USS Washington (BB-56)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Washington.

USS Washington anchored at the Puget Sound Navy Yard
History
US
Name	USS Washington
Namesake	State of Washington
Ordered	1 August 1937
Builder	Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
Laid down	14 June 1938
Launched	1 June 1940
Commissioned	15 May 1941
Decommissioned	27 June 1947
Stricken	1 June 1960
Fate	Sold for scrap, 24 May 1961
General characteristics
Class and type	North Carolina-class battleship
Displacement	35,000 tons
Length	729 ft (222 m)
Beam	108 ft (33 m)
Draft	38 ft (12 m)
Speed	27 kn (31 mph; 50 km/h)
Complement	108 officers, 1,772 men
Sensors and processing systems	CXAM-1 RADAR from 1940
Armament	9 × 16 in (410 mm)/45 cal Mark 6 guns 20 × 5 in (130 mm) guns 16 × 1.1 in (28 mm) autocannons

USS Washington (BB-56), the second of two North Carolina-class battleships, was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 42nd state. Her keel was laid down on 14 June 1938 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She was launched on 1 June 1940 under the sponsorship of Miss Virginia Marshall of Spokane, Washington, a direct descendant of former United States Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall; and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 May 1941, Captain Howard H.J. Benson in command. Washington was one of fourteen ships to receive the early RCA CXAM radar.

Washington had the distinction of having served the entire Pacific War without losing a man to hostile action, and only being hit once by enemy ordnance: a 5 in (130 mm) shell that passed through her radar antenna without detonation, off Guadalcanal. There were some close calls - as she was exiting the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, several Japanese "Long Lance" torpedoes detonated in her wake. Several Washington sailors died in minor accidents, and she was involved in a serious collision with the Indiana, killing and wounding several more in February 1944.

Construction and commissioning

For further information, see

Washington and her sister ship North Carolina were both authorized in January 1937. Five shipyards, three private and two government, bid to build the ships. As the government-owned yards (the New York Naval Shipyard and Philadelphia Naval Shipyard) had significantly lower tenders, the navy assigned North Carolina to the former and Washington to the latter. Washington's keel was laid on 14 June 1938 in Philadelphia's Slipway #3, and the hull was launched at 1016 on 1 June 1940. Fitting-out commenced soon after; the main guns were transported from the Washington Navy Yard onboard two barges towed by USS Navajo (AT-64). Once complete, Washington was commissioned into the United States Navy on 15 May 1941.

Washington was 728 feet 11.625 inches (222.18968 m) long, 108 feet 3.875 inches (33.01683 m) wide, and had a 34 feet 9 inches (10.59 m) maximum draft. The ship was powered by eight Babcock & Wilcox three drum express type boilers driving four sets of General Electric geared turbines. These could provide about 121,000 shp to four propellers, giving the ship a top speed of about 28 knots (32 mph; 52 km/h). At the more economical 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h), Washington could steam for 17,450 nautical miles (20,080 mi; 32,320 km).

Washington's main battery was composed of nine 16-inch (410 mm)/45 caliber Mark 6 guns, with the fore two superfiring. Secondary armament included dual purpose 5-inch (130 mm)/38 caliber Mark 12 guns, all arranged around the superstructure, and greatly varying numbers of 1.1-inch (28-millimetre), .50 caliber machine guns, Bofors 40 mm and Oerkilon 20 mm.

Early career

Although commissioned, her engine had not been run at full power—like North Carolina, Washington had major problems with acute longitudinal vibrations from her propeller shafts. A problem shared with her sister and other ships like Atlanta, it was only cured after different propellers were tested aboard North Carolina, including five, four and cut-down versions of the original three-bladed. Eventually, a combination of two four-bladed on the outside and two five-bladed inboard partially solved the issue, allowing Washington to run builder's trials, which she did on 3 August 1941. Loaded at about 44,400 long tons (45,100 t), the propulsion plant was run up to 123,850 shp, but speed was not recorded. On 2 December, Washington was able to steam at about 28 knots (32 mph; 52 km/h) when loaded at about 42,100 long tons (42,800 t), while a full power trial at 45,000 long tons yielded 27.1 knots (31.2 mph; 50.2 km/h). In February 1942 she achieved 127,100 and 121,000 shp. Still, various propeller combinations were being tried through the greater part of 1943, and the vibrations were never fully corrected.

