BB-47 Washington
Washington (Battleship No. 47) was laid down on 30 June 1919 at Camden, N.J., by the New York Shipbuilding Corp.; reclassified BB-47 on 17 July 1920; launched on 1 September 1921; and sponsored by Miss Jean Summers, the daughter of Congressman J. W . Summers of Washington state. However, on 8 February 1922, two days after the signing of the Washington Treaty for the Limitation of Naval Armaments on 6 February 1922, all construction work ceased on the 75.9 percent completed dreadnought.
In order to recoup some of the costs that were incurred from building this 624' long dreadnought, items that could be utilized on other vessels were removed. The huge steel hull, lacking her shafts and screws, was towed to the Southern Drill Grounds, 60 miles off Virginia, to be used as a test victim for various explosion experiments. After multiple days of being subjected to detonations and explosions, the USS Washington was sunk by salvos from the 14" and 9" guns of USS Texas on 25 November 1924. The wreck lies upside down with her keel reaching 240', the sand at 290'.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
