training cruises for the Naval Academy, voyaging to Trinidad on each. New York sailed 21 November for the West Coast, arriving San Pedro 6 December for gunnery training in preparation for amphibious operations. She departed San Pedro 12 January 1945, called at Pearl Harbor, and was diverted to Eniwetok to survey screw damage. Nevertheless, despite impaired speed, she joined the Iwo Jima assault force in rehearsals at Saipan. She sailed well ahead of the main body to join in preinvasion bombardment at Iwo Jima 16 February. During the next 3 days, she fired more rounds than any other ship present; and, as if to show what an old- timer could do, made a spectacular direct 14"-hit on an enemy ammunition dump. Leaving Iwo Jima, New York at last repaired her propellers at 'Manus, and had speed restored for the assault on Okinawa, which she reached 27 March to begin 76 consecutive days of action. She fired preinvasion and diversionary bombardments, covered landings, and gave days and nights of close support to troops advancing ashore. She did not go unscathed; a kamikaze grazed her 14 April, demolishing her spotting plane on its catapult. She left Okinawa 11 June to re-gun at Pearl Harbor. New York prepared at Pearl Harbor for the planned invasion of Japan, and after war's end, made a voyage to the West Coast returning veterans and bringing out their replacements. She sailed from Pearl Harbor again 29 September with passengers for New York, arriving 19 October. Here she prepared to serve as target ship in operation "Crossroads," the Bikini atomic tests, sailing 4 arch 1946 for the West Coast. She left San Francisco 1 May, and after calls in Pearl Harbor and Kwajalein, reached Bikini 15 June. Surviving the surface blast 1 July and the underwater explosion 2.5 July, she was taken into Kwajalein and decommissioned there 29 August 1946. Later towed to Pearl Harbor, she was studied during the next two years, and on 8 July 1948 was towed out to sea some 40 miles and there sunk after an 8-hour pounding by ships and planes carrying out full- scale battle maneuvers with new weapons. New York received 3 battle stars for World War II service.
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Built at Newport News SB Co.,
Newport News, Va.
Keel Laid 04/17/11, Commissioned 03/12/14
Capt. A. W.
Grant Commanding
The second TEXAS (Battleship No. 35) was laid down on 17
April
1911 at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co.;
launched on 18 May 1912; sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon; and
commissioned on 12 March 1914, Capt. Albert W. Grant in command.
NEW YORK CLASS
BB-35
Length Overall:
573"
Extreme Beam: 95'3"
Displacement: Tons: 27,000 Mean
Draft: 28'6"
Complement: Off.: 58 Enl.:
994
Armament:
Main: (10) 14"/45 cal
Secondary:
(21) 5"/51 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (4) 21" sumberged
Armor: Max.
Thickness: 14"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
28,100 Engines: Mfr.: NN
Type: Vert. 3-Exp.
Recip.
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 14
Fuel: (coal) Tons: 2,850
plus 400 tons fuel oil
Texas BB-35 The second Texas (Battleship No. 35) was laid down on 17 April 1911 at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 18 May 1912; sponsored by Miss Claudia Lyon; and commissioned on 12 March 1914, Capt. Albert W. Grant in command. On 24 March, Texas departed the Norfolk Navy Yard and, after a stop at Hampton Roads, set a course for New York. She made an overnight stop at Tompkinsville, N.Y., on the night of the 26th and 27th and entered the New York Navy Yard on the latter day. She spent the next three weeks there undergoing the installation of the fire control equipment. During her stay in New York, President Woodrow Wilson ordered a number of ships of the Atlantic Fleet to Mexican waters in response to tension created when an overzealous detail of Mexican Federal troops detained an American boat crew at Tampico. The problem was quickly resolved locally, but fiery Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo sought further redress by demanding an official disavowal of the act by the Huerta regime and a 21-gun salute to the American flag. Unfortunately for Mexican-American relations, President Wilson apparently saw in the incident an opportunity to put pressure on a government he felt was undemocratic. On 20 April, Wilson placed the matter before the Congress and sent orders to Rear Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, commanding the naval force off the Mexican coast, instructing him to land a force at Veracruz and to seize the customs house there in retaliation for the celebrated "Tampico Incident." That action was carried out on the 21st and 22d. Due to the intensity of the situation, when Texas put to sea on 13 May, she headed directly to operational duty without benefit of the usual shakedown cruise and post-shakedown repair period. After a five-day stop at Hampton Roads between 14 and 19 May, she joined Rear Admiral Fletcher's force off Veracruz on the 26th. She remained in Mexican waters for just over two months, supporting the American forces ashore. On 8 August, she left Veracruz and set a course for Nipe Bay, Cuba, and thence steamed to New York where she entered the Navy Yard on 21 August. The battleship remained there until 5 September when she returned to sea, joined the Atlantic Fleet, and settled into a schedule of normal fleet operations. In October, she returned to the Mexican coast. Later that month, Texas became station ship at Tuxpan, a duty that lasted until early November. The ship finally bade Mexico farewell at Tampico on 20 December and set a course for New York. The battleship entered the New York Navy Yard on 28 December and remained there undergoing repairs until 16 February 1915. Upon her return to active duty with the fleet, Texas resumed a schedule of training operations along the New England coast and off the Virginia Capes alternated with winter fleet tactical and gunnery drills in the West Indies. That routine lasted just over two years until the February-to- March crisis over unrestricted submarine warfare catapulted the United States into war with the Central Powers in April 1917. The 6 April declaration of war found Texas riding at anchor in the mouth of the York River with the other Atlantic Fleet battleships. She remained in the Virginia Capes-Hampton Roads vicinity until mid-August conducting exercises and training naval armed-guard gun crews for service on board merchant ships. In August, she steamed to New York for repairs, arriving at Base 10 on the 19th and entering the New York Navy Yard soon thereafter. She completed repairs on 26 September and got underway for Port Jefferson that same day. During the mid-watch on the 27th, however, she ran hard aground on Block Island. For three days, her crew lightened ship to no avail. On the 30th, tugs came to her assistance, and she finally backed clear. Hull damaged dictated a return to the yard, and the extensive repairs she required precluded her departure with Division 9 for the British Isles in November. By December, she had completed repairs and moved south to conduct war games out of the York River. Mid-January 1918 found the battleship back at New York preparing for the voyage across the Atlantic. She departed New York on 30 January; arrived at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands off the coast of Scotland on 11 February; and rejoined Division 9, by then known as the 6th Battle Squadron of Britain's Grand Fleet. Texas service with the Grand Fleet consisted entirely of convoy missions and occasional forays to reinforce the British squadron on blockade duty in the North Sea whenever German heavy units threatened. The fleet alternated between bases at Scapa Flow and at the Firth of Forth in Scotland. Texas began her mission only five days after her arrival at Scapa Flow where she sortied with the entire fleet to reinforce the 4th Battle Squadron, then on duty in the North Sea. She returned to Scapa Flow the next day and remained until 8 March when she put to sea on a convoy escort mission from which she returned on the 13th. Texas and her division mates entered the Firth of Forth on 12 April but got underway again on the 17th to escort a convoy. The American battleships returned to base on 20 April. Four days later, Texas again stood out to sea to support the 2d Battle Squadron the day after the German High Seas Fleet had sortied from Jade Bay toward the Norwegian coast to threaten an Allied convoy. Forward units caught sight of the retiring Germans on the 25th but at such extreme range that no possibility of bringing the enemy to battle existed. The Germans returned to their base that day, and the Grand Fleet, including Texas, did likewise on the next. Texas and her division mates passed a relatively quiescent May in the Firth of Forth. On 9 June, she got underway with the other warships of the 6th Battle Squadron and headed back to the anchorage at Scapa Flow, arriving there the following day. Between 30 June and 2 July, Texas and her colleagues acted as escort for American minelayers adding to the North Sea mine barrage. After a two-day return to Scapa Flow, Texas put to sea with the Grand Fleet to conduct two days of tactical exercises and war games. At the conclusion of those drills on 8 July, the fleet entered the Firth of Forth. For the remainder of World War I, Texas and the other battleships of Division 9 continued to operate with the Grand Fleet as the 6th Battle Squadron. With the German Fleet increasingly more tied to its bases in the estuaries of the Jade and Ems Rivers, the American and British ships settled more and more into a routine schedule of operations with little or no hint of combat operations. That state of affairs lasted until the armistice ended hostilities on 11 November 1918. On the night of 20 and 21 November, she accompanied the Grand Fleet to meet the surrendering German Fleet. The two fleets rendezvoused about 40 miles east of May Island-located near the mouth of the Firth of Forth-and proceeded together into the anchorage there. Afterward, the American contingent moved to Portland, England, arriving there on 4 December. Eight days later, Texas put to sea with Divisions 9 and 6 to meet President Woodrow Wilson embarked in George Washington on his way to the Paris Peace Conference. The rendezvous took place at about 0730 the following morning and provided an escort for the President into Brest, France, where the ships arrived at 1230 that afternoon. That evening, Texas and the other American battleships departed Brest for to return to the United States. The warships arrived off Ambrose Light on Christmas Day 1918 and entered New York on the 26th. Following overhaul, Texas resumed duty with the Atlantic Fleet early in 1919. On 9 March, while lying at anchor in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, she became the first American battleship to launch an airplane when Lt. Comdr. Edward O. McDonnell flew a British-built Sopwith "Camel" off the warships' No. 2 turret. That summer, she was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet. On 17 July 1920, she was designated BB-35 as a result of the Navy's adoption of the alpha-numeric system of hull designations. Texas served in the Pacific until 1924 when she returned to the east coast for overhaul and to participate in a training cruise to European waters with Naval Academy midshipmen embarked. She entered the Norfolk Navy Yard on 31 July 1925 for a major modernization overhaul during which her cage masts were replaced with a single tripod foremast. She also received the very latest in fire control equipment. Following that overhaul, she resumed duty along the eastern seaboard and kept at that task until late in 1927 when she did a brief tour of duty in the Pacific between late September and early December. Near the end of the year, Texas returned to the Atlantic where she served as flagship of the United States Fleet. In January 1928, she transported President Calvin Coolidge to Havana for the Pan-American conference and then continued on via the Panama Canal and the west coast to maneuvers with the fleet near Hawaii. She returned to New York early in 1929 for her annual overhaul and had completed it by March when she began another brief tour of duty in the Pacific. She returned to the Atlantic in June and resumed normal duty with the Scouting Fleet. In April 1930, she took time from her operating schedule to escort SS Leviathan into New York when that ship returned from Europe carrying the delegation that had represented the United States at the London Naval Conference. In January 1931, she left the yard at New York as flagship of the United States Fleet and headed via the Panama Canal to San Diego, her homeport for the next six years. During that period, she served first as flagship for the entire Fleet and, later, as flagship for Battleship Division (BatDiv) 1. In the summer of 1937, she once more was reassigned to the east coast, as the flagship of the Training Detachment, United States Fleet. Late in 1938 or early in 1939, the warship became flagship of the newly organized Atlantic Squadron, built around BatDiv 5. Through both organizational assignments, her labors were directed primarily to training missions, midshipman cruises, naval reserve drills, and training members of the Fleet Marine Force. These missions became more urgent following the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939. In May 1941, Texas began operating on the "neutrality patrol," established to keep the war out of the western hemisphere, though these cruises were mainly along the east coast and occasionally into the West Indies. Sunday, 7 December 1941, found the battleship at Casco Bay, Maine, undergoing a rest and relaxation period following three months of watch duty at Argentia, Newfoundland. After 10 days of Casco Bay, she returned to Argentia and remained there for the holidays. In late January 1942 she got underway to escort a convoy to British waters before proceeding to Iceland to watch out for German surface raiders. Returning home in March, the battleship resumed convoy-escort missions. On one occasion, she escorted Guadalcanal-bound marines as far as Panama. On another, the warship screened service troops to Freetown, Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa. More frequently, she made voyages to and from Great Britain escorting both cargo- and troop-carrying ships. On 23 October, Texas embarked upon her first major combat operation when she sortied with Task Group (TG) 34.8, the Northern Attack Group for Operation "Torch," the invasion of North Africa. The objective assigned to this group was Mehedia near Port Lyautey and the port itself. The ships arrived off the assault beaches early in the morning of 8 November and began preparations for the invasion. When the troops went ashore, Texas did not come immediately into action to support them. At that point in the war, amphibious warfare doctrine was still embryonic; and many did not recognize the value of a pre-landing bombardment. Instead, the Army insisted upon attempting surprise. Texas finally entered the fray early in the afternoon when the Army requested her to destroy an ammunition dump near Port Lyautey. For the next week, she contented herself with cruising up and down the Moroccan coast delivering similar, specific, call-fire missions. Thus, unlike later operations, she expended only 273 rounds of 14-inch and 6 rounds of 5-inch. During her short stay, some of her crew briefly went ashore to assist in salvaging some of the shipping sunk in the harbor. On 15 November, she departed North Africa and headed for home in company with Savannah (CL-42), Sangamon (ACV-26), Kennebec (AO-36), four transports, and seven destroyers. Throughout 1943, Texas carried out the familiar role of convoy escort. With New York as her home port, she made numerous transatlantic voyages to such places as Casablanca and Gibraltar, as well as frequent visits to ports in the British Isles. That routine continued into 1944 but ended in April of that year when, at the European end of one such mission, she remained at the Clyde estuary in Scotland and began training for the invasion of Normandy. That warm-up period lasted about seven weeks at the end of which she departed Belfast Lough and traveled down the Irish Sea and around the southern coast of England to arrive off the Normandy beaches on the night of 5 and 6 June. At about 0440 on the morning of the 6th, the battleship closed the Normandy coast to a point some 12,000 yards offshore near Pointe du Hoc. At 0550, Texas began churning up the coastal landscape with her 14-inch salvoes. Meanwhile, her secondary battery went to work on another target on the western end of "Omaha" beach, a ravine laced with strong points to defend an exit road. Later, under control of airborne spotters, she moved her major-caliber fire inland to interdict enemy reinforcement activities and to destroy batteries and other strong points farther inland. By noon, she closed the beach to about a range of 3,000 yards to fire upon snipers and machinegun nests hidden in a defile just off the beach. At the conclusion of that mission, the warship took an enemy antiaircraft battery located west of Vierville under fire. The following morning, her main battery rained 14-inch shells on the enemy-held town of Trevieres to break up German troop concentrations. That evening, she bombarded a German mortar battery which had been shelling the beach. Not long after midnight, German planes attacked the ships offshore, and one of them swooped in low on Texas' starboard quarter. Her antiaircraft batteries opened up immediately but failed to score on the intruder. On the morning of 8 June, her guns fired on Isigny, then on a shore battery, and finally on Trevieres once more. After that, she retired to Plymouth to rearm, returning to the French coast on the 11th. From then until the 15th, she supported the Army in its advance inland. However, by the latter day, the troops had advanced beyond the range of her guns; and the battleship moved on to another mission, having expended 690 rounds of 14-inch and 272 of 5-inch in the preceding twelve days. On the morning of 25 June, Texas closed in on the vital port of Cherbourg and, with Arkansas (BB-33), opened fire upon various fortifications and batteries surrounding the town. The guns on shore returned fire immediately and, at about 1230, succeeded in straddling Texas. The battleship, however, continued her firing runs in spite of shell geysers blossoming about her. The enemy gunners were stubborn and good. At 1316 a 280-millimeter shell slammed into her fire control tower, killed the helmsman, and wounded nearly everyone on the navigation bridge. Texas' commanding officer, Capt. Baker, miraculously escaped unhurt and quickly had the bridge cleared. The warship herself continued to deliver her 14- inch shells in spite of damage and casualties. Some time later, another shell struck the battleship. That one, a 240-millimeter armor-piercing shell, crashed through the port bow, entered a compartment located below the wardroom, but failed to explode. Throughout the three-hour duel, the Germans straddled and near-missed Texas over 65 times, but she continued her mission until 1500 when she retired, having expended 208 rounds of 14- inch in the roughly three-hour action. Texas steamed to Plymouth, England, where a bomb disposal team carefully removed the fuse, detonator and explosives from the unexploded shell, allowing its later presentation to the warship as a lucky charm. Following damage repairs to the battleship, Texas conducted refresher drills in preparation for the invasion of southern France. On 15 July, she departed Belfast Lough and headed for the Mediterranean. After stops at Gibraltar and Oran in Algeria, the battleship sailed to Taranto, Italy, before setting a course for the Riviera coast of France. She arrived off St. Tropez during the night of 14 and 15 July. At 0444, she moved into position for the pre-landing bombardment and, at 0651, opened up on her first target, a battery of five 155-millimeter guns. Due to the fact that the troops ashore moved inland rapidly against light resistance, she provided fire support for the assault for only the first day. Texas departed the southern coast of France on the evening of 16 August, having fired 172 rounds of 14-inch and 171 of 3-inch. After a stop at Palermo, Sicily, she left the Mediterranean and headed for New York where she arrived on 14 September 1944. At New York, Texas underwent a month-ling repair period during which the barrels on her main battery were replaced. After a brief refresher cruise to Casco Bay, she departed Maine in November and set a course, via the Panama Canal, for the Pacific. She made a stop at Long Beach, Calif., and then continued on to Oahu. She spent Christmas at Pearl Harbor and then conducted maneuvers in the Hawaiian Islands for two weeks before steaming to Ulithi Atoll. She departed Ulithi on 10 February 1945, stopped in the Marianas for two days' invasion rehearsals, and then set a course for Iwo Jima. She arrived off the target on 16 February, three days before the scheduled assault. She spent those three days pounding enemy defenses on Iwo Jima in preparation for the landings. After the troops stormed ashore on the 19th, Texas switched roles and began delivering support and call fire. She remained off Iwo Jima for almost a fortnight, helping the marines subdue a well dug-in and stubborn Japanese garrison. The duty kept her gunners busier than ever, as the battleship fired 923 rounds of 14- inch and 967 of 5-inch between 16 February and 7 March. Texas cleared Iwo Jima on 7 March and returned to Ulithi to prepare for the Okinawa operation. She departed Ulithi with TF 54, the gunfire support unit, on 21 March and arrived in the Ryukyus on the 25th. Texas did not participate in the occupation of the islands and roadstead at Kerama Retto carried out on the 26th but moved in on the main objective instead, beginning the pre-landing bombardment that same day. For the next six days, she delivered 14-inch salvoes to prepare the way for the Army and the Marine Corps. Each evening, she retired from her bombardment position close to the Okinawan shore only to return the next day and resume her poundings. The enemy ashore, preparing for a defense-in-depth strategy as at Iwo Jima, made no answer. Only his air units provided a response, sending several kamikaze raids to harass the bombardment group. Texas escaped damage during those small attacks. After six days of aerial and naval bombardment, the ground troops' turn came on 1 April. They stormed ashore against initially light resistance. For almost two months, Texas remained in Okinawan waters providing gunfire support for the troops ashore and fending off the enemy aerial assault. In performing the latter mission, she claimed one kamikaze kill on her own and three assists. The duration and scale of the operation dwarfed any of her previous gunnery efforts, with the battleship expending 2,019 14-inch, 2,640 5-inch and 490 3-inch rounds in almost seven weeks of action. The warship even expended 3,100 40mm and 2,275 20mm rounds against air and shore targets. On 14 May Texas retired to Leyte in the Philippines and remained there until after the Japanese capitulation on 15 August. She returned to Okinawa toward the end of August and stayed in the Ryukyus until 23 September. On that day, she set a course for the United States with troops embarked. The battleship delivered her passengers to San Pedro, Calif., on 15 October. She celebrated Navy Day there on 27 October and then resumed her mission bringing American troops home. She made two round-trip voyages between California and Oahu in November and a third in late December. On 21 January 1946, the warship departed San Pedro 117 and steamed via the Panama Canal to Norfolk where she arrived on 13 February. She soon began preparations for inactivation. In June, she was moved to Baltimore, Md., where she remained until the beginning of 1948. Texas was towed to San Jacinto State Park in Texas where she was decommissioned on 21 April 1948 and turned over to the state of Texas to serve as a permanent memorial. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 30 April 1948. Texas (BB-35) earned five battle stars during World War II.
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Built at Fore River SB Co.,
Quincy, Mass.
Keel Laid 11/04/12, Commissioned 03/11/16
Capt. W. S. Sims
commanding
The second NEVADA (BB-36) was laid down 4 November l912 by
the
Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Mass.; launched 11 July
1914;
sponsored by Miss Eleanor Anne Seibert, niece of Governor
Tasker L. Oddie of
Nevada and descendant of Secretary of the
Navy Benjamin Stoddert; and
commissioned 11 March 1916, Capt.
William B. Sims in
command.
NEVADA CLASS
BB-36
Length Overall:
583'
Extreme Beam: 95'3"
Displacement: Tons: 27,500 Mean
Draft: 28'6"
Complement: Off.: 55 Enl.:
809
Armament:
Main: (10) 14"/45
cal
Secondary: (21) 5"/51 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21"
submerged
Armor: Max. Thickness: 18"
Speed: 20.5
kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 26,500
Engines: Mfr.:
Curtis (FR)
Type: Turbine Vert. 3-Exp. Recip.
Boilers:
Mfr.: Yarrow (FR) No.: 12
Drive: TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons:
2,037
Nevada BB-36 The second Nevada (BB-36) was laid down 4 November 1912 by the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Mass. launched 11 July 1914; sponsored by Miss Eleanor Anne Seibert, niece of Governor Tasker L. Oddie of Nevada and descendant of Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddert; and commissioned 11 March 1916, Capt. William S. Sims in command. Nevada joined the Atlantic Fleet at Newport 26 May 1916 and operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean until World War I. After training gunners out of Norfolk, she sailed 13 August 1918 to serve with the British Grand Fleet, arriving Bantry Bay, Ireland 23 August. She made a sweep through the North Sea and escorted transport George Washington, President Woodrow Wilson embarked, during the last day of her passage into Brest, France, before sailing, for home 14 December. Nevada served in both Atlantic and Pacific Fleets in the period between the wars. In September 1922 she represented the United States in Rio de Janeiro for the Centennial of Brazilian Independence. From July to September 1925, she participated in the U.S. Fleet's goodwill cruise to Australia and New Zealand, which demonstrated to our friends down under, and to the Japanese, our ability to make a self-supported cruise to a distance equal to that to Japan. Modernized at Norfolk Naval Shipyard between August 1927 and January 1930, Nevada served in the Pacific Fleet for the next decade. On 7 December 1941, Nevada was moored singly off Ford Island, and had a freedom of maneuver denied the, other 8 battleships present during the attack. As her gunners opened fire and her engineers got up steam, she was struck by one torpedo and two, possibly three, bombs from the Japanese attackers, but was able to get underway. While attempting to leave harbor she was struck again. Fearing she might sink in the channel, blocking it, she was beached at Hospital Point. Gutted forward, she lost 50 killed and 109 wounded. Re-floated 12 February 1942, Nevada repaired at Pearl Harbor and Puget Sound Navy Yard, then sailed for Alaska where she provided fire support for the capture of Attu 11 to 18 May. In June she sailed for further modernization at Norfolk Navy Yard, and in April 1944 reached British waters to prepare for the Normandy Invasion. In action from 6 to 17 June, and again 25 June, her mighty guns pounded not only permanent shore defenses on the Cherbourg Peninsula, but ranged as far as 17 miles inland, breaking up German concentrations and counterattacks. Shore batteries straddled her 27 times, but failed to diminish her accurate fire. Between 15 August and 25 September, Nevada fired in the invasion of Southern France, dueling at Toulon with shore batteries of 13.4-inch guns taken from French battleships scuttled early in the war. Her gun barrels were relined at New York, and she sailed for the Pacific, arriving off Iwo Jima 16 February 1945 to give marines invading and fighting ashore her massive gunfire support through 7 March. On 24 March, Nevada massed off Okinawa with the mightiest naval force ever seen in the Pacific, as pre-invasion bombardment began. She pounded Japanese airfields, shore defenses, supply dumps, and troop concentrations through the crucial operation, although 11 men were killed and a main battery turret damaged when she was struck by a suicide plane 27 March. Another 2 men were lost to fire from a shore battery 5 April. Serving off Okinawa until 30 June, from 10 July to 7 August she ranged with the 3rd Fleet which not only bombed the Japanese home islands, but came within range for Nevada's guns during the closing days of the war. Returning to Pearl Harbor after a brief occupation duty in Tokyo Bay, Nevada was surveyed and assigned as a target ship for the Bikini atomic experiments. The tough old veteran survived the atom-bomb test of July 1946, returned to Pearl Harbor to decommission 29 August, and was sunk by gunfire and aerial torpedoes off Hawaii 31 July 1948. Nevada received 7 battle stars for World War II service.
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Built at New York SB Co.,
Camden, N. J.
Keel Laid 10/26/12, Commissioned 05/02/16
Capt. R. Welles
commanding
OKLAHOMA (BB-37) was laid down 26 October 1912 by New York
Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.; launched 23 March 1914;
sponsored by
Miss Lorena J. Cruce, and commissioned at
Philadelphia 2 May 1916, Captain
Roger Welles in command.
NEVADA CLASS
BB-37
Length
Overall: 583'
Extreme Beam: 95'3"
Displacement: Tons:
27,500 Mean Draft: 28'6"
Complement: Off.: 55 Enl.:
809
Armament:
Main: (10) 14"/45 cal
Secondary:
(21) 5"/51 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Armor: Max.
Thickness: 18"
Speed: 20.5 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
24,800
Engines: Mfr.: NYSB
Type: Vert. 3-Exp.
Recip.
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 12
Drive: TDR
Fuel:
(oil) Tons: 2,037
Oklahoma BB-37 Oklahoma (BB-37) was laid down 26 October 1912 by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.; launched 23 March 1914; sponsored by Miss Lorena J. Cruce, and commissioned at Philadelphia 2 May 1916, Captain Roger Welles in command. Joining the Atlantic Fleet with Norfolk her home port, Oklahoma trained on the eastern seaboard until sailing 13 August 1918 with sister ship Nevada to join in the task of protecting Allied convoys in European waters. In December she was part of the escort as President Woodrow Wilson arrived in France, departing the 14th for New York and winter fleet exercises in Cuban waters. She returned to Brest 15 June 1919 to escort President Wilson in George Washington home from his second visit to France, returning to New York 8 July. A part of the Atlantic Fleet for the next two years, Oklahoma was overhauled, trained, and twice voyaged to South America's west coast; early in 1921 for combined exercises with the Pacific Fleet, and later that year for the Peruvian Centennial. She then joined the Pacific Fleet for six years highlighted by the cruise of the Battle Fleet to Australia and New Zealand in 1925. Joining the Scouting Fleet in early 1927, Oklahoma continued intensive exercises during that summer's Midshipmen Cruise, voyaging to the East Coast to embark midshipmen, carrying them through the Panama Canal to San Francisco, and returning by the way of Cuba and Haiti. Modernized at Philadelphia between September 1927 and July 1929, Oklahoma rejoined the Scouting Fleet for exercises in the Caribbean, and returned to the west coast in June 1930 for fleet operations through spring 1936. That summer she carried midshipmen on a European training cruise, visiting northern ports. The cruise was interrupted with the outbreak of civil war in Spain, as Oklahoma sped to Bilbao, arriving 24 July 1936 to rescue American citizens and other refugees, whom she carried to Gibraltar and French ports. She returned to Norfolk 11 September, and to the West Coast 24 October. Oklahoma's Pacific Fleet operations during the next four years included joint operations with the Army and the training of reservists. She was based at Pearl Harbor from 6 December 1940 for patrols and exercises, and was moored in Battleship Row 7 December 1941 when the Japanese attacked. Outboard alongside Maryland Oklahoma took 3 torpedo hits almost immediately after the first Japanese bombs fell. As she began to capsize, 2 more torpedoes struck home, and her men were strafed as they abandoned ship. Within 20 minutes after the attack began, she had swung over until halted by her masts touching bottom, her starboard side above water, and a part of her keel clear. Many of her crew, however, remained in the fight, clambering aboard Maryland to help serve her antiaircraft batteries. Twenty officers and 395 enlisted men were either killed or missing, 32 others wounded, and many were trapped within the capsized hull, to be saved by heroic rescue efforts. Such an effort was that of Julio DeCastro, a civilian yard worker who organized the team which saved 32 Oklahoma sailors. The difficult salvage job began in March 1943, and Oklahoma entered drydock 28 December. Decommissioning 1 September 1944, Oklahoma was stripped of guns and superstructure, and sold 5 December 1946 to Moore Drydock Co., Oakland, Calif. Oklahoma parted her tow line and sank 17 May 1947 540 miles out, bound from Pearl Harbor to San Francisco. Oklahoma received 1 battle star for World War II service.
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Built at Newport News SB
Co., Newport News, Va.
Keel Laid 10/27/13, Commissioned 06/12/16
Capt. H.
B. Wilson commanding
The second PENNSYLVANIA (BB-38) was laid down 27 October
1913 by
the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News,
Va.; launched 16 March 1915; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Kolb;
and
commissioned 12 June 19J16, Capt. H. B. Wilson in command.
PENNSYLVANIA
CLASS
BB-38
Length Overall: 608'
Extreme Beam:
97'1"
Displacement: Tons: 31,400 Mean Draft:
28'10"
Complement: Off.: 55 Enl.: 860
Armament:
Main: (12) 14"/45 cal
Secondary: (22) 5"/51 cal (4)
3"/50 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Armor: Max.
Thickness: 18"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
31,500
Engines: Mfr.: Curtis (NN)
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 12 Drive: TDR
Fuel: (oil)
Tons: 2,322
Pennsylvania BB-38 The second Pennsylvania (BB-38) was laid down 27 October 1913 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.; launched 16 March 1915; sponsored by Miss Elizabeth Kolb; and commissioned 12 June 1916, Capt. H. B. Wilson in command. Pennsylvania was attached to the Atlantic Fleet. On 12 October 1916 she became flagship of Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, when Admiral Henry T. Mayo shifted his flag from Wyoming to Pennsylvania. In January 1917, Pennsylvania steamed for Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean. She returned to her base at Yorktown, Va., 6 April 1917, the day of declaration of war against Germany. She did not sail to join the British Grand Fleet since she burned fuel oil and tankers could not be spared to carry additional fuel to the British Isles. In the light of this circumstance, only coal burning battleships were selected for this mission. Based at Yorktown, she kept in battle trim with Fleet maneuvers, tactics, and training in the areas of the Chesapeake Bay, intervened by overhaul at Norfolk and New York, with brief maneuvers in Long Island Sound. While at Yorktown, 11 August 1917, Pennsylvania manned the rail and rendered honors as, with President Wilson aboard, Mayflower stood in and anchored. At 12:15 p.m. President Wilson returned the call of Commander, Battle Force aboard Pennsylvania and was given full honors. On 2 December 1918, Pennsylvania steamed to anchorage off Tompkinsville, New York. On 4 December, she got underway for Brest, France. At 11:00 a.m., transport George Washington flying the flag of the President of the United States, stood out with an escort of ten destroyers. Pennsylvania manned the rail and fired a salute of 21 guns. She took position ahead of George Washington as guide for the President's escort. Arriving in Brest 13 December, the crew manned the rail and cheered as George Washington passed and proceeded to her anchorage. On 14 December Pennsylvania departed for New York, arriving 25 December. In February 1919, Pennsylvania steamed for Fleet maneuvers in the Caribbean Sea, returning to New York in the late spring. While at New York, 30 June 1919, Admiral Mayo was relieved as Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, by Vice Admiral Henry B. Wilson. At Tompkinsville, New York, 8 July 1919, Pennsylvania embarked Vice President Marshall, Cabinet Secretaries Daniels, Glass, Wilson, Baker, Lane, and Senator Champ Clark, and then put to sea. At 10:00 a.m. Oklahoma was sighted with George Washington flying the President's flag and accompanied by her ocean escort. Pennsylvania fired a presidential salute, then took position ahead of Oklahoma and steamed to New York, stopping enroute to disembark her distinguished guests before proceeding to berth. On 7 January 1920, she departed New York for Fleet maneuvers, in the Caribbean Sea, returning to New York 26 April 1920. She resumed a schedule of local training operations until 17 January 1921 when she departed New York for the Panama Canal, arriving at Balboa, 20 January, to join units of the Pacific Fleet and became flagship of the combined fleets, the Commander in Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet assuming command of the U.S. Battle Fleet on orders of the Navy Department. On 21 January 1921, the Fleet sailed from Balboa, enroute to Callao, Peru, arriving 31 January 1921. Departing, 2 February, Pennsylvania returned to Balboa, 14 February, then conducted brief exercises while based at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Upon return to Hampton Roads, 28 April 1921, she rendered a 21 gun salute as she passed Mayflower. The Secretary of the Navy, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the Assistant Secretary of the Navy came aboard for a reception to the President of the United States. At 11:40 President Harding came aboard and his flag was broken at the main. On 22 August 1922, Pennsylvania departed Lynhaven Roads to join the Pacific Fleet. Arriving at San Pedro, Calif., 26 September 1922, her principal area of operations until 1929 was along the coast of California, Washington, and Oregon, with periodic maneuvers and tactics off the Panama Canal, in the Caribbean Sea, and Hawaiian operating areas. She departed with the Fleet from San Francisco, 15 April 1925, and after war games in the Hawaiian area, departed Honolulu, 1 July, enroute to Melbourne, Australia. After a visit to Wellington, New Zealand, she returned to San Pedro, Calif., 26 September 1925. In January 1929, Pennsylvania cruised to Panama, and after training maneuvers while based at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, steamed to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, arriving 1 June 1929, to undergo overhaul and modernization. She remained in the yard for nearly two years. On 8 May 1931, she departed for a refresher training cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and then returned. On 6 August 1931, she again sailed for Guantanamo, and later continued on to San Pedro, where she again joined the Battle Fleet. From August 1931 to 1941, Pennsylvania engaged in Fleet tactics and battle practice along the west coast and participated in Fleet problems and maneuvers which were held periodically in the Hawaiian area as well as the Caribbean Sea. After overhaul in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, 7 January 1941, she again sailed for Hawaii where she carried out scheduled operations with units of Task Forces 1 and 5, throughout that year, making one brief voyage to the west coast with Task Force 18. At the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941, Pennsylvania was in drydock in the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. She was one of the first ships in the harbor to open fire as enemy dive bombers and torpedo planes roared out of the high overcast. They did not succeed in repeated attempts to torpedo the cassion of the drydock but Pennsylvania and the surrounding dock areas were severely strafed. The crew of one 5- inch gun mount was wiped out when a bomb struck the starboard side of her boat deck and exploded inside casemate 9. Destroyers Cassin and Downes, just forward of Pennsylvania in drydock were seriously damaged by bomb hits. Pennsylvania was pockmarked by flying fragments. A part of a torpedo tube from destroyer Downes, about 1000 pounds in weight, was blown onto the forecastle of Pennsylvania. She had 15 men killed, 14 missing in action, and 38 men wounded. On 20 December 1941, Pennsylvania sailed for San Francisco, arriving 29 December 1941. She underwent repairs until 30 March 1942. From 14 April to 1 August 1942, Pennsylvania conducted extensive training operations and patrol along the coast of California, intervened by overhaul at San Francisco. During this duty, 4 June 1942, Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet, held brief ceremonies aboard Pennsylvania to present the Distinguished Service Medal to Admiral Chester W. Nimitz for exceptionally meritorious service as Commander in Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet since 31 December 1941. On 1 August 1942, Pennsylvania departed San Francisco for Pearl Harbor, arriving 14 August. She conducted gunnery exercises and took part in carrier task force guard tactics in the Hawaiian area. On 4 October, Pennsylvania returned to San Francisco, remaining for overhaul which was completed by 5 February 1943. She then conducted refresher training and air defense patrol off the coast of California. On 23 April Pennsylvania sailed for Alaska to take part in the Aleutian Campaign. On 30 April, Pennsylvania arrived at Cold Bay, Alaska. During 11-12 May, she engaged in shore bombardment of Holtz Bay and Chicago Harbor, Attu, in support of the landings. As she retired from Attu on 12 May, a patrol plane warned that a torpedo wake was headed for Pennsylvania. She maneuvered at full speed as the torpedo passed safely astern. Destroyer Edwards teamed with Farragut to hunt down the attacker. After ten hours of relentless depth charge attacks, submarine I-31 was forced to the surface and was shelled by gunfire from Edwards. Severely damaged, the enemy survived until 13 June, then being sunk by destroyer Frazier. Torpedo wakes were again sighted, the morning of 14 May, and destroyers conducted a fruitless search for the enemy. That same morning Pennsylvania's seaplanes were launched to operate from seaplane tender Casco in making strafing attacks on enemy positions on Attu. The afternoon of 14 May, Pennsylvania conducted her third bombardment mission, this time in support of the infantry attack on the west arm of Holtz Bay. She then operated to the north and east of Attu until 19 May when she steamed for Adak. She departed Adak 21 May and arrived at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., 28 May. She returned to Adak, 7 August, and departed 13 August as flagship of Admiral Rockwell, commanding the Kiska Attack Force. On 15 August assault troops landed without oppositition on the western beaches of Kiska. By the evening of 16 August it became apparent the Japanese had evacuated under cover of fog prior to the landing. She patrolled off Kiska for a time then returned to Adak, 23 August. On 25 August Pennsylvania steamed for Pearl Harbor, arriving 1 September. Here she took aboard 790 passengers and departed 19 September for San Francisco where she arrived 25 September. She returned to Pearl Harbor, 6 October, and after debarking passengers, took part in rehearsal and bombardment exercises in the Hawaiian areas. She became flagship of Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, Commander Fifth Amphibious Force, and formed part of the Northern Attack Force, departing Pearl Harbor, 10 November, for the assault on Makin Atoll, Gilbert Islands. The Task Force, comprising four battleships, four cruisers, three escort carriers, transports and destroyers, approached Makin Atoll from the southeast on the morning of 20 November. Pennsylvania opened fire on Butaritari Island with her main battery at the initial range of 14,200 yards and then opened with her secondary battery. Just before general quarters on the morning of 24 November a tremendous explosion took place off the starboard bow as Pennsylvania was returning to a screening sector off Makin. At almost the same instant a screening destroyer reported sound contact and disposition immediately executed a course change. For several minutes after the explosion, a large fire lighted up the entire area. Word soon came that escort carrier Liscome Bail had been torpedoed. She sank with tremendous loss of life. Determined night air attacks were made by enemy torpedo planes on the nights of 25 and 26 November but were repelled without damage to ships of the Task Force. On 31 January 1944, Pennsylvania commenced bombardment of Kawjalein Island which was continued throughout the day. Landings were made 1 February, with Pennsylvania joining in bombardment support before and after the landing operations. On the evening of 3 February, she anchored in the lagoon near Kwajalein Island. The success of the Kwajalein operation was ensured and Pennsylvania retired to Majuro Atoll to replenish ammunition. On 12 February Pennsylvania got underway for operations against Eniwetok, Marshall Islands. On 17 February, Pennsylvania steamed boldly through the deep entrance into Eniwetok Lagoon with her batteries blazing away. She steamed up a swept channel in the lagoon to a position off Engebi Island and commenced bombardment of enemy installations. On the morning of 18 February, Pennsylvania bombarded Engebi before and during the approach of the assault waves to the beach. When Engebi had been secured, Pennsylvania steamed southward through the lagoon to the vicinity of Parry Island, where she took part in bombardment 20-21 February, preparatory to the landing assaults. At the commencement of bombardment the island had been covered with a dense growth of palm trees extending to the waters edge. At conclusion of bombardment, not a single tree remained standing. On the morning of 22 February, she gave bombardment support prior to the landing on Parry Island. Pennsylvania retired to Majuro, 1 March, then steamed south to Havannah Harbor, Efate, New Hebrides Islands. She remained at Efate until late April. On 29 April, Pennsylvania arrived in Sydney, Australia. She returned to Efate, 11 May, then sailed to Port Purvis, Florida Islands, from which she operated to conduct bombardment and amphibious assault exercises. She returned to Efate 27 March, and after replenishment of ammunition, departed, 2 June, arriving at Roil 3 June. On 10 June, Pennsylvania formed with a force of battleships, cruisers, escort carriers, and destroyers enroute for the assault and occupation of the Marianas Islands. That night a destroyer in the screen reported sound contact and emergency turn left 90 degrees was ordered. As a result of this maneuver, Pennsylvania collided with high-speed transport Talbot and sustained minor damage. Talbot put into Eniwetok for emergency repairs. On 14 June, Pennsylvania took part in the bombardment of Saipan preparatory to the assault landings made the next day while she cruised off the northeastern shore of Tinian, conducting heavy bombardment of that island to neutralize any enemy batteries which might have opened fire on the landing beaches of Saipan. On 16 June she conducted bombardment of targets on Orote Point, Guam, then retired to cover the Saipan area. Pennsylvania departed the Marianas, 25 June, and after a brief stay at Eniwetok, Marshall Islands, departed 9 July to resume support of the Marianas Campaign. From 12 through 14 July, Pennsylvania conducted bombardment of Guam in preparation for the assault and landings on that island. On completion of firing the evening of 14 July, she returned to Saipan to replenish ammunition. She returned to Guam, 17 July, and delivered protective fire support to demolition parties. At the same time she continued deliberate destructive fire on designated targets through 20 July. On the early morning of 21 July, Pennsylvania took a position between Agat Beach and Orote Peninsula, and commenced bombardment of beach areas in immediate preparation for the assault while troops and equipment were loaded into landing craft and landing waves were being formed. Upon establishment of the beachhead she stood by for fire support missions as might be called for by shore fire control parties, continuing this duty until 3 August. She then steamed to Eniwetok, thence to the New Hebrides Islands, and after rehearsal of landing assaults on Cape Esperance, Guadalcanal, arrived at Port Purvis, Florida Island. She departed 6 September as part of the Palau Bombardment and Fire Support Group. From 12 through 14 September, Pennsylvania took part in intensive bombardment of targets on the island of Peleliu. On 15 September, she also furnished gunfire support for the landings on that island. She then delivered a devastating fire on enemy gun emplacements among the rocks and cliffs flanking Red Beach on Angaur Island. On 25 September Pennsylvania steamed for emergency repairs at Manus, Admiralty Island, entering floating drydock, 1 October 1944. She departed 12 October, one of six battleships in Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's Bombardment and Fire Support Group which formed a part of the Central Philippine Attack Force under command of Vice Admiral Thomas Cassin Kinkaid, enroute to the Philippine Islands. Pennsylvania reached fire support station on the eastern coast of Leyte, 18 October, and commenced covering bombardment for beach reconnaissance, underwater demolition teams, and minesweeping units operating in Leyte Gulf and San Pedro Harbor. She conducted bombardment missions the next day and supported the landings on Leyte, 20 October. Gunfire support missions continued through 22 October, including harassing and night illumination fire. On 24 October, all available United States vessels prepared for action as units of the Japanese Fleet closed the Philippines, preliminary to the Battle for Leyte Gulf. Pennsylvania and five other battleships, with cruisers and destroyers of Rear Admiral Oldendorf's Force, steamed south and by nightfall were steaming slowly back and forth across the northern entrance of Surigao Strait, awaiting the approach of the enemy. That night, American motor torpedo boats stationed well down in Surigao Strait made the first encounter with torpedo attacks. Destroyers of the Force, on either flank of the enemy's line of approach, followed with torpedo and gun attacks. At 0353, 25 October, West Virginia opened fire, joined shortly thereafter by other battleships and cruisers. The Japanese had run head on into a perfect trap. Rear Admiral Oldendorf had executed the dream of every naval tactician by crossing the enemy's "T". The Japanese lost two battleships and three destroyers in the Battle of Surigao Strait. Cruiser Mogami in company with a destroyer, all that remained of the enemy force, managed to escape. Rear Admiral Oldendorf's Force did not suffer the loss of a single vessel. Mogami was sunk the next day by carrier planes. On 25 October 1944 ten enemy planes made a simultaneous run on a destroyer close aboard Pennsylvania which assisted in splashing four and driving off the others. On the night of 28 October, she shot down a bomber as it attempted a torpedo run. Remaining on patrol in Leyte Gulf until 25 November, Pennsylvania then steamed to Manus, Admiralty Islands, and thence to Kossol Passage where she loaded ammunition. She departed 1 January 1945 with Vice Admiral Oldendorf's Lingayen Bombardment and Fire Support Group, steaming for Lingayen Gulf. The Group came under heavy air attacks 4-5 January and the escort carrier Ommaney Bay was hit by a suicide plane and destroyed by the resulting fire. Many other ships were damaged. On the morning of 6 January, Pennsylvania commenced bombardment of target areas on Santiago Island at the mouth of Lingayen Gulf. That afternoon she entered the Gulf to conduct counter-battery fire in support of minesweeping forces, retiring at night. At daybreak, 7 January, the entire bombardment force entered Lingayen Gulf to deliver supporting and destructive fire. Preliminary assault bombardment was continued the next day. On 9 January, Pennsylvania provided gunfire support for the protection of the waves of landing troops. Enemy aircraft attacked the force in Lingayen Gulf, 10 January. Four bombs landed close by, but Pennsylvania was not hit. That afternoon she executed her last call fire mission in support of the operation by firing twelve rounds to destroy a concentration of enemy tanks which had been located inland by a shore fire control party. From 10 to 17 January, Pennsylvania conducted patrol in the South China Sea, off Lingayen Gulf, with other ships of the task group. On 17 January she anchored in Lingayen Gulf, remaining until 10 February when she sailed for temporary repairs at Manus, Admiralty Islands. Departing 22 February, she steamed via the Marshall Islands and Pearl Harbor to San Francisco, arriving 13 March. She entered the Hunter's Point Shipyard and underwent thorough overhaul. Her main battery turrets and secondary battery mounts were re-gunned. Additional close range weapons as well as improved radar and fire control equipment were installed. Upon completion of overhaul, Pennsylvania conducted trial runs out of San Francisco, followed by refresher training while based at San Diego, Calif. She departed San Francisco 12 July for Pearl Harbor, arriving 18 July. She sailed for Okinawa, 24 July. Enroute she took part in the bombardment of Wake Island, 1 August, and, after loading ammunition at Saipan the next day, resumed her voyage. She anchored in Buckner Bay alongside Tennessee. On 12 August a Japanese torpedo plane slipped in over Buckner Bay without detection and launched a torpedo at Pennsylvania which lay at anchor. Hit well aft, Pennsylvania suffered extensive damage. Twenty men were killed and ten injured. Many compartments were flooded and Pennsylvania settled heavily by the stern. The flooding was brought under control by efforts of Pennsylvania's repair parties and the prompt assistance of two salvage tugs. The following day, she was towed to more shallow water where salvage operations continued. On 18 August, Pennsylvania departed Buckner Bay, Okinawa, under tow of two tugs. She arrived Apra Harbor, Guam 6 September, and entered drydock where a large sheet steel patch was welded over the torpedo hole and repairs to permit her to return to the United States under her own power were completed. On 4 October, she sailed for the Puget Sound Navy Yard in company with destroyer Walke and cruiser Atlanta. On 17 October number 3 shaft suddenly carried away inside the stern tube and the shaft slipped aft. It was necessary to send divers down to cut through the shaft, letting the shaft and propeller drop into the sea. Shipping water and with only one screw turning, Pennsylvania limped into Puget Sound Navy Yard, 24 October. Repairs were made to enable Pennsylvania to steam to the Marshall Islands where she was used as a target ship in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini during July 1946. She was then towed to Kwajalein Lagoon where she decommissioned 29 August 1946. She remained in Kwajalein Lagoon for radiological and structural studies until 10 February 1948 when she was sunk off Kwajalein. She was struck from the Navy List 19 February 1948. Pennsylvania received eight battle stars for World War II service.
