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USS California: Back in the Fight

All Hands Magazine — November 1942

USS California (BB-44) was hit by two torpedoes and two bombs during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and settled to the harbor bottom with 98 of her crew killed. Salvage operations began in the spring of 1942, and by October she was under tow to Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton, Washington, for complete reconstruction. While there, her four triple 14-inch/50 caliber gun turrets were removed, overhauled, and reinstalled as part of a thorough modernization that also added new anti-aircraft armament, radar, and improved fire control. These photographs from the November 1942 All Hands show her 14-inch turrets during the refitting process. California returned to fleet service in January 1944 and went on to fight at Surigao Strait, Lingayen Gulf, and Okinawa.


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USS California (BB-44) 14-inch gun turrets — All Hands November 1942

Turret 14/1 and Turret 14/2

USS California (BB-44) 14-inch gun Turret 3 — All Hands November 1942

Turret 14/3