Afast battleshipwas abattleshipwhich in concept emphasised speed without undue compromise of either armor or armament. Most of the earlyWorld War I-eradreadnoughtbattleships were typically built with low design speeds, so the term "fast battleship" is applied to a design which is considerably faster. The extra speed of a fast battleship was normally required to allow the vessel to carry out additional roles besides taking part in theline of battle,such as escortingaircraft carriers.

HMSQueen Elizabeth,the first "fast battleship" of the Dreadnought era, in 1918
French battleshipDunkerque
USSMissouri,among the last "fast battleships", would serve until 1992

A fast battleship was distinguished from abattlecruiserin that it would have been expected to be able to engage hostile battleships in sustained combat on at least equal terms. The requirement to deliver increased speed without compromising fighting ability or protection was the principal challenge of fast battleship design. While increasing length-to-beam ratio was the most direct method of attaining a higher speed, this meant a bigger ship that was considerably more costly and/or could exceed the naval treaty tonnage limits (where these applied, such as theWashington Naval Treatyshapingnaval fleetcomposition after World War I). Technological advancements such as propulsion improvements and light, high-strength armor plating were required in order to make fast battleships feasible.

Unlikebattlecruiser,which became officialRoyal Navyusage in 1911,[1]the termfast battleshipwas essentially an informal one. The warships of theQueen Elizabethclasswere collectively termed theFast Divisionwhen operating with theGrand Fleet.Otherwise, fast battleships were not distinguished from conventional battleships in official documentation; nor were they recognised as a distinctive category in contemporary ship lists or treaties. There is no separate code for fast battleships in theU.S. Navy'shull classification system,all battleships, fast or slow, being rated as "BB".

Origins

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Between the origins of the armoured battleship with the FrenchGloireand the Royal Navy'sWarriorat the start of the 1860s, and the genesis of the Royal Navy'sQueen Elizabethclass in 1911, several battleship classes appeared which set new standards of speed.Warrior,at over 14 knots (26 km/h) under steam, was the fastest warship of her day as well as the most powerful. With the increasing weight of guns and armour, this speed was not exceeded untilMonarch(1868)achieved 15 knots (28 km/h) under steam. The ItalianItaliaof 1880 was a radical design, with a speed of 18 knots (33 km/h), heavy guns and no belt armour; this speed was not matched until the 1890s, when higher speeds came to be associated with second-class designs such as theRenownof 1895 (18 knots) and theSwiftsureandTriumphof 1903 (20 knots). In these latepre-dreadnoughtdesigns, the high speed may have been intended to compensate for their lesser staying power, allowing them to evade a more powerful opponent when necessary.

Figure 1. Concept that maneuverability and armament were more important than speed. A slower ship with larger guns could render a speedier ship's advantage moot.

From about 1900, interest in the possibility of a major increase in the speed of Royal Navy battleships was provoked bySir John ( "Jackie" ) Fisher,Commander-in-Chiefof theMediterranean Fleet.[2]The Senior Officer's War Course of January 1902 was asked to investigate whether a ship with lighter armour and quick-firing medium guns (6 to 10 in, 150 to 250 mm calibre), with a 4-knot (7 km/h) advantage in speed, would obtain any tactical advantage over a conventional battleship.[3]It was concluded that "gun power was more important than speed, provided both sides were determined to fight"; although the faster fleet would be able to choose the range at which it fought, it would be outmatched at any range. It was argued that, provided that the fighting was at long range, an attempt by the faster fleet to obtain a concentration of fire by "crossing the T"could be frustrated by a turn-away, leading to the slower fleet" turning inside the circle of the faster fleet at a radius proportional to the difference in speed "[4](Figure 1). War games conducted by theGeneral Board of the U.S. Navyin 1903 and 1904 came to very similar conclusions.[5]

Fisher appears to have been unimpressed by these demonstrations and continued to press for radical increases in the speed of battleships. His ideas ultimately came to at least partial fruition in theDreadnoughtof 1906; likeWarriorbefore her,Dreadnoughtwas the fastest as well as the most powerful battleship in the world.