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Built at New York Navy Yard,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Keel Laid 03/16/14, Commissioned 10/17/16
Capt. J. D.
McDonald commanding
The second ARIZONA (Battleship No. 39) was laid down on
16 March
1914 at the New York Navy Yard; launched on 19 June 1915;
sponsored by Miss Esther Ross, daughter of a prominent ARIZONA
pioneer
citizen, Mr. W. W. Ross of Prescott, Ariz.; and
commissioned at her
builder's yard on 17 October 1916, Capt.
John D. McDonald in
command.
PENNSYLVANIA CLASS
BB-39
Length Overall:
608'
Extreme Beam: 97'1"
Displacement: Tons: 31,400 Mean
Draft: 28'10"
Complement: Off.: 55 Enl.:
860
Armament:
Main: (12) 14"/45 cal
Secondary:
(22) 5"/51 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Armor: Max.
Thickness: 18"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
34,000
Engines: Mfr.: Parsons (NYNY)
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 12 Drive: TDR
Fuel: (oil)
Tons: 2,321
Arizona BB-39 The second Arizona (Battleship No. 39) was laid down on 16 March 1914 at the New York Navy Yard; launched on 19 June 1915; sponsored by Miss Esther Ross, daughter of a prominent Arizona pioneer citizen, Mr. W. W. Ross of Prescott, Arizona; and commissioned at her builder's yard on 17 October 1916, Capt. John D. McDonald in command. Arizona departed New York on 16 November 1916 for shakedown training off the Virginia capes and Newport, proceeding thence to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. She returned to Norfolk on 16 December, and later test fired her battery and conducted torpedo-defense exercises in Tangier Sound. The battleship returned to her builder's yard the day before Christmas of 1916 for post- shakedown overhaul. Completing these repairs and alterations on 3 April 1917, she cleared the yard on that date for Norfolk, arriving there on the following day to join Battleship Division 8. Within days, the United States forsook its tenuous neutrality in the global conflict then raging and entered World War I. Arizona operated out of Norfolk throughout the war, serving as a gunnery training ship and patrolling the waters of the eastern seaboard from the Virginia capes to New York. An oil-burner, she had not been deployed to European waters owing to a scarcity of fuel oil in the British Isles-the base of other American battleships sent to reinforce the Grand Fleet. A week after the armistice of 11 November 1918 stilled the guns on the western front, Arizona stood out of Hampton Roads for Portland, England, and reached her destination on 30 November 1918, putting to sea with her division on 12 December to rendezvous with the transport George Washington, the ship carrying President Woodrow Wilson to the Paris Peace Conference. Arizona, one of the newest and most powerful American dreadnoughts, served as part of the honor escort convoying the President to Brest, France, on 13 December 1918. Embarking 238 homeward-bound veterans in the precursor of a "Magic Carpet" operation of a later war, Arizona sailed from Brest for New York on 14 December, and arrived off Ambrose Light on the afternoon of Christmas Day, 1918. The next day, she passed in review before Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels, who was embarked in the yacht Mayflower off the Statue of Liberty, before entering New York Harbor in a great homecoming celebration. The battleship then sailed for Hampton Roads on 22 January 1919, returning to her base at Norfolk on the following day. Arizona sailed for Guantanamo Bay with the fleet on 4 February 1919, and arrived on the 8th. After engaging in battle practices and maneuvers there, the battleship sailed for Trinidad on 17 March, arriving there five days later for a three-day port visit. She then returned to Guantanamo Bay on 29 March for a brief period, sailing for Hampton Roads on 9 April. Arriving at her destination on the morning of the 12th, she got underway late that afternoon for Brest, France, ultimately making arrival there on 21 April 1919. The battleship stood out of Brest harbor on 3 May, bound for Asia Minor, and arrived at the port of Smyrna eight days later to protect American lives there during the Greek occupation of that port-an occupation resisted by gunfire from Turkish nationals. Arizona provided temporary shelter on board for a party of Greek nationals, while the battleship's marine detachment guarded the American consulate; a number of American citizens also remained on board Arizona until conditions permitted them to return ashore. Departing Smyrna on 9 June for Constantinople, Turkey, the battleship carried the United States consul-at-large, Leland E. Morris, to that port before sailing for New York on 15 June. Proceeding via Gibraltar, Arizona reached her destination on 30 June. Entering the New York Navy Yard for upkeep soon thereafter, the battleship cleared that port on 6 January 1920 to join Battleship Division 7 for winter and spring maneuvers in the Caribbean. She operated out of Guantanamo Bay during this period, and also visited Bridgetown, Barbados, in the British West Indies, and Colon, in the Panama Canal Zone, before she sailed north for New York, arriving there on 1 May 1920. Departing New York on 17 May, Arizona operated on the Southern Drill Grounds, and then visited Norfolk and Annapolis, before returning to New York on 25 June. Over the next six months, the ship operated locally out of New York. During this time she was given the alphanumeric hull designation, BB-39, on 17 July 1920, and, on 23 August, she became flagship for Commander Battleship Division 7, Rear Admiral Edward W. Eberle. Sailing from New York on 4 January 1921, Arizona joined the fleet as it sailed for Guantanamo Bay and the Panama Canal Zone. Arriving at Colon, on the Atlantic side of the isthmian waterway, on 19 January, Arizona transited the Panama Canal for the first time on that day, arriving at Panama Bay on the 20th. Underway for Callao, Peru, on the 22d, the fleet arrived there nine days later, on the 31st, for a six-day visit. While she was there, Arizona hosted a visit from the President of Peru. Underway for Balboa on 5 February 1921, Arizona arrived at her destination on the 14th; transiting the canal again the day after Washington's Birthday, the battleship reached Guantanamo Bay on the 26th. She operated thence until 24 April 1921, when she sailed for New York, steaming via Hampton Roads. Arizona reached New York on 29 April, and remained under overhaul there until 15 June. She steamed thence for Hampton Roads on the latter date, and on the 21st operated off Cape Charles with Army and Navy observers to witness the experimental bombings of the ex-German submarine U-117. Returning to New York, the battleship there broke the flag of Vice Admiral John D. McDonald (who, as a captain, had been Arizona's first commanding officer) on 1 July and sailed for Panama and Peru on 9 July. She arrived at the port of Callao on 22 July as flagship for the Battle Force, Atlantic Fleet, to observe the celebrations accompanying the centennial year of Peruvian independence. On 27 July, Vice Admiral McDonald went ashore and represented the United States at the unveiling of a monument commemorating the accomplishments of San Martin, who had liberated Peru from the Spanish yoke a century before. Sailing for Panama Bay on 3 August, Arizona became flagship for Battleship Division 7 when Vice Admiral McDonald transferred his flag to Wyoming (BB- 33) and Rear Admiral Josiah S. McKean broke his flag on board as commander of the division on 10 August at Balboa. The following day, the battleship sailed for San Diego, arriving there on 21 August 1921. Over the next 14 years, Arizona alternately served as flagship for Battleship Divisions 2, 3 or 4. Based at San Pedro during this period, Arizona operated with the fleet in the operating areas off the coast of southern California or in the Caribbean during fleet concentrations there. She participated in a succession of fleet problems (the annual maneuvers of the fleet that served as the culmination of the training year), ranging from the Caribbean to the waters off the west coast of central America and the Canal Zone; from the West Indies to the waters between Hawaii and the west coast. Following her participation in Fleet Problem IX (January 1929), Arizona transited the Panama Canal on 7 February for Guantanamo Bay, whence she operated through April. She then proceeded to Norfolk Navy Yard, entering it on 4 May 1929 to prepare for modernization. Placed in reduced commission on 15 July 1929, Arizona remained in yard hands for the next 20 months; tripod masts, surmounted by three-tiered fire control tops, replaced the old cage masts; 5-inch, 25-caliber antiaircraft guns replaced the 3-inch 50-caliber weapons with which she had been equipped. She also received additional armor to protect her vitals from the fall of shot and blisters to protect her from torpedo or near-miss damage from bombs. In addition, she received new boilers as well as new main and cruising turbines. Ultimately, she was placed in full commission on 1 March 1931. A little over two weeks later, on 19 March 1931, President Herbert C. Hoover embarked on board the recently modernized battleship, and sailed for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, standing out to sea from Hampton Roads that day. Returning on 29 March, Arizona disembarked the Chief Executive and his party at Hampton Roads, and then proceeded north to Rockland, Maine, to run her post-modernization standardization trials. After a visit to Boston, the battleship dropped down to Norfolk, whence she sailed for San Pedro on 1 August 1931, assigned to Battleship Division 3, Battle Force. Over the next decade, Arizona continued to operate with the Battle Fleet, and took part in the succession of fleet problems that took the fleet from the waters of the northern pacific and Alaska to those surrounding the West Indies, and into the waters east of the lesser Antilles. On 17 September 1938, Arizona became the flagship for Battleship Division 1, when Rear Admiral Chester W. Nimitz broke his flag. Detached on 27 May 1939 to become Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, Nimitz was relieved on that day by Rear Admiral Russell Willson. Arizona's last fleet problem was XXI. At its conclusion, the United States Fleet was retained in Hawaiian waters, based at Pearl Harbor. She operated in the Hawaiian Operating Area until late that summer, when she returned to Long Beach on 30 September 1940. She was then overhauled at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., into the following year. Her last flag change-of-command occurred on 23 January 1941, when Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd relieved Rear Admiral Willson as Commander, Battleship Division 1. The battleship returned to Pearl Harbor on 3 February 1941 to resume the intensive training maintained by the Pacific Fleet. She made one last visit to the west coast, clearing "Pearl" on 11 June 1941 for Long Beach, ultimately returning to her Hawaiian base on 8 July. Over the next five months, she continued exercises and battle problems of various kinds on type training and tactical exercises in the Hawaiian operating area. She underwent a brief overhaul at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard commencing on 27 October 1941, receiving the foundation for a search radar atop her foremast. She conducted her last training in company with her division mates Nevada (BB-36) and Oklahoma (BB-37), conducting a night firing exercise on the night of 4 December 1941. All three ships moored at quays ("keys") along Ford Island on the 5th, with Arizona mooring at berth F-7. Scheduled to receive a tender availability, Arizona took the repair ship Vestal (AR-l) alongside her port side on Saturday, 6 December. The two ships thus lay moored together on the morning of 7 December; among the men on board Arizona that morning were Rear Admiral Kidd and the battleship's captain, Capt. Franklin van Valkenburgh, and Lt.Col. Daniel R. Fox, USMC, the division marine officer. Shortly before 0800, Japanese aircraft from six fleet carriers struck the Pacific Fleet as it lay in port at Pearl Harbor, and in the ensuing two attack waves, wreaked devastation on the Battle Line and on air and military facilities defending Pearl Harbor. On board Arizona, the ship's air raid alarm went off about 0755, and the ship went to general quarters soon thereafter. Insofar as it could be determined soon after the attack, the ship sustained eight bomb hits. The one that most likely caused the ship's destruction came from the 800- kilogram bomb dropped by the Nakajima B5N2 Type 97 carrier attack plane commanded by Lt. Comdr. Kasumi Tadashi, of the carrier Hiryu's air unit, that glanced off the face plate of Turret II and penetrated the deck to explode in the black powder magazine, which in turn set off adjacent smokeless powder magazines. A cataclysmic explosion ripped through the forward part of the ship, touching off fierce fires that burned for two days; debris showered down on Ford Island in the vicinity. Acts of heroism on the part of Arizona's officers and men, sailors and marines, were many, headed by those of Lt. Comdr. Samuel G. Fuqua, the ship's first lieutenant and senior surviving officer on board, whose coolness in attempting to quell the fires and get survivors off the ship earned him the Medal of Honor. Fuqua's "calmness," Sgt. John M. Baker, USMC, a survivor of the battleship's marine detachment, later recounted, "gave me courage, and I looked around to see if I could help." Posthumous awards of the Medal of Honor also went to Rear Admiral Kidd, the first flag officer to be killed in the Pacific war, and to Capt. Van Valkenburgh, who reached the bridge and was attempting to fight his ship when the bomb hit on the magazines destroyed her. Twenty-three ships (destroyers, destroyer escorts and high speed transports) honored men from Arizona's ship's company who perished that morning. The blast that destroyed Arizona and sank her at her berth alongside of Ford Island consumed the lives of 1,177 of the 1,512 men on board at the time-over half of the casualties suffered by the entire fleet on the "Day of Infamy." Placed "in ordinary" at Pearl Harbor on 29 December 1941, Arizona was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1942. Her wreck was cut down so that very little of the superstructure lay above water; her after main battery turrets and guns were removed to be emplaced as coast defense guns. Arizona's wreck remains at Pearl Harbor, a memorial to the men of her crew lost that December morn in 1941. On 7 March 1950, Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, instituted the raising of colors over Arizona's remains, and legislation during the administrations of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy designated the wreck a national shrine. A memorial was built spanning the ship; it was dedicated on 30 May 1962. Arizona (BB-39) was awarded one battle star for her service in World War II.
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Built at New York Navy
Yard, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Keel Laid 10/14/15, Commissioned 05/20/18
Capt. A.
H. Robertson commanding
NEW MEXICO (BB-40) was laid down 14 October 1915 by
the New York
Navy Yard; launched 13 April 1917; sponsored by Miss Margaret C.
DeBaca, daughter of the Governor of New Mexico; and commissioned
20 May
1918, Capt. Ashley H. Robertson in command.
NEW MEXICO
CLASS
BB-40
Length Overall: 624'
Extreme Beam:
97'5"
Displacement: Tons: 32,000 Mean Draft:
30'
Complement: Off.: 58 Enl.: 1,026
Armament:
Main: (12) 14"/50 cal
Secondary: (14) 5"/51 cal (4)
3"/50 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Armor: Max.
Thickness: 18"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
27,599
Engines: Mfr.: Curtis (GE)
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 9
Drive:
TE
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 3,277
New Mexico BB-40 New Mexico (BB-40) was laid down 14 October 1915 by the New York Navy Yard: launched 13 April 1917; sponsored by Miss Margaret C. DeBaca, daughter of the Governor of New Mexico; and commissioned 20 May 1918, Capt. Ashley H. Robertson in command. After initial training, New Mexico departed New York 15 January 1919 for Brest, France, to escort home transport George Washington carrying President Woodrow Wilson from the Versailles Peace Conference, returning to Hampton Roads 27 February. There on 16 July she became flagship of the newly-organized Pacific Fleet, and three days later sailed for the Panama Canal and San Pedro, Calif., arriving 9 August. The next 12 years were marked by frequent combined maneuvers with the Atlantic Fleet both in the Pacific and Caribbean which included visits to South American ports and a 1925 cruise to Australia and New Zealand. Modernized and overhauled at Philadelphia between March 1931 and January 1933, New Mexico returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume training exercises and tactical development operations. As war threatened, her base was Pearl Harbor from 6 December 1940 until 20 May 1941, when she sailed to join the Atlantic Fleet at Norfolk 16 June for duty on neutrality patrol. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, she returned to the west coast, and sailed 1 August 1942 from San Francisco to prepare in Hawaii for action. Between 6 December and 22 March 1943, she sailed to escort troop transports to the Fijis, then patrolled the southwest Pacific, returning to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the campaign against the Japanese in the Aleutians. On 17 May she arrived Adak, her base while serving on the blockade of Attu, and on 21 July she joined in the massive bombardment of Kiska that forced its evacuation a week later. After refitting at Puget Sound Navy Yard, New Mexico returned to Pearl Harbor 25 October to rehearse the assault on the Gilbert Islands. During the invasion, begun 20 November, she pounded Butaritari, guarded transports during their night withdrawals from the islands, and provided antiaircraft cover during unloading operations, as well as screening carriers. She returned to Pearl Harbor 5 December. Underway with the Marshall Islands assault force 12 January 1944, New Mexico bombarded Kwajalein and Ebeye 31 January and 1 February, then replenished at Majuro. She blasted Wotje 20 February and Kavieng, New Ireland 20, March, then visited Sydney before arriving in the Solomons in May to rehearse the Marianas operation. New Mexico bombarded Tinian 14 June, Saipan 15 June, and Guam 16 June, and twice helped drive off enemy air attacks 18 June. She protected transports off the Marianas while the carrier task force spelled the doom of Japanese naval aviation in its great victory, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, 19- 20 June. New Mexico excorted transports to Eniwetok, then sailed 9 July guarding escort carriers until 12 July, when her guns opened on Guam in preparation for the landings 21 July. Until 30 July she blasted enemy positions and installations on the island. Overhauled at Bremerton August to October, New Mexico arrived in Leyte Gulf 22 November to cover the movement of reinforcement and supply convoys, firing in the almost daily air attacks over the Gulf, as the Japanese posed desperate resistance to the reconquest of the Philippines. She left Leyte Gulf 2 December for the Palaus, where she joined a force covering the Mindoro-bound assault convoy. Again she sent up antiaircraft fire as invasion troops stormed ashore 15 December, providing cover for two days until sailing for the Palaus. Her next operation was the invasion of Luzon, fought under a sky full of would-be suicide planes, against whom she was almost continually at general quarters. She fired prelanding bombardment 6 January 1945, and that day took a suicide hit on her bridge which killed her commanding officer, Captain R. W. Fleming, and 29 others of her crew, with 87 injured. Her guns remained in action as she repaired damage, and she was still in action 9 January as troops went ashore. After repairs at Pearl Harbor, New Mexico arrived at Ulithi to stage for the invasion of Okinawa, sailing 21 March with a heavy fire support group. Her guns opened on Okinawa 26 March, and were not silent until 17 April as she gave every aid to troops engaged ashore. Again on 21 and 29 April she opened fire, and on 11 May she destroyed 8 suicide boats. While approaching her berth in Hagushi anchorage just after sunset 12 May, New Mexico was attacked by two suicides; one plunged into her, the other managed to hit her with his bomb. She was set on fire, and 54 of her men were killed, with 119 wounded. Swift action extinguished the fires within half an hour, and on 28 May she departed for repairs at Leyte, followed by rehearsals for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands. Word of the war's end reached her at Saipan 15 August, and next day she sailed for Okinawa to join the occupation force. She entered Sagami Wan 27 August to support the airborne occupation of Atsugi Airfield, then next day passed into Tokyo Bay to witness the surrender 2 September. New Mexico was homeward bound 6 September, calling at Okinawa, Pearl Harbor, and the Panama Canal before arriving Boston 17 October. There she decommissioned 19 July 1946. She was sold for scrapping 13 October 1947 to Lipsett, Inc., New York City. New Mexico received 6 battle stars for World War II service.
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Built at Newport News SB
Co., Newport News, Va.
Keel Laid 04/05/15, Commissioned 12/18/17
Capt. J.
L. Jayne commanding
MISSISSIPPI (BB-41) was laid down 5 April 1915 by Newport
News
Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va.; launched 25 January 1917;
sponsored by Miss Camelle McBeath; and commissioned 18 December
1917,
Capt. J. L. Jayne in command
NEW MEXICO
CLASS
BB-41
Length Overall: 624'
Extreme Beam:
97'5"
Displacement: Tons: 32,000 Mean Draft:
30'
Complement: Off.: 55 Enl.: 1,026
Armament:
Main: (12) 14"/50 cal
Secondary: (14) 5"/51 cal (4)
3"/50 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Armor: Max.
Thickness: 18"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
32,000
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 9
Drive:
TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 3,277
Mississippi BB-41
Mississippi (BB?41) was laid down 5 April 1915 by Newport News
Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va.; launched 25 January 1917; sponsored
by Miss Camelle McBeath; and commissioned 18 December 1917, Capt. J. L.
Jayne in command.
Following exercises off Virginia, Mississippi steamed 22 March 1918 for
training in the Gulf of Guacanayabo, Cuba. One month later she returned to
Hampton Roads and cruised between Boston and New York until departing for
winter maneuvers in the Caribbean 31 January 1919. On 19 July she left the
Atlantic seaboard and sailed for the west coast. Arriving at her new base,
San Pedro, she operated along the west coast for the next 4 years,
entering the Caribbean during the winter months for training exercises.
During gunnery practice on 12 June 1924 off San Pedro, 48 of her men were
asphyxiated as a result of an explosion in her No. 2 main battery turret.
On 15 April 1925 she sailed from San Francisco for war games off Hawaii,
and then steamed to Australia on a good will tour. She returned to the
west coast 26 September, and resumed operations there for the next 6
years. During this period she frequently sailed into Caribbean and
Atlantic waters for exercises during the winter months.
Mississippi entered Norfolk Navy Yard 30 March 1931 for a modernization
overhaul, departing once again on training exercises in September 1933.
Transiting the Panama Canal 24 October 1934, she steamed back to her base
at San Pedro. For the next 7 years she operated off the west coast, except
for winter Caribbean cruises.
Returning to Norfolk 15 June 1941, she prepared for patrol service in the
North Atlantic. Steaming from Newport, R.I., she escorted a convoy to
Hvalfjordur, Iceland. She made another trip to Iceland 28 September 1941,
and spent the next 2 month there protecting shipping.
Two days after the treacherous attack on Pearl Harbor, Mississippi left
Iceland for the Pacific. Arriving 22 January 1942 at San Francisco, she
spent the next 7 months training and escorting convoys along the coast on
6 December, after participating in exercises off Hawaii, she steamed with
troop transports to the Fiji Islands, returning to Pearl Harbor 2 March
1943. On 10 May she sailed from Pearl Harbor to participate in a move to
restore the Aleutians to their rightful possessors. Kiska Island was
shelled 22 July, and a few days later the Japanese withdrew. After
overhaul at San Francisco. Mississippi sailed from San Pedro 19 October to
take part in the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. While bombarding Makin
20 November, a turret explosion, almost identical to the earlier tragedy,
killed 43 men.
On 31 January 1944 she took part in the Marshall Islands campaign,
shelling Kwajalein. She bombarded Taroa 20 February, and struck Wotje the
next day. On 15 March she pounded Kavieng, New Ireland. Due for an
overhaul, she spent the summer months at Puget Sound.
Returning to the war zone, Mississippi supported landings on Peleliu, in
the Palau Islands, on 12 September. After a week of continuous operations
she steamed to Manus, where she remained until 12 October. Departing
Manus, she assisted in the liberation of the Philippines, shelling the
east coast of Leyte on 19 October. On the night of the 24th, as part of
Admiral Oldendorf's battleline, she helped to destroy a powerful Japanese
task force at the Battle of Suriago Strait. As a result of the engagements
at Leyte Gulf, the Japanese navy was no longer able to mount any serious
offensive threat.
Mississippi continued to support the operations at Leyte Gulf until 16
November, when she steamed to the Admiralty Islands. She then entered San
Pedro Bay, Leyte, 28 December, to prepare for the landings on Luzon. On 6
January 1945 she began bombarding in Lingayan Gulf. Despite damages near
her waterline received from the crash of a suicide plane, she supported
the invasion forces until 10 February. Following repairs at Pearl Harbor,
she sailed to Nakagusuku Wan, Okinawa, arriving 6 May to support the
landing forces there. Her powerful guns leveled the defenses at Shuri
Castle, which had stalled the entire offensive. On 5 June, a kamikaze
crashed into her starboard side, but the fighting ship continued to
support the troops at Okinawa until 16 June.
After the announced surrender of Japan, Mississippi steamed to Sagami Wan,
Honshu, arriving 27 August as part of the support occupation force. She
anchored in Tokyo Bay, witnessed the signing of the surrender documents,
and steamed for home on 6 September. She arrived 27 November at Norfolk,
where she underwent conversion to AG?128, effective 15 February 1946. As
part of the operational development force, she spent the last 10 years of
her career carrying out investigations of gunnery problems and testing new
weapons, while based at Norfolk. She helped launch the Navy into the age
of the guided?missile warship when she successfully test fired the Terrier
missile on 28 January 1953 off Cape Cod. She also assisted in the final
evaluation of the Petrel, a radar?homing missile, in February 1956.
Mississippi decommissioned at Norfolk 17 September 1956, and was sold for
scrapping to the Bethlehem Steel Co., on 28 November, the same year.
Mississippi received eight battle stars for World War II service.
Built at New York SB Co.,
Camden, N. J.
Keel Laid 01/20/15, Commissioned 12/18/17
Capt. C. T.
Vogelgesang commanding
The fourth IDAHO (BB-42) was launched by New York
shipbuilding
Corp., Camden, N.J., 30 June 1917; sponsored by Miss H. A.
Limons, granddaughter of the Governor of IDAHO; and commissioned
24
March 1919, Captain C. T. Vogelgesang In command.
NEW MEXICO
CLASS
BB-42
Length Overall: 624'
Extreme Beam:
97'5"
Displacement: Tons: 32,000 Mean Draft:
30'
Complement: Off.:55 Enl.: 1,026
Armament:
Main: (12) 14"/50 cal
Secondary: (14) 5"/51 cal (4) 3"/50
cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Armor: Max. Thickness:
18"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft
Horsepower:32,000
Engines: Mfr.:Parsons (NYSB)
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 9
Drive:TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 3,277
Idaho BB-42
The fourth Idaho (BB-42) was launched by New York Shipbuilding Corp.,
Camden, N. J., 30 June 1917 ; sponsored by Miss H. A. Limons, granddaughter
of the Governor of Idaho; and commissioned 24 March 1919, Captain C. T.
Vogelgesang in command.
Idaho sailed 13 April for shakedown training out of Guantanamo Bay, and
after returning to New York received President Pessoa of Brazil for the
voyage to Rio de Janeiro. Departing 6 July with her escort, the
battleship arrived Rio 17 July 1919. From there she set course for the
Panama Canal, arriving Monterey, Calif., in September to join the Pacific
Fleet. She joined other dreadnaughts in training exercises and reviews,
including a Fleet Review by President Wilson 13 September 1919. In 1920
the battleship carried Secretary Daniels and the Secretary of the
Interior on an inspection tour of Alaska.
Upon her return from Alaska 22 July 1920 Idaho took part in fleet
maneuvers off the California coast and as far south as Chile. She
continued this important training until 1925, taking part in numerous
ceremonies on the West Coast during the interim. Idaho took part in the
fleet review held by President Harding in Seattle shortly before his death
in 1923. The battleship sailed 15 April 1925 for Hawaii,, participated in
war games until 1 July, and then got underway for Samoa, Australia, and
New Zealand. On the return voyage Idaho embarked gallant Comdr. John
Rodgers and his seaplane crew after their attempt to fly to Hawaii,
arriving San Francisco 24 September 1925.
For the next 6 years Idaho operated out of San Pedro on training and
readiness operations off California and in the Caribbean. She sailed
from San Pedro 7 September 1931 for the East Coast, entering Norfolk Navy
Yard 30 September for modernization. The veteran battleship received
better armor, "blister" antisubmarine protection, better machinery, and
tripod masts during this extensive overhaul, and was readied for many
more years of useful naval service. After completion 9 October 1934 the
ship conducted shakedown in the Caribbean before returning to her home
port, San Pedro, 17 April 1935.
As war clouds gathered in the Pacific, the fleet increased the tempo of
its training operations. Idaho carried out fleet tactics and gunnery
exercises regularly until arriving with the battle fleet at Pearl Harbor
1 July 1940. The ship sailed for Hampton Roads 6 June 1941 to perform
Atlantic neutrality patrol, a vital part of U.S. policy in the early days
of the European fighting. She moved to Iceland in September to protect
American advance bases and was on station at Hvalfjordur when the
Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor 7 December 1941 and catapulted America into
the war.
Idaho and sister ship Mississippi departed Iceland 2 days after Pearl
Harbor to join the Pacific Fleet, and arrived San Francisco via Norfolk
and the Panama Canal 31 January 1942. She conducted additional battle
exercises in California waters and out of Pearl Harbor until October
1942, when she entered Puget Sound Navy Yard to be regunned. Upon
completion of this work Idaho again took part in battle exercises, and
sailed 7 April 1943 for operations in the bleak Aleutians. There she was
flagship of the bombardment and patrol force around Attu, where she gave
gunfire support to the Army landings 11 May 1943. During the months that
followed she concentrated on Kiska, culminating in an assault 15 August.
The Japanese were found to have evacuated the island in late July, thus
abandoning their last foothold in the Aleutians.
Idaho returned to San Francisco 7 September 1943 to prepare for the
invasion of the Gilbert Islands. Moving to Pearl Harbor, she got
underway with the assault fleet 10 November and arrived off Makin Atoll
20 November. She supported the fighting ashore with accurate gunfire
support and antiaircraft fire, remaining in the Gilberts until sailing
for Pearl Harbor 5 December 1943.
Next on the Pacific timetable was the invasion of the Marshalls, and the
veteran battleship arrived off Kwajalein early 31 January to soften up
shore positions. Again she hurled tons of shells into Japanese
positions until 5 February, when the outcome was one of certain victory.
After replenishing at Majuro she bombarded other islands in the group,
then moved to Kavieng, New Ireland, for a diversionary bombardment 20
March 1944.
Idaho returned to the New Hebrides 25 March, and after a short stay in
Australia arrived Kwajalein with a group of escort carriers 8 June. From
there the ships steamed to the Marianas, where Idaho began a pre-invasion
bombardment of Saipan 14 June. With this brilliantly executed landing
assault underway 15 June, the battleship moved to Guam for bombardment
assignments. As the American fleet decimated Japanese carrier air power
in the Battle of the Philippine Sea 19 to 21 June, Idaho protected the
precious transport area and reserve troop convoys. After returning
briefly to Eniwetok 28 June to 9 July the ship began pre-invasion
bombardment of Guam 12 July, and continued the devastating shelling until
the main assault eight days later. As ground troops battled for the
island, Idaho stood offshore providing vital fire support until anchoring
at Eniwetok 2 August 1944.
The ship continued to Espiritu Santo and entered a floating dry dock 15
August for repairs to her "blisters." After landing rehearsals on
Guadalcanal in early September, Idaho moved to Peleliu 12 September and
began bombarding the island, needed as a staging base for the invasion of
the Philippines. Despite the furious bombardment, Japanese entrenchments
gave assault forces stiff opposition, and the battleship remained off
Peleliu until 24 September providing the all-important fire support for
advancing marines. She then sailed for Manus and eventually to
Bremerton, Wash., where she arrived for needed repairs 22 October 1944.
This was followed by battle practice off California.
Idaho's mighty guns were needed for the next giant amphibious assault on
the way to Japan. She sailed from San Diego 20 January 1945 to join a
battleship group at Pearl Harbor. After rehearsals she steamed from the
Marianas 14 February for the invasion of Iwo Jima. As marines stormed
ashore 19 February Idaho was again blasting enemy positions with her big
guns. She remained off Iwo Jima until 7 March, when she got underway for
Ulithi and the last of the great Pacific assaults- Okinawa.
Idaho sailed 21 March 1945 as part of Rear Admiral Deyo's Gunfire and
Covering Group and flagship of Bombardment Unit 4. She arrived offshore
25 March and began silencing enemy shore batteries and pounding
installations. The landings began 1 April, and as the Japanese made a
desperate attempt to drive the vast fleet away with suicide attacks,
Idaho's gunners shot down numerous planes. In a massed attack 12 April
the battleship shot down five kamikazes before suffering damage to her
port blisters from a near-miss. After temporary repairs she sailed 20
April and arrived Guam five days later.
The veteran of so many of the landings of the Pacific quickly completed
repairs and returned to Okinawa 22 May to resume fire support. Idaho
remained until 20 June 1945, then sailed for battle maneuvers in Leyte
Gulf until hostilities ceased 15 August 1945.
Idaho made her triumphal entry into Tokyo Bay with occupation troops 27
August, and witnessed the signing of the surrender on board Missouri 2
September. Four days later she began the long voyage to the East Coast of
the United States, steaming via the Panama Canal to Norfolk 16 October
1945. She decommissioned 3 July 1946 and was placed in reserve until sold
for scrap 24 November 1947 to Lipsett Inc., of New York City.
Idaho received seven battle stars for World War II service.
Built at New York Navy Yard,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Keel Laid 05/14/17, Commissioned 06/03/20
Capt. R. H.
Leigh commanding
The fifth TENNESSEE was laid down on 14 May 1917 at the New
York
Navy Yard; launched on 30 April 1919; sponsored by Miss Helen
Lenore Roberts, daughter of the governor of TENNESSEE; and
commissioned
on 3 June 1920, Capt. Richard H. Leigh in command.
TENNESSEE
CLASS BB-43
Length Overall: 624'6"
Extreme Beam:
97'4" Displacement: Tons: 32,300 Mean Draft: 30'3"
Complement: Off.: 57 Enl.: 1,026
Armament:
Main: (12) 14"/50 cal Secondary: (14) 5"/51 cal (4) 3"/50
cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" sumberged
Armor: Max. Thicness:
18"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
26,000
Engines: Mfr.: Wstgh.
Type: Turbine
Boilers:
Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive: TE
Fuel: (oil) Tons:
4,656
Tennessee BB-43
The fifth Tennessee was laid down on 14 May 1917 at the New York Navy Yard;
launched on 30 April 1919; sponsored by Miss Helen Lenore Roberts, daughter
of the governor of Tennessee; and commissioned on 3 June 1920, Capt.
Richard H. Leigh in command.
Tennessee and her sister ship, California (BB-44), were the first American
battleships built to a "post-Jutland" hull design. As a result of extensive
experimentation and testing, her underwater hull protection was much
greater than that of previous battleships; and both her main and
secondary batteries had fire-control systems. The Tennessee class, and
the three ships of the Coforado-class which followed, were identified by
two heavy cage masts supporting large fire-control tops. This feature was
to distinguish the "Big Five" from the rest of the battleship force until
World War II. Since Tennessee's 14-inch turret guns could be elevated to
30 degrees-rather than to the 15 degrees of earlier battleships-her
heavy guns could reach out an additional 10,000 yards. Because battleships
were then beginning to carry airplanes to spot long-range gunfire,
Tennessee's ability to shoot "over the horizon" had a practical value.
After fitting out, Tennessee conducted trials in Long Island Sound from 15
to 23 October 1920. While Tennessee was at New York, one of her 300-kilowatt
ship's-service generators blew up on 30 October, "completely destroying the
turbine end of the machine" and injuring two men. Undaunted, the ship's
force, navy yard craftsmen, and manufacturers' representatives labored to
eliminate the "teething troubles" in Tennessee's engineering system and
enabled the battleship to depart New York on 26 February 1921 for
standardization trials at Guantanamo. She next steamed north for the
Virgina capes and arrived at Hampton Roads on 19 March. Tennessee carried
out gunnery calibration firing at Dahlgren, Va., and was dry-docked at
Boston before full-power trials off Rockland, Maine. After touching at New
York, she steamed south; transited the Panama Canal; and, on 17 June,
arrived at San Pedro, Calif., her home port for the next 19 years.
Here, she joined the Battleship Force, Pacific Fleet. In 1922, the Pacific
Fleet was re-designated the Battle Fleet (renamed the Battle Force in 1931),
United States Fleet. For the next two decades, the battleship divisions of
the Battle Fleet were to include the preponderance of the Navy's surface
warship strength; and Tennessee was to serve here until World War II.
Peacetime service with the battleship divisions involved an annual cycle
of training, maintenance, and readiness exercises. Her yearly schedule
included competitions in gunnery and engineering performance and an annual
fleet problem, a large-scale war game in which most or all of the United
States Fleet was organized into opposing forces and presented with a
variety of strategic and tactical situations to resolve. Beginning with
Fleet Problem I in 1923 and continuing through Fleet Problem XXI in April
1940, Tennessee had a prominent share in these battle exercises. Yet her
individual proficiency was not neglected. During the competitive year
1922 and 1923, she made the highest aggregate score in the list of record
practices fired by her guns of various caliber and won the "E" for
excellence in gunnery. In 1923 and 1924, she again won the gunnery "E" as
well as the prized Battle Efficiency Pennant for the highest combined
total score in gunnery and engineering competition. During 1925, she took
part in joint Army-Navy maneuvers to test the defenses of Hawaii before
visiting Australia and New Zealand. Subsequent fleet problems and tactical
exercises took Tennessee from Hawaii to the Caribbean and Atlantic and from
Alaskan waters to Panama.
Fleet Problem XXI was conducted in Hawaiian waters during the spring of
1940. At the end of this problem, the battleship force did not return to
San Pedro; but, at President Roosevelt's direction, its base of
operations was shifted to Pearl Harbor in the hope that this move might
deter Japanese expansion in the Par East. Following an overhaul at the
Puget Sound Navy Yard after the conclusion of Fleet Problem XXI, Tennessee
arrived at her new base on 12 August 1940. Due to the increasing
deterioration of the world situation, Fleet Problem XXII-scheduled for the
spring of 1941-was cancelled; and Tennessee's activities during these final
months of peace were confined to smaller scale operations.
On the morning of 7 December 1941, Tennessee was moored starboard side to a
pair of masonry "mooring quays" on Battleship Row, the name given to a
line of these deep water berths located along the southeast side of Ford
Island. West Virginia (BB-48) was berthed alongside to port. Just ahead of
Tennessee was Maryland (BB-46), with Oklahoma (BB-37) outboard. Arizona
(BB-39), moored directly astern of Tennessee, was undergoing a period of
upkeep from the repair ship Vestal (AR-4), berthed alongside her. The
three "nests" were spaced about 75 feet apart.
At about 0755, Japanese carrier planes began their attack. As the first
bombs fell on Ford Island, Tennessee went to general quarters and closed
her watertight doors. In about five minutes, her antiaircraft guns were
manned and firing. Sortie orders were received, and the battleship's
engineers began to get steam up. However, this quickly became academic as
Oklahoma and West Virginia took crippling torpedo hits. Oklahoma capsized
to port and sank, bottom up. West Virginia began to list heavily, but
timely counter-flooding righted her. She, nevertheless, also settled on the
bottom but did so on an even keel. Tennessee, though her guns were firing
and her engines operational, could not move. The sinking West Virginia had
wedged her against the two massive concrete quays to which she was moored,
and worse was soon to come.
As the Japanese torpedo bombers launched their weapons against Battleship
Row, dive bombers were simultaneously coming in from above. Strafing
fighters were attacking the ships' antiaircraft batteries and control
positions as high-level horizontal bombers dropped heavy battleship-
caliber projectiles modified to serve as armor-piercing bombs. Several
bombs struck Arizona; and, at about 0820, one of them penetrated her
protective deck and exploded in a magazine detonating black-powder saluting
charges which, in turn, set off the surrounding smokeless-powder
magazines. A shattering explosion demolished Arizona's foreport, and fuel
oil from her ruptured tanks was ignited and began to spread. The
torpedo hits on West Virginia had also released burning oil, and
Tennessee's stern and port quarter were soon surrounded by flames and dense
black smoke. At about 0830, horizontal bombers scored two hits on
Tennessee. One bomb carried away the after mainyard before passing
through the catapult on top of Turret III, the elevated after turret,
breaking up as it partially penetrated the armored turret top. Large
fragments of the bomb case did some damage inside the turret and put one
of its three 14-inch guns out of operation. Instead of exploding, the bomb
filler ignited and burned, setting an intense fire which was quickly
extinguished.
The second bomb struck the barrel of the center gun of Turret II, the
forward "high" turret, and exploded. The center gun was knocked out of
action, and bomb fragments sprayed Tennessee's forward superstructure.
Capt. Meryyn S. Bennion, the commanding officer of West Virginia, had
stepped out on to the starboard wing of his ship's bridge only to be
mortally wounded by one of these fragments.
While her physical hurts were relatively minor, Tennessee was still
seriously threatened by oil fires raging around her stern. When Arizona's
magazines erupted, Tennessee's after decks were showered with burning oil
and debris which started fires that were encouraged by the heat of the
flaming fuel. Numerous blazes had to be fought on the after portion of
the main deck and in the officers' quarters on the deck below. Shipboard
burning was brought under control by 1030, but oil flowing from the tanks
of the adjacent ships continued to flame.
By the evening of 7 December, the worst was over. Oil was still blazing
around Arizona and West Virginia and continued to threaten Tennessee for
two more days while she was still imprisoned by the obstacles around her.
Although her bridge and foremast had been damaged by bomb splinters, her
machinery was in full commission; and no serious injury had been done to
ship or gunnery controls. Ten of her 12 14-inch guns and all of her
secondary and antiaircraft guns were intact. By comparison with most of
the battleships around her, Tennessee was relatively unscathed.
The first order of business was now to get Tennessee out of her berth. Just
forward of her, Maryland-similarly wedged into her berth when Oklahoma
rolled over and sank-was released and moved away on 9 December. The
forward most of Tennessee's two concrete mooring quays was next demolished-
a. delicate task since the ship's hull was resting against it-and had
been cleared away by 16 December. Tennessee carefully crept ahead, past
Oklahoma's sunken hull, and moored at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard.
Temporary repairs were quickly made. From Turret III to the stern on both
sides of the ship, Tennessee's hull gave mute evidence of the inferno that
she had survived. Every piece of hull plating above the water-line was
buckled and warped by heat; seams had been opened and rivets loosened.
These seams had to be re-welded and rivets reset, and a considerable
amount of re-caulking was needed to make hull and weather decks
watertight. The damaged top of Turret III re-received a temporary armor
patch.
On 20 December, Tennessee departed Pearl Harbor with Pennsylvania (BB-38)
and Maryland-both superficially damaged in the Japanese attack-and a
screen of four destroyers. From the moment the ships put to sea,
nervous lookouts repeatedly sounded submarine alarms, making the voyage
something more than uneventful. Nearing the west coast, Pennsylvania
headed for Mare Island while Maryland and Tennessee steamed north, arrived
at the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 29 December 1941, and commenced permanent
repairs.
Working around the clock during the first two months of 1942, shipyard
craftsmen repaired Tennessee's after hull plating and replaced electrical
wiring ruined by heat. To allow her antiaircraft guns a freer field of
fire, her tall cage mainmast was replaced by a tower similar to that
later installed in Colorado (BB-45) and Maryland. An air-search radar was
installed; fire-control radars were fitted to Tennessee's main-battery and
5-inch antiaircraft gun directors. Her three-inch and .50-caliber
antiaircraft guns were replaced by 1.1-inch and 20-millimeter automatic
shell guns, and her 5-inch antiaircraft guns were protected by splinter
shields. Fourteen-inch Mark-4 turret guns were replaced by improved Mark-
11 models. Other modifications improved the battleship's habitability.
On 25 February 1942, Tennessee departed Puget Sound with Maryland and
Colorado. Upon arriving at San Francisco, she began a period of intensive
training operations with Rear Admiral William S. Pye's Task Force 1, made
up of the Pacific Fleet's available battleships and a screen of
destroyers.
However, her role in the war was not to be in the line of battle for
which she had trained for two decades. Most of the great battles of the
conflict were not conventional surface-ship actions, but long-range duels
between fast carrier striking forces. Fleet carriers, with their
screening cruisers and destroyers, could maintain relatively high force
speeds; and a new generation of fast battleships-beginning with the North
Carolina (BB-55)-class and continuing into the South Dakota (BB-57)- and
Iowa (BB-61)-classes-were coming into the fleet and were to prove their
worth in action with the fast carrier force. But the older battleships-
Tennessee and her kin-simply could not keep up with the carriers. Thus,
while the air groups dueled for the approaches to Port Moresby and the
Japanese naval offensive reached its zenith in the waters west of
Midway, the battleship force found itself steaming restlessly on the
sidelines.
On 31 May, Admiral Pye sent two of his battleships to search for a
Japanese carrier erroneously reported approaching the California coast.
Reports of the battle of Midway came in, and Pye sortied from San Francisco
on 5 June with the rest of his battleships and destroyers and the escort
carrier Long Island (AVG-1). The battleship force steamed to an area some
1,200 miles west of San Francisco and about the same distance northeast of
Hawaii in the expectation that part of the Japanese fleet might attempt an
"end run" raid on our Pacific coast. On 14 June, after it had become
clear that Admiral Yamamoto's fleet-reeling from its loss of four
carriers 10 days before-had returned to Japanese waters, Pye ordered his
force back to San Francisco.
