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Another stateside overhaul prepared South Dakota for further Pacific combat operations. South Dakota returned to the United States soon thereafter and was decommissioned in January She remained inactive until October , when she was sold for scrapping. Naval History and Heritage Command. The Sextant. Social Media. Toggle left navigation Nav. This is one of a series of drawings of decorated war heroes by Newman Sudduth of the Evening Star’s art staff. George D.
How was this done? What made it possible? T o hit an enemy ship miles away, from a rolling, pitching warship, involves complex problems, the complete answers to which are known only by our naval personnel and by a small group of companies specializing in such problems. Here are a few of the factors which enter into the solution of these problems: 1. Direction and speed of enemy ship. Direction and speed of our ship. Distance to enemy ship.
Time required for shell to travel to enemy. Furthermore, the shell travels in a curve, its true course being affected by many things, such as: 5.
The rotation of the earth. Direction and velocity of wind. Weight, shape, and velocity of shell. The answer, which takes into account these and other problems, must be available immediately, since both our ship and the enemy ship are on the move. Our Navy must know where the enemy ship will be when our shells arrive, many seconds or even a minute after leaving the guns.
And to get our shells to arrive at this precise spot, the angle of gun elevation, lead, and all other factors must be calculated with unbelievable accuracy, and the gun put into correct firing position. The present mechanical marvel, called fire control, which solves these problems, involves among other things the use of hydraulics, optics, calculating machines, and electronics.
Naturally, it did not spring into being overnight. It is the result of years of inventive development by companies like Sperry, co-operating fully with and receiving full co-operation from the Armed Forces.
Since it takes so many years to perfect such equipment the development work, engineering, and testing had to be completed during peacetime.
Otherwise there would have been no equipment ready when war came. All this took large sums of money and the best efforts of highly trained, specialized engineers. In addition to the development of many peacetime devices, Sperry companies have specialized in the creation and manufacture of fire-control equipment for the Navy since The United States Navy leads the world in accuracy and speed of gunfire.
Note South Dakota’s 5-Inch battery in the foreground. Various scenes of destruction are shown here and in the next 4 photos following a bomb hit on the South Dakota BB on the 01 deck by a pound bomb dropped from a Japanese plane at about on the morning of 19 June The bomb hit the main deck where it blew a large hole, cut wiring and piping, but inflicted no other serious material damage.
However, personnel losses were heavy: 24 killed and 27 wounded. Pictured here is the point of impact, looking forward to starboard from frame Photo courtesy of Tracy White Researcher Large.
One guy to far right looks like dad since his damage control repair party near that 40mm on port side were all killed. The number of bodies would be right with the number killed 19 June It appeared that the picture had a July date, so I think it was really 20 June Dad mentioned that it was so hot on board that the dead usually had to be buried at sea almost immediately. My father’s battle station was below in the main damage control and it was his turn to go topside and report when the bomb hit.
He told me that he went out the forward hatch on the starboard side. Right before he went to that last hatch that opened to the main deck he heard the bomb hit, and said it sounded muffled and like a great big bag of sand being dropped probably shrapnel hitting everywhere and as he went to the area on the portside and saw bodies and parts all over, and one guy hanging over the tub of the 40mm upside down with blood gushing out of his helmet.
The damage control party near the hit were all killed, and the other damage control parties were on the scene already. Lindner reads the benediction held in honor of fellow shipmates killed in the air action of Guam on 19 June Underside of the main deck. The temporary patch installed over the hole appears here, looking forward to starboard from frame Looking forward to port from frame The photo is taken off the port beam and shows her at 19 knots speed.
USN photo courtesy of David Buell. Photo by S. Zalkind, PhoM1c. Photo courtesy of John Chiquoine and Mitch Zalkind. Burial at sea of Seaman Second Class Joseph Cavaliere, a gunner killed on 5 November while operating east of the Philippines in support of carrier air strikes.
