laststandonzombieisland

80 Years Ago Today: New Mexico-class super dreadnaught by Great War standards (or slow battleship by WWII standards) USS Mississippi (BB-41), underway in Puget Sound, Washington, July 13th, 1944, at 3 knots. She is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 6D.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Catalog #: NH 104835

As noted in past posts, Mississippi would be one of the longest-serving American battlewagons, serving as a test platform for seagoing guided missiles until 1956, truly bridging the Great War-Second World War-Cold War-era perhaps better than any other ship in the fleet.