USS South Dakota BB-57

South Dakota BB-57.

USS South Dakota (BB-57) was the lead vessel of the four South Dakota-class fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1930s. The first American battleships designed after the Washington treaty system began to break down in the mid-1930s, the South Dakotas were able to take advantage of a treaty clause that allowed them to increase the main battery to 16-inch (406 mm) guns. However, congressional refusal to authorize larger battleships kept their displacement close to the Washington limit of 35,000 long tons (35,562 t). A requirement to be armored against the same caliber of guns as they carried, combined with the displacement restriction, resulted in cramped ships. Overcrowding was exacerbated by wartime modifications that considerably strengthened their anti-aircraft batteries and significantly increased their crews.

South Dakota saw extensive action during World War II; immediately upon entering service in mid-1942, she was sent to the south Pacific to reinforce Allied forces waging the Guadalcanal campaign. The ship was damaged in an accidental grounding on an uncharted reef, but after completing repairs she returned to the front, taking part in the Battle of Santa Cruz in October and the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal in November. During the latter action, electrical failures hampered the ability of the ship to engage Japanese warships and she became the target of numerous Japanese vessels, sustaining over two-dozen hits that significantly damaged her superstructure but did not seriously threaten her buoyancy. South Dakota returned to the United States for repairs that lasted into 1943, after which she was briefly deployed to strengthen the British Home Fleet, tasked with protecting convoys to the Soviet Union.

In mid-1943, the ship was transferred back to the Pacific, where she primarily operated with the fast carrier task force, contributing her heavy anti-aircraft armament to its defense. In this capacity, she took part in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in late 1943 and early 1944, the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign in mid-1944, and the Philippines campaign later that year. In 1945, she participated in the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa and bombarded Japan three times. Following the end of the war in August 1945, she took part in the initial occupation of the country before returning to the United States in September. She later moved to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, where she was laid up in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until 1962, when she was sold for scrap. 

Battle of the Eastern Solomons: Interrogation of Commanders H. Sekino and Masatake Okumiya, IJN

A Japanese Aichi D3A dive bomber, believed to be piloted by Yoshihiro Iida, burns as it is shot down by anti-aircraft fire directly over the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 24 August 1942.

 

Interrogation NAV No. 8

USSBS No. 46

Tokyo, 17 October 1945

Interrogation of: Commander Sekino, H., IJN, twenty years in Navy. Communication Officer, Staff, 6th Cruiser Squadron at Coral Sea, and Commander Okumiya, Masatake, IJN. Staff, Second Flying Squadron. Both officers currently members of General Staff.

Interrogated by: Captain C. Shands, USN.

Summary

Ryujo (carrier) sunk in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, 23 August, by U.S. carrier planes, removing air protection for convoy for reinforcement of Japanese forces on Guadalcanal. B-17 sank destroyer.

The Hyei and Haruna exchanged positions at Midway the day before the main battle. Har­una, with carrier force, received no damage until 1945 at Kure by U. S. Navy dive bombers.

Transcript

Battle of the Eastern Solomons

In the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on the 23 August 1942, what was the position of the Ryujo?

It was near Bradley Reefs, latitude 7 degrees south, 161 degrees east. The Zuikaku and Shokaku were there too but separated into different units about ninety or one hundred miles to the north and east.

Was the Ryujo sunk and how?

Yes, very quickly on the 24th. She was hit by at least ten bombs and torpedoes. Bombs came from dive bombers.

Were any hits made by horizontal bombers?

Not a single hit.

Were other ships hit there?

No battleships or cruisers were hit. However, on the 25th in mid-morning a destroyer which was escorting transports to Guadalcanal from Rabaul in a separate force north of Guadalcanal, was hit and sunk in the forenoon by B-17s. This was an old type destroyer which was standing by the Kikokawa Maru. The transport had been attacked by dive bombers from Guadalcanal and was damaged. The escort was standing by. The escort saw the high bombers coming but did not worry and did not get underway. I talked to the commanding officer, Commander Hatano, afterward. He was surprised that he was hit, because this was the first ship known to have been hit by horizontal bombers in the war. Commander Hatano was my classmate at Etajima and said, “Even the B-17s could make a hit once in a while.”

Were any Me 109s employed in the Solomons area?

No. Only one Messerschmitt fighter 109 was brought from Germany. It was used for test. It may be confused with carrier-borne two-seater reconnaissance bomber.

Confirmation of Previous Interrogations

Did you have radar at Coral Sea battle?

Not on cruisers. Maybe carriers had it, but do not think so.

What battleships were present with the First Air Fleet on the day of the Battle of Midway?

Kirishima and Haruna. The Hiei started out with this fleet but exchanged position with the Haruna just before the day of the battle. The Hiei joined the main body and the Haruna joined the carrier force.

Had the Haruna been damaged?

It was damaged at Kure by dive bombers this year. It has never been damaged before.

What was the plan of action for the cruisers the night of 4 June at Midway?

On the evening of 4 June, Japanese carrier group had been heavily damaged. The Seventh Cruis­er Squadron was ordered at full speed to bombard the airfield at Midway. On the way, appearance of submarines was reported, so they made emergency evasive turn resulting in collision between Mikuma and Mogami. The Mogami’s bow was most seriously damaged and was difficult to steer, but it followed the Mikuma for protection. Due to loss of speed and ability to steer, the next morning the Mogami was attacked and damaged by American dive bomber planes. The Mikuma was sunk at the same time.

Was the Mogami attacked also?

Yes, but received no great damage.

Were any radars used at the Battle of Midway?

Not sure. The battleships Ise and Hyuga had them about that time.

In the night battle of Savo Island, did you have radar that night?

No, visual fire control was used on that night—8 August.

In the Battle of Santa Cruz, 26 October 1942, how early did you have information of our carrier force?

Tone and Terutsuki were scouting from position approximately 167.5 degrees east and 7 degrees south. The pa­trol planes from the Gilberts discovered American ships from Hebrides and sent word to Japa­nese cruisers by radio about four or five days before the battle. When these ships received word, they returned to main body north of the Solomons.

The damaged and immobile Japanese aircraft carrier Ryujo (center) photographed from a USAAF B-17 bomber, during a high-level bombing attack in the battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942. The destroyers Amatsukaze (center left) and Tokitsukaze (faintly visible, center right) had been removing her crew and are now underway. The fingerprints are in the original picture.

A Japanese bomb explodes on the flight deck of USS Enterprise, 24 August 1942 during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, causing minor damage. This was the third and last bomb to hit Enterprise during the battle. The bomb was dropped by a Japanese Aichi D3A1 “Val” dive bomber piloted by Kazumi Horie who died in the attack. According to the original photo caption in the U.S. Navy’s archives, this explosion killed the photographer, Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Robert F. Read. This image, however, was actually taken by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Marion Riley, who was operating a motion picture camera from the aft end of the ship’s island, above the flight deck and who survived the battle although his photographic equipment was damaged. The film Riley took that day, and of which this still was extracted together with others and published in Life, can be seen on YouTube. Robert Read was stationed in the aft starboard 5” gun gallery and was killed by the second bomb to hit Enterprise. The smoke from the bomb explosion that killed Read can be seen in the upper left of this photograph.

A bomb hits aft starboard 5” gun gallery of Enterprise, destroying it and killing almost the entire crew, during Japanese air attack on 24 August 1942. This was the second bomb to hit Enterprise during the attack.

Upward bulge in the flight deck of Enterprise as the result of a bomb exploding below decks. The damage occurred in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942, but the photo was taken some days later.