United States Navy — Battleship
USS Mississippi (BB-41) — service history
This is the full service history. For the vessel's particulars, photograph and specifications, see the entry.
In the words of the US Navy. The account below is reproduced verbatim from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, compiled by the Naval History and Heritage Command — a work of the United States Government, in the public domain, and the only text on this site not written here.
Before commissioning
The first Mississippi was named for the Mississippi River; succeeding ones for the 20th State, admitted to the Union 10 December 1817.
Great War and before
1915
The third Mississippi (Battleship No. 41) was laid down on 5 April 1915 at Newport News, Virginia, by Newport News Shipbuilding Co.; launched on 25 January 1917; sponsored by Miss Camelle McBeath; and commissioned on 18 December 1917, Capt. J. L. Jayne in command.
1918
Following exercises off Virginia, Mississippi steamed 22 March 1918 for training in the Gulf of Guacanayabo, Cuba. One month later she returned to Hampton Roads and cruised between Boston and New York until departing for winter maneuvers in the Caribbean 31 January 1919. On 19 July she left the Atlantic seaboard and sailed for the west coast. Arriving at her new base, San Pedro, Calif., she operated along the west coast for the next four years, entering the Caribbean during the winter months for training exercises. During that time, on 17 July 1920, she was redesignated as BB-41.
Interwar 1919–1938
1924
During gunnery practice on 12 June 1924 off San Pedro, 48 of her men were asphyxiated as a result of an explosion in her main battery turret II. On 15 April 1925 she sailed from San Francisco for war games off Hawaii, and then steamed to Australia on a good will tour. She returned to the west coast on 26 September, and resumed operations there for the next six years. During this period she frequently sailed into Caribbean and Atlantic waters for exercises during the winter months.
1931
Mississippi entered Norfolk Navy Yard on 30 March 1931 for a modernization overhaul, departing once again on training exercises in September 1933. Transiting the Panama Canal on 24 October 1934, she steamed back to her base at San Pedro. For the next seven years she operated off the west coast, except for winter Caribbean cruises.
Second World War 1939–1945
1941
Returning to Norfolk on 15 June 1941, she prepared for patrol service in the North Atlantic. Steaming from Newport, R.I., she escorted a convoy to Hvalfjordur, Iceland. She made another trip to Iceland on 28 September 1941, and spent the next two months there protecting shipping.
1942 Gilbert Islands
Stricken frp Two days after the attack on Pearl Harbor , Mississippi left Iceland for the Pacific. Arriving on 22 January 1942 at San Francisco, she spent the next seven months training and escorting convoys along the coast on 6 December 1942, after participating in exercises off Hawaii, she steamed with troop transports to the Fiji Islands, returning to Pearl Harbor 2 March 1943. On 10 May she sailed from Pearl Harbor to participate in a move to restore the Aleutians . Kiska Island was shelled 22 July, and a few days later the Japanese withdrew. After overhaul at San Francisco, Mississippi sailed from San Pedro 19 October to take part in the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. While bombarding Makin 20 November, a turret explosion, almost identical to the earlier tragedy, killed 43 men.
1944 Suriago Strait
On 31 January 1944 she took part in the Marshall Islands campaign, shelling Kwajalein. She bombarded Taroa 20 February, and blasted Wotje the next day. On 15 March she pounded Kavieng, New Ireland. Due for an overhaul, she spent the summer months at Puget Sound.
Returning to the war zone, Mississippi supported landings on Peleliu, in the Palau Islands, on 12 September. After a week of continuous operations she steamed to Manus, where she remained until 12 October. Departing Manus, she assisted in the liberation of the Philippines, shelling the east coast of Leyte on 19 October. On the night of the 24th, as part of Vice Adm. Jesse B. Oldendorf's battleline, she helped to destroy a powerful Japanese task force at the Battle of Suriago Strait. As a result of the engagements at Leyte Gulf, the Japanese navy was no longer able to mount any serious offensive threat.
1945 Luzon
Mississippi continued to support the operations at Leyte Gulf until 16 November, when she steamed to the Admiralty Islands. She then entered San Pedro Bay, Leyte, 28 December, to prepare for the landings on Luzon. On 6 January 1945 she began bombarding in Lingayan Gulf. Despite damages near her waterline received from the crash of a suicide plane, she supported the invasion forces until 10 February. Following repairs at Pearl Harbor, she sailed to Nakagusuku Wan, Okinawa , arriving 6 May to support the landing forces there. Her powerful guns leveled the defenses at Shuri Castle, which had stalled the entire offensive. On 5 June, a kamikaze crashed into her starboard side, but the fighting ship continued to support the troops at Okinawa until 16 June.
After the announced surrender of Japan, Mississippi steamed to Sagami Wan, Honshu, arriving on 27 August 1945 as part of the support occupation force. She anchored in Tokyo Bay, witnessed the signing of the surrender documents, and steamed for home on 6 September.
