USS West Virginia (BB-48), a , was the second ship of the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
named in honor of
the 35th stateWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast...
.
Her keel was laid down on 12 April 1920 by the
Newport News ShipbuildingNorthrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News , formerly called Northrop Grumman Newport News or Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
and Drydock Company of
Newport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
. She was
launchedThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 17 November 1921 sponsored by Miss Alice Wright Mann, daughter of Isaac T. Mann, a prominent West Virginian; and
commissionedShip commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 1 December 1923,
CaptainCaptain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel.The equivalent rank in many navies is Ship-of-the-Line Captain...
Thomas J. Senn in command.
The most recent of the "super-dreadnoughts",
West Virginia embodied the latest knowledge of
naval architectureNaval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction and repair of marine vehicles. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a marine vehicle...
; the watertight compartmentation of her hull, and the scale of her armor protection, marked an advance over the design of battleships built or on the drawing boards before the
Battle of JutlandThe Battle of Jutland ; informally known by participants as Der Tag , was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war...
.
Inter-War period
In the months that followed,
West Virginia ran her trials and
shakedownA shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
and underwent post-commissioning alterations. After a brief period of work at the New York Navy Yard, the ship made the passage to
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name of both a body of water and the region of land areas which surround it in southeastern Virginia. Hampton Roads is notable for its year-round ice-free harbor, for United States Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, NASA, Marines, and Army facilities, shipyards, coal piers, and...
, 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; Captain Senn quickly ordered all engines stopped, but the engine room telegraph would not answer. It transpired 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 head 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 Commander (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 to the ship. The legends on the charts were found to indicate uniformly greater channel width than actually existed. The findings of the court thus exonerated Captain Senn and the navigator from any blame.
After repairs had been effected,
West Virginia became
flagshipA flagship is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, a designation given on account of being either the largest, fastest, newest, most heavily armed or, for publicity purposes, the best known. In military terms, it is a ship used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships...
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 1926, for example, under Captain 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 SocietyThe American Defense Society was a U.S. political group of the late 1910s. The group advocated intervention by the United States against Germany during World War I and against the Bolsheviks after the war....
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 PennantThe Battle Effectiveness Award , commonly known as the Battle "E", is awarded annually to the small number of U.S...
for battleships. This was the first time that the ship had won the coveted "Meatball", but 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 1926, the battleship took part in the joint Army-Navy maneuvers to test the defenses of the
Hawaiian IslandsThe Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of 19 islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Excluding Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the...
and then cruised with the Fleet to Australia and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. In fleet exercises subsequent to the 1926 cruise,
West Virginia ranged from
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
to the
Caribbean SeaThe Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the tropics of the Western hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the American landmass, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest...
and the Atlantic, and from
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n waters to
PanamaPanama, officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of both Central America and, in turn, North America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the...
.
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 her capacity to perform her design function. Some of the alterations effected included the replacement of her initial
anti-aircraftAnti-aircraft warfare, or air defence, is any method of engaging hostile military aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces or denial of passage through a specific airspace region, area or anti-aircraft combat zone...
battery with
{{Otherships|USS West Virginia}}
USS West Virginia (BB-48), a {{Sclass|Colorado|battleship}}, was the second ship of the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
named in honor of
the 35th stateWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast...
.
Her keel was laid down on 12 April 1920 by the
Newport News ShipbuildingNorthrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News , formerly called Northrop Grumman Newport News or Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
and Drydock Company of
Newport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
. She was
launchedThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 17 November 1921 sponsored by Miss Alice Wright Mann, daughter of Isaac T. Mann, a prominent West Virginian; and
commissionedShip commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 1 December 1923,
CaptainCaptain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel.The equivalent rank in many navies is Ship-of-the-Line Captain...
Thomas J. Senn in command.
The most recent of the "super-dreadnoughts",
West Virginia embodied the latest knowledge of
naval architectureNaval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction and repair of marine vehicles. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a marine vehicle...
; the watertight compartmentation of her hull, and the scale of her armor protection, marked an advance over the design of battleships built or on the drawing boards before the
Battle of JutlandThe Battle of Jutland ; informally known by participants as Der Tag , was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war...
.
Inter-War period
In the months that followed,
West Virginia ran her trials and
shakedownA shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
and underwent post-commissioning alterations. After a brief period of work at the New York Navy Yard, the ship made the passage to
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name of both a body of water and the region of land areas which surround it in southeastern Virginia. Hampton Roads is notable for its year-round ice-free harbor, for United States Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, NASA, Marines, and Army facilities, shipyards, coal piers, and...
, 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; Captain Senn quickly ordered all engines stopped, but the engine room telegraph would not answer. It transpired 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 head 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 Commander (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 to the ship. The legends on the charts were found to indicate uniformly greater channel width than actually existed. The findings of the court thus exonerated Captain Senn and the navigator from any blame.
After repairs had been effected,
West Virginia became
flagshipA flagship is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, a designation given on account of being either the largest, fastest, newest, most heavily armed or, for publicity purposes, the best known. In military terms, it is a ship used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships...
