Atlantic_Convoy

I W O J I M A

Mount Suribachi

Mount Suribachi, a stark, brutal volcanic rock at the tip of Iwo Jima towers above the ships of the landing forces. It was the summit at this mountain that Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press took his immortal picture of seven stalwart Marines raising the flag of our country.

The bombardment group arrived off Iwo Jima early in the morning of February 16 and at 0707 the Nevada fired the first shot in the battle of the "Gettysburg of the Pacific." For 19 days her fire smashed pill boxes, gun emplacements, air strips, troop strong points and ammunition dumps.

Two days after the invasion's start the Nevada got her first enemy planes since Pearl Harbor. A "Zeke" broke through the mist just above the water and headed in from astern at about 8,000 yards.

An LCI, her decks littered with dead, wounded and debris, came alongside the Nevada for medical aid and assistance on February 17, during the battle for Iwo Jima

dead and wounded

The Nevada operated off Iwo Jima, supplying fire on call and at targets of opportunity, until March 7. She fired 970 rounds of main battery, 7,583 of fine inch and 9,643 of 40-mm. ammunition during the full operation.

The "heavies" form up on D-day. Their job was to blast the the Japanese out of his cave, smash gun emplacements, and assist the troops on Japanese obstructions.

40-millimeter guns

planes on Nevada

40-millimeter guns