USS New Mexico (BB-40)
Encyclopedia
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. New Mexico was extensively modernized between 1931 and 1933 and saw service during World War II
both in the Atlantic
and Pacific
theatres. After her decommissioning she was scrapped in 1947. New Mexico was the first US Navy ship named for State of New Mexico
.
(he had died on 28 February 1917); and commissioned on 20 May 1918, Captain
Ashley Herman Robertson in command.
Unlike the other two battleships of this class which used geared turbines, New Mexico was equipped with a turbo-electric
propulsion system, where the high-speed steam turbine
drove a set of generators providing electricity to electric motors turning the propeller shafts. General Electric ran an advertisement titled "The "Constitution" of To-day—Electronically Propelled" with a drawing of the New Mexico next to . The ad touted the battleship as "the first of any nation to be electrically propelled". The electrical generating plant was said to put out 28,000 horsepower for a cruising speed of 10 knots. GE called it one of the most important achievements of the scientific age and related it to consumer products noting that "so general are the applications of electricity to the needs of mankind that scarcely a home or individual today need be without the benefits of General Electric products and service." An illustrated booklet titled "The Electric Ship" was offered free of charge upon request.
A comparison of the turbo-electric propulsion with the more conventional direct-drive turbine design used on her sister ships demonstrated that the conventional design generated 2.5x the power per ton of machinery and required 1/3 the floor area although at the cost of 20% greater fuel consumption, always a concern for the US Navy given Pacific distances. The turbo-electric design did allow for the equipment to be split between smaller watertight compartments, which was a potential benefit should parts of the engine space be attacked and flooded. There was a design weakness in that all electrical connections went through a single switch room, which could entirely disable the ship were it to be hit: USS Saratoga
, which used a similar propulsion design, lost power for five minutes when it was hit by a torpedo in 1942. The scheme of watertight subdivisions was further weakened by large ventilation trunks passing through bulkheads and glass windows in the generator room bulkhead.
The ship's main armament comprised twelve 14"/50 caliber gun
s mounted three guns in each of four turrets, each turret weighing 980 tons. The design was compact, but the barrels were so close that there was the possibility of interference between adjacent shells in flight, while the limits on the speed at which the guns could be loaded meant that contemporary British turret designs using two guns would probably be able to fire at the same rate.
on 15 January 1919 for Brest
, France
, to escort the transport carrying President Woodrow Wilson
from the Versailles Peace Conference to the US, returning to Hampton Roads
on 27 February.
There on 16 July, she became flagship
of the newly organized Pacific Fleet
, and three days later sailed for the Panama Canal
and San Pedro, California, arriving on 9 August. Two of the original 14 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns were removed in 1922. The next 12 years were marked by frequent combined maneuvers with the Atlantic Fleet
both in the Pacific and Caribbean
which included visits to South America
n ports and a 1925 cruise to Australia
and New Zealand
. In 1924 the New Mexico was used in the early development of PID controller
s for automated ship steering by Russian American
naval engineer Nicolas Minorsky; PID controllers have subsequently become ubiquitous in control engineering
.
New Mexico was modernized and overhauled at Philadelphia from March 1931 – January 1933, including replacement of the turbo-electric drive with conventional geared turbines, and an anti-aircraft
battery of eight 5 in (127 mm)/25 cal guns, New Mexico returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume training exercises and tactical development operations.
from 6 December 1940 to 20 May 1941. Then she sailed to join the Atlantic fleet at Norfolk on 16 June for duty on neutrality patrol
.
On 10 December, while headed to Hampton Roads
(en route to the west coast after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
), New Mexico rammed and sank US freighter Oregon south of the Nantucket Lightship.