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 1926, for example, under Captain 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 SocietyThe American Defense Society was a U.S. political group of the late 1910s. The group advocated intervention by the United States against Germany during World War I and against the Bolsheviks after the war....
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 PennantThe Battle Effectiveness Award , commonly known as the Battle "E", is awarded annually to the small number of U.S...
for battleships. This was the first time that the ship had won the coveted "Meatball", but 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 1926, the battleship took part in the joint Army-Navy maneuvers to test the defenses of the
Hawaiian IslandsThe Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of 19 islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Excluding Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the...
and then cruised with the Fleet to Australia and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. In fleet exercises subsequent to the 1926 cruise,
West Virginia ranged from
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
to the
Caribbean SeaThe Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the tropics of the Western hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the American landmass, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest...
and the Atlantic, and from
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n waters to
PanamaPanama, officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of both Central America and, in turn, North America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the...
.
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 her capacity to perform her design function. Some of the alterations effected included the replacement of her initial {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}
anti-aircraftAnti-aircraft warfare, or air defence, is any method of engaging hostile military aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces or denial of passage through a specific airspace region, area or anti-aircraft combat zone...
battery with
{{Otherships|USS West Virginia}}
USS West Virginia (BB-48), a {{Sclass|Colorado|battleship}}, was the second ship of the
United States NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
named in honor of
the 35th stateWest Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, and Pennsylvania and Maryland to the northeast...
.
Her keel was laid down on 12 April 1920 by the
Newport News ShipbuildingNorthrop Grumman Shipbuilding Newport News , formerly called Northrop Grumman Newport News or Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
and Drydock Company of
Newport News, VirginiaNewport News is an independent city in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. It is at the south-western end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the...
. She was
launchedThe ceremonies involved in naming and launching naval ships are based in traditions thousands of years old.-Methods of launch:There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching." The oldest, most familiar, and most widely...
on 17 November 1921 sponsored by Miss Alice Wright Mann, daughter of Isaac T. Mann, a prominent West Virginian; and
commissionedShip commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...
on 1 December 1923,
CaptainCaptain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel.The equivalent rank in many navies is Ship-of-the-Line Captain...
Thomas J. Senn in command.
The most recent of the "super-dreadnoughts",
West Virginia embodied the latest knowledge of
naval architectureNaval architecture is an engineering discipline dealing with the design, construction and repair of marine vehicles. Naval architecture involves basic and applied research, design, development, design evaluation and calculations during all stages of the life of a marine vehicle...
; the watertight compartmentation of her hull, and the scale of her armor protection, marked an advance over the design of battleships built or on the drawing boards before the
Battle of JutlandThe Battle of Jutland ; informally known by participants as Der Tag , was the largest naval battle of World War I, and the only full-scale clash of battleships in that war...
.
Inter-War period
In the months that followed,
West Virginia ran her trials and
shakedownA shakedown is a period of testing or a trial journey undergone by a ship, aircraft or other craft and its crew before being declared operational. Statistically, a proportion of the components will fail after a relatively short period of use, and those that survive this period can be expected to...
and underwent post-commissioning alterations. After a brief period of work at the New York Navy Yard, the ship made the passage to
Hampton RoadsHampton Roads is the name of both a body of water and the region of land areas which surround it in southeastern Virginia. Hampton Roads is notable for its year-round ice-free harbor, for United States Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, NASA, Marines, and Army facilities, shipyards, coal piers, and...
, 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; Captain Senn quickly ordered all engines stopped, but the engine room telegraph would not answer. It transpired 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 head 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 Commander (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 to the ship. The legends on the charts were found to indicate uniformly greater channel width than actually existed. The findings of the court thus exonerated Captain Senn and the navigator from any blame.
After repairs had been effected,
West Virginia became
flagshipA flagship is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, a designation given on account of being either the largest, fastest, newest, most heavily armed or, for publicity purposes, the best known. In military terms, it is a ship used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships...
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 1926, for example, under Captain 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 SocietyThe American Defense Society was a U.S. political group of the late 1910s. The group advocated intervention by the United States against Germany during World War I and against the Bolsheviks after the war....
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 PennantThe Battle Effectiveness Award , commonly known as the Battle "E", is awarded annually to the small number of U.S...
for battleships. This was the first time that the ship had won the coveted "Meatball", but 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 1926, the battleship took part in the joint Army-Navy maneuvers to test the defenses of the
Hawaiian IslandsThe Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of 19 islands and atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll. Excluding Midway, which is an unincorporated territory of the...
and then cruised with the Fleet to Australia and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
. In fleet exercises subsequent to the 1926 cruise,
West Virginia ranged from
HawaiiHawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states, and is the only state made up entirely of islands. It is located on an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of Australia. The state was admitted to the Union on August...
to the
Caribbean SeaThe Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean situated in the tropics of the Western hemisphere, bounded to the south and west by the American landmass, with the North Atlantic Ocean proper to the northeast and the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest...
and the Atlantic, and from
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
n waters to
PanamaPanama, officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of both Central America and, in turn, North America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the...
.
