Portal:Battleships
Introduction
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. During the late 19th and early 20th centuries the battleship was the most powerful type of warship, and a fleet of battleships was considered vital for any nation that desired to maintain command of the sea.
The term battleship came into formal use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ironclad warship, now referred to by historians as pre-dreadnought battleships. In 1906, the commissioning of HMS Dreadnought heralded a revolution in battleship design. Subsequent battleship designs, influenced by HMS Dreadnought, were referred to as "dreadnoughts", though the term eventually became obsolete as they became the only type of battleship in common use.
Battleships were a symbol of naval dominance and national might, and for decades the battleship was a major factor in both diplomacy and military strategy. A global arms race in battleship construction began in Europe in the 1890s and culminated at the decisive Battle of Tsushima in 1905, the outcome of which significantly influenced the design of HMS Dreadnought. The launch of Dreadnought in 1906 commenced a new naval arms race. Three major fleet actions between steel battleships took place: the decisive battles of the Yellow Sea (1904) and Tsushima (1905) during the Russo-Japanese War, and the inconclusive Battle of Jutland (1916) during the First World War. Jutland was the largest naval battle and the only full-scale clash of battleships in the war, and it was the last major battle fought primarily by battleships in world history.
Selected article
HMAS Australia was a Indefatigable-class battlecruiser, and the only capital ship of the Royal Australian Navy. Commissioned on 21 June 1913 as her namesake's flagship, she was tasked at the outbreak of World War I to destroy the German East Asia Squadron, and once withdrawn, supported the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force fighting in German New Guinea. After the threat in the Pacific ended, she transferred to the Atlantic, briefly serving as the flagship of the West Indies Squadron, participating in North Sea operations, the flagship of the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron. After colliding twice with HMS New Zealand near Horns Rev in mid-1916, she missed the Battle of Jutland while in repair, and spent the remainder of the war on patrols, though personnel were lent for the Zeebrugge Raid, a 12 December collision with HMS Repulse and pioneered RAN aviation when she launched a Sopwith Pup while undergoing repairs. Post-armistice, she guarded Scapa Flow, leaving just before the German fleet interned there was scuttled, and a brief but non-violent mutiny on 1 June resulted in scandal that cost a sailor his nomination for the Victoria Cross. Though she made further advancements in creating the Fleet Air Arm, Australia's role was unclear, and relegated as a training ship in 1920. Due to her expense, obsolescence, and the fact that Australian ships counted against the Royal Navy in the Washington Naval Treaty's arms limitations, she was scuttled on 12 April 1921.
Selected biography
Doris "Dorie" Miller (October 12, 1919 – November 24, 1943) was the first African American awarded the Navy Cross. Born in Waco, Texas, he was a noted football player in high school and farmer until he enlisted in the United States Navy in September 1939. After training at Naval Station Norfolk, he was assigned to USS Pyro as a mess attendant until he transferred to on USS West Virginia January 2, 1940. Becoming the ship's heavyweight boxing champion, he also was temporarily assigned to USS Nevada in early 1941.
On the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Miller was performing laundry when general quarters was sounded, and his was destroyed by the time he arrived. Ordered to help move the wounded, he attempted to evacuate Captain Mervyn S. Bennion, though the latter refused and died at his post on the bridge. After being ordered to carry ammunition for anti-aircraft guns, he found an unmanned Browning .50-caliber. Having no training in operating any of the ship's weaponry, he took control and began firing on the attacking Japanese aircraft until his ammunition was depleted. Though West Virginia eventually susutained enough damage to bottom in the harbor, Miller was awarded the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz on May 27, 1942 aboard USS Enterprise. Promoted Mess Attendant First Class, he began a war bond tour while attached to USS Indianapolis, transferred to Puget Sound Navy Yard on May 15, 1943, then promoted again to Petty Officer, Officer’s Cook Third Class on June 1 and transferred to USS Liscome Bay. After the Battle of Tarawa, the Liscome Bay was sunk on November 24, and Miller was listed as missing in action until declared dead on November 25, 1944.
Miller has numerous things named in his honor, including USS Miller, a Knox-class frigate, and numerous buildings in Texas.
Subcategories
Selected image
Brazil's Minas Geraes fires a full ten-gun broadside to port during her firing trials. A 1910 article in Scientific American commented that it was "the greatest broadside ever fired from a battleship." Minas Geraes participated in many revolts throughout her career, both on the side of rebels and the government. After Brazil's entrance into the Second World War, she was regulated to harbor defense, as the battleship was too old to play an active part in the war. Minas Geraes was towed to Italy for scrapping in 1954 after having been in service for over forty years.
Did you know?
- ... that the Japanese battleship Kirishima was sunk in the middle of the night by an unseen ship?