The original secondary battery of 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns was removed beginning in May 1942 to make room for additional anti-aircraft machine guns. On 1 August, she steamed from San Francisco to Hawaii
to prepare for action. From 6 December to 22 March 1943, she sailed escort for troop transports to the Fiji
s, then patrolled the southwest Pacific, returning to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the campaign against the Japanese in the Aleutians. On 17 May, she arrived Adak
, her base while serving on the blockade of Attu
, and on 21 July, she joined in the massive bombardment of Kiska
that forced its evacuation a week later.
After refitting at Puget Sound Navy Yard, New Mexico returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 October to rehearse the assault on the Gilbert Islands
. During the invasion, begun on 20 November, she pounded Makin atoll
, guarded transports during their night withdrawals from the islands, and provided antiaircraft cover during unloading operations, as well as screening aircraft carrier
s. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 December.
assault force on 12 January 1944, New Mexico bombarded Kwajalein
and Ebeye
on 31 January – 1 February, then replenished at Majuro
. She blasted Wotje on 20 February and Kavieng
, New Ireland
on 20 March, then visited Sydney
before arriving in the Solomons in May to rehearse the Marianas operation
.
New Mexico bombarded Tinian
on 14 June, Saipan
on 15 June, and Guam
on 16 June, and twice helped drive off enemy air attacks on 18 June. She protected transports off the Marianas while the carrier task force spelled the doom of Japanese naval aviation in its great victory, the Battle of the Philippine Sea
, on 20 June. New Mexico escorted transports to Eniwetok, then sailed on 9 July guarding escort carriers until 12 July, when her guns opened on Guam in preparation for the landings on 21 July. Until 30 July, she blasted enemy positions and installations on the island.
Overhauled at Bremerton
, Washington August to October, New Mexico arrived in Leyte Gulf
on 22 November to cover the movement of reinforcement and supply convoys, firing in the almost daily air attacks over the Gulf, as the Japanese posed desperate resistance to the reconquest of the Philippines
. She left Leyte Gulf on 2 December for the Palaus, where she joined a force covering the Mindoro
-bound assault convoy
. Again she sent up antiaircraft fire as invasion troops stormed ashore on 15 December, providing cover for two days until sailing for the Palaus.
, fought under a sky full of would-be suicide planes, against whom she was almost continually at general quarters. She fired pre-landing bombardment on 6 January 1945, and that day took a kamikaze
hit on her bridge which killed her commanding officer, Captain Robert Walton Fleming, British
Lieutenant General
Herbert Lumsden
(Winston Churchill's
personal military representative to General of the Army
Douglas MacArthur
), and 29 others of her crew, with 87 injured. Commander-designate of the British Pacific Fleet
, Vice Admiral Bruce Fraser
, another passenger, narrowly escaped injury whilst on the New Mexicos bridge, while his secretary was killed. Her guns remained in action as she repaired damage, and she was still in action as troops went ashore.
After repairs at Pearl Harbor, New Mexico arrived at Ulithi
to stage for the invasion of Okinawa
, sailing on 21 March with a heavy fire support group. Her guns opened on Okinawa on 26 March, and they were not silent until 17 April, on which she had given aid to troops engaged ashore. Again on 21 April and 29 April, she opened fire, and on 11 May she destroyed eight Shinyo suicide boats. While approaching her berth in Hagushi
anchorage just after sunset on 12 May, New Mexico was attacked by two kamikazes; one plunged into her, the other managed to hit her with his bomb. She was set on fire, and 54 of her men were killed, with 119 wounded. Swift action extinguished the fires within 30 minutes, and on 28 May, she departed for repairs at Leyte, followed by rehearsals for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands
. Word of the war's end reached her at Saipan
on 15 August, and next day she sailed for Okinawa to join the occupation force. She entered Sagami Wan on 27 August to support the airborne occupation of Atsugi Airfield
, then next day passed into Tokyo Bay
to witness the surrender on 2 September.
New Mexico was homeward bound on 6 September, calling at Okinawa, Pearl Harbor, and the Panama Canal before arriving at Boston
on 17 October.
on 19 July 1946, and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 25 February 1947. On 9 November 1947, she was sold for scrapping to Lipsett Division of Luria Bros, for $381,600.
, New Jersey. The proximity of Newark to rail lines made it an ideal location for dismantling the ship and hauling away the steel. In early November 1947 New Mexico departed Boston
, towed by two tugs. On 12 November, while off the coast of New York
, the tugs pulling the battleship encountered heavy weather and were forced to cut the tow lines. Running lights were kept on aboard New Mexico along with three crewmembers, but the tugs eventually lost sight of the battleship. New Mexico then drifted as a derelict until spotted by a Coast Guard plane the next day, 35 miles off the coast. The two tugs then secured tow lines and continued the journey to the scrapyard.
Newark city officials decided it did not want any more ships scrapped along the city's waterfront. Newark was implementing a beautification plan for the waterfront, and had allocated $70 million for improvements. As such, the city declared that any attempt to bring New Mexico to Newark would be blocked. Two city fireboats, the Michael P. Duffy and the William T. Brennan, were dispatched and were prepared to use their fire hoses and chemical sprayers to halt Lipsett and New Mexico. In response, Lipsett organized its own force of four tugs, and the U.S. Coast Guard declared it would guarantee safe passage of New Mexico, provided legal entry was permitted. This showdown was dubbed by the press as the "Battle of Newark Bay". To complicate things further, the Santa Fe
, New Mexico
Chamber of Commerce announced it would protest Newark's "slur" of New Mexico's namesake, through its refusal to admit the battleship.
As New Mexico awaited suitable tidal conditions to make the final tow into Newark, the Navy Department sent Under Secretary W. John Kenney to negotiate. After several sessions, he arranged a tenuous agreement between the City of Newark and Lipsett. Newark would allow New Mexico and two other battleships, Idaho
and Wyoming
, to be scrapped at Newark, but there would be no permanent ship dismantling facility. Lipsett had nine months to dispose of the three ships, or would be subjected to a fine of $1,000 per day after the deadline.
New Mexico finally entered Newark Channel on 19 November, and was greeted by the same Newark fireboats, that had earlier been sent to oppose the ship. Newark also arranged to have school children honor the old battleship dockside, with a marching band. New Mexico was subsequently joined by Idaho and Wyoming, where all three were finally dismantled. Scrapping of New Mexico began on 24 November and was completed by July 1948.
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
in service with the United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
from 1918 to 1946. She was the lead ship
Lead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
of a class
New Mexico class battleship
The New Mexico class battleships of the United States Navy, all three of whose construction began in 1915, were improvements on the design introduced three years earlier with the Nevada class....
of three battleships. New Mexico was extensively modernized between 1931 and 1933 and saw service during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
both in the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
and Pacific
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
theatres. After her decommissioning she was scrapped in 1947. New Mexico was the first US Navy ship named for State of New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
.
Construction
New Mexico was laid down on 14 October 1915 by the New York Navy Yard; launched on 23 April 1917; sponsored by Miss Margaret Cabeza De Baca, daughter of the recently deceased Governor of New Mexico, Ezequiel Cabeza De BacaEzequiel Cabeza De Baca
Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca was the first Hispano elected for office as Lt. Governor in New Mexico's first election. His term as Lt. Gov. was followed by his election as the second elected Governor of New Mexico. This term was brief as he died shortly after taking office...
(he had died on 28 February 1917); and commissioned on 20 May 1918, Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
Ashley Herman Robertson in command.
Unlike the other two battleships of this class which used geared turbines, New Mexico was equipped with a turbo-electric
Turbo-electric
A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine into electric energy and electric motors to convert it back into mechanical energy to power the driveshafts....
propulsion system, where the high-speed steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
drove a set of generators providing electricity to electric motors turning the propeller shafts. General Electric ran an advertisement titled "The "Constitution" of To-day—Electronically Propelled" with a drawing of the New Mexico next to . The ad touted the battleship as "the first of any nation to be electrically propelled". The electrical generating plant was said to put out 28,000 horsepower for a cruising speed of 10 knots. GE called it one of the most important achievements of the scientific age and related it to consumer products noting that "so general are the applications of electricity to the needs of mankind that scarcely a home or individual today need be without the benefits of General Electric products and service." An illustrated booklet titled "The Electric Ship" was offered free of charge upon request.
