New Mexico - class battleship

[Robert9670]

The New Mexico - class was a class of battleships built for the United States Navy.  The New Mexico - class was part of the standard-type battleship concept of the U.S. Navy.  They were an improvement on the Nevada - class, and they retained the twelve-gun main battery from the preceding Pennsylvania - class, but the ships of the New Mexico - class had longer 14 in (356 mm) 50 caliber guns mounted in improved triple turrets.  The hull design was also improved with a "clipper" bow for improved seakeeping and a sleeker look.  The ships in the New Mexico - class were the USS New Mexico (BB-40), USS Mississippi (BB-41), and USS Idaho (BB-42).  All three served during World War II, and their heavy guns provided valuable assistance to the many amphibious invasions that marked the Pacific conflict.  Mississippi took part in the Battle of the Surigao Strait, which was the last time in history that battleships fought each other.  After the war ended, New Mexico and Idaho were scrapped, while Mississippi was converted to a training and weapons trial ship and would serve for another decade.  Like her sister-ships however, Mississippi was also scrapped.

 

Battleships New Mexico, Mississippi, and Idaho at Pearl Harbor, December 1943

 

General characteristics

 

Type:  Battleship

 

Displacement:  32,000 long tons

 

Length:  600 ft (180 m) at the waterline

  624 ft (190 m) overall

 

Beam:  97 ft 5 in (29.69 m)

 

Draft:  30 ft (9 m)

 

Propulsion:  

    New Mexico:

27,500 horsepower (21 MW) electric drive turbines

 

Mississippi and Idaho:

32,000 horsepower (24 MW) geared turbines

 

Speed:  21 knots (39 km/h)

 

Range:  8,000 nautical miles at 10 knots

 

Complement:  1,084

 

Armament:  

    12 x 14 in/50 caliber guns (4 x 3)

22 x 5 in/51 caliber guns (soon reduced to 14 x 5 in/51 caliber guns)

2 x 21 inch torpedo tubes

 

Armor:  

    Belt:  8-13.5 in (203-343 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)

 

Notes:  When modernized in the 1930s, two more 5 in/51 caliber guns were removed and 5 in/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns were added

 

Sources used:  Wikipedia

[Robert9670]

New Mexico in 1921

[Robert9670]

New Mexico in 1943

 

New Mexico, with Mt. Fuji in the background, in August 1945

[Robert9670]

The foredeck of an unidentified New Mexico - class battleship on July 30, 1944, showing her two forward triple 14 inch gun turrets

[Robert9670]

Mississippi anchored off New York City in 1919

 

Mississippi at sea in the late 1930s

[Robert9670]

Mississippi in Puget Sound drydock, October 22, 1940

[Robert9670]

Mississippi supporting Lingayen Gulf landing

 

Mississippi after her post-war conversion

[Robert9670]

Idaho in her early years

 

Idaho in 1927

[Robert9670]

Idaho shelling Okinawa on April 1, 1945.  She could be easily distinguished from her sister ships by her tower foremast and 5-inch 38-caliber Mk 30 (127 mm) single gun turrets (visible between the barrels of the forward main turrets and starboard side of the ship, one of them facing forward), Idaho was the only battleship with this configuration

 

Idaho bombarding Okinawa in 1945

[Daltron]

Holy balls! Awesome!

 

New Mexico class is my favorite WWI design. SOH SECKSEE. It's really distinctive too, with its lines. +1 for you, my good man.

[Robert9670]

Daltron, on 05 February 2013 - 04:55 PM, said:

Holy balls! Awesome!

New Mexico class is my favorite WWI design. SOH SECKSEE. It's really distinctive too, with its lines. +1 for you, my good man.

I didn't see a thread about the New Mexico - class battleships, so I made one.  By the way, I recently did a thread about the USS Maryland (BB-46), a Colorado - class battleship, if you want to take a look at it.

[Wunderwaffen1945]

Viva la Mexico...

[Appollosnos]

Wow that is one sexy ship. I might try it out in game

[Krieg]

Robert9670, on 05 February 2013 - 04:29 PM, said:

Idaho shelling Okinawa on April 1, 1945.  She could be easily distinguished from her sister ships by her tower foremast and 5-inch 38-caliber Mk 30 (127 mm) single gun turrets (visible between the barrels of the forward main turrets and starboard side of the ship, one of them facing forward), Idaho was the only battleship with this configuration


Idaho bombarding Okinawa in 1945

Awesome pics. Never seen those before. Funny to think that when they were designed & built the guys doing it couldn't have imagined that their primary use during war (with a few exceptions as noted) would primarily be shore bombardment.

[Daltron]

I've been craving to drive one for years in any game. NavyFeild had me gunning for the New Mexico but I got pissed at the game too fast.

[Robert9670]

http://www.shipbucke...ico Pre-War.png