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 her capacity to perform her design function. Some of the alterations effected included the replacement of her initial {{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}
anti-aircraftAnti-aircraft warfare, or air defence, is any method of engaging hostile military aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces or denial of passage through a specific airspace region, area or anti-aircraft combat zone...
battery with {{converts; the addition of platforms for .50 in (12.7 mm) 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 1930s, 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 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 HarborPearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
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 IslandFord Island is located in the middle of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. It is connected to the main island by the Ford Island Bridge. Before the bridge was built, Ford Island could only be reached by a ferry boat which ran at hourly intervals for cars and foot passengers. The island houses several naval...
in the center of Pearl Harbor.
West Virginia was one of 14 ships to receive the early
RCARCA Corporation, founded as Radio Corporation of America, was an electronics company in existence from 1919 to 1986. Currently, the RCA trademark is owned by the French conglomerate Thomson SA through RCA Trademark Management S.A., a company owned by Thomson...
CXAM-1The CXAM radar system was the first production radar system deployed on United States Navy ships. It followed several earlier prototype systems, such as the NRL radar installed in April 1937 on the destroyer ; its successor, the XAF, installed in December 1938 on the battleship ; and the first...
RADARRadar is an object detection system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The term RADAR was coined in 1941 as an acronym for RAdio Detection And...
.
Pearl Harbor
On Sunday, 7 December 1941,
West Virginia lay moored outboard of {{USS|Tennessee|BB-43|2}} at berth F-6 with {{convert|40|ft|m|abbr=on}} of water beneath her keel. Shortly before 0800, Japanese planes, flying from a six-carrier task force, commenced a well-planned
attack on Pearl HarborThe attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of Sunday, December 7, 1941 , later resulting in the United...
. Several {{convert|18|in|mm|abbr=on}}
aerial torpedoThe aerial torpedo, airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo is a naval weapon, the torpedo, designed to be dropped into water from an aicraft after which it propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torpedoes were used extensively in World War II, and remain in limited...
es impacted the port side of
West Virginia. One torpedo hit the steering gear and knocked off the rudder. At least three struck below the armor belt, and one or more struck the armor belt requiring replacement of seven armor plates. One or possibly two torpedoes entered the ship through holes made by the first torpedoes while the ship was listing and exploded on the armored second deck. Recent evidence indicates that at least one of the hits may have come from a
midget submarineA midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to 6 or 8, with little or no on-board living accommodation...
. Photographic analysis performed by the
United States Naval InstituteThe United States Naval Institute , based at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is a private, non-profit, professional military association that seeks to offer independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national defense issues...
in 1999 may indicate that one Japanese midget submarine managed to enter the harbor and fired a torpedo into
West Virginia. The final disposition of this submarine is unknown.
West Virginia was also hit by two bombs made from {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} armor-piercing shells fitted with fins. The first bomb hit the foretop, penetrated the superstructure deck, and was found unexploded in the debris on the second deck. The second bomb hit further aft, wrecking one Vought
OS2U KingfisherThe Vought OS2U Kingfisher was a American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a big central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine...
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 {{convert|4|in|mm|abbr=on}} turret roof, wrecking one gun in the turret itself. Although the bomb was another dud, burning gasoline from the damaged aircraft caused some damage.
West Virginia was then seriously damaged by being engulfed in an oil fire started by {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|2}} and sustained for 30 hours by fuel leaking from both ships.
The torpedoes caused two large holes extending from Frames 43 to 52 and from Frames 62 to 97. Prompt action by Lieutenant
Claude V. RickettsAdmiral Claude Vernon Ricketts served in the United States Navy as the Vice Chief of Naval Operations.Originally enlisted in the Navy, Ricketts attended the United States Naval Academy and became an officer upon his graduation in 1929. As a lieutenant, he was the gunnery officer on board the ...
(Claude V. Ricketts later had a ship named after him, the {{USS|Claude V. Ricketts|DDG-5}}, formerly the USS
Biddle), the assistant fire control officer who had some knowledge of damage control techniques, saved the ship from the fate that befell {{USS|Oklahoma|BB-37|2}} moored ahead.
Oklahoma also took several torpedo hits that, in her case, flooded the ship and caused her to capsize.
Instances of heroic conduct onboard the heavily damaged battleship proliferated in the heat of battle. The ship's commanding officer, Captain
Mervyn S. BennionMervyn Sharp Bennion was a captain in the United States Navy who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor...
, arrived on his bridge early in the battle, only to be struck down by a bomb fragment hurled in his direction when a {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} 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", Captain Bennion was awarded the
Medal of HonorThe Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while...
, posthumously.
Doris MillerDoris "Dorie" Miller was a cook in the United States Navy noted for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941...
, a cook, helped carry Captain Bennion to a safer place and then manned an antiaircraft gun despite having no previous experience. He was the first African-American recipient of the
Navy CrossThe Navy Cross is the highest medal that can be awarded by the United States Department of the Navy and the second highest award given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard but could be awarded to all branches of United States...
.