A comparison of the turbo-electric propulsion with the more conventional direct-drive turbine design used on her sister ships demonstrated that the conventional design generated 2.5x the power per ton of machinery and required 1/3 the floor area although at the cost of 20% greater fuel consumption, always a concern for the US Navy given Pacific distances. The turbo-electric design did allow for the equipment to be split between smaller watertight compartments, which was a potential benefit should parts of the engine space be attacked and flooded. There was a design weakness in that all electrical connections went through a single switch room, which could entirely disable the ship were it to be hit: USS Saratoga
USS Saratoga (CV-3)
USS Saratoga was the second aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the fifth ship to bear her name. She was commissioned one month earlier than her sister and class leader, , which is the third actually commissioned after and Saratoga...
, which used a similar propulsion design, lost power for five minutes when it was hit by a torpedo in 1942. The scheme of watertight subdivisions was further weakened by large ventilation trunks passing through bulkheads and glass windows in the generator room bulkhead.
The ship's main armament comprised twelve 14"/50 caliber gun
14"/50 caliber gun
The 14"/50 caliber gun was a naval gun mounted on and s. These ships also featured the first "three-gun" turrets, meaning that each gun in each turret could be "individually sleeved" to elevate separately...
s mounted three guns in each of four turrets, each turret weighing 980 tons. The design was compact, but the barrels were so close that there was the possibility of interference between adjacent shells in flight, while the limits on the speed at which the guns could be loaded meant that contemporary British turret designs using two guns would probably be able to fire at the same rate.
Inter-War period
After initial training, New Mexico departed New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on 15 January 1919 for Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, to escort the transport carrying President Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
from the Versailles Peace Conference to the US, returning to Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
on 27 February.
There on 16 July, she became flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of the newly organized Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
, and three days later sailed for the Panama Canal
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...
and San Pedro, California, arriving on 9 August. Two of the original 14 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns were removed in 1922. The next 12 years were marked by frequent combined maneuvers with the Atlantic Fleet
United States Fleet Forces Command
The United States Fleet Forces Command is an Atlantic Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources that are under the operational control of the United States Northern Command...
both in the Pacific and Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
which included visits to South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
n ports and a 1925 cruise to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. In 1924 the New Mexico was used in the early development of PID controller
PID controller
A proportional–integral–derivative controller is a generic control loop feedback mechanism widely used in industrial control systems – a PID is the most commonly used feedback controller. A PID controller calculates an "error" value as the difference between a measured process variable and a...
s for automated ship steering by Russian American
Russian American
Russian Americans are primarily Americans who traces their ancestry to Russia. The definition can be applied to recent Russian immigrants to the United States, as well as to settlers of 19th century Russian settlements in northwestern America which includes today's California, Alaska and...
naval engineer Nicolas Minorsky; PID controllers have subsequently become ubiquitous in control engineering
Control engineering
Control engineering or Control systems engineering is the engineering discipline that applies control theory to design systems with predictable behaviors...
.
New Mexico was modernized and overhauled at Philadelphia from March 1931 – January 1933, including replacement of the turbo-electric drive with conventional geared turbines, and an anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare
NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...
battery of eight 5 in (127 mm)/25 cal guns, New Mexico returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume training exercises and tactical development operations.
1940–1943
As war threatened, her base was Pearl HarborPearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
from 6 December 1940 to 20 May 1941. Then she sailed to join the Atlantic fleet at Norfolk on 16 June for duty on neutrality patrol
Neutrality Patrol
At the beginning of World War II, when Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 started the hostilities in Europe, President Franklin D...
