American Battleships

The era of the American modern battleship began when the Texas was commissioned into the US Navy on August 15, 1895. This 6,682 tons ship was intended for coastal defence and comparable to the Dutch armoured cruisers of the Kortenaer class. This was the first American warship that met the general standards of the modern battleship: a primary armament of guns with a calibre of at least 25cm in revolving gun turrets, propulsion by steam engines and screws and a maximum speed exceeding 15 knots. Five more coastal defence battleships would be built for the US Navy.

On February 20, 1900, USS Kearsarge (BB-6) was commissioned into the US Navy. This was the first blue water battleship: designed and built to cross oceans. The subsequent classes became increasingly larger, better armoured and equipped with more secondary guns. This development continued through the two Mississippi-class battleships, USS Mississippi (BB-23) and USS Idaho (BB-24), which entered service in 1908.

On December 2, 1906, the Royal Navy commissioned the HMS Dreadnought. This was the first battleship in the world with ten 30.5cm guns instead of the usual four. The 18,410 tons battleship was also excellently armoured and could sail at 21 knots. The Dreadnought surpassed all existing battleships in the world and its revolutionary design became the battleship standard for all navies. This standard was implemented to such an extent that henceforth all battleships that met the specifications of the HMS Dreadnought design were simply called dreadnoughts; a new internationally used term was born. All outdated designs were referred to as pre-dreadnoughts and battleships that became larger and more heavily armed than HMS Dreadnought itself were referred to as super-dreadnoughts. All American battleships at that time, from USS Kearsarge to USS Idaho, became pre-dreadnoughts.

The subsequent classes of American battleships were the South Carolina, Delaware, Florida, Wyoming, and New York class dreadnoughts. The latter two classes had a displacement of over 27,000 tons and a main armament of twelve 30.5cm and ten 35.5cm guns respectively and could justifiably be called super-dreadnoughts.

During World War I, the United States Navy began developing and building the so-called Standard-type battleships. These were battleships sharing similar characteristics such as a large firing range, good quality damage control and a limited maximum speed which in turn allowed for a tactical turn radius of less than 700 meters. The latter two characteristics allowed the battleships to form a homogeneous battle line with a relatively large range. The Standard-type battleship concept was applied to the Nevada class, Pennsylvania class, New Mexico class, Tennessee class and Colorado class.

On February 6, 1922, the Washington Fleet Treaty was signed by the naval powers Japan, Italy, France, the United States and Great Britain. The treaty aimed to stop the maritime arms race that was going on at the time. One of the agreements was that no new battleships could be built in the next ten years and that existing battleships could only be replaced if they were older than twenty years. As a result, the US Navy's plan for a South Dakota class of total six ships were cancelled, and the super-dreadnoughts and Standard-type battleships were modernised.

It was not until 1936 that new battleships were designed for the US Navy. Of this new generation of battleships, USS North Carolina and USS Washington were the first to be commissioned in 1941. This generation was called the Fast Battleships because, through the application of new techniques, the US Navy was able to construct a battleship that, despite the size limitations of the Washington and London Fleet Treaties, had a maximum speed of 27 knots. After the North Carolina class came the four ships of the new South Dakota class and then the four Iowa class battleships, which had a maximum speed of even 33 knots. The five battleships of the Montana class were subsequently planned, but during the Second World War it became apparent that the battleship concept was outdated. The aircraft carriers had become the most important ships in a war fleet and therefore the tender for the Montana class was cancelled.

Pre-dreadnought USS Kearsage (BB-5) on September 18, 1899. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

HMS Dreadnought in 1906. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

Dreadnought USS Florida (BB-30) in 1921. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

Standard-type battleship USS Nevada (BB-36) transiting the Panama Canal. Source: Courtesy of the Panama Canal Authority

Fast Battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) in New York, July 9, 1943. Source: Navsource

Just like the Dutch protected cruisers and coastal defence ships, the American battleships for coastal defence evolved from the wooden battleships with (auxiliary) sails. At the close of the nineteenth century, a battleship could be defined as an iron or steel warship with protective armour cladding, guns of minimum 25cm and a displacement exceeding 6,000 tons. The first American battleships, the Texas and the Maine, were still developed individually and by a British naval construction company. However, with the introduction of the Indiana class, the concept of a ship class appeared on the American scene for the first time. Such a class concept had the economic advantage that design and development costs could be spread over multiple ships, making them cheaper on balance. In 1897, USS Iowa (BB-4) was the last individually designed battleship that was commissioned into the US Navy.

USS Maine

USS Texas

Indiana-class

USS Iowa (BB-4)

USS Indiana (BB-1) in 1897. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

USS Massachusetts (BB-2) in 1898. Source: Wikipedia

USS Iowa (BB-4) in 1918. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

The voyage of the Great White Fleet, a group of 16 American pre-dreadnoughts that circumnavigated the globe in 1907-1909, had been ordered by President Theodore Roosevelt and marked the US Navy's step towards maturity. Until then, the American Navy had been trailing in the shadow of the Royal Navy. The voyage was a great success from an American point of view. However, the reality of the tour also revealed the American battleships to be outdated, especially apparent with the launching of the Royal Navy’s HMS Dreadnought. But it also showed that the US Navy was strategically not well positioned. During the voyage, the fleet had been dependent on British coal, which was delivered to the Americans by British tenders from British ports or ports controlled by Great Britain. After the trip it was clear that the Americans had to set up their own global logistics network and that the fleet had to be modernised.