Early dreadnoughts

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HMSDreadnought

Dreadnoughtwas the first major warship powered byturbines.She also included other features indicating an increased emphasis on speed:

  • An improvedhullform was developed, with increased length-to-beam ratio.
  • The thickness of the main belt was reduced to 11 inches, compared to 12 inches for preceding classes.
  • The belt terminated at the upper deck, the usual "upper belt" being deleted.
  • Theforecastlewas raised, allowing higher sustained speed in heavy seas.

In the decade following the construction ofDreadnought,the Royal Navy's lead in capital ship speed eroded as rival navies responded with their own turbine-powered "dreadnoughts". Meanwhile, in the UK, Fisher continued to press for still higher speeds, but the alarming cost of the new battleships and battlecruisers provoked increasing resistance, both within theAdmiraltyand from theLiberalgovernment that took office in 1906. As a result, many potentially significant fast battleship designs failed to achieve fruition.

A notable abortive design was the 22,500-ton "X4" design of December 1905. This would have been a true fast battleship by the standards of the time, carrying the same armament and protection asDreadnoughtat a speed of 25 knots (46 km/h). However, the British lead in dreadnought and battlecruiser construction was deemed to be so great that a further escalation in the size and cost of capital ships could not be justified. The X4 design is often described as a "fusion" of theDreadnoughtconcept with that of the battlecruiser, and it has been suggested that she "would have rendered theInvinciblesobsolete ".[6]

Fisher was again rebuffed in 1909 over the first of the "super-dreadnoughts", theOrionclass;of the two alternative designs considered, one of 21 knots (39 km/h) and the other of 23 knots (43 km/h), the Board of Admiralty selected the slower and cheaper design. Fisher had his dissent recorded in the board minutes, complaining "we should not be outclassed in any type of ship".[7]

Queen Elizabethclass

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HMSQueen Elizabethin 1915

Fisher's aspirations for faster battleships were not fulfilled until after his retirement in 1910. Following the success of the 13.5-inch (343 mm) gun used in theOrionclass, the Admiralty decided to develop a15-inch (381 mm)gun to equip the battleships of the 1912 construction programme. The initial intention was that the new battleships would have the same configuration as the precedingIron Dukeclass,with five twin turrets and a speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph). However, it was realised that by dispensing with the amidships turret, it would be possible to free up weight and volume for a much enlarged power plant and still fire a heavierbroadsidethan theIron Dukes.

Figure 2. The concept that faster ships in a battle line could envelop an enemy's slower fleet.

Although War College studies had earlier rejected the concept of a fast, light battlefleet, they were now supportive of the concept of a Fast Division of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) or more, operating in conjunction with a conventional heavy battle line, which could use its advantage in speed toenvelopthe head of the enemy line (Figure 2). Compared to Fisher's idea of speeding up the entire battlefleet, the advantages of this concept were that there would be no need to compromise the fighting power of the main fleet, and that it would be possible to retain the use of the existing 21-knot ships. Up to this time, it had been assumed that the role of a Fast Division could be fulfilled by the battlecruisers, of which there were ten completed or on order.[8]However, it was realised that there were two problems with this assumption. The first was the likelihood that the battlecruisers would be fully committed in countering the growing and very capable German battlecruiser force. The second was that, asWinston Churchill,First Lord of the Admiralty,put it, "our beautifulCatshad thin skins compared to the enemy's strongest battleships. It is a rough game to pit... seven or nine inches of armour against twelve or thirteen ".[9]

The new battleships would, in fact, be the most heavily armoured dreadnoughts in the fleet. The original 1912 programme envisaged three battleships and a battlecruiser. However, given the speed of the new ships, it was decided that a new battlecruiser would not be needed. The battleship design for the following year's programme, which became theRevengeclass,also had 15-inch guns, but reverted to the 21-knot speed of the main battlefleet. Again, no battlecruiser was included, a decision which suggests that the fast battleships were perceived at that time as superseding the battlecruiser concept.

