USS New Mexico (BB-40)

New Mexico in 1921
History
United States
Name:	New Mexico
Namesake:	New Mexico
Builder:	Brooklyn Navy Yard
Laid down:	14 October 1915
Launched:	13 April 1917
Commissioned:	20 May 1918
Decommissioned:	19 July 1946
Struck:	25 February 1947
Honors and awards:	6 × battle stars, World War II
Fate:	Sold 9 November 1947
Status:	Broken up for scrap in Newark, NJ
General characteristics
Class and type:	New Mexico-class battleship
Displacement:	32,000 long tons (32,514 t)
Length:	624 ft (190 m)
Beam:	97 ft 5 in (29.69 m)
Draft:	30 ft (9.1 m)
Installed power:	9 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 27,500 shp (20,500 kW)
Propulsion:	turbo-electric transmission 4 × screws
Speed:	21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h)
Complement:	1,084 officers and men
Armament:	12 × 14 in (356 mm)/50 cal guns 14 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns 8 × 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) Barbettes: 13 in (330 mm) Turret face: 18 in (457 mm) Turret sides: 9–10 in (229–254 mm) Turret top: 5 in (127 mm) Turret rear 9 in (229 mm) Conning tower: 11.5 in (292 mm) Decks: 3.5 in (89 mm)

USS New Mexico (BB-40) was a battleship in service with the United States Navy from 1918 to 1946. She was the lead ship of a class of three battleships, and the first ship to be named for the state of New Mexico. Her keel was laid down on 14 October 1915 at the New York Navy Yard, she was launched on 23 April 1917, and was commissioned on 20 May 1918. She was the first ship with a turbo-electric transmission, which helped her reach a cruising speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). Shortly after completing initial training, New Mexico escorted the ship that carried President Woodrow Wilson to Brest, France to sign the Treaty of Versailles. The interwar period was marked with repeated exercises with the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets, use as a trial ship for PID controllers, and a major modernization between March 1931 and January 1933.

The ship's first actions during World War II were neutrality patrols in the Atlantic Ocean. She returned to the Pacific after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and participated in shore bombardments during operations at Attu and Kiska, Tarawa, the Marshall Islands, the Mariana and Palau islands, Leyte, Luzon, and Okinawa. These were interspersed with escort duties, patrols, and refits. The ship was attacked by kamikazes on several occasions. New Mexico was present in Tokyo Bay for the signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender on 2 September 1945. Four days later, she sailed for the United States, and arrived in Boston on 17 October.

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