Atlantic service

Her shakedown and underway training ranged along the eastern seaboard and into the Gulf of Mexico and lasted through American entry into World War II in December 1941. Sometimes operating in company with her sister ship North Carolina and the new aircraft carrier Hornet, Washington became the flagship for Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., Commander, Battleship Division 6 (ComBatDiv 6), and Commander, Battleships, Atlantic Fleet.

Assigned duty as flagship for Task Force 39 (TF 39) on 26 March 1942 at Portland, Maine, Washington again flew Admiral Wilcox's flag as she steamed for the British Isles that day. Slated to reinforce the British Home Fleet, the battleship, together with the aircraft carrier Wasp, and the heavy cruisers Wichita and Tuscaloosa, steamed for Scapa Flow, the large British fleet base in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, to protect British home waters for the duration of Operation Ironclad - the British invasion of Vichy French controlled Madagascar.

While steaming through moderately heavy seas the following day, 27 March, the "man overboard" alarm sounded onboard Washington, and a quick muster revealed that Admiral Wilcox was missing. Tuscaloosa, 1,000 yd (910 m) astern, maneuvered and dropped life buoys, while two destroyers headed for Washington's wake to search for the missing admiral. Airplanes from Wasp, despite the foul weather, also took off to help in the search.

Lookouts in the destroyer Wilson spotted Wilcox's body in the water, face down, some distance away, but she could not pick it up. The circumstances surrounding Wilcox being washed overboard from his flagship have never been fully explained; some schools of thought have it that he either suffered a severe heart attack, or else committed suicide. The Navy's Board of Investigation proceedings concluded that Wilcox died in the line of duty, and not as the result of any negligence or other wrongdoing.

At 1228 on 27 March, the search for Adm. Wilcox was abandoned, and command of the task force devolved upon the next senior officer, Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen, whose flag flew in the cruiser Wichita. On 4 April, the task force reached Scapa Flow, joining the British Home Fleet under the overall command of Sir John Tovey, whose flag flew from the battleship HMS King George V.

USS Washington in the northern Atlantic, April 1942

Washington engaged in maneuvers and battle practice with units of the Home Fleet, out of Scapa Flow, into late April, when TF 39 was redesignated as TF 99 with Washington as flagship. On 28 April, the force got underway to engage in reconnaissance for the protection of the vital convoys carrying war supplies to the seaport of Murmansk in the northern Soviet Union.

During those operations, tragedy befell the force. On 1 May 1942, King George V collided with the Tribal-class destroyer HMS Punjabi, which was cut in two, and then sank quickly directly in the path of the oncoming Washington. Compelled to pass between the halves of the sinking destroyer, the battleship proceeded ahead, and Punjabi's depth charges exploded beneath her hull as she passed.

Fortunately for Washington, she suffered neither any major hull damage nor developed any hull leaks from the concussion of the exploding depth charges. She did, however, sustain damage to some of her delicate fire control systems and radars; and a diesel oil tank suffered a small leak.

Two destroyers, meanwhile, picked up Punjabi's captain, four other officers, and 182 seamen. King George V then proceeded back to Scapa Flow for repairs. Washington and her escorts remained at sea until 5 May, when TF 99 put into the Icelandic port of Hvalfjörður to provision from the supply ship Mizar. While at Hvalfjörður, the American and Danish ministers to Iceland called upon Admiral Giffen and inspected his flagship on 12 May.

King George VI aboard Washington, June 7, 1942

TF 99 subsequently sortied out on 15 May to rendezvous with units of the Home Fleet and returned to Scapa Flow on 3 June. The next day, Admiral Harold R. Stark, Commander, Naval Forces, Europe, came on board and broke out his flag on Washington, establishing a temporary administrative headquarters on board. The battleship hosted the monarch King George VI at Scapa Flow on 7 June, when King George VI came on board to inspect the battleship.

