battleship

The 40-cm/16-in guns of USS Iowa were used primarily to bombard shore positions or to protect aircraft carriers. In World War II, the increased use of aircraft reduced the need for battleships like the USS Iowa.

Class of large warships with the biggest guns and heaviest armour. The Dreadnought class of battleship, built by the British Navy after 1906, revolutionized battleship design, as it was an ‘all-big-gun’ ship. Until World War II battleships were the dominant unit in modern navies, when naval aircraft became more useful in naval battles.

The modern battleship is the descendant of the wooden ‘man of war’ built by the Spanish, French, and English navies in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, of which Nelson's flagship HMS Victory, used at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), is the classic example. It is still preserved in a dry dock in Portsmouth, England. These ships were replaced by the ‘ironclads’ of the 19th century, which in their turn were replaced by the great battleships of the early 20th century. These were constructed mostly by Russia, Japan, the USA, Germany, France, and Great Britain.

In the 1980s, only the USA had battleships in active service; by 1991, all were decommissioned.

Probably the two greatest sea battles involving battleships were the clash of the Japanese and Russian fleets in 1905, and the Battle of Jutland (1916) between the British and German high-seas fleets. Battleships played a useful role in World War II, although aircraft carriers began to succeed them. US battleships were used in the Vietnam War and the Gulf War to shell shore installations. There are now no battleships in active service.