World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseUSS New Mexico was the lead ship of her class of battleships and was the first ship with a turbo-electric transmission. She was launched at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, New York, United States in Apr 1917 and was commissioned into service in May 1918. After a shakedown and training period, she sailed for Brest, France on 15 Jan 1919 to escort Woodrow Wilson's transport USS George Washington as the US President traveled to sign the Treaty of Versailles. Wilson having just attended the Versailles Conference. At Hampton Roads off Virginia, United States on 27 Feb, she was named the flagship of the Pacific Fleet. She arrived at San Pedro, California, United States via the Panama Canal on 9 Aug. In the 1920s, she exercised in the Pacific Ocean and in the Caribbean Sea. She also traveled to South American, Australian, and New Zealand ports on good will visits. She was overhauled at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between Mar 1931 and Jan 1933, providing her the look and configuration she had going into WW2. From Oct 1934 until the start of WW2, she served in the Pacific Ocean.

ww2dbaseBefore the US officially entered the war, USS New Mexico served at Pearl Harbor from 6 Dec 1940 until 20 May 1941. From 16 Jun until Dec 1941, she patrolled in the Atlantic Ocean. After the Pearl Harbor attack which brought the US into war, she returned to the Pacific Ocean, operating out of San Francisco, California, United States until Aug 1942 and Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii until Dec 1942. In Apr 1943, she served in the South Pacific. Between 17 May and Jul 1943, she participated in the blockade of Attu and bombardment of Kiska, both in the US Territory of Alaska.

ww2dbaseUSS New Mexico returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 Oct 1943. On 20 Nov, in the Gilbert Islands, she supported the Makin Atoll landing operations by bombarding Japanese shore positions, providing anti-aircraft cover, and guarding against attacks on American transports. In Jan 1944, she played a similar role in the Marshall Islands, bombarding Kwajalein island on 31 Jan and Ebeye island on 1 Feb. She also bombarded Wotje, Marshall Islands on 20 Feb and Kavieng, New Ireland on 20 Mar. In Jun 1944, she joined in the Mariana Islands Campaign and bombarded Tinian on 14 Jun, Saipan on 15 Jun, and Guam on 16 Jun. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 20 Jun, she provided anti-aircraft cover for transports. On 21 Jul, she bombarded Guam again in preparation for the amphibious assault; she remained off Guam until 30 Jul. From Aug to Oct 1944, she received an overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Washington, United States. In 22 Nov, she operated off Leyte, fighting off frequent Japanese air attacks. From 15 to 17 Dec, she covered landing operations at Mindoro in the Philippine Islands. On 6 Jan 1945, while bombarding Luzon before the landing, she was hit by a special attack aircraft at the bridge, killing her commanding officer Captain R. W. Fleming, British Lieutenant General Herbert Lumsden, and 29 others. She remained in Philippine waters to support the landing operation until Feb when he received repairs at Pearl Harbor. Between 26 Mar and 17 Apr and then again between 21 and 29 Apr, she provided gunfire support for operations at Okinawa, Japan. On 11 May, she was attacked by 8 special attack boats, but she fought them off before the suicide attackers could get close. On the next day, while approaching her berth in the Hagushi anchorage off Yomitan, Okinawa, she was attacked by two special attack aircraft; one successfully dove into her, while the other hit her with a bomb. These two attacks killed 54 men and wounded 119. After receiving repairs at Leyte, she was rehearsing the planned assault on the Japanese home islands at Saipan when the war ended.

ww2dbaseAfter WW2, UUS New Mexico operated in Tokyo Bay, Japan to support the occupation of Atsugi Airfield and then participated in the Tokyo Bay surrender ceremony on 2 Sep 1945. She returned to Boston on 17 Oct and was decommissioned there in 1946. She was sold for scrapping on 13 Oct 1947. As she was towed to the facilities of Lipsett Division of the firm Luria Brothers and Company in Newark, New Jersey, United States, the city government blocked her entrance into Newark Bay with two fireboats. The city, which was in the process of a costly beautification program, did not wish to have the possibly unsightly scene of an aging warship being dismantled for a long time. The standoff was de-escalated on 19 Nov 1947 as Lipsett and Newark agreed to a 9-month scrapping schedule. Scrapping was complete by Jul 1948.

Battleship New Mexico Interactive Map

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New Mexico Operational Timeline

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2.  David Stubblebine says:
15 Mar 2014 09:09:25 PM

To Comment #1:
Talkers were the ones who worked the intercoms. You can see them in the old war movies as the ones wearing the oversized helmets (to fit over their earphones) and the microphone horns in front of their mouths, like 1920s telephone operators. Their job was simply to repeat messages given to them. If a message came through their headphones, they would repeat it out loud to the ranking member present and if they were given a message from the ranking member, the talkers would repeat it into the microphone to another talker who would do the same at his end. It sounds slow but with well trained people, information moved reasonably quickly.

7.  David Stubblebine says:
2 Apr 2016 02:42:44 PM

Floyd Holcom:
USS New Mexico was the Fleet Flagship for the Fifth Fleet, meaning when Admiral Raymond Spruance was in command of the fleet, he operated from New Mexico. When Halsey was in command, the fleet became the Third Fleet (same ships, different name) and Halsey’s flagship was the New Jersey. In the days leading up to a change in command, Spruance and Halsey (and their staffs) would meet and Halsey would come aboard New Mexico for those meetings (as he did on 26 May 1945 off Okinawa). As far as I know, Halsey never made New Mexico his flagship.