Soon after Admiral Stark left Washington, the battleship resumed her operations with the Home Fleet, patrolling part of the Allied shipping lanes leading to the Russian ports. On 14 July 1942, Admiral Giffen hauled down his flag on the battleship at Hvalfjörður, and then shifted it to Wichita. That same day, Washington, with a screen of four destroyers, hoisted up her anchor and put to sea, leaving Icelandic waters in her wake. She reached Gravesend Bay, New York on 21 July, and two days later, she shifted to the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, for a thorough overhaul.

Pacific service

1942

Upon completion of her refit, Washington steamed for the Pacific on 23 August, escorted by three destroyers. Five days later, she transited the Panama Canal, and on 14 September reached Tongatapu, Tonga Island, in the South Pacific. On that day, Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee, Jr., broke out his flag on Washington as ComBatDiv 6, and the Commander of Task Group 12.2 (TG 12.2).

On the next day, 15 September, Washington put to sea, bound for a rendezvous with TF 17, the force formed around the aircraft carrier Hornet. Washington then proceeded to Nouméa, New Caledonia, to support the ongoing Solomon Islands campaign, providing escort services for various reinforcement convoys proceeding to and from Guadalcanal. During those weeks, the battleship's principal bases of operation were Nouméa and Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides islands.

By mid-November, the situation in the Solomons was far from good for the Americans, who were now down to one operational aircraft carrier, Enterprise, after the sinking of Wasp in September and Hornet in October, and Japanese surface warships were subjecting the Marine Henderson Field on Guadalcanal to heavy bombardments with disturbing frequency. Significantly, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) made its numerous naval forays at night, the "Tokyo Express", since Allied planes from Henderson Filed controlled the skies and the seas during the daytime. That meant that the Americans were free to move their replenishment and reinforcement convoys into Guadalcanal waters during the daylight hours, and the IJN did so at night.

Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

Main article: Naval Battle of Guadalcanal

Washington performed those vital duties into mid-November 1942. On 9 November, naval intelligence officers learned that three groups of Japanese ships, one consisting of about 24 transports with escorts, were steaming toward Guadalcanal. One enemy force sighted that morning was reported as consisting of two battleships, a light cruiser, and 11 destroyers.

"Stand aside. I am coming through."

Admiral Willis A. Lee

At sunset on 13 November, Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee led out Washington, South Dakota, and four destroyers, and headed for Savo Island, the scene of the costly night combat actions of the Battle of Savo Island on 9 August, to be in position to intercept the Japanese convoy and its covering force. Lee's ships, designated as TF 64, reached a point about 50 mi (90 km) south-by-west from Guadalcanal late in the forenoon on 14 November and spent much of the remainder of the day trying, unsuccessfully, to avoid being spotted by Japanese reconnaissance planes.

Approaching on a northerly course, nine miles west of Guadalcanal, TF 64 was reported by the Japanese reconnaissance planes to consist of a battleship, a cruiser, and four destroyers steaming in column formation. Walke led, followed by Benham, Preston, Gwin, and the two battleships, Washington and South Dakota.

As the ships steamed through the flat calm sea beneath the scattered cirrus cumulus clouds in the night sky, Washington's radar picked up a contact, bearing to the east of Savo Island, at 0001 hours on 15 November. 15 minutes later, at 0016, the Washington opened fire with her 16 in (410 mm) main battery. The battle was underway.

The Japanese force proved to be the battleship Kirishima, the heavy cruisers Atago and Takao, the light cruisers Sendai and Nagara, and a screen of nine destroyers leading in four transports. Planning to conduct a bombardment of the Marine positions on Guadalcanal to cover the landing of troops the following day, the Japanese force ran head-on into Lee's TF 64.

For the next three minutes, Washington's 16 in (410 mm) guns hurled out 42 rounds, opening at 18,500 yd (16,900 m) range, her fire aimed at Sendai. Simultaneously, the battleship's 5 in (130 mm) dual-purpose battery was engaging another ship that was also being shelled by South Dakota.

