- Yes
- No
- Tech Tree
- Event/Gift
- Squadron
- Premium
- I don’t want to see it added
USS Maryland
As Outfitted in 1945
USS Maryland off Bremerton Navy Yard following her final wartime overhaul, 1945.
Background
USS Maryland was the second ship of the Colorado-class battleships. She was laid down on the 24th of April, 1917, launched on the 20nd of March, 1920, and commissioned into the US Navy on the 21st of July, 1921. Ironically, she was the first of the class to be launched and commissioned.
After the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, the US, UK and Japan were limited to a certain number of 16-inch armed ships. These were known as the “Big Seven,” comprising the three Colorados of the US, the two Nelsons of the UK, and the two Nagatos of Japan. Under the treaty system, these ships were the only ships allowed to have 16-inch guns, and so measures would be taken to improve their effectiveness over the inter-war period. The Colorados would be refitted with the Mk 5 and eventually Mk 8 16-inch guns, which were the the same except permitting larger charges to be used. The cancellation of the Lexington-class battlecruisers and South Dakota-class battleships left the Colorados as the most powerful ships in the US Navy.
Following several refits in the 1930s, the Colorado-class ships were finally put through the fires of actual combat. Two of the ships were damaged in the initial attack on Pearl Harbor, and yet again had to be refitted. Their deficiencies in anti-air coverage had been noted, and corrected, with the addition of 5"/25 guns and a large number of 20mm Oerlikons, along with 40mm Bofors guns. The ships were also uparmored during refits, with splinter protection and torpedo bulges. During the war, their anti-aircraft armament would change constantly, varying from 1.1" anti-aircraft guns to 5"/38 dual purpose weapons. After taking a kamikaze strike in 1944, Maryland would be refitted near the end of the war, becoming the most modern Colorado-class ship. She was under trials when the war ended with Japan’s surrender, in August of 1945.
Maryland served throughout the interwar years, and through World War 2, being decommissioned in 1947, and sold for scrap in 1959. She would earn seven battle stars for her service.
Service History
Following her commissioning, and after her shakedown cruise, she became the flagship of Admiral Hillary P. Jones, and was in great demand for special occasions. The newly commissioned most powerful US battleship was present for the 1922 Naval Academy Graduation in Annapolis, Maryland, followed by appearances in Boston for the Battle of Bunker Hill and the Fourth of July. She then transported the Secretary of State to Brazil for the Centennial Exposition in Rio de Janerio. In 1923, she transited the Panama Canal to join the Pacific Fleet, after which Pennsylvania replaced her as flagship. In 1925, visit Australia and New Zealand, and then in 1928 she would transport Herbert Hoover on the Pacific Leg of his Latin America tour. She underwent overhauls in 1928, replacing the 76mm anti-air guns with 5"/25 weapons, and was then just conducting patrols until 1940, when she was assigned to Pearl Harbor to counter Japanese aggression.
On December 7th, 1941, she was moored between Ford Island and USS Oklahoma. With the initial action of her AA guns, Maryland shot down a torpedo bomber that had just released a torpedo against Oklahoma, quickly followed by more of her AA guns going into action. Protected by the Oklahoma, Maryland was able to get all of her guns online and some sailors from Oklahoma climbed aboard and joined the defense as that ship began to capsize. Maryland was struck by two armor-piercing bombs, causing flooding and an increased draft. The attack killed 4 men of Maryland, and the Japanese claimed the ship as sunk; in actuality she returned to Puget Sound Naval Yard for repairs, and following shakedown cruises, was back in Pearl Harbor by June 1942, the second of the battleships to return.
Maryland would remain along the West Coast until late 1942, when she went to Fiji to counter any attempted Japanese incursion. In early 1943, she and Colorado moved to New Hebrides, and then later to Espiritu Santo, before returning to Pearl Harbor for an overhaul. Here, she would have a number of 40mm Bofors installed to counter any air attacks in future operations.
