USS New Mexico (BB-40) 191146 215591710 2008-05-28T21:35:11Z Thijs!bot 1392310 robot Adding: [[fr:USS New Mexico (BB-40)]] {|{{Infobox Ship Begin}} {{Infobox Ship Image |Ship image=[[Image:USS New Mexico 6 October 1943 Puget Sound Bremerton WA.jpg|300px|USS New Mexico, 1943]] |Ship caption=USS ''New Mexico'' (BB-40), c. 1943 }} {{Infobox Ship Career |Ship country=U.S. |Ship flag={{USN flag|1946}} |Ship name=USS ''New Mexico'' (BB-40) |Ship namesake=[[New Mexico]] |Ship builder=[[New York Navy Yard]] |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down=[[14 October]] [[1915]] |Ship launched=[[13 April]] [[1917]] |Ship sponsor= Miss Margaret Cabeza De Baca |Ship christened= |Ship completed= |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned=[[20 May]] [[1918]] |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=[[19 July]] [[1946]] |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors=6 [[battle star]]s, [[World War II]] |Ship captured= |Ship fate=sold for scrap |Ship status= |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox Ship Characteristics |Ship class={{sclass|New Mexico|battleship|1}} |Ship displacement=32,000 t |Ship length={{convert|624|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|97|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft={{convert|30|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship speed=21&nbsp;knots |Ship complement=1,084 officers and men |Ship armament=12 × [[14"/50 caliber gun]]s {{nowrap|(356 mm)}}<br>14 × [[5"/51 caliber gun]]s {{nowrap|(127 mm)}}<br>2 × 21&nbsp;in (533&nbsp;mm) torpedo tubes<ref name="breyer219">Breyer 1973 p. 219</ref> }} |} {{otherships|USS New Mexico}} '''USS ''New Mexico'' (BB-40)''' was a [[United States Navy]] [[battleship]], the [[lead ship]] of [[New Mexico class battleship|her class]]. She was the first Navy ship named in honor of the state of [[New Mexico]]. ==Operational History== ===Prior to World War II=== ====1915 – 1918: Construction==== ''New Mexico'' was laid down [[14 October]] [[1915]] by the [[New York Navy Yard]]; launched [[13 April]] [[1917]]; sponsored by Miss Margaret Cabeza De Baca, daughter of [[Ezequiel Cabeza De Baca|the late]] [[Governor of New Mexico]]; and commissioned [[20 May]] [[1918]], Capt. [[Ashley H. Robertson]] in command. ====1919 – 1939==== After initial training, ''New Mexico'' departed [[New York City|New York]] [[15 January]] [[1919]] for [[Brest, France|Brest]], [[France]], to escort home transport ''George Washington'' carrying President [[Woodrow Wilson]] from the [[Versailles Peace Conference]], returning to [[Hampton Roads]] [[27 February]]. There on [[16 July]] she became [[flagship]] of the newly-organized [[U.S. Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]], and three days later sailed for the [[Panama Canal]] and [[San Pedro, California]], arriving [[9 August]]. Two of the original fourteen [[5"/51 caliber gun]]s were removed in 1922.<ref name="breyer219"/> The next 12 years were marked by frequent combined maneuvers with the [[U.S. Atlantic Fleet]] both in the [[Pacific]] and [[Caribbean]] which included visits to [[South America]]n ports and a 1925 cruise to [[Australia]] and [[New Zealand]]. Modernized and overhauled at [[Philadelphia]] between March 1931 and January 1933, including an [[anti-aircraft]] battery of eight [[5"/25 caliber gun]]s,<ref name="breyer219"/> ''New Mexico'' returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume training exercises and tactical development operations. ===World War II=== ====1940 – 1943==== As war threatened, her base was [[Pearl Harbor]] from [[6 December]] [[1940]] until [[20 May]] [[1941]], Then she sailed to join the Atlantic fleet at Norfolk [[16 June]] for duty on [[neutrality patrol]]. On [[10 December]], while headed to [[Hampton Roads]] (en route to the west coast after the [[Imperial Japan|Japan]]ese [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|attacked Pearl Harbor]]), ''New Mexico'' rammed and sank U.S. freighter ''Oregon'' south of the Nantucket Lightship.