Portal:Battleships

The Battleships Portal The firepower of a battleship demonstrated by USS Iowa (1984). The muzzle blasts distort the ocean surface. A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term battleship came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ironclad warship, now referred to by historians as pre-dreadnought battleships. In 1906, the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought into the United Kingdom's Royal Navy heralded a revolution in the field of battleship design. Subsequent battleship designs, influenced by HMS Dreadnought, were referred to as "dreadnoughts", though the term eventually became obsolete as dreadnoughts became the only type of battleship in common use. Battleships were a symbol of naval dominance and national might, and for decades the battleship was a major factor in both diplomacy and military strategy. A global arms race in battleship construction began in Europe in the 1890s and culminated at the decisive Battle of Tsushima in 1905, the outcome of which significantly influenced the design of HMS Dreadnought. The launch of Dreadnought in 1906 commenced a new naval arms race. Three major fleet actions between steel battleships took place: the long-range gunnery duel at the Battle of the Yellow Sea in 1904, the decisive Battle of Tsushima in 1905 (both during the Russo-Japanese War) and the inconclusive Battle of Jutland in 1916, during the First World War. Jutland was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of dreadnoughts of the war, and it was the last major battle in naval history fought primarily by battleships. The Naval Treaties of the 1920s and 1930s limited the number of battleships, though technical innovation in battleship design continued. Both the Allied and Axis powers built battleships during World War II, though the increasing importance of the aircraft carrier meant that the battleship played a less important role than had been expected in that conflict. (Full article...) Selected article The North Carolina class was a series of two fast battleships, North Carolina and Washington, built for the United States Navy in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The navy was originally uncertain whether the ships should be fast enough to counter the Japanese Kongō class, which was believed by the United States to be capable of 26 knots (30 mph; 48 km/h), or should sacrifice speed for additional firepower and armor. The Second London Naval Treaty's requirement that all capital ships have a standard displacement of under 35,000 long tons (35,560 metric tons (t)) meant that the desired objectives could not be fully realized within the treaty limits, and the navy considered over fifty designs before one was chosen. Towards the end of this lengthy design period, the General Board of the United States Navy declared that it was in favor of design "XVI-C", which called for a speed of 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h) and a main battery of nine 14-inch (356 mm)/50 caliber Mark B guns. The board believed that such ships could fulfill a multitude of roles, as they would have enough protection to be put into a battle line while also having enough speed to escort aircraft carriers or engage in commerce raiding. However, the acting Secretary of the Navy authorized a modified version of a different design, "XVI", which in its original form had been rejected by the General Board. This called for a 27-knot (31 mph; 50 km/h) ship with twelve 14-inch rifles in quadruple turrets and protection against guns of the same caliber. In a major departure from traditional American design practices, "XVI" accepted lower speed and protection in exchange for maximum firepower. After construction had begun, the United States, concerned over Japan's refusal to commit to the caliber limit of the Second London Naval Treaty, invoked the "escalator clause" of that pact and increased the caliber of the class' main armament; nine 16-inch (406 mm)/45 Mark 6 caliber guns replaced the twelve 14-inch guns of the original design. Selected biography Admiral of the Fleet John Arbuthnot "Jacky" Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, GCB, OM, GCVO (25 January 1841 – 10 July 1920) was a British admiral known for his efforts at naval reform. He had a huge influence on the Royal Navy in a career spanning more than 60 years, starting in a navy of wooden sailing ships armed with muzzle-loading cannon and ending in one of battlecruisers, submarines and the first aircraft carriers. The argumentative, energetic, reform-minded Fisher is often considered one of the fathers of battleships and a naval hero second only to Lord Nelson. Though recognized as a seagoing admiral involved in major battles, Fisher is primarily celebrated as an innovator, strategist and developer of the navy. When appointed First Sea Lord, he removed 150 ships then on active service but which were no longer useful and set about constructing modern replacements, creating a modern fleet for World War I. His reforms improved naval gunnery, torpedoes, destroyers as a class of ship intended for defence against attack from torpedo boats or submarines, introduced turbine engines to replace reciprocating designs, and oil fueling to replace coal. He also supervised the construction of HMS Dreadnought, the first all