As gun-flashes split the night and the rumble of gunfire reverberated like thunder off the islands nearby, Washington continued to engage the Japanese force. Between 0025 and 0034 hours, she engaged targets at 10,000 yd (9,100 m) range with her 5 in (130 mm) battery.

Washington fires at the Japanese battleship Kirishima.

Most significantly, however, Washington soon engaged Kirishima in the first head-to-head confrontation of battleships in the Pacific War. In seven minutes, tracking by radar, the Washington fired 75 rounds of 16 in (410 mm) and 107 rounds of 5 in (130 mm) shells at ranges from 8,400 to 12,650 yd (7,680 to 11,570 m), scoring at least nine hits with her main 16 in (410 mm) battery, and about 40 with her 5 in (130 mm) guns, silencing the IJN battleship Kirishima in short order, and setting her on fire. Subsequently, Washington's 5 in (130 mm) batteries went to work firing on other targets spotted by her radar sets.

This naval battle off Guadalcanal, however, was not all one-sided. Japanese gunfire proved devastating to the four destroyers of TF 64, as did the powerful Japanese Long Lance torpedoes. Walke and Preston both took numerous hits of all calibers and sank; Benham sustained heavy damage to her bow, and Gwin sustained shell hits aft.

South Dakota had maneuvered to avoid the burning Walke and Preston but soon found herself to be the target of the entire Japanese bombardment group. Skewered by searchlight beams, South Dakota boomed out salvoes at the IJN force, as did Washington which was proceeding, at that point, to deal out severe punishment upon Kirishima, one of South Dakota's assailants.

South Dakota, suddenly crippled by an electrical power failure, became the recipient of numerous hits. She retired as Washington steamed north to draw fire away from her crippled battleship comrade, and from the two crippled destroyers Benham and Gwin. Initially, the remaining ships of the Japanese bombardment group gave chase to Washington but they broke off action when discouraged by the battleship's heavy guns. Afterwards, they withdrew under cover of a smokescreen.

After Washington evaded torpedoes fired by the Japanese destroyers in the van of the enemy force, having several detonate in her wake as she retired, she joined South Dakota later in the morning, shaping course for Nouméa. In the battleship action, Washington had done well and had emerged undamaged, except for one non-exploding 5 in (130 mm) shell through one of her radar antennas. South Dakota had not emerged unscathed, however, sustaining heavy damage to her superstructure; 38 fatalities; and 60 wounded. The Japanese had lost Kirishima. Left burning and exploding, she later was abandoned and scuttled by her crew. The other enemy casualty was the destroyer Ayanami, scuttled the next morning.

1943

While South Dakota steamed all the way to New York City for major repairs, Washington remained in the South Pacific theater, based at New Caledonia and continuing as flagship for Rear Admiral Lee. The battleship protected aircraft carrier groups and task forces engaged in the ongoing Solomons campaign until late in April 1943, operating principally with TF 11, which included the recently repaired Saratoga, which had been hit by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine, and with TF 16, built around Enterprise.

Washington departed from Nouméa on 30 April 1943, bound for Hawaii. While en route, TF 16 joined up; and, together, the ships reached Pearl Harbor on 8 May, Washington, as a unit of, and the flagship of, TF 60, carried out battle practice in Hawaiian waters until 28 May 1943, after which time she entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard for more overhaul.

Washington resumed battle practice in the Hawaiian operating area upon conclusion of those repairs and alterations and joined a convoy on 27 July to form TG 56.14, bound for the South Pacific. Detached on 6 August, Washington reached Havannah Harbor at Efate in the New Hebrides on 7 August. She then operated out of Efate until late in October, principally engaged in battle practice and tactics with the fast carrier task force.

Departing Havannah Harbor on the last day of October, Washington steamed as a unit of TG 53.2 — four battleships and six destroyers. The next day, carriers Enterprise, Essex, and Independence, as well as the other screening units of TG 53.3, joined TG 53.2 and came under Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee. The ships held combined maneuvers until 6 November, when the carriers departed the formation. Washington, with her escorts, steamed to Viti Levu, in the Fiji Islands, arriving on 7 November.

