Commissioning
USS South Dakota was the lead ship of her class and the third ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the 40th state.
The order to build the South Dakota was placed with the New York Shipbuilding Corporation on December 15, 1938. Her keel was laid down on July 5, 1939; she was launched on June 7, 1941. She was commissioned on March 20, 1942, with Capt. Thomas Leigh Gatch in command.
Underway
In August 1942, the South Dakota passed through the Panama Canal and headed toward the Tonga Islands. The ship arrived at Nukuʻalofa, Tonga on September 4. While crossing the Lahai Passage two days later, she struck an uncharted coral pinnacle, resulting in extensive hull damage. The ship sailed for the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for repairs on Sept. 12.
By mid-October the ship was again sea ready and began operating as part of Task Force 61 under Rear Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid. The ship participated in a sweep of the Santa Cruz Islands and moved southwest to block any Japanese forces approaching Guadalcanal. On Oct. 25, patrol bombers sighted a Japanese carrier force and South Dakota steamed northwest to intercept. Having been discovered the next morning by the Japanese force, the Battle of Santa Cruz Islands commenced with the South Dakota about 10 miles away.
Five days later, the South Dakota collided with the destroyer USS Mahan while avoiding contact with a Japanese submarine. Both ships were damaged but continued to Nouméa where the South Dakota’s collision and battle damage was repaired.
On Nov. 13, the South Dakota joined fellow battleship Washington and destroyers Preston, Walke, Benham and Gwin as part of Task Force 64. The following day, she was operating 50 miles from Guadalcanal when it was learned that an enemy convoy was break through the American fleet near Savo Island.
U.S. ships intercepted the Japanese flotilla late on the night of Nov. 14; after the USS Washington opened fire on the lead ship of the Japanese force, the South Dakota opened fire on another approaching ship. Both salvos found their marks, setting the Japanese ships aflame. The South Dakota then shifted to another target, hammering it until it vanished from radar. Her No. 3, turret firing over the stern of the ship and destroying the South Dakota’s seaplanes in the process, struck a third Japanese target that was believed to have been sunk. A short time later, a Japanese ship illuminated the South Dakota with a searchlight and the ship became the primary target of the remaining enemy vessels. The South Dakota and Washington shelled the approaching Japanese ships, doing severe damage to three of them. But at 11:30 p.m., an error in the engine room left the South Dakota dead in the water and she took 42 hits, doing severe damage. The South Dakota limped from the area after the Japanese withdrew, escorted by the Washington. The USS Prometheus was able to repair some of the damage suffered in the battle, allowing the South Dakota to head for New York on Nov. 25, 1942. She would arrive there on Dec. 18, and rapid repairs had her back in the water on Feb. 25, 1943.
The South Dakota would serve a brief stint with the British Home Fleet, which had been depleted by the invasion of Sicily, before heading back to the Pacific in August 1943. She was back in action in November, supporting carrier attacks against targets in the Marshall Islands in support of the landings on Makin and Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. On Dec. 8, she joined five other battleships in shelling Japanese positions on the island of Nauru.
On Jan. 30, 1944, the South Dakota bombarded enemy positions on the Marshall Islands of Roi and Namur in preparation for upcoming American amphibious assaults. She took part in a massive air and sea offensive against the Japanese stronghold of Truk on Feb. 17 and 18 that left the installation seriously weakened. On Feb 24, the South Dakota screened carriers as they launched the first air attacks against the Marianas Islands; the Japanese responded with air attacks of their own and the South Dakota shot down four enemy attack aircraft.
For most of March and April, the South Dakota supported carrier attacks against a number of Japanese bases. On May 1, 1944, she took part in the bombardment of Ponape in the Caroline Islands chain. On June 13, the South Dakota shelled targets on Saipan, hammering Tanapag Harbor for more than six hours. Two days later, she downed an attacking Japanese plane.