<ref name=USNChron1941>{{cite book | url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/| title = The official chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II | chapter = Chapter III: 1941 | chapterurl = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1941.html | first = Robert | last = Cressman | location = Annapolis, Maryland | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 2000 | isbn = 9781557501493 | oclc = 41977179 | accessdate = 2007-12-14 }}</ref> The original secondary battery of [[5"/51 caliber gun]]s was removed beginning in May, 1942 to make room for additional anti-aircraft machine guns.<ref name="breyer219"/> On [[1 August]] [[1942]], she steamed from San Francisco to [[Hawaii]] to prepare for action. Between [[6 December]] and [[22 March]] [[1943]], she sailed [[Military escort|escort]] for [[troop transport]]s to the [[Fiji]]s, then patrolled the southwest Pacific, returning to Pearl Harbor to prepare for the campaign against the Japanese in the [[Aleutians]]. On [[17 May]] she arrived [[Adak Island|Adak]], her base while serving on the blockade of [[Attu Island|Attu]], and on [[21 July]] she joined in the massive bombardment of [[Kiska]] that forced its evacuation a week later. After refitting at [[Puget Sound Navy Yard]], ''New Mexico'' returned to Pearl Harbor [[25 October]] to rehearse the assault on the [[Gilbert Islands]]. During the invasion, begun [[20 November]], she pounded [[Butaritari|Makin atoll]], guarded transports during their night withdrawals from the islands, and provided antiaircraft cover during unloading operations, as well as screening [[aircraft carrier]]s. She returned to Pearl Harbor [[5 December]]. ====1944==== Underway with the [[Marshall Islands]] assault force [[12 January]] [[1944]], ''New Mexico'' bombarded [[Kwajalein]] and [[Ebeye]] [[31 January]] and [[1 February]], then replenished at [[Majuro]]. She blasted [[Wotje]] [[20 February]] and [[Kavieng]], [[New Ireland (island)|New Ireland]] [[20 March]], then visited [[Sydney]] before arriving in the [[Solomons]] in May to rehearse the [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign|Marianas operation]]. ''New Mexico'' bombarded [[Tinian]] [[14 June]], [[Saipan]] [[15 June]], and [[Guam]] [[16 June]], and twice helped drive off enemy air attacks [[18 June]]. She protected transports off the [[Marianas]] while the carrier task force spelled the doom of Japanese naval aviation in its great victory, the [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]], [[20 June]]. ''New Mexico'' escorted transports to [[Eniwetok]], then sailed [[9 July]] guarding [[escort aircraft carrier|escort carrier]]s until [[12 July]], when her guns opened on Guam in preparation for the landings [[21 July]]. Until [[30 July]] she blasted enemy positions and installations on the island. Overhauled at [[Bremerton, Washington]] August to October, ''New Mexico'' arrived in [[Leyte Gulf]] [[22 November]] to cover the movement of reinforcement and supply convoys, firing in the almost daily air attacks over the Gulf, as the Japanese posed desperate resistance to the reconquest of the [[Philippines]]. She left Leyte Gulf [[2 December]] for the [[Palaus]], where she joined a force covering the [[Mindoro]]-bound assault [[convoy]]. Again she sent up antiaircraft fire as invasion troops stormed ashore [[15 December]], providing cover for two days until sailing for the Palaus. ====1945==== [[Image:Uss new mexico bb.jpg|300px|thumb|USS New Mexico, with Mt. Fuji in the background, August 1945.]] Her next operation was the invasion of [[Luzon]], fought