USS Tennessee (BB-43)

USS Tennessee (BB-43), underway on 12 May 1943.
History
United States
Name:	Tennessee
Namesake:	State of Tennessee
Ordered:	28 December 1915
Builder:	New York Naval Shipyard
Laid down:	14 May 1917
Launched:	30 April 1919
Sponsored by:	Helen Lenore Roberts
Commissioned:	3 June 1920
Decommissioned:	14 February 1947
Struck:	1 March 1959
Identification:	Hull symbol:BB-43 Code letters:NIDN
Nickname(s):	"The Rebel Ship"
Honors and awards:	Navy Unit Commendation Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with 10 × battle stars Philippine Presidential Unit Citation Philippine Liberation Medal with 1 × battle star American Campaign Medal Navy Occupation Medal w/ Asia Clasp World War II Victory Medal
Fate:	Sold 10 July 1959
Status:	Broken up for scrap
General characteristics
Class and type:	Tennessee-class battleship
Displacement:	33,190 long tons (33,723 t) (original) 40,950 long tons (41,607 t) (rebuilt)
Length:	600 ft (180 m) pp 624 ft (190 m) oa
Beam:	97 ft 5 in (29.69 m) (original) 114 ft (35 m) (rebuilt)
Draft:	31 ft (9.4 m)
Installed power:	26,800 shp (20,000 kW) (original) 29,000 shp (22,000 kW) (rebuilt)
Propulsion:	4 × turbo-electric transmission 4 × screws
Speed:	21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h)
Complement:	57 officers, 1026 men
Armament:	12 × 14 in (356 mm)/50 cal guns (4×3) 14 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns 4 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 cal guns 2 × Mark 15 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes after reconstruction: 12 × 14 in (356 mm)/50 cal guns (4×3) 16 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal Mark 12 guns (8×2) 40 × Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns 41 × Oerlikon 20 mm (0.8 in) cannons
Armor:	Belt: 8–13.5 in (203–343 mm) Barbettes: 13 in (330 mm) Turret face: 18 in (457 mm) Turret sides: 9–10 in (229–254 mm) Turret top: 5 in (127 mm) Turret rear 9 in (229 mm) Conning tower: 11.5 in (292 mm) Decks: 3.5 in (89 mm)

USS Tennessee (BB-43), the lead ship of her class of battleship, was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 16th US state. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she was damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 but was repaired and modernized. She participated in shore bombardments at the Aleutian Islands, Tarawa, the Marshall Islands, the Marianas, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa among others. She was also involved in the Battle of Surigao Strait, the final battleship vs. battleship conflict ever.

After the end of World War II, Tennessee was placed on reserve in the "mothball fleet" for nearly 15 years before finally being scrapped in 1959.

Tennessee's keel was laid down on 14 May 1917 at the New York Naval Shipyard. She was launched on 30 April 1919, sponsored by Miss Helen Lenore Roberts, daughter of Tennessee governor Albert H. Roberts, and commissioned on 3 June 1920, Captain Richard H. Leigh in command.

Tennessee and her sister ship, California, were the first American battleships built to a "post-Jutland" hull design. As a result of extensive experimentation and testing, her underwater hull protection was much greater than that of previous battleships, and both her main and secondary batteries had fire-control systems. The Tennessee class, and the three ships of the Colorado class that followed, were identified by two heavy cage masts supporting large optical fire-control systems. This feature was to distinguish the "Big Five" from the rest of the battleship force until World War II. Since Tennessee's 14-inch (356 mm) turret guns could be elevated as high as 30 degrees rather than only to the 15 degrees of the earlier U.S. Navy battleships, her heavy guns could fire an additional 10,000 yards (9,100 m). Because the battleships were beginning to carry airplanes to spot long-range gunfire, Tennessee's ability to shoot "over the horizon" had a practical value.