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. With a patch over the damaged area of her hull, the battleship was pumped out and ultimately refloated on 17 May 1942 and docked in Drydock Number One on 9 June. This gave the opportunity for a more detailed damage assessment and it became clear that there had been not six, but seven torpedo hits.
During the ensuing repairs, workers located 66 bodies of
West Virginia sailors who had been trapped below when the ship sank. Several bodies were found lying on top of steam pipes within the air bubble existing in flooded areas. Three bodies were found in a store room compartment where they had lived on emergency rations and fresh water from a battle station. A calendar found with them indicated they had lived through 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, WashingtonBremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 37,259 at the 2000 census. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
.
Rebuild
Emerging from the extensive modernization, the battleship that had risen from the destruction at Pearl Harbor looked significantly different from the way she had appeared prior to 7 December 1941. Her appearance was nearly identical to that of
Tennessee and {{USS|California|BB-44|2}}, differentiated from those ships by her twin-gun main battery turrets.
Gone were the
hyperboloidIn mathematics, a hyperboloid is a quadric, a type of surface in three dimensions, described by the equation hyperboloid of one sheet,or hyperboloid of two sheets....
cage masts that supported the three-tier fire-control tops, as well as the two funnels, the open-mount {{converts and the casemates with the single-purpose {{converts. A streamlined superstructure with a single funnel faired into the tower now gave the ship a new silhouette; dual-purpose {{converts, in gunhouses, gave the ship a potent antiaircraft battery. In addition, 40 mm Bofors and 20 mm
OerlikonThe Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original designed by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...
batteries studded the decks, giving the ship a heavy punch for dealing with close-in enemy planes.
As part of the two ocean navy policy, U.S. battleships had been designed within a beam constraint of {{convert|108|ft|m|abbr=off}} in order to transit the
Panama CanalThe Panama Canal is a ship canal which joins the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific ocean. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, it had an enormous impact on shipping between the two oceans, replacing the long and treacherous route via the Drake Passage and Cape Horn...
; after their similar rebuilds, {{USS|Tennessee|BB-43|2}}, {{USS|California|BB-44|2}} and
West Virginia were widened to {{convert|114|ft|m|abbr=off}} feet, in effect limiting deployment to the Pacific theater.
West Virginia remained at
Puget SoundPuget Sound is a sound or complex of inland marine waterways in the northwestern part of Washington, United States, extending from the eastern end of the Strait of Juan de Fuca south to the head of the sound at the state capital of Olympia. It branches out from Admiralty Inlet and Deception Pass...
until early July 1944. Loading ammunition on 2 July, the battleship got underway soon thereafter to conduct her sea trials out of
Port Townsend, WashingtonPort Townsend is a town in Jefferson County, Washington, United States, approximately north-northwest of Seattle. The population was 8,334 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat and only incorporated city of Jefferson County...
. She ran a full power trial on 6 July, continuing her working-up until 12 July. Subsequently returning to Puget Sound for last-minute repairs, the battleship headed for San Pedro, California, 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
OahuOahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the State of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
on 23 September. Ultimately pushing on for
ManusManus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. It is covered in rugged jungles, which can be broadly...
, in the
Admiralty IslandsThe Admiralty Islands are a group of 18 islands in the Bismarck Archipelago. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, named after the largest island. The islands form part of Manus Province of Papua New Guinea. The total area is ....
, in company with the fleet carrier {{USS|Hancock|CV-19|2}},
West Virginia, as a unit of Battleship Division 4 (BatDiv 4), reached
Seeadler HarborSeeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II...
on 5 October. The next day, she again became a flagship when Rear Admiral Theodore Ruddock shifted his flag from {{USS|Maryland|BB-46|2}} to the "Wee Vee" as Commander, BatDiv 4.
Leyte landings
Underway on 12 October to participate in the
invasion of the Philippine IslandsThe Battle of Leyte in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the invasion and conquest of Leyte in the Philippines by American and Filipino guerrilla forces under the command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fought against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Philippines led by General Tomoyuki...
,
West Virginia sailed as part of Task Group 77.2 (TG 77.2), under the overall command of Rear Admiral
Jesse B. OldendorfJesse Bartlett "Oley" Oldendorf was an admiral in the United States Navy, famous for defeating a Japanese force in the Battle of Leyte Gulf during World War II....
. On 18 October, the battle line passed into
Leyte GulfLeyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
,
West Virginia steaming astern of
California.
At 1645,
California cut loose a
naval mineA naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of or contact with an enemy ship...
with her
paravaneThe paravane is a form of towed underwater "glider". It was developed by Cdr Usborne and Lt Burney financed by Sir George White, founder of the Bristol Aeroplane Company....
s;
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 BaySan Pedro Bay is a bay in the Philippines, at the northwest end of Leyte Gulf, about 15 km east-west and 20 km north-south. The bay is bounded on the north and east by Samar and on the east by Leyte Island. It is connected by San Juanico Strait to Carigara Bay of the Samar Sea. The...