Four days later, however, Washington was again underway, with Rear Admiral Lee — by that point Commander, Battleships, Pacific — embarked, in company with other units of BatDivs 8 and 9. On 16 November, the battlewagons and their screens joined. Rear Admiral Charles Alan Pownall's TG 50.1, with Rear Admiral Pownall flying his flag on Yorktown. The combined force then proceeded toward the Gilbert Islands to join in the daily bombings of Japanese positions in the Gilbert Islands and Marshall Islands, softening them up for impending amphibious assault.

On 19 November, the planes from TG 50.1 attacked Mili and Jaluit in the Marshalls, continuing those strikes through 20 November, the day upon which Navy, Marine, and Army forces landed on Tarawa and Makin in the Gilberts. On 22 November, the task group sent its planes against Mili in successive waves; subsequently, the group steamed to operate north of Makin.

Washington rendezvoused with other carrier groups that composed TF 50 on 25 November and, during the reorganization that followed, she was assigned to TG 50.4, the fast carrier task group under the command of Rear Admiral Frederick C. Sherman. The carriers comprising the core of the group were Bunker Hill and Monterey. The other two battleships screening the carriers were Alabama and South Dakota. Eight destroyers rounded out the screen.

This task group operated north of Makin, providing air, surface, and antisubmarine protection for the unfolding unloading operations at Makin, starting on 26 November. Enemy planes attacked the group on 27-28 November, but these were driven off without inflicting any damage on the fast carrier task group.

As the Gilbert Islands campaign drew to a close, TG 50.8 was formed on 6 December, under Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee, in Washington. Other ships of that group included sister ship North Carolina, Massachusetts, Indiana, South Dakota, and Alabama and the fleet carrier Bunker Hill and the light carrier Monterey. 11 destroyers screened the heavy ships.

The group first steamed south and west of Ocean Island to take position for the scheduled air and surface bombardment of the island of Nauru. Before dawn on 8 December, the carriers launched their strike groups while the bombardment force formed in column; 135 rounds of 16 in (410 mm) fire from the six battleships were fired at the Japanese installations on Nauru; and, upon completion of the shelling, the battleships' secondary batteries took their turn; two airplanes from each battleship spotted the fall of shells.

After a further period of air strikes had been flown off against Nauru, the task group steamed for Efate, where they arrived on 12 December. On that day, due to a change in the highest command echelons, TF 57 became TF 37.

1944

Washington remained at Efate for less than two weeks. Underway on Christmas Day, flying Rear Admiral Lee's flag, the battleship steamed out in company with her sister ship North Carolina and a screen of four destroyers to conduct gunnery practice, returning to the New Hebrides on 7 January 1944.

Eleven days later, the battleship departed from Efate for the Ellice Islands. Joining TG 37.2, the aircraft carriers Monterey and Bunker Hill and four destroyers, Washington reached Funafuti, Ellice Islands, on 20 January. Three days later, the battleship, along with the rest of the task group, put to sea to make rendezvous with elements of TF 58, the Fast Carrier Task Force under the overall command of Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher. Becoming part of TG 58.1, Washington screened the fast carriers in her group as they launched air strikes on Taroa and Kwajalein in the waning days of January 1944. Washington, together with Massachusetts and Indiana, left the formation with four destroyers as an ASW screen, and they shelled Kwajalein Atoll on 30 January. Further air strikes followed the next day.

On 1 February, Washington, while maneuvering in the darkness, rammed Indiana as that ship cut across Washington's bow while dropping out of formation to fuel escorting destroyers. Both battleships retired for repairs. Washington had sustained 60 ft (18 m) of crumpled bow plating, and several of her sailors were killed or seriously injured. The captain of Indiana immediately admitted fault for this collision.

Both ships entered the lagoon at Majuro the next morning. Subsequently, after her damaged bow was reinforced temporarily, Washington departed from Majuro on 11 February, bound for Pearl Harbor, Oahu.

With a temporary bow fitted at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Washington continued on to the West Coast of the United States. Reaching the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, the Washington received a new bow over the weeks that followed her arrival. Joining BatDiv 4 at Port Townsend, Washington, Washington embarked 500 additional men as passengers, and she steamed towards Pearl Harbor, reaching her destination on 13 June, and disembarking her passengers.