Battle of Jutland

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When the fast battleship concept was put to the test at theBattle of Jutland,theQueen Elizabethclass ships had been temporarily attached to Vice AdmiralDavid Beatty's Battlecruiser Fleet atRosyth(this was to release theInvincible-class battlecruisers of the3rd Battlecruiser Squadronfor gunnery practice atScapa Flow). TheQueen Elizabethships proved an outstanding success, firing with great rapidity, accuracy and effect, while surviving large quantities of hits from German 28.3-centimetre (11 in) and 30.5-centimetre (12 in) shells and successfully evading the main German battlefleet during the so-called"run to the North".In the fighting,Warspitewas severely damaged, suffered a steering failure and was obliged to withdraw, whileMalayasuffered a seriouscorditefire which nearly caused her loss.[10]However, both ships returned safely to port. This was in notable contrast to the performance of the battlecruisers, of which three out of the nine present were destroyed by magazine explosions after a relatively small number of hits.

HMSWarspiteandMalaya,seen from HMSValiantat around 14:00 hrs during the Battle of Jutland

When the main body of the Grand Fleet came into action, theQueen Elizabethships were unable to reach their intended station ahead of the battle line and instead joined the rear of the line, seeing little further action. Meanwhile, the six surviving battlecruisers assumed the "Fast Division" role, operating ahead of the battle line with some success, exploiting their advantage of speed to damage the head of the German line with virtual impunity.

Jutland was a crippling blow to the reputation of the existing battlecruisers. However, it also reinforced the views of Commander-In-ChiefSir John Jellicoethat theQueen Elizabethships were too slow to operate with the Battlecruiser Fleet on a permanent basis. Based on combat reports, Jellicoe erroneously credited the 21-knot GermanKönig-classbattleships with 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph), which would mean thatQueen Elizabethships, which were rated at 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph), would be in serious danger if they were surprised by a battlefleet headed by these ships.[11]

Admiralclass

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Even before Jutland, Jellicoe had expressed concern at the lack of new construction for the Battlecruiser Fleet and the inadequacy of the ships already provided. Early in 1916, he had rejected proposals for a new fast battleship design, similar to theQueen Elizabethbut with reduceddraught,pointing out that, with the five newRevenge-class nearing completion, the fleet already had a sufficient margin of superiority in battleships, whereas the absence of battlecruisers from the 1912 and 1913 programmes had left Beatty's force with no reply to the new 12-inch-gunned German battlecruisers. Jellicoe believed that the Germans intended to build still more powerful ships, with speeds of up to 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph), and hence called for 30-knot (56 km/h; 35 mph) ships to fight them. Although two new battlecruisers (RenownandRepulse) had been ordered in 1914, and were being constructed remarkably quickly, Jellicoe argued that, although their speed was adequate, their armour protection was insufficient.[12]The 1915 design was therefore recast as a 36,000-long-ton (37,000 t) battlecruiser with eight 15-inch (381 mm) guns, an eight-inch belt, and a speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).[13]A class of four ships was ordered in mid-1916.[14]

The losses at Jutland led to a reappraisal of the design. As noted above, the British were now convinced that their fast battleships were battleworthy but too slow, and their battlecruisers—even the largest—unfit for sustained battle. As a result, the ships were radically redesigned in order to achieve the survivability of theQueen Elizabeths while still meeting the requirement for 32-knot (59 km/h; 37 mph) battlecruisers, although this reworking was flawed. The resulting ships would be theAdmiral-classbattlecruisers; at 42,000 long tons (43,000 t) tons by far the largest warships in the world. In 1917 construction was slowed down to release resources for the construction of anti-submarine vessels; when it became clear that the threatened German battlecruisers would not be completed, the last three were suspended and ultimately canceled, leaving only thelead ship,Hood,to be completed.[15]

