The USS New Mexico (BB-40) was a battleship used by the US Navy during World War II. In this armed conflict, she carried out missions both in the Atlantic and the Pacific Theater of Operations. It had been laid down in 1915, launched in 1917, and commissioned on May 20, 1918. However, it did not saw combat action during the First World War.
The USS New Mexico BB-40 was the first of series of three battleships, the others being the USS Mississippi BB-41 and the Idaho BB-42. All three of them had identical hulls and measurement, with improved underwater armor protection in relation to the Pensilvania BB-38, which had been launched in 1916. They were fitted with twelve 356-mm (14-in) naval guns, which were set up in three triple turrets: two turrets on the fore deck, and the other on the aft deck.
When the Japanese fleet launched the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the three USS New Mexico class battleships were operating in the Atlantic Ocean. In July 1942, they were transferred to the Pacific to be aircraft carrier escorts and to provide fire support to the US landing troops on Guadalcanal, Tarawa and Saipan. During the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the Philippine Sea, they were hit hard by kamikaze combat aircraft, but they were not serious damaged as they were repaired and kept operating for the remainder of the war.
Specifications
Type: Battleship
Length: 190.2 m (624 ft)
Beam: 29.7 m (97.4 ft)
Draft: 9.1 m (30 ft)
Displacement: 33,000 tons (full load)
Power Plant: 4 steam turbines, with 4 shafts and 4 propellers, and 9 boilers, generating 27,500 HP.
Armor: 343/203mm-thick on belt; 76mm-thick on deck.
Armament: twelve 356-mm-caliber guns; fourteen 127-mm and four 76-mm AA guns
The USS New Mexico BB-40 in the 1930s after having been refitted with new power plant and thicker armor.
