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Jo Key-Family
to remember
Key, John Lewis, GM2.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Bellfountain, OR
Last Address Rt. 1 Monroe, OR (Wife - Mary Louise Key)
Casualty Date May 12, 1945
Cause KIA-Killed in Action
Reason Artillery, Rocket, Mortar
Location Pacific Ocean
Conflict World War II
Location of Interment Lincoln Memorial Park Cemetery - Portland, Oregon
Wall/Plot Coordinates Veterans' Lawn
Official Badges
Unofficial Badges
Additional Information
Last Known Activity:
After repairs at Pearl Harbor, New Mexico arrived at Ulithi to stage for the invasion of Okinawa, sailing on 21 March with a heavy fire support group. Her guns opened on Okinawa on 26 March, and they were not silent until 17 April, on which she had given aid to troops engaged ashore. Again on 21 and 29 April, she opened fire, and on 11 May she destroyed eight Shinyo suicide boats. While approaching her berth in Hagushi anchorage just after sunset on 12 May, New Mexico was attacked by two kamikazes; one plunged into her, the other managed to hit her with his bomb. She was set on fire, and 54 of her men were killed, with 119 wounded.
New Mexico Class Battleship: Displacement 32,000 Tons, Dimensions, 624' (oa) x 97' 5" x 31' 1" (Max). Armament 12 x 14"/50 22 x 5"/51, 8 x 3"/50 2 x 21" tt. Armor, 13 1/2" Belt, 18" Turrets, 3 1/2" +2" Decks, 16" Conning Tower. Machinery, 27,500 SHP; G.E. Geared Turbines with electric drive, 4 screws. Speed, 21 Knots, Crew 1084.
Operational and Building Data: Laid down by New York Navy Yard, October 14, 1915. Launched April 23, 1917. Commissioned May 18, 1918. Decommissioned July 19, 1946. Stricken February 25, 1947.
Fate: Sold November 9, 1947 and broken up for scrap in New York.
