North Carolina class battleship

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North Carolina-class battleship

Class Overview
Class type:	Battleship
Class name:	North Carolina
Preceded by:	South Dakota (1920)-class
Succeeded by:	South Dakota (1939)-class
Ships of the line:	North Carolina (BB-55), Washington (BB-56)
General characteristics (USS North Carolina)
Displacement:	35,000 tons (stand); 44,800 tons (1942 full load)
Length:	729 ft (222 m) m)
Beam:	108 ft 2 in (32.98 m)
Draft:	North Carolina: 27 ft (8.2 m) Washington: 38 ft (11.6 m)
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h)
Complement:	1,880
Max. cruising radius	5,740 miles (15,000 km) @ 25 knots (46 km/h); 16,320 miles (27,000 km) @ 15 knots (28 km/h)
Power:	121,000 shp (90 MW) forward
Drive:	4 screws; geared turbines
Fuel:	7,554 tons oil (max)
Armour	Belt: 12.0" on 0.75" STS (305 mm on 19 mm), inclined 15 degrees, tapering to 6.6" on 0.75" STS (168 mm on 19 mm) at lower edge Bulkheads: 11.1" to 1.1" (282 mm to 28 mm) Barbettes: centerline forward: 14.7" (373 mm) sides 16.0" (406 mm) centerline aft 11.5" (292 mm) Turrets: face plates 16.0" (406 mm) sides 9.8" (249 mm) back plates 11.8" (300 mm) roof plates 7.0" (178 mm) Decks: Centerline main 1.45" (37 mm) second 1.4" + 3.6" (36 mm + 91 mm) third 0.62" (16 mm) total 7.07" (180 mm) Outboard 1.45" (37 mm) second 1.4" + 4.1" (36 mm + 104 mm) third 0.75" (19 mm) total 7.70" (196 mm)^[1]

The United States Navy built two North Carolina-class battleships:

North Carolina and her sister ship Washington were amongst the first Post-Washington Treaty battleships as well as the first of the US Navy fast battleships (though some treaty restrictions, specifically those imposed by the Second London Naval Treaty, remained in force and in the initial design the displacement of these new ships was not to exceed 35,000 tons [1]). Before this class, the United States Navy favored staying power and fire power over speed. The North Carolina class had a speed of 27 knots versus the 21 knots of the pre-treaty Colorado Class. The class was completely different from all previous US battleships, and set the pattern for all subsequent vessels (as well as the reconstructions of vessels wrecked at Pearl Harbor), with a massive columnar mast replacing the familiar "cage" mast, main armament in two triple turrets forward, one aft, and dual-purpose secondaries along the sides of the superstructure. The most important advance of the class was one that could not be seen from outside: The integration of the most advanced computer at sea, the Mark I fire control computer. The analog fire control system allowed the ship to maintain a constant fire control solution even when steaming at full speed and performing drastic evasive turns and was far more accurate than the Dreyer type mechanical computers used during the First World War. A weakness of the class was that it had been designed as a balanced 14" battleship design, but was modified late to carry and fire 16" guns, as a result its protection was substandard against its own weapon.

The ships were originally conceived as main battleships, but like their successors, the South Dakota and Iowa classes, they spent most of their operational lives as escorts for the fast carrier task force. Washington was discarded after World War II, while North Carolina was converted to a museum ship in her name state. Being valuable, large hulls, they were considered for many conversion projects but ultimately remained in reserve until disposed of in 1960.