The Standard-type battleship was a production line of twelve battleships across five classes ordered for the United States Navy between 1911 and 1916 and commissioned between 1916 and 1923.[1] These were considered super-dreadnoughts, with the ships of the final two classes incorporating many lessons from the Battle of Jutland and known as the "Big Five".
Each vessel was produced with a series of progressive innovations, which contributed to the pre-World War I arms race.[1] Some historians see the American battleships as responses to match innovations introduced by the Imperial Japanese Navy.[2] All of the Standard type vessels constituted the US Navy's main battle line in the interwar period, while many of the earlier dreadnoughts were scrapped or relegated to secondary duties. Restrictions under the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty limited total numbers and size of battleships and had required some under construction to be cancelled, so it was not until the onset of World War II that new battleships were constructed. On December 7, 1941, eight were at Pearl Harbor, one at Washington State, and three were assigned to the Atlantic Fleet.
The Standard type, by specifying common tactical operational characteristics between classes, allowed battleships of different classes to operate together as a tactical unit (BatDiv) against enemy battleships. By contrast, other navies had fast and slow battleship classes that could not operate together unless limited to the performance of the ship with slowest speed and widest turning circle. However, a major drawback in having a fleet of very similar ships is block obsolescence – a situation where all the similar ships become obsolete and need to be replaced at the same time and a particular problem for capital ships due to the great expense and time it takes to design and build replacement vessels. For example, one common characteristic of the Standard type battleships was a uniform speed of 21 knots. By the late 1930's when the major naval powers started building new fast battleships this low speed became a major tactical and strategic handicap but, unlike the Royal Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy, the United States Navy had no capital ships with an interim speed of about 25 knots which could be usefully modernised and used in conjunction with the new capital ships, and instead had to build large numbers of new fast battleships from scratch. Similarly, the Japanese decision to develop a class of heavily armoured super-battleships with 18" guns was predicated largely around the concept that they would render all the US standard battleships obsolete at a stroke.
Contents |
Characteristics of the Standard type included:
The Standard type was optimised for the battleship-centric naval strategy of the era of their design. The next US battleship classes, beginning with the North Carolina class designed in the late 1930s and commissioned in 1941, marked a departure from the Standard type, introducing the fast battleships needed to escort the aircraft carriers that came to dominate naval strategy.
All the Standard Type were oil-burning. Since oil was scarce in the British Isles, only Nevada and Oklahoma actively participated in World War I by escorting convoys across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Britain.
All the Standard Types were modernised during the 1920s and 1930s. The cage masts of all but the Tennessee and Colorado classes were replaced with tripod masts topped with fire-control directors, torpedo tubes were removed and anti-aircraft guns were upgraded. Main battery elevation in the older ships was increased to 30 degrees for greater range. Most of the Standards received anti-torpedo bulges. Each ship received one or two catapults and recovery cranes for operating floatplanes for scouting and gunnery spotting.
On December 7, 1941, Colorado was undergoing overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard, while the three ships of the New Mexico class were assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, and the remaining eight Standard Type battleships were at Pearl Harbor forming Battleship Row.
During the Pearl Harbor Attack, Arizona's forward magazine exploded and Oklahoma capsized, both with significant losses of life. West Virginia and California were also sunk, while Nevada managed to get underway and was beached shortly afterward. Tennessee and Maryland each received two bomb hits.
Arizona and Oklahoma were considered permanent losses, but the other damaged and sunk battleships were salvaged and sent to the West Coast for repairs, where they also received varying degrees of upgrades similar to the features on the new South Dakota fast battleships. Tennessee, California and West Virginia emerged as the most modernized, though their widened beam exceeded the Panama Canal restrictions which limited their operations to the Pacific. Maryland, Colorado, and Pennsylvania received twin turret mounts of 5"/38 DP guns, while Nevada also had her superstructure significantly rebuilt.
The ten surviving Standard Type battleships served throughout World War II primarily as fire support for amphibious landings. Their low speed was a liability to their deployment in the vast expanses of the Pacific, for instance they could not accompany the fleet carriers that had become the dominant combatant. By contrast, the contemporary Queen Elizabeths were fast enough and saw more front line action in the confines of the Mediterranean.
Six of the Standard Type vessels participated in the last battleship versus battleship engagement in naval history, the Battle of Surigao Strait, where none of them were hit. During active duty, being well protected by escorts and air cover, none of the Standard Type battleships suffered serious damage save for Pennsylvania which was permanently damaged by an aerial torpedo attack in the closing stages of the war.
Pennsylvania and Nevada were used as targets in the Operation Crossroads A-bomb tests in 1946. In 1946 Mississippi was converted to a test vessel for new gun and missile systems and served until 1956. Most other Standard Type battleships were decommissioned in 1946 or 1947 and placed in the reserve fleet; ultimately all had been scrapped by 1959.