In October of 1943, she would join the fleet for the Battle of Tarawa, her first offensive action of the war. She would participate as the flagship of Read Admiral Harry W. Hill, and she would remain during the entire battle from the 20th of November until she left on the 7th of December. She then returned to the West Coast for repairs, returning for the Battle of Kwajalein Atoll. During the battle, she fired so many times that the liners on the guns of turret 1 began to crack, forcing that turret out of operation until repairs. She then returned to the Bremerton Navy Yard for repairs and new guns.
Two months later, Maryland would join the task force preparing for the Battle of Saipan. Following the battle beginning on the 15th of June, 1944, she shot down a plane on the 18th, but was then hit by a torpedo in the bow on the 22nd. Two men were killed, and the ship was soon underway for Eniwetok for initial repairs and then to Pearl Harbor for further repairs, steaming in reverse the entire way as to not damage the bow.
USS Maryland in Pearl Harbor, showing damage from the Battle of Saipan, 1944.
She returned from repairs, to the Solomon Islands, assisting at the Battle of Peleliu. She would then go to Leyte Gulf on the 18th of October, 1944, weathering the first organized and deliberate use of kamikaze attacks. Several days later, US submarines detected a large fleet approaching, consisting of multiple battleships, along with a separate fleet of carriers. This would be the prelude to the Battle of Surigao Strait.
As the Japanese Southern Force approached Surigao Strait, it would end up falling into a trap laid by the US Seventh Fleet. The two battleships, Yamashiro and Fusou, along with the cruiser Mogami, and their escorting destroyers, were steaming directly towards the maw of the Allied fleet, consisting of West Virginia, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, California, and Pennsylvania, along with the cruisers Louisville, Portland, Minneapolis, and HMAS Shropshire, and several more light cruisers and 28 destroyers, along with a small armada of PT boats. After running through the gauntlet of PT boats, Yamashiro and Fusou were hit by torpedoes in an anvil attack by US destroyers, with Fusou sinking soon afterwards. Later, the remaining Japanese ships were picked up on radar by West Virginia, who sent shots downrange and possibly scored a hit with the first salvo. Soon after, the rest of the battleships would open up, although Maryland, possessing older equipment than some of the other battleships present, could only visually identify splashes as opposed to by radar; nonetheless, she still fired 48 shells. This would be the last battleship-on-battleship engagement in history, and a significant chapter in naval warfare would be concluded here.
Sister ship USS West Virginia firing during the Battle of Surigao Strait, 1944.
After returning to the Admiralty Islands for replenishment, Maryland was once again back at Leyte, around the 16th of November, protecting troop convoys from Japanese air attacks. On the 29th of November, a kamikaze attack surprised and struck Maryland, crashing between Turret 1 and Turret 2, igniting a serious fire and punching a hole in the deck, this attack killing 31 and wounding 30. Maryland stayed in the operation area until the 2nd of December, when she would leave for Pearl Harbor for repairs.
Maryland takes a kamikaze hit.
Returning to Ulithi in March of 1945, Maryland would then join the Task Force preparing for the Invasion of Okinawa. She was assigned to cover a diversionary landing on the south of Okinawa, and the air raids against her claimed her picket destroyer Luce. She then moved to the west side of the island for more bombardment, and remained in the area supporting the landings. On April 7th, she steamed north with some other battleships to intercept the Yamato, during the Japanese’s Operation Ten-Go. While Yamato was sunk by allied aircraft, later in the day, Maryland was struck by a kamikaze on Turret 3, starting a large fire and destroying nearby Oerlikon mounts, the ammo of which then cooked off intensifying the fire. 10 were killed, 37 injured, and 6 were missing following the attack, and the damaged Turret 3 did not fire again for the remainder of this mission.
On the 14th of April, Maryland would leave Okinawa to escort convoys back to the US, and Maryland reached the Puget Sound Navy Yard on the 7th of May for repairs and an extensive refit. Among other things, all previous 5-inch guns were removed and replaced by sixteen 5"/38s in twin mounts, more light AA was added, an improved radar was fitted, a new torpedo bulge was added, and the conning tower was removed and replaced with a light structure to balance the new weight. Also included were an armor refit, with more armor over the magazines, and an increase in turret top armor from 5 inches to 7 inches. A new Mk 13 radar was installed for main battery direction, and Turret 3 was repaired. The refits completed in early August, and she left for trials just as Japan surrendered, ending the war.
