While undergoing repairs at Puget Sound Navy Yard, it was decided to install radar aboard Tennessee and her anti-aircraft gun network was strengthened. She then relocated to San Francisco for training and formed a portion of the force sent to support the landings at Guadalcanal. However, her thirty engines meant that she only went as far as Pearl - a common limitation of these older USN warships. Tennessee then underwent a period of drastic refit which brought her up to the standards of the powerful South Dakota-class. Modifications centered on survivability against torpedo attack, a reworking of the superstructure to help improve AA gun firing arcs, and a single smoke funnel replacing the earlier pair. The beam was widened to 114 feet from her original 108 feet design (which precluded her traversal of the Panama Canal if wanting to access the American East Coast). The funnel was now integrated into the superstructure as well. New FCSs were installed and armament consisted of 12 x 14" main guns, 16 x 5" /38 cal Mk 12 guns, 40 x 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft cannons, and 41 x 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns (the 21" torpedo tubes were noticeable absent in the rebuild, signaling a shift in battleship doctrine).
When Japanese forces landed on the U.S.-held Aleutian Island chain of Alaska, this forced an American response where Tennessee was able to use her guns against enemy land positions. Tennessee was committed to this campaign from May 1943 to August 1943 before undertaking another training cycle. From November 20th to 23rd, Tennessee used her guns against enemy positions on Tarawa and contributed to the sinking of I-35, an IJN submarine. In December, she trained crews in offshore bombardment at San Clemente Island in preparation for this same service during the Marshall Islands campaign to come.
Her guns were used in the assault on the Marshall Islands (June to November 1944) and rocked inland enemy positions as amphibious elements made their way from deadly beachheads to even deadlier positions further in. Her guns were then used to subdue the enemy at the Bismarck Archipelago as ground forces continued their pursuit. From there, Tennessee was called to serve in the Mariana Islands campaign by way of offshore bombardment of inland positions and as defensive escort for the accompanying fleet of ships. She sustained damage from three direct hits coming from onshore cannon fire during the assault which sparked a fire, killed eight and injured twenty-six. Tennessee survived the melee to continue the fight nonetheless. Tennessee's next call to action came at Peleiu where offshore bombardment was again the call of the day. She then bombarded the shores of Leyte Gulf (October 23-26, 1944) and later defended airspace with her AA gun network. An accidental collision, under smoke, with USS Warhawk ended Tennessee's mission.
The Battle of Surigao Strait (October 25, 1944), the Japanese counteroffensive to smash the U.S. push at Leyte, was Tennessee's next phase of participation. Her systems were put to good use in responding to the incoming enemy force and the more modern FCSs of the American ships gave the defenders the needed advantage to engage the enemy at range. Losses for the IJN proved disastrous in the operation. Tennessee then sailed for Puget Sound for refitting with better radar and gun directors and a new paint scheme was applied.
In early February 1945, Tennessee was back at work. She joined up with the fleet taking Iwo Jima and her guns were brought to bear on the heads of the fortified enemy. One sailor was killed and three wounded when Tennessee took a direct hit from a coastal cannon at one of her 5" gun turrets. She then sailed for Ulithi to prepare for the assault on Okinawa.
The Okinawa Campaign lasted from April 1 to June 22, 1945 and vessels like Tennessee committed all of their guns in support of ground forces and in defense of enemy attack planes and suicidal kamikaze strikes. The battle proved a bloody one for both sides but the ultimate victory fell to the Americans and British at the close (the Americans would occupy the island until 1972). One kamikaze managed a direct hit on Tennessee's signal bridge while a plethora of others were felled by the ship's AA guns. The aircraft carried with it a bomb which slipped below Tennessee's deck and detonated, killing twenty-two and injuring one hundred seven. Fires were brought under control, the wounded and killed were attended to, and emergency repairs were enacted after the fighting. Despite her damage, Tennessee remained on station and used her guns on enemy positions at Mount Yaetake prior to U.S. Marines moving in. Tennessee was then repaired at Ulithi from early/mid may to early June to which she then conducted additional strikes against Okinawa to weed out remaining Japanese elements.
During late June to early August, Tennessee rounded out her wartime career with various patrols and operations. When VJ Day (Victory Over Japan) rang out on August 14, 1945, Tennessee was off of the Chinese coast and the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland was cancelled with the unconditional surrender of the Empire of Japan. The period following the surrender saw USS Tennessee as part of the Allied "show of strength" as warships lay in the enemy's ports and airborne firepower passed overhead. From Japan, Tennessee rounded the South African coast to reach the American East and the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She was mothballed in 1946 and decommissioned on February 14, 1947, set to inactive status. She remained in this state until March 1, 1959 when her name was struck from the Naval Register. On July 10th, USS Tennessee - recipient of 10 Service Stars for her wartime service - was unceremoniously sold for scrapping.
Despite her commitment to so many of the major American operations of World War 2, Tennessee's casualties were limited to 219 (these being killed, wounded or missing) during her service tenure. She and her crews were the recipient of a Navy Unit Citation - notable for only four total were given for wartime service in World War 2. Her offshore bombardment accuracy was repeatedly commended by land force commanders charged with overtaking well-defended enemy positions. In some battles, hundreds of enemies lay dead as friendlies moved in to take their place - victims of the big guns of the Tennessee. Tennessee was damaged on five separate occasions during her service tenure through eight individual direct hits (either by aviation bombs or coastal fire). He AA crews contributed to the downing of sixteen enemy aircraft and damaged at least three. Her deck guns sank eight enemy ships.
Content ©MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.