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 {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} and 1,586 {{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}} shells against Japanese installations, silencing enemy artillery and supporting the UDT (
underwater demolition teamUnderwater Demolition Teams were a precursor to the current United States Navy SEALs. The UDTs conducted beach and hydrographic reconnaissance, explosive cable and net cutting, explosive destruction of underwater obstacles to enable major amphibious landings, limpet mine attacks, submarine...
s) preparing the beaches for the assault that came on 20 October. 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 21 October, 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 {{convert|16|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}}, or {{convert|18|kn|mph km/h|abbr=on}} 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 anti-aircraft 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.
Battle of Leyte Gulf
Four carriers and two "hybrid" battleship-carriers ({{Ship|Japanese battleship|Ise||2}} and {{Ship|Japanese battleship|Hyūga||2}}) sailed toward the
Philippine SeaThe Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 Million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...
from Japanese home waters; a small surface force under Admiral
Kiyohide Shimawas an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.-Biography:A native of Miyazaki prefecture, Shima was a graduate of the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911, ranking 69th out of 148 cadets. He served as midshipman on the cruisers Aso, Hashidate and battleship...
headed for the
Sulu SeaThe Sulu Sea is a large sea in the southwestern area of the Philippines. It is separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan, and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number...
; two striking forces consisting of battleships,
cruiserA cruiser is a large type of warship, which had its prime period from the late 19th century to the end of the Cold War. The first cruisers were intended for individual raiding and protection missions on the seas...
s, and
destroyerIn naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, short-range but powerful attackers .Before World War II, destroyers were light vessels without the endurance...
s
sortieSortie is a term for deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops from a strongpoint. The sortie, whether by one or more aircraft or vessels, usually has a specific mission....
d from Lingga Roads,
SumatraSumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world .-Etymology:Sumatra was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit...
, before separating north of
BorneoBorneo is the third largest island in the world and is located at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. Administratively, this island is divided among Indonesia , Malaysia and Brunei . Indonesians refer to the island as Kalimantan...
. The larger of those two groups, commanded by Admiral
Takeo KuritaVice Admiral was a vice-admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.-Early life:Kurita was born in Mito city, Ibaraki Prefecture in 1889. His name, Takeo means "warrior". He was sent off to Etajima in 1905 and graduated from the 38th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in...
, passed north of the island of
PalawanPalawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the southwest. It...
to transit the
Sibuyan SeaThe Sibuyan Sea is a small sea in the Philippines that separates the Visayas from the northern Philippine island of Luzon. It is bounded by the island of Panay to the south, Mindoro to the west, Masbate to the east, and to the north Marinduque and the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon Island.The Sibuyan...
.
American submarines {{USS|Darter|SS-227|2}} and {{USS|Dace|SS-247|2}} drew first blood on 23 October 1944 in what would become known as the
Battle of Leyte GulfThe Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and also one of the largest naval battles in history.It was fought in waters near the...
when they sank, respectively, two of Kurita's cruisers, {{Ship|Japanese cruiser|Maya||2}} and {{Ship|Japanese cruiser|Atago||2}}. Undeterred, Kurita continued the transit, his force built around the giant battleships {{Ship|Japanese battleship|Yamato||2}} and {{Ship|Japanese battleship|Musashi||2}} with three older battleships, plus cruisers and destroyers.
The smaller of the two forces, under Admiral
Shoji Nishimurawas an admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II.-Biography:Nishimura was from Akita prefecture in the northern Tōhoku region of Japan. He was a graduate of the 39th class of the Imperial Japanese Naval Academy in 1911, ranking 21st out of 148 cadets. As a midshipman, he served on...
, turned south of Palawan and transited the Sulu Sea to pass between the islands of
MindanaoMindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also one of the three island groups in the country, along with Luzon and Visayas...
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 powerful task group, with its six battleships, eight cruisers and 28 destroyers, in
Surigao StraitSurigao Strait is a body of water in the Philippines located between the islands of Mindanao and Leyte. This strait connects the Bohol Sea with Leyte Gulf and is regularly crossed by ferries that transport goods and people between Visayas and Mindanao...
.
At 2236 on 24 October, the American
PT boatPT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships...
s 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 25 October, Nishimura took up battle formation when five American destroyers launched a well-planned torpedo attack. Caught in the spread of torpedoes, the battleship {{Ship|Japanese battleship|Fusō||2}} took hits and dropped out of the formation; other spreads of "fish" dispatched a pair of Japanese destroyers and crippled a third.
Fusō{{'}}s sister ship {{Ship|Japanese battleship|Yamashiro||2}}, meanwhile, had taken one hit and was slowed down, only to be hit again within 15 minutes.
Fusō herself, apparently ravaged by fires ignited by the torpedo hits, blew up with a tremendous explosion at 0338.
West Virginia, meanwhile, was leading the battle line of {{USS|Maryland|BB-46|2}}, {{USS|Mississippi|BB-41}},
Tennessee,
California, {{USS|Pennsylvania|BB-38|2}}; four of these ships, like
West Virginia, veterans of Pearl Harbor. From 0021 on 25 October, 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 {{convert|42000|yd|m|abbr=on}} and had achieved a firing solution at {{convert|30000|yd|m|abbr=on}}. She tracked them as they approached in the pitch black night.