- ... that the German pre-dreadnought battleship SMS Wörth represented the Kaiserliche Marine at Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee Fleet Review in 1897?
- ... that the Russian battleship Ioann Zlatoust was named for Saint John Chrysostom?
- ... that of the nine British battlecruisers built before World War I only HMS Tiger was retained by the Royal Navy after the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Treaty came into effect in 1922?
Selected quote
| “ | Residue was never left in the [16-inch] guns. After each firing, the residue powder was blown out with compressed air. The rifling of each gun had to be checked after firing to ascertain there were no cracks in the tube. I happened to be the unlucky gunner's mate chosen to do this in turret two. I had to actually crawl the complete length of the tube, continuously rotating to search each square inch of the inside surface of the rifling to search for cracks and in the process scraping a fair amount of skin from my shoulders, elbows and knees. | ” |
| — Gunner's Mate 3rd Class Billy J. Slate, regarding his service aboard USS North Carolina (BB-55) | ||
Related WikiProjects
Quality content
Battlecruisers of Germany • Bayern-class battleships • Indefatigable-class battlecruisers • Iowa-class battleships • König-class battleships • Rivadavia-class battleships • Tosa-class battleships • Yamato-class battleships
Almirante Latorre-class battleship • Amagi-class battlecruiser • Alaska-class cruiser • ARA Moreno • ARA Rivadavia • Armament of the Iowa-class battleship • Battle of Midway • Battle of the Eastern Solomons • Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands • Battleship • Bayern-class battleship • Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes • Brazilian battleship São Paulo • Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre • Courageous-class battlecruiser • Derfflinger-class battlecruiser • Design 1047 battlecruiser • Dreadnought • Dutch 1913 battleship proposal • Ernst Lindemann • Fred Moosally • HMAS Australia (1911) • HMS Eagle (1918) • HMS Indefatigable (1909) • HMS Lion (1910) • HMS Royal Oak (08) • Helgoland-class battleship • Indiana-class battleship • Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi • Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga • Japanese battleship Haruna • Japanese battleship Tosa • Japanese battleship Yamato • Kaiser-class battleship • König-class battleship • Minas Geraes-class battleship • Moltke-class battlecruiser • Montana-class battleship • Nassau-class battleship • Naval Battle of Guadalcanal • North Carolina-class battleship • Operation Ten-Go • Pre-dreadnought battleship • Rivadavia-class battleship • Russian battleship Slava • SMS Baden (1915) • SMS Bayern (1915) • SMS Derfflinger • SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand • SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1911) • SMS Goeben • SMS Grosser Kurfürst (1913) • SMS Helgoland • SMS Hindenburg • SMS König • SMS Kronprinz (1914) • SMS Lützow • SMS Markgraf • SMS Moltke (1910) • SMS Rheinland • SMS Seydlitz • SMS Von der Tann • SMS Westfalen • Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleship • South American dreadnought race • USS Connecticut (BB-18) • USS Illinois (BB-65) • USS Indiana (BB-1) • USS Iowa (BB-61) • USS Iowa turret explosion • USS Kentucky (BB-66) • USS Massachusetts (BB-2) • USS Missouri (BB-63) • USS Nevada (BB-36) • USS New Jersey (BB-62) • USS Wisconsin (BB-64) • Yamato-class battleship
List of battlecruisers of Germany • List of battlecruisers of Japan • List of battlecruisers of Russia • List of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy • List of battleships of Austria-Hungary • List of battleships of Germany • List of battleships of the Ottoman Empire
Borodino-class battlecruiser • Design A-150 battleship • Deutschland-class battleship • Florida-class battleship • Fusō-class battleship • German battleship Tirpitz • HMS Courageous (50) • HMS Hood (51) • HMS New Zealand (1911) • HMS Princess Royal (1911) • HMS Queen Mary • Japanese battleship Hiei • Japanese battleship Kirishima • Japanese battleship Kongō • Japanese battleship Musashi • Kongō-class battlecruiser • Lexington-class battlecruiser • Russian battleship Rostislav • Russian battleship Sevastopol (1895) • SMS Deutschland (1904) • SMS Hannover • SMS Kaiser (1911) • SMS Kaiserin • SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm • SMS Nassau • SMS Ostfriesland • SMS Posen • Tosa-class battleship • USS Hawaii (CB-3) • USS Texas (BB-35) • United States Naval Gunfire Support debate
Battlecruisers of Russia • Battlecruisers of the Royal Navy • Battleships of Austria-Hungary • Battleships of Germany • Courageous-class battlecruisers and aircraft carriers • Ekaterina II-class battleships • Evstafi-class battleships • Gangut-class battleships • Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleships • Imperatritsa Mariya-class battleships • Kongō-class battlecruisers