On 1 August, Tennessee again sailed from San Francisco with Task Force 1.
After a week of exercises the battleships joined Hornet (CV-8)-on her way
to the South Pacific to support the Guadalcanal operation -and escorted
the carrier as far as Hawaii. Arriving at Pearl Harbor on the 14th,
Tennessee returned to Puget Sound on the 27th for modernization.
California, Tennessee's sister ship, had been sunk in shallow water during
the attack on Pearl Harbor. Re-floated, and her hull temporarily patched,
she returned to Puget Sound in June for permanent repairs which included a
thorough modernization. It was decided to include Tennessee in this
program as well.
By the time Tennessee emerged from the navy yard on 7 May 1943, she bore
virtually no resemblance to her former self. Deep new blisters increased
the depth of her side protection against torpedoes by eight feet-three
inches on each side, gradually tapering toward bow and stern. Internal
compartmentation was rearranged and improved. The most striking innovation
was made in the battleship's superstructure. The heavy armored conning
tower, from which Tennessee would have been controlled in a surface gunnery
action, was removed, as were masts, stacks, and other superstructure. A
new, compact, superstructure was designed to provide essential ship and
gunnery control facilities while offering as little interference as
possible to the fields of fire of the ship's increasingly essential
antiaircraft guns. A low tower foremast supported a main-battery director
and bridge spaces; boiler uptakes were trunked into a single fat funnel
which was faired into the after side of the foremast. Just abaft the
stack, a lower structure accommodated the after turret-gun director.
Tennessee's old 5-inch battery, and combination of 5"/25 antiaircraft
guns and 5"/51 single-purpose "anti-destroyer" guns, was replaced by
eight 5"/38 twin mounts. Four new directors, arranged around the
superstructure, could control these guns against air or surface targets.
All of these directors were equipped with fire-control radars; antennas
for surface- and air-search radars were mounted at the mastheads. Close-in
antiaircraft defense was the function of 10 quadruple 40-millimeter gun
mounts, each with its own optical director, and of 43 20-millimeter guns.
Thus revitalized, and her battle worthiness greatly increased, Tennessee
ran trials in the Puget Sound area and, on 22 May 1943, sailed for San
Pedro. The days of seeming purposelessness were over. Though the slow
battleships were still incapable of serving with the carrier striking
force, their heavy turret guns could still hit as hard as ever. Naval
shore bombardment and gunfire support for troops ashore-then coming to be a
specialty in its own right-was well suited for this the earlier
generation of battleships which were also still quite usable for patrol
duty in areas where firepower was more important than speed. The
refurbished Tennessee's first tour of duty combined both of these missions.
Tennessee departed San Pedro with the cruiser Portland (CA-33) on 31 May,
bound for the North Pacific, and arrived at Adak, Alaska, on 9 June to
begin patrol operations with Task Force 16, the North Pacific Force. During
the Midway operation, the Japanese had occupied the Aleutian islands of
Attu and Kiska. Attu was recaptured in May 1943; but Kiska was still in
hostile hands; and Japanese air and naval forces still operated in the
Aleutians area from bases in the Kuril Islands. Tennessee plied back and
forth through the legendary fogs and foul weather of the Aleutians, with
her crew heavily bundled in arctic clothing for protection against intense
cold and freezing rain as her radars probed for some sign of the enemy.
There was still much to be learned about radar and its pitfalls; on
several occasions, convincing images on the radar screens sent patrolling
forces to general quarters. During one patrol in July, radio messages
reported a force of nine surface ships 150 miles away, steaming rapidly to
intercept Tennessee and her consorts. Tension grew as the unknown enemy
drew closer, and all hands intently prepared for their first action. The
radar images were only 45 miles away, and Tennessee's crew were at battle
stations when the enemy suddenly disappeared. Where the screens had been
displaying what seemed to be a hostile squadron, there was nothing. The
hostile fleet had been a mere electronic mirage. During this same period,
another surface force fought a brief, but energetic, gunnery action with
the same kind of electronic "ghost" force south of Kiska. Distant land
masses had appeared on ships' early radar sets as ship contacts at much
closer ranges.
At about noon on 1 August, Tennessee was out on what all thought another
routine patrol when the word was passed to prepare to bombard Kiska. At
1310, she began a zigzag approach through the usual murk to the island
with Idaho (BB-42) and three destroyers. As the water grew more shallow,
the ship slowed down and streamed mine-cutting paravanes from her bows.
Tennessee approached the island from the east, closing to a range from
which she could open fire with her 5-inch secondary battery. Her two OS2U
Kingfisher floatplanes were catapulted to observe fire; and, at 1610, the
battleship commenced firing from 7,000 yards. Though the island's
shoreline could be seen, the target area-antiaircraft gun sites on high
ground-were shrouded in low-hanging clouds and were invisible from the
ship. Tennessee's aerial spotters caught an occasional glimpse of the
impact area and reported the ship's fire as striking home.
The task group continued along Kiska's southern coast. Tennessee's 14-
inch guns chimed in at 1624, hitting the location of a submarine base
and other areas with 60 rounds before firing ceased at 1645. Visibility
had dropped to zero, and results could not be seen. The battleship
recovered her floatplanes, and the force turned back toward Adak.
In the early morning hours of 15 August, Tennessee again approached Kiska
as troops prepared to assault the island. At 0500, the ship's turret
guns began to fire at coastal-battery sites on nearby Little Kiska as
the 5-inch guns struck antiaircraft positions on that island. The 14-inch
guns then shifted their fire to antiaircraft sites on the southern side
of Kiska, while the secondary battery turned its attention to an
artillery observation position on Little Kiska and set it on fire. The
landing force then went ashore, only to discover that nobody was home.
After the loss of Attu, the Japanese, knowing that Kiska's turn would
soon come, decided to save the island's garrison. A small surface force
closed the island in dense fog and tight radio silence and, on 27 and 28
July 1943, succeeded in evacuating 5,183 troops from Kiska.
Arriving at San Francisco on 31 August, Tennessee began an intensive
period of training and carried out battle exercises off the southern
California coast before provisioning and shoving off for Hawaii. After a
week's exercises in the Pearl Harbor operating area, the ship headed for
the New Hebrides to rehearse for the invasion of the Gilberts.
The Japanese had occupied Betio on Christmas Day 1941. In nearly two years,
with the help of conscripted Korean laborers, they had done a thorough job
of digging themselves in. Americans still had a great deal to learn about
pre-landing bombardment. Air attacks and naval gunfire damaged, but did
not knock out, the beach defenses; and the landing marines met an intense
fire from artillery, mortars, and machine guns. Casualties mounted
rapidly, and the landing force asked for all possible fire support. At
1034, Tennessee's 14-inch and 5-inch guns reopened fire. The battleship
continued to shoot until 1138, resuming fire at 1224 and firing until a
ceasefire order was issued at 1300. The desperately contested struggle went
on until dark, with close support being provided by destroyers which
closed the beach to fire their 5-inch guns at short range and by waves of
carrier planes which bombed and strafed. To reduce the chance of submarine
or air attack, Tennessee and Colorado withdrew for the night to an area
southwest of Betio and returned to their fire-support area the next
morning to provide antiaircraft protection for the transports and to
await a call for gunfire.
The battleships retired to their night area again at dusk. By this time,
the battle for the island, its outcome uncertain for the first day and
one-half of fighting, had taken a definite turn for the better. By 1600,
the Marine commander ashore, Colonel David Shoup, could radio back that
"we are winning." Tennessee was back in position south of Betio on the
morning of the 22d. At 0907, she began to deliver call fire on Japanese
defenses at the eastern tip of Betio, dropping 70 rounds of 14-inch and
322 rounds of 5-inch ammunition on gun positions in 17 minutes of shooting.
During the afternoon, the screening destroyers Frazier (DD-607) and
Meade (DD-602) made a sonar contact. Depth charging drove 7-55, a Japanese
long-range submarine, to the surface. Her position was hopeless, but the
enemy crew scrambled to man the undersea boat's single 5.5-inch deck gun as
Tennessee's secondary guns joined Frazier and Meade in hurling 5-inch
projectiles. Tennessee swung clear as Frazier rammed the submarine; four
minutes later, 1-35 went to the bottom.
Betio was secured by the afternoon of 23 November. Tennessee operated in
the general area of Tarawa and Abemama atolls, alert for possible
counterattacks by air or sea. At dusk on 3 December, Tennessee departed
the area for Pearl Harbor and, on the 15th, headed for the United States
with Colorado and Maryland. On arrival at San Francisco, four days before
Christmas, she was quickly repainted in a "dazzle" camouflage scheme
designed to confuse enemy observers. On 29 December, Tennessee began
intensive bombardment practice, pounding San Clemente Island in rehearsal
for the invasion of the Marshall Islands.
In the early morning of 13 January 1944, Tennessee set her course for
Hawaii with Task Unit 53.5.1 and anchored in Lahaina Roads, off Maui, on
the 21st. That day, the ship was inspected by a group headed by
Undersecretary of the Navy James Forrestal. On the 29th, Tennessee, with
Forrestal on board, headed for the Marshalls.
D-Day was set for 31 January 1944. As one attack force landed on the
unoccupied Majuro atoll, the major force approached Kwajalein. Tennessee,
Pennsylvania, and two destroyers took up their stations 2,900 yards to
the east of the atoll. At 0625, Tennessee catapulted off her observation
floatplanes; and, at 0701, she began throwing 14-inch salvoes at Japanese
pillboxes on Roi Island. Her two forward turrets were busily engaged
when fire had to be checked to allow carrier dive bombers to strike the
island. Japanese antiaircraft guns opened up on the planes. As soon as
the attackers were clear of the area, the ship demolished the enemy guns
with two three-gun salvoes. The 5-inch battery then opened up on beach
defenses. Main and secondary guns continued to pound Roi and adjacent Namur
until noon, the high point of the morning coming when the guns of Mobile
(CL-63) detonated a Japanese ammunition dump on Namur and sent an
enormous mushroom of thick black smoke into the air. At midday, Tennessee
retired from the firing area to recover and service her spotting planes.
Following a welcome midday meal served to the crew at their battle
stations, the battleship returned to the fighting and shelled Roi and
Namur through the afternoon. At 1700, Tennessee turned away to screen
supporting escort carriers for the night.
While the fire support ships pounded Roi and Namur on the 31st, marines
captured five small nearby islands; and the northern passage into
Kwajalein lagoon was cleared for ships to pass in. On 1 February,
Tennessee and Colorado, with Mobile and Louisville, were back in their
assigned area to the eastward and commenced firing at 0708. The ships
pounded Namur through the morning; marines began to land on both islands
at about noon; and Tennessee and her unit continued supporting fire until
1245. Roi fell quickly, but Namur's defenders were well dug in and fought
fiercely until the early afternoon on 2 February.
Later that day, the battleship entered Kwajalein lagoon. Vice Admiral
Raymond Spruance and Rear Admiral Richard Conolly, commander of the Roi-
Namur invasion force, visited Mr. Forrestal on board Tennessee; the
Undersecretary and his party then went ashore to inspect the newly seized
islands and departed the following day by seaplane.
Useful lessons were learned from this operation. Since the Navy had won
command of the surface and in the air around the landing area, gunfire
support ships could close their objective and fire at what was, for a
battleship, virtually point-blank ranges. The heavy, short-range fire of
the supporting gunfire ships "met the most sanguine expectations" of the
assaulting marines and foretold the shape of operations to come.
By 7 February, the whole Kwajalein atoll was in American hands; and
preparations began for the capture of Eniwetok atoll, at the northwest
end of the Marshalls group in the direction of the Marianas. Prewar
Japanese security had been tight, and little was known about the atoll,
but aerial photographs and a Japanese chart found in a beached enemy ship
on one of Kwajalein's small islets gave planners enough to work with.
Tennessee arrived at Majuro on 7 February to take on ammunition and
supplies before returning to Kwajalein. On the afternoon of the 15th, she
sailed for Eniwetok with Colorado, Pennsylvania, and transports carrying
Army troops and marines. Ships of the fast carrier force screened their
approach, and cruisers and destroyers opened the action on the morning
of 17 February by bombarding Eniwetok island, on the southwest side of the
circular atoll, and the smaller islands flanking the selected entry to the
lagoon, Deep Passage. Minesweepers cleared Deep Passage and the nearby,
though shallower, Wide Passage; and, at 0915, Tennessee led the transport
convoy into the lagoon and headed for the atoll's northern island of
Engebi. The battleship bombarded Engebi while landing forces went ashore
on neighboring islets to site artillery pieces. Her 5-inch guns were
active during the early evening in support of a marine reconnaissance
company which approached Engebi to plant marker buoys for the next day's
assault waves and to acquaint themselves with the beaches. During the
night, Tennessee drew off into the lagoon as light field pieces from the
newly captured ground harassed Engebi's defenders. The pre-landing
bombardment began at 0700 the next morning, and Tennessee joined in at
0733.
The first wave went ashore at 0844 and, with the help of supporting ships
and planes, had Engebi in their hands by late afternoon.
The atoll was not yet secure. Japanese defenders on Eniwetok and Parry
Islands had carefully dug in and camouflaged their positions. Transports
and landing vehicles carried a force of soldiers and marines to the
southern end of the lagoon and, after a preparatory bombardment, the
troops went ashore on Eniwetok. There had not been enough time to give the
island a satisfactory softening, and progress was slow.
Tennessee spent the day anchored 5,500 yards north of the island, but her
services were not called for until night fell. During the night, Army
troops called several times for illumination. Destroyers played their
searchlights over Japanese-held areas, while Tennessee's 5-inch guns fired
large numbers of star shells. The fight for Eniwetok went on into the
afternoon of 21 February, but Tennessee's efforts had, by then, been
diverted to Parry Island.
Parry, at the mouth of Deep Channel, was defended by more than 1,300 well-
trained, carefully-entrenched Japanese troops. The assault plan called for
a careful preliminary working-over with bombs and gunfire, and marine light
howitzers began to shell Parry from a nearby islet in the evening of 20
February while carrier planes carried out repeated attacks. Tennessee
and Pennsylvania took up positions 900 yards off Parry during the morning
of the 20th and, at 1204, began to blast the island.
The bombardment continued through the 21st, ships and planes taking their
turns. Gun crews paused for a "breather" while planes from the escort
carriers unloaded their ordnance, then resumed their work. Colorado's 16-
inch rifles added to the weight of Tennessee and Pennsylvania's 14-inch
fire, and Louisville and Indianapolis joined in with their 8-inch turret
guns. Tennessee was firing at so short a range that, during the
afternoon of the 20th, she was able to take on beach defenses with her
40-millimeter guns.
The final shelling, on the morning of 22 February, kicked up a dense
mixture of smoke and dust as the landing craft went in. Tennessee's heavy
guns checked fire at 0852 when the first amphibian tractors were 300
yards from the beach, and her 40-millimeters took up the fire until the
vehicles landed. Ships' guns continued to provide support during the
first two hours of land fighting but ceased firing as the troops expanded
their foothold and advanced across the island. By afternoon, Parry was
secured, and Eniwetok atoll was securely in American hands.
On 23 February 1944, Tennessee sailed for Majuro. Here, she joined New
Mexico (BB-40), Mississippi (BB-41), and Idaho (BB-42). Under the command
of Rear Admiral Robert M. Griffin, the battleships sortied from Majuro on
15 March with two escort carriers and a screen of 15 destroyers.
Their objective was the Japanese air and naval base at Kavieng, at the
Northern end of New Ireland. The Bismarck Archipelago-the two large islands
of New Britain and New Ireland-lie just to the east of New Guinea. Rabaul,
the by-low legendary Japanese operating base, is at the eastern end of New
Britain, just across a narrow channel from New Ireland. About 240 miles
northwest of Rabaul, across the Bismarck Sea, is the small Admiralty
Island group. Another small island, Emirau, lies northwest of New
Ireland and east of the Admiralties. Southeast from Rabaul, the Solomons
chain extended for more than five hundred miles. Since the first landing on
Guadalcanal in August 1942, the chain had been slowly climbed in a series of
strongly contested actions by sea, land, and air. By the end of 1943,
American forces held a strong foothold on Bougainville, little more than 200
miles from Rabaul.
The final steps in Rabaul's encirclement and isolation were planned for
the spring of 1944. Kavieng was to have been captured early in April, but
the success of the land-based air offensive against Rabaul convinced
Admiral Nimitz that it would be more profitable to occupy undefended Emirau
instead, sending the bombardment ships against Kavieng to convince the
Japanese that a landing on New Ireland was planned.
Admiral Griffin, accordingly, headed for Kavieng and, on the morning of
20 March 1944, approached the harbor. Rain squalls and low-hanging clouds
shrouded the area as Tennessee and the other gunfire ships zigzagged
toward New Ireland. The island appeared through the overcast at about
0700. Tennessee launched her spotting planes an hour later, and they were
soon out of sight in the rain and mist. By 0905, the range to the target
was within 15,000 yards, and the battleships opened a deliberate fire.
Steaming at 15 knots, Tennessee dropped single 14-inch rounds and two- or
three-gun salvoes on Kavieng as the bombardment force slowly closed the
range. Poor visibility made gunfire spotting difficult, and the pace of
firing was held down to avoid wasting ammunition.
Tennessee was about 7,500 yards from the island when her lookouts
reported gun flashes from the beach, quickly followed by shell splashes
just off the starboard bow and close to one of her screening destroyers.
At 0928, Tennessee's port 5-inch guns opened rapid continuous fire at the
coastal battery, estimated to consist of four to six 4-inch guns. A 180-
degree turn brought the battleship's starboard secondaries to bear, and
the duel continued. The Japanese gunners began to get the range, and
some projectiles hit close aboard on the starboard beam while others
came similarly close to Idaho. Tennessee was straddled several times and
drew away from the shore at 18 knots before checking fire at 0934.
Reducing speed to 15 knots and turning back to firing position, Tennessee
reopened fire at 0936. Her main and secondary batteries pounded the enemy
guns for 10 minutes, and nothing more was heard from the Japanese guns.
For the next three hours, the ships steamed back and forth off Kavieng,
shelling the Japanese airfield and shore facilities. Other coastal gun
positions were sighted, but the battleship's 14-inch fire silenced them
before they could get off a round. Visibility continued to be a problem;
observers in the ships' floatplanes could not get a clear view of the
targets. When the 5-inch guns were firing at targets in wooded areas,
spotters in the ship's gun directors could not observe hits in the heavy
foliage. More than once, rounds had to be dropped in the water to obtain
a definite point of reference before "walking" fire onto the desired
target.
The bombardment ended at 1235. Tennessee turned away and made rendezvous
with the covering escort carriers as Admiral Halsey wired his
"congratulations on your effective plastering of Kavieng." This diversion
had had its effect. While Admiral Griffin's battleships blasted Kavieng,
Emirau had been seized without opposition. Pausing at Purvis Bay and
Efate, Tennessee arrived at Pearl Harbor on 16 April to refurbish and
prepare for her next task.
Operation "Forager," the assault on the Marianas, was planned as a two-
pronged thrust. Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner's Task Force 51 was
organized into a Northern Attack Force (TF 52), under his command, and a
Southern Attack Force (TF 53) under Rear Admiral Richard Conolly. While TF
52 attacked Saipan and nearby Tinian, Conolly's TF 52 was aimed at Guam.
The bombardment and fire support force arrayed for this operation
included Tennessee and seven other older battleships, 11 cruisers, and
about 26 destroyers. These ships were divided into two fire support
groups. Tennessee, with California, Maryland, and Colorado, was assigned to
Fire Support Group One (TG 52.17) under Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf.
The Northern Attack Force assembled at Hawaii in mid-May 1944. After
rehearsals off Maui and Kahoplawe, Fire Support Group One sailed for
Kwajalein while the transports staged at Eniwetok. On 10 June 1944,
Tennessee and her task group departed Kwajalein, bound for Saipan.
Early on 13 June, as the force approached the Marianas, signs of
Japanese activity began to appear. A patrol plane reported sighting a
surfaced submarine some 20 miles ahead and attacked it. Another plane
shot down a land based Mitsubishi G4M "Betty" which had been trailing
along 10 miles astern of the ships. Another submarine contact was
reported to port of the formation, and screening destroyers dropped depth
charges. During the 13th, Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee's Task Group 58.7-
seven new fast battleships of the North Carolina, South Dakota, and Iowa
classes- temporarily detached from Vice Admiral Marc Mitscher's Task Force
58-hurled a furious bombardment at Saipan.
Throughout the following night, lookouts reported gun flashes on the
horizon, and escorting destroyers attacked suspected submarines. General
quarters was sounded at 0400 on 14 June as the old battleships drew near to
Saipan. Near the horizon, a Japanese cargo ship, set afire by the guns of
Melvin (DD-680), burned brightly. Shortly before dawn, Oldendorf's
battleships passed to the north of Saipan as the second fire-support group
steamed through Saipan Channel at the southern end of the island. The
southern group opened fire at 0539. Nine minutes later, Tennessee began a
methodical bombardment of the selected landing area, the southern portion
of Saipan's west coast, in support of minesweepers carrying out an assault
sweep on the landing zone. Enemy coastal guns had fired a few shots at
Oldendorf's ships as they rounded the northern tip of the island, and
attacking carrier planes as well as the ships' observation floatplanes
encountered heavy antiaircraft fire. Maryland drew fire from a battery
concealed on a tiny islet off Tanapag harbor. She and California turned
on this foe and soon silenced it.
Released from this duty, Tennessee sailed southward to the area of Agingan
Point, at the southwest corner of Saipan and the southern end of the
designated landing area. Underwater demolition teams (UDT) approached the
beach in small craft to reconnoiter the landing beaches and to plant
radar beacons which would provide reference points to the next day's
landing. Tennessee closed to 3,000 yards of Agingan Point and, at 0831,
opened up with 14-inch, 5-inch, and 40-millimeter batteries. Some
smoldering powder grains from the 5-inch guns fell on the port side of the
battleship's quarterdeck and burst into flame, but were quickly
extinguished. Japanese guns dropped shells near the UDT's as mortars and
machine guns joined in; at about 0920, projectile splashes began to
appear near the supporting ships as batteries on nearby Tinian opened
fire. Cleveland (CL-55) was straddled, and California and Braine (DD-630)
took hits. Tennessee aimed counter-battery fire at the defenders who were
opposing the UDT's, and her turret guns fired at Tinian. Shortly before
noon, she moved to the northwest to bombard Japanese fortifications on
Afetna Point, near the center of the landing zone. At 1331, the ship
ceased fire and withdrew from the firing area to recover her seaplanes,
later closing Wadleigh (DD-689) and Brooks (APD-10) to take on board
five wounded UDT men for treatment. She joined the rest of her fire
support group and took up night stations to the west of Saipan.
D-Day on Saipan was 15 June 1944. Circling to the north of the island,
well out of sight from shore during the last hours of darkness, the
assault force was off the landing beaches by dawn. Reserve landing forces
staged an elaborate feint off Tanapag harbor, hoping to induce the Japanese
to reinforce its defenses before the actual landing took place further
south. At 0430, the p re-landing bombardment began. Tennessee joined in at
0540 with a heavy barrage from her main, secondary and 40-millimeter guns
from 3,000 yards west of Agingan Point. At 0542, the landing craft and
amphibian tractors of the landing force began to load and assemble for
the movement to shore. Gunfire was lifted at 0630 to allow carrier planes
to bombard the island's defenses, resuming at 0700. At 0812, the assault
waves headed for the beach. The first went ashore at 0844 and met heavy
opposition. The pre-landing bombardment, though prolonged and intense, had
left much of the Japanese defenses still able to fight; and, as the
2d and 4th Marine Divisions landed on a 4-mile front south of Garapan,
they found that much still remained to be done.
Tennessee's assault station was off the southern end of the landing beach.
During the first wave's approach, her guns enfiladed that end of the
objective to prepare the way for the right-hand elements of the 4th
Division. She checked fire as the troops neared the beach, resuming it a
few minutes later as the marines fought to establish themselves ashore.
Japanese 4.7-inch field guns, emplaced in a cave on Tinian, opened on
Tennessee. The battleship commenced counter-battery fire, but the third
enemy salvo scored three hits, all of which burst on impact. One
projectile knocked out a 5-inch twin gun mount; the second struck the
ship's side, while the third tore a hole in the after portion of main deck
and sprayed fragments into the wardroom below. An intense fire inside the
disabled gun mount was subdued in two minutes by repair parties and men
from nearby gun crews; the hit to the hull damaged external blister
plating, but was prevented from inflicting further damage by the
battleship's heavy belt armor. Eight men were killed by projectile
fragments, while 25 more were wounded by fragments and flash burns.
Tennessee's damages did not prevent her from delivering call fire to help
break up a developing Japanese counterattack near Agingan Point before
leaving the firing line to make emergency repairs. During the afternoon and
night, she took station to screen assembled transports. Four Japanese dive
bombers attacked nearby ships at 1845, and Tennessee's, 5-inch guns
briefly engaged them but claimed no hits. That evening, Tennessee buried her
dead. Tokyo radio claimed victory in the battle for Saipan, stating that
they had sunk a battleship which they identified as "probably the New
Jersey."
The "sunken" Tennessee returned to Saipan Channel early the next day.
Several Japanese counterattacks had been stopped during the night, and
Tennessee's supporting fire assisted the marines in organizing and
consolidating their beachhead. During the evening, the first troops of the
Army's 27th Infantry Division began to come ashore; another counterattack,
this one involving tanks, was turned back during the night of 16 and 17
June.
The original plan had called for landings on Guam on the 18th. However,
during the afternoon of the 15th and the early hours of the 16th, Admiral
Spruance was advised that Japanese warships were at sea, off the
Philippines, heading for the Marianas. The Japanese plan for the defense
of these vital islands called for their garrison to hold out while a
naval force mounted a counterstroke to destroy the American invasion
fleet. By the morning of the 16th, Spruance decided to cancel the attack
on Guam while continuing the fight for Saipan and disposing his naval
forces for battle. The fast carrier force was sent to counter the Japanese
thrust, while the fire-support battleships were to be deployed to the west
of Saipan in case the Japanese should evade Task Force 58 and direct a
surface thrust at the island. Tennessee held station west of Saipan with
the other elderly battleships as the two fleets groped toward each other
about 150 miles away.
On the 19th, Mitscher's task force clashed with Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's
Mobile Fleet in what was to be called the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot."
By this time, American carrier operations had attained a high level of
excellence while the Japanese air arm, its experienced airmen mostly lost
during the long campaigns of 1942 and 1943, had to make do with unskilled
pilots. The result was striking. In more than eight hours of intense aerial
combat, more than 300 Japanese planes were knocked down, most of these by
carrier fighters. By the 20th, counterattacking American planes and
submarines had sent carriers Hiyo, Shokaku, and Taiho to the bottom. Thus,
Japan's last serious carrier offensive operation ended in disaster.
Ozawa's fleet never got close enough to Saipan for Tennessee and her
cousins to be called upon. On the 20th, she fueled east of Saipan as the
Japanese carrier force headed westward. The next day, she was back on
the gun line to blast gun positions on Manigassa Island, off Tanapag
harbor. Call fire occupied the afternoon, as she took on several targets
near Garapan. Tennessee's 14-inch guns commenced firing at 0555 the next
day, pounding Garapan from 6,000 yards. Shell hits on the battered town
raised clouds of smoke and dust, reminding the battleship's gunners of
the Aleutian murk. Fire was shifted onto Mount Tapotchau, east of
Garapan, before being returned to Garapan to assist the American troops who
were working their way into the southern part of town.
On the night of 22 June, Tennessee got underway for Eniwetok where Hector
(AE-7) repaired her battle damage as the fight for Saipan ground to its
end on 9 July. Her next destination was Guam. Departing Eniwetok on 16
July with California, she joined Bear Admiral Ainsworth's Southern Fire
Support Group (TG 53.5) off Guam in the afternoon of the 19th. The next
day, she joined in a systematic bombardment begun on the 8th which was
carefully planned to soften up the enemy's defenses while avoiding harm to
the island's friendly Chamorro population. Tennessee launched her planes;
and, at 0742, her turret guns opened fire while the 5-inch battery raked
nearby Cabras Island. The ship slowly maneuvered to a position north of
Asan Point, several miles north of Apra harbor, where one of two landing
beaches was sited. UDT's scouted the beaches while planes laid smoke
screens to cover their movements, and the ships' guns kept the Japanese
defenders occupied. Firing ceased at midday and resumed late in the
afternoon, as Tennessee continued to hammer Japanese positions north of
Apra.
Shortly after dawn on 21 July, the bombardment ships again took up their
work. Tennessee renewed her attentions to Cabras Island as the assault
waves formed and headed for shore and continued to provide support during
the first stage of the landing. At 1003, she ceased firing. Late that day,
she put to sea with California and Colorado and returned to Saipan on 22
July.
Tennessee anchored in Tanapag harbor to replenish ammunition before taking
up her night position to the west of Tinian. At 0607 on 23 July, she
opened fire on the waterfront area of Tinian Town, as part of a deception
scheme intended to convince the strong Japanese garrison that the landing
would take place at Sunharon Bay, on the southwest coast of the island.
A UDT even made a daylight reconnaissance of the beaches to strengthen the
impression, and Tennessee's guns supported the frogmen. Fire paused around
midday and resumed again in the afternoon before the ship retired to her
night position off the island.
Early in the morning of the 24th, Tennessee took up her position off
Tinian's northwest coast with California, Louisville (CA-28), and
several destroyers. From 2,500 yards offshore, the ships opened fire at
0532, ceasing fire as the first wave closed the beach at 0747. For the
rest of the day, the ship stood by to deliver fire if needed, then
retired for the night. In the morning of 25 July, Tennessee relieved
California as the "duty ship" to furnish call fire upon request from the
beach. Through the 25th and 26th, Tennessee delivered supporting fire by
day and star shell by night. After returning briefly to Saipan to
replenish on the 27th, the battleship was back on the firing line on the
28th, and her fire supported the advancing marines through the afternoon.
Following replenishment at Saipan on the 29th, Tennessee began the 30th
in support of marines advancing southward through Tinian Town. In the
early morning, one of her observation planes collided in midair with a
land based marine OY-1 spotting plane. Both aircraft plummeted to earth
behind Japanese lines and burst into flames; the crews of both were
killed.
Firing continued through that day and into the 31st, as the marines
crowded the last defenders into the southern tip of the island. At 0830
on 31 July, Tennessee's guns fell silent, and she returned to Saipan with
her task accomplished. On the evening of 2 August, she arrived off Guam to
resume fire-support duty. Rejoining Ainsworth's gunfire task group, she
delivered call fire and illumination until 8 August when she joined
California and Louisville for the voyage to Eniwetok and thence to
Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides. The ships arrived at Espiritu Santo
on 24 August. On 2 September, Tennessee arrived at Tulagi for a brief
period of amphibious support training.
Meanwhile, decisions had been made which would reshape the Allied
offensive in the western Pacific. Meeting at Pearl Harbor in July 1944,
President Roosevelt, Admiral Nimitz, and General MacArthur had finally
reached an agreement that the Philippines were to be liberated, not merely
bypassed. After further discussions, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved
landings beginning at Mindanao, continuing north through Leyte, then taking
either Luzon or Formosa and Amoy. During early September, Task Force 38
hit Japanese bases from the Palaus to the Visayas, inflicting considerable
damage. Surprisingly little resistance was encountered by the roving
carriers, leading to a conclusion that enemy air strength was virtually
nonexistent. Nimitz, MacArthur, and Halsey agreed that this eliminated any
need for a network of southern air bases to support the capture of the
Philippines. Proposed landings on Yap and Mindanao were scrapped,
although Morotai was invaded in September and preparations were made for
an assault on the Palaus before bypassing the southern Philippines and
going into Leyte.
The Palaus were to be Tennessee's next objective. This group is not an
atoll, but an elongated cluster of islands just north of the Equator and
at the western end of the Carolines. The group is about 110 miles long
from small islands and reefs to the north through the large island of
Babelthuap to the small southern islands of Peleliu and Angaur.
The objectives of the assault force were Kossol Roads, a reef-sheltered
anchorage at the northern end of the chain, and the two southern islands;
the large Japanese garrison on Babelthuap was to be isolated and left to
its own devices. Planes and gunfire ships took turns pounding Peleliu from
the morning of 12 September until the assault waves went ashore on the
15th. The battle for that island was to be one of the most bitter of the
Pacific war, and organized resistance was not eliminated until November,
at a heavy cost in lives.
Tennessee's target was the smaller island of Angaur, a few miles south of
Peleliu. On the morning of 12 September, Tennessee and Pennsylvania, with
four light cruisers and five destroyers, began a prolonged bombardment as
carrier aircraft did their share.
The flash and roar of bombs and gunfire from ships and planes attacking
Peleliu were plain on the horizon as Tennessee closed Angaur early on 12
September. The battleship opened fire at 0632, hurling 14-inch shells at
targets ashore from 14,000 yards. Through the morning and afternoon, her
guns hit coast-defense positions and antiaircraft sites. During the
afternoon, minesweepers cleared the approaches to the beaches. By this
time, Tennessee was only 3,750 yards from shore, and her 40-millimeters
had joined in. A prominent masonry lighthouse on the west coast of Angaur
was ordered destroyed to keep the Japanese from using it as a gunfire
observation point. Twelve 14-inch rounds were aimed at it, scarring the
area and scoring three hits, but the tower remained standing. Other
targets absorbed Tennessee's attention for the next three days. Tennessee
stood by off Peleliu during the morning of the 15th in case her guns
should be needed to assist the assault landing. When this work was
completed, she returned on the evening of 16 September to finish off the
stubborn tower before the next morning's scheduled landings. As the
ship's turret guns trained out on the target, a 6-inch projectile from
Denver (CL-58) screamed in from the far side of the island and sent the
lighthouse crashing down in a cloud of smoke and dust.
Ships and carrier planes pounded the island for five days before Army
troops of the 81st Infantry Division went ashore on Angaur on the morning
of 17 September. Tennessee's guns supported the soldiers through the 19th.
By the morning of 20 September, organized resistance was at an end; and
the battleship steamed away from the island to Kossol Roads to refuel and
to take on ammunition. On 28 September, she arrived at Manus to prepare
for her next operation.
Tennessee weighed anchor on 12 October and set her course for Leyte
Gulf. Under the supreme command of General MacArthur, Vice Admiral Thomas
Kinkaid's 7th Fleet carried two Army corps toward the invasion area.
Their objectives were two landing zones on the eastern coast of Leyte. A
Northern Attack Force (TF 78) under Rear Admiral Daniel Barbey was aimed
at Tacloban, while Vice Admiral Theodore Wilson command TF 79, the
Southern Attack Force whose target was Dulag. The old battleships were
divided between two fire-support units. Tennessee, with California and
Pennsylvania, sailed with the Dulag attack force under Rear Admiral
Oldendorf.
During its approach to the Philippines, the invasion force was alert for
air and submarine attack; but none came. As the ships steamed under hot,
clear skies, their radios brought news of Task Force 38 as the fast
carriers ranged an arc from the Ryukyus to Formosa before turning on
Japanese air bases in Luzon and the central Philippines. Preliminary
minesweeping and bombardment, to clear the way into Leyte Gulf, began on
the morning of 17 October 1944. The entrance to the gulf was secured, but
the approaches to the objective area were partially swept when
Oldendorf, to avoid delaying the operation, decided to order his ships
into the gulf. At 0609 on the morning of the 18th, Tennessee, with her
fire-support unit, entered the channel between Homonhon and Dinagat
islands. Paravanes streamed from her bows, and marines were stationed in
her upper works to sink or explode floating mines. The minesweepers
continued their work as the heavy ships moved slowly up Leyte Gulf.
Tennessee took up her position off Dulag before dawn on 19 October and, at
0645, began to bombard the landing area north of the town. Her main
battery opened up from 8,300 yards, and her secondaries chimed in a few
minutes later as she aimed at fortifications and antiaircraft gun
emplacements. Catmon Hill, a 1,000-foot elevation just inland, received
particular attention from the ships. Japanese planes were reported in the
offing, but the only attack came from a horizontal bomber which dropped one
bomb into the water near Honolulu (CL-48) before being knocked down by
gunfire. Heavy shelling continued through the afternoon, and the
bombardment ships took up night cruising stations off the mouth of Leyte
Gulf.
The landings were scheduled for 20 October; and, at 0600, Tennessee
opened neutralization fire on the beaches. As the northern force pounded
Tacloban and went in to the attack, transports assembled off Dulag and
put the landing force into the water. Infantry landing craft armed with
heavy mortars (LCI(M)) began dropping shells on reverse slopes at 0915;
and, at 0930, the landing waves crossed the line of departure and moved
for the beach. At 0945, rocket-firing landing craft (LCI(R)) began to
hurl their masses of explosive bombardment rockets at the beach defenses,
and the first troops went ashore 15 minutes later. Naval gunfire was
shifted inland and to the flanks to assist the landing troops as they
began to carve out a beachhead. The landing went well. During the
afternoon, Honolulu was again attacked, this time by a torpedo bomber
which scored a hit and forced the cruiser to withdraw. Night air attacks
were feared; a screen of destroyers was placed around the ships in the
gulf, smoke was generated, and much nervous firing flared up in the
darkness and caused some casualties.
The Japanese Imperial General Headquarters, on noting the scale of the
operation being mounted against Leyte, had decided to make that island
the focus of a decisive naval counterstroke. The principal surface
strength of the Combined Fleet had gone to Lingga Roads, an anchorage in
the Lingga Archipelago off Sumatra at the southwest end of the South China
Sea, to be near their fuel supply since American submarines had made it
increasingly difficult to get oil through to Japan. The surviving
carriers had returned to the Inland Sea to train aircrews. Under the
Japanese plan, dictated by a combination of geography, logistics, and the
lack of adequate carrier aviation, four widely separated forces were to
converge on the area of Leyte Gulf in an effort to destroy, at whatever
cost, the American invasion force.
While the Japanese fleet set out for Leyte, Tennessee continued her work
off the beachhead. Fire support was not required from her for the time
being, but the increasing tempo of Japanese air activity in the area
required her to place herself where her antiaircraft guns could assist in
the defense of the assembled transports and cargo ships. In the evening of
21 October, while lying dead in the water in a smoke screen laid to protect
the shipping from attacking planes, Tennessee was rammed near the stern
by the transport War Hawk (AP-168). No one was injured, and the
battleship's tough hull was little harmed, but her orders for a night
fire-support mission were cancelled.
Matters continued to go well ashore, where the town of Tacloban was
captured and declared a temporary seat of the Philippine government. Air
defense, rather than shore bombardment, was still Tennessee's mission; on
the morning of the 24th, enemy planes sank an LCI(L) and damaged a cargo
ship before being driven off. A larger raid came in from several
directions before noon, hitting American positions on Leyte. The afternoon
was mostly quiet. A third attack occurred at 1700. As the enemy aircraft
drew away, the battleship's executive officer passed the electrifying word
that a Japanese naval task force was expected to try to enter Leyte Gulf
that night. The six old battleships of the fire support groups formed
columns and moved south to take up positions at the mouth of Surigao
Strait, the body of water between Leyte and Dinagat which formed a
southern entrance to Leyte Gulf.
The Japanese forces set in motion some days earlier were now approaching
their objective. A force of four carriers and two converted hermaphrodite
"battleship-carriers" was steaming south from Japan toward the Philippine
Sea, while a small surface force under Admiral Shima had sailed from
Japanese waters heading for the Sulu Sea. Two striking forces of
battleships, cruisers, and destroyers had sailed from Lingga Roads; north
of Borneo they separated. The larger force, under Admiral Kurita, passed
north of Palawan (losing three cruisers to submarine attack) to transit
the Sibuyan Sea and emerge to the north of Samar. A smaller force,
commanded by Admiral Nishimura, turned to the south of Palawan and crossed
the Sulu Sea to pass between Mindanao and Leyte. Shima's orders directed
him to support Nishimura, and his force followed some miles behind
Nishimura's.
If the Sho plan, as it was called, worked properly, Kurita would approach
Leyte Gulf from the north while Nishimura and Shima came up from the south,
catching the massed amphibious shipping in the jaws of a vise and
destroying it. Ozawa's force was toothless since prolonged heavy
casualties and an inadequate pilot training program had left the Imperial
Navy with few experienced carrier pilots. The carrier force advancing
southward from Japan carried only enough planes to make a convincing
decoy; its job was to lure Halsey's 3d Fleet to the north while the
converging surface forces did their job.
During the morning of 24 October, carrier planes sighted the three
Japanese groups in the Sulu and Sibuyan seas. Recognizing Kurita's as the
most powerful, Halsey directed the fast carriers' air groups against him as
the Japanese ships steamed across the Sibuyan Sea. With no air cover,
Kurita had to endure repeated bomb and torpedo attacks which forced one
of his cruisers to turn back with serious damage and, as the day ended,
sank the giant battleship Musashi. Complaining of the lack of air support,
Kurita turned back in midafternoon; and this movement was reported to
Halsey by his pilots.
Early on the 24th, a Japanese scout plane from Luzon had spotted Task
Force 38 east of that island. All available land based planes were sent
against it, mortally wounding the light carrier Princeton (CVL-23). Halsey
concluded that the attackers were carrier-based. During the morning,
Ozawa's reconnaissance planes sighted Halsey's carriers; and an
unproductive air strike was launched against Task Force 38 at 1145. In the
afternoon, the Japanese carriers were sighted and, in the evening of 24
October, Halsey ordered the fast carrier force to go after them. Shortly
before sunset, Kurita had again reversed course and was heading back in the
direction of Leyte Gulf; Halsey had been informed of this, but
exaggerated reports of damage inflicted by his planes led him to believe
that the Japanese force had been more grievously hurt than was the case.
Judging that Kurita was too badly crippled to do any harm to the ships in
Leyte Gulf, Halsey continued north through the night. By midnight the
Japanese Center Force, as the American commanders referred to it, was
pushing, unobserved, toward San Bernardino Strait before turning south
toward Leyte Gulf.
Halsey had not sent his planes against the surface forces of Nishimura and
Shima, believing that Kinkaid's warships would be able to deal with them.
This was to be Oldendorf's job; and, in the evening of the 24th, he
deployed his six battleships across the northern end of Surigao Strait.
Besides his capital ships, Oldendorf had available eight cruisers and 28
destroyers. These were arranged toward the flanks, the destroyers placed
in suitable position to launch torpedo attacks. A great deal of shooting
in support of the landing operation had already occurred, and most of the
shells remaining in the battleship's magazines were thin-walled, high-
capacity bombardment ammunition rather than armor-piercing projectiles.
Their handling-room crews carefully arranged the projectile supply so
that high-capacity shells would be ready for use against anything smaller
than a battleship. The big ships were directed to hold their fire until
the enemy was within 20,000 yards to insure as many hits as possible.
The sea was smooth and the moonless night intensely dark as the ships
steamed slowly to and fro along their assigned lines of position.
Tennessee quietly awaited her first action against her own kind.
All available 7th Fleet PT boats had been stationed in Surigao Strait
and along its approaches. At 2236, the first PT's made radar contact
with Nishimura. Successive torpedo attacks were launched as Nishimura
entered Surigao Strait and steamed north, with Shima trailing well
behind; Nishimura was annoyed but not injured, though one of Shima's
cruisers took a torpedo and had to drop out of the running. Shortly before
0300, Nishimura was well into the strait and taking up battle formation
when he was hit by a well-planned torpedo attack by five American
destroyers. The battleship Fuso was hit and dropped out of formation; other
torpedo spreads sank two Japanese destroyers and crippled a third. Another
torpedo struck, but did not stop, Fuso's sistership Yamashiro. Ten minutes
later, another destroyer attack scored a second hit on Yamashiro. The
disabled Fuso had apparently been set afire by the torpedo that had hit
her; her magazines exploded at 0338 as Arizona's had on the morning of 7
December; and the two shattered halves of the battleship slowly drifted
back down the strait before sinking.
On board Tennessee, observers had seen distant flashes of gunfire, star
shells, and searchlights as the torpedo boats and destroyers engaged the
Japanese. Soon explosions could be heard. At 0302, the battleship's radar
picked up Nishimura's approach at nearly 44,000 yards and began to track
the lead ship. This was the flagship, Yamashiro. With the cruiser Mogami
and destroyer Skigure, she was all that remained of the first Japanese
force. At 0351 Oldendorf ordered the flanking cruisers to open fire; and,
at 035B, the battleships let fly from 20,500 yards.
Tennessee's forward turret fired a three-gun salvo, and the rest of her
14-inch battery joined in. In this duel, Tennessee, California, and the
recently arrived West Virginia had a considerable advantage over the
other battleships. During their wartime modernization, all three had
received new Mark 34 main-battery directors provided with Mark 8 fire-
control radars and associated modern gunfire computing equipment. The main
batteries of the other ships were still controlled by systems developed
20 years or more before and were using earlier Mark 3 radars. This
handicap showed in their shooting. Firing in six-gun salvos to make
careful use of her limited supply of armor-piercing projectiles, Tennessee
got off 69 of her big 14-inch bullets before checking fire at 0408. The
battle line had increased speed to 15 knots before opening fire, and, as
it drew near the eastern end of its line of position, simultaneous turns
brought the ships around to a westward heading. California miscalculated
her turn and came sharply across Tennessee's bow, narrowly avoiding a
collision and fouling Tenneesee's line of fire for about five minutes.
