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

Radetzky sits at rest at an unknown point in her career

SMS Radetzky was the lead ship of the three Radetzky class of pre-dreadnought battleships (Schlachtschiff) of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (K.u.K. Kriegsmarine), named for the 19th century Austrian Field Marshal Joseph Radetzky von Radetz. Radetzky and her sisters, Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand and Zrinyi, were the last pre-dreadnoughts built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy—they were followed by the larger and significantly more powerful Tegetthoff-class dreadnoughts. Radetzky was built at the Stabilimento Tecnico in Trieste and commissioned into the fleet on 15 January 1911. The ship conducted training cruises in the Mediterranean Sea before the outbreak of World War I in mid-1914. During the war, Radetzky operated largely as a fleet in being alongside her two sisters and the four Tegetthoffs; in doing so, the ships tied down considerable naval forces from the Triple Entente. Radetzky did participate in some offensive operations, primarily shore bombardments in the Adriatic Sea against French, Montenegrin, and Italian targets. With the war going against the Austro-Hungarians by the end of 1918, Radetzky was prepared to be transferred to Yugoslavia. On November 10, 1918—just one day before the end of the war—Yugoslav navy officers sailed the old battleship out of Pola and eventually surrendered to a squadron of American submarine chasers. In the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the transfer was not recognized; instead, Radetzky was given to Italy and broken up for scrap.

Selected biography

color photograph of Halsey in service uniform soon after his late 1945 promotion to Fleet Admiral

Fleet Admiral William Frederick "Bill" Halsey, Jr. (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959) was an officer of the United States Navy Known for his role in the naval battles against Japan during World War II. Descended from Rufus King, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1904 to serve on several battleships and torpedo boats. Skipping the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade), he would command the Atlantic Fleet's Torpedo Flotilla, and later earned the Navy Cross commanding USS Shaw during World War I. After commanding USS Dale and two destroyer units, he would become a naval aviator in order to command the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga. Earning his flag, he would command several carrier units.

At sea in his flagship USS Enterprise during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Halsey would embark on the Pacific War, but missed the Battle of Midway due to health issues. He would take command of the South Pacific Area at a critical time in the Guadalcanal Campaign, and lead it through the remainder of the Solomon Islands campaign. He would then move on to command the 3rd Fleet for the Philippines Campaign, including the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Baited into moving Task Force 34 northward, he left an American task force unprotected for the Battle off Samar, resulting in the infamous "the world wonders" message from Admiral Nimitz.

After enduring Typhoon Cobra and watching the Surrender of Japan aboard USS Missouri, Halsey retired from active duty in March 1947. USS Halsey (DLG-23) and USS Halsey (DDG-97) would be named for him, and the airfield at Naval Air Station North Island would be dedicated in his name.

