USS West Virginia (BB-48)

[Robert9670]

USS West Virginia (BB-48) was a Colorado - class battleship, and the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 35th state.  West Virginia was ordered on December 5, 1916 and laid down on April 12, 1920.  West Virginia was launched on November 17, 1921 and was commissioned on December 1, 1923.  As the most recent of the "super-dreadnoughts", West Virginia embodied the latest knowledge of naval architecture, the watertight compartmentation of her hull, and the scale of her armor protection, marked an advance over the designs built or were on the drawing boards before the Battle of Jutland.  West Virginia participated in World War II, and was at Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941.  West Virginia was hit by several aerial torpedoes, one of which hit the steering gear and knocked off the rudder.  At least three torpedoes struck below the armor belt, and one or more struck the armor belt requiring replacement of seven armor plates.  West Virginia was also hit by two bombs, one of which penetrated the superstructure deck and was found unexploded in debris on the second deck.  The other bomb hit farther aft, but this bomb was also a dud.  There were many instances of heroic conduct on board West Virginia during the battle.  Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, the commanding officer of West Virginia, arrived on the bridge early in the battle, but was hit by a bomb fragment in the abdomen.  Cook Third Class Doris Miller and several other sailors attempted to move Captain Bennion to a first-aid station, but the captain refused to leave his post.  Though mortally wounded, Captain Bennion continued to direct the ship's defense up until the last moment of his life.  Doris Miller helped move Captain Bennion to a safer place, and later manned an anti-aircraft gun despite have no previous experience.  Captain Bennion would be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, and Doris Miller would be the first African-American to receive the Navy Cross.  West Virginia was abandoned, and she settled to the harbor bottom on an even keel.  

 

After the attack, and with a patch over the damaged area of her hull, West Virginia was pumped out and ultimately refloated on May 17, 1942.  She was moved to Drydock Number One on June 9, and this presented an opportunity for a more detailed damage assessment, and it was clear that there had not been six, but seven torpedo hits.  On May 7, 1943 West Virginia departed Pearl Harbor for the west coast for a complete rebuild at Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington.  After emerging from the extensive modernization, West Virginia looked significantly different from how she appeared before December 7, 1941.  Her appearance looked very identical to that of the battleships Tennessee and California, differentiated from those two ships by her twin-gun main battery turrets.  West Virginia rejoined the fleet in September 1944 and participated in the invasion of the Philippine Islands in October 1944 by providing fire support for the American soldiers landing on Leyte.  During the Battle of Leyte Gulf, West Virginia, along with the battleships Pennsylvania, Maryland, California, Tennessee, and Mississippi, and several cruisers and destroyers, helped destroy Vice-Admiral Shoji Nishimura's force, which consisted of the battleships Fuso and Yamashiro, the heavy cruiser Mogami, and four destroyers.  West Virginia would help to sink Yamashiro, and would thus avenge her own crippling in the attack on Pearl Harbor.  West Virginia continued operations in the Philippines, and would soon face a deadly new threat, the kamikaze.  Japanese air opposition had intensified since the beginning of the Philippine campaign, and kamikazes kept up their attacks on the Allied fleet despite heavy anti-aircraft fire and combat air patrol fighters.  West Virginia participated in putting up record volumes of anti-aircraft fire during these attacks and would emerge unscathed herself.

 

West Virginia would later participate during the Battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945, and provided fire support to the US Marines ashore.  For the remainder of February, she would continue to provide fire support for the Marines fighting ashore.  In late March 1945, West Virginia would spend the ensuing days helping to soften up Okinawa before the American landings slated to commence on April 1.  During the Battle of Okinawa, West Virginia and the rest of the Allied fleet continued to provide fire support for the US soldiers on Okinawa, while having to face the threat of the kamikazes.  The kamikaze threat, however, did give West Virginia's anti-aircraft gunners a good workout due to the heavy presence of kamikazes.  West Virginia provided support to US Tenth Army on Okinawa, up until late June 1945.  After the Japanese surrender in August 1945, West Virginia would participate in the Japanese occupation, and remained in Tokyo Bay into September 1945.  West Virginia participated in Operation Magic Carpet, an effort to return soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen home to the states.  West Virginia made three runs bringing American servicemen home during Operation Magic Carpet.  West Virginia was decommissioned on January 9, 1947 and placed in reserve as part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.  She never again received the call to active duty, and was struck from the Navy Registry on March 1, 1959.  She was sold on August 23 for scrap.  West Virginia earned five battle stars for her World War II service.