On June 19, the South Dakota’s task force was attacked during a large Japanese airstrike in what became the Battle of the Philippine Sea. At 10:49 a.m., a Japanese D4-Y “Judy” dive bomber hit her with a 500-pound bomb, killing 24 and wounding 27 more. The damage suffered by the South Dakota was one of the low points for the United States on that day, as they shot down more than 300 Japanese aircraft in the “Marianas Turkey Shoot.” The South Dakota was once more forced from combat and arrived at the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard at Bremerton, Wash., for repairs on July 10, 1944.
On Aug. 26, the South Dakota set sail for Pearl Harbor, having completed her overhaul. She was attached to Task Force 38 and was escorting carriers on air strikes by early October. When U.S. forces landed at Leyte and began the reconquest of the Philippines on Oct. 20, 1944, the South Dakota was operating in Philippine waters east of the island. She would remain there until Christmas Eve 1944, screening American carriers as they launched strikes against Japanese targets on Manila and Luzon.
In February 1945, the South Dakota escorted American carriers launching their first strikes on Tokyo, then supported the amphibious assault on Iwo Jima on Feb. 19. In preparation for the April 1 invasion of Okinawa, she bombarded the southeast portion of the island on March 24. She returned to carrier escort duty, supporting attacks on the Japanese island of Kyushu on March 29 and air strikes on Okinawa from March 31- April 3. The South Dakota fired her guns at southeastern Okinawa again on April 19 in support of an offensive by the U.S. Army’s XXIV Corps.
While rearming with ordinance from the USS Wrangell on May 6, 1945, a tank of gunpowder for the 16-inch guns exploded, causing a fire and the explosion of four more tanks. The magazines in Turret No. 2 were flooded before the situation was brought under control; a total of 11 men were killed as a result of the incident and 24 were injured. She put into Guam for 18 days of repairs before setting sail for Leyte on June 1.
Reassigned to Task Force 38, the South Dakota supported airstrikes on Tokyo on July 10. Four days later, she took part in a bombardment of the Kamaishi Steel works on the Japanese island of Honshu. On July 29, she participated in the shelling of Hamamatsu on Honshu, then shelled Kamaishi a second time on Aug. 9. The Japanese surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, and the South Dakota entered Tokyo Bay on Aug. 29 in preparation for the formal surrender ceremony on Sept. 2. She left Japan on Sept. 20 and headed for the west coast of the United States.
Decommissioning
With the U.S. military rapidly shrinking after the end of World War II, the South Dakota’s days were numbered. She was decommissioned on Jan. 31, 1947 and remained idle until June 1, 1962, when she was struck from the Naval Vessel Registry. On Oct. 25, 1962, she was sold for scrap. However, parts of the ship were salvaged, and serve as part of a memorial to her in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Characteristics of the USS South Dakota:
Class and type: South Dakota-class (1939) battleship
Displacement: 35,000 long tons (35,600 tonnes)
Length: 680 ft (210 m)
Beam: 108.2 ft (33.0 m)
Draft: 36.3 ft (11.1 m)
Speed: 27.8 kn (50.2 km/h)
Complement: 2,364 officers and men
Armament: 9 × 16 in (41 cm) guns, 16 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns, 68 × 40 mm (1.57 in) guns, 76 × 20 mm (.79 in) guns
Career:
Name: USS South Dakota
Namesake: State of South Dakota
Ordered: December 15, 1938
Laid down: July 5, 1939
Launched: June 7, 1941
Commissioned: March 20, 1942
Decommissioned: January 31, 1947
Fate: Sold for scrap
Timeline:
December 1938: USS South Dakota ordered
July 1939: Keel of USS South Dakota laid down
June 1941: USS South Dakota launched
March 1942: USS South Dakota commissioned
November 1942: USS South Dakota damaged during Battle of Savo Island
June 1944: USS South Dakota damaged by Japanese air attack during Battle of the Philippine Sea
March—April 1945: USS South Dakota supports U.S. invasion of Okinawa
May 1945: 11 crewmembers killed during ordinance loading accident
July—August 1945: USS South Dakota bombards Japanese mainland
January 1947: USS South Dakota decommissioned
Links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_South_Dakota_(BB-57))
