The Ships of Battlegroup: United States Washington (BB-56)

Displacement	38,000 tons	Belt Armor	12 inches
Overall Length	729 feet	Deck Armor	4.6 inches
Beam	108.3 feet	Main Turret Armor	16 inches
Speed	28.5 knots	Main Guns	9 × 16″

Prior to building BB-56 a number of ships with the Washington name served in the United States Navy, including BB-47, a never-completed member of the Colorado class battleships that was expended as a target when three-quarters completed. All United States dreadnought battleships were named after states, a custom that went back to the naming of wooden ships of the line during the age of sail and all battleships were assigned a hull number from 1920 that was normally displayed on the hull. The first United States battleships built since the 1920s were the two North Carolinas. When launched, North Carolina and her sister ship Washington were among the most powerful battleships in the world, outclassed only by the newer and later Iowa class battleships, as they joined the fleet, and by the two much larger Japanese Yamato class battleships, with their 18-inch guns and thicker armor, although the Japanese battlewagons had much inferior radar.

Washington was laid down on June 14, 1938; launched on June 1, 1940 and commissioned on May 15, 1941. In March 1942, she joined the British Home Fleet and, in July, was a distant escort for a Murmansk convoy and just missed a brush with the German battleship Tirpitz. Sent to the Pacific in September, she sank the Japanese battleship Kirishima off Guadalcanal on the night of November 14/15, 1942. After convoy duties in the Solomons and a refit, in November 1943, Washington assisted in the Gilbert Islands invasion, joining in the operational pattern for the new battleships of screening the fast carriers with antiaircraft guns and supporting landings with barrages from the big guns. After operations against Kwajalein and Majuro, Washington collided with Indiana on February 2, 1944 and was under repair until May. After that she participated in all of the fast carrier’s raids and battles through the invasion of Okinawa, after which she underwent a refit that lasted until the war ended.

Decommissioned on June 27, 1947, she was deleted on June 1, 1960 and sent to the breakers in July 1962.

The Washington usually accompanied the fast carriers, including: Enterprise, Hornet, Intrepid, Lexington and Yorktown .

The Washington was one of ten new United States battleships constructed during World War Two, including: Alabama, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin .

Where did we get all these fascinating historical tidbits and factoids? See the Bibliography for the culprits.