The last class of pre-dreadnoughts, the Mississippi-class ships USS Mississippi and USS Idaho, were sold by the US Navy to Greece in 1914. The Greek Navy commissioned the battleships as Kilkis and Limnos. In April 1941, both were sunk by German bombers.

Kearsarge-class

Illinois-class

Maine-class

Virginia-class

Connecticut-class

Mississippi-class

The Great White Fleet in 1907. Source: Wikipedia

USS Alabama (BB-8) in 1904. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

USS Connecticut (BB-18) in San Francisco in 1908. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

USS Rhode Island (BB-17) in 1915. Source: Wikipedia

Kikis and Lemnos, sunk in Salamis, Greece, April 1941. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

In the run up to World War One, the American Navy followed the Royal Navy in the construction of a new type of battleship and thereby responded to developments with the Japanese Navy. By launching the South Carolina class, the US Navy matched HMS Dreadnought. The subsequent further development of the Delaware and the Florida classes ultimately led to the creation of super-dreadnoughts through the designs of the Wyoming and the New York classes. The latter class of super-dreadnoughts (New York class) would even during the Second World War play a role that cannot be underestimated.

South Carolina-class

Delaware-class

Florida-class

Wyoming-class

New York-class

USS Utah (BB-31) shortly after her commissioning in 1911. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

USS Michigan (BB-27) transiting the Panama Canal on June 13, 1920. Source: Courtesy of the Panama Canal Authority

USS Delaware (BB-28) and USS North Dakota (BB-29) in the locks of the Panama Canal on June 14, 1922. Source: Courtesy of the Panama Canal Authority

USS Arkansas (BB-33) in Kiel, July 1930. Source: Bundesarchiv

USS Texas (BB-35) in action on March 15, 1943. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

During World War I, the US Navy started building a series of battleships which would become collectively known as the Standard-type battleships. These were battleships that had had standard characteristics of a long firing range, excellent damage control capabilities, a compact turning circle of less than 700 meters and a limited maximum speed. This allowed the battleships to form a homogenous battle line with a relatively large range. The Standard-type classes of battleships were divided by the US Navy into Battleship Divisions, which consisted of three or four battleships from the same or successive classes. This meant that the battleships within one division were not limited by any shortcomings of the other. Furthermore, it allowed the divisions to be deployed in a better tactical manner and it simplified the logistical, administrative and training requirements.

As a result of the Washington Treaty, the Standard-type battleships underwent important modernisations in the late 1920s and early 1930s and were thus given a second career. The lifespan of the Standard-type battleships lasted until the end of World War II. During the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma were lost, but the remaining damaged battleships were repaired and used against the Japanese later in the war. This testified to the quality of the Standard-type battleships. The last two classes of Standard-type battleships, the Tennessee class and the Colorado class, were also called the Big Five.

The last class of Standard-type battleships, the South Dakota class, was cancelled because of the Washington Treaty. The six battleships were already under construction, and most were about 30 percent complete. The hulls were demolished in the course of 1923. The scheduled 72 41cm guns were deployed by the US Army as coastal defence artillery while most of the steel plates remained on the various construction sites until they were used for the construction of new battleships and aircraft carriers during the Second World War.

Nevada-class

Pennsylvania-class

New Mexico-class

Tennessee-class

Colorado-class

South Dakota-class

USS Oklahoma (BB-37) in 1925. Source: Navsource

USS Arizona (BB-39) in 1932. Source: Navsource

USS Idaho (BB-42) after the modernisation in 1934. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

USS Mississippi (BB-41) just after World War Two. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

USS West Virginia (BB-48) in July 1944. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

Only from 1937 onwards, new battleship designs were presented by the General Board of the US Navy because of the rearmament of the major maritime powers. The designs of the new North Carolina class and South Dakota class were still determined by the Washington and London Fleet Treaties. As a result, the standard displacement of these battleships was limited to 35,000 tons and the maximum speed could only reach 27 knots, despite technical developments. The six battleships of the Iowa class and the five battleships of the Montana class were no longer limited by the fleet treaties, and this allowed the US Navy designers to develop battleships of 45,000 tons and even 65,000 tons, respectively, with a maximum speed of 33 and 28 knots. However, only the first four Iowa-class ships of these super battleships would be completed. The remaining two Iowa class ships and the entire Montana class were cancelled as they were no longer required.

Furthermore, by the end of World War II it had become clear that the battleship concept was outdated. Battleships, American, British and Japanese, had proven very vulnerable to air attack during the war, despite the extensive anti-aircraft batteries they had in 1944 and 1945. The primary role in naval warfare had been taken over by aircraft carriers.

North Carolina-class

South Dakota-class

Iowa-class

Montana-class

USS North Carolina (BB-25), April 1942. Source: History Navy

USS Washington (BB-56) in 1945. Source: Navsource

USS South Dakota (BB-57) in the Atlantic, August 9, 1943. Source: Courtesy of Michael W. Pocock

USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945. Source: History Navy

Montana-class model from 1944. Source: Wikipedia