which is the most powerful battleship in history?
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MS DREADNOUGHT
The most powerful ship of her time.No other ship then could take her on.She also started a whole new way of designing ships. -
Iowa class to me. THey even served in the First desert storm with tomahawk and UAV capabilities..
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I think Lowa. It's no mean feat been e fastest battleship even built without compromising performance
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ney....HMS Hood is not a battleship, it is just a battle crusierOriginally posted by FG42:She was chased by HMS Hood (which was the biggest battleship the british had at that time) but Bismark returned fire with her rear gun and sank it in just a few volley with superb accuracy.
Bismark supposed to have another escort ship Prince Eugene (spelling??) but it was not there with her at that time and she had to travel alone. Moreover, Bismark's captain didnt managed to fill-up the oil tank fully during her last port call which was fatal as she couldnt steam at full speed when pursued by the subsequent british fleets coming after her. Unfortunately, a british torpedo plane damaged one of her rudder and turned Bismark back towards the pursuing british ships...
The british fired at her at point blank distance but couldnt sink her. It was bloody on the deck and Bismark's crew knowing that the british will never give up firing until sinking her, decided to sink the boat by themselves using explosives. Her captain who was still alive went down together with her while some of the crews managed to bail out to tell the story...
Bismark fought well but was not lucky enough in her maiden voyage. Unlike Yamato which was just big and a white elephant, Bismark is the ship the allied feared the most as it was equiped with the most accurate firing system. -
US South Carolina Class would probably have been able to defeat Yamato one-on-one. Similar weaponry and armour, better speed and maneouverability, much better fire control.
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computer illus
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zheng he's ship...
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even in WWII, we seldom hear about sea battles involving US battleships. It would seemed that the major battleship vs battleship takes place in the Atlantic whereas in the Pacific, its aircraft carriers vs aircraft carriers. Hence in that aspect, we could see the "prowness" and power of Jap battleships vs US battleships on turrets vs turrets basis.
Although fast fwd a few decades, USS IOWA did participate in the Gulf War thru firing of cruise missles, thats different, its a different flavor already.
Unlike in the Atlantic where battleships slug it out, and the battleships showed their true power.....
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BB61 Iowa
BB62 New Jersey
BB63 Missouri
BB64 Wisconsin
Iowa Class Battleships -
Yamato
The Japanese Super Battleships YAMATO and MUSASHl were the largest battleships ever built by any nation. The YAMATO was completed just before the outbreak of the war in the Pacific and was Admiral Yamamoto's flagship during the Pearl Harbor attack and the Battle of Midway. The YAMATO continued to be the flagship of the combined fleet even after Yamamoto's death, but for most of the war this ship was kept almost in the backwaters of operation in the south and central pacific. It was not until the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June of 1944 that this ship was committed to action, and for the first time the US Navy got a good look at her. The MUSASHl was lost in the Battle of Leyte Gulf after taking an incredible 20 torpedoes and 10 bomb hits, even then taking over 4 hours to finally sink. The YAMATO on the other hand survived long enough to be sent on a one way mission to try and stem the tide of battle at Okinawa. The massive battleship was only 50 miles south of Japan when she was overwhelmed and sunk by US Navy aircraft, again only after taking an incredible amount of damage from torpedoes and bombs.
Bismarck
The BISMARCK & TIRPITZ were the largest and last Battleships to be completed by the German navy. At the time of their completion these were the largest, fastest and most powerful battleships in service in any of the worlds navies. The BISMARCK'S career was short and famous, her only war cruise catching the attention of almost the entire civilized world. From her quick and incredible destruction of the Royal Navy's H.M.S. HOOD until her own sinking 3 days later, almost every Royal Navy warship in the Atlantic was put on alert to help track BISMARCK down. The life of the TIRPITZ lasted a few years longer, laying in a Norwegian fjord, she successfully tied down many major warships of both the Royal and US navies that had to remain on patrol to guard against her breaking out into the Atlantic shipping lanes.