.
On 10 December, while headed to Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
(en route to the west coast after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...
), New Mexico rammed and sank US freighter Oregon south of the Nantucket Lightship.
The original secondary battery of 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns was removed beginning in May 1942 to make room for additional anti-aircraft machine guns. On 1 August, she steamed from San Francisco to Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
to prepare for action. From 6 December to 22 March 1943, she sailed escort for troop transports to the Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
s, then patrolled the southwest Pacific, returning to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the campaign against the Japanese in the Aleutians. On 17 May, she arrived Adak
Adak Island
Adak Island is an island near the western extent of the Andreanof Islands group of the Aleutian Islands in Alaska. Alaska's southernmost town, Adak, is located on the island...
, her base while serving on the blockade of Attu
Attu Island
Attu is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, making it the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska and the United States. It was the site of the only World War II land battle fought on the incorporated territory of the United States ,...
, and on 21 July, she joined in the massive bombardment of Kiska
Kiska
Kiska is an island in the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska located at . It is about long and varies in width from - Discovery :...
that forced its evacuation a week later.
After refitting at Puget Sound Navy Yard, New Mexico returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 October to rehearse the assault on the Gilbert Islands
Gilbert Islands
The Gilbert Islands are a chain of sixteen atolls and coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are the main part of Republic of Kiribati and include Tarawa, the site of the country's capital and residence of almost half of the population.-Geography:The atolls and islands of the Gilbert Islands...
. During the invasion, begun on 20 November, she pounded Makin atoll
Butaritari
Butaritari is an atoll located in the Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati.-Geography:...
, guarded transports during their night withdrawals from the islands, and provided antiaircraft cover during unloading operations, as well as screening aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 December.
1944
Underway with the Marshall IslandsMarshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
assault force on 12 January 1944, New Mexico bombarded Kwajalein
Kwajalein
Kwajalein Atoll , is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands . The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island. English-speaking residents of the U.S...
and Ebeye
Ebeye
Ebeye is the most populous island of Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands, as well as the center for Marshallese culture in the Ralik Chain of the archipelago. Settled on 80 acres of land, it has a population of more than 15,000. Over 50% of the population is estimated to be under the age of...
on 31 January – 1 February, then replenished at Majuro
Majuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
. She blasted Wotje on 20 February and Kavieng
Kavieng
Kavieng is the capital of the Papua New Guinean province of New Ireland and the largest town on the island of the same name. The town is located at Balgai Bay, on the northern tip of the island. As of 2000, it had a population of 10,600....
, New Ireland
New Ireland (island)
New Ireland is a large island in Papua New Guinea, approximately 7,404 km² in area. It is the largest island of the New Ireland Province, lying northeast of the island of New Britain. Both islands are part of the Bismarck Archipelago, named after Otto von Bismarck, and they are separated by...
on 20 March, then visited Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
before arriving in the Solomons in May to rehearse the Marianas operation
Mariana and Palau Islands campaign
The Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, also known as Operation Forager, was an offensive launched by United States forces against Imperial Japanese forces in the Mariana Islands and Palau in the Pacific Ocean between June and November, 1944 during the Pacific War...
.
New Mexico bombarded Tinian
Tinian
Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....
on 14 June, Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
on 15 June, and Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
on 16 June, and twice helped drive off enemy air attacks on 18 June. She protected transports off the Marianas while the carrier task force spelled the doom of Japanese naval aviation in its great victory, the Battle of the Philippine Sea
Battle of the Philippine Sea
The Battle of the Philippine Sea was a decisive naval battle of World War II which effectively eliminated the Imperial Japanese Navy's ability to conduct large-scale carrier actions. It took place during the United States' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War...
, on 20 June. New Mexico escorted transports to Eniwetok, then sailed on 9 July guarding escort carriers until 12 July, when her guns opened on Guam in preparation for the landings on 21 July. Until 30 July, she blasted enemy positions and installations on the island.