At 0352,
West Virginia unleashed her eight {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns of the main battery at a range of {{convert|22800|yd|m|abbr=on}}, striking the leading Japanese battleship with her first salvo. Of the first six salvos
West Virginia fired, five had struck the target and in all she fired 16 salvos in the direction of Nishimura's ships as Oldendorf "crossed the T" of the Japanese fleet 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 avenging her own crippling in the Pearl Harbor attack.
West Virginia had thus taken part in the last naval engagement fought by line-of-battleships and, on 29 October, departed the
PhilippinesThe Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....
for
UlithiUlithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and wide—at the fourth largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of Micronesia....
, in company with
Tennessee and
Maryland. Subsequently heading for
Espiritu SantoEspiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of 3955.5 km². It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia...
, in the
New HebridesNew Hebrides was the colonial name for an island group in the South Pacific that now forms the nation of Vanuatu. The New Hebrides were colonized by both the British and French in the 18th century shortly after Captain James Cook visited the islands...
, 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.
Philippines operations
The "Wee Vee" returned to the Philippines, via Manus, on 26 November, resuming her patrols in Leyte Gulf and serving as part of the antiaircraft screen for the transports and amphibious ships. At 1139 on 27 November,
West Virginia{{'}}s antiaircraft guns splashed a
kamikazeThe were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
and assisted in downing others while on duty the next day.
Rear Admiral Ruddock shifted back on board on 30 November,
West Virginia maintaining her operations off Leyte until 2 December, when the battleship headed for the Palau Islands. 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
MindoroMindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located southwest of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan.-History:In past times, it has been called Ma-i or Mait by ancient Chinese traders and, by Spaniards, as Mina de Oro from where the island got its current name...
. Entering Leyte Gulf late on the evening of 12 December,
West Virginia transited the Surigao Strait on 13 December 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 16 December, later fueling in Leyte Gulf before she returned to
Kossol RoadsKossol Roads, Palau is a large body of reef-enclosed water north of Babeldaob. During World War II, it was used by the United States Navy as the location of a floating resupply and repair base....
,
PalauPalau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, some 500 miles east of the Philippines and 2,000 miles south of Tokyo. Having emerged from United Nations trusteeship in 1994, it is one of the world's youngest and smallest sovereign states...
s, at mid-day on 19 December. 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
Yokosuka P1YThe Yokosuka P1Y Ginga was a twin-engine, land-based bomber developed for the Japanese Imperial Navy in World War II. It was the successor to the Mitsubishi G4M and given the Allied codename "Frances".-Development:...
"Frances" crashed the escort carrier {{USS|Ommaney Bay|CVE-79|2}} at 1712 on 4 January. Fires and explosions ultimately forced the abandonment of the "jeep carrier", her survivors being picked up by other ships in the screen. {{USS|Burns|DD-588|2}} dispatched the blazing CVE with torpedoes.
Taking on board survivors from
Ommaney Bay from the destroyer {{USS|Twiggs|DD-591|2}},
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 {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns.
Kamikazes, however, kept up their attacks in the face of heavy anti-aircraft barrages and combat air patrol (CAP) fighters. Losses among Allied shipping continued to mount;
kamikazes claimed damage to {{HMAS|Australia|1927|6}} and the battleships
California and {{USS|New Mexico|BB-40|2}} on the 5th.
West Virginia participated in putting up volumes of antiaircraft fire during those attacks, emerging unscathed herself.
West Virginia, already carrying the crew of
Ommaney Bay on board, took on board another group of survivors: the crew of the high-speed
minesweeperA minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations...
{{USS|Hovey|DMS-11|2}} which had been sunk by a Japanese torpedo on 6 January. 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 {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} guns again hammered Japanese positions ashore at
San FabianSan Fabián is a municipality in Ñuble Province, Bío-Bío Region, Chile. The seat of the municipality is the town of San Fabián de Alico....
on 8-9 January, 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 10 January,
West Virginia patrolled off
Lingayen GulfThe Lingayen Gulf is an extension of the South China Sea on Luzon in the Philippines stretching . It is framed by the provinces of Pangasinan and La Union and sits between the Zambales Mountains and the Cordillera Central...
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 {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} shells and over 2,800 {{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}} projectiles. Underway again at 0707 on 21 January,
West Virginia commenced call-fire support duties at 0815, operating in readiness for cooperation with the
United States ArmyThe United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
units ashore in the vicinity of the towns of
RosarioRosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located 300 km northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
and
Santo TomasSanto Tomás, Spanish for Saint Thomas, describes numerous locations.- Places in the world :*Argentina**Santo Tomás, Buenos Aires, Carlos Casares Partido, Buenos Aires Province*El Salvador**Santo Tomás, El Salvador*Guatemala...