The only member of theAdmiralclass, HMSHood

Although the Royal Navy designatedHoodas a battlecruiser, some naval historians such asAntony Prestoncharacterise her as a fast battleship, as she theoretically had the protection of theQueen Elizabethships while being significantly faster.[16]On the other hand, the British were well aware of the protection flaws remaining despite her revised design, so she was intended for the duties of a battlecruiser and served in the battlecruiser squadrons throughout her career, other than a few months assigned toForce Hin 1940. Moreover, the scale of her protection, though adequate for the Jutland era, was at best marginal against the new generation of 16-inch (406 mm)-gunned capital ships that emerged soon after her completion in 1920, typified by the USColoradoclassand the JapaneseNagatoclass.[17][18]

Other designs, 1912–1923

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During the First World War, the Royal Navy was unique in operating both a Fast Division of purpose-built battleships and a separate force of battlecruisers. However, from 1912 to 1923 there was a series of advances inmarine engineeringwhich would lead to a dramatic increase in the speeds specified for new battleship designs, a process terminated only by the advent of theWashington Naval Treaty.These advances included:[19]

  • small-tube boilers, allowing more efficient transfer of heat from boiler to propulsive steam;
  • increases in steam pressure and temperature;
  • reduction gearing,which allowed propellers to rotate at a slower, and more efficient, speed than the turbines that powered them;[19]
Nagato-class battleshipMutsuat sea, 19 October 1921

By the early 1920s, the wealth of the U.S. and the ambition ofJapan(the twoGreat Powersleast ravaged by World War I) were forcing the pace of capital ship design. TheNagatoclass set a new standard for fast battleships, with 16-inch (406 mm) guns and a speed of 26.5 knots (49.1 km/h). The Japanese appear to have shared Fisher's aspiration for a progressive increase in the speed of the whole battlefleet, influenced partly by their success at outmanoeuvring the Russian fleet atTsushima,and partly by the need to retain the tactical initiative against potentially larger hostile fleets. The immediate influence of theNagatos was limited by the fact that the Japanese kept their actual speed a closely guarded secret, admitting to only 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph).[20]As a result, the U.S. Navy, which had hitherto adhered steadily to a 21-knot (39 km/h) battlefleet, settled for a modest increase to the same speed in the abortiveSouth Dakotaclassof 1920.

The Japanese planned to follow up theNagatos with theKiiclass,(ten 16-inch (406 mm) guns, 29.75 knots, 39,900 tons) described as "fast capital ships" and, according toConway's,representing a fusion of the battlecruiser and battleship types. Meanwhile, the Royal Navy, alarmed at the rapid erosion of its preeminence in capital ships, was developing even more radical designs; the 18-inch (457 mm) gunnedN3 classand the 32-knot (59 km/h; 37 mph), 16-inch (406 mm) gunnedG3 classboth of some 48,000 tons. Officially described as battlecruisers, the G3s were far better protected than any previous British capital ship and have generally been regarded, like theKiis, as true fast battleships.[21]The G3s were given priority over the N3s, showing that they were considered fit for the line of battle, and orders were actually placed. However, both the British and the Japanese governments baulked at the monstrous cost of their respective programmes and ultimately were forced to accede to U.S. proposals for an arms limitation conference; this convened at Washington, D.C., in 1921 and resulted in the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty. This treaty precipitated the demise of the giant fast battleship designs, although the British used a scaled-down version of the G3 design to build two new battleships permitted under the treaty; the resultingNelson-classvessels were completed with the modest speed of 23 knots.

The ItalianFrancesco Caracciolo-classbattleships were designed to be similar to theQueen Elizabethclass, with eight 15-inch guns and a top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph), and therefore can be considered fast battleships. However, construction (begun in 1914–1915) was stopped by the war, and none was ever completed.[22]

Washington Naval Treaty era

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The signatories of the Washington Naval Treaty were the U.S., UK, Japan,France,and Italy; at that time the only nations in the world with significant battlefleets. As a result, the terms of the treaty, and the subsequent treaties ofLondon 1930andLondon 1936,had a decisive effect on the future of capital ship design. The treaties extended the definition ofcapital shipto cover all warships exceeding 10,000 tonsstandard displacementor carrying guns exceeding 8-inch (203 mm)calibre;imposed limits on the total tonnage of capital ships allowed to each signatory; and fixed an upper limit of 35,000 long tons (36,000 t) standard displacement for all future construction. These restrictions effectively signaled the end of the battlecruiser as a distinct category of warship, since any future big-gun cruiser would count against the capital ship tonnage allowance. It also greatly complicated the problem of fast battleship design, since the 35,000-ton limit closed off the most direct route to higher speed, as the increasing length-to-beam ratio would have meant a bigger ship; it required the development of more compact and powerful propulsion plants and lighter high-strength armour plating over the next two decades to make fast battleships feasible within the displacement limit.