General images -

The following are images from various battleship-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Japan's Admiral Togo on the bridge of Mikasa just before the Battle of Tsushima (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 2
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)
Image 3Cross section of a German pre-dreadnought Wittelsbach-class battleship, c. 1914 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 4Schlesien and Schleswig-Holstein in port around 1930. Both ships served into World War II. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 5The Confederacy's French-built last ironclad was also Japan's first: Stonewall was later renamed Kōtetsu (from Ironclad warship)
Image 6Mikasa, 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)
Image 7The fleets engaging for the Battle of Lissa (from Ironclad warship)
Image 8The 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)
Image 9HMS Canopus fires her 12-inch main guns at a Turkish shore battery (1915). Photo by Ernest Brooks. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 10The obturator invented by de Bange allowed the effective sealing of breeches in breech-loading guns (from Ironclad warship)
Image 11Loa being fitted after its conversion in the Callao harbour, 1864 (from Ironclad warship)
Image 12The water-tube boiler was the most efficient method of producing high-pressure steam for pre-dreadnought engines. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 13A Paixhans naval shell gun. 1860 engraving (from Ironclad warship)
Image 14The first battle between ironclads: CSS Virginia (left) vs. USS Monitor, in the March 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads (from Ironclad warship)
Image 15The appearance of HMS Dreadnought in 1906 rendered every other battleship obsolete (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 16HMS Warrior (1860), Britain's first seagoing ironclad warship (from Ironclad warship)
Image 17HMS Ocean was typical of pre-dreadnought battleships (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 18A barbette of Redoutable (from Ironclad warship)
Image 19The French battleship Justice at speed (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 20HMS Agamemnon, an example of taking the intermediate battery principle to its ultimate expression with ten 9.2-inch guns (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 21The reloading mechanism onboard HMS Inflexible (from Ironclad warship)
Image 22The 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)
Image 23Mikasa as a museum ship (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 24Radetzky-class battleship, a pre-dreadnought class of the Austro-Hungarian Navy (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 25SMS Szent István begins to roll over after being torpedoed in 1918 (from Dreadnought)
Image 26The Battle of Iquique, where Peruvian ironclad Huáscar sunk the Chilean wooden corvette Esmeralda (from Ironclad warship)
Image 27A plan of HMS Dreadnought, showing the revolutionary design (from Dreadnought)
Image 28The French Redoutable (1876), the first battleship to use steel as the main building material (from Ironclad warship)
Image 29Cross-section view amidships of USS Kearsarge, showing how the armour scheme relates to the innards of the ship (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 30HMS Royal Sovereign (1891) was the first pre-dreadnought battleship of the Royal Navy. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 31Royal Navy Orion-class super-dreadnoughts in line c. 1914 (from Dreadnought)
Image 32USS New York making full steam (1915) (from Dreadnought)
Image 33HMS Ramillies was the fourth ship of the influential Royal Sovereign class. The diagonal tubes are spars for torpedo nets. (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 34HMS Dominion of the King Edward VII class was launched towards the end of the pre-dreadnought era, in 1903 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 351904 illustration of H.G. Wells' December 1903 The Land Ironclads, showing huge armored land vessels, equipped with Pedrail wheels. (from Ironclad warship)
Image 36The conventional broadside of 68-pounders on HMS Warrior of 1860 (from Ironclad warship)
Image 37A 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)
Image 38The heavy guns and forward barbette of Mikasa's main battery (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 39Model of the French Gloire (1858), the first ocean-going ironclad (from Ironclad warship)
Image 40USS Texas, the only dreadnought still in existence, was launched in 1912 and is now a museum ship (from Dreadnought)
Image 41The Royal Navy's revolutionary HMS Dreadnought, launched in 1906, gave its name to the type (from Dreadnought)
Image 42French 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)
Image 43The Argentine Rivadavia, first of its class, under construction in 1912 (from Dreadnought)
Image 44Gloire under sail (from Ironclad warship)
Image 45The iron-and-wood armor of Warrior (from Ironclad warship)
Image 46Punch 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)
Image 47HMS 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)
Image 48Breech-loading 110-pounder Armstrong gun on HMS Warrior (from Ironclad warship)
Image 49Animated diagram of gun turret loading and firing, based on the British 15-inch gun used on super-dreadnoughts (from Dreadnought)
Image 50French armored floating battery Arrogante (1864) (from Ironclad warship)
Image 51Unfinished Bayern-class battleship Württemberg (right) and the Mackensen-class battlecruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich in Hamburg after the war, in about 1920 (from Dreadnought)
Image 52USS Massachusetts, a pre-dreadnought battleship launched in 1893 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 53HMS Audacious sinks after hitting a mine, October 1914 (from Dreadnought)
Image 54Canonicus-class monitor USS Mahopac on the Appomattox River, 1864 (from Ironclad warship)
Image 55King George V (left) inspects HMS Neptune (from Dreadnought)
Image 56Paris on speed trials (1914) (from Dreadnought)
Image 57The Confederate ironclad Atlanta on the James River in 1864–1865 after her capture by Union forces (from Ironclad warship)
Image 58
City-class ironclads off Cairo, Illinois, during the American Civil War
(from Ironclad warship)
Image 59USS California (BB-44), one of two Tennessee-class battleships, steaming at high speed in 1921 (from Dreadnought)
Image 60Postcard of USS Connecticut being used for troop transport in 1919 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 61Provence, a Bretagne-class battleship, launched in 1913 (pictured in 1942) (from Dreadnought)
Image 62This 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)
Image 63Napoléon (1850), the first steam battleship (from Ironclad warship)
Image 64Retvizan sinks in Port Arthur, 1904 (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 65HMS 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)
Image 66Schematic 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)
Image 67The Japanese battleship Settsu (1911) (from Dreadnought)
Image 6812-pounder anti-torpedo boat guns mounted on the roof of a turret on Dreadnought (1906) (from Dreadnought)
Image 69Mexican frigate Guadalupe 1842 (from Ironclad warship)
Image 70USS Indiana, an example of the intermediate battery principle with its forward 13-inch and forward port 8-inch gun turrets (from Pre-dreadnought battleship)
Image 71Barbette of the Vauban (from Ironclad warship)
Image 72HMS Inflexible, after the replacement of her sailing masts with military masts (from Ironclad warship)

Selected picture

An animated naval gun turret, based on a British 15 inch gun turret Mark 1; see also a version with labels. The figure represents a person 5 feet 8 inches high (172 cm). It was used on the Queen Elizabeth and Revenge classes, as well as the unique Vanguard battleships; the Renown class and unique Hood battlecruisers; the Glorious-class large light cruisers; the Erebus, Marshal Ney, and Roberts-class monitors; and several coastal artillery batteries ashore.

Did you know (auto-generated)

... 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?
... that countertenor Christopher Lowrey's voice has been described as "packed with enough character to sink a battleship"?

More Did you know -

... that the battleship Bayern was the first German warship to mount 15 inch guns?
.. that Royal Marine Francis Harvey, the mortally wounded commander of HMS Lion's 'Q' turret, was awarded the Victoria Cross for ordering the magazine flooded, which saved the ship during the Battle of Jutland?
... that the gun turrets from the lead ship of the Imperatritsa Mariya-class battleships were salvaged after she sank and used for defending Sevastopol during the city's siege in World War II?
... that the three Habsburg-class battleships were the first ocean-going battleships built by the Austro-Hungarian Navy since the ironclad SMS Tegetthoff of the 1870s?

Selected quote

“ TURKEY TROTS TO WATER GG FROM CINCPAC ACTION COM THIRD FLEET INFO COMINCH CTF SEVENTY-SEVEN X WHERE IS RPT WHERE IS TASK FORCE THIRTY FOUR RR THE WORLD WONDERS ”

— Message from Admiral Chester W. Nimitz to William Halsey, Jr. during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Communicators aboard the USS New Jersey failed to remove the ending security padding which was interpreted by Halsey as part of the message and a harsh and sarcastic rebuke regarding the Battle off Samar.

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