Battleships Have Much To Teach Us

[rangerrebew]

Battleships Have Much To Teach Us
Justly or not, carriers, cruisers, destroyers, and submarines don’t seem to make the cultural grade compared to battleships.


ByJames HolmesPublished18 hours ago
 

What accounts for the lasting allure of Iowa-class battleships?

These are ships of war built in the 1940s to fight Axis enemies that no longer exist.
 

We are constantly told that the aircraft carrier doomed the battleship to obsolescence at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The Iowa-class briefly found new life during the 1980s and 1990s, including stints of combat duty, but they have slumbered in retirement for over three decades now.

All are museum ships, two in the Atlantic, two in the Pacific. They are yesterday’s news.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2023/05/i-was-the-last-person-to-fire-a-battleships-big-guns-these-warship-have-much-to-teach-us/

[rangerrebew]

Our son got promoted to Lt. jg on the bridge of the USS Missouri!

[PeteS in CA]

We are constantly told that the aircraft carrier doomed the battleship to obsolescence at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Well, yes and no. The carrier did become the primary offensive weapon, but continued to need battleship, cruiser, and destroyer escorts. What did become obsolete, except for certain specific uses, were the 21 knot 191#s and 192#s “Standard” battleships. They were much to slow to operate with the USN’s carriers. The new North Carolina and South Dakota class could keep up, just, and the Iowa class battleships could steam with the carriers. Those 10 dual mount 5”/38s came in very handy when the Japanese resorted to Kamikaze tactics.