Overhauled at Bremerton
Bremerton, Washington
Bremerton is a city in Kitsap County, Washington, United States. The population was 38,790 at the 2011 State Estimate, making it the largest city on the Olympic Peninsula. Bremerton is home to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Bremerton Annex of Naval Base Kitsap...
, Washington August to October, New Mexico arrived in Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf
Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...
on 22 November to cover the movement of reinforcement and supply convoys, firing in the almost daily air attacks over the Gulf, as the Japanese posed desperate resistance to the reconquest of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. She left Leyte Gulf on 2 December for the Palaus, where she joined a force covering the Mindoro
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. The southern coast of Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea.-History:...
-bound assault convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
. Again she sent up antiaircraft fire as invasion troops stormed ashore on 15 December, providing cover for two days until sailing for the Palaus.
1945
Her next operation was the invasion of LuzonLuzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
, fought under a sky full of would-be suicide planes, against whom she was almost continually at general quarters. She fired pre-landing bombardment on 6 January 1945, and that day took a kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
hit on her bridge which killed her commanding officer, Captain Robert Walton Fleming, British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant General is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages where the title of Lieutenant General was held by the second in command on the battlefield, who was normally subordinate to a Captain General....
Herbert Lumsden
Herbert Lumsden
Lieutenant-General Herbert Lumsden, CB, DSO, MC, psc was a British Army general during World War II.-Early career:...
(Winston Churchill's
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
personal military representative to General of the Army
General of the Army
General of the Army is a military rank used in some countries to denote a senior military leader, usually a General in command of a nation's Army. It may also be the title given to a General who commands an Army in the field....
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...
), and 29 others of her crew, with 87 injured. Commander-designate of the British Pacific Fleet
British Pacific Fleet
The British Pacific Fleet was a British Commonwealth naval force which saw action against Japan during World War II. The fleet was composed of British Commonwealth naval vessels. The BPF formally came into being on 22 November 1944...
, Vice Admiral Bruce Fraser
Bruce Fraser
Bruce Fraser may refer to:* Bruce Fraser, 1st Baron Fraser of North Cape GCB, KBE, British admiral during World War II, Admiral of the Fleet* Bruce Fraser KCB, British civil servant and humourist* Bruce Fraser...
, another passenger, narrowly escaped injury whilst on the New Mexicos bridge, while his secretary was killed. Her guns remained in action as she repaired damage, and she was still in action as troops went ashore.
After repairs at Pearl Harbor, New Mexico arrived at Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
to stage for the invasion of Okinawa
Battle of Okinawa
The Battle of Okinawa, codenamed Operation Iceberg, was fought on the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa and was the largest amphibious assault in the Pacific War of World War II. The 82-day-long battle lasted from early April until mid-June 1945...
, sailing on 21 March with a heavy fire support group. Her guns opened on Okinawa on 26 March, and they were not silent until 17 April, on which she had given aid to troops engaged ashore. Again on 21 April and 29 April, she opened fire, and on 11 May she destroyed eight Shinyo suicide boats. While approaching her berth in Hagushi
Hagushi
Hagushi bay was the primary unloading point for American supplies during the invasion of Okinawa during World War II. The bay, at the mouth of the Bishi River , was the dividing line between the First and Sixth US Marine divisions, which landed on the Hagushi beaches to the north, and the Seventh...
anchorage just after sunset on 12 May, New Mexico was attacked by two kamikazes; one plunged into her, the other managed to hit her with his bomb. She was set on fire, and 54 of her men were killed, with 119 wounded. Swift action extinguished the fires within 30 minutes, and on 28 May, she departed for repairs at Leyte, followed by rehearsals for the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands
Operation Downfall
Operation Downfall was the Allied plan for the invasion of Japan near the end of World War II. The operation was cancelled when Japan surrendered after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Soviet Union's declaration of war against Japan. The operation had two parts: Operation...
