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-56 USS WASHINGTON
Jan. / August 1942
War in the Atlantic

Radio Call Sign: November - India - Delta - Charlie
To Additional Pages

1938 - 1941 / Construction - Shakedown
Sept. - December 1942 / Guadalcanal & Fourth Battle of Savo / Island
Jan. 1943 - Sept 1945 / War in the Pacific
Post WW-II

North Carolina Class Battleship: Displacement 35,000 Tons, Dimensions, 728' 9" (oa) x 108' 4" x 35' 6" (Max). Armament 9 x 16"/45 20 x 5"/38AA, 16 x 1.1" 12 x 0.5", 3 AC. Armor, 12" Belt, 16" Turrets, 1 1/2" Main Deck, +5 1/2" Armored (2nd) deck, +3/4" Third Deck, 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 115,000 SHP; G.E. Geared Turbines, 4 screws. Speed, 27 Knots, Crew 1880.

Operational and Building Data: Laid down by Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard, June 14, 1938. Launched June 1, 1940. Commissioned May 15, 1941. Decommissioned June 27, 1947. Stricken June 1, 1960.
Fate: Sold, June 1, 1961 and broken up for scrap.
Click On Image
For Full Size Image		 Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
BB-56 Washington 172k Washington (BB-56) moored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in mid-1942, exact date unknown, with officer addressing crew members. 20mm bow mounted light A.A guns in gun tubs, anchor chain hawser safety grating and jack flag are all visible. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 170k Washington's (BB-56) crew assembled on the bow of the ship which is moored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in mid-1942, exact date unknown. Anchor windlass machinery, deck hatches and bow mounted 20mm guns and gun tubs are visible. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 40k Undated spring 1942 photo showing the Washington (BB-56), flagship of Task Force 39, in the Atlantic Ocean with spray over the bow. The ship was serving with the Royal Navy at that time. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 97k 1942 photo of an unidentified escorting destroyer, as seen from the Washington (BB-56) port main deck. 5"/38 twin mounts and manned 20mm light A.A. guns are visible. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 105k Undated mid-1942 bow view image from the Washington (BB-56) following unidentified escorting destroyers in line ahead formation. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 61k Washington (BB-56) at Hvalfjord, Iceland in early 1942. USN photo
BB-56 Washington 684k Washington (BB-56), at Hvalfjord, Iceland in early 1942. Inset a drawing by Dwight Shepler of Glenn Davis, Washington's popular skipper. USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels.
BB-56 Washington 35k Washington (BB-56), and HMS King George V at sea in convoy escort duty in April, 1942. USN photo courtesy The Battleships by Ian Johnston & Rob McAuley, submitted by Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 126k Washington (BB-56), HMS Victorious, HMS King George V and an unidentified British heavy cruiser are seen at anchor at Iceland in April, 1942. USN photo courtesy The Battleships by Ian Johnston & Rob McAuley, submitted by Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 74k Washington (BB-56) and HMS Victorious, as seen from the aft main turret of HMS King George V. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 71k Port broadside view of the Washington (BB-56) at sea, as seen on 14 May 1942. USN photograph from the Authors Collection.
BB-56 Washington 94k HMS King George V in the lead followed by Washington (BB-56) during convoy escort duty 16 May 1942. USN photograph from the Authors Collection.
BB-56 Washington 58k Washington (BB-56) at sea, as seen from HMS Victorious. (5/29/42-6/3/42). USN photograph from the Authors Collection.
BB-56 Washington 70k June 1942 photo of the ship, in the Atlantic, while on duty with the British Fleet. Anchored at Scape Flow with the British aircraft carrier HMS Victorious. USN photo.
BB-56 Washington 174k 7 June 1942 photo of King George VI just after boarding the Washington (BB-56) which was then anchored at Scapa Flow. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 98k King George VI inspecting Washington (BB-56) on 7 June 1942. Photo is taken looking under center observation plane stored on stern of the ship between the two catapults. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 106k King George VI inspects the crew of Washington (BB-56), 7 June 1942. Note Vought OS2U floatplane on the ship's starboard catapult. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, USNHC # 80-G-24783, now in the collections of the National Archives.
