Great photos, Ollie...I hope to make the trip to Mobile, AL some time this year and see U.S.S. Alabama down there.
Washington should be the Battleship of this class that should have become a Museum, only US Battleship to sink another battleship. But no, the North Carolina gets saved and the WA get's scrapped... such bullshit.
Several USN ships that should've been preserved were either scrapped or used as targets.
Washington would've been a prime candidate for preservation in my book if for no other reason than her performance on 15 November 1942. Others that more than met the criteria to still be here today are:
1) U.S.S. Enterprise (I think this goes without saying.)
2) U.S.S. Saratoga (Be sweet to be able to visit her today without having to take up scuba diving.)
3) U.S.S. Nevada (She would've been a nice centerpiece to a Pearl Harbor Memorial alongside
Arizona and possibly
Missouri.
4) U.S.S. San Francisco (One of the survivors of the "Bar Room Brawl" of 13 November 1942. That and I've always thought she was a beautiful ship.)
5) U.S.S. England (Her anti-submarine record will probably never be broken.)