under a sky full of would-be suicide planes, against whom she was almost continually at general quarters. She fired pre-landing bombardment [[6 January]] [[1945]], and that day took a suicide hit on her bridge which killed her commanding officer, Captain [[Robert W. Fleming]], [[United Kingdom|British]] Lieutenant General [[Herbert Lumsden]] ([[Winston Churchill|Winston Churchill's]] personal military representative to [[General of the Army]] [[Douglas MacArthur]]), and 29 others of her crew, with 87 injured. Commander-designate of the [[British Pacific Fleet]], Vice Admiral [[Bruce Fraser]], another passenger, narrowly escaped injury whilst on the ''New Mexico's'' bridge, whilst his secretary was killed. Her guns remained in action as she repaired damage, and she was still in action January as troops went ashore. After repairs at Pearl Harbor, ''New Mexico'' arrived at [[Ulithi]] to stage for the [[Battle of Okinawa|invasion of Okinawa]], sailing [[21 March]] with a heavy fire support group. Her guns opened on [[Okinawa]] [[26 March]], and were not silent until [[17 April]] as she gave aid to troops engaged ashore. Again on [[21 April]] and [[29 April]] she opened fire, and on [[11 May]] she destroyed eight [[suicide boat]]s. While approaching her berth in [[Hagushi]] anchorage just after sunset [[12 May]], ''New Mexico'' was attacked by two suicides; one plunged into her, the other managed to hit her with his bomb. She was set on fire, and 54 of her men were killed, with 119 wounded. Swift action extinguished the fires within half an hour, and on [[28 May]] she departed for repairs at [[Leyte (island)|Leyte]], followed by rehearsals for the planned [[Operation Downfall|invasion of the Japanese home islands]]. Word of the war's end reached her at [[Saipan]] [[15 August]], and next day she sailed for Okinawa to join the occupation force. She entered [[Sagami Wan]] [[27 August]] to support the airborne occupation of [[Naval Air Facility Atsugi|Atsugi Airfield]], then next day passed into [[Tokyo Bay]] to witness the surrender [[2 September]]. ''New Mexico'' was homeward bound [[6 September]], calling at Okinawa, Pearl Harbor, and the Panama Canal before arriving at [[Boston]] [[17 October]]. ===Post World War II=== The USS ''New Mexico'' was decommissioned [[19 July]] [[1946]], in [[Boston]]. She was sold for scrapping [[13 October]] [[1947]]. ==Awards and honors== ''New Mexico'' received six [[battle star]]s for World War II service. ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Refbegin}} * {{cite book| title=Battleships and Battle Cruisers 1905–1970 |author=Breyer, Siegfried |publisher=Doubleday and Company |year=1973 |id=ISBN 0385-0-7247-0}} * {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/n4/new_mexico.htm}} {{refend}} ==External links== {{Commonscat|USS New Mexico (BB-40)}} *[http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-n/bb40.htm Photos of ''New Mexico''] at the Naval Historical Center * {{navsource|01/40a|New Mexico}} *[http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/battleships/nmexico/bb40-nmex.html USS ''New Mexico'' (BB-40)] at the U.S. Navy Office of Information *[http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/us_navy_pages/uss_new_mexico_bb40.htm ''New Mexico'' BB-40 Photo Gallery] at Maritimequest {{New Mexico class battleship}} {{DEFAULTSORT:New Mexico (BB-40)}} [[Category:New Mexico class battleships]] [[Category:World War I battleships of the United States]] [[Category:World War II battleships of the United States]] [[Category:Ships at the Japanese Instrument of Surrender]] [[Category:United States Navy New Mexico-related ships]] [[de:USS New Mexico (BB-40)]] [[fr:USS New Mexico (BB-40)]] [[ms:USS New Mexico (BB-40)]] [[ja:ニューメキシコ (戦艦)]] [[pl:USS New Mexico (BB-40)]] [[sk:USS New Mexico (BB-40)]]