Battle of Iwo Jima

West Virginia passed through San Pedro Bay in Leyte Gulf before proceeding on to Ulithi, which she reached on 16 February 1945. There she joined the Fifth Fleet and she immediately began preparations for the attack on Iwo Jima. She refueled and replenished supplies for the upcoming operation and was ready to depart at 04:00 the next morning; the ship got underway three and a half hours later, escorted by the destroyers Izard and McCall. On arriving off the island on 19 February, she joined Task Force (TF) 51, and at 11:25 she received orders to join the bombardment already underway as ground forces landed on the beach. She moved to her assigned station at 11:45 and opened fire an hour later; the marines fighting ashore directed her fire to target blockhouses, machine gun positions, tanks, and other Japanese positions.

The ship withdrew for the evening and returned two days later on 21 February, opening fire at 08:00 and remaining on station all day. During the bombardment, she hit an ammunition or fuel dump, setting off large, repeated explosions for the next two hours. She was hit by a small artillery shell the next day that struck near the forward superfiring turret and wounded one sailor. The ship remained off the island for the rest of the month as the Marines fought to secure Iwo Jima from the tenacious Japanese defenders. On 27 February, she neutralized an artillery battery that had been firing on the destroyer Bryant. The battleship left the following day to replenish ammunition before returning later that day to resume the bombardment. She shelled targets throughout the night to harass the Japanese troops and interdict their movements. West Virginia continued to shell the island for the next three days before departing for Ulithi on 4 March; she arrived there two days later.

Battle of Okinawa

West Virginia then joined Task Force 54 (TF 54) for the next major amphibious assault in the Ryukyu Islands; the ships departed on 21 March 1945 and arrived off the island of Okinawa on 25 March. West Virginia moved to her assigned bombardment station and began to shell the planned landing zones. At 10:29 on 26 March, a single Japanese shell fell some 5,000 yd (4,600 m) off West Virginia's port bow; she fired twenty-eight 16-inch shells in response. Intense Japanese air counterattacks began the next morning, and she shot down a Yokosuka P1Y twin-engined bomber that day. The ship remained off the island for the next few days, bombarding the landing beaches to prepare for the assault that was scheduled for 1 April. Before the attack began, the ship withdrew to replenish ammunition at Kerama Retto, which had been seized at the start of the campaign to provide an advance base for the invasion fleet.

The ship returned to the island early on 1 April to support the landings; while approaching Okinawa at 04:45, she had to reverse her engines to avoid colliding with a destroyer that inadvertently crossed her bow in the darkness. As she continued to steam to her assigned station, her anti-aircraft gunners spotted an enemy aircraft, which they shot down; shortly thereafter, a group of four more hostile aircraft appeared, one of which West Virginia's guns destroyed. By 06:30, the ship had reached her station just 900 yd (820 m) from shore and began shelling the beach as the landing craft slowly made their way to the landing zone. The ship remained off the island throughout the day, though ground forces initially encountered little resistance and West Virginia's guns were not immediately needed. That evening, however, a wave of kamikazes arrived and at 19:03, one of them crashed into West Virginia. The plane struck the ship's superstructure just forward of the No. 2 director for the secondary battery. The resulting explosion killed four and wounded seven in one of the 20 mm gun batteries. The aircraft had been carrying a bomb that penetrated to the second deck, though it failed to detonate; it was later defused by the ship's bomb disposal officer.

West Virginia nevertheless remained off the island through the night, firing star shells to illuminate marine positions to help repel Japanese infiltration attacks. The next day, the dead were buried at sea and the ship returned to bombardment duty shortly thereafter. On 6 April, her gunners shot down an Aichi D3A dive bomber. The next day, the Japanese Navy launched a last strike with a small squadron centered on the battleship Yamato, and West Virginia was sent to patrol to the west of the island to intercept any Japanese vessels that broke through heavy American air attacks. On 8 April, the ship received word that most of the Japanese vessels had been sunk or fled. West Virginia resumed bombardment operations and air defense of the fleet. She remained on station until 20 April, when she got underway for Ulithi; she did not reach her destination, however, as she was quickly recalled to replace her sister Colorado after the latter suffered an accidental explosion while replenishing ammunition. West Virginia briefly returned to Okinawa, operating off Hagushi Beach in support of XXIV Corps. She was then relieved and sailed to Ulithi with the heavy cruiser San Francisco and the destroyer Hobson, arriving there on 28 April.

The ship then returned to Okinawa to resume fire support duties, which she carried out through June. During this period, on 1 and 2 June, she destroyed a Japanese blockhouse that had held up the American advance during a series of bombardments. On 16 June, having moved south to support the 1st Marine Regiment, one of the ship's Kingfishers was shot down by Japanese fire. The pilot and observer both bailed out from the aircraft, but they fell behind Japanese lines and were pinned down. West Virginia, the destroyer Putnam, and a Landing Craft, Infantry attempted to suppress the Japanese defenses in the area so ground forces could break through and rescue the downed aircrew, but the effort failed and the men were killed. The ship received another Kingfisher from Tennessee, allowing her to continue to support the forces ashore through the end of the month.

End of the war

At the end of June 1945, the ship left Okinawan waters for San Pedro Bay in company with the destroyer escort Connolly, arriving there on 1 July. Four days later, she received a group of replacement crewmen, and after loading ammunition there, began training in preparation for the expected invasion of Kyushu, the invasion of the Japanese mainland. These operations continued through July, and on 3 August she got underway for Okinawa, arriving in Buckner Bay on 6 August. That day, the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, and a second was dropped on Nagasaki three days later. After these two attacks, rumors spread on 10 August that the Japanese would surrender, prompting celebrations among the crews of the ships in Okinawa, though two days later the battleship Pennsylvania was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine. West Virginia sent a whaleboat with pumps to assist the damaged battleship.

On 15 August, the Japanese surrendered, and West Virginia's contingent of marines began preparations for the occupation of Japan. The ship departed on 24 August, headed for Tokyo Bay, assigned to TG 35.90, arriving there on 31 August. She was present during the formal surrender ceremonies aboard the battleship Missouri on 2 September, and West Virginia loaned five musicians from the ship's band to play during the ceremony. West Virginia remained in Tokyo for the next two weeks to assist with the initial occupation effort, and on 14 September she took on a group of 270 passengers to be carried back to the United States. The ship got underway on 20 September with TG 30.4 for Okinawa; after a stop in Buckner Bay on 23 September, she continued on to Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 4 October. There, her crew repainted the ship before departing on 9 October for San Diego, California, which she reached on 22 October. Sowell left the ship two days later.

In the course of the war, West Virginia was awarded five battle stars, despite having missed much of the war due to the severe damage suffered at Pearl Harbor.