U.S.S. South Dakota Battleship Memorial
The U.S.S. South Dakota was in every major battle and the most decorated ship of WWII from 1942-45.
She brought down 32 Japanese planes, fought at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and joined in bombarding Okinawa. She was officially numbered BB57, also known as "Battleship X," and her state designation was South Dakota. With a combination of Navy Unit Citation and 13 battle stars, she became the most decorated battleship of World War II.
USS South Dakota (BB 57), the lead ship in the South Dakota class of battleships, was commissioned March 20, 1942, with Captain Thomas L. Gatch in command. The ship was decommissioned in 1947. She remained inactive until October 1962, when she was sold for scrapping and stricken from the Navy list. Some parts of the ship were retained through the efforts of the Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce, and were installed in a memorial to the ship in the city on 7 September 1969. The memorial is an open-air tribute built to the exact dimensions of the actual ship, featuring exterior foundations, a museum containing artifacts, and pieces of the original ship's armor and steering wheel. A low concrete wall built in the outline of the ship in full scale, and artifacts from the ship, including an anchor, a simulated gun turret, and a 16-inch gun are displayed in the outline. A museum was erected in the center of the outline, containing displays of other artifacts, including her bell, sailors' uniforms, a scale model of South Dakota, and various other displays. Additional artifacts from the ship are preserved at the National Museum of the United States Navy,
Crewmember reunions have been held regularly for more than fifty years.
The museum is free and open May 1-September 30; 9:30 AM-5:30 PM
Parking is available
Outside park is available 24/7
Logging Requirements for this Virtual Cache:
Visit the memorial site and take a photo with yourself, your GPS, or other geocaching identification with any of the artifacts on the memorial grounds (within the ship outline) or inside the museum. Logs without appropriate photos will be deleted.
Virtual Rewards 5.0 - 2026-2027
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between February 3, 2026 and February 3, 2027. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 5.0 on the Geocaching Blog.