Both ships continued to Nouméa, where Vestal repaired South Dakota's collision and battle damage. They departed Efate on 18 January, bound for Funafuti. She departed for the south Pacific later that day in company with Task Force 16 (TF), which included the aircraft carrier Enterprise, with nine escorting destroyers. [26], The next day Hanson transferred to Wisconsin and Lee, who was by now the Commander Battleships, Pacific Fleet, came aboard the ship, making her his flagship. Shafroth transferred to Alabama on 12 August and South Dakota was reassigned to TG 38.3 the next morning. She caught the fancy of the American people when her heroics were reported in newspapers under the titles of Battleship X, an Old Nameless. [7][9], Japanese and American reconnaissance aircraft discovered each others' fleets on 25 October, and South Dakota's crew prepared for a night surface action that night, though the anticipated Japanese attack did not materialize. The ships sortied on 11 November to return to the fighting off Guadalcanal. Meanwhile, Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force would pass through the San Bernardino Strait and attack the invasion fleet. USS South Dakota, also known as "Battleship X," "Old Nameless," "Sodak," and the "Black Prince. In March 1954, a program to equip the four ships with secondary batteries consisting of ten twin 3-inch (76 mm) guns were proposed, but the plan came to nothing. The carriers began their strikes two days later and inflicted serious losses, sinking a number of Japanese vessels in the area and destroying around 130 aircraft in the air or on the ground. She carried three Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes for aerial reconnaissance, which were launched by a pair of aircraft catapults on her fantail. The ship had a cruising range of 15,000 nautical miles (28,000 km; 17,000 mi) at a speed of 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph). 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 South Dakota was ordered in the context of global naval rearmament during the breakdown of the Washington treaty system that had controlled battleship construction during the 1920s and early 1930s. On the night of 29–30 July, she participated in the shore bombardment of Hamamatsu, Honshū, and, on 9 August, again shelled Kamaishi. 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. Three of the groups, including South Dakota's, retired and operated east of the Philippine Islands until 24 December. The ships refueled and departed on 23 January, and on the morning of 25 January, South Dakota, North Carolina, and Alabama were detached to form TG 58.2.2. 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. The first enemy attack was concentrated against the Hornet. Our team has created a timeline that recollects the history of the most decorated battleship of South Dakota. These were repaired and she was refloated on 27 May; during this period, Third Fleet resumed command of the fast carrier task force, reverting all subordinate unit designations to the 30-series. 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. USS South Dakota Battleship Memorial, Sioux Falls Picture: USS South Dakota Bell - Check out Tripadvisor members' 4,474 candid photos and videos of USS South Dakota Battleship Memorial During these exercises, she experienced difficulties with her engines; divers inspected the screws and discovered that several of the blades on three of her four propellers were bent or chipped. [7], After loading ammunition and supplies, South Dakota was pronounced ready for sea on 12 October. This work was completed by 14 May, and over the next two days she did machinery tests in the Delaware river, followed by more fitting out work that laste… At about the same time, Washington's search radar picked up one of Hashimoto's cruisers and a destroyer. The second wave reached the fleet about twenty minutes later and South Dakota's gunners engaged it as well. [26], Immediately on arrival in Ulithi on 2 November, South Dakota sortied as part of TG 38.1, tasked with supporting ground forces ashore on Leyte that had encountered heavy Japanese resistance. [29] As Halsey sent Mitscher north to pursue the Japanese carriers, he established TF 34, consisting of South Dakota and five other fast battleships, seven cruisers, and eighteen destroyers, commanded by now Vice Admiral Lee. During the latter action, electrical failures hampered the ability of the ship to engage Japanese warships and she became the target of numerous Japanese vessels, sustaining over two-dozen hits that significantly damaged her superstructure but did not seriously threaten her buoyancy. 3 then began firing over her stern on another target, demolishing her own aircraft in the process. However, congressional refusal to authorize larger battleships kept their displacement close to the Washington limit of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t). Three men were killed by the explosion and eight more were seriously wounded and later died; another twenty-four were less-seriously injured in the accident. Among the injured was 12-year old Calvin Graham, who had lied about his age to enlist; he was the youngest American to fight in the war. The carriers began launching attacks on 11 June against enemy installations throughout the islands. This time, the unit consisted of South Dakota, six Allied cruisers and ten Allied destroyers. The ships of TG 58.3 were then sent to reinforce the invasion fleet during the Battle of Iwo Jima from 19 to 22 February. [39], Additional artifacts from the ship are preserved at the National Museum of the United States Navy, including one of South Dakota's screws and a section of armor plate. The keel for South Dakota was laid down on 5 July 1939, at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey. The work was completed by 6 August and after being re-floated, she loaded ammunition on 19 August. [24], Washington joined South Dakota, and the two battleships withdrew to Nouméa, which they reached on 17 November. When the action was broken off that evening, the American forces retired toward Nouméa, New Caledonia. On 14 July, South Dakota was assigned to TU 38.8.1 with Indiana, Massachusetts, two heavy cruisers, and nine destroyers. [5], The ship's light anti-aircraft battery was gradually expanded. The ships returned to Efate and began preparations for the next major offensive, including loading ammunition and other supplies. 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. The carriers began a series of strikes on airfields on Luzon on 14 December to destroy or otherwise prevent Japanese aircraft there from interfering with the landing on Mindoro. The battleships opened fire shortly before midnight on 29 July and continued firing into the early hours of the 30th. Throughout the maelstrom off Okinawa, South Dakota emerged without having been hit by any of the kamikazes. Two days later, she began her shakedown cruise, escorted by four destroyers owing to the threat of German U-boats operating off the east coast of the United States. Coordinates: 43°32′36″N 96°45′46″W / 43.54333°N 96.76278°W / 43.54333; -96.76278. A museum was erected in the center of the outline, and it displays other artifacts, including her bell, sailors' uniforms, a scale model of South Dakota, and various other displays. 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. The four destroyers were arrayed ahead of the two battleships. South Dakota also received a TDY jammer. South Dakota, with five other battleships, formed another task group on B December to bombard Nauru Island. USS South Dakota was built as a flagship, with an extra deck on her conning tower for extra command space, so her secondary battery had sixteen 5 inch Mk. The former approached Washington too closely, however, and was quickly reduced to a flaming wreck, which was scuttled later. The next day, the battleship moved in to shell enemy positions on Roi and Namur, then rejoined the carriers as they provided air support for the amphibious landings on Kwajalein, Majuro, Roi, and Namur. Both warships continued to Nouméa, where Vestal repaired South Dakota's collision and battle damage. South Dakota spent the rest of the month taking part in anti-aircraft training and refueling destroyers. The group came under air attack on the afternoon of 5 November; errant rounds from other ships accidentally killed a man and wounded seven more aboard South Dakota during the action. [26], On 14 June, South Dakota refueled some of the escorting destroyers and employed her Kingfishers to rescue downed pilots from the carriers. However, personnel losses were heavy: 24 killed and 27 wounded. USS South Dakota (BB-57) was a battleship in the United States Navy from 1942 until 1947. 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. The South Dakota-Class Battleship is a WarShip produced in the JA Baker's Outer Colonies AU. Battleship USS South Dakota Memorial Nimitz returned later that day before departing for Guam on 3 September and South Dakota came alongside Missouri to transfer Halsey and his staff to the ship. 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