The Ships of Battlegroup: United States Mississippi (BB-41)

Displacement	32,600 tons	Belt Armor	14 inches
Overall Length	624 feet	Deck Armor	6 inches
Beam	98 feet	Main Turret Armor	18 inches
Speed	21 knots	Main Guns	12 × 14″

down on April 5, 1915, launched on January 25, 1917 and commissioned on December 18, 1917, the ship carried a main armament of twelve 14 inch main guns mounted three per turret; two centerline superfiring forward and two centerline superfiring aft. The 14 inch guns were longer than in the previous Pennsylvania class, giving them more muzzle velocity, range and accuracy. Mississippi, along with Idaho, was a member of the three-ship New Mexico class and all had oil-fired turbine engines (used in a turbo electric drive to generate electrical propulsion in the New Mexico only). Like all U. S. battleships built after the New York class, the Mississippi was built using the "all or nothing" protection scheme and this class had the thickest possible armor for the most vulnerable parts of the ship and well-designed internal compartmenting to limit flooding in less vulnerable places. The ships of the New Mexico class were also the first United States battleships to sport a handsome "clipper" bow. All United States battleships, with the exception of the pre-dreadnought Kearsarge, were named after states, a custom that went back to the naming of wooden ships of the line. Also, dating from 1920, they were assigned a hull number that was normally displayed on the hull.

An earlier, pre-dreadnought U. S. S. Mississippi (BB-23) served in the United States Navy from 1908 until 1914, when she was sold to Greece and renamed Kilkis. The Kilkis was sunk by German Stuka dive bombers at Salamis on April 23, 1941.

In World War One, Mississippi served with the United States Atlantic Fleet and saw no action. During gunnery practice on June 12, 1924, an accidental turret fire took 48 lives. Between the wars, she served with both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets, with time out for an overhaul and updating from 1931–1932 (when her deck armor was greatly increased, thanks to extra plates left over from ships scrapped due to the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922) after which she rejoined the Pacific Fleet. Returning to the Atlantic Fleet in mid 1941, she participated in "Neutrality Patrols" until the United States entered the Second World War in December 1941.

She continued on Atlantic escort duties until July 1942 and then transferred to the Pacific, where she compiled a superb record in repeated amphibious landings. Mississippi provided heavy fire support during the invasions of the Aleutians, Tarawa, Makin, Kwajalein, Taroa, Watje and Kavieng through March of 1944. After a refit that included replacing her worn gun barrels, Mississippi returned to the business of pounding coral and lava into smaller pieces at Saipan, Peleliu and Leyte. On October 25, 1944, at the Battle of Surigao Strait, in concert with PT boat and destroyer torpedo attacks plus the big guns of California, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia, Mississippi, the flagship of Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf (1887–1974), destroyed Japanese battleships Fuso and Yamashiro in addition to all but one of their escorts. This particular segment of the Battle of Leyte Gulf was the last battle in history where battleship fired on battleship.

Off Lingayen Gulf, on January 9, 1945, a kamikaze hit her armored bridge and caused only slight damage and another kamikaze hit off Okinawa was again brushed off. By the end of the war, Mississippi had a reputation as the best shore bombardment ship in the entire U. S. Navy. The ship was proudly present in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, for the formal Japanese surrender. 

After the war, she was converted from 1946 – 1947 into a gunnery training and experimental vessel (with the new hull number of EAG-128) to replace the old Wyoming. Progressively disarmed, the second turret was replaced with an automated 6-inch battery in 1950 and the third and fourth turrets were removed for missile turrets in 1952 for use as a guided missile trial vessel.

Decommissioned on July 31, 1956, the old soldier faded away and was sold for scrap in November of that same year.

For other ships with 14 inch guns, see: Haruna, Hiei, Hyuga, Ise, King George V, Kirishima, Kongo, Pennsylvania and Texas .

For a further discussion of what happened to the battleships of World War One, see the Introduction to these articles.