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Photo # NH 94649:  USS Mississippi steaming through heavy weather in the North Atlantic, September 1941

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Mississippi (BB-41, later AG-128), 1917-1956

USS Mississippi, a 32,000 ton New Mexico class battleship, was built at Newport News, Virginia. She was commissioned in December 1917, and operated in the western Atlantic area until July 1919, when she transited the Panama Canal to the Pacific. Over more than a decade, she operated with the fleet's other battleships, conducting exercises and training operations in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. During gunnery practice on 12 June 1924, she suffered a turret fire that took the lives of 48 of her crew. Mississippi steamed to Australia on a U.S. Fleet good will tour in mid-1925.

During 1931-33 , Mississippi underwent a major modernization that gave her an all-new superstructure, improved armament and enhanced protection. She returned to the Pacific in October 1934 to resume her earlier pattern of regular exercises, Fleet Problems and training. In June 1941, in response to the deteriorating war situation in Europe, she was brought back to the Atlantic, operating between the United States and Iceland during much of the rest of that year.

In early 1942, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Mississippi rejoined the Pacific Fleet. She spent most of 1942 along the U.S. west coast and went to the South Pacific late in that year. In 1943, she took part operations against Kiska Island, in the Aleutians, and in the capture of the Gilbert Islands. During the latter operation, on 29 November 1943, Mississippi experienced another turret explosion, which took 43 lives. Following repairs, she participated in the capture of Kwajalein in February 1944 and bombarded Japanese-held islands in February and March. Later in the year, she was part of the force that invaded Peleliu and Leyte and defeated a Japanese task force in the Battle of Surigao Strait. Mississippi provided gunfire support for the Lingayen landings in January 1945 and for the conquest of Okinawa in March-June. The battleship was damaged by suicide planes in both operations. She was present in Tokyo Bay on 2 September 1945, when Japan formally surrendered and returned to the United States soon thereafter.

Mississippi was converted to a gunnery training and weapons development ship in 1946, and given the new hull number AG-128. In this role, she carried a variety of old and new guns and radars, while serving with the Operational Development Force in the Atlantic. During the mid-1950s, she was test ship for the Navy's first surface-to-air guided missile, the "Terrier". Decommissioned in September 1956, USS Mississippi was sold for scrapping in November of that year, after almost forty years of service.

This page features, and provides links to, selected views concerning USS Mississippi (BB-41 and AG-128).

For other images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Mississippi (BB-41, later AG-128) -- Actions, Activities and Miscellaneous Views.
  • USS Mississippi (BB-41, later AG-128) -- On Board and Close-Up Views.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 60653

    USS Mississippi (BB-41)


    Anchored off New York City, 1919.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 74KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 106602

    USS Mississippi
    (Battleship # 41)

    Halftone reproduction of a photograph of the ship anchored in New York Harbor, circa late 1918.
    This view was published circa 1919 as one of ten images in a "Souvenir Folder" concerning USS Mississippi.

    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2009.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 86KB; 900 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 100503

    USS Mississippi (BB-41)


    Operating off Panama, circa 1923.

    Collection of Vice Admiral Dixwell Ketcham.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 148KB; 740 x 525 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97362

    USS Mississippi (BB-41)


    Operating at sea during the later 1930s. She has three SOC aircraft on her catapults.
    The original photograph is dated 20 March 1951, about a dozen years after it was actually taken.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 85KB; 740 x 610 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 94649

    USS Mississippi (BB-41)


    Steaming through heavy weather in the North Atlantic, September 1941.

    Collection of Vice Admiral Robert C. Giffen.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-275940

    New Mexico class battleships at Pearl Harbor, 17 December 1943


    Photographed from USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62), shortly after the conclusion of the Gilberts Campaign.
    The three battleships, in an anchorage protected by anti-torpedo nets, are (from left to right):
    USS Idaho (BB-42);
    USS New Mexico (BB-40); and
    USS Mississippi (BB-41).

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 98KB; 740 x 605 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 104835

    USS Mississippi
    (BB-41)

    Underway at three knots in Puget Sound, Washington, 13 July 1944.
    She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 6D.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

    Online Image: 82KB; 740 x 625 pixels

     
    Photo #: 80-G-K-2516 (cropped-left)

    USS Mississippi
    (BB-41)

    Covering the landings in Lingayen Gulf, Luzon, Philippine Islands, 9 January 1945.
    This image is cropped from Photo #: 80-G-K-2516 to emphasize Mississippi's camouflage pattern, which is Camouflage Measure 32, Design 6D.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

    Online Image: 49KB; 740 x 585 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

    Note:
    Though this was originally a color image, the original "Aero Kodacolor" transparency has lost all colors but red, and can now only be reproduced in monochrome.
    For an example of this situation, which is typical of this film type, see Aero-Kodacolor Transparency 80-G-K-1560.

     
    Photo #: SC 215864

    USS Mississippi (BB-41)


    In the Mississippi River, en route to take part in Navy Day celebrations at New Orleans, Louisiana, 16 October 1945.
    Note her anchors suspended below their normal stowed position at the bow.

    Photograph from the Army Signal Corps Collection in the U.S. National Archives.

    Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 600 pixels

    Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

     
    Photo #: NH 86646

    USS Mississippi (AG-128)


    Photographed in 1947-48. She retains only her after 14" gun turret, but carries numerous smaller weapons and a special radar suite.

    Collection of Rear Admiral Frederic S. Withington, 1975.

    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

    Online Image: 84KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     


    For other images related to this ship, see:

  • USS Mississippi (BB-41, later AG-128) -- Actions, Activities and Miscellaneous Views.
  • USS Mississippi (BB-41, later AG-128) -- On Board and Close-Up Views.


    NOTES:

  • To the best of our knowledge, the pictures referenced here are all in the Public Domain, and can therefore be freely downloaded and used for any purpose.

  • Some images linked from this page may bear obsolete credit lines citing the organization name: "Naval Historical Center". Effective 1 December 2008 the name should be cited as: "Naval History and Heritage Command".


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval History and Heritage Command home page.

    Page made 3 October 2000
    New images added 30 November 2009