The effect of this intense bombardment was awesome. As one of Tennessee's
crew described it, "when a ship fired there would be a terrific whirling
sheet of golden flame bolting across the sea, followed by a massive
thunder, and then three red balls would go into the sky; up, arch-over,
and then down. When the salvoes found the target there would be a huge
shower of sparks, and after a moment a dull orange glow would appear. This
glow would increase, brighten, and then slowly dull." Little of the enemy
could be seen from Tennessee. Occasionally, the vague outline of a ship
could be seen against the glare of an explosion; and, at one point, the
single stack and high "pagoda" foremast of Yamashiro could be seen.
Nishimura's three ships found themselves at the focus of a massive
crossfire of battleship and cruiser fire. By 0400, both of the larger
Japanese ships had been hit repeatedly as they gallantly attempted to
return fire; Mogami, sorely damaged and her engineering plant crippled,
had turned back, and Yamashiro, burning intensely, came about to follow.
Oldendorf ordered gunfire to cease at 0409, after hearing that flanking
destroyers were being endangered by American gunfire. Yamashiro, still
able to make 15 knots after her frightful beating, was fatally hurt and,
at 0419, rolled over and sank with all but a few of her crew. Mogami was
able to draw out of radar range but had been slowed to a crawl. Shigure,
more or less overlooked and relatively undamaged, escaped southward.
Shima's force, following along in Nishimura's wake, was unaware of what
had befallen. When they were about halfway up Surigao Strait, they
sighted what seemed to be two flaming ships; these were the broken halves
of Fuso. Shima's two cruisers made a radar torpedo attack on what they
believed to be American ships but was, in fact, Hibuson Island. "The
island," as Samuel E. Morison remarked, "was not damaged." The Japanese
admiral decided that Nishimura's force had met with disaster and decided
on a retreat. As his ships turned to steam back, cruiser Nachi collided
with limping, burning Mogami, but both vessels were able to continue
southward. Collecting Shigure, the only other survivor of Nishimura's
attack, Shima retired back through the strait. Oldendorf sent some of his
cruisers and destroyers after him, and the patrolling PT's joined in.
Fire was engaged with the stubborn Mogami, but she continued on her way
only to be sunk by carrier planes shortly afterward. Destroyer Asagumo,
her bow blown off by destroyer torpedoes during Nishimura's approach, was
sighted and sent to the bottom with her guns still firing. Oldendorf now
received reports that Kurita's "crippled" force had emerged from San
Bernardino Strait and joined action east of Samar with some of the
supporting escort carrier force stationed there. Plans were hurriedly
drawn for another surface battle, and Oldendorf's ships turned toward the
northern entrance to Leyte Gulf to defend the landing area.
Their services were, however, not needed. In an epic action off Samar, the
escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts of Rear Admiral C. A.
F. Sprague's "Taffy Three" put up so desperate a fight that Kurita judged
the odds against him hopeless and turned back. Halsey's carrier planes
and surface ships sank all four of Ozawa's decoy carriers, and a
submarine finished off a damaged cruiser.
The Battle for Leyte Gulf was over. The last major Japanese naval
counterstroke had been defeated, and Tennessee had had a share in the
last naval action fought by a battle line.
The next several days were quiet ones for Tennessee, though the Japanese
sent numerous land-based air strikes against Leyte Gulf. On 29 October,
the battle-wagon's crew was told that their next destination was to be
the Puget Sound Navy Yard. Late that day, she got underway for Ulithi with
West Virginia, Maryland, and four cruisers. From there, she proceeded to
Pearl Harbor and thence to Bremerton where she entered the shipyard on 26
November.
Unlike her last yard overhaul, this refit made no remarkable changes in
Tennessee's appearance. She retained her battery of 10 40-millimeter
quadruple antiaircraft mounts and 43 20-millimeter guns, but her main-
battery directors received improved models of the Mark 8 radar, and the
Mark 4 radars used with the 5-inch gun directors were replaced by the
newer combination of paired Mark 12 and Mark 22 dual-purpose equipments.
Tennessee's usefulness as an antiaircraft ship was enhanced by the
addition of a model SP height-finding radar. Her pattern camouflage
scheme was replaced by a dark gray finish which was calculated to provide a
less conspicuous aiming point for kamikaze suicide planes, introduced
during the recapture of the Philippines and becoming more and more of a
fact of naval life during the winter of 1944 and 1945.
On 2 February 1945, Tennessee headed back toward the western Pacific.
While she was being refitted, landings had been made in the Central
Philippines and on Luzon; and the liberation of the Philippines was
nearly accomplished. From its base in the Marianas, the 20th Army Air
Force was hitting Japan with B-29s. Their track led past the Benin
Islands, whose garrison could send an early warning to Japanese airfields
and gunners in the home islands. To eliminate this danger, provide an
advanced base for fighter escorts, and obtain an emergency landing field
for damaged bombers, Nimitz had been directed to capture Iwo Jima before
going on to the Ryukyus to seize Okinawa as an advanced base for the
assault on Japan proper. Japanese resistance on Leyte delayed the
landing on Luzon from 20 December 1944 to 9 January 1945, while the landing
in the Bonins, scheduled for 20 January 1945, had to be deferred until 19
February. The schedule for landings in the new year was tight; but
planners deemed it essential to move as expeditiously as possible since the
invasion of southern Japan, scheduled for the fall, depended on the use
of Iwo Jima and Okinawa as bases for a long and intensive aerial
bombardment.
The Japanese had predicted that a landing would be made on Iwo Jima,
and a large garrison of good troops under Lieutenant General Tadanichi
Kuribayashi had done a thorough job of digging themselves in. The volcanic
island's rugged terrain was heavily fortified with strongly built firing
positions supported by a deep and intricate network of tunnels.
B-24 Liberators of the 7th Army Air Force bombed Iwo Jima for 74
consecutive days to soften it up for an assault, and five naval
bombardments were delivered. This pounding had no significant effect
except to accelerate the work of the defenders.
Steaming by way of Pearl Harbor and Saipan, Tennessee was just in time to
join Rear Admiral W. H. P. Blandy's bombardment force. Blandy, an ordnance
specialist, had been Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance earlier in the war.
With the expert help of Lt. Col. Donald Weller, USMC, the pre-invasion
bombardment was thoroughly planned and was modified to meet immediate needs
as the shelling progressed. The Japanese defensive tactic called for the
landing troops to be stopped on the beaches before they could move inland,
and a heavy belt of defenses extended along the shoreline. The mission of
the bombarding ships and planes was to break down the Japanese cordon and
permit the landing marines to push through before they could be cut to
pieces.
Blandy's gunfire force arrived off Iwo Jima early on 16 February 1945. The
morning was cool, with occasional rain squalls, and low cloud cover
hindered spotting planes. Shortly after daybreak, the warships deployed to
their stations, with escort carriers in the near distance providing air
coyer. Minesweepers began to clear the approaches to the island at 0645,
and gunfire opened at 0707. Tennessee's assigned firing course took her
along the southeastern shore of Iwo Jima, and her 14-inch guns struck the
slopes of Mount Suribachi while the secondaries aimed at the high ground
at the north end of the beach. Floatplanes and fighters observing gunfire
over the island were followed by dark puffs of antiaircraft fire. Blandy
ordered the ships to fire only when air spot could function effectively in
the intermittent visibility. Whenever the airplanes could observe the
results, the ships kept their fire up through the day. During the
afternoon, an OS2U Kingfisher seaplane from the cruiser Pensacola (CA-24)
found a Japanese "Zeke" on its tail. The observation pilot, determined to
put up all the fight he could, went at the fighter though his plane was
much slower and less maneuverable, and armed only with one .30-caliber
forward-firing machine gun plus a second flexible gun in the observer's
cockpit. Against all the odds, the "Zeke" went down in flames.
Visibility was better the next day, and the ships began to approach
beaches at 0803. Beginning at 10,000 yards, Tennessee, with Idaho and
Nevada, soon closed to 3,000 yards and delivered heavy direct fire to
assigned targets while assault minesweeping went on. At 1025, the
battleships were ordered to retire to make way for UDT's supported by
LCI(G)'s. The defenders concluded that this was the beginning of the actual
landing and unmasked guns and mortars in a heavy fire on the gunboats and
frogmen. Casualties mounted; one gunboat was sunk, another set afire. The
other LCI's returned fire but had to withdraw as the bombardment ships
resumed firing against the defenses. Three damaged gunboats came alongside
Tennessee to transfer their wounded to the battleship's sick bay.
Bombardment continued through the 18th under orders prescribing
concentrated hammering of the landing beaches. Once more, Tennessee's big
guns pounded Suribachi while her secondaries attacked gun positions
overlooking the right flank of the objective area. While the heavier guns
fired from ranges varying between 2,200 and 6,000 yards, the 40-millimeter
battery raked other targets on cliffs at the north end of the beach and
shot up the wrecks of several Japanese ships beached near the shore;
these had been used as havens for snipers and machine gunners at Tarawa
and in later landings, and were always treated as potential threats.
Several fires were started ashore; an ammunition dump exploded
spectacularly and burned for several hours. Coastal guns and antiaircraft
weapons were still firing when Tennessee retired for the night, even though
she and Idaho had been able to demolish many massive masonry pillboxes with
direct hits.
Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner arrived off Iwo Jima at 0600 on the
morning of 19 February with the main body of the invasion force and assumed
command. Transports formed up in the darkness and, at daybreak, put their
landing craft into the water as troops clambered down the ship's cargo
nets. The loaded landing craft circled near the transports as they
awaited the signal to land. Tank landing ships moved closer to shore,
opened their bow doors, and launched LVT's carrying the first wave of
assault troops. Shortly after daylight, a heavy bombardment was opened by
the ships of Task Force 54 reinforced by the newer battleships North
Carolina (BB-55), Washington (BB-56), and three cruisers lent for the
occasion by Task Force 58. A total of seven battleships, four 8-inch gun
heavy cruisers, and three light cruisers armed with 6-inchers laid their
fire on the landing areas. At first, the fire was slow and deliberate.
It was checked for an air strike, as planes from the fast carrier force
delivered bombs, rockets, and napalm before the ships resumed a heavier
fire. Beginning at 0850, fire was so adjusted that carrier fighters could
strafe the beaches during the last few minutes before H-hour. One minute
before H-hour, the turret guns ceased firing, and the secondary guns
began to drop a rolling barrage just ahead of the marines as they landed
and moved inland. Shore fire control parties (SFCP) accompanied the marines
ashore; one SFCP was assigned to work with each of the supporting
battleships and cruisers.
The first wave crossed the line of departure at 0830 and landed only a
fraction before the scheduled 0900 H-hour. As the troops landed, the
Japanese, who had waited out the bombardment in their deep tunnels,
manned guns and mortars in protected emplacements and opened an
increasingly heavy fire. The ships' guns were kept busy; main batteries
took on gun positions as they were located while the lighter guns kept
up their barrage ahead of the men on the ground. Tennessee's station was
3,000 yards from Suribachi at the southern end of the landing area, and the
water around her was churned by hundreds of vehicles and landing craft as
the successive waves moved in. By the end of the day, some 30,000 marines
were on Iwo Jima, and some tanks and artillery had been landed.
Ground fighting on Iwo Jima continued until 26 March, as the stubborn
Japanese were slowly rooted out of the positions that they continued to
defend to the last. Even before the struggle ended, though, Army engineers
had patched up the island's battered airstrip; and damaged B-29s were able
to seek refuge on dry land instead of ditching. Tennessee was a part of
this struggle until 7 March, when she sailed for Ulithi. The days after
the landing were a steady routine of call fire and counter-battery work
as Japanese guns continued to reveal themselves by opening fire on the
hovering support ships before being located and taken out. For this
purpose, it had been found that single-gun salvoes at close range, using
"pointer fire" (in which the gun is directly aimed by telescopic sight),
were the most precise and effective. The notion of using a 14-inch naval
gun for sniping was rather new, but it seemed to work very well.
Tennessee left the area, having deposited 1,370 rounds of main-battery
fire on Iwo Jima along with 6,380 5-inch and 11,481 40-millimeter
projectiles. At Ulithi, she began to prepare for the Okinawa operation.
Supplies and ammunition were loaded, and the tired sailors stretched
their legs and drank beer on tiny Mog Mog Island, whose principal
selling point as a vacation resort seemed to be that it did not move
underfoot.
Everyone involved knew that this job would be attended by special
hazards. Censorship had prevented any mention of the Japanese kamikaze
weapon in the American press, but it was much in the mind of the Fleet.
Admiral Oldendorf, injured and hospitalized shortly after reaching Ulithi,
was replaced by Rear Admiral Morton Deyo, who broke his flag in Tennessee
on 15 March. On the 21st, Task Force 54, the gunfire force, was underway
for the Ryukyus. As Kerama Retto, a small cluster of islands near
Okinawa, was taken for use as an advanced base, the battleships arrived
off the main island. With Tennessee were Colorado, Maryland, West Virginia,
New Mexico, and Idaho, as well as Nevada, New York, Texas, and the
Venerable.
Arkansas (BB-33), first commissioned in 1912 and still pulling her
weight; she was the only battleship in the fleet still armed with 12-
inch guns. With the capital ships came 10 cruisers, 32 destroyer and
destroyer escorts, and numerous gun- and rocket-firing LCI's and LSM's.
Shortly after midnight on 26 March 1945, Task Force 54 approached Okinawa
with its crews at general quarters in the darkness. At daylight, it
deployed; the bombardment began at long range since the nearer waters had
not yet been swept for mines. The minesweepers began to work as the ships
fired on targets located by previous aerial reconnaissance. No enemy fire
answered the American guns though antiaircraft shells pecked at spotting
planes. Japanese submarines were in the area, and a number of ships
sighted torpedo wakes, but no damage resulted. Planes from the escort
carriers and from Task Force 58 mounted strikes on the island, took
detailed photographs, and flew air cover for the surface ships. The need
for this became quite evident early on the next morning, when a number
of kamikazes came in at a time when no combat air patrol (CAP) was
overhead. One suicider hit Nevada, knocking out one of her turrets;
another damaged Biloxi (CL-80) at the waterline, while a third went into
the water to port of Tennessee. The converted "flush-decker" Dorsey (DMS-1)
was hit by a kamikaze which glanced off the ship, damaging, but not
crippling, her.
This was to be the pattern of life off Okinawa during the grueling weeks
to come, as the "fleet that came to stay" battled to see the land battle
through while keeping itself alive. Long hours at general quarters kept
all hands tense and tired as the ships prowled off the island firing at
every likely target while reports of suicide attacks piled up.
The day of the landing-1 April 1945, Easter Sunday-was bright and fair,
with a gentle breeze. At 0600, Admiral Turner assumed overall command of
the operation as Deyo continued to direct the gunfire ships. After a
morning bombardment which Morison described as "the most impressive gunfire
support that any assault troops had ever had," the landing began. H-Hour
was 0830, preceded by the by-now customary intense battering by everything
from battleships and carrier planes to sheaves of rockets from flat-
bottomed landing craft. As the troops hit the beach, the bombardment was
lifted. Early progress was good, meeting surprisingly light opposition.
Veterans of earlier landings, and even the intelligence staffs, were
puzzled at not having to fight the usual savage struggle to get ashore.
Lieutenant General Mitsuru Ushijima, commanding nearly 100,000 defenders-
three-quarters of whom were regular Army troops-had decided to make no
attempt to stop the landing at the beaches. Instead, he dug his main
strength into the hilly southern end of Okinawa, thoroughly fortified as
Iwo Jima had been but on a much larger scale. Japanese artillery held its
fire during the pre-landing bombardment so that their positions would
not be given away; instead of dueling with the ships, they would save
their fire for the landing troops. His general idea was to pin down the
invasion force and delay it as long as possible, while a massive suicide
air offensive wore down the supporting naval forces.
By 18 April, all of northern and central Okinawa was in American hands.
The long fight for the Japanese citadel around the old island capital of
Naha was to last much longer, and the island was not secured until 21
June. In the meanwhile, the Navy battled by day and night against the
unremitting kamikaze offensive. On the afternoon of 12 April, Tennessee-
instead of taking up a fire-support station-was steaming- in air-defense
formation. Deyo had been warned that a heavy air attack was on the way
and, during the afternoon, it arrived. Some suiciders were knocked down by
picket destroyers or splashed by CAP; others, though, got through and aimed
themselves at the firing, maneuvering ships. More bandits were shot down
by antiaircraft fire, but Zellars (DD-777) was set ablaze by a crashing
plane. Five more picked Tennessee and came in through puffs of shell
bursts and the heavy smoke from Zellars. Four were shot down, the last
three only hundreds of yards from the battleship. The last diver came down
on the bow at a 45-degree angle, was set aflame by 5-inch fire, and
plunged into the water. At the same time, an Aichi A6M "Val" dive-bomber,
flying low on the starboard bow, headed directly for Tennessee's bridge.
Lookouts spotted the "Val" at 2,500 yards, and every automatic weapon that
could bear opened up. One of the plane's fixed wheels was torn off, and
its engine began to smoke. Heading at first for Tennessee's tower
foremast, the Japanese pilot swerved slightly and crashed into the
signal bridge. The burning wreck slid aft along the superstructure,
crushing antiaircraft guns and their crews, and stopped next to Turret
Three. It had carried a 250-pound bomb which, with what was left of the
plane, went through the wooden deck and exploded. Twenty-two men were killed
or fatally wounded, with another 107 injured.
This was not enough to put Tennessee out of action. The dead were buried
at sea, and the wounded transferred the following day to the casualty-
evacuation transport Pinkney (APH-2). The ship's company turned to on
emergency repairs; and, by 14 April, the ship was back on the firing
line. Tennessee remained off Okinawa for two more weeks. On 1 May, Admiral
Deyo shifted his flag to a cruiser, and Tennessee set her course for
Ulithi. Here, the repair ship Ajax (AR-6) made repairs, cutting away
damaged plating and installing new guns to replace those lost. On 3
June, the ship sailed for Okinawa, arriving on the 9th. By now, the worst
was over. Army troops were making a final drive to clear the island, and
Tennessee's gunfire again helped to clear the way. With the other old
battlewagons, she remained in support until organized resistance was
declared at an end on 21 June. By this time, the scene in the air was
different. Besides Navy carrier planes, large numbers of Army Air Force
fighters were now flying from Okinawan fields; and the days when everything
that flew was a cause for alarm had ended-for the time being.
Vice Admiral Oldendorf was subsequently placed in command of naval forces
in the Ryukyus, and Tennessee flew his flag as she covered minesweeping
operations in the East China Sea and patrolled the waters off Shanghai
for Japanese shipping as escort carriers sent strikes against the China
coast. This was Tennessee's station until V-J Day brought an end to the
war in the Pacific. When this glad day came, the big ship was operating
out of Okinawa and preparing to take part in the planned invasion of
Japan.
The battleship's final assignment of the war was to cover the landing of
occupation troops at Wakayama, Japan. She arrived there on 23 September,
then went on to Yokosuka. Tennessee's crew had the chance to look over
the Imperial Navy's big shipyard and operating base and do some
sightseeing before she got underway for Singapore on 15 October. At
Singapore, Oldendorf shifted his flag to the cruiser Springfield (CL-66),
and Tennessee continued her long voyage home by way of the Cape of Good
Hope.
On the fourth anniversary of Pearl Harbor, the old veteran moored at the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. During those years, she had hurled 9,347 14-
inch rounds at the enemy, with 46,341 shells from her 5-inch guns and more
than 100,000 rounds from her antiaircraft battery.
The process of trimming the wartime Navy down to postwar size was already
well underway. Tennessee was one of the older, yet still useful, ships
selected for inclusion in the "mothball fleet;" and, during 1946, she
underwent a process of preservation and preparation for inactivation.
The work went slowly; there were many ships to lay up and not too many
people to do it. Finally, on 14 February 1947, Tennessee's ensign was
hauled down for the last time as she was placed out of commission.
Tennessee remained in the inactive fleet for another 12 years. By then,
time and technology had passed her by; and, on 1 March 1959, her name
was struck from the Naval Vessel Register. On 10 July of that year,
she was sold to the Bethlehem Steel Company for scrapping.
Tennessee earned a Navy Unit Commendation and 10 battle stars for
World War II service.
Built at Mare Island Navy
Yard, Vallejo, Ca.
Keel Laid 10/25/16, Commissioned 08/10/21
Capt. H. J.
Ziegemeier commanding
The fifth CALIFORNIA (BB- 41) was launched 20 November
1919 by
Mare Island Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. R. T. Zane; and
commissioned 10 August 1921, Captain H. J. Ziegemeier in
command; and
reported to the Pacific Fleet as flagship.
TENNESSEE
CLASS
BB-44
Length Overall: 624'6"
Extreme Beam:
97'4"
Displacement: Tons: 32,300 Mean Draft: 30'3"
Complement: Off.: 57 Enl.: 1,026
Armament:
Main: (12) 14"/50 cal
Secondary: (14) 5"/51 cal (4) 3"/50
cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" sumberged
Armor: Max. Thicness:
18"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
28,500
Engines: Mfr.: Curtis (GE)
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: Bureau Express No.: 8
Drive:
TE
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 4,656
California BB-44
The fifth California (BB-44) was launched 20 November 1919 by Mare Island
Navy Yard; sponsored by Mrs. R. T. Zane; and commissioned 10 August 1921,
Captain H. J. Ziegemeier in command; and reported to the Pacific Fleet
as flagship.
For 20 years from 1921 until 1941, California served first as flagship of
the Pacific Fleet, then as flagship of the Battle Fleet (Battle Force),
U.S. Fleet. Her annual activities included joint Army-Navy exercises,
tactical and organizational development problems, and fleet
concentrations for various purposes. Intensive training and superior
performance won her the Battle Efficiency Pennant for 1921-22, and the
Gunnery "E" for 1925-26.
In the summer of 1925 California led the Battle Fleet and a division of
cruisers from the Scouting Fleet on a very successful good-will cruise to
Australia and New Zealand. She took part in the Presidential reviews of
1927, 1930, and 1934. She was modernized in late 1929 and early 1930 and
equipped with an improved antiaircraft battery.
In 1940 California switched her base to Pearl Harbor. On 7 December 1941
she was moored at the southernmost berth of "Battleship Row" and was with
other dreadnoughts of the Battle Force when the Japanese launched their
aerial attack. As she was about to undergo a material inspection,
watertight integrity was not at its maximum; consequently the ship
suffered great damage when hit. At 0805 a bomb exploded below decks,
setting off an antiaircraft ammunition magazine and killing about 50
men. A second bomb ruptured her bow plates. Despite valiant efforts to
keep her afloat, the inrushing water could not be isolated and
California settled into the mud with only her superstructure remaining
above the surface. When the action ended, 98 of her crew were lost and
61 wounded.
On 25 March 1942 California was re-floated and dry-docked at Pearl
Harbor for repairs. On 7 June she departed under her own power, for Puget
Sound Navy Yard where a major reconstruction job was accomplished,
including improved protection, stability, AA battery, and fire control
system.
California departed Bremerton 31 January 1944 for shakedown at San Pedro,
and sailed from San Francisco 5 May for the invasion of the Marianas. Off
Saipan in June, she conducted effective shore bombardment and call fire
missions. On 14 June she was hit by a shell from an enemy shore battery
which killed one man and wounded nine. Following Saipan, her heavy guns
helped blast the way for our assault force in the Guam and Tinian
operations (18 July-9 August). On 24 August she arrived at Espiritu
Santo for repairs to her port bow damaged in a collision with Tennessee
(BB-43).
On 17 September 1944 California sailed to Manus to ready for the invasion
of the Philippines. From 17 October to 20 November she played a key role
in the Leyte operation, including the destruction of the Japanese fleet in
the Battle of Surigao Strait (25 October). On 1 January 1945 she
departed the Palaus for the Luzon landings. Her powerful batteries were
an important factor in the success of these dangerous operations driven
home into the heart of enemy-held territory under heavy air attack. On 6
January while providing shore bombardment at Lingayen Gulf she was hit by
a kamikaze plane; 44 of her crew were killed and 155 were wounded.
Undeterred she made temporary repairs on the spot and remained carrying
out her critical mission of shore bombardment until the job was done. She
departed 23 January for Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving 15 February,
for permanent repairs.
California returned to action at Okinawa 15 June 1945 and remained in
that embattled area until 21 July. Two days later she joined TF 95 to
cover the East China Sea minesweeping operations. After a short voyage to
San Pedro Bay, P.I., in August, the ship departed Okinawa 20 September
to cover the landing of the 6th Army occupation force at Wakanoura Wan,
Honshu. She remained supporting the occupation until 15 October, then
sailed via Singapore, Colombo, and Capetown, to Philadelphia, arriving 7
December. She was placed in commission in reserve there 7 August 1946:
out of commission in reserve 14 February 1947; and sold 10 July 1959.
California received seven battle stars for World War II service.
Built at New York SB Co.,
Camden, N. J.
Keel Laid 05/29/19, Commissioned 08/30/23
Capt. R. R.
Belknap commanding
The third COLORADO (BB-45) was launched 22 March 1921 by
New
York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J., sponsored by Mrs. M. Melville;
and commissioned 30 August 1923, Captain R. R. Belknap in
command.
COLORADO CLASS
BB-45
Length Overall:
624'6"
Extreme Beam: 97'6"
Displacement: Tons: 32,600
Mean Draft: 30'6"
Complement: Off.: 58 Enl.:
1,022
Armament:
Main: (8) 16"/45
Secondary: (12)
5"/51
(8) 3"/50 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Catapults: 2
Armor: Max. Thickness: 18"
Speed: 21
kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 28,900
Engines: Mfr.: Wstgh.
Type: Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive:
TE
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 4,570
Colorado BB-45
The third Colorado (BB-45) was launched 22 March 1921 by New York
Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J., sponsored by Mrs. M. Melville; and
commissioned 30 August1923, Captain R. R. Belknap in command.
Colorado sailed from New York 29 December 1923 on a maiden voyage that took
her to Portsmouth, England; Cherbourg and Villefranche, France; Naples,
Italy; and Gibraltar before returning to New York 15 February 1924. After
repairs and final tests she sailed for the west coast 11 July and
arrived at San Francisco 15 September 1924.
From 1924 to 1941 Colorado operated with the Battle Fleet in the Pacific,
participating in fleet exercises and various ceremonies, and returning to
the east coast from time to time for fleet problems in the Caribbean. She
also cruised to Samoa, Australia and New Zealand (8 June-26 September 1925)
to show the flag in the far Pacific. She aided in earthquake relief at Long
Beach, Calif., from 10 to 11 March 1933 and during an NROTC cruise from 11
June to 22 July 1937 she assisted in the search for the missing Amelia
Earhart.
Based on Pearl Harbor from 27 January 1941, Colorado operated in the
Hawaiian training area in intensive exercises and war games until 25 June
when she departed for the west coast and overhaul at Puget Sound Navy
Yard which lasted until 31 March 1942.
After west coast training, Colorado returned to Pearl Harbor 14 August 1942
to complete her preparations for action. She operated in the vicinity of
the Fiji Islands and New Hebrides from 8 November 1942 to 17 September
1943 to prevent further Japanese expansion. She sortied from Pearl Harbor
21 October to provide pre-invasion bombardment and fire support for the
invasion of Tarawa, returning to port 7 December 1943. After west coast
overhaul, Colorado returned to Lahaina Roads, Hawaiian Islands, 21 January
1944 and sortied the next day for the Marshall Islands operation,
providing pre-invasion bombardment and fire support for the invasions of
Kwajalein and Eniwetok until 23 February when she headed for Puget Sound
Navy Yard and overhaul.
Joining other units bound for the Mariana Islands operation at San
Francisco, Colorado sailed on 5 May 1944 by way of Pearl Harbor and
Kwajalein for pre-invasion bombardment and fire support duties at Saipan,
Guam, and Tinian from 14 June. On 24 July during the shelling of Tinian,
Colorado received 22 shell hits from shore batteries but continued to
support the invading troops until 3 August. After repairs on the west
coast, Colorado arrived in Leyte Gulf 20 November 1944 to support American
troops fighting ashore. A week later she was hit by two kamikazes which
killed 19 of her men, wounded 72, and caused moderate damage. Nevertheless
as planned she bombarded Mindoro between 12 and 17 December before
proceeding to Manus Island for emergency repairs. Returning to Luzon 1
January 1945, she participated in the pre-invasion bombardments in Lingayen
Gulf. On 9 January accidental gunfire hit her superstructure killing 18
and wounding 51.
After replenishing at Ulithi, Colorado joined the pre-invasion bombardment
group at Kerama Retto 25 March 1945 for the invasion of Okinawa. She
remained there supplying fire support until 22 May when she cleared for
Leyte Gulf.
Returning to occupied Okinawa 6 August 1945, Colorado sailed from there for
the occupation of Japan, covering the airborne landings at Atsugi Airfield,
Tokyo. 27 August. Departing Tokyo Bay 20 September 1945 she arrived at San
Francisco 15 October, then steamed to Seattle for the Navy Day celebration
27 October. Assigned to "Magic Carpet" duty she made three runs to Pearl
Harbor to transport 6,357 veterans home before reporting to Bremerton Navy
Yard for inactivation. She was placed out of commission in reserve there 7
January 1947, and sold for scrapping 23 July 1959.
Colorado received seven battle stars for World War II service.
Built at Newport News SB
Co., Newport News, Va.
Keel Laid 04/24/17, Commissioned 07/21/21
Capt. C.
F. Preston commanding
MARYLAND (BB-46) was laid down 24 April 1917 by Newport
News
Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va.; launched 20 March 1920;
sponsored by Mrs. E. Brook Lee, wife of the Comptroller of the
State of
Maryland; and commissioned 21 July 1921, Capt. C. F. Preston In
command.
COLORADO CLASS
BB-46
Length Overall:
624'
Extreme Beam: 97'6"
Displacement: Tons: 32,600 Mean
Draft: 30'6"
Complement: Off.: 62 Enl.:
1,022
Armament:
Main: (8) 16"/45
Secondary: (14)
5"/51 cal
(4) 3"/50 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21" submerged
Catapults: 2
Armor: Max. Thickness: 18"
Speed: 21
kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower: 28,900
Engines: Mfr.: Curtis
(GE)
Type: Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive: TE
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 4,570
Maryland BB-46
Maryland (BB?46) was laid down 24 April 1917 by Newport News Shipbuilding
Co., Newport News, Va.; launched 20 March 1920; sponsored by Mrs. E. Brook
Lee, wife of the Comptroller of the State of Maryland; and commissioned 21
July 1921, Capt. C. F. Preston in command.
With a new type seaplane catapult and the first 16?inch guns mounted on a
U.S. ship, Maryland was the pride of the Navy. Following an east coast
shakedown she found herself in great demand for special occasions. She
appeared at Annapolis for the 1922 Naval Academy graduation and at Boston
for the anniversary of Bunker Hill and the Fourth of July. Between 18
August and 25 September she paid her first visit to a foreign port
transporting Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes to Rio de Janeiro for
Brazil's Centennial Exposition. The next year, after fleet exercises off
the Panama Canal Zone. Maryland transited the canal in the latter part of
June to join the battle fleet stationed on the west coast.
She made a good will voyage to Australia and New Zealand in 1925, and
transported President?elect Herbert Hoover on the Pacific leg of his tour
of Latin America in 1928. Throughout these years and the 1930's she served
as a mainstay of fleet readiness through tireless training operations. In
1940 Maryland and the other battleships of the battle force changed their
bases of operations to Pearl Harbor. She was present at battleship row
along Ford Island when Japan struck 7 December 1941.
A gunner's mate striker, writing a letter near his machinegun, brought the
first of his ship's guns into play, shooting down one of two attacking
torpedo planes. Inboard of Oklahoma and thus protected from the initial
torpedo attack, Maryland managed to bring all her antiaircraft batteries
into action. Despite two bomb hits she continued to fire and, after the
attack, sent firefighting parties to assist her sister ships. The Japanese
announced that she had been sunk, but 30 December, battered yet sturdy,
she entered the repair yard at Puget Sound Navy Yard.
She emerged 26 February 1942 not only, repaired but modernized and ready
for great service. During the important Battle of Midway, the old
battleships, not fast enough to accompany the carriers, operated as a
backup force. Thereafter Maryland engaged in almost constant training
exercises until 1 August, when she returned to Pearl Harbor.
Assigned sentinel duty along the southern supply routes to Australia and
the Pacific fighting fronts, Maryland and Colorado operated out of the
Fiji Islands in November and advanced to the New Hebrides in February
1943. Her return to Pearl Harbor after 10 months in the heat of the South
Pacific brought the installation of additional 40mm. antiaircraft
protection.
In the vast amphibious campaigns of the Pacific the firepower of Maryland
and her sister ships played a key role. Departing the Hawaiian Islands 20
October for the South Pacific, Maryland became flagship for Rear Adm.
Harry W. Hill's Southern Attack Force in the Gilberts invasion, with Maj.
Gen. Julian C. Smith, Commander, 2d Marine Division, embarked. Early on 20
November her big guns commenced 5 days of shore bombardment and call fire
assignment in support of one of the most gallant amphibious assaults in
history, at Tarawa. After the island's capture, she remained in the area
protecting the transports until she headed back to the United States 7
December.
Maryland steamed from San Pedro 13 January 1944, rendezvoused with TF 53
at Hawaii, and sailed in time to be in position off the well fortified
Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls on the morning of the 31st. Assigned to
reduce pillboxes and blockhouses on Roi Island, the old battleship fired
splendidly all day and again the following morning until the assault waves
were within 500 yards of the beach. Following the operation she steamed
back to Bremerton, Wash., for new guns and an overhaul.
Two months later Maryland, again readied for battle, sailed westward 5 May
to participate in the biggest campaign yet attempted in the Pacific war-
Saipan. Vice Adm. R. K. Turner allotted TF 52.3 days to soften up the
island before the assault. Firing commenced 0545 on 14 June. Silencing two
coastal guns, Maryland encountered little opposition as she delivered one
devastating barrage after another. The Japanese attempted to strike back
through the air. On the 18th the ship's guns claimed their first victim
but 4 days later a Betty sneaked in flying low over the still?contested
Saipan hills and found two anchored battleships. Crossing the bow of
Pennsylvania, she dropped a torpedo which opened a gaping hole in
Maryland's bow, portside. Casualties were light and in 15 minutes she was
underway for Eniwetok, and shortly thereafter to the repair yards at Pearl
Harbor.
With an around?the?clock effort by the shipyard workers, on 13 August, 34
days after arrival, the ship again steamed forth for the war zone.
Rehearsing briefly in the Solomons, she joined Rear Adm. J. B. Oldendorf's
Western Fire Support Group (TG 32.5) bound for the Palau Islands. Firing
first on 12 September to cover minesweeping operations and underwater
demolition teams, she continued the shore bombardment until the landing
craft approached the beaches on the 15th. Four days later organized
resistance collapsed, permitting the fire support ships to retire to the
Admiralty Islands.
Reassigned to the 7th Fleet, Maryland sortied 12 October to cover the
important initial landings in the Philippines at Leyte. Despite floating
mines, the invasion force entered Leyte Gulf on the 18th. The bombardment
the following day and the landings of the 20th went well, but the Japanese
decided to contest this success with both kamikazes and a three?pronged
naval attack.
Forewarned by submarines and scout planes, the American battleship?cruiser
force steamed 24 October to the southern end of Leyte Gulf to protect
Surigao Strait. Early on the 25th the enemy battleships Fuso and Yamishiro
led the Japanese advance into the Strait. The waiting Americans pounded
the enemy ships severely. First came torpedoes from the fleeting PT boats,
then more torpedoes from the daring destroyers. Next came gunfire from the
cruisers. Finally, at 0355 the readied guns of the battleship line opened
fire. Thunderous salvos of heavy caliber fire slowed the enemy force and
set the Japanese battleships on fire. Leaving their doomed battleships
behind, the decimated enemy ships fled; only a remnant of the original
force escaped subsequent naval air attacks. Similarly other U.S. forces
blunted and repulsed attacks by the center and northern enemy forces
during the decisive Battle for Leyte Gulf.
In the aftermath of this important victory, Maryland patrolled the
southern approaches to Surigao Strait until 29 October; after
replenishment at Manus, Admiralties, she resumed patrol duty 16 November.
Japanese air attacks continued to pose a definite threat. During a raid on
27 November, guns of TG 77.2 splashed 11 of the attacking planes. Shortly
after sunset 2 days later, 9 determined suicide plane dove through the
clouds and crashed Maryland between turrets Nos. 1 and 2. Thirty?one
sailors died in the explosion and fire that followed; however, the sturdy
battleship continued her patrols until relieved 2 December. She reached
Pearl Harbor 19 December and during the next 2 months workmen repaired and
refitted "Fighting Mary."
After refresher training, Maryland headed for the western Pacific 4 March
1945, arriving Ulithi the 16th. There she joined Rear Adm. M. L. Deyo's TF
54 and on 21 March departed for the invasion of Okinawa. She closed the
coast of Okinawa 25 March and began pounding assigned targets along the
southeastern part of the Japanese island fortress. In addition, she
provided fire support during a diversionary raid on the southeast coast
drawing enemy defenses from the main amphibious landings on the western
beaches. On 3 April she received a fire support call from Minneapolis
(CA?36). The cruiser was unable to silence entrenched shore batteries with
8?inch fire and called on "Fighting Mary's" mighty 16?inch guns for aid.
The veteran battleship hurled six salvos which destroyed the enemy
artillery.
Maryland continued fire support duty until 7 April when she sailed with TF
54 to intercept a Japanese surface force to the northward. These ships,
including mighty battleship Yamato, came under intense air attacks that
same day, and planes of the Fast Carrier Task Force sank six of 10 ships
in the force. At dusk on the 7th Maryland took her third hit from enemy
planes in 10 months. A suicide plane loaded with a 500?pound bomb crashed
the top of turret No. 3 from starboard. The explosion wiped out the 20mm.
mounts, causing 53 casualties. As before, however, she continued to blast
enemy shore positions with devastating 16?inch fire. While guarding the
western transport area 12 April, she splashed two planes during afternoon
raids.
On 14 April Maryland left the firing line as escort for retiring
transports. Steaming via the Marianas and Pearl Harbor, she reached Puget
Sound 7 May and entered the Navy Yard at Bremerton the next day for
extensive overhaul. Completing repairs in August, she now entered the
"Magic Carpet" fleet. During the next 4 months she made five voyages
between the west coast and Pearl Harbor, returning more than 9,000 combat
veterans to the United States.
Arriving Seattle, Wash., 17 December, she completed "Magic Carpet" duty.
She entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard 15 April 1946 and was placed in
commission in reserve on an inactive basis 15 July. She decommissioned aft
Bremerton 3 April 1947 and remained there as a unit of the Pacific Reserve
Fleet. Maryland was sold for scrapping to Learner Co. of Oakland, Calif.,
8 July 1959.
On 2 June 1961 the Honorable J. Millard Tawes, Governor of Maryland,
dedicated a lasting monument to the memory of the venerable battleship and
her fighting men. Built of granite and bronze and incorporating the bell
of "Fighting Mary," this monument honors a ship and her men whose service
to the Nation reflected the highest traditions of the naval service. This
monument is located on the grounds of the State House, Annapolis, Md.
Maryland received seven battle stars for World War II service.
Built at Newport News
SB Co., Newport News, Va.
Keel Laid 04/12/20, Commissioned 12/01/23
Capt.
T. J. Senn commanding
The second WEST VIRGINIA (Battleship No. 48) was laid
down on 12
April 1920 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. of
Newport News, Va.; reclassified to BB-48 on 17 July 1920;
launched on 17
November 1921; sponsored by Miss Alice Wright
Mann, daughter of Isaac T.
Mann, a prominent West Virginian; and
commissioned on 1 December 1923, Capt.
Thomas J. Senn in command.
COLORADO CLASS
BB-48
Length
Overall: 624'
Extreme Beam: 97'6"
Displacement: Tons:
32,600 Mean Draft: 30'6"
Complement: Off.: 62 Enl.:
1,022
Armament:
Main: (8) 16"/45
Secondary: (12)
5"/51 cal
(8) 3"/50 cal
Torpedo Tubes: (2) 21"
submerged
Catapults: 2
Armor: Max. Thickness:
18"
Speed: 21 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
28,900
Engines: Mfr.: Curtis (GE)
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive:
TE
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 4,570
West Virginia BB-48
The second West Virginia (Battleship No. 48) was laid down on 12 April
1920 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. of Newport News, Va.;
reclassified to BB-48 on 17 July 1920; launched on 17 November 1921;
sponsored by Miss Alice Wright Mann, daughter of Issac T. Mann, a prominent
West Virginian; and commissioned on 1 December 1923, Capt. Thomas J. Senn in
command.
The most recent of the "super-dreadnoughts," West Virginia embodied the
latest knowledge of naval architecture; the water-tight compartmentation
of her hull and her armor protection marked an advance over the design of
battleships built or on the drawing boards before the Battle of Jutland.
In the months that followed, West Virginia ran her trials and shakedown
and underwent post-commissioning alterations. After a brief period of
work at the New York Navy Yard, the ship made the passage to Hampton
Roads, although experiencing trouble with her steering gear while en
route. Overhauling the troublesome gear thoroughly while in Hampton Roads,
West Virginia put to sea on the morning of 16 June 1924. At 1010, while
the battleship was steaming in the center of Lynnhaven Channel, the
quartermaster at the wheel reported that the rudder indicator would
not answer. The ringing of the emergency bell to the steering motor room
produced no response; Capt. Senn quickly ordered all engines stopped, but
the engine room telegraph would not answer-it was later discovered that
there was no power to the engine room telegraph or the steering
telegraph.
The captain then resorted to sending orders down to main control via the
voice tube from the bridge. He ordered full speed ahead on the port
engine; all stop on the starboard. Efforts continued apace over the
ensuing moments to steer the ship with her engines and keep her in the
channel and, when this failed, to check headway from the edge of the
channel. Unfortunately, all efforts failed; and, as the ship lost headway
due to an engine casualty, West Virginia grounded on the soft mud bottom.
Fortunately, as Comdr. (later Admiral) Harold R. Stark, the executive
officer, reported: ". . . not the slightest damage to the hull had been
sustained."
The court of inquiry, investigating the grounding, found that inaccurate
and misleading navigational data had been supplied the ship. The legends
on the charts provided were found to have indicated uniformly greater
channel width than actually existed. The findings of the court thus
exonerated Capt. Senn and the navigator from any blame.
After repairs had been effected, West Virginia became flagship for the
Commander, Battleship Divisions, Battle Fleet, on 30 October 1924, thus
beginning her service as an integral part of the "backbone of the
fleet" as the battleships were regarded. She soon proved her worth under
a succession of commanding officers-most of whom later attained flag
rank. In 1925, for example, under Capt. A. J. Hepburn, the comparative
newcomer to battleship ranks scored first in competitive short range
target practices. During Hepburn's tour, West Virginia garnered two
trophies for attaining the highest merit in the category.
The ship later won the American Defense Cup- presented by the American
Defense Society to the battleship obtaining the highest merit with all
guns in short-range firing-and the Spokane Cup, presented by that city's
Chamber of Commerce in recognition of the battleship's scoring the
highest merit with all guns at short range. In 1925, West Virginia won
the Battle Efficiency Pennant for battleships-the first time that the
ship had won the coveted "Meatball." She won it again in 1927, 1932, and
1933.
During this period, West Virginia underwent a cycle of training,
maintenance, and readiness exercises, taking part in engineering and
gunnery competitions and the annual large-scale exercises, or "Fleet
Problems." In the latter, the Fleet would be divided up into opposing
sides, and a strategic or tactical situation would be played out, with
the lessons learned becoming part and parcel of the development of
doctrine that would later be tested in the crucible of combat.
During 1925, the battleship took part in the joint Army-Navy maneuvers to
test the defenses of the Hawaiian Islands and then cruised with the Fleet
to Australia and New Zealand. In fleet exercises subsequent to the 1925
cruise, West Virginia ranged from Hawaii to the Caribbean and the
Atlantic, and from Alaskan waters to Panama.
In order to keep pace with technological developments in ordnance,
gunnery, and fire control as well as engineering and aviation-the ship
underwent modifications designed to increase the ship's capacity to
perform her designed function. Some of the alterations effected included
the replacement of her initial 3-inch antiaircraft battery with 5-inch/25-
caliber dual-purpose guns; the addition of platforms for .50-caliber
machine guns at the foremast and maintop; and the addition of catapults on
her quarterdeck, aft, and on her number III, or "high" turret.
In the closing years of the decade of the 1930's, however, it was
becoming evident to many that it was only a matter of time before the
United States became involved in yet another war on a grand scale. The
United States Fleet thus came to be considered a grand deterrent to the
country's most probable enemy- Japan. This reasoning produced the
hurried dispatch of the Fleet to Pacific waters in the spring of 1939 and
the retention of the Fleet in Hawaiian waters in 1940, following the
conclusion of Fleet Problem XXI in April.
As the year 1941 progressed, West Virginia carried out a schedule of
intensive training, basing on Pearl Harbor and operating in various task
forces and groups in the Hawaiian operating area. This routine continued
even through the unusually tense period that began in late November and
extended into the next month. Such at-sea periods were usually followed by
in-port upkeep, with the battleships mooring to masonry "quays" along the
southeast shores of Ford Island in the center of Pearl Harbor.
On Sunday, 7 December 1941, West Virginia lay moored outboard of
Tennessee (BB-43) at berth F-6 with 40 feet of water beneath her keel.
Shortly before 0800, Japanese planes, flying from a six-carrier task
force, commenced their well-planned attack on the Fleet at Pearl Harbor.
West Virginia took five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes in her port side and
two bomb hits those bombs being 15-inch armor-piercing shells fitted with
fins. The first bomb penetrated the superstructure deck, wrecking the
port casemates and causing that deck to collapse to the level of the
galley deck below.