Cavaliere was killed and seven others wounded by fragments of shells from other US ships firing at attacking Japanese aircraft. On 25 November , for the first time in her far-ranging operations and destruction to the enemy, Essex received injury. A kamikaze hit the port edge of her flight deck landing among planes gassed for takeoff, causing extensive damage, killing 15, and wounding As seen from the Essex on 25 November , a kamikaze is splashed off of the port side of the South Dakota.
On 19 June the battleship was again operating with the fast carriers. It was known that a major Japanese force was approaching from the west, and the American capital ships were placed so that they could continue to support the ground forces on Saipan and also intercept this enemy force.
At , a large group of bogies was reported coming in from the west. At , a “Judy” dropped a pound bomb on South Dakota’s BB main deck where it blew a large hole, cut wiring and piping, but inflicted no other serious material damage.
The ship continued to fight throughout the day as air attacks were continuous. This was the first day of the Battle of the Philippine Sea and was called the “Marianas Turkey Shoot” as the Japanese lost over aircraft. The air battle continued throughout the 20th. When it ended, the badly mauled Japanese fleet no longer posed a threat to the American conquest of the Marianas.
The battleship was overhauled at the navy yard there; and, after sea trials, sailed on 26 August for Pearl Harbor. South Dakota was routed to Ulithi and, upon her arrival, was attached to TG She appears here at anchor, at Ulithi Atoll, 8 December The hospital ship in the background is the Samaritan AH National Archives photo 80G courtesy of David Buell. He appears here as an Rear Admiral on board ship, circa the later s or the s. Donation of Mrs. Charles B.
Photo submitted by Bill Gonyo. The ships are entering Ulithi Anchorage on 12 December after strikes against the Japanese in the Philippines.
Battleships of the U. Starboard and overhead line art drawing by A. Raven shows the South Dakota BB in The South Dakota BB operated with the fast carriers in their strikes against the Tokyo area on 17 February and against Iwo Jima on the 19th and 20th in support of amphibious landings there.
Tokyo again was the target on the 25th, and Okinawa’s turn came on 1 March. After rearming at Ulithi, the task groups sailed toward Japan again and pounded targets in the Kobe, Kure, and Kyushu areas on 18 and 19 March. Steaming into heavy seas on 24 February , while en route to take part Task Force 58’s second Tokyo raid of the month. Photographed from atop the battleship’s forward fire control platform. Spray is enveloping the forecastle 40mm gun mounts in weather that curtailed the number of strikes flown on 25 February and forced the cancellation of those planned for the 26th.
Port side quad 40mm mounts filling their tubs with spent shells demonstrates the validity of the Navy’s concern about these gun mounts jamming in train from prolonged action. Getting the hoses ready for refueling at sea, something that was done several hundred times during her career. Fantail, probably at Ulithi, around March Note the 3 Inch Turret swung to port for the ship’s band to perform an informal concert. Ship’s anti-aircraft in action off Southern Honshu, Japan, on 10 March The battleship South Dakota BB is in the foreground.
Presents from the mainland U. Taking on inch shells from an ammunition ship. While rearming from the ammunition ship Wrangell AE on 6 May , a tank of inch high capacity powder exploded, causing a fire and exploding four more tanks.
Turret No. The ship lost three men killed instantly; eight more died of injuries; and 24 others suffered non-fatal wounds. The ship retired to Guam from 11 to 29 May when she sailed for Leyte, arriving on 1 June. This photo was taken on 6 May , 20 minutes following the sixteen-inch powder explosion by turret 3. Administering plasma and other first aid to victims of explosion on board of the South Dakota BB , 6 May USN photo courtesy of Mauer D.
Directly below on a platform her aft “SG” surface search set. Air Defense are another two, not visible here. Directly below the Fwd. Atop the Mk. Note the 20mm gallery atop her No. The “scoreboard” on her fire control tower spot 3 has been painted over, much to the annoyance of her crew. Numerous whip antennas for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communications can be seen. Technical description courtesy of Pieter Bakels. Crew members of the South Dakota BB prepare the ship for painting while in drydock.