 

West Virginia in San Francisco Bay, 1934

 

Career

 

Name:  USS West Virginia

 

Namesake:  West Virginia

 

Ordered:  December 5, 1916

 

Laid Down:  April 12, 1920

 

Launched:  November 17, 1921

 

Commissioned:  December 1, 1923

 

Decommissioned:  January 9, 1947

 

Struck:  March 1, 1959

 

Nickname:  "Wee Vee"

 

Honors and awards:  Five battle stars

 

Fate:  Sold for scrap

 

General characteristics

 

Class and type:  Colorado - class battleship

 

Displacement:  33,590 tons

 

Length:  624 ft (190 m)

 

Beam:  97.3 ft (29.7 m) original

114 ft (35 m) rebuilt

 

Draft:  30.5 ft (9.3 m)

 

Speed:  21 knots (24 mph, 39 km/h)

 

Complement:  1,407 officers and men

 

Sensors and processing systems:  CXAM-1 radar from 1940

 

Armament:  

   8 x 16 in (410 mm)/45 cal guns

   12 x 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns

   4 x 3 in (76 mm)s

   2 x 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes

 

   after reconstruction:

   8 x 16 in (410 mm)/45 cal guns

   16 x 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns

   40 x Bofors 40mm guns

   50 x Oerlikon 20mm guns

 

Armor:  Belt:  8-13.5 in (203-243 mm)

Barbettes:  13 in (330 mm)

Turret face:  18 in (457 mm)

Turret sides:  9-10 in (229-254 mm)

Turret top:  5 in (127 mm)

Turret rear:  9 in (229 mm)

Conning tower:  11.5 in (292 mm)

Decks:  3.5 in (89 mm)

 

Sources used:  Wikipedia

[Wake_Island]

Ahh wall of text!

Please split it up some!

[Robert9670]

Sailors in a motor launch rescue a man overboard from the water alongside the burning West Virginia during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor

[Robert9670]

Wake_Island, on 03 February 2013 - 02:29 AM, said:

Ahh wall of text!
Please split it up some!

There, I split it up, I hope that helps.

[Robert9670]

West Virginia in July 1944

[Robert9670]

USS Artisan (AFDB-1), a floating drydock, holds the West Virginia so that repairs could be made

[Robert9670]

I'm planning to do a thread on the Colorado - class battleships sometime, but for now I thought I would just focus on one of them.

[Jracule]

Beat you to it   :Smile_smile:

 

Either way, a good read so a +1 for you.

[Wunderwaffen1945]

this thing even had torpedos...I'm impressed

[Krieg]

It was very fortuante that she settled like she did on Dec 7 rather than rolling over.

[Robert9670]

Jracule, on 03 February 2013 - 06:23 AM, said:

Beat you to it   :Smile_smile:

Either way, a good read so a +1 for you.

Sorry I didn't notice you had already made a thread about the West Virginia, so I made one.  Maybe I'll do one over the Maryland instead.

[Haguro]

West Virginia setting on the bottom on the outside of the USS Tennessee after the attack.

[Robert9670]

West Virginia off Hawaii in October 1935

 

West Virginia in her final configuration, June 1944.  Note 5"/38 twin turrets and number of AA guns

[osena]

Love the BB-48 she is named after my home state West virginia she was the battleship to engage  in battleship to battleship warfair and i will own this ship in game