What is the most famous battleship in the world, and why? Ask any random person in the street, and they should have heard of it. Keep it limited to ships that have seen service since 1900, so count USS Monitor out. What are the next few most famous battleships? What is the toughest fighting battleship in the world? By that, I mean the battleship that fought and won against the longest odds, fought the most, or was a major part of a big battle. What are the next few toughest ships? What is the most "colorful" battleship? What ship had the most interesting history, the oddest quirks, or was out-right different? And of course, what are the next few most "colorful" battleships? Ok, I think thats enough of a start for now.
I'll throw my hat in the ring.. most aesthetically pleasing battleship: Bismarck Class. For a great comparison check out here: http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm I think that we need also the "biggest PITA superstructure" and "What were they thinking" awards as well....
I've read that article, and really enjoyed it, but it doesn't answer the question I asked. I'm looking for the most famous battleships that even ordinary people have heard of, not necessarily the heavyweight champion of the sea. I'm also looking for battleships that fought the hardest in ship-to-ship combat, not ones that swatted aircraft and blasted the beach but never saw an enemy ship. The third category is meant to be open ended. An interesting history (or lack there-of), nifty design features, or "what were they thinking" features qualify a ship for this category. Examples include being referred to as "he" instead of "she", mounting the first AA guns, PINK camouflage, or even just looking good.
In the US, the Arizona or maybe the Iowa class as a whole. In Japan, Yamato, definately. An entire generation grew up watching Space Cruiser Yamato (Star Blazers in US)...
Most famous would have to come down to: Arizona Bismark Hood Yamato With a tip of the hat to warspite If we are talking past WWII: USS Enterprise (Not the starship; but because of the starship) I would NOT put the Iowa class into this list because although she is well known to anyone who knows navy; she is not known to anyone else.
i asked my grandmother a question this morning and she didnt know what the Yamato was or and of the Iowa Class, but she knew exactly what the hood was and the Bismark. She also knew the the Arizona was involved with pearl. I said a few other ships but she didnt know she was born in 1933
Whell Im in 7th grade and most people know about the bismark and the arizona. But me personaly i wouls choose the Yamato.
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the Dreadnought yet. I'd bet just about everybody has heard that name [:I] What about the other two categories? As a reminder, they are: What is the toughest fighting battleship in the world? By that, I mean the battleship that fought and won against the longest odds, fought the most, or was a major part of a big battle. What is the most "colorful" battleship? What ship had the most interesting history, the oddest quirks, or was out-right different?
Ok, I'm biased, but the HMS Rodney would have to make it into the list. She had that wonderful camo, the funny-looking walrus plane she carried, her odd gun arrangement (which tore up her own deck if fired simultaneously), the fact she carried (and used!) those whopping 24.5 inch torpedoes, and gets into the "big battle" list with the Bismark battle.Also, Rodney performed bunker busting duties at Normandy. As for innovation, she was fitted with centimetric radar to guide her fire. Not bad for a ship often denigrated by her own navy! Oh, and I think she looks like she means business too.
Yes well, there is a need for care in firing X turret, but that 9-gun concentrated broadside packs a serious punch. My ship has an interlock to stop X shooting A and B. I imagine the actual ship had something similar.
Oh, and for a serious, knockdown, dragout brawler of a ship, USS Washington should make the list, just ask the Imperial Japanese Navy.....
I agree on USS Washington, for the reasons given above The Rodney is an odd bird, but that's disturbing that she couldn't fire all main guns simultaneously... bean counting at the Admiralty reducing her structural integrity, maybe? But as far as fighting against heavy odds and winning... Scharnie and Gneisenau. Two battleships took on and sank an operational fleet carrier, in the midst of her escorts.
Or, if I may interject a tiny tiny tiny ship into the fray, the USS Laffey survived the heaviest kamikaze attacks of the entire war and remained afloat. I read the story as a kid and after visiting the restored vessel, it was even more incredible. "Assigned to a radar picket station 30 miles (50 km) north of Okinawa, Laffey arrived on 14 April and joined in repulsing an air attack which took down 13 enemy aircraft. The next day, the Japanese launched another severe air attack with some 50 planes. About half of the Japanese raiders broke through the screen to Laffey. The destroyer shot down nine and friendly aircraft destroyed others. But, when the attack was over, the ship was badly damaged by four bombs and five kamikaze hits. The destroyer suffered 32 dead and 71 wounded." By the end of the eighty minute period she was engaged, the ship only had four 20mm cannon in action, out of an original armament of 6x5 inch guns, 12 x 40mm and 11 x 20mm. It was repaired (in one week able to sail under her own steam) and brought back to the USA where it made a tour to promote War Bond sales. She saw active combat in Korea and served through the 1960's as an ASW destroyer. Today she is moored at Patriot's Point with the USS Yorktown and USS Clamagore (diesel sub). Not a battleship, but no battleship took that much damage (at once) and served through the 60's
That was a rumor... It was proven untrue. When they launched the ship, they told the turret operators not to fire at the same time. During the battle with Bismark they actually wound up firing a few simoutaneous volleys, accidentally or not. So she could actually fire all at once... It is unclear if she could sustain repeated volleys. What she couldn't do was fire past some X degree from aft... the concussion shattered the bridge windows. I believe that was actually fixed eventually, but the bridge was still supposedly not a great place to be when those things went off.
Yeah, USS Washington was one incredible ship. I found a damage report on USS South Dakota, which operated with Washington around Guadalcanal: http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/015753.jpg Such damage reports are not available from their opponents at Guadalcanal. Interestingly enough, USS Washington can also be used as a merchant ship in Big Gun combat, as it was converted to a troop transport to carry Americans back from Europe.
