Please Report Any Broken Links Or Trouble You Might Come Across To The Webmaster
Please Take A Moment To Let Us Know So That We Can Correct Any Problems And Make Your Visit As Enjoyable And As Informative As Possible.

NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

BB-41 USS MISSISSIPPI
1944 - 1945

Radio Call Sign: November - Echo - Kilo - Tango
To Additional Pages

1915 - 1930
1931 - 1941
1942 - 1943
Post War - Decommissioning

New Mexico Class Battleship: Displacement 32,000 Tons, Dimensions, 624' (oa) x 97' 5" x 31' 1" (Max). Armament 12 x 14"/50 22 x 5"/51, 8 x 3"/50 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 13 1/2" Belt, 18" Turrets, 3 1/2" +2" Decks, 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 32,000 SHP; Geared Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 21 Knots, Crew 1084.

Operational and Building Data: Laid down by Newport News, Shipbuilding, Newport News, VA., April 5, 1915. Launched January 25 1917. Commissioned December 18 1917. Reclassified Gunnery Training Ship, AG-128, February 15, 1946. Decommissioned September 17, 1956. Stricken July 30, 1956.
Fate: Sold November 28, 1956 and broken up for scrap.
Click On Image
For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
BB-41 Mississippi 70k Mississippi (BB-41) inboard profile, 1944, largely unchanged since her reconstruction in the 1930's. Photo and text courtesy of U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman.
BB-40 New Mexico 117k Drawing prepared by the Bureau of Ships for Camouflage Measure 32, Design 6D intended for battleships of the BB-40 class. This plan, approved by Captain Logan McKee, USN, is dated 16 February 1944. It shows the ship's starboard side, superstructure ends and exposed decks. Ships known or reported to have worn this camouflage design include New Mexico (BB-40) and Mississippi (BB-41) . Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-166247, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-40 New Mexico 100k Drawing prepared by the Bureau of Ships for Camouflage Measure 32, Design 6D intended for battleships of the BB-40 class. This plan, approved by Captain Logan McKee, USN, is dated 16 February 1944. It shows the ship's port side, superstructure ends and exposed decks. Ships known or reported to have worn this camouflage design include New Mexico (BB-40) and Mississippi (BB-41) . Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-166246, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-41 Mississippi118k Puget Sound Navy Yard, (Photo taken by Ship, 2 May 1944) Gun lifted clear of trunnions and returned to level position to level position for unsleving device. Seattle NARA photo # 1817-44. Record Group 181, 13th Naval District, Records of the Naval District & Shore Establishments, courtesy of Tracy White.
BB-41 Mississippi68k Puget Sound Navy Yard, (Photo taken by Ship, 2 May 1944) Right gun pit ready to receive new gun. Cap square shifted over. Upper portion of flameproof seals installed on inboard deck lugs. Seattle NARA photo # 1818-44. Record Group 181, 13th Naval District, Records of the Naval District & Shore Establishments, courtesy of Tracy White.
BB-41 Mississippi 79k 13 July 1944, showing her starboard side wavy pattern measure 32/6D camouflage. Compare the radical difference in the camouflage patterns between starboard and port. USN photo.
BB-40 New Mexico 111k Drawing prepared by the Bureau of Ships for Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D intended for battleships of the BB-40 class. This plan, approved by Captain Torvald A. Solberg, USN, is dated 18 August 1944. It shows the ship's starboard side, horizontal surfaces and superstructure ends. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 19-N-104916, from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives
BB-40 New Mexico 113kDrawing prepared by the Bureau of Ships for a camouflage scheme intended for battleships of the BB-40 class. This plan, approved by Captain Torvald A. Solberg, USN, is dated 19 August 1944. It shows the ship's port side. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 19-N-104915, from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives
BB-41 Mississippi 92k Casemate gun crew loading their 5"/51 guns during the bombardment of Peleliu, circa mid-September 1944. Note line of shell passers in the background, and the gun's breech in the lower right foreground. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, USNHC # 80-G-48380, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-41 Mississippi 114k After a week of continuous operations, Mississippi (BB-41) then steamed to Manus, where she remained until 12 October 1944.
She appears here at the floating dry-dock ABSD-2 at Manus.
The dry-dock was used for forward repair of nonseriously damaged ships in the final Pacific War push. As the dry-docks were displacement limited, as to their capacity, fuel and sometimes ammunition had to be offloaded to "lighten ship". In this instance, 700,000 gallons of fuel had to be offloaded in order to meet the lifting capacity of the dry-dock.		 USN photo. Partial text courtesy of DANFS. Photo i.d. courtesy of Chuck Haberlein.
BB-41 Mississippi 268k A painting by the artist Wayne Scarpaci entitled "South Pacific Advanced Base" depicting the Mississippi (BB-41) in a floating dry-dock, 1944. Next to her is the Delta (AR-9). Drawing courtesy of artbywayne.com.
BB-41 Mississippi 98k A line drawing by A.L. Raven of the Mississippi (BB-41) in November 1944. Photo and text courtesy of U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History by Norman Friedman.
BB-41 Mississippi 31k Mississippi (BB-41), seen here close to shore providing direct gunfire support. USN photo.
