USS Washington (BB-56): History, Patrols, Crews
Commissioning
The USS Washington was the second and last member of the North Carolina-class of battleships to be built. She was the third ship in U.S. Navy history to be named for the state of Washington (though a number of others have been named in honor of General George Washington).
The order to build the Washington was placed with the Philadelphia Navy Yard on Aug. 1, 1937. Her keel was laid down on June 14, 1938; she was launched on June 1, 1940. She was commissioned on May 15, 1941, with Capt. Howard H. J. Benson in command.
Underway
The Washington was on her shakedown and training cruise in the Atlantic Ocean when the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Instead of being sent immediately to the Pacific, the Washington remained in Atlantic waters, serving as the flagship for Admiral John Wilcox, the commander of the Atlantic Fleet’s battleships and Task Force 39. On March 26, 1942, the Washington set sail for the British Isles to reinforce the British fleet during that nation’s invasion of Madagascar. A day later, the Washington lost a man overboard during moderately heavy seas; that man was Admiral Wilcox, who had died of unknown causes. Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen succeeded Wilcox as commander of the task force. Task Force 39 reached Scapa Flow on April 4. Renamed Task Force 99, the Washington’s task force left Scapa Flow on April 28 and sailed into the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, protecting convoys of allied cargo ships carrying supplies to the Soviet port of Murmansk. On June 7, she played host to King George VI, who visited the battleship upon her return to Scapa Flow. After one more patrol of the North Atlantic, the Washington headed for the New York Navy Yard and an overhaul, which began with her arrival on July 23.
A month later, the Washington was out of dry dock and headed for the Pacific Ocean. She joined with Task Force 17 and began escorting supply ships traveling to and from Guadalcanal. The Washington continued escort duties until mid-November 1942, when American intelligence determined that the Japanese Navy was preparing to attack the U.S. fleet at Guadalcanal and would attempt to land reinforcements to push the Americans off the island. On Nov. 13, the Washington and five other ships headed for the waters off Savo Island with the intention of intercepting the Japanese force. When Japanese reconnaissance planes spotted the U.S. task force, their ships diverted course to force a confrontation with the Americans. Just after midnight on Nov. 15, the Washington spotted a large contact on her radar and opened fire with her 16-inch guns. After attacking the cruiser Sendai, the Washington squared off with the Japanese battleship Kirishima in the first combat between battleships in the Pacific Theater. In a span of seven minutes, the Washington hit the Kirishima nine times with her 16-inch guns and another 40 times with her five-inch guns. The Kirishima would not survive the engagement and sank a short time later. The Washington escaped from the battle without damage, but she was the only American vessel to do so; the USS Wakle and Preston were both sunk and the battleship USS South Dakota was severely damaged.
The Washington remained an active participant in the Solomons campaign until April 1943, when she set sail for Pearl Harbor and an overhaul. She would not return to combat again until November, when she sailed in support of the USS Yorktown as the carrier’s aircraft attacked the Gilbert and Marshall Islands. The Washington provided support for the American invasion of Makin on Nov. 26, 1943, then bombarded the Japanese-held island of Nauru on Dec. 8. On Jan. 30, 1944, she bombarded the Kwajalein Atoll in preparation for an American invasion.
On Feb. 1, the Washington, while maneuvering in the darkness, collided with the USS Indiana after that battleship’s captain made a navigational error. Both ships were significantly damaged, with the Washington’s bow suffering 60 feet of crumpled plating. On Feb. 11, the Washington headed back to Pearl Harbor for temporary repairs, then to the Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard at Bremerton, Wash. After significant repair work, the Washington returned to the Pacific combat zone in June 1944.
In early June, the Washington supported carrier air strikes against Japanese bases on Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Rota and Pagan in the Mariana Islands. On June 13, the Washington bombarded Japanese positions on Saipan and Tinian; on June 15, the Washington shelled Saipan again, in preparation for the U.S. landing on the island. On June 19, the Washington and the rest of the American fleet came under attack from a massive aerial attack from the Japanese during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Though the Japanese launched nearly 400 aircraft in what became known as the “Marianas Turkey Shoot,” the Washington escaped unscathed.
When U.S. Marines landed on Peleliu and Angaur in the Palau Island chain on Oct. 10, 1944, the Washington bombarded enemy positions near the beaches in support of the landings. As the Americans prepared to invade the Philippines, the Washington provided support for carrier strikes on Luzon and Formosa. From early November until February 1945, the Washington escorted carrier strike forces as they attacked Japanese bases across the Pacific—Okinawa, Luzon, Indochina, Hong Kong, Canton and the Japanese Home Islands.
As U.S. invasion forces gathered off the coast of Iwo Jima in advance of the Feb. 22, 1945 landings, the Washington bombarded Japanese positions on the island. Once American forces were on the island, she resumed her support of carrier air strikes against other Japanese bases. On March 24 and April 19, the Washington fired her heavy guns against Japanese emplacements on Okinawa. She would remain in the area of Okinawa for the remainder of the fight on the island, helping to fight off waves of kamikaze attacks against the U.S. fleet.
The Washington left the combat zone in early June, arriving at Puget Sound Naval Ship Yard on June 28, 1945. She would still be in dry dock when the Japanese surrendered on Aug. 15.
Decommissioning
Having won 13 battle stars during World War II, the Washington served a brief stint as a transport before being decommissioned on June 27, 1947. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on June 1, 1960, and was scrapped after being sold a year later.
Characteristics of the USS Washington (Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia):
Class and type: North Carolina-class battleship
Displacement: 37,484 tons standard, 44,377 tons loaded
Length: 728.8 feet (222.1 m)
Beam: 108.3 feet (33.0 m)
Draft: 33.0 feet (10.1 m)
Propulsion: General Electric turbines, four shafts, eight boilers; 121,000 shp
Speed: 26 knots (48 km/h)
Range: 17,450 nautical miles (32,320 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement: 2,339 (144 officers and 2,195 enlisted)
Sensors and processing systems: CXAM-1 RADAR[1]
Armament: 9 × 16 inch (406 mm) guns,
20 × 5″3/8 (127 mm) dual-purpose guns,
16 × 1.1″ machine guns; replaced by 20 mm and 40 mm rapid-fire anti-aircraft heavy machine guns
Armor: Maximum 16.0 in (406 mm)
Aircraft carried: 3: Vought OS2U Kingfisher Aviation facilities: 2 trainable catapults on the fantail
Career:
Name: USS Washington
Namesake: State of Washington
Ordered: 1 August 1937
Laid down: 14 June 1938
Launched: 1 June 1940
Commissioned: 15 May 1941
Decommissioned: 27 June 1947
Fate: Sold for scrap, 24 May 1961
Timeline:
August 1937: USS Washington ordered
June 1938: Keel of USS Washington laid down
June 1940: USS Washington launched
May 1941: USS Washington commissioned
June 1942: USS Washington visited by British King George VI
November 1942: USS Washington sinks Japanese battleship Kirishima
February 1944: USS Washington severely damaged by collision with USS Indiana
February 1945: USS Washington supports invasion of Iwo Jima