Littorio-classbattleshipRomac. 1942–1943
Bismarckunderway nearBlankenesein 1940

Evidence of continued interest in high-speed capital ships is given by the fact that, although the signatories of the treaties were allowed to build 16-inch (406 mm) gunned ships as their existing tonnage became due for replacement, most of them passed up the opportunity to do so, preferring instead lighter-armed but faster ships. A British Admiralty paper of 1935 concludes that a balanced design with 30-knot (56 km/h; 35 mph) speed and 16-inch guns would not be possible within the 35,000 ton limit, since it would be either insufficiently armoured or too slow; it is clear that by this date the 23-knot (43 km/h; 26 mph) speed of theNelsonswas considered insufficient. The recommended design (never built) was one with nine 15-inch (381 mm) guns and speed "not less than 29 knots (54 km/h; 33 mph)"; theKing George Vclassthat was actually built was similar to the recommended design but mounted ten 14-inch (356 mm) guns (down from twelve guns of the initial design due to top weight concerns) in an effort to convince other naval powers to abide by the 14-inch calibre limit of the Second London Treaty. Although the calibre "escalator clause" increasing the limit back to 16 inches was invoked in April 1937 due to Italy's and Japan's refusal to sign the treaty, the British chose to proceed with the 14-inch guns on theKing George Vin order to avoid any delays in their construction and instead incorporated larger guns in follow-on designs.[23]

The 15-inch-gunnedLittorioandRichelieuclasses,built in the 1930s by Italy and France respectively, reflect similar priorities to the British. Under the terms of theAnglo-German Naval Agreementof 1935 that effectively made Germany a party to the Second London Treaty, the GermanBismarckclasswas built as a response to theRichelieuclass and also mounted 15-inch guns, although the ships were secretly considerably larger than the limits of the treaties. In 1937, theSoviet Unionsigned the Anglo-Soviet Quantitative Naval Agreement and also agreed to abide by the terms of the Second London Treaty when beginning to design theirSovetsky Soyuzclass(never completed due to theGerman invasion), although they added a proviso that allowed them to build ships of unlimited size to face the Japanese navy if they notified the British.[24]

Four capital ships of the treaty era were built to displacements appreciably less than the 35,000-ton limit; the FrenchDunkerqueandStrasbourgand the GermanScharnhorstandGneisenau.TheDunkerqueclasswas built in response to the GermanPanzerschiff(or "pocket battleship" )Deutschlandclass.ThePanzerschiffewere, in effect, a revival of the late 19th century concept of the commerce-raidingarmoured cruiser;long-ranged, heavily armed, and fast enough to evade a conventional capital ship. Likewise, theDunkerque,can be regarded as a revival of the armoured cruiser's nemesis, the battlecruiser. With 29-knot speed and 330 mm (13 inch) guns, she could operate independently of the fleet, relying on her speed to avoid confrontation with a more powerful adversary, and could easily overtake and overwhelm aPanzerschiff,just asSturdee'sbattlecruisers had done tovon Spee'scruisers at theFalkland Islandsin 1914. On the other hand, as a member of the line of battle, alongside the elderly and slow dreadnoughts that made up the rest of the French battlefleet, the design would make no sense, since her speed would lose its value and neither her armament nor her protection would be at all effective against a modern 16-inch gunned battleship such asNelson.

Scharnhorstat sea

TheScharnhorstandGneisenauwere Germany's response to theDunkerques. They were an attempt to redress the inadequacies of thePanzerschiffdesign in speed, survivability and powerplant (thediesel enginesof thePanzerschiffewere unreliable and produced severe vibration at high speed), and used much material assembled for thePanzerschiffeprogramme (most significantly, the six triple 11-inch (279 mm) gun mountings originally intended forPanzerschiffeD to F).[25]Although much larger than theDunkerques, theGneisenaus were also not intended for the line of battle; apart from their insufficient armament, set-piece battles against the vastly more numerous Allied battlefleets had no place in Germany's strategic requirements. Instead, the two German ships relied throughout their career on their superlative speed (over 32 knots) to evade the attentions of Allied capital ships. OnGneisenau,the nine28.3 cm SK C/34guns in three triple turrets were supposed to be replaced with six38.1 cm SK C/34guns in twin turrets, which would have rectified her key weakness, but work was cancelled in 1943 due to battle damage and changing wartime conditions.

The treaties also allowed the reconstruction of surviving battleships from the First World War, including up to 3,000 long tons (3,000 t) additional protection against torpedoes, high-altitude bombing and long-range gunnery.[26]In the late 1930s, the Italian and Japanese navies opted for extremely radical reconstructions: in addition to replacing the powerplant in their existing ships, they lengthened the ships by adding extra sections amidships or aft. This had a double benefit; the extra space allowed the size of the powerplant to be increased, while the extra length improved the speed/length ratio and so reduced the resistance of the hull.[27]As a result, both navies realised significant increases in speed; for example the JapaneseIseclasswas increased from 23 to 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), and the ItalianConte di Cavourclassfrom 21 to 27 knots (39 to 50 km/h; 24 to 31 mph).[28]France, the UK and the US took a less radical approach, rebuilding their ships within their original hulls; boilers were converted to oil-firing or replaced, as were the engines in some cases, but increases in the output of the powerplant were generally canceled out by increases in the weight of armour, anti-aircraft armament and other equipment.[29]

Yamatoundertakingsea trialsin theBungo Channel,20 October 1941

The exception to the European battleship trend was Japan, which refused to sign the Second London Treaty. It rather uncharacteristically settled for a moderate speed of 27 knots, for the sake of exceptionally high levels of protection and firepower in the 18.1-inch (460 mm)-gunned, 64,000-long-ton (65,000 t) displacementYamatoclass.Furthermore, although the Soviet Union was nominally held to the Second London Treaty limits by signing the Anglo-Soviet Quantitative Naval Agreement of 1937, it only paid lip service to the agreement and theSovetsky Soyuzdesign, with nine 16-inch guns and 28-knot speed, quickly grew to over 58,000 long tons (59,000 t) when laid down in 1938, although the eventual German invasion would prevent their completion.

North Carolinaoff New York, 3 June 1946

After much debate, the US settled on two 35,000 ton classes, also with a speed of 27 knots, in theNorth CarolinaandSouth Dakotaclasses.Due to treaty restrictions, firepower and protection were emphasised first, although both did manage respectable speed increases compared to their World War I contemporaries to be able to operate as carrier escorts. The US signed the Second London Treaty but was quick to invoke the "escalator clause" to increase the main battleship caliber from 14 to 16 inches as Italy and Japan refused to adopt it. This made theNorth Carolinas somewhat unbalanced ships, being designed to resist shells from the 14-inch guns that it was originally intended to carry, but being up-gunned during construction. TheSouth Dakotas rectified this with protection proof against 16-inch guns. In order to counter the increase in armor weight and stay within tonnage limits, theSouth Dakotaclass had to go with a shorter hull to reduce the length of the required protected area, compensating by installing more powerful machinery than in theNorth Carolinas, and this made the ships somewhat cramped. The balanced 35,000-ton design was achieved by combining highly efficient lightweight double-reduction gear machinery with high pressure turbines, which reduced the length and volume of the armored citadel, with a sloped internal armored belt, which increased protection without increasing overall armor thickness.

With Japan's withdrawal from the Second London Treaty and refusal to disclose any details about their battleship construction, the remaining signatories of UK, US, and France invoked the treaty's tonnage "escalator clause" in March 1938 that increased standard displacement limit from 35,000 tons to 45,000 long tons (46,000 t). Under the new limit, the UK and the US ordered the 16-inch-gunnedLionclassandIowaclassrespectively in 1939, while the French began designing theAlsaceclass.Despite the new limit, the UK chose to design the 30-knot (56 km/h; 35 mph)Lion-class to 40,000 long tons (41,000 t) due to limits of docking infrastructure (particularly the major naval installations atRosythandPortsmouth) and costs; the French would limit the 31-knot (57 km/h; 36 mph)Alsace-class to that tonnage for similar logistical reasons. The 33-knot (61 km/h; 38 mph), 45,000-tonIowa-class was intended serve as the fast division of the battle line or be detached to intercept fast capital ships such as theKongōclass.With the additional tonnage, theIowas had new 16-inch guns with a greater maximum range, and they had even more powerful engines and a lengthened hull for a significantly faster speed over theNorth Carolinas andSouth Dakotas.

For half a century prior to laying [theIowaclass] down, the U.S. Navy had consistently advocated armor and firepower at the expense of speed. Even in adopting fast battleships of theNorth Carolinaclass, it had preferred the slower of two alternative designs. Great and expensive improvements in machinery design had been used to minimise the increased power on the designs rather than make extraordinary powerful machinery (hence much higher speed) practical. Yet the four largest battleships the U.S. Navy produced were not much more than 33-knot versions of the 27-knot, 35,000 tonners that had preceded them. TheIowas showed no advance at all in protection over theSouth Dakotas. The principal armament improvement was a more powerful 16-inch gun, 5 calibers longer. Ten thousand tons was a very great deal to pay for 6 knots.[30]

Norman Friedman

World War II designs

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In 1938 the U.S., UK, and France agreed to invoke the escalator clause of the Second London Treaty, allowing them to build up to 45,000 tons standard.[31]By this time, all threeAlliednations were already committed to new 35,000-ton designs: the U.S.North Carolina(two ships) andSouth Dakota(four), the BritishKing George Vclass(five ships) and the FrenchRichelieus (two completed out of four planned, the last of the class,Gascogne,to a greatly modified design).

The American battleshipMissouriin 1945 – she is one of the fourIowa-class battleships completed

The UK and U.S. laid down follow-on classes, designed under the 45,000 ton standard limit, in 1939 and 1940 respectively; the German victory in the Battle of France in May–June 1940 terminated France's plans for theAlsace-class. The U.S. succeeded in completing four of the intended sixIowaclass, but the BritishLionclasswere not built; two of the planned four units were laid down in the summer of 1939, but neither was completed because of limited capacity to produce the turrets and guns. They would have embarked nine 16-inch (406 mm) guns and, at 29 to 30 knots (54 to 56 km/h), would have been slightly faster than theKing George Vclass. The UK did complete one final battleship to an "emergency" design, theVanguard,a modifiedLiondesign that could use the 15-inch (381 mm) gun mountings removed from the World War I "large light cruisers"CourageousandGloriousafter their conversion to aircraft carriers. Her design revised during the war to adopt lessons from the loss of other ships, she was completed in 1946 and was similar in speed to theLions.

The last U.S. battleship design was the first since 1922 to be entirely free of treaty constraints. The hugeMontana-classbattleshipsrepresent a return to "normal American practice" in battleship design,[32]with massive protection, heavy firepower, and moderate speed (28 knots). At 60,500 tons standard, they approached the size of theYamatos, which they resembled in concept. Five of these ships were ordered in 1940, but they were ill-suited to the needs of fast carriertask forceoperations, and none were laid down.

Fleets

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The British battleshipsVanguard(left) andHowe(right) moored alongside each other. These were the last two battleships to be commissioned by the Royal Navy and were among the last battleships to be completed.

The following classes of warship have been considered to be fast battleships, in accordance with the definition used in this article and/or with contemporary usage. The list includes all new construction of the 1930s and 1940s, along with some reconstructions; this reflects the fact that, while not all of these ships were notably fast by contemporary standards of new construction, they were all much faster than the considerable number of capital ships built in the pre-treaty era and still in service at that time.[33]All speeds are design speeds, sourced from Conway's;[34]these speeds were often exceeded on trial, though rarely in service.

Royal Navy

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  • Queen Elizabethclass(24 knots): the prototype fast battleship class
  • Hood(32 knots), the sole member of theAdmiral class,was characterised by the Royal Navy as a battlecruiser throughout her lifetime; nonetheless some modern authorities characterise her as a fast battleship, as she appeared on paper to be an improvement over theQueen Elizabethclass.[35][36]
  • King George Vclass(28 knots)
  • Vanguard(30 knots)

United States Navy

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Imperial Japanese Navy

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  • Kongōclass– as reconstructed (30.5 knots). Originally classified as battlecruisers, these ships were reclassified as battleships after their first reconstruction in 1929–1931.[37]Even after a second reconstruction in the late 1930s, they remained relatively weak in armament and protection by Second World War standards.[38]
  • Nagatoclass– as completed (26.5 knots). Unusually for a Japanese design, the speed was reduced to 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) when the class was reconstructed in 1934–1936.[39]
  • Yamatoclass(27 knots)

German Navy

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  • Scharnhorstclass(also known as theGneisenauclass) (31 knots). These ships were officially designatedSchlachtschiffe(battleships). The contemporary Royal Navy termed them "battlecruisers", on the basis of their exceptionally high speed and weak armament.
  • Bismarckclass(30.8 knots)[40]

French Navy

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Royal Italian Navy

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Notes

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  1. ^Admiralty Weekly Order no. 351,24 November 1911; quoted inRoberts (2003),p. 24
  2. ^Roberts (2003),p. 11
  3. ^Roberts (2003),p. 16
  4. ^Roberts (2003),p. 17
  5. ^Brown (2003a),p. 188
  6. ^Roberts (2003),p. 26
  7. ^Roberts (2003),p. 32
  8. ^ThreeInvincibleclass, threeIndefatigable,twoLionclass,HMSQueen MaryandTiger
  9. ^Churchill (2005),Part 1, Chapter 5
  10. ^Campbell (1986),p. 132
  11. ^Jellicoe (1919),Chapter 13; the relevant passage is available on-line at theWar Times JournalwebsiteArchived2016-10-15 at theWayback Machine
  12. ^Roberts (2003),p. 56
  13. ^Roberts (2003),p. 58
  14. ^Raven & Roberts (1976),p. 63
  15. ^Raven & Roberts (1976),p. 75
  16. ^Preston (2002),p. 96
  17. ^Burt (2012),pp. 306, 319–326
  18. ^Roberts (2003),p. 143
  19. ^abFriedman (1978),p. 92
  20. ^Gardiner & Gray (1985),p. 231
  21. ^Gardiner & Gray (1985),p. 41
  22. ^Gardiner & Gray (1985),p. 260
  23. ^ADM1/9387:Capital Ships: Protection(1935)Archived2017-08-13 at theWayback Machine,Available on-line via theHMSHoodAssociation Website
  24. ^McLaughlin, Stephen (2003).Russian & Soviet Battleships.Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 380–382.ISBN1-55750-481-4.
  25. ^Chesneau (1980),p. 225
  26. ^Friedman (1978),p. 67
  27. ^Friedman (1978),pp. 47–48
  28. ^Chesneau (1980),pp. 171, 284
  29. ^Chesneau (1980),passim
  30. ^Friedman (1978),p. 307
  31. ^Chesneau (1980),p. 99
  32. ^Chesneau (1980),p. 100
  33. ^Chesneau (1980),p. 89
  34. ^Gardiner & Gray (1985)forQueen ElizabethandNagato;Chesneau (1980)for other classes, including reconstructions
  35. ^Preston (2002)
  36. ^Brown (2003b)
  37. ^Chesneau (1980),p. 173
  38. ^Robert Lundgren (2010). Tony DiGiulian (ed.)."Kirishima Damage Analysis"(PDF).
  39. ^Chesneau (1980),p. 172
  40. ^Asmussen, John."Bismarck: Gallery".www.bismarck-class.dk.RetrievedApril 23,2011.

References

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