National Archives #80-G-453313
Battleships were the most heavily armed and
armored warships
in a navy. At the start of the Pacific War, the most powerful
were typically
armed
with, and armored against, 16”
(406mm) guns, and
were capable of
speeds in
excess of 20
knots. The United States
later launched
battleships capable of 33 knots. The Japanese
built super battleships with
18” (460 mm) guns and up
to
27” (650mm) of armor that were capable of 27 knots speed.
Prior to the Pacific War, these colossally
expensive ships were widely
considered
the ultimate arbiters of naval power. Their construction required a
major investment of national resources and years of design and
construction. This made them an obvious target for arms control
efforts between the wars. The Washington Naval Treaty
limited both the design
and numbers of battleships of the major powers, with the United States
and Britain limited to 15
battleships and Japan to 10. This disparity in numbers created
considerable resentment in
Japan. All powers were limited to battleships of not more than
35,000 tons displacement with guns limited to 16" caliber.
The Second London Conference of 1936 sought to
restrict new battleships
to 14" (356mm) guns with a 25,000 ton displacement. American
resistance
to the
low displacement resulted in a treaty agreement of 14" guns and 35,000
ton displacement. Since Japan had announced as early as March
1934 that she
intended to withdraw from the treaty regime, escalator clauses were
included
to allow increase in gun size to 16" and an increaese in displacement
to 45,000 tons. In 1937 the escalator clause for gun size was
invoked
and in 1938 the escalator clause for tonnage was invoked.
Under the terms of the treaty, the British were allowed to construct
two
battleships, the Nelson and Rodney, to build up to the
allowed
tonnages. The ships carried 16" guns and were unusual in having
all
three of their turrets mounted forward. These ships were built before
the 1936 treaty limited gun size to 14". The next battleships
built
for the British Navy were the King George V class with 14"
guns and
35,000 ton displacement. Once the escalator clauses were invoked,
the
British built Vanguard with
15" guns and 45,000 ton displacement. However, Vanguard was not completed by the
time of the surrender. After the
war started and the treaty became moot, the British planned for
a larger and more powerful Lion
class, but the two units laid down were never completed.
The Americans were already built up to treaty limits, and
did not build any new ships until the "building holiday" ended. The
first new class, the North Carolina, was designed to
accept either
quadruple 14" turrets or triple 16" turrets. So while the ship
was
designed with 14" guns and armor to withstand 14" shells, once the
escalator clause for gun size was removed, the ships were actually
built with 16" guns. The next class, the South
Dakota, was built with armor to resist 16" shellfire, but
due to the 35,000 ton displacement was very cramped. The
Iowa
class was designed after the tonnage escalator clause was invoked
and had 16" guns on 45,000 tons displacement. Once the war
started, the
Montana was designed with a
higher displacement, but was never laid down.
The Japanese, who led the way in leaving the treaty
structure, ended up completing the smallest number of modern
battleships. The two Yamato
class battleships were completed early in
the war, with the third unit converted to a carrier while still
under construction.
Battleship designs of a given displacement must
strike a balance between protection, speed, and firepower. One rule of
thumb is that a battleship should have sufficient armor to protect its
vitals against shells of the same caliber as its own guns at likely
engagement distances. Battleships of the Second World War also needed
to devote some of their displacement to underwater protection against mines and torpedoes, to a powerful antiaircraft battery, and to
deck armor capable of protecting their vitals against bombs of up to 2000 lbs (900 kg)
weight dropped from several thousand feet. Battleships were also
expected to be faster than ever, with speed sufficient to escort fast carriers.
Viewed as the mainstay of the fleet when war broke out, the battleship was widely considered a dinosaur without a future by the time the war ended. The truth lay somewhere in between. Battleships did not have the reach of aircraft carriers, the new queens of the fleet, but they were much harder to destroy than the carriers, and the newer battleships carried an awesome antiaircraft battery with which to protect the carrier task forces. Battleships also remained useful for night operations and for shore bombardment during amphibious assaults. No carrier stood a chance against a battleship in a surface engagement; but battleship guns had a range of just 20 to 30 miles, while carrier aircraft could strike at distances of two to three hundred miles.
The last U.S. battleships were still seeing combat service as late as 1990, but it is now the view of the Navy that they are no longer cost effective, and none are currently in commission.
References
Dullin and Garzke
(1976)
Friedman (1985)
The Pacific War Online
Encyclopedia © 2007-2009 by Kent G. Budge and John E. Kollar. Index