Scharnhorst
The German Battleships SCHARNHORST and GNEISENAU were the most active of all the big ships that were built by the German navy prior to the outbreak of World War Two. The SCHARNHORST was an almost constant consort of her sister ship GNEISENAU when both of these ships carried out successful anti-shipping raids out into the vast Atlantic ocean. The cost to the allies in both ships sunk as well as ships and war supplies to track them down or keep them in check, far surpassed the effort it took the Germans to construct and operate these two ships. SCHARNHORST was lost in the Battle of North Cape on 26-DEC.-1943 while trying to attack an allied convoy headed to Russia. GNEISENAU was severely damaged in drydock and never fully repaired. -
Actchery hor, there were a lot of surface-surface engagements in the Pacific during WW2, but you are right, the main trust of that war was eventually turned out to be on the carriers. But there were plenty of sizable surface engagements... but no battleship on battleship action.Originally posted by red_amoeba:even in WWII, we seldom hear about sea battles involving US battleships. It would seemed that the major battleship vs battleship takes place in the Atlantic whereas in the Pacific, its aircraft carriers vs aircraft carriers. Hence in that aspect, we could see the "prowness" and power of Jap battleships vs US battleships on turrets vs turrets basis.
Although fast fwd a few decades, USS IOWA did participate in the Gulf War thru firing of cruise missles, thats different, its a different flavor already.
Unlike in the Atlantic where battleships slug it out, and the battleships showed their true power..... -
Actchery hor, there were a lot of surface-surface engagements in the Pacific during WW2, but you are right, the main trust of that war was eventually turned out to be on the carriers. But there were plenty of sizable surface engagements... but no battleship on battleship action.
Yes Destroyers and PT Boats... -
If memory serves, ships like the Queen Elizabeth, though lesser in power to the newer battleships had nice reputations for fire control and targeting. The QE for example, led the Royal Navy's Mediterranean campaign, though she got hit by Italian frogmen.
The later King George Vs, especially Duke of York had excellent fire control radar and she would have been a better match to the Bismarck. KG V didn't have the radar installed or something. Prince of Wales was worse. She engaged Bismarck during a shakeout cruise with techs working on her equipment while at sea. Ridiculous.
The Americans tended to build their ships without constraints, contrasting with the Brits that never built their ships up to that size. The only ship that reached that size was the Vanguard, an enlarged KG V. There was supposed to be a Lion class battleship that probably would have matched the Iowa, but it was scrapped towards the end of the war. -
AFAIK there are two battleship vs battleship action in the Pacific during WW2. One is the 2nd Naval Battle Of Guadalcanal between Japanese surface units led by battleship Kirishima and American ships led by USS South Dakota and USS Washington. SoDak was damaged whilst Kirishima was sunk.Originally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:... But there were plenty of sizable surface engagements... but no battleship on battleship action.
The second engagement is the Surigao Strait component of the Battle Of Leyte Gulf where Pearl Harbor veterans pummeled the remnants of the Japanese Southern Force led by battleship Yamashiro. -
SCHARNHORST & GNEISENAU r battle-cruisers NOT battleships
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yamato
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Read this very long ago.
During the time of wooden sailing ships (i.e. Mutiny on the Bounty era), Sweden was a sea power.
She built a warship with the most guns. In those days, the canons protrude from the sides of the ship. The big warships would have several decks (levels) of guns.
During maiden voyage of this super warship, her guns were test-fired.
Unfortunately, this ship had too many guns, especially on the topmost deck.
So when the topmost deck guns were fired in unison - as was the practice - the ship flipped over from the force of the firing guns and sunk. -
woah talk about stupidity.
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Is that how the Swede became specialise in building submarine instead ?Originally posted by moca:Read this very long ago.
During the time of wooden sailing ships (i.e. Mutiny on the Bounty era), Sweden was a sea power.
She built a warship with the most guns. In those days, the canons protrude from the sides of the ship. The big warships would have several decks (levels) of guns.
During maiden voyage of this super warship, her guns were test-fired.
Unfortunately, this ship had too many guns, especially on the topmost deck.
So when the topmost deck guns were fired in unison - as was the practice - the ship flipped over from the force of the firing guns and sunk. 
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Aye, how could I have missed that. My bad!Originally posted by khyron1:AFAIK there are two battleship vs battleship action in WW2. One is the 2nd Naval Battle Of Guadalcanal between Japanese surface units led by battleship Kirishima and American ships led by USS South Dakota and USS Washington. SoDak was damaged whilst Kirishima was sunk.
The second engagement is the Surigao Strait component of the Battle Of Leyte Gulf where Pearl Harbor veterans pummeled the remnants of the Japanese Southern Force led by battleship Yamashiro.