Arriving back at Majuro on 30 May, Washington again flew Admiral Lee's flag as he shifted to this battleship soon after her arrival. Lee, now a Vice Admiral, rode on the battleship as she headed out to sea again, departing from Majuro on 7 June and joining Mitscher's TF 58.

Washington supported the air strikes pummeling enemy defenses in the Mariana Islands on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Rota, and Pagan. TF 58's fliers also attacked twice and damaged a Japanese convoy in the vicinity on 12 June. The following day, Vice Admiral Lee's battleship-destroyer task group was detached from the main body of the force and conducted shore bombardment against enemy installations on Saipan and Tinian. Relieved on 14 June by two task groups under Rear Admirals Jesse B. Oldendorf and Walden L. Ainsworth, Vice Admiral Lee's group retired momentarily.

On 15 June, Admiral Mitscher's TF 58 planes bombed Japanese installations on Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands and Chichi Jima and Haha Jima in the Bonin Islands. Meanwhile, marines landed on Saipan under cover of intensive naval gunfire and carrier-based planes.

That same day, Admiral Jisaburō Ozawa, commanding the main body of the Japanese Fleet, was ordered to attack and destroy the invasion force in the Marianas. The departure of his carrier group, however, came under the scrutiny of the submarine Redfin, as it left Tawi Tawi, the westernmost island in the Sulu Archipelago.

Flying Fish also sighted Ozawa's force as it entered the Philippine Sea. Cavalla radioed a contact report on an enemy refueling group on 16 June and continued tracking it as it headed for the Marianas. She again sighted Japanese Combined Fleet units on 18 June.

Admiral Raymond Spruance, commanding the 5th Fleet, had meanwhile learned of the Japanese movement and accordingly issued his battle plan. Vice Admiral Lee's force formed a protective screen around the vital fleet carriers. Washington, six other battleships, four heavy cruisers, and 14 destroyers deployed to cover the flattops; on 19 June, the ships came under attack from Japanese carrier-based and land-based planes as the Battle of the Philippine Sea commenced. The tremendous firepower of the screen, however, together with the aggressive combat air patrols flown from the American carriers, proved too much for even the aggressive Japanese. The heavy loss of Japanese aircraft, sometimes referred to as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot", caused serious losses in the Japanese naval air arm. During four massive raids, the enemy launched 373 planes; only 130 returned.

In addition, 50 land-based bombers from Guam fell in flames. Over 930 American carrier planes were involved in the aerial action; their losses amounted to comparatively few: 29 shot down and six lost operationally without the loss of a single ship in Mitscher's task force.

Only a few of the enemy planes managed to get through the barrage of flak and fighters, one scoring a direct hit on South Dakota, killing 27 and wounding 29. A bomb burst over the flight deck of the carrier Wasp, killing one man, wounding 12, and covering her flight deck with bits of phosphorus. Two planes dove on Bunker Hill, one scoring a near miss and the other a hit that holed an elevator, knocking out the hangar deck gasoline system temporarily; killing three and wounding 79. Several fires started were promptly quenched. In addition, Minneapolis and Indiana also received slight damage.

Not only did the Japanese lose heavily in planes; two of their carriers were soon on their way to the bottom. Taihō was torpedoed and sunk by Albacore; Shōkaku was sunk by Cavalla. His flagship Taihō sunk out from under him, Admiral Ozawa transferred his flag to Zuikaku.

As the Battle of the Philippine Sea proceeded to a close, the Japanese Mobile Fleet steamed back to its bases, defeated. Admiral Mitscher's task force meanwhile retired to cover the invasion operations proceeding in the Marianas. Washington fueled east of that chain of islands and then continued her screening duties with TG 58.4 to the south and west of Saipan, supporting the continuing air strikes on islands in the Marianas, the strikes concentrated on Guam by that point.