28 cm SK L/40 gun • 30.5 cm SK L/50 gun • Admiral-class battlecruiser • BL 18 inch Mk I naval gun • Bismarck-class battleship • Brandenburg-class battleship • Braunschweig-class battleship • Bretagne-class battleship • Colorado-class battleship • Courbet-class battleship • Delaware-class battleship • Design B-65 cruiser • Ekaterina II-class battleship • Ersatz Monarch-class battleship • Ersatz Yorck-class battlecruiser • Erzherzog Karl-class battleship • Evstafi-class battleship • Franz von Hipper • French battleship Courbet (1911) • French battleship Dunkerque • French battleship France • French battleship Iéna (1898) • French battleship Jauréguiberry • French battleship Jean Bart (1911) • French battleship Paris • French battleship Suffren • G3 battlecruiser • Gangut-class battleship • German battleship Gneisenau • German battleship Scharnhorst • Greek battleship Kilkis • Greek battleship Lemnos • Greek battleship Salamis • H-class battleship proposals • Habsburg-class battleship • High Seas Fleet • HMS Agamemnon (1906) • HMS Agincourt (1913) • HMS Anson (79) • HMS Dreadnought (1906) • HMS Eagle (1918) • HMS Furious (47) • HMS Glorious • HMS Howe (32) • HMS Indomitable (1907) • HMS Inflexible (1907) • HMS Invincible (1907) • HMS King George V (41) • HMS Lord Nelson (1906) • HMS Renown (1916) • HMS Repulse (1916) • HMS Royal Sovereign (05) • HMS Swiftsure (1903) • HMS Tiger (1913) • HMS Triumph (1903) • HMS Vanguard (23) • Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleship • Imperatritsa Mariya-class battleship • Indefatigable-class battlecruiser • Invincible-class battlecruiser • Iowa-class battleship • Iron Duke-class battleship • Italian battleship Roma (1940) • Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano • Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleship • Kronshtadt-class battlecruiser • L 20 α-class battleship • Lion-class battlecruiser • Lion-class battleship • Littorio-class battleship • Mackensen-class battlecruiser • Mississippi-class battleship • O-class battlecruiser • Operation Kita • Radetzky-class battleship • Reinhard Scheer • Renown-class battlecruiser • Russian battleship Andrei Pervozvanny • Russian battleship Chesma (1886) • Russian battleship Dvenadsat Apostolov • Russian battleship Ekaterina II • Russian battleship Evstafi • Russian battleship Gangut (1911) • Russian battleship Georgii Pobedonosets • Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr II • Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr III • Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I • Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I (1916) • Russian battleship Imperator Pavel I • Russian battleship Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya • Russian battleship Imperatritsa Mariya • Russian battleship Ioann Zlatoust • Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1897) • Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1911) • Russian battleship Poltava (1894) • Russian battleship Poltava (1911) • Russian battleship Retvizan • Russian battleship Sevastopol (1911) • Russian battleship Sinop • Russian battleship Tri Sviatitelia • Scharnhorst-class battleship • SMS Árpád • SMS Babenburg • SMS Brandenburg • SMS Braunschweig • SMS Elsass • SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max • SMS Erzherzog Friedrich • SMS Erzherzog Karl • SMS Habsburg • SMS Hessen • SMS Kaiser Barbarossa • SMS Kaiser Friedrich III • SMS Kaiser Karl der Grosse • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II • SMS Lothringen • SMS Mecklenburg • SMS Oldenburg (1910) • SMS Pommern • SMS Preussen (1903) • SMS Prinz Eugen • SMS Prinzregent Luitpold • SMS Radetzky • SMS Schlesien • SMS Schleswig-Holstein • SMS Schwaben • SMS Szent István • SMS Tegetthoff • SMS Thüringen • SMS Viribus Unitis • SMS Weissenburg • SMS Wettin • SMS Wittelsbach • SMS Wörth • SMS Zähringen • SMS Zrínyi • Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow • South Dakota-class battleship (1939) • Stalingrad-class battlecruiser • Swiftsure-class battleship • Tegetthoff-class battleship • United States Battleship Division Nine (World War I) • USS Alaska (CB-1) • USS Guam (CB-2) • USS Lexington (CV-2) • USS Massachusetts (BB-59) • USS Texas (1892) • USS Missouri grounding incident • Wittelsbach-class battleship
How can I help?
Operation Majestic Titan is the code name for a long-term Wikipedian project with two primary objectives, the first of which is to create the single largest featured topic on Wikipedia, centered around the battleships considered, planned, built, operated, canceled, or otherwise recorded. There are probably a few hundred articles of this nature which will be included, from the earliest pre-dreadnoughts to the last of the dreadnoughts. Once all articles are featured this project will reorient to ensuring that the articles remain up to standard. If you're interested, please view the project page to familiarize yourself with the guidelines, and simply pick an article to improve! There is also ongoing discussion you can participate in.
Related portals
Associated Wikimedia
|}