Note the chains suspended from the main deck to the scaffolds. South Dakota BB in her natural habitat Vice Admiral Willis A. Lee, Jr. On board South Dakota BB , circa Shafroth was appointed Commander of Task Unit He was tasked to attack the ironworks at Kamaishi in northern Honshu. At the time the city had a population of 40, and the ironworks was among the largest in Japan.
However, due to shortages of coking coal and other raw materials, the ironworks was running at less than half its capacity. Shafroth walking past an American flag mounted in reverse years earlier aboard the battleship South Dakota BB Photo by John Florea courtesy of life. Bombardment of Kamaishi, Japan, 14 July Battleships and heavy cruisers steam in column off Kamaishi, at the time they bombarded the iron works there, as seen from South Dakota BB A second before, South Dakota BB , from which this photograph was taken, fired the initial salvo of the first naval gunfire bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands.
The superstructure of Massachusetts BB is visible directly behind Indiana. The Massachusetts is firing. The South Dakota BB can be seen behind her. Note the two Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes on the stern and the merchant ship-type cowl ventilator between the two catapults.
Near a MK. HMAS Norman. August E 3rd. Fleet Marine provisional landing force getting final orders before leaving the South Dakota for landing in Japan. Hiram Quillin from left, with baseball cap. Although the day was foggy, thousands of spectators gathered atop the famed span and on shore to welcome the fighting admiral and his battle-seasoned veterans.
Photo courtesy of David Buell. Photo from The Wilmington Morning Star. A Sikorsky HNS-1, was the first production helo outside Germany and among the first in the world. Out of built, 22 went to the Navy for training and trial purposes, one of which was used to bring Admiral Halsey aboard South Dakota BB Note the “homeward bound” pennant.
The crew of the South Dakota BB are most likely lining the deck during the change of command ceremony when Admiral Halsey was relieved of Third Fleet command on South Dakota’s fantail on 22 November, Photo taken from Bldg. Note that they are both still flying their ensigns and jacks, so both are still in commission. The South Dakota BB is in the left background. Across the pier past the California are two 4-stack cruisers of the Omaha class.
Stripping is apparently underway on the CLs, with at least one smokestack on the nearest — inboard — ship removed. Some of the stacks on the outboard ship are hidden behind those of the inboard ship.
It appears that the cruisers might be painted in measure MS camouflage, but only two appear to have ended the war in this pattern: Detroit CL-8 and Trenton CL Seven of these cruisers were decommissioned and sold for scrap at the Phila. MS dated MS21 dated MS22 dated It is possible that the outboard cruiser further from the camera may not be in measure The stack appears a bit lighter and that would mean cruisers in measure 22 would also have to be included.
Note that 4 stack of the outboard cruiser is obscured by 3 of the inboard ship which also looks a little bit lighter? This is especially true since Richmond was in MS 21 in late Also in the background is the former Olympia ex-C-6 IX Notice the flatcar going to the storage yards on other side of the lift bridge to Bldg.
It is full of single barrel 20mm A. Partial text and photo i. This photo comes from the U. Naval Institute and has an accompanying photocopy identifying all of the surrounding ships. It also identifies two returned U. The Naval Institute photo was taken at a later date, as more of the “packaging” on the two battleships had been completed.
According to Tennessee’s deck logs, she entered Drydock 5 with California on 8 May South Dakota BB mid-stern section visible at upper left of photo subsequently entered Drydock the “Navy Day” program from the shipyard indicates that this had taken place by 27th October of that year.
I have two documents from the 4th Naval District, and of course they give different completion dates for the scrapping of these ships. The first document dated 1 Apr 46 indicates that scrapping was completed on 27 February of that year; the second document also dated 1 April 46 gives the completion date as 10 March Note also that the attached photo distinctly shows that both cruisers have all four funnels–I think it’s an optical illusion that either of these had had any of them removed.
The “light colored objects” in front of the two cruisers might “possibly” be barbettes from the Illinois BB Naval Institute. Majority text by Joe Lewis. Chuck Haberlein contributed to the BB i. Note all the secondary weaponry has been removed. The battleship South Dakota BB resting in the ship storage yard with it’s guns sealed, 29 August Photographer: Sam Shere,courtesy of life. Taken at Philadelphia after she entered Drydock the “Navy Day” program from the shipyard indicates that this had taken place by 27th October of that year.
