USS Washington anchored at the Puget Sound Navy Yard
Career
Laid down:	14 June 1938
Launched:	1 June 1940
Commissioned:	15 May 1941
Decommissioned:	27 June 1947
Fate:	sold for scrap
Specifications
Displacement:	35,000t
Length:	729ft
Beam:	108ft
Draft:	38ft
Armament:	9-16in, 20-5in, 16-1.1in MGs
Speed:	27kts
Complement:	108 officers, 1772 men

USS Washington (BB-56), a North Carolina-class battleship was the eighth 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 sponsored by Virginia Marshall of Spokane, Washington, a direct descendant of former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Marshall, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 15 May 1941, Captain Howard H.J. Benson in command.

Upon completion of her refit, Washington sailed for the Pacific, on 23 August, escorted by three destroyers. Five days later, she transited the Panama Canal and, on 14 September, reached Nukualofa Anchorage , Tongatabu , Tonga Island . On that day, Rear Admiral Willis A. "Ching" Lee, Jr., broke his flag in Washington as Commander, Battleship Division (BatDiv) 6, and Commander, Task Group 12.2.

The next day, 15 September, Washington put to sea bound for a rendezvous with TF 17, the force formed around the aircraft carrier Hornet. Washington then proceeded to Nouméa, New Caledonia, and supported the ongoing Solomon Islands campaign, providing escort services for various reinforcement convoys proceeding to and from Guadalcanal. During those weeks, the battleship's principal bases of operation were Nouméa and Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides.

By mid-November, the situation in the Solomons was far from good for the Allies, who were now down to one aircraft carrier, Enterprise (CV-6), after the loss of Wasp in September and Hornet in October, and Japanese surface units were subjecting Henderson Field on Guadalcanal to heavy bombardments with disturbing regularity. Significantly, however, the Japanese only made their moves at night, since Allied planes controlled the skies during the day. That meant that the Allies had to move their replenishment and reinforcement convoys into Guadalcanal during the daylight hours.

Washington performed those vital duties into mid-November of 1942, On 9 November, she learned that three groups of Japanese ships, one consisting of about 24 transports with escorts, were steaming toward Guadalcanal. One enemy force sighted that morning was reported as consisting of two battleships, a light cruiser, and 11 destroyers.

At sunset on 13 November, Rear Admiral Lee took Washington, South Dakota (BB-57), and four destroyers and headed for Savo Island the scene of the disastrous night action of 8 August and 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 miles 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) led, followed by Benham (DD-397), Preston (DD-377) , Gwin (DD-433) , and the two battleships, Washington and South Dakota.

As the ship 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 on 15 November. Fifteen minutes later, at 0016, Washington opened fire with her 16-inch main battery. The fourth battle of Savo Island was underway.

The Japanese force proved to be the battleship Kirishima, the heavy cruisers Atago and Takao, the light cruisers Sendai and Nagara , and a screen of nine destroyers escorting four transports. Planning to conduct a bombardment of American positions on Guadalcanal to cover the landing of troops, the Japanese force ran head-on into Lee's TF 64.

For the next three minutes, Washington's 16-inchers hurled out 42 rounds, opening at 18,500 yards range, her fire aimed at the light cruiser Sendai. Simultaneously, the battleship's five-inch battery was engaging another ship also being engaged by South Dakota.

As gun-flashes split the night and the rumble of gunfire reverberated like thunder off the islands nearby, Washington continued to engage the Japanese force. Between 0025 and 0034, the ship engaged targets at 10,000 yards range with her five-inch 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, Washington sent 75 rounds of 16-inch and 107 rounds of five-inch at ranges from 8,400 to 12,650 yards, scoring at least nine hits with her main battery and about 40 with her five-inchers, silencing the enemy battleship in short order. Subsequently, Washington's five-inch batteries went to work on other targets spotted by her radar "eyes."

The battle, however, was not all one-sided. Japanese gunfire proved devastating to the four destroyers of TF 64, as did the dreaded and effective "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 the target of the entire Japanese bombardment group. Skewered by searchlight beams, South Dakota boomed out salvoes at the pugnacious enemy, as did Washington which was proceeding, at that point, to deal out severe punishment upon Kirishima, one of South Dakota's assailants.

South Dakota, the recipient of numerous hits, retired as Washington steamed north to draw fire away from her crippled sister battleship and the two crippled destroyers Benham and Gwin. Initially, the remaining ships of the Japanese bombardment group gave chase to Washington but broke off action when discouraged by the battleship's heavy guns. Accordingly, they withdrew under cover of a smokescreen.

After Washington skillfully evaded torpedoes fired by the retiring Japanese destroyers in the van of the enemy force, she joined South Dakota later in the morning, shaping course for Nouméa. In the battleship action, Washington had done well and had emerged undamaged. South Dakota had not emerged unscathed, however, sustaining heavy damage to her superstructure; 38 men had died; 60 lay wounded. The Japanese had lost the battleship Kirishima. Left burning and exploding, she later had to be abandoned and scuttled. The other enemy casualty was the destroyer Ayanami , scuttled the next morning.

Washington remained in the South Pacific theater, basing on New Caledonia and continuing as flagship for Rear Admiral "Ching" Lee. The battleship protected carrier groups and task forces engaged in the ongoing Solomons campaign until late in April of 1943, operating principally with TF 11, which included the repaired Saratoga (CV-3), and with TF 16, built around Enterprise.

On 1 February, however, misfortune reared her head; Washington, while maneuvering in the inky darkness, rammed Indiana as she cut across Washington's bow while dropping out of formation to fuel escorting destroyers. Both battleships retired for repairs; Washington having sustained 60 feet of crumpled bow plating. Both ships put into the lagoon at Majuro the next morning. Subsequently, after reinforcing the damaged bow, Washington departed Majuro on 11 February, bound for the Hawaiian Islands.

With a temporary bow fitted at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, Washington continued on for the west coast of the United States. Reaching the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, the battleship received a new bow over the weeks that followed her arrival. Joining BatDiv 4 at Port Townsend, Washington, Washington embarked 500 men as passengers and sailed for Pearl Harbor, reaching her destination on 13 June and disembarking her passengers.

Washington's heavy guns supported the taking of Peleliu and Angaur in the Palaus and supported the carrier strikes on Okinawa on 10 October, on northern Luzon and Formosa from 11 October to 14 October, as well as the Visayan air strikes on 21 October. From 5 November 1944 to 17 February 1945, Washington, as a vital unit of the fast carrier striking forces, supported raids on Okinawa, in the Ryukyu Islands; Formosa; Luzon; Camranh Bay and Saigon in French Indochina; Hong Kong; Canton; Hainan Island; Nansei Shoto; and the heart of the enemy homeland, Tokyo itself.

From 19 February to 22 February 1945, Washington's heavy rifles hurled 16-inch 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 to 16 March, the fast battleship supported the unfolding invasion of Iwo Jima, including a carrier raid upon Tokyo on 25 February. On 18 March, 19 March, and 29 March, Washington screened the Fleet's carriers as they launched airstrikes against Japanese airfields and other installations on the island of Kyushu. On 24 March, and again on 19 April, Washington lent her support to the shellings of Japanese positions on the island of Okinawa.

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 of 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.

Washington earned 13 battle stars during World War II in operations that had carried her from the Arctic Circle to the western Pacific.