BB-56 Washington 47k Britain's King George VI inspects the Marine detachment of Washington (BB-56), on 7 June 1942. From left are: RAdm Robert C. Giffen, commanding Task Force 39; King George; Adm Harold R. Stark, special naval observer; and Capt Howard H. Benson, commander of the Washington. Commanding the Marine Detachment is Capt James D. Hittle, who retired as a brigadier general; commanding the 1st Platoon is 1stLt Jonas M. Platt, who retired as a major general; commanding the 2d Platoon is 2dLt Robert Knox. Photo from Marines in World War II Commemorative Series, A DIFFERENT WAR: Marines in Europe and North Africa by Lieutenant Colonel Harry W. Edwards, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret), courtesy of The Admiralty, London & nps.gov.
BB-56 Washington 35k Oil on canvas painting by the artist Anthony Saunders, entitled " Arctic guardian - Washington".
In the Spring of 1942, Washington (BB-56) was the first of America's fast battleship fleet to participate in combat operations when she was briefly assigned to the Royal Navy. On the 28th June 1942, together with HMS Duke of York, HMS Victorious and an accompanying cruiser and destroyer force, she formed part of the distant covering force to convoy PQ-17 bound for Russia. 		Text and drawing courtesy of naval-art.com
BB-56 Washington 58k An unidentified American freighter framed by the battleships HMS Duke of York and the Washington (BB-56) off Iceland, sometime around 28th June 1942. USN photograph courtesy of Robert Hurst.
BB-56 Washington 96k August, 1942 photo just before leaving the East coast for the Pacific. A Kingfisher seaplane is visible at the stern, getting ready to be hoisted aboard. Photograph USNHC # 19-N-33803 from the Bureau of Ships Collection in the U.S. National Archives.
BB-56 Washington 176k Detail shot of the tower foremast taken 18 August 1942 at New York Navy Yard just prior to her transfer to the Pacific. Of notable interest is the location of the surface search radar SG unit on the forward face of the tower. This location caused problems during the upcoming battle off Guadalcanal as it left an arc of 80 degrees that was blind to radar search.
During the battle, the South Dakota (BB-57) was in this blind area and valuable time was lost ensuring that the target that was being tracked was the Japanese battleship Kirishima and not the South Dakota. When the Japanese illuminated the South Dakota with searchlights, the picture immediately cleared and the Kirishima was reduced to a wreck by the Washington's main and secondary armament.		 USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 89k Photo taken 18 August 1942 at New York Navy Yard just prior to her transfer to the Pacific. View taken from main deck on starboard looking inboard and upward showing new 20mm gun & ready service chest locker located on 3rd level above superstructure. USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels & Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 294k View taken from main deck (starboard) forward looking upward and aft to show platform for new experimental gun director MK II on 1.1" Machine gun platform forward of present 1.1" director. Details of tower foremast are visible, most notably the forward facing SG surface search radar. This location caused problems during the upcoming battle off Guadalcanal as it left an arc of 80 degrees that was blind to radar search. USN photo courtesy of Mike Green.
BB-56 Washington 494k Washington (BB-56) dated 21 August 1942, taken out of NAS NYNY, but listed as BuShips #33801. NYNY number is #732, and the reverse side is annotated that it was taken at an altitude of 200-400'. Note the OS2U in the water, the rafts strewn about on the fantail, and the lighters alongside. This was the rig that she was in at Guadalcanal when she took on Kirishima.
Also you can see the 'billboard' on the port bow area. It was a storage area for the 3rd anchor. This was removed during wartime refits/rebuilds and was gone on all of the ships by the end of the war. 		Photo courtesy of David Buell. text i.d. courtesy of David Buell & Mike Green. Photo added 01/25/09.
WASHINGTON BB-56 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:Howard Wright
Address:N/A
Phone: 248-253-1825
E-mail: USSWash@USSWashington.com

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.
U.S.S.Washington Web page
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 © 1996-2009, Paul R. Yarnall © 2009 NavSource Naval History. All Rights Reserved.