. Word of the war's end reached her at Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
on 15 August, and next day she sailed for Okinawa to join the occupation force. She entered Sagami Wan on 27 August to support the airborne occupation of Atsugi Airfield
Naval Air Facility Atsugi
is a naval air base located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy air base in the Pacific Ocean and houses the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing 5, which deploys with the aircraft carrier...
, then next day passed into Tokyo Bay
Tokyo Bay
is a bay in the southern Kantō region of Japan. Its old name was .-Geography:Tokyo Bay is surrounded by the Bōsō Peninsula to the east and the Miura Peninsula to the west. In a narrow sense, Tokyo Bay is the area north of the straight line formed by the on the Miura Peninsula on one end and on...
to witness the surrender on 2 September.
New Mexico was homeward bound on 6 September, calling at Okinawa, Pearl Harbor, and the Panama Canal before arriving at Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
on 17 October.
Post-War
New Mexico was decommissioned in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
on 19 July 1946, and was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 25 February 1947. On 9 November 1947, she was sold for scrapping to Lipsett Division of Luria Bros, for $381,600.
"Battle of Newark Bay"
Lipsett decided to tow New Mexico for scrapping at NewarkNewark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
, New Jersey. The proximity of Newark to rail lines made it an ideal location for dismantling the ship and hauling away the steel. In early November 1947 New Mexico departed Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, towed by two tugs. On 12 November, while off the coast of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, the tugs pulling the battleship encountered heavy weather and were forced to cut the tow lines. Running lights were kept on aboard New Mexico along with three crewmembers, but the tugs eventually lost sight of the battleship. New Mexico then drifted as a derelict until spotted by a Coast Guard plane the next day, 35 miles off the coast. The two tugs then secured tow lines and continued the journey to the scrapyard.
Newark city officials decided it did not want any more ships scrapped along the city's waterfront. Newark was implementing a beautification plan for the waterfront, and had allocated $70 million for improvements. As such, the city declared that any attempt to bring New Mexico to Newark would be blocked. Two city fireboats, the Michael P. Duffy and the William T. Brennan, were dispatched and were prepared to use their fire hoses and chemical sprayers to halt Lipsett and New Mexico. In response, Lipsett organized its own force of four tugs, and the U.S. Coast Guard declared it would guarantee safe passage of New Mexico, provided legal entry was permitted. This showdown was dubbed by the press as the "Battle of Newark Bay". To complicate things further, the Santa Fe
Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of . Santa Fe had a population of 67,947 in the 2010 census...
, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
Chamber of Commerce announced it would protest Newark's "slur" of New Mexico's namesake, through its refusal to admit the battleship.
As New Mexico awaited suitable tidal conditions to make the final tow into Newark, the Navy Department sent Under Secretary W. John Kenney to negotiate. After several sessions, he arranged a tenuous agreement between the City of Newark and Lipsett. Newark would allow New Mexico and two other battleships, Idaho
USS Idaho (BB-42)
USS Idaho , a , was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the 43rd state. Her keel was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey...
and Wyoming
USS Wyoming (BB-32)
USS Wyoming , the lead ship of her class of battleship, was the third ship of the United States Navy named Wyoming, although it was only the second named in honor of the 44th state....
, to be scrapped at Newark, but there would be no permanent ship dismantling facility. Lipsett had nine months to dispose of the three ships, or would be subjected to a fine of $1,000 per day after the deadline.
New Mexico finally entered Newark Channel on 19 November, and was greeted by the same Newark fireboats, that had earlier been sent to oppose the ship. Newark also arranged to have school children honor the old battleship dockside, with a marching band. New Mexico was subsequently joined by Idaho and Wyoming, where all three were finally dismantled. Scrapping of New Mexico began on 24 November and was completed by July 1948.
External links
- Photos of New Mexico at the Naval Historical Center
- USS New Mexico (BB-40) at the U.S. Navy Office of Information
- New Mexico BB-40 Photo Gallery at Maritimequest