Four casemates and the galley caught fire immediately, with the subsequent
detonation of the ready-service projectiles stowed in the casemates.
The second bomb hit further aft, wrecking one Vought OS2U Kingfisher
floatplane atop the "high" catapult on Turret III and pitching the second
one on her top on the main deck below. The projectile penetrated the 4-
inch turret roof, wrecking one gun in the turret itself. Although the bomb
proved a dud, burning gasoline from the damaged aircraft caused some
damage.
The torpedoes, though, ripped into the ship's port side; only prompt
action by Lt. Claude V. Ricketts, the assistant fire control officer who
had some knowledge of damage control techniques, saved the ship from the
fate that befell Oklahoma (BB-37) moored ahead. She, too, took torpedo
hits that flooded the ship and caused her to capsize.
Instances of heroic conduct on board the heavily damaged battleship
proliferated in the heat of battle. The ship's commanding officer, Capt.
Mervyn S. Bennion, arrived on his bridge early in the battle, only to
be struck down by a bomb fragment hurled in his direction when a 15-inch
"bomb" hit the center gun in Tennessee's Turret II, spraying that ship's
superstructure and West Virginia's with fragments. Bennion, hit in the
abdomen, crumpled to the deck, mortally wounded, but clung tenaciously to
life until just before the ship was abandoned, involved in the conduct of
the ship's defense up to the last moment of his life. For his conspicuous
devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own
life, Capt. Bennion was awarded a Medal of Honor, posthumously.
West Virginia was abandoned, settling to the harbor bottom on an even
keel, her fires fought from on board by a party that volunteered to
return to the ship after the first abandonment. By the afternoon of the
following day, 8 December, the flames had been extinguished. The garbage
lighter, YG-17, played an important role in assisting those efforts
during the Pearl Harbor attack, remaining in position alongside despite
the danger posed by exploding ammunition on board the battleship.
Later examination revealed that West Virginia had taken not five, but
six, torpedo hits. With a patch over the damaged areas of her hull, the
battleship was pumped out and ultimately re-floated on 17 May 1942. Docked
in Drydock Number One on 9 June, West Virginia again came under
scrutiny, and it was discovered that there had been not six, but seven
torpedo hits.
During the ensuing repairs, workers located 70 bodies of West Virginia
sailors who had been trapped below when the ship sank. In one
compartment, a calendar was found, the last scratch-off date being 23
December. The task confronting the nucleus crew and shipyard workers was a
monumental one, so great was the damage on the battleship's port side.
Ultimately, however, West Virginia departed Pearl Harbor for the west
coast and a complete rebuilding at the Puget Sound Navy Yard at
Bremerton, Wash.
Emerging from the extensive modernization, the battleship that had risen,
Phoenix-like, from the destruction at Pearl Harbor looked totally
different from the way she had appeared prior to 7 December 1941. Gone
were the "cage" masts that supported the three-tier fire-control tops, as
well as the two funnels, the open-mount 5-inch/25's and the casemates with
the single-purpose 5-inch/51's. A streamlined superstructure now gave the
ship a totally new silhouette; dual-purpose 5-mch/38-caliber guns, in gun
houses, gave the ship a potent antiaircraft battery. In addition, 40-
millimeter Bofors and 20-millimeter Oerlikon batteries studded the decks,
giving the ship a heavy "punch" for dealing with close-in enemy planes.
West Virginia remained at Puget Sound until early July 1944. Loading
ammunition on the 2d, the battleship got underway soon thereafter to
conduct her sea trials out of Port Townsend, Wash. She ran a full
power trial on the 6th, continuing her working-up until the 12th.
Subsequently returning to Puget Sound for last-minute repairs, the
battleship headed for San Pedro and her post-modernization shakedown.
Finally ready to rejoin the Fleet from which she had been away for two
years, West Virginia sailed for the Hawaiian Islands on 14 September.
Escorted by two destroyers, she made landfall on Oahu on the 23d.
Ultimately pushing on for Manus, in the Admiralities, in company with the
fleet carrier Hancock (CV-19), West Virginia, as a unit of Battleship
Division (Bat Div) 4, reached Seeadler Harbor on 5 October. The next
day, she again became a flagship when Rear Admiral Ruddock shifted his
flag from Maryland (BB-46) to the "Wee Vee" as Commander, BatDiv 4.
Underway on 12 October to participate in the invasion of the Philippine
Islands, West Virginia sailed as part of Task Group (TG) 77.2, under the
overall command of Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf. On 18 October, the
battle line passed into Leyte Gulf, West Virginia steaming astern of
California (BB-44).
At 1645, California cut loose a mine with her paravanes; West Virginia
successfully dodged the horned menace, it being destroyed a few moments
later by gunfire from one of the destroyers in the screen. On 19
October, West Virginia steamed into her assigned station in San Pedro Bay
at 0700 to stand by off shore and provide shore bombardment against
targets in the Tacloban area of Leyte. Retiring to sea that evening, the
battleship and her consorts returned the next morning to lay down heavy
gunfire on Japanese installations in the vicinity of the town of
Tacloban.
On the 19th, West Virginia's gunners sent 278 16-inch and 1,586 5-inch
shells against Japanese installations, silencing enemy artillery and
supporting the UDT (underwater demolition teams) preparing the beaches
for the assault that came on the 20th. On the latter day, enemy planes
made many appearances over the landing area. West Virginia took those
within range under fire but did not down any.
On the 21st, as she was proceeding to her fire support area to render
further gunfire support for the troops still pouring ashore, West
Virginia touched bottom, slightly damaging three of her four screws. The
vibrations caused by the damaged blades limited sustained speeds to 16
knots-18 in emergencies.
For the next two days, West Virginia, with her augmented antiaircraft
batteries, remained off the beachhead during the daylight hours, retiring
to seaward at night, providing antiaircraft covering fire for the
unfolding invasion operations. Meanwhile, the Japanese, seeing that
American operations against Leyte were on a large scale, decided to strike
back. Accordingly, the enemy, willing to accept the heavy risks involved,
set out in four widely separated forces to destroy the American invasion
fleet.
Four carriers and two "hermaphrodite" battleship-carriers (Ise and Hyuga)
sailed toward the Philippine Sea from Japanese home waters; a small
surface force under Admiral Shima headed for the Sulu Sea; two striking
forces consisting of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers sortied from
Lingga Roads, Sumatra, before separating north of Borneo. The larger of
those two groups, commanded by Admiral Kurita, passed north of the island
of Palawan to transit the Sibuyan Sea.
American submarines Darter (SS-247) and Dace (SS-227) drew first blood in
what would become known as the Battle for Leyte Gulf on 23 October when
they sank, respectively, two of Kurita's cruisers-Maya and Atago.
Undeterred, Kurita continued the transit, his force built around the
giant battleship Musashi.
The smaller of the two forces, under Admiral Nishi-mura, turned south of
Palawan and transited the Sulu Sea to pass between the islands of Mindanao
and Leyte. Shima's forces obediently followed Nishimura's, heading for Leyte
Gulf as the southern jaw of a pincer designed to hit the assemblage of
amphibious ships and transports unloading off the Leyte beachhead.
Detailed to deal with the force heading in his direction, Admiral
Oldendorf accordingly deployed his sizeable force-six battleships, eight
cruisers, and 28 destroyers-across the northern end of Surigao Strait.
The American men-of-war steamed along their assigned courses, their bows
cleaving through the smooth sea.
At 2236 on 24 October 1944, the American PT boats deployed in the strait
and its approaches made radar contact with Nishimura's force, conducting a
harassing attack that annoyed, but did not stop, the oncoming enemy. Well
into the strait by 0300 on the 25th, Nishi-mura took up battle formation
when five American destroyers launched a well-planned torpedo attack.
Caught in the spread of torpedoes, the battleship Fuso took hits and
dropped out of the formation; other spreads of "fish" dispatched a pair
of Japanese destroyers and crippled a third.
Fuso's sistership Yamashiro, meanwhile, had taken one hit and was slowed
down, only to be hit again within 15 minutes' time. Fuso herself,
apparently ravaged by fires ignited by the torpedo hits, blew up with a
tremendous explosion at 0338.
West Virginia, meanwhile, was maintaining her position ahead of Maryland,
Mississippi (BB-41), Tennessee, California, and Pennsylvania (BB-38)-four
of these ships, like West Virginia, veterans of Pearl Harbor. From 0021
on the 25th, the battleship had picked up reports on the PT boat and
destroyer attacks; finally at 0316, West Virginia's radar picked up
Nishimura's force at a range of 42,000 yards. She tracked them as they
approached in the pitch black night.
At 0352, West Virginia unleashed her 16-inch main battery; she fired 16
salvoes in the direction of Nishimura's ships as Oldendorf crossed the
Japanese "T" and thus achieved the tactical mastery of a situation that
almost every surface admiral dreams of. At 0413, the "Wee Vee" ceased
fire; the Japanese remnants proceeded in disorder down the strait from
whence they had come. Several burning Japanese ships littered the strait;
West Virginia had contributed to Yamashiro's demise, thus averaging her
own crippling in the Pearl Harbor attack.
West Virginia had thus taken part in the last naval engagement fought by
line-of-battle ships and, on the 29th, departed the Philippines for
Ulithi, in company with Tennessee and Maryland. Subsequently heading for
Espiritu Santo, in the New Hebrides, after Admiral Ruddock had shifted
his flag back from West Virginia to Maryland, the former underwent a
period of upkeep in the floating drydock, ABSD-1, for her damaged
screws.
The "Wee Vee" returned to the Philippines, via Manus, on 25 November,
resuming her patrols in Leyte Gulf and serving as part of the
antiaircraft screen for the transports and amphibious ships. At 1139 on
the 27th, West Virginia's antiaircraft guns splashed a suicider and
assisted in downing others while on duty the next day.
Rear Admiral Ruddock shifted back on board on the 30th, West Virginia
maintaining her operations off Leyte until 2 December, when the
battleship headed for the Palaus. The battlewagon was then made the
flagship for the newly formed TG 77.12 and proceeded toward the Sulu Sea
to cover the landings made by the Southwest Pacific Force on the island
of Mindoro. Entering Leyte Gulf late on the evening of 12 December, West
Virginia transited the Surigao Strait on the 13th and steamed into the
Sulu Sea with a carrier force to provide cover for the transports in TG
78.3.
She subsequently covered the retirement of the transports on 15 December,
later fueling in Leyte Gulf before she returned to Kossol Roads, Palaus,
at mid-day on the 19th. There, West Virginia spent the Christmas of 1944.
There was more work to be done, however, for the battleship, as the
"return" to the Philippines continued apace. On New Year's Day, Rear
Admiral Ingram C. Sowell relieved Rear Admiral Ruddock as Commander, BatDiv
4, and the ship got underway for Leyte Gulf as part of TG 77.2.
Entering the gulf during the pre-dawn hours of 3 January, West Virginia
proceeded into the Sulu Sea. Japanese air opposition, intensifying since
the early part of the Philippine campaign, was becoming more deadly. West
Virginia's men saw evidence of that when a twin-engined "Frances" crashed
the escort carrier Ommaney Bay (CVE-79) at 1712 on the 4th. Fires and
explosions ultimately forced the "jeep carrier's" abandonment, her
survivors being picked up by other ships in the screen. Burns (DD-588)
dispatched the blazing CVE with torpedoes.
Taking on board survivors from Ommaney Bay from the destroyer Twiggs (DD-
591), West Virginia entered the South China Sea on the morning of the
following day, 5 January 1945, defending the carriers during the day from
Japanese air attacks. Subsequently, the battleship moved close inshore
with the carriers outside to carry out a bombardment mission on San
Fernando Point. West Virginia hammered Japanese installations ashore with
her 16-inch rifles.
Suiciders, however, kept up their attacks in the face of heavy
antiaircraft barrages and combat air patrol (CAP) fighters. Losses among
Allied shipping continued to mount; kamikazes claimed damage to HMAS
Australia and the battleships California and New Mexico (BB-40) on the
5th. West Virginia participated in putting up volumes of antiaircraft
fire during those attacks, emerging unscathed herself.
West Virginia in addition to the Ommaney Bay sailors on board-soon took
on board another group of survivors from yet another ship: the men from
the high-speed minesweeper Hovey (DMS-11) which had been sunk by a
Japanese torpedo on the 6th. Before she could transfer the escort
carrier's and minesweeper's sailors elsewhere, though, she had to carry
out her assigned tasks first. Accordingly, West Virginia's 16-inch rifles
again hammered Japanese positions ashore at San Fabian on the 8th and
9th, as troops went ashore on the latter day. It was not until the night
of 9 January that the battleship finally transferred her passengers off
the ship.
After providing call fire support all day on the 10th, West Virginia
patrolled off Lingayen Gulf for the next week before proceeding to an
anchorage where she replenished her ammunition. During her shore
bombardment tours off San Fabian, West Virginia had proved herself most
helpful, covering UDT operations, destroying mortar positions,
entrenchments, gun emplacements, and leveling the town of San Fabian. In
addition, "Wee Vee" destroyed ammunition dumps, railway and road
junctions, and machine gun positions and warehouses. During that time,
the ship expended 395 16-inch shells and over 2,800 5-inch projectiles.
Underway again at 0707 on the 21st, West Virginia commenced call fire
support duties at 0815, operating in readiness for cooperation with the
Army units ashore in the vicinity of the towns of Rosario and Santo Tomas.
After a few more days of standing ready to provide call fire support when
needed, West Virginia anchored in Lingayen Gulf on 1 February.
Subsequently, as part of TG 77.2, West Virginia protected the shipping
arriving at the Lingayen beachheads and stood ready to provide call fire
for the Army when needed. She later departed Lingayen Gulf, her duty
completed there, on 10 February, bound for Leyte Gulf. Before her
departure, she received 79 bags of United States mail the first she had
received since the day before Christmas.
After touching first at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, West Virginia arrived at
Ulithi on 16 February, reporting for duty with the 5th Fleet upon
arrival. Ordered to prepare in all haste for another operation, the
battleship provisioned and refueled with the highest priority. The ship
completed loading some 300 tons of stores by 0400 on the 17th. At 0730 on
the 17th, West Virginia got underway, bound for Iwo Jima in company with
the destroyers Izard (DD-589) and McCall (DD-400). As she headed off to
Iwo Jima to join TF 51, West Virginia received a "Well-done" from Admiral
Chester W. Nimitz for the manner in which she had readied herself for
her new duty after being released from the 7th Fleet such a short time
before.
West Virginia sighted Iwo Jima at a range of 32 miles at 0907 on 19
February. As she drew nearer, she saw several ships bombarding the isle
from all sides and the initial landings taking place. At 1125, she
received her operations orders, via dispatch boat and,20 minutes later,
proceeded to her fire support station off the volcanic sand beaches. At
1245, her big guns bellowed to lend support to the marines ashore-gun
positions, revetments, blockhouses, tanks, vehicles, caves and supply
dumps-all came under her heavy guns. On 21 February, the ship returned
and, at 0800, commenced her support duties afresh.
Her 16-inch shells sealed caves, destroyed antiaircraft gun positions and
blockhouses; one salvo struck an ammunition or fuel dump, explosions
occurring for about two hours thereafter. On the 22d, a small-caliber
shell hit the battleship near turret II, wounding one enlisted man. That
same day, another significant event occurred ashore-marines took Mount
Suribachi, the prominent landmark on one end of Iwo Jima. From their
position offshore, West Virginia's sailors could see the flag flying from
the top.
For the remainder of February, West Virginia continued her daily fire-
support missions for the marines ashore. Again, Japanese positions felt
the heavy blows of the battleship's 16-inch shells. She hit troop
concentrations and trucks, blockhouses, trenches, and houses. During the
course of that time spent off the beaches on 27 February, she spotted a
Japanese shore battery firing upon Bryant (DD-665). West Virginia closed
the range and, when about 600 yards from shore, opened fire with her
secondary (5-inch) battery, silencing the enemy guns.
Replenishing her depleted ammunition stocks early on 28 February, West
Virginia was back on the line again that afternoon, firing continuous
night harassing and interdiction rounds, silencing enemy batteries with
air bursts from her secondary batteries. For the first three days of
March, West Virginia continued her fire-support missions, primarily off
the northeastern shore of Iwo Jima. Finally, on 4 March, the ship set
sail for the Caroline Islands, reaching Ulithi on 6 March.
Joining TF 54 for the invasion of the Okinawa Gunto area, West Virginia
sailed on 21 March, reaching her objective four days later on the 25th.
In fire support section one, West Virginia spent the ensuing days
softening up Okinawa for the American landings slated to commence on 1
April. At 1029 on 26 March, lookouts reported a gun flash from shore,
followed by a splash in the water some 5,000 yards off the port bow.
Firing her first salvoes of the operation, West Virginia let fly 28
rounds of 16-inch gunfire against the pugnacious Japanese batteries.
The following day, the "Wee Vee" fought against enemy air opposition,
taking a "Frances" under fire at 0520. The twin-engined bomber crashed off
the battleship's port quarter-the victim of West Virginia's antiaircraft
guns. Over the days that followed, enemy opposition continued in the form
of suicide attacks by Japanese planes. Mines, too, began making themselves
felt; one sank the minesweeper Skylark (AM-63), 3,000 yards off West
Virginia's port bow at 0930 on the 28th.
After taking on ammunition at Kerama Retto the island seized to provide an
advance base for the armada massing against Okinawa-West Virginia sailed
for Okinawa to give direct gunfire support to the landings. Scheduled to
fire at 0630, the battleship headed for her assigned zone off the
Okinawa beaches. While en route, though, at 0455, she had to back down all
engines when an unidentified destroyer stood across her bow, thus
avoiding a collision.
As she prepared to commence her bombardment, West Virginia spotted a
Japanese plane off her port quarter; her antiaircraft batteries tracked
the target and opened fire, downing the enemy aircraft 200 yards away.
Four more enemy planes passed Within her vicinity soon thereafter West
Virginia claimed one of them.
Finally, at 0630, West Virginia opened fire as landing craft dotted the
sea as far as the eye could reach, all heading for the shores of Okinawa.
West Virginia's sailors, some 900 yards off the beaches, could see the
craft heading shoreward like hundreds of tadpoles; at 0842, lookouts
reported seeing some of the first troops going ashore. The battle for
Okinawa was underway.
West Virginia continued her bombardment duties throughout the day, on the
alert to provide counter-battery fire in support of the troops as they
advanced rapidly inland. There appeared to be little resistance on 1
April, and West Virginia lay to offshore, awaiting further orders. At
1903, however, an enemy plane brought the war down on West Virginia.
The battleship picked up three enemy planes on her radar and tracked them
as they approached; flak peppered the skies but still they came. One
crossed over the port side and then looped over and crash-dived into West
Virginia, smashing into a superstructure deck just forward of secondary
battery director number two. Four men were killed by the blast, and seven
were wounded in a nearby 20-millimeter gun gallery. The bomb carried by
the plane broke loose from its shackle and penetrated to the second deck.
Fortunately, it did not explode and was rendered harmless by the
battleship's bomb disposal officer. Although her galley and laundry looked
hard-hit, West Virginia-reporting her damage as repairable by ship's
force-carried on, rendering night illumination fire to the marines
ashore.
West Virginia buried her dead at sea in the wake of the kamikaze attack
of 1 April and resumed her gunfire support duties soon thereafter. In
the course of her tour offshore in early April, she shot down a "Val"
on the 6th.
In early April, the Japanese attempted to strike at the invasion fleet
in a last-gasp offensive formed around the super-battleship Yamato. On the
night of 7 and 8 April, West Virginia steamed north and south in the
waters west of Okinawa ready to intercept and engage the Japanese surface
force headed her way. The next morning, 8 April, Commander, TF 58,
reported that most of the ships in that enemy force had been sunk-
including Yamato, whose last sortie had been made with enough fuel to
get her to Okinawa-but not to return. Thus, the Japanese Navy's largest
kamikaze perished-many miles short of her objective.
For West Virginia, however, her duties went on, providing illumination and
counter-battery fire with both main and secondary batteries and giving
her antiaircraft gunners a good workout due to the heavy presence of many
suiciders. Her TBS crackled with reports of ships under attack and
damaged Zellars (DD-777), Tennessee, Salt Lake City (CA-24), Stanley (DD-
478) and others, all victims of the "divine wind," or kamikaze. Her shore
bombardments elicited nothing but praise from those enjoying the
benefits of the ship's firing; one spotter reported happily on 14
April: "You're shooting perfectly, you could shoot no better, no change,
no change," and, "Your shooting is strictly marvelous. I cannot express
just how good it is." She delivered sterling support fire for the 6th
Marines upon that occasion; later, she continued in that fine tradition
for the 10th Army and the XXIVth Army Corps.
West Virginia continued fire support for the Army until 20 April, at
which point she headed for Ulithi, only to turn back to Okinawa,
hurriedly recalled because of Colorado's (BB-45) suffering damage when a
powder charge exploded while she was loading powder at Kerama Retto.
Returning to Hagushi beach, West Virginia fired night harassment and
interdiction fire for the 10th Army and the XXIVth Army Corps.
Ultimately, West Virginia sailed for Ulithi, in company with San
Francisco (CA-38) and Hobson (DD-464), reaching her destination-this
time without a recall en route-on 28 April.
Returning to Okinawa after a brief sojourn at Ulithi, West Virginia
remained in support of the Army and the Marines on the embattled island
into the end of June. There were highlights of the tour-on 1 June, she
sent her spotting plane aloft to locate a troublesome enemy blockhouse
reportedly holding up an Army advance. A couple of rounds hurled in the
enemy's direction produced no results; she had to settle for obliterating
some of the enemy's motor transport and troop concentrations during the
day instead. The next day, 2 June, while in support of the Army's XXIVth
Corps, West Virginia scored four direct hits and seven near-misses on the
blockhouse that had been hit the day before.
West Virginia then operated off the southeast coast of Okinawa, breaking
up Japanese troop concentrations and destroying enemy caves. She also
disrupted Japanese road traffic by scoring a direct hit on a road
intersection and blasted a staging area. On 16 June, she was firing an
assignment for the 1st Marines off southwestern Okinawa when her spotting
plane, a Vought OS2U Kingfisher, took hits from Japanese antiaircraft
fire and headed down in flames, her pilot and observer bailing out over
enemy-held territory. Within a short time, aided by Putnam (DD-757) and
an LCI, West Virginia closed and blasted enemy guns in an attempt to
rescue her plane crew who had "dug in for the day" to await the arrival
of the rescuers. The attempt to recover her aircrew, however, was not
successful. Loaned a Kingfisher from Tennessee, West Virginia kept up her
gunfire support activities for the balance of June.
Shifting to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, at the end of June, the battleship
reached her destination on 1 July, escorted by Connolly (DE-306). There,
on the morning of 5 July, she received her first draft of replacements
since Pearl Harbor in 1944. After loading ammunition, West Virginia
commenced training in the Philippine area, an activity she carried out
through the end of July.
Sailing on 3 August for Okinawa, West Virginia reached Buckner Bay on the
6th, the same day that the first atomic bomb was dropped on the city of
Hiroshima. Thee days later, a second bomb obliterated the greater part of
the city of Nagasaki. Those two events hastened Japan's collapse. On 10
August, at 2115, West Virginia picked up a garbled report on radio that
the Japanese government had agreed to surrender under the terms of the
Potsdam Declaration, provided that they could keep the Emperor as their
ruler. The American ships in Buckner Bay soon commenced celebrating-the
indiscriminate use of antiaircraft fire and pyrotechnics (not only from
the naval vessels in the bay but from marines and Army troops ashore)
endangering friendly planes. Such celebrations, however, proved premature-
at 2004 on 12 August, West Virginia sailors felt a heavy underwater
explosion; soon thereafter, at 2058, the battleship intercepted a radio
dispatch from Pennsylvania (BB-38) reporting that she had been torpedoed.
West Virginia sent over a whaleboat at 0023 on the 13th with pumps for the
damaged Pennsylvania.
The war ended on 15 August 1945. West Virginia drilled her landing force
in preparation for the upcoming occupation of the erstwhile enemy's
homeland and sailed for Tokyo Bay on the 24th as part of TG 35.90. She
reached Tokyo Bay on the last day of August and was thus present at the
time of the formal surrender on 2 September 1945. For that occasion, five
musicians from West Virginia's band were transferred temporarily to
Missouri (BB-63) to play at the ceremonies.
West Virginia, played her part in the occupation, remaining in Tokyo Bay
into September of 1945, weathering a storm on the 15th that had winds
clocked at 65 knots at one point. On 14 September, she received on board
270 passengers for transportation to the west coast of the United
States. She got underway at midnight on the 20th, bound for Okinawa as
part of TG 30.4. Shifting to Buckner Bay on the 23d, the battleship
sailed for Pearl Harbor soon thereafter, reaching her destination on 4
October.
There, the crew painted ship and kept on board only those passengers
slated for transportation to San Diego, Calif. Bound for that port on the
9th, West Virginia moored at the Navy Pier at San Diego at 1328 on 22
October. Two days later, Rear Admiral I. C. Sowell hauled down his flag as
Commander, BatDiv 4.
On Navy Day-27 October-25,554 visitors (more the next day) came on board
the ship. Three days later, on the 30th, she got underway for Hawaiian
waters to take her place as part of the "Magic Carpet" operation
returning veteran soldiers, sailors, marines, and airmen home to the
states. After one run between San Diego and Pearl Harbor, West Virginia
made another, the second time embarking Rear Admiral William W. Smith,
who broke his flag in the battleship for the return voyage to San
Francisco, Calif.
After making yet another run between the west coast and Hawaii, West
Virginia reached San Pedro, Calif., on 17 December. There, she spent
Christmas debarking her third draft of passengers. The veteran battlewagon
upped-anchor on 4 January 1946 and sailed for Bremerton, Wash. She reached
her destination on the 12th and commenced inactivation soon thereafter,
shifting to Seattle, Wash., on the 16th, where she moored alongside
sister-ship Colorado.
West Virginia entered her final stages of inactivation in the latter part
of February 1946 and was decommissioned on 9 January 1947 and placed in
reserve, as part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She never again received
the call to active duty, remaining inactive until struck from the Navy
list on 1 March 1959. On 24 August 1959, she was sold for scrapping to the
Union Minerals and Alloys Corp. of New York City.
West Virginia (BB-48), although heavily damaged at Pearl Harbor and
missing much of the war, nevertheless earned five battle stars
Built at New York Navy
Yard, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Authorized 03/27/34, Keel Laid
10/27/37,
Commissioned 04/09/41. Capt. O. M. Hustvedt commanding
The third
NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55) was laid down 27 October 1937
by New York Naval
Shipyard; launched 13 June 1940 sponsored by
Miss Isabel Hoey, daughter of
Governor of North Carolina; and
commissioned at New York 9 April 1941,
Captain Olaf M. Hustvedt in command.
NORTH CAROLINA
CLASS
BB-55
Length Overall: 728'9"
Extreme Beam:
108'4"
Displacement: Tons: 35,000 Mean Draft:
26'8"
Complement: Off.: 108 Enl.: 1,772
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/45 cal
Secondary: (20) 5"/38 cal (4) quad
1.1"
AA: (12) .50 cal m.g.
Catapults: (2) aft.
Armor:
Max. Thickness"18
Speed: 27 kts.
Designed Shaft
Horsepower: 121,000
Engines: Mfr.: (3) GE (9)
NYNY
Type: Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive: TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 6,592
North Carolina BB-55
The third North Carolina (BB-55) was laid down 27 October 1937 by New York
Naval Shipyard; launched 13 June 1940; sponsored by Miss Isabel Hoey,
daughter of Governor of North Carolina; and commissioned at New York 9
April 1941, Captain Olaf M. Hustvedt in command.
First commissioned of the Navy's modern battleships, North Carolina
received so much attention during her fitting out and trials that she won
the enduring nickname "Showboat". North Carolina completed her shakedown
in the Caribbean prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, and after intensive war
exercises, entered the Pacific 10 June 1942.
North Carolina and the Navy began the long island-hopping campaign for
victory over the Japanese by landing marines on Guadalcanal and Tulagi 7
August 1942. After screening Enterprise (CV-6) in the Air Support Force
for the invasion, North Carolina guarded the carrier during operations
protecting supply and communication lines southeast of the Solomons. Enemy
carriers were located 24 August, and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons
erupted. The Americans struck first, sinking carrier Ryujo; Japanese
retaliation came as bombers and torpedo planes, covered by fighters,
roared in on Enterprise and North Carolina. In an 8-minute action, North
Carolina shot down between 7 and 14 enemy aircraft, her gunners standing
to their guns despite the jarring detonation of 7 near-misses. One man was
killed by a strafer, but the ship was undamaged. The protection North
Carolina could offer Enterprise was limited as the speedy carrier drew
ahead of her. Enterprise took three direct hits while her aircraft
severely damaged sea-plane carrier Chitose and hit other Japanese ships.
Since the Japanese lost about 100 aircraft in this action, the United
States won control of the air and averted a threatened Japanese
reinforcement of Guadalcanal.
North Carolina now gave her mighty strength to protect Saratoga (CV-3).
Twice during the following weeks of support to marines ashore on
Guadalcanal, North Carolina was attacked by Japanese submarines. On 6
September, she maneuvered successfully, dodging a torpedo which passed 300
yards off the port beam. Nine days later, sailing with Hornet (CV-8),
North Carolina took a torpedo portside, 20 feet below her waterline, and 5
of her men were killed. But skillful damage control by her crew and the
excellence of her construction prevented disaster; a 5.5 degree list was
righted in as many minutes, and she maintained her station in a formation
at 25 knots.
After repairs at Pearl Harbor, North Carolina screened Enterprise and
Saratoga and covered supply and troop movements in the Solomons for much
of the next year. She was at Pearl Harbor in March and April 1943 to
receive advanced fire control and radar gear, and again in September, to
prepare for the Gilbert Islands operation.
With Enterprise, in the Northern Covering Group, North Carolina sortied
from Pearl Harbor 10 November for the assault on Makin, Tarawa, and
Abemama. Air strikes began 19 November, and for 10 days mighty air blows
were struck to aid marines ashore engaged in some of the bloodiest
fighting of the Pacific War. Supporting the Gilberts campaign and
preparing the assault on the Marshalls, North Carolina's highly accurate
big guns bombarded Nauru 8 December, destroying air facilities, beach
defense revetments, and radio installations. Later that month, she
protected Bunker Hill (CV-17) in strikes against shipping and airfields at
Kavieng, New Ireland and in January 1944 joined Fast Carrier Striking
Force 58, Rear Admiral Marc Mitscher in command, at Funafuti, Ellice
Islands.
During the assault and capture of the Marshall Islands, North Carolina
illustrated the classic battleship functions of World War II. She screened
carriers from air attack in pre-invasion strikes as well as during close
air support of troops ashore, beginning with the initial strikes on
Kwajalein 29 January. She fired on targets at Namur and Roi, where she
sank a cargo ship in the lagoon. The battlewagon then protected carriers
in the massive air strike on Truk, the Japanese fleet base in the
Carolines, where 39 large ships were left sunk, burning, or uselessly
beached, and 211 planes were destroyed, another 104 severely damaged. Next
she fought off an air attack against the flattops near the Marianas 21
February, splashing an enemy plane, and the next day again guarded the
carriers in air strikes on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam. During much of this
period she was flagship for Rear Admiral (later Vice Admiral) Willis A.
Lee, Jr., Commander Battleships Pacific.
With Majuro as her base, North Carolina joined in the attacks on Palau and
Woleai 31 March-1 April, shooting down another enemy plane during the
approach phase. On Woleai, 150 enemy aircraft were destroyed along with
ground installations. Support for the capture of the Hollandia area of New
Guinea followed (13-24 April), then another major raid on Truk (29-30
April), during which North Carolina splashed yet another enemy aircraft.
At Truk, North Carolina's planes were catapulted to rescue an American
aviator downed off the reef. After one plane had turned over on landing
and the other, having rescued all the airmen, had been unable to take off
with so much weight, Tang (SS-306) saved all involved. The next day North
Carolina destroyed coast defense guns, antiaircraft batteries, and
airfields at Ponape. The battleship then sailed to repair her rudder at
Pearl Harbor.
Returning to Majuro, North Carolina sortied with the Enterprise group 6
June for the Marianas. During the assault on Saipan, North Carolina not
only gave her usual protection to the carriers, but starred in
bombardments on the west coast of Saipan covering minesweeping operations,
and blasted the harbor at Tanapag, sinking several small craft and
destroying enemy ammunition, fuel, and supply dumps. At dusk on invasion
day, 15 June, the battleship downed one of the only two Japanese aircraft
able to penetrate the combat air patrol.
On 18 June, North Carolina cleared the islands with the carriers to
confront the Japanese 1st Mobile Fleet, tracked by submarines and aircraft
for the previous four days. Next day began the Battle of the Philippine
Sea, and she took station in the battle line that fanned out from the
carriers. American aircraft succeeded in downing most of the Japanese
raiders before they reached the American ships, and North Carolina shot
down two of the few which got through.
On that day and the next American air and submarine attacks, with the
fierce antiaircraft fire of such ships as North Carolina, virtually ended
any future threat from Japanese naval aviation: three carriers were sunk,
two tankers damaged so badly they were scuttled, and all but 35 of the 430
planes with which the Japanese had begun the battle were destroyed. The
loss of trained aviators was irreparable, as was the loss of skilled
aviation maintenance men in the carriers. Not one American ship was lost,
and only a handful of American planes failed to return to their carriers.
After supporting air operations in the Marianas for another two weeks,
North Carolina sailed for overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard. She rejoined
the carriers off Ulithi 7 November as a furious typhoon struck the group.
The ships fought through the storm, and carried out air strikes against
western Leyte, Luzon, and the Visayas to support the struggle for Leyte.
During similar strikes later in the month, North Carolina fought off her
first kamikaze attack.
As the pace of operations in the Philippines intensified, North Carolina
guarded carriers while their planes kept the Japanese aircraft on Luzon
airfields from interfering with the invasion convoys which assaulted
Mindoro, 15 December. Three days later the task force again sailed through
a violent typhoon, which capsized several destroyers. With Ulithi now her
base, North Carolina screened wide-ranging carrier strikes on Formosa, the
coast of Indo-China and China, and the Ryukyus in January, and similarly
supported strikes on Honshu the next month. Hundreds of enemy aircraft
were destroyed which might otherwise have resisted the assault on Iwo
Jima, where North Carolina bombarded and provided call fire for the
assaulting Marines through 22 February.
Strikes on targets in the Japanese home islands laid the ground-work for
the Okinawa assault, in which North Carolina played her dual role of
bombardment and carrier screening. Here, on 6 April, she downed three
kamikazes, but took a 5-inch hit from a friendly ship during the melee of
antiaircraft fire. Three men were killed and 44 wounded. Next day came the
last desperate sortie of the Japanese Fleet, as Yamato, the largest
battleship in the world, came south with her attendants. Yamato, a
cruiser, and a destroyer were sunk, three other destroyers damaged so
badly that they were scuttled, and the remaining four destroyers returned
to the fleet base at Sasebo badly damaged. On the same day North Carolina
splashed an enemy plane, and she shot down two more 17 April.
After overhaul at Pearl Harbor, North Carolina rejoined the carriers for a
month of air strikes and naval bombardment on the Japanese home islands.
Along with guarding the carriers, North Carolina fired on major industrial
plants near Tokyo, and her scout plane pilots performed a daring rescue of
a downed carrier pilot under heavy fire in Tokyo Bay.
North Carolina sent both sailors and members of her Marine Detachment
ashore for preliminary occupation duty in Japan immediately at the close
of the war, and patrolled off the coast until anchoring in Tokyo Bay 5
September to re-embark her men. Carrying passengers from Okinawa, North
Carolina sailed for home reaching the Panama Canal 8 October. She anchored
at Boston 17 October, and after overhaul at New York exercised in New
England waters and carried Naval Academy midshipmen for a summer training
cruise in the Caribbean.
After inactivation, she decommissioned at New York 27 June 1947. Struck
from the Navy List 1 June 1960, North Carolina was transferred to the
people of North Carolina 6 September 1961. On 29 April 1962 she was
dedicated at Wilmington, N.C., as a memorial to North Carolinans of all
services killed in World War II. Here splendidly maintained and most
appropriately displayed-including a spectacular "sound and light"
presentation-"Showboat" still serves mightily to strengthen and inspire
the nation.
North Carolina received 12 battle stars for World War II service.
Built at Philadelphia Navy
Yard, Philadelphia, Pa.
Authorized 03/27/34, Keel Laid
06/14/38,
Commissioned 05/15/41.
Capt. H. H. J. Benson commanding
The
eighth WASHINGTON (BB-56) was laid down on 14 June 1938 at
the Philadelphia
Navy Yard; launched on 1 June 1940; sponsored
by Miss Virginia Marshall, of
Spokane, Wash., a direct
descendant of former Chief Justice Marshall; and
commissioned at
the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 May 1941, Capt. Howard H.
J. Benson in command.
NORTH CAROLINA
CLASS
BB-56
Length Overall: 729'
Extreme Beam:
108'
Displacement: Tons: 35,000 Mean Draft:
26'8"
Complement: Off.: 108 Enl.: 1,772
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/45 cal
Secondary: (20) 5"/38 cal (4) quad
1.1"
AA: (12) .50 cal m.g.
Catapults: (2) aft.
Armor:
Max. Thickness: 18
Speed: 27 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
121,000
Engines: Mfr.: (3) GE (9) NYNY
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive:
TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 6,583
Washington BB-56
The eighth Washington (BB-56) was laid down on 14 June 1938 at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 1 June 1940; sponsored by Miss
Virginia Marshall, of Spokane, Wash., a direct descendant of former Chief
Justice Marshall; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 May
1941, Capt. Howard H. J. Benson in command.
Her shakedown and underway training ranged along the eastern seaboard and
into the Gulf of Mexico and lasted through American entry into World War
II in December 1941. Sometimes operating in company with her sistership
North Carolina (BB-55) and the new aircraft carrier Hornet (CV-8),
Washington became the flagship for Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Commander,
Battleship Division (ComBatDiv) 6, and Commander, Battleships, Atlantic
Fleet.
Assigned duty as flagship for Task Force (TF) 39 on 26 March 1942 at
Portland, Maine, Washington again flew Admiral Wilcox' flag as she sailed
for the British Isles that day. Slated to reinforce the British Home
Fleet, the battleship, together with the carrier Wasp (CV-7) and the
heavy cruisers Wichita (CA-45) and Tuscaloosa (CA-37), headed for Scapa
Flow, the major British fleet base in the Orkney Islands.
While steaming through moderately heavy seas the following day, 27 March,
the "man overboard" alarm sounded on board Washington, and a quick muster
revealed that Admiral Wilcox was missing. Tuscaloosa, 1,000 yards astern,
maneuvered and dropped life buoys while two destroyers headed for
Washington's wake to search for the missing flag officer. Planes from
Wasp, despite the foul weather, also took off to aid in the search.
Lookouts in the destroyer Wilson (DD-408) spotted Wilcox' body in the
water, face down, some distance away, but could not pick it up. The
circumstances surrounding Wilcox being washed overboard from his flagship
have never been fully explained to this day; one school of thought has
it that he had suffered a heart attack.
At 1228 on the 27th, the search for Wilcox was abandoned, and command of
the task force devolved upon the next senior officer, Rear Admiral Robert
C. Giffen, whose flag flew in the cruiser Wichita. On 4 April, the task
force reached Scapa Flow, joining the British Home Fleet under the overall
command of Sir John Tovey, whose flag flew in the battleship HMS King
George V.
Washington engaged in maneuvers and battle practice with units of the
Home Fleet, out of Scapa Flow, into late April, when TF 39 was
redesignated as TF 99 with Washington as flagship. On the 28th, the force
got underway to engage in reconnaissance for the protection of the vital
convoys running lend lease supplies to Murmansk in the Soviet Union.
During those operations, tragedy befell the group. On 1 May 1942, HMS King
George V collided with a "Tribal" class destroyer. HMS Punjabi, cut in
two, sank quickly directly in the path of the oncoming Washington.
Compelled to pass between the halves of the sinking destroyer, the
battleship proceeded ahead, Punjabi's depth charges exploding beneath
her hull as she passed.
Fortunately for Washington, she suffered no major hull damage nor
developed any hull leaks from the concussion of the exploding depth
charges. She did, however, sustain damage to some of her delicate fire
control systems and radars; and a diesel oil tank suffered a small leak.
Two destroyers, meanwhile, picked up Punjabi's captain, four other
officers and 182 men; HMS King George V then proceeded back to Scapa Flow
for repairs. Washington and her escorts remained at sea until 5 May, when
TF 99 put into the Icelandic port of Hvalfjordur to provision from the
supply ship Mizar (AF-12). While at Hvalfjordur, the American and Danish
ministers to Iceland called upon Admiral Giffen and inspected his flagship
on 12 May.
Task Force 99 subsequently sortied on the 15th to rendezvous with units of
the Home Fleet and returned to Scapa Flow on 3 June. The next day, Admiral
Harold R. Stark, Commander, Naval Forces, Europe, came on board and broke
his flag in Washington, establishing a temporary administrative
headquarters on board. The battleship played host to His Majesty, King
George VI, at Scapa Flow on the 7th, when the King came on board to
inspect the ship.
Soon after Admiral Stark left Washington, the battleship resumed her
operations with the Home Fleet, patrolling part of the Allied shipping
lanes leading to Russian ports. On 14 July 1942, Admiral Giffen hauled
down his flag in the battleship at Hvalfjordur and shifted to Wichita.
That same day, Washington, with a screen of four destroyers, upped
anchor and put to sea, leaving Icelandic waters in her wake. She reached
Gravesend Bay, N.Y., on 21 July; two days later, she shifted to the New
York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, N.Y., for a thorough overhaul.
Upon completion of her refit, Washington sailed for the Pacific on 23
August, escorted by three destroyers. Five days later, she transited the
Panama Canal and, on 14 September, reached Nukualofa Anchorage,
Tongatabu, Tonga Island. On that day, Rear Admiral Willis A. "Ching" Lee,
Jr., broke his flag in Washington as Commander, Battleship Division
(BatDiv) 6, and Commander, Task Group 12.2.
The next day, 15 September, Washington put to sea bound for a rendezvous
with TF 17, the force formed around the aircraft carrier Hornet.
Washington then proceeded to Noumea, New Caledonia, and supported the
ongoing Solomons campaign, providing escort services for various
reinforcement convoys proceeding to and from Guadalcanal. During those
weeks, the battleship's principal bases of operation were Noumea and
Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides.
By mid-November, the situation in the Solomons was far from good for the
Allies, who were now down to one aircraft carrier Enterprise (CV-6)-
after the loss of Wasp in September and Hornet in October, and Japanese
surface units were subjecting Henderson Field on Guadalcanal to heavy
bombardments with disturbing regularity. Significantly, however, the
Japanese only made their moves at night, since Allied planes controlled the
skies during the day. That meant that the Allies had to move their
replenishment and reinforcement convoys into Guadalcanal during the
daylight hours.
Washington performed those vital duties into mid-November of 1942. On 13
November, she learned that three groups of Japanese ships -one consisting
of about 24 transports, with escort were steaming toward Guadalcanal.
One enemy force sighted that morning was reported as consisting of two
battleships, a light cruiser, and 11 destroyers.
At sunset on the 13th, Rear Admiral Lee took Washington, South Dakota (BB-
57), and four destroyers and headed for Savo Island-the scene of the
disastrous night action of 8 and 9 August-to be in position to intercept
the Japanese convoy and its covering force. Lee's ships, designated as TF
64, reached a point about 50 miles south by west from Guadalcanal late in
the forenoon on the 14th and spent much of the remainder of the day
trying unsuccessfully to avoid being spotted by Japanese reconnaissance
planes.
Approaching on a northerly course, nine miles west of Guadalcanal, TF 64-
reported by the Japanese reconnaissance planes as consisting of a
battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers-steamed in column formation.
Walke (DD-416) led, followed by Benham (DD-397), Preston (DD-377), Gwin
(DD-433), and the two battleships, Washington and South Dakota.
As the ship steamed through the flat calm sea beneath the scattered
cirrus cumulus clouds in the night sky, Washington's radar picked up a
contact, bearing to the east of Savo Island, at 0001 on 15 November.
Fifteen minutes later, at 0016, Washington opened fire with her 16-inch
main battery. The fourth battle of Savo Island was underway.
The Japanese force proved to be the battleship Kirishima, the heavy
cruisers Atago and Takao, the light cruisers Sendai and Nagara, and a
screen of nine destroyers escorting four transports. Planning to conduct a
bombardment of American positions on Guadalcanal to cover the landing of
troops, the Japanese force ran head on into Lee's TF 64.
For the next three minutes, Washington's 16-inchers hurled out 42 rounds,
opening at 18,500 yards range, her fire aimed at the light cruiser
Sendai. Simultaneously, the battleship's 5-inch battery was engaging
another ship also being engaged by South Dakota.
As gun flashes split the night and the rumble of gunfire reverberated like
thunder off the islands nearby, Washington continued to engage the Japanese
force. Between 0025 and 0034, the ship engaged targets at 10,000 yards
range with her 5-inch battery.
Most significantly, however, Washington soon engaged Kirishima, in the
first head to head confrontation of battleships in the Pacific war. In
seven minutes, tracking by radar, Washington sent 75 rounds of 16-inch
and 107 rounds of 5-inch at ranges from 8,400 to 12,650 yards, scoring at
least nine hits with her main battery and about 40 with her 5-inchers,
silencing the enemy battleship in short order. Subsequently, Washington's
5-inch batteries went to work on other targets spotted by her radar
"eyes."
