| The process of trimming the wartime Navy down to postwar size
was already well underway. Tennessee was one of the older, yet still
useful, ships selected for inclusion in the "mothball fleet" and, during
1946, she underwent a process of preservation and reparation for inactivation.
The work went slowly; there were many ships to lay up and not too many people
to do it. Finally, on 14 February 1947, Tennessee's ensign was hauled
down for the last time as she was placed out of commission. |
| Tennessee remained in the inactive fleet for another 12
years. By then, time and technology had passed her by and, on 1 March 1959,
her name was struck form the Naval Vessel Register. On 10 July of that year,
she was sold to the Bethlehem Steel Company for scraping. |
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