|
BB-55 |
BB-56 |
|
1st Commanding Officer: |
Capt. O.M. Hustvedt |
Capt. H.H.J. Benson |
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Authorised: |
March 27, 1934 and June 3, 1936 |
March 27, 1934 and June 3, 1936 |
|
Keel Laid: |
Oct. 27, 1937 |
June 14, 1938 |
|
Launched: |
June 13, 1940 |
June 1, 1940 |
|
Commissioned: |
April 9, 1941 |
May 15, 1941 |
|
Sponsor: |
Miss Isabel Hoey |
Miss Virginia Marshall |
|
Builder: |
New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New
York |
Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia |
|
Original Engines Manufactured: |
General Electric geared turbines |
General Electric geared turbines |
|
Original Boilers Manufactured: |
Babcock & Wilcox type: WT; no.8 |
Babcock & Wilcox type: WT; no.8 |
|
Original Fuel: |
Oil, 7167 tons (2,150,100 gallons) |
Oil, 6583 tons (1,974,900 gallons) |
|
Drive: |
Turbine, 4 screws |
Turbine, 4 screws |
|
Designed Speed: |
28 knots |
28 knots |
|
Designed Shaft Horsepower: |
121,000 |
121,000 |
|
Design Comments: |
First-class Battleship; oil-fired
boilers; the first commissioned of the U.S. Navy's modern fast
battleship |
First-class Battleship; oil-fired
boilers |
|
Displacement Standard
Tons: |
35,000
(increased to 36,600 by 1942) |
35,000 |
|
Displacement Full Load
Tons: |
41,000
(increased to 44,800 by 1942) |
41,000 |
|
Design Crew Complement: |
108 officers
1772 enlisted
2500 for war service |
108 officers
1772 enlisted
2500 for war service |
|
Construction Cost: |
$76,885,750 |
$76,885,750 |
|
Length: |
(w.l.) 713'5", (o.a.) 726'9" |
(o.a.) 729' |
|
Beam: |
108'4" |
108' |
|
Draught: |
31'7" normal, 35'6 maximum |
26'8" |
|
Guns: |
9 - 16 inch,
45 cal. MK6
(40,600-yard range with AP rouns)
20 - 5 inch, 38 cal. MK 12; 4-quad 1.1"; 12 - .50 cal
(modifications with 60-40mm/56 quad AA; 36-20 mm/70 (S) AA) |
9 - 16 inch,
45 cal. MK6
(40,600-yard range with AP rouns)
20 - 5 inch, 38 cal. MK 12; 4-quad 1.1"; 12 - .50 cal
(modifications with 60-40mm/56 quad AA; 36-20 mm/70 (S) AA) |
|
Aircraft: |
3 |
3 |
|
Catapults: |
2, aft |
2, aft |
|
Torpedo Tubes: |
none |
none |
|
Armour: |
16" -
Side amidships
18" - Turrets
6" - Upper Deck
4" - Main Deck
Triple hull below w.l. and internal bulges. |
16" -
Side amidships
18" - Turrets
6" - Upper Deck
4" - Main Deck
Triple hull below w.l. and internal bulges. |
|
Final Disposition: |
April 29, 1962 dedicated at Wilmington, North
Carolina as a memorial to North Carolinas of all services killed
in WW2 |
Struck from the Navy list on June 1, 1960; May
24, 1961 sold for scrapping to Lipsett Division, Luria Brothers
of New York City |
|
Commendations: |
Fifteen Battle Stars in WW2 |
Thiteen Battle Stars in WW2; memorial
with ship's artifacts including bell and wheel at Washington's
state capital in Olympia |
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WW2 History Highlights: |
BB-55
|
- Active December, 1941; to the Pacific Fleet
on June 10, 1942; Guadalcanal and Tulagi on August 7, 1942; August
24, 1942 Battle of Eastern Solomons
- Sept. 15, 1942 torpedo hits port side killing 5; New Georgia
group June 30 to August 31, 1943; Gilbert Islands Nov. 19 to
Dec. 8, 1943
- Bismark Archipelago, Dec. 25, 1943; Marshall Islands Jan. 29
to Feb. 8, 1944; task force strikes on Truck Feb. 16 to May 1,
1944
- Western New Guinea, April 21-24, 1944; April 6, 1945 off Okinawa
- a 5" friendly fire hit kills 3 and wounds 44
- Marianas invasion of Saipan June 11 to 24, 1944; Battle of
the Philippine Sea June 19 and 20, 1944; Leyte operation Nov.
13-25, 1944 and Dec. 14-16, 1944
- Luzon Operation Jan. 6-22, 1945; Iwo Jima Feb. 15, 1945; raids
on Honshu and Nansei Shoto from Feb. 15 to March 1, 1945
- Okinawa Invasion March 17 - April 27, 1945; Third Fleet operations
on Japanese Home Islands July 10-August 15, 1945
- Overhaul at New York late 1945, early 1946; 1946 summer training
cruise for midshipmen
- 1947 inactivated; decommissioned at New York on June 27, 1947;
struck on June 1, 1960; transferred to North Carolina on Sept.
6, 1961 |
BB-56
|
- 1941 Flagship Commander Battleship Division
6 Atlantic Fleet; March 27, 1942 Admiral Wilcox lost overboard
in the Atlantic; March, 1942 to British Home Fleet
- August 23, 1942 to Pacific Fleet Battleship Division 6; Nov.
15, 1942 Battle of Savo Island, sunk Japanese Battleship Kirishima
- January-October, 1943 Pacific Fleet; November, 1943 Gilbert
and Marshall Islands; January, 1944 New Hebrides
- Feb. 1, 1944 off Kwajalein, rammed the Indiana (BB-58); June,
1944 Saipan and Tinian
- June 19, 1944 Battle of the Philippine Sea; June, 1944 Marianas
and Guam; August 1944 Admiralty islands and Palaus
- October-November, 1944 Okinawa, Luzon, Hong Kong,
Canton and Tokyo; February, 1945 Iwo Jma
- February-March, 1945 Japanese Home Islands; April, 1945 Okinawa
- June 6, 1945 to Puget Sound for refit; Oct. 6, 1945 to the
Atlantic Fleet; Nov. 2, 1945 "Magic Carpet" duty
- Out of commission in reserve at New York on June 27, 1947 |
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