 USS ''Washington'' (BB-56), the second of two North Carolina 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 Navy Yard. 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.}} At sunset on 13 November, Rear Admiral Willis A. Lee led out ''Washington'', South Dakota BB-57 2, 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 DD-416 2 led, followed by Benham DD-397 2, Preston DD-379 2, Gwin DD-433 2, 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 mm abbr=on main battery. The battle was underway. The Japanese force proved to be the battleship Japanese battleship Kirishima 2, the heavy cruisers Japanese cruiser Atago 2 and Japanese cruiser Takao 2, the light cruisers Japanese cruiser Sendai 2 and Japanese cruiser Nagara 2, 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 mm abbr=on guns hurled out 42 rounds, opening at 18500 yd m abbr=on range, her fire aimed at ''Sendai''. Simultaneously, the battleship's 5 in mm abbr=on 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 nearbydate=September 2008, ''Washington'' continued to engage the Japanese force. Between 0025 and 0034 hours, she engaged targets at 10000 yd m abbr=on range with her 5 in mm abbr=on battery. 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 mm abbr=on and 107 rounds of 5 in mm abbr=on shells at ranges from 8400 to 12650 yd m abbr=on, scoring at least nine hits with her main 16 in mm abbr=on battery, and about 40 with her 5 in mm abbr=on guns, silencing the IJN battleship ''Kirishima'' in short order, and setting her on fire. Subsequently, ''Washington''s 5 in mm abbr=on 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. 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 mm abbr=on 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 was scuttled by the her crew. The other enemy casualty was the destroyer Japanese destroyer Ayanami 2, 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 CV-3 2, which had been hit by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine, and with TF 16, built around Enterprise CV-6 2. 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 CV-9 2, and Independence CVL-22 2, 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 CV-10 2. 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. 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 BB-55 2, Massachusetts BB-59 2, Indiana BB-58 2, ''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 mm abbr=on 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 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 m abbr=on 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. 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 SS-272 2, as it left Tawi Tawi, the westernmost island in the Sulu Archipelago. Flying Fish SS-229 2 also sighted Ozawa's force as it entered the Philippine Sea. Cavalla SS-244 2 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 CV-18 2, 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 CA-36 2 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. Japanese aircraft carrier Taihō 2 was torpedoed and sunk by Albacore SS-218 2; Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku 2 was sunk by ''Cavalla''. His flagship ''Taihō'' sunk out from under him, Admiral Ozawa transferred his flag to Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku 2. 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 BB-61 2, ''Indiana'', ''Alabama'', the light cruiser Birmingham CL-62 2, 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. 1945 From 19-22 February, ''Washington''s heavy rifles hurled 16 in mm abbr=on 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. |
