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South Dakota (BB-57) arrived at New York on 18 December 1942 for an overhaul and the completion of repairs to her battle damage from Guadalcanal on 15 November 1942. She was back at sea on 25 February 1943 and, following sea trials, operated with Ranger (CV-4) in the North Atlantic until mid-April.
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U.S. Navy Photograph. Photo i.d. courtesy of Mike Green & Fred Sheltry. Partial text courtesy of DANFS. |
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The South Dakota (BB-57) view looking aft showing alteration on 20 February 1943.
"Note the "SN", a lightweight portable radar set by General Electric, for emergency use aboard ships atop #2 turret.
Detection of a battleship at 6 nm., a surfaced submarine at 2nm.
The antenna was a 48in paraboloid.
Maual scan only.
Feed by a vertical dipole.
Note the large spotting glass atop the Fire Control tower with the Main Battery Fire Control Radar Mk.3 Mod.2 ("FC") behind it.
"FC" had a 12ft x 3ft antenna and operated at a short wavelength (40cm) which gave it good resolution and introduced lobe switching, a process by which bearing was refined by switching the signal alternately between horizontal halves of the aerial and comparing the returns untill they were approximately equal.
This radar was not employed only for fire control but also as a back-up search set, at night and in poor visibility.
It was then used to sweep the horizon every 15 or-so, minutes looking for formation changes etc.
This radar proved effective against single low-flying aircraft at 3,500 yd and formations at 10-12,000 yd.
It could be diverted back to its original purpose, fire control, at any time.
In this role, an accuracy of 50 yd at a range of 23,000 yd on a destroyer was reported.
Also note the "FD" (Mk.4) radars atop the three (of 4) Mk.37 Dual Purpose directors.
This radar equipment had essentially the same electronics as the "FC" (Mk.3), except that the two radar halves were stacked vertically.
The aerial was alligned to the optics of the Mk.37.
A range of 40,000yd was reported for a single aircraft at medium altitude, 30,000yd for an aircraft at low altitude and 26,000 yd on a destroyer or cruiser. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Port side view after 1st. refit in Feb.1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Port side view looking fwd.after 1st.refit,1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Top side view looking aft showing alterations on 20 February 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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View fwd.,looking aft showing alterations on 20 February 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Photo fix courtesy of Tom Kermen. |
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Deck view aft, looking forward showing alterations on 20 February 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Stern view showing alterations on 20 February 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Bow on view after first refit in 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Photo added 03/10/08. |
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Target Practice while underway in the Atlantic,1943 |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Navy photo probably taken in the North Atlantic sometime circa mid 1943. |
USN photo i.d. courtesy of Jeff Spencer & Aryeh Wetherhorn. |
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South Dakota (BB-57) anchored in the Hvalfjordur area, Iceland, 24 June 1943.
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USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Text i.d. courtesy of USNHC # NH 97265. |
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Gun crew aboard South Dakota (BB-57) on sortie from Norwegian Coast. Ahead are HMS Unicorn and HMS Duke of York. |
U.S. Navy Photograph submitted by Pieter Bakels. |
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Seen from HMS Duke of York off Norway in June 1943.
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U.S. Navy Photograph submitted by Pieter Bakels. |
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South Dakota (BB-57) in the Atlantic, excercising with British Swordfish torpedo planes, 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Secondary Battery Control aboard the South Dakota (BB-57) in the Atlantic, 1943.
Note the Target Bearing Designator Mk.1 Mod.1 at Navigating Bridge Level, removed later and the
Mk.51 Director
for the below 40mm quadruple mount Mk.2.
The Air Defence Station on South Dakota's 011 level was a target information and designation station, which controlled the 5”/38 and machine gun batteries by means of battle telephone circuits to 5”directors and plotting room and to machine gun sector officers.
From that station, the Air Defence Officer and Machine Gun Officer designated targets, coached batteries on targets and ordered commence and cease fire in accordance with the doctrine and orders from Conn and Control.
Personnel manning the station at general quarters included:
Air Defence Officer, Machine Gun Officer, Lookout Officer, Lookout P.O., JS talker and plotter, JA talker, JL talker, 5JP talker & 12 lookouts.
The duties of each are apparent from the names of the positions.
In condition watches, the same positions were manned minus the Machine Gun Officer.
The information needed in controlling the batteries was obtained from target observation by controlling officers, from reports by
sky lookouts personnel
using designators and binoculars, from use of remote radar PPI and director train indicators and from telephoned reports and orders from Conn, Control and CIC.
The CIC information was also passed directly to 5”directors via the 5JP circuit and was plotted in Air Defense on a true relative plotting board by the JS talker.
Other instruments, such as ship’s course indicator, radio telephone and 20, 21MC communications were seldom used.
The Air Defense Station (Aft) was manned only when smoke or damage prevented use of the forward station and the auxiliary station at Batt II.
The after station was provided with telephone circuits, director train indicators and the ship’s course indicator.