big gun battleship. General images - The following are images from various battleship-related articles on Wikipedia. Canonicus-class monitor USS Mahopac on the Appomattox River, 1864 (from Ironclad warship) Mexican frigate Guadalupe 1842 (from Ironclad warship) Cross section of a German pre-dreadnought Wittelsbach-class battleship, circa 1914 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) Growth in size of battleship designs from 1905 onwards, showing the dreadnought's rapid growth between 1905 and 1920, prior to the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 (from Dreadnought) Unfinished Bayern-class battleship Württemberg (right) and the Mackensen-class battlecruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich in Hamburg after the war, in about 1920 (from Dreadnought) Barbette of the Vauban (from Ironclad warship) The Argentine Rivadavia, first of its class, under construction in 1912 (from Dreadnought) Breech-loading 110-pounder Armstrong gun on HMS Warrior (from Ironclad warship) USS Indiana, an example of the intermediate battery principle with its forward 13-inch and forward port 8-inch gun turrets (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) The French Redoutable (1876), the first battleship to use steel as the main building material (from Ironclad warship) The fleets engaging for the Battle of Lissa (from Ironclad warship) The heavy guns and forward barbette of Mikasa's main battery (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) HMS Ocean was typical of pre-dreadnought battleships (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) Napoléon (1850), the first steam battleship (from Ironclad warship) Loa being fitted after its conversion in the Callao harbour, 1864 (from Ironclad warship) HMS Audacious sinks after hitting a mine, October 1914 (from Dreadnought) HMS Inflexible, after the replacement of her sailing masts with military masts (from Ironclad warship) Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein in port around 1930. Both ships served into World War II. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) The conventional broadside of 68-pounders on HMS Warrior of 1860 (from Ironclad warship) A barbette of Redoutable (from Ironclad warship) HMS Dreadnought shows the low freeboard typical for early ironclad turret-ships. This ship, launched in 1875, should not be confused with her famous successor, launched in 1906, marking the end of the pre-dreadnought era. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) Japan's Admiral Togo on the bridge of Mikasa just before the Battle of Tsushima (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) The water-tube boiler was the most efficient method of producing high-pressure steam for pre-dreadnought engines. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) USS Texas, the only dreadnought still in existence, was launched in 1912 and is now a museum ship (from Dreadnought) HMS Canopus fires her 12-inch main guns at a Turkish shore battery (1915). Photo by Ernest Brooks. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) USS New York making full steam (1915) (from Dreadnought) HMS Agamemnon, an all-big-gun mixed-calibre ship of the Lord Nelson class. It carried four 12-inch (305 mm) and ten 9.2-inch (234 mm) guns. (from Dreadnought) The Japanese battleship Settsu (1911) (from Dreadnought) The Royal Navy's revolutionary HMS Dreadnought, launched in 1906, gave its name to the type (from Dreadnought) The Confederacy's French-built last ironclad was also Japan's first: Stonewall was later renamed Kōtetsu (from Ironclad warship) 1904 illustration of H.G. Wells' December 1903 The Land Ironclads, showing huge armored land vessels, equipped with Pedrail wheels. (from Ironclad warship) Mikasa, a typical pre-dreadnought in many respects; note the positioning of secondary and tertiary batteries, and the concentration of armour on turrets and engineering spaces (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) The Battle of Iquique, where Peruvian ironclad Huáscar sunk the Chilean wooden corvette Esmeralda (from Ironclad warship) City-class ironclads off Cairo, Illinois, during the American Civil War (from Ironclad warship) The obturator invented by de Bange allowed the effective sealing of breeches in breech-loading guns (from Ironclad warship) USS California (BB-44), one of two Tennessee-class battleships, steaming at high speed in 1921 (from Dreadnought) The working of a triple-expansion steam engine. High-pressure steam is used three times to produce motive power, gradually cooling as it goes. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) Provence, a Bretagne-class battleship, launched in 1913 (pictured in 1942) (from Dreadnought) Paris on speed trials (1914) (from Dreadnought) The gun trials of the Brazilian dreadnought Minas Geraes in 1910, where all the guns capable of training to the port side were fired, forming what was at that time the heaviest broadside ever fired from a warship (from Dreadnought) A Paixhans naval shell gun. 1860 engraving (from Ironclad warship) The French battleship Justice at speed (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) Gloire under sail (from Ironclad warship) Model of the French Gloire (1858), the first ocean-going ironclad (from Ironclad warship) Postcard of USS Connecticut being used for troop transport in 1919 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) This section of SMS Bayern shows a typical dreadnought protection scheme, with very thick armour protecting the turrets, magazines and engine spaces tapering away in less vital areas (from Dreadnought) HMS Warrior (1860), Britain's first seagoing ironclad warship (from Ironclad warship) HMS Royal Sovereign (1891) was the first pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) French Navy ironclad floating battery Lave, 1854. This ironclad, together with the similar Tonnante and Dévastation, vanquished Russian land batteries at the Battle of Kinburn (1855). (from Ironclad warship) USS Massachusetts, a pre-dreadnought battleship launched in 1893 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) SMS Szent István begins to roll over after being torpedoed in 1918 (from Dreadnought) A plan of Bellerophon (1907) showing the armament distribution of early British dreadnoughts. The main battery is in twin turrets, with two on the "wings"; the light secondary battery is clustered around the superstructure. (from Dreadnought) Cross-section view amidships of USS Kearsarge, showing how the armour scheme relates to the innards of the ship (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) Punch cartoon from May 1876 showing Britannia dressed in the armor of an ironclad with the word Inflexible around her collar and addressing the sea god Neptune. Note the ram sticking out of Britannia's breast plate. The caption reads: OVER-WEIGHTED. Britannia. "Look here, Father Nep! I can't stand it much longer! Who's to 'rule the waves' in this sort of thing?" (from Ironclad warship) Schematic section of a typical pre-dreadnought battleship with an armoured upper and middle deck and side belt (red), lateral protective coal bunkers (grey), and a double-bottom of watertight compartments. The machinery was arranged in the protected internal void. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) HMS Agamemnon, an example of taking the intermediate battery principle to its ultimate expression with ten 9.2-inch guns (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) A plan of HMS Dreadnought, showing the revolutionary design (from Dreadnought) Royal Navy Orion-class super-dreadnoughts in line c. 1914 (from Dreadnought) The Confederate ironclad Atlanta on the James River in 1864–1865 after her capture by Union forces (from Ironclad warship) The iron-and-wood armor of Warrior (from Ironclad warship) Retvizan sinks in Port Arthur, 1904 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) The reloading mechanism onboard HMS Inflexible (from Ironclad warship) HMS Ramillies was the fourth ship of the influential Royal Sovereign class. The diagonal tubes are spars for torpedo nets. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) French armored floating battery Arrogante (1864) (from Ironclad warship) Animated diagram of gun turret loading and firing, based on the British 15-inch gun used on super-dreadnoughts (from Dreadnought) Radetzky-class battleship, a pre-dreadnought class of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) Mikasa as a museum ship (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) The appearance of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 rendered every other battleship obsolete (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) HMS Dominion of the King Edward VII class was launched towards the end of the pre-dreadnought era, in 1903 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship) 12-pounder anti-torpedo boat guns mounted on the roof of a turret on Dreadnought (1906) (from Dreadnought) The first battle between ironclads: CSS Virginia (left) vs. USS Monitor, in the March 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads (from Ironclad warship) King George V (left) inspects HMS Neptune (from Dreadnought) Selected picture Brazil's Minas Geraes fires a full ten-gun broadside to port during her firing trials. A 1910 article in Scientific American commented that it was "the greatest broadside ever fired from a battleship." Minas Geraes participated in many revolts throughout her career, both on the side of rebels and the government. After Brazil's entrance into the Second World War, she was regulated to harbor defense, as the battleship was too old to play an active part in the war. Minas Geraes was towed to Italy for scrapping in 1954 after having been in service for over forty years. Brazil's Minas Geraes fires a full ten-gun broadside to port during her firing trials. A 1910 article in Scientific American commented that it was "the greatest broadside ever fired from a battleship." Minas Geraes participated in many revolts throughout her career, both on the side of rebels and the government. After Brazil's entrance into the Second World War, she was regulated to harbor defense, as the battleship was too old to play an active part in the war. Minas Geraes was towed to Italy for scrapping in 1954 after having been in service for over forty years. Did you know (auto-generated) ... that countertenor Christopher Lowrey's voice has been described as "packed with enough character to sink a battleship"? ... that an attempted British-Norwegian attack on the German battleship Tirpitz was abandoned after two Chariot manned