She reached Norfolk on 27 November 1945, where she underwent conversion to an auxiliary, AG‑128, effective 15 February 1946. As part of the operational development force, she spent the last decade of her career carrying out investigations of gunnery problems and testing new weapons, while based at Norfolk. She helped launch the Navy into the age of the guided‑missile warship when she successfully test fired the Terrier missile on 28 January 1953 off Cape Cod. She also assisted in the final evaluation of the Petrel , a radar‑homing missile, in February 1956.
Cold War 1954–1963
1956
Stricken from the List of Naval Vessels on 30 July 1956, Mississippi was decommissioned at Norfolk on 17 September 1956, and was sold for scrapping to the Bethlehem Steel Co., on 28 November of the same year.
Other photographs
Held for this vessel, and not tied to any part of the account above.
References
Every work this entry draws on. There are no numbered markers in the text above: what we hold is the provenance of the page — this history, this article, these photographs.
- History Mississippi III (Battleship No. 41) Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Naval History and Heritage Command. A work of the United States Government, in the public domain — the only text on this site reproduced verbatim.
- Facts USS Mississippi (BB-41) Structured facts only — dates, dimensions, armament and fate. No wording is taken from it. Harvested 1 August 2026.
- Photograph USS Mississippi (BB-41) operating at sea during the later 1930s U.S. Navy — Official U.S. Navy photo NH 97362 from the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph USS Mississippi (BB-41), USS West Virginia (BB-48) and HMAS Shropshire (73) bombarding Luzon on 8 January 1945 U.S. Navy, photographed from USS New Mexico (BB-40). — Official U.S. Navy photograph 80-G-301229 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph USS Mississippi (EAG-128) fires an SAM-N-7 Terrier missile c1954 USN — Official U.S. Navy photograph 80-G-K-17878 from the U.S. Navy Naval History and Heritage Command — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph 111-SC-43693 - NARA - 55246250 Unknown author or not provided — U.S. National Archives and Records Administration — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph 80-G-301229 (24834879045) National Museum of the U.S. Navy — 80-G-301229 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph 80-G-48380 (24741428881) National Museum of the U.S. Navy — 80-G-48380 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph 80-G-K-17878 (24467181409) National Museum of the U.S. Navy — 80-G-K-17878 — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph ABSD5repairingUSSMississippiBB41 US Navy — Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: V. 7, T-V, By United States. Naval History Division — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Aft view of USS Mississippi (BB-41) in late 1942 U.S. Navy — Unknown source — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Battleship Mississippi, September 12, 1919 - DPLA - 3ea735c146b2e9196f6fe180715dbac2 Unknown author — File URL IIIF manifest Catalog record — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Battleships in Harbor, September 12, 1919 - DPLA - 92fcfcee8ae138afcb9c3f7b2e3b9a44 Unknown author — File URL IIIF manifest Catalog record — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Bell for U.S.S. Mississippi (1917), Natchez, MS IMG 6973 Billy Hathorn — Own work — CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Bell from the Battleship USS Mississippi DrStew82 — Own work — CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Dry Dock No. 4. View from North showing USS MISSISSIPPI, first ship docked in completed Dry Dock No. 4. - NARA - 299647 Unknown author or not provided — U.S. National Archives and Records Administration — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph DSCF0145 - Flickr - XxSTRYKERxX Joe Wentzel from New Kensington, PA, USA — DSCF0145 — CC BY 2.0 — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Fleet rounding Magnolia Bluff, September 12, 1919 - DPLA - 3574c56fdc08946d9439187a643e52c3 Unknown author — File URL IIIF manifest Catalog record — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Geleide projectielen voor de Nederlandse kruisers, Bestanddeelnr 909-5448 Anefo — http://proxy.handle.net/10648/a97b9ccc-d0b4-102d-bcf8-003048976d84 — CC0 — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Launching the Mississippi, Newport News, Va. Jan. 25, 1917 LCCN2016851119 National Photo Company Collection — Library of Congress Catalog: https://lccn.loc.gov/2016851119 Image download: https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/npcc/27900/27902v.jpg Original url: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016851119/ — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Launching the Mississippi, Newport News, Va. Jan. 25, 1917 LCCN2016851120 National Photo Company Collection — Library of Congress Catalog: https://lccn.loc.gov/2016851120 Image download: https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/npcc/27900/27903v.jpg Original url: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016851120/ — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons
- Photograph Launching the Mississippi, Newport News, Va. Jan. 25, 1917 LCCN2016851121 National Photo Company Collection — Library of Congress Catalog: https://lccn.loc.gov/2016851121 Image download: https://cdn.loc.gov/service/pnp/npcc/27900/27904v.jpg Original url: https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2016851121/ — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons