For nearly half a century, the battleship was the singular symbol of a nation’s composite power: a floating fortress that projected industrial might, military prestige, and political deterrence. Defined by heavy armor, massive guns, and thick-belted silhouettes, battleships dominated the world’s waterways from the early 1900s until World War II.

The battleship’s mission was stark and simple: close with the enemy and destroy them. Yet during the Cold War, with the advent of the aircraft carrier and the guided missile, battleships quickly faded into obsolescence. Still, the legend of the battleship endures as a hulking leviathan of warfare—and some commentators, and even President Donald Trump, have called for their return. 

At just over 44,000 tons, the King George V class demonstrated British pragmatism under treaty restrictions. She featured 10 14-inch guns—smaller than the conventional 16-inch gun commonly found on American battleships—but compensated with exceptional fire control and armor. The class was built to fight smart, not heavy.

The class’s defining moment came when the HMS Prince of Wales, one of its members, helped to sink the larger German battleship Bismarck. Though the victory over the Bismarck would be the Prince of Wales’ finest hour, its crew would have little time to celebrate. Six months later, the mighty British battleship would later meet its own ignominious end off the coast of Singapore following a Japanese aerial attack—illustrating that the era of the battleship was drawing to a close, and that of the aircraft carrier had begun.

Compact but powerful, the 44,500 ton South Dakota featured nine 16-inch guns, thick armor, and state-of-the-art radar gunnery in a relatively short hull. The South Dakota served heavily in the Pacific, from the Santa Cruz Islands to the brutal night action off Guadalcanal. 

In November 1942, the South Dakota absorbed dozens of hits while her radar-directed salvos crippled Japanese ships, showing how vital electronic fire control would be to the future of warfare. Later, she would serve in the Philippines and at Okinawa, showing that American engineering was world-class.

Italy’s Vittorio Veneto class embodied dictator Benito Mussolini’s ambition to restore Mediterranean........

© The National Interest