| Washington collided with Indiana during maneuvers off Kwajelein in the early morning of 1 February 1944. Both ships were in darkened condition when Indiana turned out of formation to refuel destroyers. In doing so she pulled across Washington's path. In the resulting collision Washington's bow was demolished back to Frame 21 but flooding was minor. |  CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW |
Washington at Majuo Lagoon at the Marshall Islands on February 3, 1944 after the collision with the USS Indiana. The ship is shown tied up to the tanker U.S.S. Pecos (AO-65) due the inability to use her anchors. Seven 10" hawsers secured the two ships together. The other ship, on the Washington's starboard side, is the repair ship U.S.S. Vestal (AR-4). The Vestal's shipfitters cut away the remainder of the bow wreckage and replaced it with a timber reinforced boilerplate structure seaworthy enough to get the ship back to Pearl Harbor, where a "new" temporary bow could be fitted.  The Washington's propellers and shafts were also inspected for damage by the Vestal's crew, but no damage had occurred. The Washington left Majuro lagoon on February 11, 1944 under escort from the destroyer Franks (DD-554) and destroyer escort Manlove (DE-36) with the destroyers Callaghan (DD-792) and Tingey (DD-539) joining two days later. The group was limited to a top speed of 14 knots, due to the strain on the Washington's emergency shoring, and arrived at Pearl Harbor on February 18th.
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Washington limped to Pearl Harbor. To the left is a view while she was in dry dock at Pearl. You can see the many deck that were damage. A temporary wooden bow was installed and she sailed for Puget Sounds where all repairs were completed. She was back in service by 30 May 1944. |
| Below are starboard and port views of Washington as she completed repairs at Puget Sound, 26 April 1944. She is painted in Ms 22. The regulation called for the border between the Navy Blue and the Haze Gray to parallel the waterline at the height of the lowest point of main deck sheer. | 
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She has SG radar on both masts, an SK air search antenna forward and FH fire control radar on her Mk 38 directors. | 
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| For another account of the collision check out Ben Given's excellent website on the USS Indiana BB58. http://USSIndianaBB58.com/collision.html |
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