Can anyone help me identify the ship in this picture?

Can you tell me your Grandfathers full name?

I might have your answer.

Yes, it is the USS West Virginia. His name isnt listed as being crew on the ship.

But after some searching I found this picture of the life boat with the same markings.

http://www.usswestvirginia.org/images/ship/p0258n1...

WVa on the life boat is the old style abbreviation for West Virginia. The picture was most likely taken in the mid-1930s, the hair is cut in the military style popular then and white work pants are in the 30s style.

By the late 1930's and into the war years, they were shaving the men's heads and after their hair grew back making them brush back any hair from their face and their work uniform was the light colored shirt and the dark denim work pants with a wider leg with a bit more of a bell bottom.

have you been to the National Archives? You should be able to request a copy of your grandfather's service record

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/for-families/

Good Luck and happy hunting!

Instances of heroic conduct on board the heavily damaged battleship proliferated in the heat of battle. The ship's commanding officer, Capt. Mervyn S. Bennion, arrived on his bridge early in the battle, only to be struck down by a bomb fragment hurled in his direction when a 15-inch "bomb" hit the center gun in Tennessee's Turret II, spraying that ship's superstructure and West Virginia's with fragments. Bennion, hit in the abdomen, crumpled to the deck, mortally wounded, but clung tenaciously to life until just before the ship was abandoned, involved in the conduct of the ship's defense up to the last moment of his life. For his conspicuous devotion to duty, extraordinary courage, and complete disregard of his own life, Capt. Bennion was awarded a Medal of Honor, posthumously.

West Virginia was abandoned, settling to the harbor bottom on an even keel, her fires fought from on board by a party that volunteered to return to the ship after the first abandonment. By the afternoon of the following day, December 8, the flames had been extinguished. The garbage lighter, YG-17, played an important role in assisting those efforts during the Pearl Harbor attack, remaining in position alongside despite the danger posed by exploding ammunition on board the battleship.

Later examination revealed that West Virginia had taken not five, but six, torpedo hits. With a patch over the damaged area of her hull, the battleship was pumped out and ultimately refloated on May 17, 1942. Docked in Drydock Number One on 9 June, West Virginia again came under scrutiny, and it was discovered that there had been not six, but seven torpedo hits.

During the ensuing repairs, workers located 70 bodies of West Virginia sailors who had been trapped below when the ship sank. In one compartment, a calendar was found, the last scratch-off date being December 23. The task confronting the nucleus crew and shipyard workers was a monumental one, so great was the damage on the battleship's port side. Ultimately, however, West Virginia departed Pearl Harbor for the west coast and a complete rebuilding at the Puget Sound Navy Yard at Bremerton, Wash.

It is the USS West Virginia BB-48

This picture contains a similar W Va. as seen on the lifboat in the background of your picture.

http://www.usswestvirginia.org/picturepages/box193...

Here is a link to the USS West Virginia Website

http://www.usswestvirginia.org/

Could this also be a picture of him?

http://www.usswestvirginia.org/images/crew/NolanDa...

William-Adolphe Bouguereau (France, 1825 - 1905) the story e book, 1877 in case you flow to Google pictures, and click the little digital camera icon interior the quest bar, you are able to paste the URL or upload a picture and it will locate the image :)

Sorry I didn't have any answerer's to this one, but there are lots of great answers already and I wanted to say to each one of you, Good job. I gave all of the above a thumbs up.