South Dakota BB after her bow 40mm mounts have been removed. She sailed from the west coast on 8 January for Philadelphia and a yard overhaul. In June, she was attached to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. On 31 January , she was placed in reserve, out of commission. Photo courtesy of Byron A. Still a commissioned warship as evidenced from the flag flying from her mast at the bow. That’s where the wood for the keel blocks was cut. South Dakota BB crew members play music in ship’s library, 21 January Rear Admiral Ralph S.
Riggs left and Commander W. Crewmen haul down the National Ensign as the battleship is decommissioned, at the Philadelphia Naval Base, Pennsylvania, 31 January Redfin SSR is in Drydock Bldg is to the right at the Phila.
Naval Yard, , cut in two waiting for the Navigational Information Center to be placed between control and forward battery. The battleship in the background of the photo is the South Dakota BB It might also be noted from the photo that the South Dakota no longer has the bow mounted 40mm mounts that were carried during the war, having been removed during her overhaul. It was the first time in history that visitors were permitted aboard the warship, famed as Battleship X” in World War II.
The 35,ton vessel is part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. O’Leary, USN Phila group commander of the Atlantic reserve fleet, points out the part of the South Dakota BB to a group of six South Dakotans who are here to pick out part of the battleship their state may want to memorialize Dakota Memorial Foundation.
Late – early photo of the South Dakota BB being scrapped. She evaded the torpedoes and shot down one of the attackers. A fourth strike arrived over the fleet half an hour later, and several Aichi D3A dive bombers attacked South Dakota. Most of the bombs fell harmlessly in the sea, but one scored a hit on her forward main battery turret roof, though it exploded without penetrating.
Gatch, who was out on the bridge wing to spot the bombers so he could try to maneuver the vessel away, was wounded by a bomb splinter and the concussion from the blast threw him into the wall and knocked him unconscious.
Two men were killed and over fifty were wounded by fragments from the bomb. The gun crew was eventually informed by the Bureau of Ordnance that the gouges were deep enough that the barrels should not be fired.
A miscommunication while transferring steering control to the executive officer’s XO station caused South Dakota to haul out of formation, briefly headed toward Enterprise before the XO corrected the mistake. South Dakota ‘ s gunners claimed to have shot down 26 Japanese aircraft, but only 13 had actually been shot down by all of the ships of TF 16 combined.
The ship suffered two fatalities and around sixty wounded between the bomb hit and strafing runs from Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters. The 20 mm guns, with their shorter effective range, were not hampered by the reduced visibility and accounted for two-thirds of the aircraft South Dakota shot down, according to the ship’s after action report. Though the Japanese carriers survived the battle and Hornet eventually had to be scuttled , the Japanese had lost 99 aircraft, nearly half of the carriers’ complement, devastating Japanese naval aviation, which relied on a small number of highly trained veterans that could not be easily replaced.
Both South Dakota and Mahan suffered significant damage, with Mahan ‘ s bow deflected to port and crumpled back to Frame The repair team flooded some of South Dakota ‘ s internal compartments to induce a list to expose the damaged hull plating; the work lasted from 1 to 6 November, and Gatch had returned to duty the previous day.
By this time, Enterprise was the only active carrier in the Pacific, and so Halsey ordered Washington to join South Dakota as part of the escort force to protect the valuable carrier. The ships sortied on 11 November to return to the fighting off Guadalcanal. The cruiser Pensacola and two more destroyers joined them the following day.
On 13 November, after learning that a major Japanese attack was approaching, Halsey detached South Dakota , Washington , and four of the destroyers as Task Group Enterprise , her forward elevator damaged from the action at Santa Cruz, was kept to the south as a reserve. The ships of TG While en route, TG Japanese aircraft reported sighting Lee’s formation, but identification of the ships ranged from a group of cruisers and destroyers to aircraft carriers, causing confusion among the Japanese commanders.
