USS California (BB-44): Tennessee-Class Battleship in WWII

A pictorial history of USS California, a battleship that was sunk in Pearl Harbor, raised, repaired, and returned to duty during the Second World War.

USS California (BB—44) was commissioned by the US Navy in 1921, a year after her sister ship, USS Tennessee. The ship was sunk during the surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in 1941. California was raised and subject to a drastic refit and modernization, finally returning to operational duty in early 1944. BB—44 saw combat in several of the later battles against Japan. The battleship was placed in reserve in 1946, decommissioned in 1947, and scrapped in 1959.

This work provides a pictorial history of California, from the keel laying in 1916 onward. Several hundred images and detailed captions show the ship in action and in its various technical details, both before and after the extensive wartime refit.