The battle, however, was not all one sided. Japanese gunfire proved
devastating to the four destroyers of TF 64, as did the dreaded and
effective "long lance" torpedoes. Walke and Preston both took numerous
hits of all calibers and sank; Benham sustained heavy damage to her bow,
and Gwin sustained shell hits aft.
South Dakota had maneuvered to avoid the burning Walke and Preston but
soon found herself the target of the entire Japanese bombardment group.
Skewered by searchlight beams, South Dakota boomed out salvoes at the
pugnacious enemy, as did Washington which was proceeding, at that point,
to deal out severe punishment upon Kirishima one of South Dakota's
assailants.
South Dakota, the recipient of numerous hits, retired as Washington
steamed north to draw fire away from her crippled sister battleship and
the two crippled destroyers, Benham and Gwin. Initially, the remaining
ships of the Japanese bombardment group gave chase to Washington but
broke off action when discouraged by the battleship's heavy guns.
Accordingly, they withdrew under cover of a smokescreen.
After Washington skillfully evaded torpedoes fired b" the retiring
Japanese destroyers in the van of the enemy force, she joined South
Dakota later in the morning, shaping course for Noumea. In the battleship
action, Washington had done well and had emerged undamaged. South Dakota
had not emerged unscathed, however, sustaining heavy damage to her
superstructure; 38 men had died; 60 lay wounded. The Japanese had lost
the battleship Kirishima. Left burning and exploding, she later had to be
abandoned and scuttled. The other enemy casualty was the destroyer
Ayanami, scuttled the next morning.
Washington remained in the South Pacific there after, basing on New
Caledonia and continuing as flagship for Rear Admiral "Ching" Lee. The
battleship protected carrier groups and task forces engaged in the
ongoing Solomons campaign until late in April of 1943, operating
principally with TF 11, which included the repaired Saratoga (CV-3), and
with TF 16, built around Enterprise.
Washington departed Noumea on 30 April 1943, bound for the Hawaiian
Islands. While en route, TF 16 joined up; and, together, the ships
reached Pearl Harbor on 8 May. Washington, as a unit of, and as flagship
for, TF 60, carried out battle practice in Hawaiian waters until 28 May
1943, after which time she put into the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for
overhaul.
Washington resumed battle practice in the Hawaiian operating area upon
conclusion of those repairs and alterations and joined a convoy on 27
July to form Task Group (TG) 56.14, bound for the South Pacific. Detached
on 5 August, Washington reached Havannah Harbor, at Efate, in the New
Hebrides, on the 7th. She then operated out of Efate until late in
October, principally engaged in battle practice and tactics with fast
carrier task forces.
Departing Havannah Harbor on the last day of October, Washington sailed
as a unit of TG 53.2- four battleships and six destroyers. The next day,
the carriers Enterprise, Essex (CV-9), and Independence (CVL-22), as well
as the other screening units of TG 53.3, joined TG 53.2 and came under
Rear Admiral Lee. The ships held combined maneuvers until 5 November,
when the carriers departed the formation. Washington, with her escorts,
steamed to Viti Levu, in the Fiji Islands, arriving on the 7th.
Four days later, however, the battleship was again underway, with Rear
Admiral Lee-by that point Commander, Battleships, Pacific-embarked, in
company with other units of BatDivs 8 and 9. On the 15th, the
battlewagons and their screens joined Rear Admiral C. A. "Baldy" Pownall's
TG 50.1, Rear Admiral Pownall flying his two starred flag in Yorktown (CV-
10), the namesake of the carrier lost at Midway. The combined force then
proceeded toward the Gilbert Islands to join in the daily bombings of
Japanese positions in the Gilberts and Marshalls softening them up for
impending assault.
On the 19th, the planes from TG 50.1 attacked Mili and Jaluit in the
Marshalls, continuing those strikes through 20 November, the day upon
which Navy, Marine, and Army forces landed on Tarawa and Makin in the
Gilberts. On the 22d, the task group sent its planes against Mili in
successive waves; subsequently, the group steamed to operate north of
Makin.
Washington rendezvoused with other carrier groups that composed TF 50 on
25 November and, during the reorganization that followed, was assigned to
TG 50.4, the last carrier task group under the command of Hear Admiral
Frederick C. "Ted" Sherman. The carriers comprising the core of the group
were Bunker Hill (CV-17) and Monterey (CVL-26); the battleships
screening them were Alabama (BB-50) and South Dakota. Eight destroyers
rounded out the screen.
The group operated north of Makin, providing air, surface, and
antisubmarine protection for the unfolding unloading operations at Makin,
effective on 26 November. Enemy planes attacked the group on the 27th
and 28th but were driven off without inflicting any damage on the fast
carrier task forces.
As the Gilbert Islands campaign drew to a close, TG 50.8 was formed on
6 December, under Rear Admiral Lee, in Washington. Other ships of that
group included sistership North Carolina (BB-55), Massachusetts (BB-59),
Indiana (BB-58), South Dakota, and Alabama (BB-60) and the Fleet
carriers Bunker Hill and Monterey. Eleven destroyers screened the heavy
ships.
The group first steamed south and west of Ocean Island to take position
for the scheduled air and surface bombardment of the island of Nauru.
Before dawn on 8 December, the carriers launched their strike groups
while the bombardment force formed in column; 135 rounds of 16-inch fire
from the six battleships fell on the enemy installations on Nauru; and,
upon completion of the shelling, the battleships' secondary batteries took
their turn; two planes from each battleship spotted the fall of shot.
After a further period of air strikes had been flown off against Nauru,
the task group sailed for Efate, where they arrived on 12 December. On
that day, due to a change in the highest command echelons, TF 57 became TF
37.
Washington tarried at Efate for less than two weeks. Underway on Christmas
Day, flying Rear Admiral Lee's flag, the battleship sailed in company with
her sister-ship North Carolina and a screen of four destroyers to
conduct gunnery practice, returning to the New Hebrides on 7 January
1944.
Eleven days later, the battleship departed Efate for the Ellice Islands.
Joining TG 37.2-carriers Monterey and Bunker Hill and four destroyers-en
route, Washington reached Funafuti, Ellice Islands, on 20 January. Three
days later, the battleship, along with the rest of the task group, put to
sea to make rendezvous with elements of TF 58, the fast carrier task
force under the overall command of Vice Admiral Marc A. "Pete" Mitscher.
Becoming part of TG 58.1, Washington screened the fast carriers in her
group as they launched air strikes on Taroa and Kwajalein in the waning
days of January 1944. Washington, together with Massachusetts and Indiana,
left the formation with four destroyers as screen and shelled Kwajalein
Atoll on the 30th. Further air strikes followed the next day.
On 1 February, however, misfortune reared her head; Washington, while
maneuvering in the inky darkness, rammed Indiana as she cut across
Washington's bow while dropping out of formation to fuel escorting
destroyers. Both battleships retired for repairs; Washington having
sustained 60 feet of crumpled bow plating. Both ships put into the lagoon
at Majuro the next morning. Subsequently, after reinforcing the damaged
bow, Washington departed Majuro on 11 February, bound for the Hawaiian
Islands.
With a temporary bow fitted at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Washington
continued on for the west coast of the United States. Reaching the Puget
Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., the battleship received a new bow over
the weeks that followed her arrival. Joining BatDiv 4 at Port Townsend,
Wash., Washington embarked 500 men as passengers and sailed for Pearl
Harbor, reaching her destination on 13 June and disembarking her
passengers.
Arriving back at Majuro on 30 May, Washington again flew Admiral Lee's
flag as he shitted on board the battleship soon after her arrival. Lee,
now a vice admiral, rode in the battleship as she headed out to sea
again, departing Majuro on 7 June and joining Mitscher's fast carrier TF
58.
Washington supported the air strikes pummeling enemy defenses in the
Marianas on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Rota, and Pagan. Task
Force 58's fliers also attacked twice and damaged a Japanese convoy in the
vicinity on 12 June. The following day, Vice Admiral Lee's battleship
destroyer task group was detached from the main body of the force and
conducted shore bombardment against enemy installations on Saipan and
Tinian. Relieved on the 14th by two task groups under Rear Admirals J.
B. Oldendorf and W. L. Ainsworth, Vice Admiral Lee's group retired
momentarily.
On 15 June, Admiral Mitscher's TF 58 planes bombed Japanese installations
on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands and Chichi Jima and Haha Jima in the
Bonins. Meanwhile, marines landed on Saipan under cover of intensive naval
gunfire and carrier based planes.
That same day, Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa, commanding the main body of the
Japanese Fleet, was ordered to attack and destroy the invasion force in
the Marianas. The departure of his carrier group, however, came under the
scrutiny of the submarine Redfin (SS-272), as it left Tawi Tawi, the
westernmost island in the Sulu Archipelago.
Flying Fish (SS-229) also sighted Ozawa's force as it entered the
Philippine Sea. Cavalla (SS-244) radioed a contact report on an enemy
refueling group on 16 June and continued tracking it as it headed for
the Marianas. She again sighted Japanese Combined Fleet units on 18 June.
Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commanding the 5th Fleet, had meanwhile
learned of the Japanese movement and accordingly issued his battle plan.
Vice Admiral Lee's force formed a protective screen around the vital
fleet carriers. Washington, six other battleships, four heavy cruisers,
and 14 destroyers deployed to cover the flattops; on 19 June, the ships
came under attack from Japanese carrier based and land based planes as
the Battle of the Philippine Sea commenced.
The tremendous firepower of the screen, however, together with the
aggressive combat air patrols flown from the American carriers, proved
too much for even the aggressive Japanese. The heavy loss of Japanese
aircraft, sometimes referred to as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," caused
serious losses in the Japanese naval air arm. During four massive raids,
the enemy launched 373 planes-only 130 returned.
In addition, 50 land based bombers from Guam fell in flames. Over 300
American carrier planes were involved in the aerial action; their losses
amounted to comparatively few: 23 shot down and six lost operationally
without the loss of a single ship in Mitscher's task force.
Only a few of the enemy planes managed to get through the barrage of
flak and fighters, one scoring a direct hit on South Dakota-killing 27
and wounding 23. A bomb burst over the flight deck of the carrier Wasp
(CV-18), killing one man, wounding 12, and covering her flight deck with
bits of phosphorus. Two planes dove on Bunker Hill, one scoring a near
miss and the other a hit that holed an elevator, knocking put the hanger
deck gasoline system temporarily; killing three and wounding 73. Several
fires started were promptly quenched. In addition, Minneapolis (CA-36) and
Indiana also received slight damage.
Not only did the Japanese lose heavily in planes; two of their carriers
were soon on their way to the bottom Taiho, torpedoed and sunk by
Albacore (SS-218); and Shokaku, sunk by Cavalla. Admiral Ozawa, his
flagship, Taiho, sunk out from under him, transferred his flag to Zuikaku.
As the Battle of the Philippine Sea proceeded to a close, the Japanese
Mobile Fleet steamed back to its bases, defeated. Admiral Mitscher's task
force meanwhile retired to cover the invasion operations proceeding in the
Marianas. Washington fueled east of that chain of islands and then
continued her screening duties with TG 58.4 to the south and west of
Saipan, supporting the continuing air strikes on islands in the Marianas,
the strikes concentrated on Guam by that point.
On 25 July, aircraft of TG 58.4 conducted air strikes on the Palaus and on
enemy shipping in the vicinity, continuing their schedule of strikes
through 6 August. On that day, Washington, with Iowa (BB-61), Indiana,
Alabama, the light cruiser Birmingham (CL-62), and a destroyer screen,
was detached from the screen of TG 58.4, forming TG 58.7, under Vice
Admiral Lee.
That group arrived at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshalls to refuel and
replenish on 11 August and remained there for almost the balance of the
month. On 30 August, that group departed, headed for, first, the Admiralty
Islands, and ultimately, the Palaus.
Washington's heavy guns supported the taking of Peleliu and Angaur in the
Palaus and supported the carrier strikes on Okinawa on 10 October, on
northern Luzon and Formosa from 11 to 14 October, as well as the Visayan
air strikes on 21 October. From 5 November 1944 to 17 February 1945,
Washington, as a vital unit of the fast carrier striking forces, supported
raids on Okinawa, in the Ryukyus; Formosa; Luzon; Camranh Bay, French
Indochina; Saigon, French Indochina; Hong Kong; Canton; Hainan Island;
Nansei Shoto; and the heart of the enemy homeland-Tokyo itself.
From 19 to 22 February 1945, Washington's heavy rifles hurled 16-inch
shells shoreward in support of the landings on Iwo Jima. In preparation
for the assault, Washington's main and secondary batteries destroyed gun
positions, troop concentrations, and other ground installations. From 23
February to 16 March, the fast battleship supported the unfolding invasion
of Iwo Jima, including a carrier raid upon Tokyo on 25 February. On 18,
19, and 29 March, Washington screened the Fleet's carriers as they
launched air strikes against Japanese airfields and other installations
on the island of Kyushu. On 24 March, and again on 19 April, Washington
lent her support to the shellings of Japanese positions on the island of
Okinawa.
Anchoring at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, on 1 June 1945 after an almost
ceaseless slate of operations, Washington sailed for the west coast of
the United States on 6 June, making stops at Guam and Pearl Harbor
before reaching the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 23 June.
As it turned out, Washington would not participate in active combat in
the Pacific theater again. Her final wartime refit carried on through V-J
Day in mid-August of 1945 and the formal Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay
on 2 September. She completed her post repair trials and conducted
underway training out of San Pedro, Calif., before she headed for the
Panama Canal, returning to the Atlantic Ocean. Joining TG 11.6 on 6
October, with Vice Admiral Frederick C. Sherman in overall command, she
soon transited the Panama Canal and headed for Philadelphia, the place
where she had been "born." Arriving at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on
17 October, she participated in Navy Day ceremonies there on the 27th.
Assigned to troop transport duty on 2 November 1945 as part of the "Magic
Carpet" operations- Washington went into dockyard hands on that day,
emerging on the 15th with additional bunking facilities below and a crew
that now consisted of only 84 officers and 835 men. Sailing on 15 November
for the British Isles, Washington reached Southampton, England, on 22
November.
After embarking 185 army officers and 1,479 enlisted men, Washington
sailed for New York. She completed that voyage and, after that brief
stint as a transport, was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 27
June 1947. Assigned to the New York group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet,
Washington remained inactive through the late 1950's, ultimately being
struck from the Navy list on 1 June I960. The old warrior was sold on 24
May 1961 to the Lipsett Division, Luria Bros., of New York City, and was
scrapped soon thereafter.
Washington (BB-56) earned 13 battle stars during World War II in
operations that had carried her from the Arctic Circle to the western
Pacific.
Built at New York SB Co.,
Camden, N. J.
Authorized 03/27/34, Keel Laid 07/05/29,
Commissioned
03/20/42.
Capt. T. L. Gatch commanding
The second SOUTH DAKOTA (BB-57) was
laid down on 5 July 1939 at
Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding
Corp.; launched on 7
June 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Harlan J. Bushfield; and
commissioned on 20 March 1942, Capt. Thomas L. Gatch in
command.
SOUTH DAKOTA CLASS
BB-57
Length Overall:
680'
Extreme Beam: 108'2"
Displacement: Tons: 35,000 Mean
Draft: 29'3"
Complement: Off.: 115 Enl.:
1,678
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/45 cal
Secondary:
(16) 5"/38 cal
AA: (7) quad 1.1"
Catapults: (2)
aft
Armor: Max. Thickness: 18"
Speed: 27 kts.
Designed
Shaft Horsepower: 130,000
Engines: Mfr.: GE
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive:
TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 6950
South Dakota BB-57
The second South Dakota (BB-57) was laid down on 5 July 1939 at Camden,
N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 7 June 1941;
sponsored by Mrs. Harlan J. Bushfield; and commissioned on 20 March 1942,
Capt. Thomas L. Gatch in command.
After fitting out at Philadelphia, South Dakota held shakedown training
from 3 June to 26 July. She stood out of Philadelphia Navy Yard on 16
August and headed for Panama. The battleship transited the Panama
Canal on 21 August and set course for the Tonga Islands, arriving at
Nukualofa, Tongatabu, on 4 September. Two days later, she struck an
uncharted coral pinnacle in Lahai Passage and suffered extensive damage to
her hull. On 12 September, the ship sailed for the Pearl Harbor Navy
Yard and repairs.
South Dakota was ready for sea again on 12 October and began training
with Task; Force (TF) 16 which was built around aircraft carrier
Enterprise (CV-6). The task force sortied from Pearl Harbor on 16
October to join TF 17, which was centered on carrier Hornet (CV-8),
northeast of Espiritu Santo. The rendezvous was made on the 24th; and the
combined force, now operating as TF 61 under Rear Admiral T. C. Kinkaid,
was ordered to make a sweep of the Santa Cruz Islands and then move
southwest to block any Japanese forces approaching Guadalcanal.
"Catalina" patrol bombers sighted a Japanese carrier force at noon on
the 25th, and TF 61 steamed northwest to intercept it. Early the next
morning, when all carrier forces were within striking range, a Japanese
snooper spotted the American force, triggering the Battle of Santa Cruz.
South Dakota and the Enterprise group were approximately 10 miles from
the Hornet group when the air battle began.
The first enemy attack was concentrated against Hornet. At 1045, South
Dakota was operating near Enterprise to provide protective fire from her
numerous antiaircraft guns when their group was attacked by dive
bombers. Approximately an hour later, about 40 torpedo planes struck at
the two ships. A third aerial assault, made by dive bombers and torpedo
planes, came in at 1230. South Dakota sustained a 500-pound bomb hit on
top of her number one turret. When the action was broken off that
evening, the American forces retired toward Noumea, New Caledonia, with
the battleship credited with downing 26 enemy planes.
At 0414 on 30 October, while avoiding a submarine contact, South Dakota and
Mahan (DD-364) collided, causing damage to both ships. Mahan's bow was
turned to port and crumpled to frame 14, and a fire, soon brought under
control, started in her forward hold. Both ships continued to Noumea
where Vestal (AR-4) repaired South Dakota's collision and battle damage.
On 11 November, South Dakota, as part of TF 16, sortied from Noumea for
Guadalcanal. On 13 November, she joined battleship Washington (BB-56) and
destroyers Preston (DD-379), Walke (DD-418), Benham (DD-397), and Gwin
(DD-433) to form TF 64 under command of Rear Admiral W. A. Lee. The next
evening at 2330, the force was operating 50 miles southwest of Guadalcanal
when Lee learned that an enemy convoy was coming through the passage off
Savo sometime between 0030 and 0230. This was Admiral Kondo's
bombardment group consisting of battleship Kirishima; heavy cruisers
Takao and Atago; and a destroyer screen.
Admiral Kondo's forces were divided into three sections: the bombardment
group; a close screen of cruiser Nagara and six destroyers; and a
distant screen of cruiser Sendai and three destroyers in the van of the
other forces. A quarter moon assured good visibility. Three ships were
visually sighted from the bridge of South Dakota, range 18,100 yards.
Washington fired on the leading ship, thought to be a battleship or heavy
cruiser; and, a minute later, South Dakota's main battery opened on the
ship nearest to her. Both initial salvos started fires on the targets.
South Dakota then fired on another target and continued firing until it
disappeared from her radar screen. Turret No. 3-firing over her stern and
demolishing her own planes in the process-opened on another target and
continued firing until the target was thought to sink. Her secondary
batteries were firing at eight destroyers close to the shore of Savo
Island.
A short lull followed after which radar plot showed four enemy ships,
just clear of the left tangent of Savo, approaching from the starboard
bow; range 5,800 yards. Searchlights from the second ship in the enemy
column illuminated South Dakota. Washington opened with her main battery
on the leading, and largest, Japanese ship. South Dakota's secondary
batteries put out the lights; and she shifted all batteries to bear on
the third ship, believed to be a cruiser, which soon gushed smoke. South
Dakota, which had been under fire from at least three of the ships, had
taken 42 hits which caused considerable damage. Her radio communications
failed; radar plot was demolished; three fire control radars were damaged;
there was a fire in her foremast; and she had lost track of Washington.
As she was no longer receiving enemy fire and there were no remaining
targets, she withdrew; met Washington at a prearranged rendezvous; and
proceeded to Noumea. Of the American destroyers, only Gwin returned to
port. The other three had been severely damaged early in the engagement.
Walke and Preston were sunk. Benham had part of her bow blown off by a
torpedo and, while en route to Noumea with the damaged Gwin as her
escort, had to be abandoned. Gwin then sank her by gunfire. On the enemy
side, hits had been scored on Takao and Atago; Kirishima and destroyer
Ayanami, severely damaged by gunfire, were abandoned and scuttled.
Prometheus (AR-3) repaired some of the damage inflicted on South Dakota at
Noumea, enabling the battleship to sail on the 25th for Tongatabu and
thence for home. South Dakota arrived at New York on 18 December 1942 for
an overhaul and the completion of repairs to her battle damage. She was
back at sea on 25 February 1943 and, following sea trials, operated with
Ranger (CV-4) in the North Atlantic until mid-April.
The battleship next operated with the British Home Fleet, based at Scapa
Flow, until 1 August when she returned to- Norfolk. On 21 August, South
Dakota stood out of Norfolk en route to Efate Island, arriving at
Havannah Harbor on 14 September. She moved to Fiji on 7 November and
sortied from there four days later with Battleship Divisions (BatDiv) 8
and 9 in support of Task Group (TG) 50.1, the Carrier Interceptor Group
for Operation "Galvanic," the Gilbert Islands assault. The carriers
launched attacks against Jaluit and Mili atolls, Marshall Islands, on 19
November, to neutralize enemy airfields there. The force then provided air
support for the amphibious landings on Makin and Tarawa, Gilbert Islands.
South Dakota, with five other battleships, formed another task group on 6
December to bombard Nauru Island. A joint aerial attack and shore
bombardment severely damaged enemy shore installations and airfields
there. South Dakota retired to Efate on 12 December 1943 for upkeep and
rearming. Her next action occurred on 29 January 1944 when the carriers
launched attacks against Roi and Namur, Marshall Islands. The next day,
the battleship moved in to shell enemy positions on Roi and Namur and then
rejoined the carriers as they provided air support for the amphibious
landings on Kwajalein, Majuro, Roi, and Namur.
South Dakota departed the Marshall Islands on 12 February with the Truk
striking force which launched attacks against that Japanese stronghold on
17 and 18 February. Six days later, she was in the screen for the
carriers which launched the first air attacks against the Marianas. The
force was under constant enemy air attack, and South Dakota splashed
four Japanese planes. She returned to Majuro from 26 February until 22
March when she sailed with the fast carrier forces of the of the 5th
Fleet. Air strikes were delivered from 30 March until 1 April against
Palau, Yap, Woleai, and Ulithi in the Western Caroline Islands.
South Dakota returned to Majuro on 6 April and sailed the following week,
again accompanying the fast carriers. On 21 April, strikes were launched
against Hpllandia, New Guinea, and the following day against Aitape,
Tanahmerah, and Humboldt Bays to support the Army landings. On 29 and 30
April, the carriers, with South Dakota, still in the screen, returned
to Truk and bombed that base. The next day, the battleship was part of a
surface bombardment group that shelled Ponape Island in the Carolines.
She returned to Majuro for upkeep from 4 May to 5 June when she got
underway with TF 58 to participate in Operation "Forager," the landings
on Saipan and Tinian. The carriers began launching attacks on the llth
against enemy installations throughout the islands. On the 13th, South
Dakota and six other battleships were detached from the fast carrier
groups to bombard Saipan and Tinian. South Dakota shelled the northwest
coast of Tanapag Harbor, Saipan, for over six hours with both her
primary and secondary batteries.
On the evening of the 15th, 8 to 12 enemy fighters and bombers broke
through the combat air patrol and attacked the task group. South Dakota
fired at four and splashed one; and the remaining 11 were shot down by
fire from other ships. On 19 June, the battleship was again operating
with the fast carriers. It was known that a major Japanese force was
approaching from the west, and the American capital ships were placed so
that they could continue to support the ground forces on Saipan and also
intercept this enemy force.
At 1012, a large group of bogies was reported coming in from the west.
At 1049, a "Judy" dropped a 500-pound bomb on South Dakota's main deck
where it blew a large hole, cut wiring and piping, but inflicted no
other serious material damage. However, personnel losses were heavy: 24
killed and 27 wounded. The ship continued to fight throughout the day as
air attacks were continuous. This was the first day of the Battle of the
Philippine Sea and was called the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" as the Japanese
lost over 300 aircraft. The air battle continued throughout the 20th.
When it ended, the badly mauled Japanese fleet no longer posed a threat
to the American conquest of the Marianas. The task group returned to
Ulithi on 27 June, and South Dakota sailed via Pearl Harbor to the west
coast, arriving at Puget Sound on 10 July.
The battleship was overhauled at the navy yard there; and, after sea
trials, sailed on 26 August for Pearl Harbor. South Dakota was routed to
Ulithi and, upon her arrival, was attached to TG 38.3; one of four task
groups of formed Task Force 38, the Fast Carrier Task Force. The task
force sortied on 6 October and, four days later, launched air attacks
against Okinawa. On the 12th and 13th, attacks were flown against
shipping and installations in Formosa. Three of the groups, including
South Dakota's, retired and operated east of the Phillippine Islands
until 24 December. During the operation, carriers of the group flew
strikes against targets on Manila and Luzon to support the landings on
Mindoro. From 30 December 1944 through 26 January 1945, the fast carriers
alternated strikes between Formosa on 3, 4, 9, 15, and 21 January; Luzon
on the 6th and 7th; Cape San Jacques and Camranh Bay on the 12th; Hong
Kong and Hainan on the 16th; and against Okinawa on 22 January.
South Dakota operated with the fast carriers in their strikes against
the Tokyo area on 17 February and against Iwo Jima on the 19th and 20th
in support of amphibious landings there. Tokyo again was the target on
the 25th, and Okinawa's turn came on 1 March. After rearming at
Ulithi, the task groups sailed toward Japan again and pounded targets in
the Kobe, Kure, and Kyushu areas on 18 and 19 March. They launched
strikes against Okinawa on the 23d; and, on the 24th, the battleship
joined a bombardment group which shelled southeastern Okinawa. She
rejoined her task group which, after bombing Okinawa, struck enemy
airfields in southern Kyushu on the 29th and then, from 31 March through
3 April, again pounded targets on Okinawa. On 7 April, all fast
carriers launched attacks against an enemy fleet off southwest Kyushu,
sinking Japan's fast super battleship Yamato, two cruisers, and four
destroyers.
South Dakota once more participated in shore bombardment on southeastern
Okinawa on 19 April in support of an all-out offensive by the XXIV Army
Corps against enemy lines.
While rearming from Wrangell (AE-12) on 6 May, a tank of 16-inch high
capacity powder exploded, causing a fire and exploding four more tanks.
Turret No. 2 magazines were flooded and the fires put out. The ship lost
three men killed instantly; eight more died of injuries; and 24 others
suffered non-fatal wounds. The ship retired to Guam from 11 to 29 May
when she sailed for Leyte, arriving on 1 June.
South Dakota departed Leyte on 1 July, supporting the carriers of TG 38.1
which attacked the Tokyo area on the 10th. On 14 July, as part of a
bombardment group, she participated in the shelling of the Kamaishi Steel
Works, Kamaishi, Honshu, Japan. This was the first gunfire attack on the
Japanese home islands by heavy warships. From 15 through 28 March, South
Dakota again supported the carriers as they launched strikes against
Honshu and Hokkaido. On the night of 29 and 30 July, she participated in
the shore bombardment of Hamamatsu, Honshu, and, on the 9th, again shelled
Kamaishi. The battleship supported the carriers in strikes against
northern Honshu on 10 August, and in the Tokyo area on the 13th and
15th. The latter was the last strike of the war for, later that day,
Japan capitulated.
She anchored in Sagami Wan, Honshu, on 27 August and entered Tokyo Bay
on the 29th. South Dakota steamed out of Tokyo Bay on 20 September and
proceeded, via Okinawa and Pearl Harbor, to the west coast of the United
States. On 29 October, she moved down the coast from San Francisco to
San Pedro. She sailed from the west coast on 3 January 1946 for
Philadelphia and a yard overhaul. In Jun% she was attached to the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet. On 31 January 1947, she was placed in reserve, out
of commission. The battleship remained in that status until she was
struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1962. On 25 October 1962, she was
sold to Lipsett Division, Luria Bros, and Co., Inc., for scrap.
South Dakota received 13 battle stars for World War II service.
Built at Newport News SB Co.,
Newport News, Va.
Authorized 03/27/34, Keel Laid 11/20/39,
Commissioned
04/30/42.
Capt. A. S. Merrill commanding
INDIANA (BB-58) was launched by
Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry
Dock Co., Newport News, Va., 21 November
1941; sponsored by
Mrs. Lewis C. Robbins, daughter of Indiana governor Henry
F.
Schricker; and commissioned 30 April 1942, Captain A. A. Merrill in
command
SOUTH DAKOTA CLASS
BB-58
Length Overall:
680'
Extreme Beam: 108'2"
Displacement: Tons: 35,000 Mean
Draft: 29'3"
Complement: Off.: 115 Enl.:
1,678
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/45 cal
Secondary:
(20) 5"/38 cal
AA: (6) quad 40mm / (16) 20mm
Catapults: (2) aft
Armor: Max. Thickness:
18"
Speed: 27 kts.
Designed Shaft Horsepower:
130,000
Engines: Mfr.: Wstgh.
Type: Turbine
Boilers:
Mfr.: FW No.: 8
Drive: TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons:
7,340
Indiana BB-58
Indiana (BB-58) was launched by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry
Dock Co., Newport News, Va., 21 November 1941; sponsored by Mrs.
Lewis C. Bobbins, daughter of Indiana governor Henry F.
Schricker; and commissioned 30 April 1942, Captain A. S. Merrill
in command.
Following shakedown in Casco Bay, Maine, the new battleship
steamed through the Panama Canal to bolster U.S. fleet units in
the Pacific during the critical early months of World War II.
She Joined Hear Admiral Lee's carrier screening force 28
November 1942..For the next 11 months, Indiana helped protect
carriers Enterprise and Saratoga, then supporting American
advances in the Solomons.
Indiana steamed to Pearl Harbor 21 October 1943, and departed 11
November with the support forces designated for the invasion of
the Gilbert Islands. The battleship protected the carriers which
supported the Marines during the bloody fight for Tarawa. Then
late in January 1944 she bombarded Kwajalein for 8 days prior to
the Marshall Island landings, 1 February. While maneuvering to
refuel destroyers that night, Indiana collided with battleship
Washington. Temporary repairs to her starboard side were made
at Majuro, and she arrived Pearl Harbor 13 February for
additional work.
Indiana joined famed Task Force 58 for the Truk raid 29-30
April and bombarded Ponape Island 1 May. In June the
battlewagon proceeded to the Marianas with a giant American
fleet for the invasion of that strategic group. She bombarded
Saipan 13-14 June and brought down several enemy aircraft while
fighting off concentrated air attacks June 15. As the Japanese
fleet closed the Marianas for a decisive naval battle, Indiana
steamed out to meet them as part of Rear Admiral Lee's battle
line. The great fleets approached each other 19 June for the
biggest carrier engagement of the war, and as four large air
raids hit the American formations, Indiana, aided by other
ships in the screens and carrier planes, downed hundreds of the
attackers. With able assistance from submarines, Mitscher sank
two Japanese carriers in addition to inflicting fatal losses
on the enemy naval air arm during "The Great Marianas Turkey
Shoot." Indiana shot down several planes, and sustained only
two near torpedo misses. The issue decided, the battleship
resumed her screening duties- around the carriers, and stayed
at sea 64 days in daily support of the Marianas invasion.
In August the battleship began operations as a unit of Task
Group 38.3, bombarding the Palaus, and later the Philippines.
She screened strikes on enemy shore installations 12-30
September 1944, helping to prepare for the coming invasion of
Leyte. Indiana departed for Bremerton, Wash., arriving 23
October.
Reaching Pearl Harbor 12 December, the battleship immediately
began underway training preparedness. She sailed 10 January
1945 and with a fleet of battleships and cruisers bombarded Iwo
Jima 24 January. Indiana then joined Task Force 58 at Ulithi
and sortied 10 February for the invasion of that strategic
island, next step on the island road to Japan. She supported
the carriers during a raid on Tokyo 17 February and again on 25
February, screening strikes on Iwo Jima in the interval.
Indiana, arrived Ulithi for replenishment 5 March 1945, having
just supported a strike on the next target- Okinawa.
Indiana steamed out of Ulithi 14 March for the massive Okinawa
invasion, and until June 1945 steamed in support of carrier
operations against Japan and Okinawa. These devastating strikes
did much to aid the ground campaign and lower Japanese morale
at home. During this period she often repelled enemy suicide
plane attacks as the Japanese tried desperately but vainly to
stem the mounting tide of defeat. In early June she rode out
a terrific typhoon, and sailed to San Pedro Bay, Philippines, 13
June.
As a member of Task Group 38.1 Indiana operated from 1 July to
15 August supporting air strikes against Japan and bombarded
coastal targets with her big guns. The veteran battleship
arrived Tokyo Bay 5 September and 9 days later sailed for San
Francisco, where she arrived 29 September 1945. She was placed
in reserve in commission at Bremerton 11 September 1946. She
decommissioned 11 September 1947, and entered the Pacific
Reserve Fleet. She was stricken from the Navy List 1 June 1962
and sold for scrap. Indiana's mast is erected at the
University of Indiana at Bloomington; her anchor rests at
Fort Wayne; and other relics are on display in various
museums and schools throughout the State.
Indiana received nine battle stars for World War II service.
Built at Bethlehem
Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.
Authorized 03/27/34, Keel Laid
07/20/39,
Commissioned 05/12/42. Capt. F. E. M. Whiting
commanding
MASSACHUSETTS, (BB-59) was laid down 20 July 1939 by Bethlehem
Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; launched 23 September 1941; sponsored
by Mrs.
Charles Francis Adams; and commissioned 12 May 1942 at
Boston, Capt. Francis
E. M. Whiting in command.
SOUTH DAKOTA
CLASS
BB-59
Length Overall: 680'10"
Extreme
Beam: 108'2"
Displacement: Tons: 35,000 Mean Draft:
29'3"
Complement: Off.: 115 Enl.: 1,678
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/45 cal
Secondary: (20) 5"/38
cal
AA: (6) quad 40mm / (35) 20mm
Catapults: (2)
aft
Armor: Max. Thickness: 18"
Speed: 27 kts.
Designed
Shaft Horsepower: 130,000
Engines: Mfr.: GE
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive:
TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 6950
Massachusetts BB-59
Massachusetts (BB?59) was laid down 20 July 1939 by Bethlehem Steel Co.,
Quincy, Mass.; launched 23 September 1941; sponsored by Mrs. Charles
Francis Adams; and commissioned 12 May 1942 at Boston, Capt. Francis E. M.
Whiting in command.
After shakedown, Massachusetts departed Casco Bay, Maine, 24 October 1942
and 4 days later made rendezvous with the Western Naval Task Force for the
invasion of north Africa, serving as flagship for Adm. H. Kent Hewitt.
While steaming off Casablanca 8 November, she came under fire from French
battleship Jean Bart's 15?inch guns. She returned fire at 0740, firing the
first 16?inch shells fired by the U.S. against the European Axis Powers.
Within a few minutes she silenced Jean Bart's main battery; then she
turned her guns on French destroyers which had joined the attack, sinking
two of them. She also shelled shore batteries and blew up an ammunition
dump. After a cease?fire had been arranged with the French, she headed for
the United States 12 November, and prepared for Pacific duty.
Massachusetts arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia, 4 March 1943. For the next
months she operated in the South Pacific, protecting convoy lanes and
supporting operations in the Solomons. Between 19 November and 21
November, she sailed with a carrier group striking Makin, Tarawa, and
Abemama in the Gilberts; on 8 December she shelled Japanese positions on
Nauru; and on 29 January 1944 she guarded carriers striking Tarawa in the
Gilberts.
The Navy now drove steadily across the Pacific. On 30 January
Massachusetts bombarded Kwajalein, and she covered the landings there 1
February. With a carrier group she struck against the Japanese stronghold
at Truk 17 February. That raid not only inflicted heavy damage on Japanese
aircraft and naval forces, but also proved to be a stunning blow to enemy
morale. On 21 to 22 February, Massachusetts helped fight off a heavy air
attack on her task group while it made raids on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.
She took part in the attack on the Carolines in late March and
participated in the invasion at Hollandia 22 April which landed 60,000
troops on the island. Retiring from Hollandia, her task force staged
another attack on Truk.
Massachusetts shelled Ponape Island 1 May, her last mission before sailing
to Puget Sound to overhaul and reline her gun barrels, now well?worn. On 1
August she left Pearl Harbor to resume operations in the Pacific war zone.
She departed the Marshall Islands 6 October, sailing to support the
landings in Leyte Gulf. In an effort to block Japanese air attacks in the
Leyte conflict, she participated in a fleet strike against Okinawa 10
October. Between 12 and 14 October, she protected forces hitting Formosa.
While part of TG 38.3 she took part in the Battle for Leyte Gulf 22 to 27
October, during which planes from her group sank four Japanese carriers
off Cape Engano.
Stopping briefly at Ulithi, Massachusetts returned to the Philippines as
part of a task force which struck Manila 14 December while supporting the
invasion of Mindoro. Massachusetts sailed into a howling typhoon 17
December, with winds estimated at 120 knots. Three destroyers sank at the
height of the typhoon's fury. Between 30 December and 23 January 1945, she
sailed as part of TF 38, which struck Formosa and supported the landing at
Lingayen. During that time she turned into the South China Sea, her task
force destroying shipping from Saigon to Hong Kong, concluding operations
with air strikes on Formosa and Okinawa.
From 10 February to 3 March, with the 5th Fleet, Massachusetts guarded
carriers during raids on Honshu. Her group also struck Iwo Jima by air for
the invasion of that island. On 17 March, the carriers launched strikes
against Kyushu while Massachusetts fired in repelling enemy attacks,
splashing several planes. Seven days later she bombarded Okinawa. She
spent most of April fighting off air attacks, while engaged in the
operations at Okinawa, returning to the area in June, when she passed
through the eye of a typhoon with 100?knot winds 5 June. She bombarded
Minami Daito Jima in the Ryukyus 10 June.
Massachusetts sailed 1 July from Leyte Gulf to join the 3d Fleet's final
offensive against Japan. After guarding carriers launching strikes against
Tokyo, she shelled Kamaishi, Honshu, 14 July, thus hitting Japan's second
largest iron and steel center. Two weeks later she bombarded the
industrial complex at Hamamatsu, returning to blast Kamaishi 9 August. It
was here that Massachusetts fired what was probably the last 16?inch shell
fired in combat in World War II.
Victory won, the fighting battleship sailed for Puget Sound and overhaul 1
September. She left there 28 January 1946 for operations off the
California coast, until leaving San Francisco for Hampton Roads, arriving
22 April. She decommissioned 27 March 1947 to enter the Atlantic Reserve
Fleet at Norfolk, and was struck from the Naval Register 1 June 1962.
"Big Mamie," as she was affectionately known, was saved from the scrap
pile when she was transferred to the Massachusetts Memorial Committee 8
June 1965. She was enshrined at Fall River, Mass., 14 August 1965, as the
Bay State's memorial to those who gave their lives in World War II.
Massachusetts received 11 battle stars for World War II service.
Built at Norfolk Navy Yard,
Portsmouth, Va.
Authorized 03/27/34, Keel Laid 02/01/40,
Commissioned
08/16/42. Capt. G. B. Wilson commanding
The third ALABAMA (BB-60) was laid
down on 1 February 1940 by
the Norfolk (Va.) Navy Yard; launched on 16
February 1942;
sponsored by Mrs. Lister Hill, wife of the senior Senator
from ALABAMA;
and commissioned on 16 August 1942, Capt. George B. Wilson in
command.
SOUTH DAKOTA CLASS
BB-60
Length Overall:
680'
Extreme Beam: 108'2"
Displacement: Tons: 35,000
Mean Draft: 29'3"
Complement: Off.: 115 Enl.:
1,678
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/45 cal
Secondary:
(20) 5"/38 cal
AA: (6) quad 40mm / (22) 20mm
Catapults: (2)
aft
Armor: Max. Thickness: 18"
Speed: 27 kts.
Designed
Shaft Horsepower: 130,000
Engines: Mfr.: Wstgh.
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: FW No.: 8
Drive:
TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons:7,340
Alabama BB-60
The third Alabama (BB-60) was laid down on 1 February 1940 by the Norfolk
(Virginia.) Navy Yard; launched on 16 February 1942; sponsored by Mrs.
Lister Hill, wife of the senior Senator from Alabama; and commissioned on
16 August 1942, Capt. George B. Wilson in command.
After fitting out, Alabama commenced her shakedown cruise in Chesapeake
Bay on Armistice Day (11 November) 1942. As the year 1943 began, the new
battleship headed north to conduct operational training out of Casco Bay,
Maine. She returned to Chesapeake Bay on 11 January 1943 to carry out the
last week of shakedown training. Following a period of availability and
logistics support at Norfolk, Alabama was assigned to Task Group (TG)
22.2, and returned to Casco Bay for tactical maneuvers on 13 February
1943.
With the movement of substantial British strength toward the Mediterranean
theater, to prepare for the invasion of Sicily, the Royal Navy lacked the
heavy ships necessary to cover the northern convoy routes. The British
appeal for help on those lines soon led to the temporary assignment of
Alabama and South Dakota (BB-57) to the Home Fleet.
On 2 April 1943, Alabama-as part of Task Force (TF) 22- sailed for the
Orkney Islands with her sister ship and a screen of five destroyers.
Proceeding via Little Placentia Sound, Argentia, Newfoundland, the
battleship reached Scapa Flow on 19 May 1943, reporting for duty with TF 61
and becoming a unit of the British Home Fleet. She soon embarked on a period
of intensive operational training to coordinate joint operations.
Early in June, Alabama and her sister ship, along with British Home Fleet
units, covered the reinforcement of the garrison on the island of
Spitzbergen, which lay on the northern flank of the convoy route to Russia,
in an operation that took the ship across the Arctic Circle. Soon after her
return to Scapa Flow, she was inspected by Admiral Harold R. Stark,
Commander, United States Naval Forces, Europe.
Shortly thereafter, in July, Alabama participated in Operation "Governor,"
a diversion aimed toward southern Norway, to draw German attention away from
the real Allied thrust, toward Sicily. It had also been devised to attempt
to lure out the German battleship Tirpitz, the sister ship of the famed,
but short lived, Bismarck, but the Germans did not rise to the challenge,
and the enemy battleship remained in her Norwegian lair.
Alabama was detached from the British Home Fleet on 1 August 1943, and, in
company with South Dakota and screening destroyers, sailed for Norfolk,
arriving there on 9 August. For the next ten days, Alabama underwent a
period of overhaul and repairs. This work completed, the battleship
departed Norfolk on 20 August 1943 for the Pacific. Transiting the Panama
Canal five days later, she dropped anchor in Havannah Harbor, at Efate, in
the New Hebrides, on 14 September.
Following a month and a half of exercises and training, with fast carrier
task groups, the battleship moved to Fiji on 7 November. Alabama sailed on
11 November to take part in Operation "Galvanic", the assault on the
Japanese-held Gilbert Islands. She screened the fast carriers as they
launched attacks on Jaluit and Mille atolls, Marshall Islands, to neutralize
Japanese airfields located there. Alabama supported landings on Tarawa on
20 November and later took part in the securing of Betio and Makin. On the
night of 26 November, Alabama twice opened fire to drive off enemy aircraft
that approached her formation.
On 8 December 1943, Alabama, along with five other fast battleships, carried
out the first Pacific gunfire strike conducted by that type of warship.
Alabama's guns hurled 535 rounds into enemy strong points, as she and her
sister ships bombarded Nauru Island, an enemy phosphate-producing center,
causing severe damage to shore installations there. She also took the
destroyer Boyd (DD-544), alongside after that ship had received a direct hit
from a Japanese shore battery on Nauru, and brought three injured men on
board for treatment.
She then escorted the carriers Blinker Hill (CV-17) and Monterey (CVL-26)
back to Efate, arriving on 12 December. Alabama departed the New Hebrides
for Pearl Harbor on 5 January 1944, arrived on the 12th, and underwent a
brief drydocking at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. After replacement of her
port outboard propeller, and routine maintenance, Alabama was again
underway to return to action in the Pacific.
Alabama reached Funafuti, Ellice Islands, on 21 January 1944, and there
rejoined the fleet. Assigned to Task Group (TG) 58.2, which was formed
around Essex (CV-9), Alabama left the Ellice Islands on 25 January to help
carry out Operation "Flintlock," the invasion of the Marshall Islands.
Alabama, along with sister ship South Dakota and the fast battleship North
Carolina (BB-55), bombarded Roi on 29 January and Namur on 30 January; she
hurled 330 rounds of 16-inch and 1,562 of 5-inch toward Japanese targets,
destroying planes, airfield facilities, blockhouses, buildings, and gun
emplacements. Over the following days of the campaign, Alabama patrolled
the area north of Kwajalein Atoll. On 12 February 1944, Alabama sortied
with the Bunker Hill task group to launch attacks on Japanese
installations, aircraft and shipping at Truk. Those raids, launched on 16 and
17 February, caused heavy damage to enemy shipping concentrated at that
island base.
Leaving Truk, Alabama began steaming toward the Marianas to assist in
strikes on Tinian, Saipan and Guam. During this action, while repelling
enemy air attacks on 21 February 1944, 5-inch mount no. 9 accidentally fired
into mount no. 5. Five men died, and 11 were wounded in the mishap.