That evening, American reconnaissance aircraft spotted Japanese warships off Savo Island , prompting Lee to order his ships to general quarters. The four destroyers were arrayed ahead of the two battleships. At about the same time, Washington ‘ s search radar picked up one of Hashimoto’s cruisers and a destroyer. The ships’ fire control radars then began tracking the Japanese vessels and Lee ordered both of his battleships to open fire when ready. Washington fired first at at a range of 18, yd 16, m , followed quickly by South Dakota , though she was limited to four of her six forward guns owing to the damage to two of the barrels sustained at Santa Cruz.
The ships used their radars to determine the range but their optical directors to aim the guns. South Dakota initially targeted the destroyer Shikinami ; South Dakota missed, but Shikinami immediately turned to open the range. South Dakota then shifted fire to the destroyers Ayanami and Uranami ; her spotters claimed South Dakota had hit both and set them on fire, but she scored no hits during this period.
The former approached Washington too closely, however, and was quickly reduced to a flaming wreck, which was scuttled later. Shortly thereafter, at about , an error in the electrical switchboard room knocked out power aboard South Dakota , disabling her radar systems and leaving the ship all but blind to the Japanese vessels approaching the force.
By this time, Hashimoto’s ships had inflicted serious damage on the American destroyer screen; two of the destroyers were torpedoed one of which, Benham , survived until the following morning and a third was destroyed by gunfire. This compounded South Dakota ‘ s problems, as she had to keep clear of the burning wrecks.
By being forced to turn in front of the burning destroyers, the fires backlit South Dakota and highlighted her presence to the Japanese ships.
At , she engaged Hashimoto’s ships with her rear turret, which accidentally set her Kingfishers on fire, but a second salvo knocked two of the three burning aircraft overboard and blew out the fire on the third. Power was restored and she fired five salvos from her main battery at a range of 5, yd 5, m , but the shock of firing the guns caused further electrical failures, disabling her gunnery and search radars for five minutes shortly before midnight. Upon reactivating her search radar, South Dakota picked up numerous Japanese vessels directly ahead.
She received 27 hits during this phase, including a inch shell from Kirishima that hit the rear turret and failed to penetrate the armor, though it damaged the training gear. Most of the hits came from the medium-caliber guns of the cruisers and destroyers, though they were largely confined to the superstructure, where they did not threaten the ship’s survival. They nevertheless inflicted significant damage, destroying radar sets, disabling radio systems, and knocking out other systems, leaving the ship in Lee’s words “deaf, dumb, blind, and impotent.
Focused on South Dakota , the Japanese left Washington unengaged, allowing her to attack Kirishima without any disruption. South Dakota fired two or three salvos at the next Japanese ship in the line before shifting fire to target Kirishima as well, firing five salvos in total before checking her fire as her gun directing equipment had been disabled; her secondary battery nevertheless kept up a heavy fire. Washington quickly inflicted fatal damage on Kirishima , destroying two of her four main battery turrets, holing her below the waterline, and starting numerous fires.
Since her radios had been disabled by gunfire, Gatch could not communicate with Lee, so he turned south and disengaged. A hit below the waterline caused minor flooding and a list of 0. Fires that shell hits had started were suppressed by At around , South Dakota restored radio contact with Washington and Gatch informed Lee of his ship’s condition. Lee ordered Gatch to withdraw at high speed. South Dakota ‘ s crew had suffered heavy casualties, with 40 killed and wounded.
Among the injured was year-old Calvin Graham , who had lied about his age to enlist; he was the youngest American to fight in the war. South Dakota received the Navy Unit Commendation for her role in the battle. There, the repair ship Prometheus repaired some of South Dakota ‘ s damage, the work lasting until 25 November.
During that period, she received replacements for her destroyed Kingfishers. After refueling there on 27 November, she proceeded with the destroyers until the 29th, when she detached them to return to the fleet. South Dakota steamed northeast to the Panama Canal, which she reached on 11 December. She refueled on the Pacific side of the canal, passed through the locks , and steamed north to New York.
