West Virginia

U.S.S. West Virginia

BB-48

1945

(Neptun 1303)

Class: Colorado - 3 battleships of 1916
Displacement: 37,800 tons
Dimensions: 600(wl) 624(oa) x 114 x 30 ft.
Machinery: 4-shaft turbo-electric drive, S.H.P. 31,000 = 21 knots
Armor: belt 16 in., turrets 18 in.
Armament: 8-16"/45 (4x2), 16-5"/38 (8x2), 40-40mm (10x4) A.A. guns
Complement: 2,100

Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, VA
Keel Laid: 12 Apr 1920
Launched: 19 Nov 1921
Commissioned: 1 Dec 1923
Sunk: 7 Dec 1941
Rebuilt: Puget Sound Naval Yard
Recommissioned: Sep 1944
Decommissioned: 9 Jan 1947
Scrapped: Jan 1961

Actions: Pearl Harbor, Leyte, Surigao Strait, Lingayen, Iwo Jima, Okinawa. At Pearl Harbor she took two bomb hits and six torpedoes, but settled on an even keel. Salvage and rebuilding took until mid-1944, with torpedo blisters added, increased deck armor, and greatly enhanced AA as shown here.

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