After the strikes were completed on 22 February, Alabama conducted a sweep
looking for crippled enemy ships southeast of Saipan, and eventually
returned to Majuro on 26 February 1944. There she served temporarily as
flagship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, Commander, TF 58, from 3 to 8
March.
Alabama's next mission was to screen the fast carriers as they hurled air
strikes against Japanese positions on Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai,
Caroline Islands. She steamed from Majuro on 22 March 1944 with TF 58 in the
screen of Yorktown (CV-10). On the night of 29 March, about six enemy planes
approached TG 58.3, in which Alabama was operating, and four broke off to
attack ships in the vicinity of the battleship. Alabama downed one
unassisted, and helped in the destruction of another.
On 30 March, planes from TF 58 began bombing Japanese airfields, shipping,
fleet servicing facilities, and other installations on the islands of
Palau, Yap, Ulithi and Woleai. During that day, Alabama again provided
antiaircraft fire whenever enemy planes appeared. At 2045 on the 30th, a
single plane approached TG 58.3, but Alabama and other ships drove it off
before it could cause any damage.
The battleship returned briefly to Majuro, before she sailed on 13 April
with TF 58, this time in the screen of Enterprise (CV-6). In the next three
weeks, TF 58 hit enemy targets on Hollandia, Wakde, Sawar, and Sarmi along
the New Guinea coast; covered Army landings at Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay, and
Humboldt Bay; and conducted further strikes on Truk.
As part of the preliminaries to the invasion of the Marianas, Alabama, in
company with five other fast battleships, shelled the large island of
Ponape, in the Carolines, the site of a Japanese airfield and seaplane
base. As Alabama's Capt. Fred T. Kirtland subsequently noted, the
bombardment, of 70 minutes' duration, was conducted in a "leisurely manner."
Alabama then returned to Majuro on 4 May 1944 to prepare for the invasion of
the Marianas.
After a month spent in exercises and refitting, Alabama again got under way
with TF 58 to participate in Operation "Forager." On 12 June, Alabama
screened the carriers striking Saipan. On 13 June, Alabama took part in a
six-hour preinvasion bombardment of the west coast of Saipan, to soften the
defenses and cover the initial minesweeping operations. Her spotting planes
reported that her salvoes had caused great destruction and fires in Garapan
town. Though the shelling appeared successful, it proved a failure due to
the lack of specialized training and experience required for successful
shore bombardment. Strikes continued as troops invaded Saipan on 15 June.
On 19 June, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Alabama operated with
TG 58.7, and provided the first warning to TF 58 of the incoming Japanese
air strike when she reported having detected a large bogie "bearing 268º
true, distance 141 miles, angels 24 or greater, closing…" on her air
search radar at 1006. In response to Commander Task Force 58 (Vice Admiral
Marc A. Mitscher's immediate request for confirmation: battleship Iowa
(BB-61) substantiated Alabama's report.
Beginning at 1046 and continuing over the course of the next five hours,
the Japanese hurled repeated strikes against Vice Admiral Mitscher's fast
carrier force, seven raids in all. Three of those involved TG 58.7, and
two of which saw Alabama opening fire.
In the first instance, only two planes managed to penetrate the formation
to attack South Dakota, but her sister ship suffered one bomb hit that
killed one officer and 20 enlisted men and wounded an additional 23. An
hour later a second wave, composed largely of torpedo bombers, bore in,
but Alabama's barrage discouraged two planes from attacking the already
bloodied South Dakota. The intense concentration paid to the incoming
torpedo planes left one dive bomber nearly undetected, and it managed to
drop its load near Alabama; the two small bombs were near-misses, and
caused no damage.
What U.S. Navy pilots came to call the "Marianas Turkey Shoot" severely
depleted Japanese naval air power, and Alabama had had a hand in it, as
Commander TG 58.7 (Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee) recognized in his TBS (low-
frequency voice radio) message at 1247: "In the matter of reporting
initial bogies, to IOWA well done, to ALABAMA very well done." Alabama's
"early warning" had allowed the carriers to scramble their fighters and
intercept the in-bound enemy "at a considerable distance" from TF 58 than
would otherwise have been possible.
Alabama continued patrolling areas around the Marianas to protect the
American landing forces on Saipan, screening the fast carriers as they
struck enemy shipping, aircraft, and shore installations on Guam, Tinian,
Rota, and Saipan. She then retired to the Marshalls for upkeep.
Alabama as flagship for Rear Admiral E. W. Hanson, Commander, Battleship
Division 9-left Eniwetok on 14 July 1944, sailing with the task group
formed around Bunker Hill. She screened the fast carriers as they
conducted preinvasion attacks and support of the landings on the island of
Guam on 21 July. She returned briefly to Eniwetok on 11 August. On 30
August she got underway in the screen of Essex_ to carry out Operation
"Stalemate II," the seizure of Palau, Ulithi, and Yap. On 6 through 8
September, the forces launched strikes on the Carolines.
Alabama departed the Carolines to sail to the Philippines and provided
cover for the carriers striking the islands of Cebu, Leyte, Bohol, and
Negros from 12 to 14 September. The carriers launched strikes on snipping
and installations in the Manila Bay area on 21 and 22 September, and in the
central Philippines area on 24 September. Alabama retired briefly to
Saipan on 28 September, then proceeded to Ulithi on 1 October 1944.
On 6 October 1944, Alabama sailed with TF 38 to support the liberation of
the Philippines. Again operating as part of a fast carrier task group,
Alabama protected the flattops while they launched strikes on Japanese
facilities at Okinawa, in the Pescadores, and Formosa.
Detached from the Formosa area on 14 October to sail toward Luzon, the fast
battleship again used her antiaircraft batteries in support of the
carriers as enemy aircraft attempted to attack the formation. Alabama's
gunners claimed three enemy aircraft shot down and a fourth damaged. By 15
October, Alabama was supporting landing operations on Leyte. She then
screened the carriers as they conducted air strikes on Cebu, Negros,
Panay, northern Mindanao, and Leyte on 21 October 1944.
Alabama, as part of the Enterprise screen, supported air operations
against the Japanese Southern Force in the area off Surigao Strait, then
moved north to strike the powerful Japanese Central Force heading for San
Bernardino Strait. After receiving reports of a third Japanese force, the
battleship served in the screen of the fast carrier task force as it sped
to Cape Engano. On 24 October, although American air strikes destroyed four
Japanese carriers in the Battle off Cape Engano, the Japanese Central Force
under Admiral Kurita had transited San Bernardino Strait and emerged off
the coast of Samar, where it fell upon a task group of American escort
carriers and their destroyer and destroyer escort screen. Alabama reversed
her course and headed for Samar to assist the greatly outnumbered American
forces, but the Japanese had retreated by the time she reached the scene.
She then joined the protective screen for the Essex task group to hit enemy
forces in the central Philippines before retiring to Ulithi on 30 October
1944 for replenishment.
Underway again on 3 November 1944, Alabama screened the fast carriers as
they carried out sustained strikes against Japanese airfields, and
installations on Luzon to prepare for a landing on Mindoro Island. She spent
the next few weeks engaged in operating against the Visayas and Luzon before
retiring to Ulithi on 24 November.
The first half of December 1944 found Alabama engaged in various training
exercises and maintenance routines. She left Ulithi on 10 December, and
reached the launching point for air strikes on Luzon on 14 December, as the
fast carrier task forces launched aircraft to carry out preliminary strikes
on airfields on Luzon that could threaten the landings slated to take place
on Mindoro. From 14 to 16 December, a veritable umbrella of carrier
aircraft covered the Luzon fields, preventing any enemy planes from getting
airborne to challenge the Mindoro bound convoys. Having completed her
mission, she left the area to refuel on 17 December; but, as she reached
the fueling rendezvous, began encountering heavy weather. By daybreak on
the 18th, rough seas and harrowing conditions rendered a fueling at sea
impossible; 50 knot winds caused ships to roll heavily. Alabama
experienced rolls of 30 degrees, had both her Vought "Kingfisher"
floatplanes so badly damaged that they were of no further value, and
received minor damage to her structure. At one point in the typhoon,
Alabama, recorded wind gusts up to 83 knots. Three destroyers, Hull (DD-
350), Mcmagkan (DD-354), and Spence (DD-512), were lost to the typhoon. By
19 December, the storm had run its course; and Alabama, arrived back at
Ulithi on 24 December. After pausing there briefly, Alabama continued on to
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, for overhaul.
The battleship entered drydock on 18 January 1945, and remained there until
25 February. Work continued until 17 March, when Alabama got underway for
standardization trials and refresher training along the southern
California coast. She got underway for Pearl Harbor on 4 April, arrived
there on 10 April, and held a week of training exercises. She then continued
on to Ulithi and moored there on 28 April 1945.
Alabama departed Ulithi with TF 58 on 9 May 1945, bound for the Ryukyus, to
support forces which had landed on Okinawa on 1 April 1945, and to protect
the fast carriers as they launched air strikes on installations in the
Ryukyus and on Kyushu. On 14 May, several Japanese planes penetrated the
combat air patrol to get at the carriers; one crashed Vice Admiral
Mitscher's flagship. Alabama's guns splashed two, and assisted in
splashing two more.
Subsequently, Alabama rode out a typhoon on 4 and 5 June, suffering only
superficial damage while the nearby heavy cruiser Pittsburgh (CA-70) lost
her bow. Alabama subsequently bombarded the Japanese island of Minami Daito
Shima, with other fast battleships, on 10 June 1945 and then headed for
Leyte Gulf later in June to prepare to strike at the heart of Japan with
the 3d Fleet.
On 1 July 1945, Alabama and other 3d Fleet units got underway for the
Japanese home islands. Throughout the month of July 1945, Alabama carried
out strikes on targets in industrial areas of Tokyo and other points on
Honshu, Hokkaido, and Kyushu; on the night of 17 and 18 July, Alabama, and
other fast battleships in the task group, carried put the first night
bombardment of six major industrial plants in the Hitachi-Mito area of
Honshu, about eight miles northeast of Tokyo. On board Alabama to observe the
operation was retired Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, the famed polar
explorer.
On 9 August, Alabama transferred a medical party to the destroyer Ault
(DD-698), for further transfer to the destroyer Borie (DD-704). The latter
had been kamikazied on that date and required prompt medical aid on her
distant picket station.
The end of the war found Alabama still at sea, operating off the southern
coast of Honshu. On 15 August 1945, she received word of the Japanese
capitulation. During the initial occupation of the Yokosuka-Tokyo area,
Alabama transferred detachments of marines and bluejackets for temporary
duty ashore; her bluejackets were among the first from the fleet to land.
She also served in the screen of the carriers as they conducted
reconnaissance flights to locate prisoner-of-war camps.
Alabama entered Tokyo Bay on 5 September to receive men who had served with
the occupation forces, and then departed Japanese waters on 20 September.
At Okinawa, she embarked 700 sailors-principally members of Navy
construction battalions (or "Seabees")-for her part in the "Magic Carpet"
operations. She reached San Francisco at mid-day on 15 October, and on Navy
Day (27 October 1945) hosted 9,000 visitors. She then shifted to San Pedro,
Calif., on 29 October. Alabama remained at San Pedro through 27 February
1946, when she left for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for inactivation
overhaul. Alabama was decommissioned on 9 January 1947, at the Naval
Station, Seattle, and was assigned to the Bremerton Group, United States
Pacific Reserve Fleet. She remained there until struck from the Naval
Vessel Register on 1 June 1962.
Citizens of the state of Alabama had formed the "USS Alabama Battleship
Commission" to raise funds for the preservation of Alabama as a memorial to
the men and women who served in World War II. The ship was awarded to that
state on 16 June 1964, and was formally turned over on 7 July 1964 in
ceremonies at Seattle. Alabama was then towed to her permanent berth at
Mobile, Ala., arriving in Mobile Bay on 14 September 1964.
Alabama received nine battle stars for her World War II service.
Built at New York Navy Yard,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Authorized 05/17/38, Keel Laid 06/27/40,
Commissioned
02/22/43. Capt. J. L. McCrea commanding
The third IOWA (BB-61) was laid down
at New York Navy Yard, 27
June 1940; launched 27 August 1942; sponsored by
Mrs. Henry A.
Wallace, wife of Vice President Wallace, and commissioned
22
February 1943, Capt. John L. McCrea in command.
IOWA CLASS
BB-61
Length Overall: 887'3"
Extreme Beam: 108'2"
Displacement: Tons: 45,000 Mean Draft:
28'11"
Complement: Off.: 117 Enl.:
1,804
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/50
Secondary: (20)
5"/38 cal
AA: (15) quad 40mm / (60) 20mm
Catapults: (2)
aft
Armor: Max. Thickness: 17"
Speed: 33 kts.
Designed
Shaft Horsepower: 212,000
Engines: Mfr.: GE
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive:
TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 7,073
Iowa BB-61
The third Iowa (BB-61) was laid down at New York. Navy Yard, 27 June 1940;
launched 27 August 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Henry A. Wallace, wife of Vice
President Wallace, and commissioned 22 February 1943, Capt. John L. McCrea
in command.
On 24 February, Iowa put to sea for shakedown in Chesapeake Bay and along
the Atlantic coast. She got underway, 27 August for Argentia, Newfoundland
to neutralize the threat of German Battleship Tirpitz which was reportedly
operating in Norwegian waters.
In the fall, Iowa carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Casablanca,
French Morocco on the first leg of his journey to the Teheran Conference
in November. After the conference she returned the President to the
United States.
As Flagship of Battleship Division 7, Iowa departed the United States 2
January 1944 for the Pacific Theatre and her combat debut in the campaign
for the Marshalls. From 29 January to 3 February, she supported carrier
air strikes made by Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman's task group
against Kwajalein and Eniwetok Atolls in the Marshall Islands. Her next
assignment was to support air strikes against the Japanese Naval base at
Truk, Caroline Islands. Iowa, in company with other ships was detached
from the support group 16 February, 1944 to conduct an anti-shipping sweep
around Truk to destroy enemy naval vessels escaping to the north. On 21
February, she was underway with Fast Carrier Task Force 58 while it
conducted the first strikes against Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam in
the Marianas.
On 18 March, Iowa, flying the flag of Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee, Commander
Battleships, Pacific, joined in the bombardment of Mili Atoll in the
Marshall Islands. Although struck by two Japanese 4.7" projectiles during
the action, I own suffered negligible damage. She then rejoined Task Force
58, 30 March, and supported air strikes against the Palau Islands and
Woleai of the Carolines which continued for several days.
From 22 to 28 April 1944, Iowa supported air raids on Hollandia, Aitape,
and Wakde Islands to support Army forces on Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay, and
Humboldt Bay in New Guinea. She then joined the Task Force's second strike
on Truk, 29-30 April, and bombarded Japanese facilities on Ponape in the
Carolines, 1 May.
In the opening phases of the Marianas campaign, Iowa protected the flattops
during air strikes on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Rota, and
Pagan, 12 June. Iowa was then detached to bombard enemy installations on
Saipan and Tinian, 13-14 June. On 19 June, in an engagement known as the
Battle of the Philippine Sea, Iowa, as part of the battle line of Fast
Carrier Task Force 58, helped repel four massive air raids launched by the
Japanese Middle Fleet. This resulted in the almost complete destruction of
Japanese carrier-based aircraft. Iowa then joined in the pursuit of the
fleeing enemy Fleet, shooting down one torpedo plane and assisting in
splashing another.
Throughout July, Iowa remained off the Marianas supporting air strikes on
the Palaus and landings on Guam. After a month's rest, Iowa sortied from
Eniwetok as part of the 3d Fleet, and helped support the landings on
Peleliu, 17 September. She then protected the carriers during air strikes
against the Central Philippines to neutralize enemy air power for the long
awaited invasion of the Philippines. On 10 October, Iowa arrived off
Okinawa for a series of air strikes on the Ryukyus and Formosa. She then
supported air strikes against Luzon, 18 October and continued this vital
duty during General MacArthur's landing on Leyte 20 October.
In a last ditch attempt to halt the United States campaign to recapture
the Philippines, the Japanese Navy struck back with a three-pronged attack
aimed at the destruction of American amphibious forces in Leyte Gulf. Iowa
accompanied TF-38 during attacks against the Japanese Central Force as it
steamed through the Sibuyan Sea toward San Bernardino Strait The reported
results of these attacks and the apparent retreat of the Japanese Central
Force led Admiral Halsey to believe that this force had been ruined as
an effective fighting group. Iowa, with Task Force 38, steamed after the
Japanese Northern Force off Cape Engano, Luzon. On 25 October 1944, when
the ships of the Northern Force were almost within range of Iowa's guns,
word arrived that the Japanese Central Force was attacking a group of
American escort carriers off Samar. This threat to the American beachheads
forced her to reverse course and steam to support the vulnerable "baby
carriers." However, the valiant fight put up by the escort carriers and
their screen had already caused the Japaneses to retire and Iowa was
denied a surface action. Following the Battle for Leyte Gulf, Iowa
remained in the waters off the Philippines screening carriers during
strikes against Luzon and Formosa. She sailed for the West Coast late in
December 1944.
Iowa arrived San Francisco, 15 January 1945, for overhaul. She sailed 19
March 1945 for Okinawa, arriving 15 April 1945. Commencing 24 April 1945,
Iowa supported carrier operations which assured American troops vital air
superiority during their struggle for that bitterly contested island. She
then supported air strikes off southern Kyushu from 25 May to 13 June
1945. Iowa participated in strikes on the Japanese homeland 14-15 July
and bombarded Muroran, Hokkaido, destroying steel mills and other targets.
The city of Hitachi on Honshu was given the same treatment on the night
of 17-18 July 1945. Iowa continued to support fast carrier strikes until
the cessation of hostilities, 15 August 1945.
Iowa entered Tokyo Bay with the occupation forces, 29 August 1945. After
serving as Admiral William F. Halsey's flagship for the surrender
ceremony, 2 September 1945, Iowa departed Tokyo Bay 20 September 1945 for
the United States.
Arriving Seattle, Wash., 15 October 1945, Iowa returned to Japanese waters
in January 1946 and became flagship of the 5th Fleet. She continued this
role until she sailed for the United States 25 March 1946. From that time
on, until September 1948, Iowa operated from West Coast ports, on Naval
Reserve and at sea training and drills and maneuvers with the Fleet.
Iowa, decommissioned 24 March 1949. After Communist aggression in Korea
necessitated an expansion of the active fleet, Iowa recommissioned 25
August 1951, Captain William R. Smedberg III in command. She operated off
the West Coast until March 1952, when she sailed for the Far East. On 1
April 1952, Iowa became the flagship of Vice Admiral Robert T. Briscoe,
Commander, 7th Fleet, and departed Yokosuka, Japan to support United
Nations Forces in Korea. From 8 April to 16 October 1952, Iowa was
involved in combat operations off the East Coast of Korea. Her primary
mission was to aid ground troops, by bombarding enemy targets at Songjin,
Hungnam, and Kojo, North Korea. During this time, Admiral Briscoe was
relieved as Commander, 7th Fleet. Vice Admiral J. J. Clark, the new
commander, continued to use Iowa as his flagship until 17 October 1952.
Iowa departed Yokosuka, Japan 19 October 1952 for overhaul at Norfolk and
training operations in the Caribbean Sea.
Iowa embarked midshipmen for at sea training to Northern Europe, July
1953, and immediately after took part in Operation "Mariner," a major
NATO exercise, serving as flagship of Vice Admiral E. T. Woolfidge,
commanding the 2d Fleet. Upon completion of this exercise, until the fall
of 1954, Iowa operated in the Virginia Capes area. In September 1954, she
became the flagship of Rear Admiral R. E. Libby, Commander, Battleship-
Cruiser Force, U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
From January to April 1955, Iowa made an extended cruise to the
Mediterranean as the first battleship regularly assigned to Commander,
6th Fleet. Iowa, departed on a midshipman training cruise 1 June 1955 and
upon her return, she entered Norfolk for a 4-mouth overhaul. Following
refit, Iowa continued intermittent training cruises and operational
exercises, until 4 January 1957 when she departed Norfolk for duty with
the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Upon completion of this deployment,
Iowa embarked midshipmen for a South American training cruise and joined
in the International Naval Review off Hampton Roads, Va., 13 June 1957.
On 3 September 1957, Iowa sailed for Scotland for NATO Operation
"Strikeback." She returned to Norfolk, 28 September 1957 and departed
Hampton Roads for the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, 22 October 1957. She
decommissioned 24 February 1958 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at
Philadelphia, where she remains.
Iowa earned nine battle stars for World War II service and two for Korean
service.
Built at Philadelphia Navy
Yard, Philadelphia, Pa.
Authorized 05/17/38, Keel Laid
09/16/40,
Commissioned 05/23/43. Capt. C. F. Holden commanding
The second
NEW JERSEY (BB-62) was launched 7 December 1942 by
the Philadelphia Naval
Shipyard; sponsored by Mrs. Charles
Edison, wife of Governor Edison of New
Jersey, former Secretary
of the Navy; and commissioned at Philadelphia 23
May 1943,
Captain Carl F. Holden in command.
IOWA
CLASS
BB-62
Length Overall: 887'7"
Extreme Beam:
108'1"
Displacement: Tons: 45,000 Mean Draft:
28'11"
Complement: Off.: 117 Enl.: 1,804
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/50
Secondary: (20) 5"/38
cal
AA: (15) quad 40mm / (60) 20mm
Catapults: (2)
aft
Armor: Max. Thickness: 17"
Speed: 33 kts.
Designed
Shaft Horsepower: 212,000
Engines: Mfr.: Wstgh.
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive: TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 7,251
New Jersey BB-62
The second New Jersey (BB-62) was launched 7 December 1942 by the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard; sponsored by Mrs. Charles Edison, wife of
Governor Edison of New Jersey, former Secretary of the Navy; and
commissioned at Philadelphia 23 May 1943, Captain Carl F. Holden in
command.
New Jersey completed fitting out and trained her initial crew in the
Western Atlantic and Caribbean. On 7 January 1944 she passed through the
Panama Canal war-bound for Funafuti, Ellice Islands. She reported there 22
January for duty with the Fifth Fleet, and three days later rendezvoused
with Task Group 58.2 for the assault on the Marshall Islands. New Jersey
screened the carriers from enemy attack as their aircraft flew strikes
against Kwajalein and Eniwetok 29 January-2 February, softening up the
latter for its invasion and supporting the troops who landed 31 January.
New Jersey began her distinguished career as a flagship 4 February in
Majuro Lagoon when Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, commanding the Fifth
Fleet, broke his flag from her main. Her first action as a flagship was a
bold two-day surface and air strike by her task force against the
supposedly impregnable Japanese fleet base on Truk in the Carolines. This
blow was coordinated with the assault on Kwajalein, and effectively
interdicted Japanese naval retaliation to the conquest of the Marshalls.
On 17 and 18 February, the task force accounted for two Japanese light
cruisers, four destroyers, three auxiliary cruisers, two submarine
tenders, two submarine chasers, an armed trawler, a plane ferry, and 23
other auxiliaries, not including small craft. New Jersey destroyed a
trawler and, with other ships, sank destroyer Maikaze, as well as firing
on an enemy plane which attacked her formation. The task force returned to
the Marshalls 19 February.
Between 17 March and 10 April, New Jersey first sailed with Rear Admiral
Marc A. Mitscher's flagship Lexington (CV-16) for an air and surface
bombardment of Mille, then rejoined Task Group 58.2 for a strike against
shipping in the Palaus, and bombarded Woleai. Upon his return to Majuro,
Admiral Spruance transferred his flag to Indianapolis (CA35).
New Jersey's next war cruise, 13 April-4 May, began and ended at Majuro.
She screened the carrier striking force which gave air support to the
invasion of Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay and Humboldt Bay, New Guinea, 22 April,
then bombed shipping and shore installations at Truk 29-30 April. New
Jersey and her formation splashed two enemy torpedo bombers at Truk. Her
sixteen-inch salvos pounded Ponape 1 May, destroying fuel tanks, badly
damaging the airfield, and demolishing a headquarters building.
After rehearsing in the Marshalls for the invasion of the Marianas, New
Jersey put to sea 6 June in the screening and bombardment group of Admiral
Mitscher's Task Force. On the second day of preinvasion air strikes, 12
June, New Jersey downed an enemy torpedo bomber, and during the next two
days her heavy guns battered Saipan and Tinian, throwing steel against the
beaches the marines would charge 15 June.
The Japanese response to the Marianas operation was an order to its Mobile
Fleet; it must attack and annihilate the American invasion force.
Shadowing American submarines tracked the Japanese fleet into the
Philippine Sea as Admiral Spruance joined his task force with Admiral
Mitscher's to meet the enemy. New Jersey took station in the protective
screen around the carriers on 19 June as American and Japanese pilots
dueled in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. That day and the next were to
pronounce the doom of Japanese naval aviation; in this "Marianas Turkey
Shoot," the Japanese lost some 400 planes. This loss of trained pilots and
aircraft was equaled in disaster by the sinking of three Japanese
carriers by submarines and aircraft, and the damaging of two carriers and
a battleship. The anti-aircraft fire of New Jersey and the other screening
ships proved virtually impenetrable. Only two American ships were damaged,
and those but slightly. In this overwhelming victory but 17 American
planes were lost to combat.
New Jersey's final contribution to the conquest of the Marianas was in
strikes on Guam and the Palaus from which she sailed for Pearl Harbor,
arriving 9 August. Here she broke the flag of Admiral William F. Halsey,
Jr., 24 August, becoming flagship of the Third Fleet. For the eight months
after she sailed from Pearl Harbor 30 August, New Jersey was based at
Ulithi. In this climactic span of the Pacific War, fast carrier task
forces ranged the waters off the Philippines, Okinawa, and Formosa,
striking again and again at airfields, shipping, shore bases, invasion
beaches. New Jersey offered the essential protection required by these
forces, always ready to repel enemy air or surface attack.
In September the targets were in the Visayas and the southern Philippines,
then Manila and Cavite, Panay, Negros, Leyte, and Cebu. Early in October
raids to destroy enemy air power based on Okinawa and Formosa were begun
in preparation for the Leyte landings 20 October.
This invasion brought on the desperate, almost suicidal, last great sortie
of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Its plan for the Battle for Leyte Gulf
included a feint by a northern force of planeless heavy attack carriers to
draw away the battleships, cruisers and fast carriers with which Admiral
Halsey was protecting the landings. This was to allow the Japanese Center
Force to enter the gulf through San Bernadino Strait. At the opening of
the battle, planes from the carriers guarded by New Jersey struck hard at
both the Japanese Southern and Center Forces, sinking a battleship 23
October. The next day Halsey shaped his course north after the decoy force
had been spotted. Planes from his carriers sank four of the Japanese
carriers, as well as a destroyer and a cruiser, while New Jersey steamed
south at flank speed to meet the newly developed threat of the Center
Force. It had been turned back in a stunning defeat when she arrived.
New Jersey rejoined her fast carriers near San Bernadino 27 October for
strikes on central and southern Luzon. Two days later, the force was under
suicide attack. In a melee of anti-aircraft fire from the ships and combat
air patrol, New Jersey shot down a plane whose pilot maneuvered it into
Intrepid's (CV-11) port gun galleries, while machine gun fire from
Intrepid wounded three of New Jersey's men. During a similar action 25
November three Japanese planes were splashed by the combined fire of the
force, part of one flaming onto Hancock's (CV-19) flight deck. Intrepid
was again attacked, shot down one would-be suicide, but was crashed by
another despite hits scored on the attacker by New Jersey gunners. New
Jersey shot down a plane diving on Cabot (CVL-28) and hit another which
smashed into Cabot's port bow.
In December, New Jersey sailed with the Lexington task group for air
attacks on Luzon 14-16 December, then found herself in the furious typhoon
which sank three destroyers. Skillful seamanship brought her through
undamaged. She returned to Ulithi on Christmas Eve to be met by Fleet
Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.
New Jersey ranged far and wide from 30 December to 25 January 1945 on her
last cruise as Admiral Halsey's flagship. She guarded the carriers in
their strikes on Formosa, Okinawa, and Luzon, on the coast of Indo-China,
Hong Kong, Swatow and Amoy, and again on Formosa and Okinawa. At Ulithi 27
January Admiral Halsey lowered his flag in New Jersey, but it was replaced
two days later by that of Rear Admiral Oscar Badger commanding Battleship
Division Seven.
In support of the assault on Iwo Jima, New Jersey screened the Essex (CV-
9) group in air attacks on the island 19-21 February, and gave the same
crucial service for the first major carrier raid on Tokyo 25 February, a
raid aimed specifically at aircraft production. During the next two days,
Okinawa was attacked from the air by the same striking force.
New Jersey was directly engaged in the conquest of Okinawa from 14 March
until 16 April. As the carriers prepared for the invasion with strikes
there and on Honshu, New Jersey fought off air raids, used her seaplanes
to rescue downed pilots, defended the carriers from suicide planes,
shooting down at least three and assisting in the destruction of others.
On 24 March she again carried out the vital battleship role of heavy
bombardment, preparing the invasion beaches for the assault a week later.
During the final months of the war, New Jersey was overhauled at Puget
Sound Naval Shipyard, from which she sailed 4 July for San Pedro, Pearl
Harbor, and Eniwetok bound for Guam. Here on 14 August she once again
became flagship of the Fifth Fleet under Admiral Spruance. Brief stays at
Manila and Okinawa preceded her arrival in Tokyo Bay 17 September, where
she served as flagship for the successive commanders of Naval Forces in
Japanese waters until relieved 28 January 1946 by Iowa (BB-61). New Jersey
took aboard nearly a thousand homeward-bound troops with whom she arrived
at San Francisco 10 February.
After west coast operations and a normal overhaul at Puget Sound, New
Jersey's keel once more cut the Atlantic as she came home to Bayonne, New
Jersey, for a rousing fourth birthday party 23 May 1947. Present were
Governor Alfred E. Driscoll, former Governor Walter E. Edge and other
dignitaries.
Between 7 June and 26 August 1 NT Jersey formed part of the first training
squadron to cruise Northern European waters since the beginning of World
War II. Over two thousand Naval Academy and NROTC midshipmen received
seagoing experience under the command of Admiral Richard L. Connoly,
Commander Naval Forces Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, who broke his
flag in New Jersey at Rosyth, Scotland 23 June. She was the scene of
official receptions at Oslo, where King Haakon VII of Norway inspected the
crew 2 July, and at Portsmouth, England. The training fleet was westward
bound 18 July for exercises in the Caribbean and Western Atlantic.
After serving at New York as flagship for Rear Admiral Heber H. McClean,
Commander, Battleship Division One, 12 September-18 October, New Jersey
was inactivated at the New York Naval Shipyard. She was decommissioned at
Bayonne 30 June 1948 and assigned to the New York Group, Atlantic Reserve
Fleet.
New Jersey was recommissioned at Bayonne 21 November 1950, Captain David
M. Tyree in command. In the Caribbean she welded her crew into an
efficient body which would meet with distinction the demanding
requirements of the Korean War. She sailed from Norfolk 16 April 1951 and
arrived from Japan off the east coast of Korea 17 May. Vice Admiral Harold
M. Martin, commanding the Seventh Fleet, placed his flag in New Jersey for
the next six months.
New Jersey's guns opened the first shore bombardment of her Korean career
at Wonsan 20 May. During her two tours of duty in Korean waters, she was
again and again to play the part of seaborne mobile artillery. In direct
support to United Nations troops, or in preparation for ground actions, in
interdicting Communist supply and communication routes, or in destroying
supplies and troop positions, New Jersey hurled a weight of steel fire far
beyond the capacity of land artillery, moved rapidly and free from major
attack from one target to another, and at the same time could be
immediately available to guard aircraft carriers should they require her
protection. It was on this first such mission at Wonsan that she received
her only combat casualties of the Korean War. One of her men was killed
and two severely Wounded when she took a hit from a shore battery on her
number one turret and received a near miss aft to port.
Between 23 and 27 May, and again 30 May New Jersey pounded targets near
Yangyang and Kansong, dispersing troop concentrations, dropping a bridge
span, and destroying three large ammunition dumps. Air spotters reported
Yangyang abandoned at the end of this action, while railroad facilities
and vehicles were smashed at Kansong. On 24 May, she lost one of her
helicopters when its crew pushed to the limit of their fuel searching for
a downed aviator. They themselves were able to reach friendly territory
and were later returned to their ship.
With Admiral Arthur W. Radford, Commander in Chief Pacific Fleet, and Vice
Admiral C. Turner Joy, Commander Naval Forces Far East aboard, New Jersey
bombarded targets at Wonsan 4 June. At Kansong two days later she fired
her main battery at an artillery regiment and truck encampment, with
Seventh Fleet aircraft spotting targets and reporting successes. On 28
July off Wonsan the battleship was again taken under fire by shore
batteries. Several near misses splashed to port, but New Jersey's
precision fire silenced the enemy and destroyed several gun emplacements.
Between 4 and 12 July, New Jersey supported a United Nations push in the
Kansong area, firing at enemy buildup and reorganization positions. As the
Republic of Korea's First Division hurled itself on the enemy, shore fire
control observers saw New Jersey's salvos hit directly on enemy mortar
emplacements, supply and ammunition dumps, and personnel concentrations.
New Jersey returned to Wonsan 18 July for an exhibition of perfect firing:
five gun emplacements demolished with five direct hits.
New Jersey sailed to the aid of troops of the Republic of Korea once more
17 August, returning to the Kansong area where for four days she provided
harassing fire by night, and broke up counterattacks by day, inflicting a
heavy toll on enemy troops. She returned to this general area yet again 29
August, when she fired in an amphibious demonstration staged behind enemy
lines to ease pressure on the Republic of Korea's troops. The next day she
began a three-day saturation of the Changjon area, with one of her own
helicopters spotting the results: four buildings destroyed, road junctions
smashed, railroad marshalling yards afire, tracks cut and uprooted, coal
stocks scattered, many buildings and warehouses set blazing.
Aside from a brief break in firing 23 September to take aboard wounded
from the Korean frigate Apnok (PF-62), damaged by gunfire, New Jersey was
heavily engaged in bombarding the Kansong area, supporting the movement of
the U.S. Tenth Corps. The pattern again was harassing fire by night,
destruction of known targets by day. Enemy movement was restricted by the
fire of her big guns. A bridge, a dam, several gun emplacements, mortar
positions, pillboxes, bunkers, and two ammunition dumps were demolished.
On 1 October, General Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
and General Matthew B. Ridgeway, Commander in Chief Far East, came on
board to confer with Admiral Martin.
Between 1 and 6 October New Jersey was in action daily at Kansong,
Hamhung, Hungnam, Tanchon, and Songjin. Enemy bunkers and supply
concentrations provided the majority of the targets at Kansong; at the
others New Jersey fired on railroads, tunnels, bridges, an oil refinery,
trains, and shore batteries, destroying with five-inch fire a gun that
straddled her. The Kojo area was her target 16 October, as she sailed in
company with HMS Belfast, pilots from HMAS Sydney spotting. The operation
was well-planned and coordinated and excellent results were obtained.
Another highly satisfactory day was 16 October, when the spotter over the
Kansong area reported "beautiful shooting every shot on target-most
beautiful shooting I have seen in five years." This five hour bombardment
leveled ten artillery positions, and in smashing trenches and bunkers
inflicted some 500 casualties.
New Jersey dashed up the North Korean coast raiding transportation
facilities from 1 to 6 November. She struck at bridges, road and rail
installations at Wonsan, Hungnam, Tanchon, lowon, Songjin, and Chongjin,
and left smoking behind her four bridges destroyed, others badly damaged,
two marshalling yards badly torn up, and many feet of track destroyed.
With renewed attacks on Kansong and near the Chang-San-Got Peninsula 11
and 13 November, New Jersey completed this tour of duty.
Relieved as flagship by Wisconsin (BB-64), New Jersey cleared Yokosuka for
Hawaii, Long Beach and the Panama Canal, and returned to Norfolk 20
December for a six month overhaul. Between 19 July 1952 and 5 September,
she sailed as flagship for Rear Admiral H. R. Thurber, who commanded the
NROTC midshipman training cruise to Cherbourg, Lisbon, and the Caribbean.
Now New Jersey prepared and trained for her second Korean tour, for which
she sailed from Norfolk 5 March 1953.
Shaping her course via the Panama Canal, Long Beach, and Hawaii, New
Jersey reached Yokosuka 5 April, and next day relieved Missouri (BB-63) as
flagship of Vice Admiral Joseph H. Clark, Commander Seventh Fleet.
Chongjin felt the weight of her shells 12 April, as New Jersey returned to
action; in seven minutes she scored seven direct hits, blowing away half
the main communications building there. At Pusan two days later, New
Jersey manned her rails to welcome the President of the Republic of Korea
and Madame Rhee, and American Ambassador Ellis O. Briggs.
New Jersey fired on coastal batteries and buildings at Kojo 16 April; on
railway track and tunnels near Hungnam 18 April; and on gun emplacements
around Wonsan Harbor 20 April, silencing them in five areas after she had
herself taken several near misses. Songiin provided targets 23 April. Here
New Jersey scored six direct 16-inch hits on a railroad tunnel, and
knocked out two rail bridges.
New Jersey added her muscle to a major air and surface strike on Wonsan 1
May, as Seventh Fleet planes both attacked the enemy and spotted for the
battleship. She knocked out eleven Communist shore guns that day, and four
days later destroyed the key observation post on the island of Hodo Pando,
commanding the harbor. Two days later Kalmagak at Wonsan was her target.
Her tenth birthday, 23 May, was celebrated at Inchon, with President and
Madame Rhee, Lieutenant General Maxwell D. Taylor, and other dignitaries
on board. Two days later New Jersey was all war once more, returning to
the west coast at Chinampo to knock out harbor defense positions.
The battleship was under fire at Wonsan 27-29 May, but her five-inch guns
silenced the counter-fire, and her 16-inch shells destroyed five gun
emplacements and four gun eaves. She also hit a target that flamed
spectacularly: either a fuel storage area or an ammunition dump.
New Jersey returned to the key task of direct support to troops at Kosong
7 June. On her first mission, she completely destroyed two gun positions,
an observation post, and their supporting trenches, then stood by on call
for further aid. Then it was back to Wonsan for a day-long bombardment 24
June, aimed at guns placed in eaves. The results were excellent, with
eight direct hits on three eaves, one cave demolished, and four others
closed. Next day she returned to troop support at Kosong, her assignment
until 10 July, aside from necessary withdrawal for replenishment.
At Wonsan 11-12 July, New Jersey fired one of the most concentrated
bombardments of her Korean duty. For nine hours the first day, and for
seven the second, her guns slammed away on gun positions and bunkers on
Hodo Pando and the mainland, with telling effect. At least ten enemy guns
were destroyed, many damaged, and a number of eaves and tunnels sealed.
New Jersey smashed radar control positions and bridges at Kojo 13 July,
and was once more on the east coast bombline 22-24 July to support South
Korean troops near Kosong. These days found her gunners at their most
accurate and the devastation wrought was impressive. A large cave, housing
an important enemy observation post was closed, the end of a month-long
United Nations effort. A great many bunkers, artillery areas, observation
posts, trenches, tanks and other weapons were destroyed.
At sunrise 25 July New Jersey was off the key port, rail and
communications center of Hungnam, pounding coastal guns, bridges, a
factory area, and oil storage tanks. She sailed north that afternoon,
firing at rail lines and railroad tunnels as she made for Tanchon, where
she launched a whaleboat in an attempt to spot a train known to run
nightly along the coast. Her big guns were trained on two tunnels between
which she hoped to catch the train, but in the darkness she could not see
the results of her six-gun salvo.
New Jersey's mission at Wonsan, next day, was her last. Here she destroyed
large-caliber guns, bunkers, caves and trenches. Two days later, she
learned of the truce. Her crew celebrated during a seven day visit at Hong
Kong, where she anchored 20 August. Operations around Japan and off
Formosa were carried out for the remainder of her tour, which was
highlighted by a visit to Pusan. Here President Rhee came aboard 16
September to present the Korean Presidential Unit Citation to the Seventh
Fleet.
Relieved as flagship at Yokosuka by Wisconsin 14 October, New Jersey was
homeward bound the next day, reaching Norfolk 14 November. During the next
two summers she crossed the Atlantic with midshipmen on board for
training, and during the rest of the year sharpened her skills with
exercises and training maneuvers along the Atlantic coast and in the
Caribbean.
New Jersey stood out of Norfolk 7 September 1955 for her first tour of
duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. Her ports of call included
Gibraltar, Valencia, Cannes, Istanbul, Suda Bay, and Barcelona. She
returned to Norfolk 17 January 1956 for the spring program of training
operations. That summer she again carried midshipmen to Northern Europe
for training, bringing them home to Annapolis 31 July. New Jersey sailed
for Europe once more 27 August as flagship of Vice Admiral Charles
Wellborn, Jr., Commander Second Fleet. She called at Lisbon, participated
in NATO exercises off Scotland, and paid an official visit to Norway where
Crown Prince Olaf was a guest. She returned to Norfolk 15 October, and 14
December arrived at New York Naval Shipyard for inactivation. She was
decommissioned and placed in reserve at Bayonne 21 August 1957.
New Jersey's third career began 6 April 1968 when she recommissioned at
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Captain J. Edward Snyder in command. Fitted
with improved electronics and a helicopter landing pad and with her 40-
millimeter battery removed, she was tailored for use as a heavy
bombardment ship. Her 16-inch guns, it was expected, would reach targets
in Vietnam inaccessible to smaller naval guns and, in foul weather, safe
from aerial attack.
New Jersey, now the world's only active battleship, departed Philadelphia
16 May, calling at Norfolk and transiting the Panama Canal before arriving
at her new home port of Long Beach, California, 11 June. Further training
off Southern California followed. On 24 July New Jersey received 16-inch
shells and powder tanks from Mount Katmai (AE-16) by conventional highline
transfer and by helicopter lift, the first time heavy battleship
ammunition had been transferred by helicopter at sea.
Departing Long Beach 3 September, New Jersey touched at Pearl Harbor and
Subic Bay before sailing 25 September for her first tour of gunfire
support duty along the Vietnamese coast. Near the 17th Parallel on 30
September, the dreadnought fired her first shots in battle in over sixteen
years. Firing against Communist targets in and near the so-called
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), her big guns destroyed two gun positions and two
supply areas. She fired against targets north of the DMZ the following
day, rescuing the crew of a spotting plane forced down at sea by
antiaircraft fire.
The next six months fell into a steady pace of bombardment and fire
support missions along the Vietnamese coast, broken only by brief visits
to Subic Bay and replenishment operations at sea. In her first two months
on the gun line, New Jersey directed nearly ten thousand rounds of
ammunition at Communist targets; over 3,000 of these shells were 16-inch
projectiles.
Her first Vietnam combat tour completed, New Jersey departed Subic Bay 3
April 1969 for Japan. She arrived at Yokosuka for a two-day visit, sailing
for the United States 9 April. Her homecoming, however, was to be delayed.
On the 15th, while New Jersey was still at sea, North Korean jet fighters
shot down an unarmed EC-121 "Constellation" electronic surveillance plane
over the Sea of Japan, killing its entire crew. A carrier task force was
formed and sent to the Sea of Japan, while New Jersey was ordered to come
about and steam toward Japan. On the 22nd she arrived once more at
Yokosuka, and immediately put to sea in readiness for what might befall.
As the crisis lessened, New Jersey was released to continue her
interrupted voyage. She anchored at Long Beach 5 May 1969, her first visit
to her homeport in eight months.
Through the summer months, New Jersey's crew toiled to make her ready for
another deployment. Deficiencies discovered on the gun line were remedied,
as all hands looked forward to another opportunity to prove the mighty
warship's worth in combat. Reasons of economy were to dictate otherwise.
On 22 August 1969 the Secretary of Defense released a list of names of
ships to be inactivated; at the top of the list was New Jersey. Five days
later, Captain Snyder was relieved of command by Captain Robert C.
Peniston.
Assuming command of a ship already earmarked for the "mothball fleet,"
Captain Peniston and his crew prepared for their melancholy task. New
Jersey got underway on her last voyage 6 September, departing Long Beach
for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She arrived on the 8th, and began
preinactivation overhaul to ready herself for decommissioning. On 17
December 1969 New Jersey's colors were hauled down and she entered the
inactive fleet, still echoing the words of her last commanding officer:
"Rest well, yet sleep lightly; and hear the call, if again sounded, to
provide fire power for freedom."
New Jersey earned the Navy Unit Commendation for Vietnam service. She has
received nine battle stars for World War II; four for the Korean conflict;
and two for Vietnam.
Built at New York Navy Yard,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Authorized 05/17/38, Keel Laid 01/06/41,
Commissioned
06/11/44. Capt. W. M. Callaghan commanding
The fourth MISSOURI (BB-B3), the
last battleship completed by
the United States, was laid down 6 January 1941
by New York
Naval Shipyard; launched 29 January 1944; sponsored by Miss
Margaret Truman, daughter of then Senator from Missouri Harry S
Truman,
later President; and commissioned 11 June 1944, Capt.
William M. Callaghan
in command.
IOWA CLASS
BB-63
Length Overall:
887'3"
Extreme Beam: 108'2"
Displacement: Tons:
45,000Mean Draft: 28'11"
Complement: Off.: 117 Enl.:
1,804
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/50
Secondary:
(20) 5"/38 cal
AA: (20) quad 40mm / (49) 20mm
Catapults: (2)
aft
Armor: Max. Thickness: 17"
Speed: 33 kts.
