BB-57 South Dakota Class
The South Dakota class consisted of four ships, all constructed at east coast shipyards. The four South Dakota class battleships represented the second group of 35,000-ton capital ships whose construction began shortly before the Second World War. Built with Fiscal Year 1939 appropriations, they were more compact and better protected than the preceding North Carolina class, but had the same main battery of nine 16"/45 guns in triple turrets. Their innovative hull design featured an internal armor belt, to protect the ships' vitals against 16" shells, and outboard propeller shafts that extended further aft than the inboard ones. They also had improved anti-torpedo side protection and more powerful engines, the latter being necessary to drive their shorter hulls at the designed 27-knot speed. Compared with her three "sisters", South Dakota had extra command facilities and two fewer 5-inch twin gun mounts.
The design of the South Dakota class was influenced by the same limitations as the previous North Carolina class, because it, too, was intended to meet Washington Treaty limits. Some improvements were made with the South Dakota-class but only with some ingenious and creative engineering as both of these battleships were also restricted to 35,000-tons. These two warships had to be the same displacement as North Carolina, but with increased armor protection and the same speed. The result was a shorter, slightly fatter hull.
The chief difference was that the South Dakota class, including USS Alabama, was designed from the start to carry a 16-inch main battery. To accommodate the heavier armour needed for a 16-inch battery and keep the required weight under 35,000 tons, the waterline length of the South Dakota class was shortened from that of the North Carolina class while the beam remained the same. This change meant that the South Dakota class has a much fuller hull form than the North Carolina class. More powerful engines were also installed to maintain the same fast speed obtained by the North Carolina class.
The South Dakota class ships were 680 feet long overall, a beam of 108 ft. 2 in, and a draft of 35 ft. 1 in. They displaced 37,970 long tons as designed and up to 44,519 long tons at full combat load. The ships were powered by four General Electric steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by eight oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Rated at 130,000 shaft horsepower, the turbines were intended to give a top speed of 27.5 knots. The ships had a cruising range of 15,000 nautical miles at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). They carried three Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes for aerial reconnaissance, which were launched by a pair of aircraft catapults on the fantail. The peacetime crew numbered 1,793 officers and enlisted men, but during the war the crew swelled to 2,500 officers and enlisted.
The ships were armed with a main battery of nine 16"/45 caliber Mark 6 guns in three triple-gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward, with the third aft. The secondary battery consisted of twenty 5-inch /38 caliber dual purpose guns mounted in twin turrets clustered amidships, five turrets on either side. They were equipped with an anti-aircraft battery that included quadruple 40 mm Bofors guns and 20 mm Oerlikon autocannon instead of the .50-cal. guns.
The main armored belt was 12.2 inch thick, while the main armored deck was up to 6 in. thick. The main battery gun turrets had 18 inch thick faces, and they were mounted atop barbettes that were 17.3 inch thick. The conning tower had 16 inch thick sides.
These ships were all completed in March-August 1942, providing a welcome reinforcement to the Navy's surface battle fleet at a critical stage of World War II. In 1942-43, they stood guard in the Atlantic against possible sorties by German battleships, took part in the invasion of North Africa and in operations around Guadalcanal. During the latter campaign, South Dakota was damaged in a gunnery engagement with a Japanese force that included the old battleship Kirishima.
Over a period of four months, the waters around Guadalcanal were the unlikely scene of the most bitter, protracted naval struggle of the Pacific War. On the night of 14-15 November, the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, BB57 South Dakota had a bad go of it, repeatedly losing power due to faulty electrical equipment, and was unable to contribute much to the battle. South Dakota had a history of electrical problems and to avoid such a problem now, the chief engineer tied down the circuit breakers. Unfortunately, this put the system into series and the ship lost all electrical power.
When electrical devices are attached in series, the electricity passes from the power source to the first device, and then from device to device until it returns to the power source. In this setup, when a device malfunctions, it creates an open circuit in the wiring. When the circuit is incomplete, or open, electricity fails to pass through any of the wire, causing all the devices to go out of service. When devices are attached in parallel, each device is on its own circuit to the power source. If one device burns out, it has no effect on the remaining devices, as they each continue to be in a closed circuit with the power source. Holiday lights on a Christmas tree or along the roofs of a home are a great way to learn about the flow of electric current, and are a well known demonstration of a series circuit.
At 0033 Captain Thomas Gatch ordered "collective fire" with the whole battery of the ship, consisting nine 16 inch guns and ten 5-inch guns, firing at the same target. Seemingly due to the shock of the blast, South Dakota suffered an electrical power failure. During repairs her chief engineer locked down a circuit breaker in violation of safety procedures, causing her circuits repeatedly to go into series. All power gyros and all electric fire control equipment out. Circuit breakers on No 14-switch board tripped out. Load shifted to No. 3 switchboard. Bus transfer panel for No. 56 and 58 for 5-inch mounts shifted to alternate source on No. 3 board, causing No. 6 generator to trip out. Feeder circuits also tripped. The ship regained power in plotting room then lost it again almost immediately.
Guns, radar, communications, turret motors were all gone. The greatest effect of the power failure was the loss of power to radar plot. South Dakota lost tactical awareness at a very critical time. The dark grey paint of the Japanese warships blended into the black background of the sea and Savo Island behind them.
Attempts to restore power were only temporarily effective as the battleship continued to have power failures throughout the engagement. Almost blind and unable to effectively fire her main and secondary armament, South Dakota was illuminated by searchlights and targeted by gunfire and torpedoes by most of the ships of the Japanese force. But for the Japanese, the engagement was the end of any hope of wresting Guadalcanal from the Americans. Over the course of three days of constant fighting, they lost two battleships, one heavy cruiser, three destroyers and eleven combat transports, not to mention 5,000 infantrymen drowned, and several thousand naval casualties. From this point on, the Japanese would never stop retreating in the Pacific. Franklin Roosevelt, upon learning of the results of the battle, commented, "It would seem that the turning point in this war has at last been reached."
As the U.S. went on the offensive in the Central Pacific, these ships joined in escorting the fast carrier task forces, a job for which their heavy anti-aircraft gun batteries were well-suited. They also employed their main battery guns in shore bombardment, and were kept ready to form battle line in case their Japanese opposite numbers should appear.
All four South Dakota class battleships went into reserve after World War II and saw no further active service. When they were disposed of in the early 1960s, Alabama and Massachusetts became a memorials. The other two were sold for scrapping.
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