USS Mississippi BB 41
The USS Mississippi BB 41 was a New Mexico-class battleship that was launched from the Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia on January 25, 1917. Commissioned on December 18th, 1917 under the command of Captain J. L. Jayne and mainly staying along the eastern seaboard of the U. S. during World War I while participating in many different training exercises and maneuvers with other ships.
On July 19th, 1919 she left the Atlantic and headed west to her new home base of San Pedro, California. Tragically, on June 12th, 1924 there was an explosion involving her Number Two main battery turret and 48 of her men were asphyxiated. In later years, she took part in war games of the coast of Hawaii, and also embarked on a good-will tour to Australia before heading to Norfolk Navy Yard on March 30, 1931 for a complete modernization overhaul.
During World War II, the Mississippi patrolled the North Atlantic where she made many trips to and from Iceland where her main role was to protect shipping. Two days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the USS Mississippi BB 41 left Iceland for the Pacific. After brief repairs at San Francisco, the Mississippi left San Pedro on October 19th 1943 to join forced in the invasion of the Gilbert Islands and while bombarding Makin on November 20th and turret explosion almost identical to the earlier tragedy, took the lives of 43 men.
She supported landings on the Palau Islands on September 12th, 1944. Then assisting in the liberation of the Philippines and the Battle of Surigao Straight where she on the night of October 24th, she was led by Admiral Jesse Oldendorf apart of a battle line that annihilated a powerful Japanese task force whose loss crippled the enemy navy from every mounting a serious offensive. Despite being seriously damaged by countless kamikaze attacks, she successfully supported to U. S. troops landing at Okinawa.
After the surrender of Japan, she steamed to Honshu and helped support the occupational forces there. Afterwards, she anchored in Tokyo Bay and witnessed the signing of the surrender documents and then steamed home on September 6th, 1945. The ship received eight battle stars for World War II service, and the USS Mississippi was decommissioned at Norfolk on September 17th, 1956.
The crew of the USS Mississippi BB 41 was without a doubt under serious threat during their service, but the threats of dangerous weather or attacks by the enemy weren’t the only problems that they faced on a daily basis. Asbestos was utilized aboard most ships and submarines during that time period, and the crewmembers were at constant risk of inhaling these deadly airborne fibers. Asbestos was mainly used within the insulation piping of the ships. Any veteran crewmembers who fear that they may have been exposed to asbestos while aboard the USS Mississippi BB 41 must watch their respiratory health closely, as mesothelioma, also referred to as asbestos cancer, is linked to previous asbestos exposure.
Last modified: December 28, 2010.
