USS Mississippi (BB-41)

USS Mississippi at sea in the late 1930s
History
United States
Name:	Mississippi
Namesake:	State of Mississippi
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down:	5 April 1915
Launched:	25 January 1917
Commissioned:	18 December 1917
Decommissioned:	17 September 1956
Struck:	30 July 1956
Honors and awards:	8 × battle stars
Fate:	Broken up, 1957
General characteristics
Class and type:	New Mexico-class battleship
Displacement:	32,000 long tons (33,000 t)
Length:	624 ft (190 m)
Beam:	97 ft 5 in (29.69 m)
Draft:	30 ft (9.1 m)
Installed power:	32,000 shp (24,000 kW)
Propulsion:	Geared turbines 4 × screws
Speed:	21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	55 officers 1,026 enlisted
Armament:	12 × 14 in (356 mm)/50 cal guns 14 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns 4 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns 2 × Mark 15 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:	Belt: 8–13.5 in (203–343 mm) Turret face: 18 in (457 mm) Conning tower: 16 in (406 mm) Decks: 3.5 in (89 mm)

USS Mississippi (BB-41/AG-128), the second of three members of the New Mexico class, was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 20th state. The ship was built at the 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 (356 mm) guns in four three-gun turrets, and was protected by heavy armor plate, with her main belt armor being 13.5 inches (343 mm) thick.

The ship remained in North American waters during World War I, conducting training exercises to work up the crew. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the ship 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.