torpedoes were lost due to bad weather? ... that Ivan Beshoff, the last survivor of the mutiny on the Potemkin, emigrated to Ireland where he established a fish and chip shop that is still run by his descendants? More Did you know - ... that although the Italian battleship Impero was built in Genoa, it was moved to Trieste for completion? ... that the Yamato class battleships had the greatest broadside of any battleships ever built? ... that within a period of 13 years, the Austro-Hungarian Navy succeeded in producing 13 battleships? ... that a fire on the French battleship Justice nearly caused an explosion similar to one that had destroyed one of her sister ships? Selected quote “ It was twenty miles away, but it sound like out just next door to your tent, big battleships having at each other... ” — Donald "Flash" Gordon, a naval aviator from USS Enterprise (CV-6) during the November 14–15 1942 Naval Battle of Guadalcanal Related WikiProjects WikiProject Military history Maritime warfare task force Operation Majestic Titan WikiProject Ships Quality content Featured topics Battlecruisers of Germany • Bayern-class battleships • Indefatigable-class battlecruisers • Iowa-class battleships • König-class battleships • Rivadavia-class battleships • Tosa-class battleships • Yamato-class battleships Featured articles Almirante Latorre-class battleship • Amagi-class battlecruiser • Alaska-class cruiser • ARA Moreno • ARA Rivadavia • Armament of the Iowa-class battleship • Battle of Midway • Battle of the Eastern Solomons • Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands • Battleship • Bayern-class battleship • Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes • Brazilian battleship São Paulo • Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre • Courageous-class battlecruiser • Derfflinger-class battlecruiser • Design 1047 battlecruiser • Dreadnought • Dutch 1913 battleship proposal • Ernst Lindemann • Fred Moosally • HMAS Australia (1911) • HMS Eagle (1918) • HMS Indefatigable (1909) • HMS Lion (1910) • HMS Royal Oak (08) • Helgoland-class battleship • Indiana-class battleship • Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi • Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga • Japanese battleship Haruna • Japanese battleship Tosa • Japanese battleship Yamato • Kaiser-class battleship • König-class battleship • Minas Geraes-class battleship • Moltke-class battlecruiser • Montana-class battleship • Nassau-class battleship • Naval Battle of Guadalcanal • North Carolina-class battleship • Operation Ten-Go • Pre-dreadnought battleship • Rivadavia-class battleship • Russian battleship Slava • SMS Baden (1915) • SMS Bayern (1915) • SMS Derfflinger • SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand • SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1911) • SMS Goeben • SMS Grosser Kurfürst (1913) • SMS Helgoland • SMS Hindenburg • SMS König • SMS Kronprinz (1914) • SMS Lützow • SMS Markgraf • SMS Moltke (1910) • SMS Rheinland • SMS Seydlitz • SMS Von der Tann • SMS Westfalen • Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleship • South American dreadnought race • USS Connecticut (BB-18) • USS Illinois (BB-65) • USS Indiana (BB-1) • USS Iowa (BB-61) • USS Iowa turret explosion • USS Kentucky (BB-66) • USS Massachusetts (BB-2) • USS Missouri (BB-63) • USS Nevada (BB-36) • USS New Jersey (BB-62) • USS Wisconsin (BB-64) • Yamato-class battleship Featured lists List of battlecruisers • List of battlecruisers of Germany • List of battlecruisers of Japan • List of battlecruisers of Russia • List of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy • List of battleships of Austria-Hungary • List of battleships of Germany • List of battleships of Italy • List of battleships of the Ottoman Empire • List of battlecruisers of the United States • List of sunken battlecruisers A-Class articles Borodino-class battlecruiser • Design A-150 battleship • Deutschland-class battleship • Florida-class battleship • Fusō-class battleship • German battleship Tirpitz • HMS Courageous (50) • HMS Hood (51) • HMS New Zealand (1911) • HMS Princess Royal (1911) • HMS Queen Mary • Japanese battleship Hiei • Japanese battleship Kirishima • Japanese battleship Kongō • Japanese battleship Musashi • Kongō-class battlecruiser • Lexington-class battlecruiser • Russian battleship Rostislav • Russian battleship Sevastopol (1895) • SMS Deutschland (1904) • SMS Hannover • SMS Kaiser (1911) • SMS Kaiserin • SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm • SMS Nassau • SMS Ostfriesland • SMS Posen • Tosa-class battleship • USS Hawaii (CB-3) • USS Texas (BB-35) • United States Naval Gunfire Support debate Good topics Battlecruisers of Russia • Battlecruisers of the Royal Navy • Battleships of Austria-Hungary • Battleships of Germany • Courageous-class battlecruisers and aircraft carriers • Ekaterina II-class battleships • Evstafi-class battleships • Gangut-class battleships • Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleships • Imperatritsa Mariya-class battleships • Kongō-class battlecruisers Good articles 28 cm SK L/40 gun • 30.5 cm SK L/50 gun • Admiral-class battlecruiser • BL 18 inch Mk I naval gun • Bismarck-class battleship • Brandenburg-class battleship • Braunschweig-class battleship • Bretagne-class battleship • Colorado-class battleship • Courbet-class battleship • Delaware-class battleship • Design B-65 cruiser • Ekaterina II-class battleship • Ersatz Monarch-class battleship • Ersatz Yorck-class battlecruiser • Erzherzog Karl-class battleship • Evstafi-class battleship • Franz von Hipper • French battleship Courbet (1911) • French battleship Dunkerque • French battleship France • French battleship Iéna (1898) • French battleship Jauréguiberry • French battleship Jean Bart (1911) • French battleship Paris • French battleship Suffren • G3 battlecruiser • Gangut-class battleship • German battleship Gneisenau • German battleship Scharnhorst • Greek battleship Kilkis • Greek battleship Lemnos • Greek battleship Salamis • H-class battleship proposals • Habsburg-class battleship • High Seas Fleet • HMS Agamemnon (1906) • HMS Agincourt (1913) • HMS Anson (79) • HMS Dreadnought (1906) • HMS Eagle (1918) • HMS Furious (47) • HMS Glorious • HMS Howe (32) • HMS Indomitable (1907) • HMS Inflexible (1907) • HMS Invincible (1907) • HMS King George V (41) • HMS Lord Nelson (1906) • HMS Renown (1916) • HMS Repulse (1916) • HMS Royal Sovereign (05) • HMS Swiftsure (1903) • HMS Tiger (1913) • HMS Triumph (1903) • HMS Vanguard (23) • Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleship • Imperatritsa Mariya-class battleship • Indefatigable-class battlecruiser • Invincible-class battlecruiser • Iowa-class battleship • Iron Duke-class battleship • Italian battleship Roma (1940) • Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano • Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleship • Kronshtadt-class battlecruiser • L 20 α-class battleship • Lion-class battlecruiser • Lion-class battleship • Littorio-class battleship • Mackensen-class battlecruiser • Mississippi-class battleship • O-class battlecruiser • Operation Kita • Radetzky-class battleship • Reinhard Scheer • Renown-class battlecruiser • Russian battleship Andrei Pervozvanny • Russian battleship Chesma (1886) • Russian battleship Dvenadsat Apostolov • Russian battleship Ekaterina II • Russian battleship Evstafi • Russian battleship Gangut (1911) • Russian battleship Georgii Pobedonosets • Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr II • Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr III • Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I • Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I (1916) • Russian battleship Imperator Pavel I • Russian battleship Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya • Russian battleship Imperatritsa Mariya • Russian battleship Ioann Zlatoust • Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1897) • Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1911) • Russian battleship Poltava (1894) • Russian battleship Poltava (1911) • Russian battleship Retvizan • Russian battleship Sevastopol (1911) • Russian battleship Sinop • Russian battleship Tri Sviatitelia • Scharnhorst-class battleship • SMS Árpád • SMS Babenburg • SMS Brandenburg • SMS Braunschweig • SMS Elsass • SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max • SMS Erzherzog Friedrich • SMS Erzherzog Karl • SMS Habsburg • SMS Hessen • SMS Kaiser Barbarossa • SMS Kaiser Friedrich III • SMS Kaiser Karl der Grosse • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II • SMS Lothringen • SMS Mecklenburg • SMS Oldenburg (1910) • SMS Pommern • SMS Preussen (1903) • SMS Prinz Eugen • SMS Prinzregent Luitpold • SMS Radetzky • SMS Schlesien • SMS Schleswig-Holstein • SMS Schwaben • SMS Szent István • SMS Tegetthoff • SMS Thüringen • Treaty battleship • SMS Viribus Unitis • SMS Weissenburg • SMS Wettin • SMS Wittelsbach • SMS Wörth • SMS Zähringen • SMS Zrínyi • Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow • South Dakota-class battleship (1939) • Stalingrad-class battlecruiser • Swiftsure-class battleship • Tegetthoff-class battleship • United States Battleship Division Nine (World War I) • USS Alaska (CB-1) • USS Guam (CB-2) • USS Lexington (CV-2) • USS Massachusetts (BB-59) • USS Texas (1892) • USS Missouri grounding incident • Wittelsbach-class battleship Categories Category puzzle Select [►] to view subcategories Battleships Battleships by country Battleships by navy Battleship units and formations Battleships sunk by aircraft Battleship classes Battleships by period Existing battleships Lists of battleships Battleship templates Battlecruisers Battlecruisers by country Battlecruisers by navy Battlecruiser classes Battlecruisers by period Lists of battlecruisers Battlecruiser templates Related portals How can I help? Operation Majestic Titan is the code name for a long-term Wikipedian project with two primary objectives, the first of which is to create the single largest featured topic on Wikipedia, centered around the battleships considered, planned, built, operated, canceled, or otherwise recorded. There are probably a few hundred articles of this nature which will be included, from the earliest pre-dreadnoughts to the last of the dreadnoughts. Once all articles are featured this project will reorient to ensuring that the articles remain up to standard. If you're interested, please view the project page to familiarize yourself with the guidelines, and simply pick an article to improve! There is also ongoing discussion you can participate in. 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