. 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 (270 tonnes) of stores by 0400 on 17 February. At 0730 on the 17th,
West Virginia got underway, bound for
Iwo JimaIwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which makes up the southern end of the Ogasawara Islands. The island is located 1,200 kilometers south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
in company with the destroyers {{USS|Izard|DD-589|2}} and {{USS|McCall|DD-400|2}}. As she headed off to Iwo Jima to join TF 51,
West Virginia received a
Bravo ZuluBravo Zulu is a naval signal, conveyed by flaghoist or voice radio, meaning "Well Done"; it has also passed into the spoken and written vocabulary. It can be combined with the "negative" signal, spoken or written NEGAT, to say "NEGAT Bravo Zulu", or "not well done".There are some myths and legends...
"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 Seventh Fleet such a short time before.
Battle of Iwo Jima
West Virginia sighted
Iwo JimaIwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which makes up the southern end of the Ogasawara Islands. The island is located 1,200 kilometers south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
at a range of 82 mi (132 km) at 0907 on 19 February. As she drew nearer, she saw several ships bombarding the isle from all sides and the initial landings of the
Battle of Iwo JimaThe Battle of Iwo Jima , or Operation Detachment, was a battle in which the United States fought for and captured Iwo Jima from Japan...
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 came under her heavy guns. On 21 February, the ship returned, and at 0800 commenced her support duties afresh.
Her {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} 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 22 February, a small-caliber shell hit the battleship near turret II, wounding one enlisted man. That same day, another significant event occurred ashore—the
United States Marine CorpsThe United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
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 {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} 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 {{USS|Bryant|DD-665|2}}.
West Virginia closed the range and, when about {{convert|600|yd|m|abbr=on}} from shore, opened fire with her secondary {{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}} 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 IslandsThe Caroline Islands form a large archipelago of widely scattered islands in the western Pacific Ocean, northeast of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
, reaching Ulithi on 6 March.
Battle of Okinawa
Joining TF 64 for the
invasion of OkinawaThe Battle of Okinawa, also known as Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Nearly 60,000 troops stormed ashore on the initial invasion...
,
West Virginia sailed on 21 March, reaching her objective four days later on 25 March. 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 {{convert|6000|yd|m|abbr=on}} off the port bow. Firing her first salvoes of the operation,
West Virginia let fly 28 rounds of {{convert|16|in|mm|abbr=on}} 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 anti-aircraft guns. Over the days that followed, enemy opposition continued in the form of
kamikazes.
Naval mineA naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of or contact with an enemy ship...
s, too, began making themselves felt; one sank the
minesweeperA minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations...
{{USS|Skylark|AM-68|2}},{{convert|3000|yd|m|abbr=on}} off
West Virginia{{'}}s port bow at 0930 on 28 March.
After taking on ammunition at
Kerama RettoThe are six inhabited and some twenty uninhabited islands in a group about 30 kilometers west of Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.During World War II and preliminary to the Battle of Okinawa, soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division landed in the Kerama Islands on March 26, 1945. Further landings...
, 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 {{convert|200|yd|m|abbr=on}} away. Four more enemy planes passed within her vicinity soon thereafter, and
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 {{convert|900|yd|m|abbr=on}} 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 mm 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 reported her damage as repairable by ship's force and 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 gun-fire support duties soon thereafter. In the course of her tour off shore in early April, she shot down an
Aichi D3AThe Aichi D3A was a World War II dive bomber produced by the Aichi company in Japan. It was the primary carrier-borne dive bomber in the Imperial Japanese Navy in the early stages of the war, and participated in almost all actions, including Pearl Harbor.-Design and development:In mid-1936, the...
"Val" on 6 April.
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 7-8 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, Commander, TF 68, 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 attack perished many miles short of her objective.
For
West Virginia, however, her duties went on, providing illumination and counterbattery fire with both main and secondary batteries and giving her antiaircraft gunners a good workout due to the heavy presence of many
kamikazes. Her TBS crackled with reports of ships under attack and damaged. {{USS|Zellars|DD-777|2}},
Tennessee, {{USS|Salt Lake City|CA-25|2}}, {{USS|Stanly|DD-478|2}}, and others, were victims of the "divine wind". 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 support fire for the 6th Marine Division upon that occasion; later, she continued 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 {{USS|Colorado|BB-45}} suffered damage when a powder charge exploded while she was loading powder at Kerama Retto. Returning to Hagushi beach,
West Virginia provided night harassment and interdiction fire for the
Tenth ArmyThe Tenth United States Army was the last army level command established in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II. It was commanded by Lieutenant General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr. until he was killed by enemy artillery fire on Okinawa on 18 June 1945...
and the XXIVth Army Corps. Ultimately,
West Virginia sailed for Ulithi, in company with {{USS|San Francisco|CA-38|2}} and {{USS|Hobson|DD-464|2}}, reaching her destination, this time without a recall, 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. 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 MarDivThe 1st Marine Division is a marine infantry division of the United States Marine Corps headquartered at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California...
off southwestern Okinawa when her spotting plane, a Vought
OS2U KingfisherThe Vought OS2U Kingfisher was a American catapult-launched observation floatplane. It was a compact mid-wing monoplane, with a big central float and small stabilizing floats. Performance was modest, because of its light engine...
