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NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive

BB-43 USS TENNESSEE
June 1943 - 1945

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Delta - November
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1917 - 1921
1922 - 1929
1930 - 1941
Pearl Harbor Attack
Puget Sound Rebuild / 1942 - May 1943
1946 - 1959

Tennessee Class Battleship: Displacement 32,300 Tons, Dimensions, 624' (oa) x 97' 4" x 31' (Max). Armament 12 x 14"/50 14 x 5"/51, 4 x 3"/50AA 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 13 1/2" Belt, 18" Turrets, 3 1/2" +1 1/2" Decks, 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 26,800 SHP; Turbines with electric drive, 4 screws. Speed, 21 Knots, Crew 1083.

Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York Naval Ship Yard, May 14, 1917. Launched April 30, 1919. Commissioned June 3, 1920. Decommissioned February 14, 1947. Stricken March 1, 1959.
Fate: Sold July 16, 1959 and broken up for scrap.
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For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
BB-43 Tennessee 64k Tennessee class line drawing, 11/43. Courtesy of Joe Radigan.
BB-43 Tennessee 99k Oil painting of the Tennessee (BB-43) underway in 1943 Photograph courtesy of Jacobo Ruiz.
Photo added 12/31/10.
BB-46 Maryland88k Maryland (BB-46) follows Tennessee (BB-43), in mid-Pacific, November 1943. Originally near sisters, note difference in beam and silhouette. Photo and text courtesy of U.S. Warships of W.W. II by Paul H. Silverman, submitted by Robert Hurst.
BB-43 Tennessee 208k A painting by the artist Wayne Scarpaci entitled "Early evening." depicting the Tennessee (BB-43) arriving at NAS North Island, San Diego, CA. sometime in early 1944. Drawing courtesy of artbywayne.com.
BB-43 Tennessee 423k Bow view of Tennessee (BB-43) behind torpedo nets, taken off of San Francisco right after being painted up in camouflage measure 32, 11 January 1944. BuShips photo # 57657 courtesy of David Buell.
BB-43 Tennessee 595k Interesting aerial shot of Tennessee (BB-43) at San Francisco wearing camouflage measure 32, 11 January 1944. BuShips photo # 57660 courtesy of David Buell.
BB-43 Tennessee 422k Broadside photo taken off of San Francisco in camouflage measure 32, 11 January 1944. BuShips photo # 57655 courtesy of David Buell.
BB-43 Tennessee 75k Bombarding Japanese positions on Guam, 19 July 1944. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, USNHC # 80-G-K-14224, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-43 Tennessee 91k Oil on canvas by the artist William F. Draper entitled "Boxing Match".
On the way to Saipan, the ship's company of the Tennessee (BB-43) gathers to watch a boxing match between two enlisted men. 		Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. "Boxing Match" William F. Draper #104 Oil on canvas, November 1944 40 1/4h" x 46w" 88-189-DS.
BB-43 Tennessee 389k Bow view, starboard side of the Tennessee (BB-43) at Puget Sound Navy Yard, 25 Jan. 1945. Bureau of Ships photos # 78466 courtesy of David Buell.
BB-43 Tennessee 270k The Tennessee's (BB-43) 5"/51 reach for the sky in this photo taken some time after her last refit at Puget Sound Navy Yard, 25 Jan. 1945. National Archives, # N-3136 courtesy of David Buell.
Photo i.d. courtesy of David C. Nilsen, CTR USA, TRADOC.
BB-43 Tennessee 76k Oil on canvas painting by the artist Anthony Saunders entitled "Tennessee (BB-43) During the Landings at Iwo Jima."
In February 1945, 850 square miles of volcanic rock became the most strategically important island in the South Pacific. From Iwo Jima heavy bombers would be able to raid Japanese cities almost at will. Even with its overwhelming military might, the Americans would have to pay a heavy price for such a seemingly small island. The battleship New York (BB-34) is behind the Tennessee 		Text and drawing courtesy of naval-art.com
Iwo Jima76k Photo taken from Vicksburg (CL-86) of the battleships Idaho (BB-42), Tennessee (BB-43), and New York (BB-34) (on right), during the bombardment of Iwo Jima, Feb 1945. Courtesy of modelwarships.com & submitted by Joesph Macdonald.
BB-43 Tennessee 65k Initial waves of amphibious tractors (LVT) head for the landing beaches on Iwo Jima's southeastern coast, at about 0900 Hrs. on 19 February 1945. Tennessee (BB-43) is at left. Photographed from an airplane based on Makin Island (CVE-93). Official U.S. Navy Photograph # 80-G-310951, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-43 Tennessee 48k A battleship, probably Tennessee (BB-43) bombarding Iwo Jima prior to the initial landings, circa 19 February 1945. Mount Suribachi is in the left center, beyond the battleship, with a huge explosion at its base.
Original 35mm Kodachrome transparency, photographed by Lieutenant Howard W. Whalen, USNR, Boat Group Commander, Sanborn (APA-193). 		U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 104355-KN. Collection of Lieutenant Commander Howard W. Whalen, USNR. Donated by Mrs. Nadine Whalen, 1997.
BB-43 Tennessee 128k Bombarding Okinawa with her 14"/50 main battery guns, as LVTs in the foreground carry troops to the invasion beaches, 1 April 1945. USNHC # NH 42390, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-40 New Mexico 70k At sea with two other battleships and an amphibious force command ship (AGC), probably at the time of the Iwo Jima or Okinawa operations, circa February-April 1945. Battleship in the center background is Idaho (BB-42). The one further to the left is Tennessee (BB-43). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, USNHC # 80-G-K-3706, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-43 Tennessee 23k Damage from a kamakaize attack on the Tennessee (BB-43), 12 April 1945 off the coast of Okinawa.Photo from WW II Damage Reports, courtesy of NavSea / dcfp.navy.mil.
BB-43 Tennessee 174k Tennessee (BB-43) beside the repair ship Ajax (AR-6) on 8 May 1945, undergoing repairs to her starboard side gun mounts after a kamikaze struck the ship on 12 April 1945. Photo taken by Hamp Law from the backseat of OS2U Kingfisher number 22 as they were doing a fly-by of the ship. Photo & text courtesy of Model Warships submitted by Mike Green.
BB-43 Tennessee 51k Tennessee (BB-43) pitching in heavy seas, while operating in the Pacific Ocean, 1945. Official U.S. Navy Photograph # NH 104440, now in the collections of the National Archives. Collection of Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin, USN, donated by his Daughter, Mrs. Phyllis Sherrill, 1972.
BB-36, 43 & 4482kPearl Harbor Veterans, the Tennessee (BB-43), California (BB-44) and Nevada (BB-36) steam out of Buckner Bay, Okinawa on 17 July 1945. All had been sunk or damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor.USN photo.
BB-43 Tennessee 124k In Buckner Bay, Okinawa, 17 July 1945. Taken by a Makin Island (CVE-93) photographer. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, USNHC # 80-G-326899, now in the collections of the National Archives.
USS TENNESSEE BB-43 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
Contact Name: Bud Galow
Address: 521 Inman Terrace, Willow Grove, PA 19090-3613
Phone: (215) 784-9885
E-mail:budgalow@comcast.net
Mail to USS Tennessee Reunion Association can be sent to: P.O. Box 1174, Willow Grove, PA 19090-0704

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.
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