Designed
Shaft Horsepower: 212,000
Engines: Mfr.: GE
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive: TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 7,251
Missouri BB-63
The fourth Missouri (BB?63), the last battleship completed by the United
States, was laid down 6 January 1941 by New York Naval Shipyard; launched
29 January 1944; sponsored by Miss Margaret Truman, daughter of then
Senator from Missouri Harry S Truman, later President; and commissioned 11
June 1944, Capt. William M. Callaghan in command.
After trials off New York and shakedown and battle practice in Chesapeake
Bay, Missouri departed Norfolk 11 November 1944, transited the Panama
Canal 18 November and steamed to San Francisco for final fitting out as
fleet flagship. She stood out of San Francisco Bay 14 December and arrived
Ulithi, West Caroline Islands, 13 January 1945. There she was temporary
headquarters ship for Vice Adm. Marc A. Mitscher. The battleship put to
sea 27 January to serve in the screen of the Lexington carrier task group
of Mitscher's TF 58, and on 16 February her flattops launched the first
airstrikes against Japan since the famed Doolittle raid that had been
launched from carrier Hornet in April 1942.
Missouri then steamed with the carriers to Iwo Jima where her 16-inch guns
provided direct and continuous support to the invasion landings begun 19
February. After TF 58 returned to Ulithi 5 March, Missouri was assigned to
the Yorktown carrier task group. On 14 March Missouri departed Ulithi in
the screen of the fast carriers and steamed to the Japanese mainland.
During strikes against targets along the coast of the Inland Sea of Japan
beginning 18 March, Missouri helped splash four Japanese aircraft.
Raids against airfields and naval bases near the Inland Sea and
southwestern Honshu continued, provoking a savage response by Japanese
aircraft. While carrier Wasp, crashed by an enemy suicide plane on 19
March, resumed flight operations within an hour, a separate attack
penetrated Franklin's hangar deck with two bombs, setting off explosions
that left the warship dead in the water a mere 50 miles of the Japanese
mainland. Cruiser Pittsburgh took Franklin in tow until she gained speed
to 14 knots. Missouri's carrier task group provided cover for Franklin's
retirement toward Ulithi until 22 March, then set course for preinvasion
strikes and bombardment of Okinawa.
Missouri joined the fast battleships of TF 58 in bombarding the southeast
coast of Okinawa 24 March, an action intended to draw enemy strength from
the west coast beaches that would be the actual site of invasion landings.
Missouri rejoined the screen of the carriers as Marine and Army units
landed on the morning of 1 April. Following a sortie by a Japanese surface
force led by battleship Yamato 7, carrier aircraft sank Japanese
battleship Yamato , a cruiser and four destroyers. Four remaining
destroyers, sole survivors of the attacking fleet, were damaged and
retired to Sasebo.
On 11 April Missouri opened fire on a low?flying suicide plane which
penetrated the curtain of her shells to crash just below her main deck
level. The starboard wing of the plane was thrown far forward, starting a
gasoline fire at 5?inch Gunmount No. 3. Yet the battleship suffered only
superficial damage, and the fire was brought quickly under control.
About 2305 on 17 April, Missouri detected an enemy submarine 12 miles from
her formation. Her report set off a hunter?killer operation by carrier
Bataan and four destroyers which sank Japanese submarine I?56.
Missouri was detached from the carrier task force off Okinawa 5 May and
sailed for Ulithi. During the Okinawa campaign she had shot down five
enemy planes, assisted in the destruction of six others, and scored one
probable kill. She helped repel 12 daylight attacks of enemy raiders and
fought off four night attacks on her carrier task group. Her shore
bombardment destroyed several gun emplacements and many other military,
governmental, and industrial structures.
Missouri arrived Ulithi 9 May and thence proceeded to Apra Harbor, Guam,
18 May. That afternoon Adm. William F. Halsey, Jr., Commander 3d Fleet,
broke his flag in Missouri. She passed out of the harbor 21 May, and by 27
May was again conducting shore bombardment against Japanese positions on
Okinawa. Missouri now led the mighty 3d Fleet in strikes on airfields and
installations on Kyushu 2 and 3 June. She rode out a fierce storm 5 and 6
June that wrenched off the bow of cruiser Pittsburgh. Some topside
fittings were smashed, but Missouri suffered no major damage. Her task
force again struck Kyushu 8 June, then hit hard in a coordinated
air?surface bombardment before retiring towards Leyte. She arrived San
Pedro, Leyte, 13 June, after almost three months of continuous operations
in support of the Okinawa campaign.
Here she prepared to lead the 3d Fleet in strikes at the heart of Japan
from within its home waters. The task force set a northerly course 8 July
to approach the Japanese mainland. Raids took Tokyo by surprise 10 July,
followed by more devastation at the Juncture of Honshu and Hokkaido 13 and
14 July. For the first time, a naval gunfire force wrought destruction on
a major installation within the home islands when Missouri closed the
shore to join in a bombardment 15 July that damaged the Nihon Steel Co.
and the Wanishi Ironworks at Muroran, Hokkaido.
During the night of 17?18 July Missouri bombarded industrial targets in
the Hichiti area. Honshu. Inland Sea aerial strikes continued through 25
July, and Missouri guarded the carriers as they struck hard blows at the
Japanese capital. Strikes on Hokkaido and northern Honshu resumed 9
August, the day the second atomic bomb was dropped. Next day, at 2054,
Missouri's men were electrified by the unofficial news that Japan was
ready to surrender, provided that the Emperor's prerogatives as a
sovereign ruler were not compromised. Not until 0745, 15 August, was word
received that President Truman had announced Japan's acceptance of
unconditional surrender.
Adm. Sir Bruce Fraser, RN (Commander, British Pacific Fleet) boarded
Missouri 16 August, and conferred the order Knight of the British Empire
upon Admiral Halsey. Missouri transferred a landing party of 200 officers
and men to battleship Iowa for temporary duty with the initial occupation
force for Tokyo 21 August. Missouri herself entered Tokyo Bay early 29
August to prepare for the normal surrender ceremony.
High?ranking military officials of all the Allied Powers were received on
board 2 September. Fleet Adm. Chester Nimitz boarded shortly after 0800,
and General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (Supreme Commander for the
Allies) came on board at 0843. The Japanese representatives, headed by
Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu, arrived at 0856. At 0902 General
MacArthur stepped before a battery of microphones and the 23?minute
surrender ceremony was broadcast to the waiting world. By 0930 the
Japanese emissaries had departed.
The afternoon of 5 September Admiral Halsey transferred his flag to
battleship South Dakota. Early next day Missouri departed Tokyo Bay to
receive homeward bound passengers at Guam, thence sailed unescorted for
Hawaii. She arrived Pearl Harbor 20 September and flew Admiral Nimitz'
flag on the afternoon of 28 September for a reception.
The next day Missouri departed Pearl Harbor bound for the eastern seaboard
of the United States. She reached New York City 23 October and broke the
flag of Adm. Jonas Ingram, commander in chief, Atlantic Fleet, Missouri
boomed out a 21?gun salute 27 October as President Truman boarded for Navy
day ceremonies. In his address the President stated that "control of our
sea approaches and of the skies above them is still the key to our freedom
and to our ability to help enforce the peace of the world."
After overhaul in the New York Naval Shipyard and a training cruise to
Cuba, Missouri returned to New York. The afternoon of 21 March 1946 she
received the remains of the Turkish Ambassador to the United States,
Melmet Munir Ertegun. She departed 22 March for Gibraltar and 5 April
anchored in the Bosphorus off Istanbul. She rendered full honors,
including the firing of a 19?gun salute during both the transfer of the
remains of the late Ambassador and the funeral ashore.
Missouri departed Istanbul 9 April and entered Phaleron Bay, Piraeus,
Greece, the following day for an overwhelming welcome by Greek government
officials and people. She had arrived in a year when there were ominous
Soviet activities in the entire Balkan area. Greece had become the scene
of a communist?inspired civil war, as Russia sought every possible
extension of Soviet influence throughout the Mediterranean region. Demands
were made that Turkey grant the Soviets a base of seapower in the
Dodecanese Islands and joint control of the Turkish Straits leading from
the Black Sea into the Mediterranean.
The voyage of Missouri to the eastern Mediterranean gave comfort to both
Greece and Turkey. News media proclaimed her a symbol of U.S. interest in
preserving Greek and Turkish liberty. With an August decision to deploy a
strong fleet to the Mediterranean, it became obvious that the United
States intended to use her naval sea and air power to stand firm against
the tide of Soviet subversion.
Missouri departed Piraeus 26 April, touching at Algiers and Tangiers
before arriving Norfolk 9 May. She departed for Culebra Island 12 May to
join Admiral Mitscher's 8th Fleet in the Navy's first large?scale postwar
Atlantic training maneuvers. The battleship returned to New York City 27
May, and spent the next year steaming Atlantic coastal waters north to the
Davis Straits and south to the Caribbean on various Atlantic command
training exercises.
Missouri arrived Rio de Janeiro 30 August 1947 for the Inter?American
Conference for the Maintenance of Hemisphere Peace and Security. President
Truman boarded 2 September to celebrate the signing of the Rio Treaty
which broadened the Monroe Doctrine, stipulating that an attack on one of
the signatory American States would be considered an attack on all.
The Truman family boarded Missouri 7 September to return to the United
States and debarked at Norfolk 19 September. Overhaul in New York (23
September to 10 March 1948) was followed by refresher training at
Guantanamo Bay. Summer 1948 was devoted to midshipman and reserve training
cruises. The battleship departed Norfolk I November for a second 3?week
Arctic cold weather training cruise to the Davis Straits. The next 2 years
Missouri participated in Atlantic command exercises ranging from the New
England coast to the Caribbean, alternated with two midshipman summer
training cruises. She was overhauled at Norfolk Naval Shipyard 23
September 1949 to 17 January 1950.
Now the only U.S. battleship in commission, Missouri was proceeding
seaward on a training mission from Hampton Roads early 17 January when she
ran aground at a point 1.6 miles from Thimble Shoals Light, near Old Point
Comfort. She traversed shoal water a distance of three ship lengths from
the main channel. Lifted some 7 feet above waterline, she stuck hard and
fast. With the aid of tugs, pontoons, and an incoming tide, she was
refloated 1 February.
From mid?February until 15 August Missouri conducted midshipman and
reserve training cruises out of Norfolk. She departed Norfolk 19 August to
support U.N. forces in their fight against Communist aggression in Korea.
Missouri joined the U.N. just west of Kyushu 14 September, becoming
flagship of Rear Adm. A. E. Smith. The first American battleship to reach
Korean waters, she bombarded Samchok 15 September in a diversionary move
coordinated with the Inchon landings. In company with cruiser Helena and
two destroyers, she helped prepare the way for the 8th Army offensive.
Missouri arrived Inchon 19 September, and 10 October became flagship of
Rear Adm. J. M. Higgins, commander, Cruiser Division 5. She arrived Sasebo
14 October, where she became flagship of Vice Adm. A. D. Struble,
Commander, 7th Fleet. After screening carrier Valley Forge along the east
coast of Korea, she conducted bombardment missions 12 to 26 October in the
Chonjin and Tanchon areas, and at Wonsan. After again screening carriers
eastward of Wonsan she moved into Hungnam 23 December to provide gunfire
support about the Hungnam defense perimeter until the last U.N. troops,
the U.S. 3d Infantry Division, were evacuated by way of the sea on
Christmas Eve.
Missouri conducted additional operations with carriers and systematic
shore bombardments off the east coast of Korea until 19 March 1951. She
arrived Yokosuka 24 March, and 4 days later was relieved of duty in the
Far East. She departed Yokosuka 28 March, and upon arrival Norfolk 27
April became flagship of Rear Adm. J. L. Holloway, Jr., commander, Cruiser
Force, Atlantic Fleet. Summer 1951 she engaged in two midshipman training
cruises to northern Europe. Missouri entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard 18
October for overhaul until 30 January 1952.
Following winter and spring training out of Guantanamo Bay, Missouri
visited New York, then set course from Norfolk 9 June for another
midshipman cruise. She returned to Norfolk 4 August and entered Norfolk
Naval Shipyard to prepare for a second tour in the Korean Combat Zone.
Missouri stood out of Hampton Roads 11 September and arrived Yokosuka 17
October. She broke the flag of Vice Adm. J. J. Clark, commander of the 7th
Fleet, 19 October. Her primary mission was to provide seagoing artillery
support by bombarding enemy targets in the Chaho?Tanchon area, at
Chongjin, In the Tanchon?Sonjin area, and at Chaho, Wonsan, Hamhung, and
Hungnam during the period 25 October through 2 January 1953.
Missouri put in to Inchon 5 January 1953 and sailed thence to Sasebo,
Japan. Gen. Mark Clark, Commander in Chief, U.N. Command, and Adm. Sir Guy
Russell, RN, commander of the British Far East Station, visited the
battleship 23 January. In the following weeks, Missouri resumed "Cobra"
patrol along the east coast of Korea in direct support of troops ashore.
Repeated strikes against Wonsan, Tanchon, Hungnam, and Kojo destroyed main
supply routes along the eastern seaboard.
The last gun strike mission by Missouri was against the Kojo area 25
March. She sustained a grievous casualty 26 March, when her commanding
officer Capt. Warner R. Edsall suffered a fatal heart attack while conning
her through the submarine net at Sasebo. She was relieved as 7th Fleet
flagship 6 April by battleship New Jersey.
Missouri departed Yokosuka 7 April and arrived Norfolk 4 May, to become
flagship for Rear Adm. E. T. Woolridge, commander, Battleships?Cruisers,
Atlantic Fleet. 14 May. She departed 8 June on a midshipman training
cruise, returned to Norfolk 4 August, and was overhauled in Norfolk Naval
Shipyard 20 November to 2 April 1954.
Now the flagship of Rear Adm. R. E. Kirby, who had relieved Admiral
Woolridge, Missouri departed Norfolk 7 June as flagship of the midshipman
training cruise to Lisbon and Cherbourg. She returned Norfolk 3 August and
departed the 23d for inactivation on the west coast. After calls at Long
Beach and San Francisco, Missouri arrived Seattle 15 September. Three days
later she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where she decommissioned 26
February 1955, entering the Bremerton group, Pacific Reserve Fleet. The
battleship remained in reserve for the next thirty years, visited by
100,000 people on an annual basis.
As the Cold War heated up in the 1980s, the battleship received a new
lease on life and was modernized and recommissioned at San Francisco on 10
May 1986, Capt. Albert L. Kaiss in command.
Activated as part of the Navy's new maritime strategy -- which was
intended to send offense-oriented aircraft carrier and battleship task
groups into Soviet waters in the event of a future global conflict -
Missouri conducted refresher and fleet operations training until departing
10 September for a circumnavigation of the world, the first voyage by an
American battleship since the Great White Fleet of 1907-09. Following a
stop at Pearl Harbor, Missouri visited Sydney, Hobart, Albany and
Fremantle in Australia in October before sailing on to Diego Garcia in the
Indian Ocean. The battleship then transited the Suez canal on 7 November
and sailed north to Istanbul, Turkey, arriving there 11 November to mark
the 40th anniversary of her previous trip to that city in 1947. The
battleship then made diplomatic port visits at Naples, Italy; Palma,
Spain; and Lisbon, Portugal; before crossing the Atlantic in early
December. She transited the Panama Canal on the 10th and arrived home in
Long Beach on 19 December.
Following local operations and battle group training in early 1987, the
battleship got underway on 25 July for a western Pacific and Indian Ocean
deployment. She stopped at Subic Bay in the Philippines before conducting
an exercise with Singapore Navy units in mid-August. Transiting the Strait
of Malacca on 25-26 August, Missouri sailed to the north Arabian Sea for
operations with the Ranger (CV-61) battlegroup. The battleship operated in
support of tanker convoy operations in the region for the next three
months, pausing only for short port visits for maintenance at Masirah,
Oman. After turnover on 24 November, Missouri steamed home via Diego
Garcia, Fremantle, Sydney and Pearl Harbor, arriving at Long Beach on 19
January 1988.
In early March, the battleship visited Vancouver, British Columbia, before
shifting south to San Diego for gunnery, cruise missile and other war at
sea evolutions. The crew also conducted the first Tomahawk cruise missile
launch from the battleship on 25 May. Missouri then participated in Rim
Pac '88, a large 40-ship multi-national exercise in Hawaiian waters in
July, before spending the rest of the year conducting various inspections
and readiness exercises out of Long Beach. After a dry dock maintenance
period between February and April 1989, the battleship prepared for
another deployment, and departed California for the western Pacific on 18
September. After a voyage north to the Aleutian Islands in Alaska, the
battleship dropped down for exercises in Japanese and Korean waters,
visiting the port of Pusan 21-25 October before returning home on 9
November. The warship then conducted a short cruise to Mazatlan, Mexico,
in early December.
Missouri's next major operation took place in March 1990, when she sailed
to Hawaii on the 27th to take part in Rim Pac '90, remaining in Hawaiian
waters until returning home on 23 May. After local operations during the
summer, and the news that Saddam Hussein's Iraqi Army had invaded Kuwait
in August, the battleship's crew conducted security drills, installed more
point defense weapons and began preparations for a Persian Gulf
deployment, including familiarizing the crew with a newly embarked
remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) drone.
Underway 13 November, the battleship conducted intensive training in
between stops at Pearl Harbor, Subic Bay and a liberty port visit to
Pattaya Beach, Thailand, before transiting the Strait of Hormuz on 3
January 1991. During subsequent operations leading up to Operation Desert
Storm, Missouri prepared to launch Tomahawk missiles and provide on-call
naval gunfore support. She fired her first Tomahawk missile at Iraqi
targets at 0140 on 17 January, followed by 27 additional missiles over the
next five days. In addition, the battleship bombarded Iraqi beach defenses
in occupied Kuwait on the night of 3 February, firing 112 16-inch rounds
over the next three days until relieved by Wisconsin (BB-64). Missouri
then fired another 60 rounds off Khafji on 11-12 February before steaming
north to near Faylaka Island. After minesweepers cleared a lane through
Iraqi defenses, Missouri fired 133 rounds during four shore bombardment
missions as part of the amphibious landing feint against the Kuwaiti shore
line the morning of 23 February. The heavy pounding attracted Iraqi
attention, who fired an HY-2 Silkworm missile at the battleship. The
cruise missile was then shot down by GWS-30 Sea Dart missiles launched
from the British frigate HMS Gloucester.
With combat operations past the reach of the battleship's guns on the
26th, Missouri conducted patrol and armistice enforcement operations in
the northern Persian Gulf until sailing for home on 21 March. Following
stops at Fremantle and Hobart, Australia, the warship visited Pearl Harbor
before arriving home in April. She spent the remainder of the year
conducting type training and other local operations, the latter including
the 7 December 1941 "voyage of remembrance" to mark the 50th anniversary
of the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. During that ceremony, Missouri hosted
President George H. W. Bush, the first such Presidential visit for the
warship since Harry Truman boarded the battleship in September 1947.
After returning to Long Beach on 20 December, the battleship's crew began
the long process of deactivating the battleship. Missouri decommissioned
on 31 March 1992 and was layed up as part of the inactive fleet at Puget
Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington. She remained part of the
reserve fleet until 12 January 1995 when she was struck from the Navy
list. Donated as a museum and memorial ship on 4 May 1998, she was later
transferred to Pearl Harbor where the old battleship rests near the
Arizona (BB-39) memorial and is open for tours by the public.
Missouri received three battle stars for World War II service and five for
Korean service.
Built at Philadelphia Navy
Yard, Philadelphia, Pa.
Authorized 03/27/34, Keel Laid
01/25/41,
Commissioned 04/16/44. Capt. E. E. Stone commanding
The second
WISCONSIN (BB-64) was laid down on 25 January 1941 at
the Philadelphia Navy
Yard; launched on 7 December 1943;
sponsored by Mrs. Walter S. Goodland; and
commissioned on 16
April 1944, Capt. Earl E. Stone in command.
IOWA
CLASS
BB-64
Length Overall: 887'3"
Extreme
Beam: 108'3"
Displacement: Tons: 45,000 Mean Draft:
28'11"
Complement: Off.: 117 Enl.: 1,804
Armament:
Main: (9) 16"/50
Secondary: (20) 5"/38
cal
AA:(20) quad 40mm / (49) 20mm
Catapults: (2)
aft
Armor: Max. Thickness: 17"
Speed: 33 kts.
Designed
Shaft Horsepower: 212,000
Engines: Mfr.: Wstgh.
Type:
Turbine
Boilers: Mfr.: BW No.: 8
Drive:
TDR
Fuel: (oil) Tons: 7,251
Wisconsin BB-64
The second Wisconsin (BB-64) was laid down on 25 January 1941 at the
Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 7 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs.
Walter S. Goodland; and commissioned on 16 April 1944, Capt. Earl E.
Stone in command.
After her trials and initial training in the Chesapeake Bay, Wisconsin
departed Norfolk, Va., on 7 July 1944, bound for the British West Indies.
Following her shakedown, conducted out of Trinidad, the third of the Iowa-
class battleships to join the Fleet returned to her builder's yard for
post-shakedown repairs and alterations.
On 24 September 1944, Wisconsin sailed for the west coast, transited the
Panama Canal, and reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet on 2 October.
The battleship later moved to Hawaiian waters for training exercises and
then headed for the Western Carolines. Upon reaching Ulithi on 9
December, she joined Admiral William F. Halsey's 3d Fleet.
The powerful new warship had arrived at a time when the reconquest of
the Philippines was well underway. As a part of that movement, the
planners had envisioned landings on the southwest coast of Mindoro, south
of Luzon. From that point, American forces could threaten Japanese
shipping lanes through the South China Sea.
The day before the amphibians assaulted Mindoro, the 3d Fleet's Fast
Carrier Task Force (TF) 38-supported in part by Wisconsin-rendered
Japanese facilities at Manila largely useless. Between 14 and 16
December, TF 38's naval aviators secured complete tactical surprise and
quickly won complete mastery of the air and sank or destroyed 27 Japanese
vessels; damaged 60 more; destroyed 269 planes; and bombed miscellaneous
ground installations.
The next day the weather, however, soon turned sour for Halsey's sailors.
A furious typhoon struck his fleet, catching many ships refuelling and
with little ballast in their nearly dry bunkers. Three destroyers- Hull
(DD-350), Monaghan (DD-354), and Spence (DD-512)-capsized and sank.
Wisconsin proved her seaworthiness as she escaped the storm unscathed.
As heavily contested as they were, the Mindoro operations proved only the
introduction to another series of calculated blows aimed at the occupying
Japanese in the Philippines. For Wisconsin, her next operation was the
occupation of Luzon. By-passing the southern beaches, American amphibians
went ashore at Lingayen Gulf-the scene of the Japanese landings nearly
three years before.
Wisconsin armed with heavy antiaircraft batteries -performed escort duty
for TF 38's fast carriers during air strikes against Formosa, Luzon, and
the Nansei Shoto, to neutralize Japanese forces there and to cover the
unfolding Lingayen Gulf operations. Those strikes, lasting from 3 to 22
January 1945, included a thrust into the South China Sea, in the hope
that major units of the Japanese Navy could be drawn into battle.
Air strikes between Saigon and Camranh Bay, Indochina, on 12 January
resulted in severe losses for the enemy. TF 38's warplanes sank 41 ships
and damaged 31 in two convoys they encountered. In addition, they heavily
damaged docks, storage areas, and aircraft facilities. At least 112 enemy
planes would never again see operational service. Formosa, already struck
on 3 and 4 January, again fell victim to the marauding American airmen,
being smashed again on 9, 15, and 21 January. Soon, Hong Kong, Canton, and
Hainan Island felt the brunt of TF 38's power. Besides damaging and sinking
Japanese shipping, American planes from the task force set the Canton oil
refineries afire and blasted the Hong Kong Naval Station. They also raided
Okinawa on 22 January, considerably lessening enemy air activities that
could threaten the Luzon landings.
Subsequently assigned to the 5th Fleet-when Admiral Spruance relieved
Admiral Halsey as Commander of the Fleet-Wisconsin moved northward with the
re-designated TF 58 as the carriers headed for the Tokyo area. On 16
February 1945, the task force approached the Japanese coast under cover of
adverse weather conditions and achieved complete tactical surprise. As a
result, they shot down 322 enemy planes and destroyed 177 more on the
ground. Japanese shipping-both naval and merchant-suffered drastically,
too, as did hangars and aircraft installations. Moreover, all this damage
to the enemy had cost the American Navy only 49 planes.
The task force moved to Iwo Jima on 17 February to provide direct support
for the landings slated to take place on that island on the 19th. It
revisited Tokyo on the 25th and, the next day, hit the island of Hachino
off the coast of Honshu. During these raids, besides causing heavy damage
on ground facilities, the American planes sent five small vessels to the
bottom and destroyed 158 planes.
On 1 March, reconnaissance planes flew over the island of Okinawa, taking
last minute intelligence photographs to be used in planning the assault on
that island. The next day, cruisers from TF 58 shelled Okino Daito Shima in
training for the forthcoming operation. The force then retired to Ulithi
for replenishment.
Wisconsin's task force stood out of Ulithi on 14 March, bound for Japan.
The mission of that group was to eliminate airborne resistance from the
Japanese homeland to American forces off Okinawa. Enemy fleet units at
Kure and Kobe, on southern Honshu, reeled under the impact of the
explosive blows delivered by TF 58's airmen. On 18 and 19 March, from a
point 100 miles southwest of Kyushu, TF 58 hit enemy airfields on that
island. However, the Japanese drew blood during that action when kamikazes
crashed into Franklin (CV-17) on the 19th and seriously damaged that fleet
carrier.
That afternoon, the task force retired from Kyushu, screening the blazing
and battered flattop. In doing so, the screen downed 48 attackers. At the
conclusion of the operation, the force felt that it had achieved its
mission of prohibiting any large-scale resistance from the air to the
slated landings on Okinawa.
On the 24th, Wisconsin trained her 16-inch rifles on targets ashore on
Okinawa. Together with the other battlewagons of the task force, she
pounded Japanese positions and installations in preparation for the
landings. Although fierce, Japanese resistance was doomed to fail by
dwindling numbers of aircraft and trained pilots to man them. In
addition, the Japanese fleet, steadily hammered by air attacks from 5th
Fleet aircraft, found itself confronted by a growing, powerful, and
determined enemy. On 17 April, the undaunted enemy battleship Yamato,
with her 18.1-inch guns, sortied to attack the American invasion fleet
off Okinawa. Met head-on by a swarm of carrier planes, Yamato, the light
cruiser Yahagi, and four destroyers went to the bottom, the victims of
massed air power. Never again would the Japanese fleet present a major
challenge to the American fleet in the war in the Pacific.
While TF 58's planes were off dispatching Yamato and her consorts to the
bottom of the South China Sea, enemy aircraft struck back at American
surface units. Combat air patrols (CAP) knocked down 15 enemy planes,
and ships' gunfire accounted for another three, but not before one
kamikaze penetrated the CAP and screen to crash on the flight deck of the
fleet carrier Hancock (CV-19). On 11 April, the "Divine Wind" renewed its
efforts; and only drastic maneuvers and heavy barrages of gunfire saved
the task force. None of the fanatical pilots achieved any direct hits,
although near misses, close aboard, managed to cause some minor damage.
Combat air patrols bagged 17 planes, and ships' gunfire accounted for an
even dozen. The next day, 151 enemy aircraft committed hara-kiri into TF
58, but Wisconsin, bristling with 5-inch, 40-millimeter and 20-millimeter
guns, together with other units of the screens for the vital carriers,
kept the enemy at bay or destroyed him before he could reach his
targets.
Over the days that ensued, American task force planes hit Japanese
facilities and installations in the enemy's homeland. Kamikazes,
redoubling their efforts, managed to crash into three carriers on
successive days -Intrepid (CV-11), Bunker Hill (CV-17), and Enterprise
(CV-6).
By 4 June, a typhoon was swirling through the Fleet. Wisconsin rode out
the storm unscathed, but three cruisers, two carriers, and a destroyer
suffered serious damage. Offensive operations were resumed on 8 June, with
a final aerial assault on Kyushu. Japanese aerial response was pitifully
small; 29 planes were located and destroyed. On that day, one of
Wisconsin's floatplanes landed and rescued a downed pilot from the
carrier Shangri-La (CV-38).
Wisconsin ultimately put into Leyte Gulf and dropped anchor there on 13
June for repairs and replenishment. Three weeks later, on 1 July, the
battleship and her consorts sailed once more for Japanese home waters for
carrier air strikes on the enemy's heartland. Nine days later, carrier
planes from TF 38 destroyed 72 enemy aircraft on the ground and smashed
industrial sites in the Tokyo area. So little was the threat from the
dwindling Japanese air arm that the Americans made no attempt whatever
to conceal the location of their armada which was operating off her
shores with impunity.
On the 15th, Wisconsin again unlimbered her main battery, hurling 16-inch
shells shoreward at the steel mills and oil refineries at Muroran,
Hokkaido. Two days later, she wrecked industrial facilities in the
Hitachi Miro area, on the coast of Honshu, northeast of Tokyo itself.
During that bombardment, British battleships of the Eastern Fleet
contributed their heavy shellfire. By that point in the war, Allied
warships were able to shell the Japanese homeland almost at will.
Task Force 38's planes subsequently blasted the Japanese naval base at
Yokosuka, and put one of the two remaining Japanese battleships-the
former fleet flagship Nagato out of action. On 24 and 25 July, American
carrier planes visited the Inland Sea region, blasting enemy sites on
Honshu, Kyushu, and Shikoku. Kure then again came under attack. Six
major fleet units were located there and badly damaged, marking the
virtual end of Japanese sea power.
Over the weeks that ensued, TF 38 continued its raids on Japanese
industrial facilities, airfields, and merchant and naval shipping. Admiral
Halsey's airmen visited destruction upon the Japanese capital for the
last time on 13 August 1945. Two days later, the Japanese capitulated.
World War II was over at last.
Wisconsin, as part of the occupying force, arrived at Tokyo Bay on 5
September, three days after the formal surrender occurred on board the
battleship Missouri (BB-63). During Wisconsin's brief career in World
War II, she had steamed 105,831 miles since commissioning; had shot down
three enemy planes; had claimed assists on four occasions; and had fueled
her screening destroyers on some 250 occasions.
Shifting subsequently to Okinawa, the battleship embarked homeward-bound
GI's on 22 September, as part of the "Magic Carpet" operation staged to
bring soldiers, sailors, and marines home from the far-flung battlefronts
of the Pacific. Departing Okinawa on 23 September, Wisconsin reached Pearl
Harbor on 4 October, remaining there for five days before she pushed on
for the west coast on the last leg of her stateside-bound voyage. She
reached San Francisco on 15 October.
Heading for the east coast of the United States soon after the start of
the new year, 1946, Wisconsin transited the Panama Canal between 11 and
13 January, and reached Hampton Eoads, Va., on the 18th. Following a
cruise south to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the battleship entered the Norfolk
Naval Shipyard for overhaul. After repairs and alterations that consumed
the summer months, Wisconsin sailed for South American waters.
Over the weeks that ensued, the battleship visited Valparaiso, Chile, from
1 to 6 November; Callao, Peru, from 9 to 13 November; Balboa, Canal Zone,
from 16 to 20 November; and La Guajira, Venezuela, from 22 to 26
November, before returning to Norfolk on 2 December 1946.
Wisconsin spent nearly all of 1947 as a training ship, taking naval
reservists on two-week cruises throughout the year. Those voyages
commenced at Bayonne, N.J., and saw visits conducted at Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, and the Panama Canal Zone. While underway at sea, the ship would
perform various drills and exercises before the cruise would end where it
had started, at Bayonne. During June and July of 1947, Wisconsin took Naval
Academy midshipmen on cruises to northern European waters.
In January 1948, Wisconsin joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Norfolk,
for inactivation. Placed out of commission, in reserve, on 1 July 1948,
Wisconsin was assigned to the Norfolk group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
Her sojourn in "mothballs," however, was comparatively brief because of
the North Korean invasion of South Korea in late June 1950. Wisconsin was
recommissioned, on 3 March 1951, Capt. Thomas Burrowes in command. After
shakedown training, the revitalized battleship conducted two midshipmen
training cruises, taking the officers-to-be to Edinburgh, Scotland;
Lisbon, Portugal; Halifax, Nova Scotia; New York City; and Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, before she returned to Norfolk.
Wisconsin departed Norfolk on 25 October 1951, bound for the Pacific. She
transited the Panama Canal on the 29th and reached Yokosuka, Japan, on 21
November. There, she relieved New Jersey (BB-62) as flagship for Vice
Admiral H. M. Martin, Commander, 7th Fleet.
On the 26th, with Vice Admiral Martin and Rear Admiral F. P. Denebrink,
Commander, Service Force, Pacific, embarked, Wisconsin departed Yokosuka
for Korean waters to support the fast carrier operations of TF 77. She
left the company of the carrier force on 2 December and, screened by the
destroyer Wiltsie (DD-716), provided gunfire support for the Republic of
Korea (ROK) Corps in the Kasong-Kosong area. After disembarking Admiral
Denebrink on 3 December at Kangnung, the battleship resumed station on
the Korean "bombline," providing gunfire support for the American 1st
Marine Division. Wisconsin's shellings accounted for a tank, two gun
emplacements, and a building. She continued her gunfire support task for
the 1st Marine Division and 1st ROK Corps through 6 December, accounting
for enemy bunkers, artillery positions, and troop concentrations. On one
occasion during that time, the battleship received a request for call-fire
support and provided tnree starshells for the 1st ROK Corps, illuminating
a communist attack that was consequently repulsed with considerable enemy
casualties.
After being relieved on the gunline by the heavy cruiser St. Paul (CA-73)
on 6 December, Wisconsin retired only briefly from gunfire support duties.
She resumed them, however, in the Kasong-Kosong area on 11 December,
screened by the destroyer Twining (DD-540). The following day, 12 December,
saw the embarkation in Wisconsin of Rear Admiral H. R. Thurber, Commander,
Battleship Division 2. The admiral came on board via helicopter, incident
to his inspection trip in the Far East.
The battleship continued naval gunfire support duties on the "bombline,"
shelling enemy bunkers, command posts, artillery positions, and trench
systems through 14 December. She departed the "bombline" on that day to
render special gunfire support duties in the Kojo area, blasting coastal
targets in support of United Nations (UN) troops ashore. That same day,
she returned to the Kasong-Kosong area. On the 15th, she disembarked
Admiral Thurber by helicopter. The next day, Wisconsin departed Korean
waters, heading for Sasebo to rearm.
Returning to the combat zone on the 17th, Wisconsin embarked United States
Senator Homer Ferguson of Michigan on the 18th. That day, the battleship
supported the llth ROK division with night illumination fire that
enabled the ROK troops to repulse a communist assault with heavy enemy
casualties. Departing the "bombline" on the 19th, the battleship later
that day transferred her distinguished passenger, Senator Ferguson, by
helicopter to the carrier Valley Forge (CVT45).
Wisconsin next participated in a coordinated air-surface bombardment of
Wonsan to neutralize preselected targets. She shifted her bombardment
station to the western end of Wonsan harbor, hitting boats and small craft
in the inner swept channel during the afternoon. Such activities helped to
forestall any communist attempts to assault the friendly-held islands in
the Wonsan area. Wisconsin then made an anti-boat sweep to the north,
utilizing her 5-inch batteries on suspected boat concentrations. She then
provided gunfire support to UN troops operating at the "bombline" until
three days before Christmas 1951. She then rejoined the carrier task
force.
On 28 December, Francis Cardinal Spellman on a Korean tour over the
Christmas holidays-visited the ship, coming on board by helicopter to
celebrate Mass for the Catholic members of the crew. The distinguished
prelate departed the ship by helicopter off Pohang. Three days later, on
the last day of the year, Wisconsin put into Yokosuka.
Wisconsin departed that Japanese port on 8 January 1952 and headed for
Korean waters once more. She reached Pusan the following day and
entertained the President of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, and his wife, on
the 10th. President and Mrs. Rhee received full military honors as they
came on board, and he reciprocated by awarding Vice Admiral Martin the
ROK Order of the Military Merit.
Wisconsin returned to the "bombline" on 11 January and, over the ensuing
days, delivered heavy gunfire support for the 1st Marine Division and the
1st ROK Corps. As before, her primary targets were command posts,
shelters, bunkers, troop concentrations, and mortar positions. As before,
she stood ready to deliver call-fire support as needed. One such occasion
occurred on 14 January when she shelled enemy troops in the open at the
request of the ROK 1st Corps.
Rearming at Sasebo and once more joining TF 77 off the coast of Korea soon
thereafter, Wisconsin resumed support at the "bombline" on 23 January.
Three days later, she shifted once more to the Kojo region, to participate
in a coordinated air and gun strike. That same day, the battleship
returned to the "bombline" and shelled the command post and
communications center for the 15th North Korean Division during call-fire
missions for the 1st Marine Division.
Returning to Wonsan at the end of January, Wisconsin bombarded enemy guns
at Hodo Pando before she was rearmed at Sasebo. The battleship rejoined
TF 77 on 2 February and, the next day, blasted railway buildings and
marshalling yards at Hodo Pando and Kojo before rejoining TF 77. After
replenishment at Yokosuka a few days later, she returned to the Kosong
area and resumed gunfire support. During that time, she destroyed railway
bridges and a small shipyard besides conducting call fire missions on enemy
command posts, bunkers, and personnel shelters, making numerous cuts on
enemy trench lines in the process.
On 25 February, Wisconsin arrived at Pusan where Vice Admiral Shon, the
ROK Chief of Naval Operations; United States Ambassador J. J. Muccio;
and Rear Admiral Scott Montcrief, Royal Navy, Commander, Task Group
95.12, visited the battleship. Departing that South Korean port the
following day, Wisconsin reached Yokosuka on 2 March. A week later, she
shifted to Sasebo to prepare to return to Korean waters.
Wisconsin arrived off Songjin, Korea, on 15 March 1952 and concentrated
her gunfire on enemy railway transport. Early that morning, she destroyed
a communist troop train trapped outside of a destroyed tunnel. That
afternoon, she received the first direct hit in her history, when one of
four shells from a communist 155-millimeter gun battery struck the shield
of a starboard 40-millimeter mount. Although little material damage
resulted, three men were injured. Almost as if the victim of a personal
affront, Wisconsin subsequently blasted that battery to oblivion with a
16-inch salvo before continuing her mission. After lending a hand to
support once more the 1st Marine Division with her heavy rifles, the
battleship returned to Japan on 19 March.
Relieved as flagship of the 7th Fleet on 1 April by sistership Iowa (BB-
61), Wisconsin departed Yokosuka, bound for the United States. En route
home, she touched briefly at Guam, where she took part in the successful
test of the Navy's largest floating drydock on 4 and 5 April, marking the
first time that an Iowa-class battleship had ever utilized that type of
facility. She continued her homeward-bound voyage, via Pearl Harbor, and
arrived at Long Beach, Calif., on 19 April. She then sailed for the east
coast; her destination: Norfolk.
Early in June 1952, Wisconsin resumed her role as a training ship, taking
midshipmen to Greenock, Scotland; Brest, France; and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba,
before returning to Norfolk. She departed Hampton Roads on 25 August and
participated in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise,
Operation "Mainbrace" which commenced at Greenock and extended as far
north as Oslo, Norway. After her return to Norfolk, Wisconsin underwent an
overhaul in the naval shipyard there. She then engaged in local training
evolutions until 11 February 1953, when she sailed for Cuban waters for
refresher training. She visited Newport, R.I., and New York City before
returning to Norfolk late in April.
Following another midshipman's training cruise to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad; and Guantanamo Bay, Wisconsin put into the Norfolk
Naval Shipyard on 4 August for a brief overhaul. A little over a month
later, upon conclusion of that period of repairs and alterations, the
battleship departed Norfolk on 9 September, bound for the Far East.
Sailing via the Panama Canal to Japan, Wisconsin relieved New Jersey (BB-
62) as 7th Fleet flagship on 12 October. During the months that followed,
Wisconsin visited the Japanese ports of Kobe, Sasebo, Yokosuka, Otaru, and
Nagasaki. She spent Christmas at Hong Kong and was ultimately relieved of
flagship duties on 1 April 1954 and returned to the United States soon
thereafter, reaching Norfolk, via Long Beach and the Panama Canal, on 4
May 1954.
Entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 11 June, Wisconsin underwent a
brief overhaul and commenced a midshipman training cruise on 12 July.
After revisiting Greenock, Brest, and Guantanamo Bay, the ship returned to
the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs. Shortly thereafter, Wisconsin
participated in Atlantic Fleet exercises as flagship for Commander, 2d
Fleet. Departing Norfolk in January 1955, Wisconsin took part in
Operation "Springboard," during which time she visited Port-au-Prince,
Haiti. Then, upon returning to Norfolk, the battleship conducted another
midshipman's cruise that summer, visiting Edinburgh; Copenhagen, Denmark;
and Guantanamo Bay before returning to the United States.
Upon completion of a major overhaul at the New York Naval Shipyard,
Wisconsin headed south for refresher training in the Caribbean, later
taking part in another "Springboard" exercise. During that cruise, she
again visited Port-au-Prince and added Tampico, Mexico, and Cartagena,
Colombia, to her list of ports of call. She returned to Norfolk on the
last day of March 1956 for local operations.
Throughout April and into May, Wisconsin operated locally off the Virginia
capes. On 6 May, the battleship collided with the destroyer Eaton (DDE-510)
in a heavy fog. Wisconsin put into Norfolk with extensive damage to her
bow and, one week later, entered drydock at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. A
novel expedient speeded her repairs and enabled the ship to carry out
her scheduled midshipman training cruise that summer. A 120-ton, 68-foot
long section of the bow of the uncompleted battleship Kentucky was
transported, by barge, in one section, from the Newport News
Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp., Newport News, Va., across Hampton Roads to
the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. Working round-the-clock, Wisconsin's ship's
force and shipyard personnel completed the operation which grafted the
new bow on the old battleship in a mere 16 days. On 28 June 1956, the ship
was ready for sea.
Embarking 700 NROTC midshipmen, representing 52 colleges and
universities throughout the United States, Wisconsin departed Norfolk on
9 July, bound for Spain. Reaching Barcelona on the 20th, the battleship
next called at Greenock and Guantanamo Bay before returning to Norfolk on
the last day of August. That autumn, Wisconsin participated in Atlantic
Fleet exercises off the coast of the Carolinas, returning to port on 8
November 1956. Entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard a week later, the
battleship underwent major repairs that were not finished until 2
January 1957.
After local operations off the Virginia capes from 3 to 4 January and
from the 9th to the llth, Wisconsin departed Norfolk on the 15th,
reporting to Commander, Fleet Training Group, at Guantanamo Bay. Breaking
the two-starred flag of Rear Admiral Henry Crommelin, Commander, Battleship
Division 2, Wisconsin served as Admiral Crommelin's flagship during the
ensuing shore bombardment practices and other exercises held off the
isle of Culebra, Puerto Rico, from 2 to 4 February 1957. Sailing for
Norfolk upon completion of the training period, the battleship arrived on
7 February.
The warship conducted a brief period of local operations off Norfolk
before she sailed, on 27 March, for the Mediterranean. Reaching Gibraltar
on 5 April, she pushed on that day to rendezvous with TF 60 in the Aegean
Sea. She then proceeded with that force to Xeros Bay, Turkey, arriving
there on 11 April for NATO Exercise "Red Pivot."
Departing Xeros Bay on 14 April, she arrived at Naples four days later.
After a week's visit-during which she was visited by Italian dignitaries-
Wisconsin conducted exercises in the eastern Mediterranean. In the course
of those operational training evolutions, she rescued a pilot and crewman
who survived the crash of a plane from the carrier Forrestal (CVA-59).
Two days later, Vice Admiral Charles R. Brown, Commander, 6th Fleet, came
on board for an official visit by high-line and departed via the same
method that day. Wisconsin reached Valencia, Spain, on 10 May and, three
days later, entertained prominent civilian and military officials of the
city.
Departing Valencia on the 17th, Wisconsin reached Norfolk on 27 May. On
that day, Rear Admiral L. S. Parks relieved Rear Admiral Crommelin as
Commander, Battleship Division 2. Departing Norfolk on 19 June, the
battleship, over the ensuing weeks, conducted a midshipman training cruise
through the Panama Canal to South American waters. She transited the
canal on 26 June; crossed the equator on the following day; and reached
Valparaiso, Chile, on 3 July. Eight days later, the battleship headed
back to the Panama Canal and the Atlantic.
After exercises at Guantanamo Bay and off Culebra, Wisconsin reached
Norfolk on 5 August and conducted local operations that lasted into
September. She then participated in NATO exercises which took her across
the North Atlantic to the British Isles. She arrived in the Clyde on 14
September and subsequently visited Brest, France, before returning to
Norfolk on 22 October.
Wisconsin's days as an active fleet unit were numbered, and she prepared
to make her last cruise. On 4 November 1957, she departed Norfolk with a
large group of prominent guests on board. Reaching New York City on 6
November, the battleship disembarked her guests and, on the 8th, headed
for Bayonne, N.J., to commence pre-inactivation overhaul.
Placed out of commission at Bayonne on 8 March 1958, Wisconsin joined the
"Mothball Fleet" there, leaving the United States Navy without an active
battleship for the first time since 1895. Subsequently taken to the
Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Wisconsin remained there with her
sistership Iowa into 1981.
Wisconsin earned five battle stars for her World War II service and
one for Korea.
BLESS 'EM ALL
Bless 'em all, Bless 'em
all,
The long and the short and the tall;
Bless all the Admirals in the
U.S. Navy:
They don't care if we ever get back.
So we're waving goodbye
to them all
As back to our foxholes we crawl.
There' ll be no promotions
this side the ocean,
So, cheer up, my lads, Bless 'em
all!