BB-41 Mississippi 102k Lingayen Invasion, January 1945. Mississippi (BB-41) bombarding Luzon, during the Lingayen operation, 8 January 1945. She is followed by West Virginia (BB-48) and HMAS Shropshire. Photographed from New Mexico (BB-40). Mississippi is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 6D. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, USNHC # 80-G-301229, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-41 Mississippi 48k Walke (DD-723), right center, and Mississippi (BB-41), left center cover the landings in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 9 January 1945. Two other destroyer types are present at each side of the photo. Walke is painted in what appears to be Camouflage Measure 31, Design 25D. Mississippi's camouflage is Measure 32, Design 6D. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-K-2516, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-41 Mississippi 90k Three types of armament are visible - 5in/25cal guns, 40mm Bofors, and 20mm Oerlikons. U.S. Navy Photograph submitted by Pieter Bakels.
BB-41 Mississippi 68k Photo taken in 1944 showing the crowded condition of the extra 40mm and 20mm guns. They were added wherever deck space was available. U.S. Navy Photograph submitted by Pieter Bakels. Photo added 01/30/08.
BB-41 Mississippi 132k When the ship was refitted at Pearl Harbor in the spring of 1945, her captain insisted that extra secondary and light weight A.A. weapons be added to the ship. The final remaining, casemate mounted, 5"/51s were removed and the casemates plated over. In there place eight 5"/25s were added, bringing the total guns of that type to sixteen. She now carried twelve 40mm quadruple mounts two more than she had before the refit. USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels.
BB-41 Mississippi 132k The 5-Inch, 25-caliber anti-aircraft gun was designed and developed by the Navy to fill the need for an A.A. gun of larger caliber with a high rate of fire, however, it could also be used for firing at surface targets.
The gun was semi-automatic and was invariably used as such when firing at aircraft targets.
The slide was a large box-shaped steel housing with a rear plate bolted on its after end.
The slide housed the breech of the gun and guided the gun during recoil and counter recoil.
The forward ends of the two recoil piston rods were secured to the forward end of the slide.
The recoil system is of the hydraulic type.
The after end of the counter-recoil plunger was secured to the after end of the slide.(rear plate) The counter-recoil system was of the hydraulic-pneumatic type.
The trunnions were on the outboard sides of the slide, and, through them, the weight of the gun and the force of recoil were delivered to the carriage.
The elevating arc was secured to the slide directly under the forward part. The breech mechanism hand-operating lever was mounted on the right side of the slide.
The power rammer was mounted on the right side of the slide and above it.
The carriage was supported on the stand by two ball bearings, an inner and an outer ball bearing.
The outer bearing took the compression, load and weight, and vertical downward trust of recoil when the gun was fired.
The inner bearing held the carriage on the stand and thus took the tension load due to the roll of the ship and to upward thrust of recoil when the gun was fired at low angles of elevation.
Training and elevating gears were standard broadside-mount types.
The stand was a low heavy steel casting having a square base.
The stand contained the lower ball race for the outer ball bearing and the upper ball race for the inner ball bearing.
The fuse setter was mounted to the left and aft of the breech of the gun on a platform which was attached to the gun carriage.
The gun could be moved rapidly in both elevation and train.
The trunnions were equipped with roller bearings which served both as main trunnion and frictionless trunnion bearings.		 USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels.
BB-41 Mississippi 27k Damage from a kamakaize attack on the Mississippi (BB-41), 9 January 1945. Photo from WWII Damage Reports, courtesy of NavSea / dcfp.navy.mil.
BB-41 Mississippi 33k Oil on canvas painting by the artist Randall Wilson entitled "Mississippi (BB-41)."
Mississippi rides at anchor. A brief rest for the crew at the port of ADM Oldendorfs T.G. The ship is preparing for the Invasion of Okinawa. 		Text and drawing courtesy of naval-art.com
BB-41 Mississippi 197k Bow view of the Mississippi (BB-41) on 12 April 1945. This photo is one of a series taken after she had repairs for kamikaze damage and also had her armament upgraded at Pearl Harbor. Text & USN photo courtesy of David Buell.
BB-41 Mississippi 23k Damage from a kamakaize attack on the Mississippi (BB-41), 6 May 1945, off the coast of Okinawa. Photo from WWII Damage Reports, courtesy of NavSea / dcfp.navy.mil.
USS MISSISSIPPI BB-41 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The Hazegray & Underway Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)
Crew Contact And Reunion Information
USS Mississippi BB-41
Contact Name: Mr. Stanley Airington
Address: 1030 E Louisiana St Norman, OK, 73071-4421
Phone: 405-329-8387
E-mail: None
 Crew Contact And Reunion Information
USS Mississippi ARG-128
Contact Name: Mr. Jack Hefferman
Address: 163 Shawn's Hideaway, Millsboro, DE, 19966
Phone: 302-947-1896
E-mail: None

Note About Contacts.

The contact listed, Was the contact at the time for this ship when located. If another person now is the contact, E-mail me and I will update this entry. These contacts are compiled from various sources over a long period of time and may or may not be correct. Every effort has been made to list the newest contact if more than one contact was found.
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway Battleship Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Back To The Main Photo Index Back To The Battleship Photo Index Page


This Page Is Created And Maintained By Michael Mohl
All Pages Copyright © 1996-2008, Paul R. Yarnall © 2008NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.