USS West Virginia (BB-48)

USS West Virginia (BB-48), a Colorado-class battleship, was the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 35th state.

October 1944:  Battle of Leyte Gulf

Four carriers and two "hermaphrodite" battleship-carriers (Ise and Hyuga) sailed toward the Philippine Sea from Japanese home waters; a small surface force under Admiral Kiyohide Shima headed for the Sulu Sea; two striking forces consisting of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers sortied from Lingga Roads, Sumatra, before separating north of Borneo. The larger of those two groups, commanded by Admiral Takeo Kurita, passed north of the island of Palawan to transit the Sibuyan Sea.

Related Topics:
''Ise'' - ''Hyuga'' - Philippine Sea - Kiyohide Shima - Sulu Sea - Battleship - Cruiser - Destroyer - Sortie - Lingga Roads - Sumatra - Borneo - Takeo Kurita - Palawan - Sibuyan Sea

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American submarines Darter (SS-227) and Dace (SS-247) drew first blood in what would become known as the Battle of Leyte Gulf on 29 October when they sank, respectively, two of Kurita's cruisers, Maya and Atago. Undeterred, Kurita continued the transit, his force built around the giant battleship Musashi.

Related Topics:
''Darter'' - ''Dace'' - Battle of Leyte Gulf - 29 October - ''Maya'' - ''Atago'' - ''Musashi''

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The smaller of the two forces, under Admiral Shoji Nishimura, turned south of Palawan and transited the Sulu Sea to pass between the islands of Mindanao and Leyte. Shima's forces obediently followed Nishimura's, heading for Leyte Gulf as the southern jaw of a pincer designed to hit the assemblage of amphibious ships and transports unloading off the Leyte beachhead.

Related Topics:
Shoji Nishimura - Mindanao

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Detailed to deal with the force heading in his direction, Admiral Oldendorf accordingly deployed his sizable force—six battleships, eight cruisers, and 28 destroyers—across the northern end of Surigao Strait.

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At 22:36 on 24 October 1944, the American PT boats deployed in the strait and its approaches made radar contact with Nishimura's force, conducting a harassing attack that annoyed, but did not stop, the oncoming enemy. Well into the strait by 03:00 on 25 October, Nishimura took up battle formation when five American destroyers launched a well-planned torpedo attack. Caught in the spread of torpedoes, the battleship Fuso took hits and dropped out of the formation; other spreads of "fish" dispatched a pair of Japanese destroyers and crippled a third.

Related Topics:
24 October - 1944 - PT boat - 25 October - ''Fuso''

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Fusos sistership Yamashiro, meanwhile, had taken one hit and was slowed down, only to be hit again within 15 minutes' time. Fuso herself, apparently ravaged by fires ignited by the torpedo hits, blew up with a tremendous explosion at 03:38.

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West Virginia meanwhile, was maintaining her position ahead of Maryland, Mississippi (BB-41), Tennessee, California, and Pennsylvania (BB-38) four of these ships, like West Virginia, veterans of Pearl Harbor. From 00:21 on 25 October, the battleship had picked up reports on the PT boat and destroyer attacks; finally at 03:16, West Virginia's radar picked up Nishimura's force at a range of 42,000 yards (38 km). She tracked them as they approached in the pitch black night.

Related Topics:
''Mississippi'' - ''Pennsylvania'' - 25 October

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At 03:52, West Virginia unleashed her 16 inch (406 mm) main battery; she fired 16 salvoes in the direction of Nishimura's ships as Oldendorf crossed the T of the Japanese fleet and thus achieved the tactical mastery of a situation that almost every surface admiral dreams of. At 04:13, the "Wee Vee" ceased fire; the Japanese remnants proceeded in disorder down the strait from whence they had come. Several burning Japanese ships littered the strait; West Virginia had contributed to Yamashiros demise, thus avenging her own crippling in the Pearl Harbor attack.

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West Virginia had thus taken part in the last naval engagement fought by line-of-battle ships and, on 29 October, departed the Philippines for Ulithi, in company with Tennessee and Maryland. Subsequently heading for Espiritu Santo, in the New Hebrides, after Admiral Ruddock had shifted his flag back from West Virginia to Maryland, the former underwent a period of upkeep in the floating drydock ABSD-1, for her damaged screws.

Related Topics:
29 October - Philippines - Ulithi - Espiritu Santo - New Hebrides - Floating drydock - ABSD-1

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