, 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 {{USS|Putnam|DD-757|2}} and an
LCIThe Landing craft, Infantry or LCI were several classes of sea-going amphibious assault ships of the Second World War utilized to land large numbers of infantry directly onto beaches.-Development:...
,
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 {{USS|Connolly|DE-306|2}}. 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 6 August, the same day that "
Little BoyLittle Boy was the codename of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 by the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, piloted by Colonel Paul Tibbets of the 393d Bombardment Squadron, Heavy, of the United States Army Air Forces. It was the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon...
", the first atomic bomb, was dropped on the city of
Hiroshimais the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture, and the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū, the largest island of Japan. It became the first city in history assaulted by nuclear armament when the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on it on August 6, 1945, near the culmination...
. Three days later, "
Fat ManFat Man is the codename for the atomic bomb that was detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, by the United States on August 9, 1945, at 11:02 . It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons to be used in warfare and was the third man-made nuclear explosion. The name also refers more generically to the...
", a second bomb, obliterated the greater part of the city of Nagasaki. Those two events hastened Japan's collapse. At 2115 on 10 August,
West Virginia picked up a garbled report on radio that the Japanese government had agreed to surrender under the terms of the
Potsdam DeclarationThe Potsdam Declaration or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender is a statement calling for the Surrender of Japan in World War II. On July 26 1945, United States President Harry S...
, provided that they could keep the
Emperor of JapanThe of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Japanese Imperial Family. He is also the highest authority of the Shinto religion...
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 soldiers ashore) endangered friendly planes. Such celebrations, however, proved premature. At 2004 on 12 August,
West Virginia sailors felt a heavy
underwater explosionAn underwater explosion, also known as an UNDEX, is an explosion beneath the surface of water. The type of explosion may be chemical or nuclear...
; soon thereafter, at 2058, the battleship intercepted a radio dispatch from
Pennsylvania reporting that she had been torpedoed.
West Virginia sent over a whaleboat at 0023 on 13 August with pumps for the damaged
Pennsylvania.
Post-war
West Virginia drilled her landing force in preparation for the upcoming occupation of the enemy's homeland and sailed for Tokyo Bay on 24 August 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 {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|2}} to play at the ceremonies.
West Virginia played her part in the occupation, remaining in Tokyo Bay into September 1945. 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 20 September bound for Okinawa as part of TG 30.4. Shifting to Buckner Bay on 23 September, 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, CaliforniaSan Diego , named after Saint Didacus , is the second-largest city in California and the ninth largest city in the United States, located along the Pacific Ocean on the west coast of the United States. The US Census Bureau estimates the city's population at 1,279,329 as of 2008...
. Bound for that port on 9 October,
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, 25,554 visitors (more the next day) came on board the ship. Three days later, on 30 October, she got underway for Hawaiian waters to take her place as part of
Operation Magic CarpetOperation Magic Carpet was the post-World War II effort by the War Shipping Administration to repatriate over eight million American military personnel from the European, Pacific, and CBI theaters. Hundreds of Liberty ships, Victory ships, and troop transports began repatriating soldiers from...
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, CaliforniaSan Francisco is the fourth most populous city in California and the 12th most populous city in the United States, with a 2008 estimated population of 808,976. It is the eighth most densely populated city in the U.S. and is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the larger San...
.
After making yet another run between the West Coast and Hawaii,
West Virginia reached San Pedro, California, on 17 December. There, she spent
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
debarking her third draft of passengers. The veteran battlewagon upped-anchor on 4 January 1946 and sailed for
Bremerton, WashingtonBremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 37,259 at the 2000 census. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
. She reached her destination on 12 January and commenced inactivation soon thereafter, shifting to
Seattle, WashingtonSeattle is located in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Situated in the western part of Washington State on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about south of the Canada – United States border, it is named after Chief Sealth, of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes...
, on 16 January, where she moored alongside sistership
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 Naval Vessel Registry on 1 March 1959. On 24 August, she was sold for scrapping to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corp. of
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
.
Legacy
- The flagstaff from West Virginia, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is a harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
is on display in front of the Harrison County Courthouse in Clarksburg, West VirginiaClarksburg is a city in the North-Central region of West Virginia, United States. It is the county seat of Harrison County, and the principal city of the Clarksburg, WV Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population of the city was 16,743 at the 2000 census....
to honor the sailors who died.
- On 11 May 1963 the mainmast was presented to West Virginia University
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, USA. Other campuses include: West Virginia University at Parkersburg in Parkersburg; West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Montgomery; Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser;...
and is still displayed there as a memorial.
- The ship's bells, wheel, and triptych were sent to the West Virginia State Museum in Charleston, West Virginia.
- The secondary con wheel is on display at the Salem College Library, Salem, West Virginia.
Related works
For a detailed account of her salvage see Daniel Madsen's
Resurrection-Salvaging the Battle Fleet at Pearl Harbor".
US Naval Institute PressThe United States Naval Institute , based at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, is a private, non-profit, professional military association that seeks to offer independent, nonpartisan forums for debate of national defense issues...
, 2003
External links
{{Colorado class battleship}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:West Virginia (BB-48)}}