Once she was in the Atlantic, she picked up an escort of two destroyers. For security purposes, she was referred to as “Battleship X”. McCormick relieved Gatch on 1 February , and the ship went to sea on 25 February to begin sea trials. In March, she began operations in the north Atlantic with the carrier Ranger.
Her primary responsibility during this period was protecting the Arctic supply convoys being sent to the Soviet Union through the Arctic Ocean; a powerful German squadron consisting of the battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst and several heavy cruisers threatened these convoys. Hustvedt , and consisted of South Dakota , her sister Alabama , and five destroyers. The ships protected convoys going back and forth between Britain and the Soviet Union, and in July, they conducted a demonstration to distract German attention during the Sicily invasion, though the Germans took no notice of the ships.
At the end of the month, South Dakota was recalled to Norfolk with five destroyers as escort; they arrived there on 1 August. From there, she steamed to Fiji on 7 November, where she joined the rest of BatDiv 9, which had been assigned to the support force for TG The American fleet embarked on a campaign to conquer the Gilbert and Marshall Islands , beginning with Operation Galvanic , the seizure of Tarawa later in November.
On 19 November, the carriers launched raids on Tarawa and nearby islands in advance of the amphibious assault. The ships were sent to attack Nauru early in the month, and on 6 December they were reinforced by the battleships Indiana and Massachusetts , now being re-designated TG The ships arrived off Nauru two days later and bombarded it with gunfire from the battleships and strikes from the carriers’ aircraft.
The Americans achieved little of significance, as the Japanese forces on the island were light and had few aircraft to be targeted. The ships returned to Efate and began preparations for the next major offensive, including loading ammunition and other supplies.
She loaded ammunition from the transport William Ward Burrows on 5 January and went to sea in company with Indiana and three destroyers for gunnery training on 16 January. They departed Efate on 18 January, bound for Funafuti.
Heavy seas injured several men aboard South Dakota and swept one man overboard, who was not recovered. The ships met the carriers Bunker Hill and Monterey on the way, and on arriving in Funafuti two days later, the group was re-numbered as TF The fleet continued on to its objective over the next several days, the voyage marked by false submarine sightings and radar contacts. The ships reached Roi-Namur on 29 January, and the carriers launched major air strikes on the islands in preparation for the coming assault.
South Dakota remained with the carriers to protect them from Japanese aircraft that did not materialize. South Dakota steamed to Majuro to replenish fuel and ammunition on 4 February before departing on 12 February to support Operation Hailstone , a raid on the major Japanese naval base in the central Pacific at Truk.
The American strikes sank a number of Japanese warships and logistics vessels in the harbor before continuing on to raid Japanese air bases in the Mariana Islands on 20 February. South Dakota ‘ s 5-inch gunners engaged Japanese aircraft at long range late on 21 February and into the early hours of 22 February.
Heavy anti-aircraft fire from the fleet kept the Japanese aircraft from closing to attack effectively, and South Dakota claimed several aircraft shot down. The American carriers attacked airfields on Saipan , Guam , and Tinian over the next two days, and on 23 February the fleet came under heavy Japanese air strikes. A wave of Mitsubishi G4M land-based bombers struck the fleet and South Dakota shot down at least two of them, one of which had attempted to bomb the ship.
South Dakota , Alabama , and a screen of destroyers were detached from the carrier raiding force to return to TG The raids were intended to secure the seaward flank for the landing at Hollandia in New Guinea. For the operation, South Dakota was assigned to TG On 27 March, three carriers and other warships from TG Late that evening, South Dakota ‘ s air search radar picked up Japanese aircraft approaching; in the ensuing battle, South Dakota ‘ s gunners could not identify any targets in the darkness and so she did not engage the Japanese aircraft.
For their part, the Japanese inflicted no damage on the fleet. The main carrier force began their raids on 30 March, which continued into 1 April. Another Japanese air strike hit the fleet late on the 30th, and this time South Dakota engaged two waves of attackers but did not shoot any down. The carriers inflicted significant losses to Japanese forces in the region at little cost before further operations were interrupted by bad weather that prevented aircraft from being launched.
