The Tennessee class consisted of two super-dreadnought battleships—Tennessee and California—built for the United States Navy in the late 1910s, part of the "standard" series. The class was in most respects a repeat of the preceding New Mexico class, with the primary improvements being a significantly strengthened underwater protection system, and increased elevation of the main battery guns to allow them to fire at much greater ranges. They carried the same main battery of twelve 14-inch (356 mm) guns in four triple turrets, and had the same top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). Both ships served in the Pacific Fleet for the duration of their careers, which included an extensive training program during the interwar period of the 1920s and 1930s.
Both ships were present in Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor when the Japanese attacked on 7 December 1941; California was torpedoed and sunk but Tennessee was only minimally damaged. California was refloated and both ships were heavily rebuilt between 1942 and 1944. The pair thereafter saw extensive service as bombardment vessels supporting the island-hopping campaign across the central Pacific. Tennessee took part in the Aleutian Islands campaign in mid-1943, the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in late 1943 and early 1944, and the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign in mid-1944, by which time California had returned to the fleet as well.
They both took part in the Philippines campaign in late 1944, and were present at the Battle of Surigao Strait on 24 October, the final battleship engagement in history. A refit for Tennessee kept her from participating in the Battle of Lingayen Gulf in January 1945, where California was hit by a kamikaze, which in turn kept her from supporting Marine Corps troops during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Tennessee was heavily engaged in the fighting there and the subsequent Battle of Okinawa, where she, too, was hit by a kamikaze. The two ships spent the rest of the war patrolling the East China Sea until the official Japanese surrender in September. After briefly participating in the occupation of Japan, they were recalled to the United States and assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. They remained there until 1959, when they were sold for scrap.
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