The battleship that survived 27 hits in a single night of brutal naval combat
In short: Designed under strict treaty limits, the USS South Dakota was a cramped, heavily armed powerhouse. During the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, she became a target for an entire Japanese fleet. Despite being left effectively blind and deaf by electrical failures, she absorbed dozens of hits and survived to fight again.
Commissioned in March 1942, the USS South Dakota (BB-57) was the lead ship of her class, built to navigate the collapse of the Washington treaty system. Designers faced a difficult compromise: they needed to mount 16-inch guns and heavy armor while keeping displacement near 35,000 long tons. This resulted in a vessel so cramped that wartime additions, such as expanded anti-aircraft batteries and larger crews, made living conditions increasingly difficult. By the end of the war, her crew had swelled to 2,500 men, far exceeding her peacetime complement of 1,793.
After an electrical switchboard error disabled her radar and communications, the ship was illuminated by burning destroyers, making her a clear target for Admiral Nobutake Kondō's force. She sustained 27 hits, including a 14-inch shell from the Japanese battleship Kirishima. While the superstructure was devastated and her systems were knocked out, the armor held, and her buoyancy remained intact. The battle resulted in 40 deaths and 180 injuries, including 12-year-old Calvin Graham, the youngest American to serve in the conflict.
Following her repairs, the South Dakota spent the remainder of the war operating with fast carrier task forces across the Pacific, from the Gilbert and Marshall Islands to the final bombardments of Japan in 1945. She was eventually decommissioned and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She remained there until 1962, when she was sold for scrap, marking the end of a career that cost $52.8 million—one of the most expensive naval projects of its era.
The ship's legacy is defined by her resilience and the technological evolution of the era. Throughout her service, she received constant upgrades, including advanced radar sets like the SC, SK, and SG types, and a rapidly expanding anti-aircraft battery. Her ability to withstand concentrated fire while protecting carriers like the Enterprise proved vital, even as her own combat effectiveness was occasionally hampered by the very electrical systems meant to give her an edge.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: USS South Dakota (BB-57)
- Also: Wikidata — USS South Dakota · CC0
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