On 25 July, aircraft of TG 58.4 conducted air strikes on the Palau Islands and on enemy shipping in the vicinity, continuing their schedule of strikes through 6 August. On that day, Washington, with Iowa, Indiana, Alabama, the light cruiser Birmingham, and a destroyer screen, was detached from the screen of TG 58.4, forming TG 58.7, under Vice Admiral Lee. That group arrived at Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands to refuel and replenish on 11 August and remained there for almost the balance of the month. On 30 August, that group departed, headed for, first, the Admiralty Islands, and ultimately, the Palaus.

Washington's heavy guns supported the taking of Peleliu and Angaur in the Palaus and supported the carrier strikes on Okinawa on 10 October, on northern Luzon and Formosa from 11-14 October, as well as the Visayan air strikes on 21 October. From 5 November 1944-17 February 1945, Washington, as a vital unit of the fast carrier striking forces, supported raids on Okinawa, in the Ryukyu Islands; Formosa; Luzon; Camranh Bay and Saigon in French Indochina; Hong Kong; Canton; Hainan Island; Nansei Shoto; and the heart of the enemy homeland, Tokyo itself.

1945

From 19-22 February, Washington's heavy rifles hurled 16 in (410 mm) shells shoreward in support of the landings on Iwo Jima. In preparation for the assault Washington's main and secondary batteries destroyed gun positions, troop concentrations, and other ground installations. From 23 February-16 March, the fast battleship supported the unfolding invasion of Iwo Jima, including a carrier raid upon Tokyo on 25 February. On 18-19 March, and again on 29 March, Washington screened the Fleet's carriers as they launched airstrikes against Japanese airfields and other installations on the island of Kyūshū. On 24 March, and again on 19 April, Washington lent her support to the shellings of Japanese positions on the island of Okinawa.

Anchoring at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, on 1 June 1945 after an almost ceaseless slate of operations, Washington steamed for the west coast of the United States on 6 June, making stops at Guam and Pearl Harbor before reaching the Puget Sound Navy Yard on 28 June.

As it turned out, Washington would not participate in active combat in the Pacific theater again. Her final wartime refit carried on through V-J Day in mid-August 1945 and the formal Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay on 2 September. She completed her post-repair trials and conducted underway training out of San Pedro, California, before she headed for the Panama Canal returning to the Atlantic Ocean. Joining TG 11.6 on 6 October, with Vice Admiral Frederick C. Sherman in overall command, she soon transited the Panama Canal and headed for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the place where she had been "born". Arriving at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 17 October, she participated in Navy Day ceremonies there on 27 October.

Post-war

Assigned to troop transport duty on 2 November 1945 as part of Operation Magic Carpet, Washington went into dockyard hands on that day, emerging on 15 November with additional bunking facilities below and a crew that now consisted of only 84 officers and 835 men. Steaming on 16 November for the British Isles, Washington reached Southampton, England on 22 November.

After embarking 185 Army officers and 1,479 enlisted men, Washington steamed for New York City. She completed that voyage and, after that brief stint as a transport, was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 27 June 1947. Assigned to the New York group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Washington remained inactive through the late 1950s, ultimately being struck from the Naval Vessel Registry on 1 June 1960. The vessel was sold on 24 May 1961, and was scrapped soon thereafter.

Awards

Washington earned 13 battle stars during World War II in operations that had carried her from the Arctic Circle off Norway, to the southern and western Pacific.

Bibliography

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
• Friedman, Norman. U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1985. ISBN 0870217151. OCLC 12214729.
• Garzke, William H., and Robert O. Dulin. Battleships: United States Battleships in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1976. ISBN 0870210998. OCLC 2414211.
• Muir Jr., Malcolm. "Gun Calibers and Battle Zones: The United States Navy's Foremost Concern During the 1930s." Warship International no. 1 (1980): 24–35. ISSN 00430374 OCLC 1647131

External links

• Newsreel of USS Washington commissioning
• Maritimequest.com: USS Washington photo gallery
• history.navy.mil: USS Washington
• navsource.org: USS Washington
• hazegray.org: USS Washington
• USS Washington BB56 Home Port
• War Service Fuel Consumption of U.S. Naval Surface Vessels FTP 218