USS Maryland off of Puget Sound Naval Yard, on August 5th, 1945, following her final refit and days before the surrender of Japan.
After participating in Operation Magic Carpet, she was decommissioned in July of 1946. She would be sold for scrap in 1959. She would earn seven battle stars for her service in the war.
Specifications
1945
| General Information | |
|---|---|
| Displacement | 34,000 tons (full load) |
| Length | 624ft 3in (190.27m) |
| Beam | 108ft (33m) |
| Draft | 30ft 6in (9.3m) |
| Speed | 21 knots (39 km/h) |
| Complement | ~1468 officers and enlisted |
| Sensors | |
|---|---|
| SK-2 | Air Search |
| SC | Air/Surface Search |
| Mark 13 | Fire Control (Main Battery) |
| Mark 37 GFCS | Fire Control (Secondary Battery) |
| Gun | Turret/Mount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 8 × 16"(406mm)/45 Mk 8 | 4 × Twin | |
| 16 × 5"(127mm)/38 Mk 12 | 8 x Twin Mk 28 | |
| 40 or 44 x 40mm/60 Bofors Mk 1/2 | 10 or 11 x Quad | Soruces Differ |
| 36 or 44 x 20mm/70 Oerlikon Mk 2 | 18 x Twin or 20 x Twin and 1 x Quad | Sources Differ |
| 2 x SC Seahawk Floatplanes | 2 x Aircraft Catapults | Possibly OS2U-3 Kingfishers |
| 16" (406mm) Ammunition | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Designation | Mass | Bursting Charge | Muzzle Velocity | Notes | |
| AP Mk 3 | 2,110lbs (957.1kg) | 57.5lbs (26.1kg) Exp. D | 2,600f/s (792m/s) | AP Mk 3 Mod 4 or 5 likely has a windscreen on the front of blunt cap for less performance loss | |
| AP Mk 5 | 2,240lbs (1,016kg) | 33.6lbs (15.2kg) Exp. D | 2,520f/s (768m/s) | AP Mk 5 Mod 6 likely uses heat treating and additional measures for improved performance | |
| HC Mk 13/14 | 1,900lbs (862kg) | 153.6lbs (69.67kg) Exp. D | 2,635f/s (803m/s) |
| Armor | ||
|---|---|---|
| Belt | 8-16" (203-406mm) | Plus double layer anti-torpedo bulge |
| Decks | 1.5-3.5" + 2-3" (38-89mm + 51-76mm) | 3" STS over magazine, 2" everywhere else |
| Turrets | 7-18" (178-457mm) | Turret top increased from 5" to 7" |
| Barbettes | 13" (330mm) | |
| Conning Tower | 1.2" (30mm) | Replaced old armored conning tower with lighter STS armored version to compensate for added weight in refit |
Conclusion
Maryland would be an ideal ship to add as a counter to the future coming Nagato. Both of these ships have essentially the same design ethos and capability, and were both modernized and survived until the end of the war. Compared to their predecessors, they possessed advanced rangefinding equipment, newer shells, better AA, better detection equipment, and armor refits.
Sources
Wikipedia - Colorado-class Battleship
Wikipedia - USS Maryland (BB-46)
Naval-Encyclopedia - Colorado-class Battleships
History.Navy.Mil - USS Maryland (BB-46)
Navypedia - Colorado-class Battleships
Navweaps - Naval Radar Equipment of the United States
Navweaps - US 16"/45 Mk 1
Navweaps - US 16"/45 Mk 5 and Mk 8
Navweaps - US 5"/38 Mk 12
Bulletpicker - 16-inch Projectiles, OP 1664 Vol 1, US Explosive Ordnance
GeneSloversPage - Abridged Range Tables, 1944, OP 1188