Battleships: New Mexico Class

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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS New Mexico pictured anchored in the Hudson River in 1918.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS New Mexico pictured under repair at Norfolk Navy Yard on December 31st 1941..Cargo ship USS Menemsha (centre) being moved, with Sims Class Destroyer USS O'Brien in the background.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS New Mexico pictured on launch day at Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 13th 1917.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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New Mexico Class Super Dreadnought Battleship USS Mississippi pictured at New York in 1918.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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New Mexico Class Super Dreadnought USS Mississippi's forward 14 inch 50 calibre main armament....While conducting gunnery practice off San Pedro on June 12th 1924, there was an explosion in her forward superfiring Gun Turret No. 2. The resulting fire asphyxiated 44 members of the turret crew. Upon returning to port the gunpowder that was still in the remaining gun in the turret, exploded and killed four members of the rescue team. The shell that was in the gun narrowly missed the passenger ship Yale. This was, at the time, the deadliest peace-time disaster in the USN's history...Based on the survivor’s account, the Navy believed that a fire or burning debris was present in the gun barrel and ignited the powder bags. Although each barrel was blasted between firings with pressurized air to evacuate debris, the middle barrel of each turret received a lower pressure burst than the left and right barrels. This could have led to dangerous debris remaining in the breech when the gun crew assumed it was safe to load.
Nearly twenty years—and a major refit later—the USS Mississippi went to war in the Pacific. In 1943, the big Battleship was off the coast of Makin Island, providing naval gunfire support to a landing force preparing to secure the island. After an extensive preliminary bombardment, the Marine assault force headed towards the beach and Mississippi and the other ships increased their rate of fire.
Suddenly, in the midst of the barrage, smoke and gas erupted from the rangefinders on either side of the number two turret. Incredibly it had happened again: in their haste to lay down a rain of shells on the Japanese, the gunners of number two turret had apparently experienced yet another flare back. Debris from firing the big guns had again ignited powder bags, causing the same accident and the same damage. Forty-two sailors were killed and another sixteen wounded. The Battleship’s three remaining turrets continued firing until the naval support phase of the invasion had ended.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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New Mexico Class Battleship USS Mississippi pictured in 1941...She was built at Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia, from her keel laying in April 1915, her launching in January 1917, and her commissioning in December that year. She was armed with a battery of twelve 14-inch guns in four three-gun turrets, and was protected by heavy armour plate, with her main belt armor being 13.5 inches thick.
She remained in North American waters during World War I, conducting training exercises to work up the crew. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, she served in the Pacific Fleet. In May 1941, with World War II and the Battle of the Atlantic raging, Mississippi and her two sister ships were transferred to the Atlantic Fleet to help protect American shipping through the Neutrality Patrols. Two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mississippi departed the Atlantic to return to the Pacific Fleet; throughout her participation in World War II, she supported amphibious operations in the Pacific. She shelled Japanese forces during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands and the Philippines campaigns and the invasions of Peleliu and Okinawa. The Japanese fleet attacked American forces during the Philippines campaign, and in the ensuing Battle of Leyte Gulf, Mississippi took part in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the last Battleship engagement in history.
After the war, Mississippi was converted into a Gunnery Training Ship, and was also used to test new weapons systems. These included the RIM-2 Terrier missile and the AUM-N-2 Petrel missile. She was eventually decommissioned in 1956 and sold to ship breakers in November that year.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS New Mexico pictured fitting out in Dry Dock No 4 at Brooklyn Navy Yard on January 2nd 1918.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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New Mexico Class Dreadnought Battleship USS Mississippi pictured from HMS Bedouin at Hvalfjörður Iceland in October 1941.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS New Mexico pictured in 1944.
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Brian James
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Re: Battleships: New Mexico Class

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New Mexico Class Battleship USS Idaho pictured on her departure from Pearl Harbor, en-route to Kwajalein on January 22nd 1944.
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