The crew of the USS West Virginia poses under the massive guns of the Colorado class destroyer. The ship was sunk at Pearl Harbor, salvaged and refitted, then participated in several major naval battles in the Pacific in World War II. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — A local veteran came upon several old photos of the USS West Virginia, which was sunk at Pearl Harbor, salvaged, refitted and returned to fight the war in the Pacific.

“I thought people would be interested in seeing the photos,” said John Danielski, who found the photos in February at Peddlers Junction in Belpre.

“I was amazed to see them lying there,” he said.

Danielski, a local veterans advocate, served in the U.S. Marines in Vietnam for 13 months from 1968 to 1970. He suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and last year wrote a booklet, “Johnny Come Crumbling Home with PTSD,” to help other veterans with the disorder.

The USS West Virginia, nicknamed the Wee Vee, was a Colorado-class battleship commissioned in 1923. The first captain was Thomas J. Senn.

Capt. Herbert Wiley inspects the crew of the USS West Virginia in 1944. Wiley took command of the Wee Vee in January 1944 and led the ship during several major Pacific campaigns, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf. (Photo Provided)

The battleship in 1940 was transferred to Pearl Harbor where it was sunk during the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941. It was salvaged in May 1942, repaired and sailed to the Puget Sound Navy Yard where it was refit.

In July 1944, the West Virginia was deployed to Leyte Gulf where it participated in the attack on the Japanese ships sailing through the Surigao Strait. The West Virginia, which also participated in the attacks on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, was the first battleship to fire at Leyte and the first round hit a Japanese battleship 13 miles away.

It was among the U.S. warships that entered Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender. The West Virginia was deactivated in January 1947 then sold for scrap in 1959.

The mast is at West Virginia University in Morgantown.

Danielski’s photographs, copies of the originals taken by the Navy, include pictures of Capt. Herbert Wiley inspecting the crew of the West Virginia in 1944. He assumed command of the ship in January 1944.

Capt. Herbert Wiley inspects the crew of the USS West Virginia in 1944. Wiley took command of the Wee Vee in January 1944 and led the ship during several major Pacific campaigns, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf. (Photo Provided)

He has a photo of the crew in the 1930s and a shot of Alcatraz taken from the ship in San Francisco Bay.

Danielski said he would make the photos available to groups which would like to include them in a display, such as the VFW. For more information, call Danielski at 304 488-5406.

The crew of the USS West Virginia in the 1930s. The ship was commissioned in 1923, sunk at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, salvaged and refitted for duty for the remainder of World War II. (Photo Provided)

Here’s a photo of Alcatraz taken from the USS West Virginia in 1936 in San Francisco Bay. Alcatraz was a federal prison that once held the most notorious criminals in U.S. history, including Al Capone, “Machine Gun” Kelly and Robert “The Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud. (Photo Provided)