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USS ''West Virginia'' (BB-48), a , was the second United States Navy ship named in honor of the country's 35th state. She was laid down on 12 April 1920 at Newport News, Virginia, launched on 19 November 1921 and commissioned on 1 December 1923. Her first captain was Thomas J. Senn. After her shakedown and crew training were finished, she was overhauled at Hampton Roads and later ran aground in Lynnhaven Channel. After her repairs she participated in exercises and engineering and gunnery courses, winning four medals in the latter. She participated in other fleet tactical development operations until 1939. In 1940 she was transferred to Pearl Harbor to guard against potential Japanese attack, and was sunk by six torpedoes and two bombs during the attack on Pearl Harbor. On 17 May 1942, she was salvaged from the seabed by draining the water from her hull. After repairs in Pearl Harbor, she sailed to the Puget Sound Navy Yard. There she received an extensive refit, including the replacement of her 5"/25 caliber anti-aircraft guns and single-purpose 5"/51 caliber guns with 5"/38 caliber anti-aircraft guns. She left Puget Sound in July 1944 for Leyte Gulf. She bombarded Leyte in November 1944, becoming part of a successful American plan to destroy the portion of the Japanese fleet trying to sail through the Surigao Strait, and later attacked Iwo Jima and Okinawa. At the end of the Pacific War she entered Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender and became part of Operation Magic Carpet, making three runs to Hawaii to transport veterans home. She was deactivated on 9 January 1947 and scrapped on 24 August 1959 in Bremerton, Washington. ==Description== ''West Virginia'' was long overall, had a beam of ( after her rebuild) and a draft of . She displaced as designed, and up to at full load. The ship was powered by a four-shaft turbo-electric drive rated at and eight Babcock & Wilcox boilers, generating a top speed of . She had a range of at and a crew of 1,407 officers and enlisted men when commissioned. She was armed with a main battery of eight 16"/45 caliber guns in four twin gun turrets on the centerline, two forward and two aft. The secondary battery consisted of sixteen 5"/51 caliber guns. The anti-aircraft defense consisted of four three-inch (76 mm) guns, which were soon replaced with four 5"/25 caliber guns. The secondary battery of 5"/51 caliber guns and the anti-aircraft battery of 5"/25 caliber guns were replaced with 5"/38 caliber guns. Standard for capital ships of the period, she carried two torpedo tubes in deck-mounted torpedo launchers which were removed in a later overhaul. A CXAM-1 Radar was installed in 1940. ''West Virginia''s main armored belt was thick over the magazines and the machinery spaces, and elsewhere. The main-battery gun turrets had faces, and the supporting barbettes had of armor plating on their exposed sides. Armor thick protected the decks, and the conning tower had sides. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS West Virginia (BB-48)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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