The Target Designator Transmitter and Receiver Mk.1 Mod.1 was used primarily to obtain and transmit relative target bearing and elevation of air targets to dual purpose gun directors (Mk.37).
It could also be similarly employed for surface targets, but transmitted relative bearing only in that application. The Mk.1 Mod.1 Target Designator Mk.1 had two hand inputs, one electrical input and two electrical outputs.
Note the illumination supply snap switch
on the fixed pedestal.
Rotation of the case around the stationary gear introduced train into the 1-speed generator. Note the cut cable to the contact maker which, when closed, energized a buzzer in the selected receiving station.
| USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels.
Text Source: Operation and description of Ordnance Installation, South Dakota, August 1944.
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The South Dakota (BB-57) proceeds through subnets at Scapa Flow - 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Ammunition is taken aboard the South Dakota (BB-57) from another ship at Scapa Flow in 24 June 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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The First Lord, Mr.A.V.Alexander on his tour of inspection of the South Dakota (BB-57) at Scapa Flow, July 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Inspecting the crew on the forecastle, July 1943.
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USN photo. |
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The South Dakota (BB-57) at Scapa Flow in 1943.
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USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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The South Dakota (BB-57) replenishing at Scapa Flow from a British ammunition lighter-1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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The South Dakota (BB-57) in the Atlantic with the Britsh Home Fleet, 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Target Practice while underway in the Atlantic, 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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40mm anti- aircraft gunner in combat clothing in 1944, wearing an olive drab steel helmet (some were Navy-Grey), stencilled "G" for gunner over a flash mask with a bulky, kapok-filled jacket worn over a standard working denim shirt and slacks with laced leather shoes.
He carries a clip of 40MM shells. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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From left to right- boatswain, 1942, sailor, 1943 and sailor 1st. class, 1945, wearing a Talker Mk.2 helmet, life jacket over a water- resistent jacket, denim slacks and brown laced leather arctics. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
 | 677k | South Dakota (BB-57) underway with Alabama (BB-60) as viewed from H.M.S. King George V.
In July 1943 Alabama participated in Operation Governor, a diversion aimed toward southern Norway, to draw German attention away from the real Allied thrust, toward Sicily. It had also been devised to attempt to lure out the German battleship Tirpitz, the sister ship of the famed, but short-lived, Bismarck, but the Germans did not rise to the challenge, and the enemy battleship remained in her Norwegian lair.
| USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Text courtesy of DANFS. |
 | 358k | The South Dakota (BB-57) & Alabama (BB-60) during combined operations in the Northern Atlantic in 1943.
Note the "FC" (Mk.3) Main battery Fire Control radar atop her Fire Control tower (Spot 3) for ranging and training purposes and on the MK.38 Director on her Foretop (Spot 1).
The height of this armored director above the designed waterline is 117 feet, 7.5/16 inches. That of Spot 2, located just aft of the Stack, 63 feet, 7.5/16 inches.
This gave Director #1 a horizon of about 24,000 yards and director #2 a horizon of about 18,000 yards.
Note that Director #2 has received the (then) new microwave radar MK.8. with the radar operator's station with Mod.1 equipment in Gun Director MK 38) seen here.
The large stove pipes at the ends of her yards are IFF antennas and inboard of them anemometers and weathervanes. (weather effects on fire control).
Atop the Foremast radar platform SC-2, an air search radar with a 15ft x 4ft 6in reflector using a 6x2 array of dipoles. SC-2 incorporated a PPI.
One "SG" Surface search radar is fitted atop the Mainmast, the other Fwd.of her Air Defence Level.
South Dakota had an extra Conning Tower level to fit her for duty as Flagship.
Weight compensation included the elimination of two 5-Inch Twin Mounts.
A quadruple 40mm mount such as fitted atop her three near-sister's #2 16-Inch turret would block the view of the lower vision slits.
South Dakota therefore received an extra quadruple 40mm mount Mk.2 on both sides of her stack. (Pictured here is Antenna Mount MK[1].25 Mod.O, installed on the quadruple 40mm mount MK.4..
| Scanned from Naval Ordnance and Gunnery,1944, NavPers 16116. Photo courtesy Pieter Bakels. |
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Form Line of Battle!!! - The South Dakota (BB-57), Alabama (BB-60) and H.M.S. Anson sail in line ahead during combined operations in the Northern Atlantic in 1943. | USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Field day aboard South Dakota (BB-57) while at Scapa Flow in 1943. |
USN photo courtesy of Pieter Bakels. |
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Admiral Harold R. Stark, USN, Commander, U.S. Naval Forces in Europe. On board a U.S. Navy battleship at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, in 1943. The original photograph is dated 16 September 1943, at which time there were no U.S. battleships in the area of the United Kingdom. This ship appears to be South Dakota (BB-57). If it is she, the photograph was probably taken in June-July 1943.
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Official U.S. Navy Photograph, USNHC # 80-G-42994, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. |
![Antenna Mount MK[1].25 Mod.O,](http://navsource.org/archives/01/038/013801h.jpg){kind=link}