By 6 April, the fleet had returned to Majuro to prepare for the next operation. Operation Desecrate Two followed the next week; this series of raids targeted Japanese positions along the coast of New Guinea to support the landing at Aitape. While underway on 19 April, South Dakota picked up a Japanese aircraft that was shadowing the fleet and a fighter from the combat air patrol CAP was sent to shoot it down. The carriers began their strikes two days later and inflicted serious losses, sinking a number of Japanese vessels in the area and destroying around aircraft in the air or on the ground.
Another series of raids followed the next day to support the ground forces fighting ashore. While the fleet withdrew back to Majuro, the carriers hit Truk again on 29 and 30 April, further battering the island. The ships arrived off the island that afternoon and opened fire, quickly suppressing the Japanese anti-aircraft guns that attempted to engage them.
South Dakota , Indiana , and North Carolina briefly disengaged to avoid a reported submarine in the area, but after it failed to attack, they returned to their firing positions. There were few targets for the battleships, but the operation provided the crews with experience operating in the bombardment role together.
The ships returned to Majuro on 4 May. South Dakota conducted more shooting practice at sea on 15—16 May. South Dakota operated as part of TG The unit now included six other battleships, four heavy cruisers, and thirteen destroyers. They were again tasked primarily with escorting the fast carrier strike force, providing protection against surface forces and their ample anti-aircraft batteries to defend against hostile aircraft.
The carriers began their raids on 11 June and continued for several days. Japanese aircraft launched the first of several counter-attacks later that night and South Dakota used her air search radar to help vector fighters from the CAP to intercept them. As the Japanese made their approach, South Dakota ‘ s 5-inch guns opened fire. On 13 June, South Dakota and the other battleships were sent to shell Saipan and Tinian in advance of the arrival of the old battleships of the bombardment group the following day.
Japanese artillery attempted to engage them but South Dakota and the other battleships easily outranged them. South Dakota bombarded the area around Tanapag Harbor for some six hours, hitting two transports in the port and starting several fires in the town. The shelling was generally ineffective, however, as the battleships were not sufficiently experienced with shore bombardment, and Japanese defenses were largely undamaged.
On 14 June, South Dakota refueled some of the escorting destroyers and employed her Kingfishers to rescue downed pilots from the carriers. The next day, the marines went ashore on Saipan, a breach of Japan’s inner defensive perimeter that triggered the Japanese fleet to launch a major counter-thrust with the 1st Mobile Fleet , the main carrier strike force.
While the Japanese were approaching, local counter-attacks from land-based aircraft struck the fleet. The first of these hit on the evening of 15 June, with South Dakota shooting down one of the attackers. The ship refueled the next day, and on 17 June the carriers and escorting battleships left the Saipan area to meet the 1st Mobile Fleet after patrolling submarines had reported its approach through the Philippine Sea.
On 18 June, Lee and Admiral Marc Mitscher , the commander of the fast carrier task force, discussed strategies for the coming battle, and Lee decided to deploy his battleships with the carriers to screen them during the anticipated Japanese attack, rather than pursue the Japanese fleet in a night action, as Mitscher suggested.
Lee kept his ships steaming in a circle that was 6 nautical miles 11 km; 6. South Dakota and the other battleships tracked these aircraft on their air search radars.
– USS South Dakota (BB) – Wikipedia
Избранные гости начали перешептываться. Пара октопауков неторопливо поползла к Тамми и Тимми. – спросила она у Макса, вы скомпрометировали меня. Эта стационарная звезда – Солнце – завершает свой полный оборот по галактической орбите за двести двадцать пять миллионов лет. Еще посоветовал не делать сразу далеко идущих выводов и не позволять себе излишней эмоциональной реакции на отдельный инцидент.
– USS South Dakota (BB) – Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas
Washington resumed fire and hit Kirishima , smothering her with fire from both inch and 5-inch. ISM, Aeroservice collection ,, A Sikorsky HNS-1, was the first production helo outside Germany and among the first in the world.
