USS West Virginia (BB-48)

History
USS West Virginia in San Francisco Bay, c. 1934
United States
Name:	West Virginia
Namesake:	State of West Virginia
Ordered:	5 December 1916
Builder:	Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down:	12 April 1920
Launched:	19 November 1921
Sponsored by:	Alice Wright Mann
Commissioned:	1 December 1923
Decommissioned:	9 January 1947
Struck:	1 March 1959
Nickname(s):	"Wee Vee"
Honors and awards:	5 battle stars
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 24 August 1959
General characteristics
Class and type:	Colorado-class battleship
Displacement:	32,100 long tons (empty) 33,060 long tons (full load)
Length:	624 ft (190 m)
Beam:	97.3 ft (29.7 m) (original) 114 ft (35 m) (rebuilt)
Draft:	30.5 ft (9.3 m)
Installed power:	28,900 shaft horsepower (21,600 kW)
Propulsion:	Four-shaft turbo-electric drive and eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers
Speed:	21 kn (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	8,000 nmi (9,200 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:	1,407 officers and men (when commissioned)
Sensors and processing systems:	CXAM-1 radar from 1940
Armament:	8 × 16 in (406 mm)/45 caliber guns 12 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 caliber guns 4 × 3 in (76 mm)/23 caliber guns 2 × 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes After Reconstruction: 8 × 16 in (406 mm)/45 caliber guns 16 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal guns 40 × Bofors 40 mm guns 50 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons
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 West Virginia (BB-48), a Colorado-class battleship, was the second United States Navy ship named in honor of the country's 35th state. She was laid down on 12 April 1920 at Newport News, Virginia, launched on 19 November 1921 and commissioned on 1 December 1923. Her first captain was Thomas J. Senn. After her shakedown and crew training were finished, she was overhauled at Hampton Roads and later ran aground in Lynnhaven Channel.

After her repairs she participated in exercises and engineering and gunnery courses, winning four medals in the latter. She participated in other fleet tactical development operations until 1939. In 1940 she was transferred to Pearl Harbor to guard against potential Japanese attack, and was sunk by six torpedoes and two bombs during the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 17 May 1942, she was salvaged from the seabed by draining the water from her hull.

After repairs in Pearl Harbor, she sailed to the Puget Sound Navy Yard. There she received an extensive refit, including the replacement of her 5-inch (127 mm)/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns and single-purpose 5-inch (127 mm)/51 caliber guns with 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns. She left Puget Sound in July 1944 for Leyte Gulf.

She bombarded Leyte in November 1944, becoming part of a successful American plan to destroy the portion of the Japanese fleet trying to sail through the Surigao Strait, and later attacked Iwo Jima and Okinawa. At the end of the Pacific War she entered Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender and became part of Operation Magic Carpet, making three runs to Hawaii to transport veterans home. She was deactivated on 9 January 1947 and laid up at Bremerton, Washington, until sold for scrap on 24 August 1959.

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