Standard-type battleship
Introduction The '''Standard-type battleship''' was a series of thirteen battleships across five classes ordered for the United States Navy between 1911 and 1916 and commissioned between 1916 and 1923.These were considered super-dreadnoughts, with the ships of the final two classes incorporating many lessons from the Battle of Jutland.Each vessel was produced with a series of progressive innovations, which contributed to the pre–World War I arms race. The twelve vessels constituted the US Navy's main battle line in the interwar period, while many of the ten earlier dreadnoughts were scrapped or relegated to secondary duties. Restrictions under the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty limited total numbers and size of battleships and had required some under construction to be cancelled,  so it was not until the onset of World War II that new battleships were constructed. On December 7, 1941, eight were at Pearl Harbor, one at Bremerton, Washington, and three were assigned to the Atlantic Fleet.
Doctrine The Standard type, by specifying common tactical operational characteristics between classes, allowed battleships of different classes to operate together as a tactical unit (BatDiv) against enemy battleships. By contrast, other navies had fast and slow battleship classes that could not operate together unless limited to the performance of the ship with slowest speed and widest turning circle. Otherwise the battle line would be split into separate "fast" and "slow" wings. The Standard type was optimized for the battleship-centric naval strategy of the era of their design.The next US battleship classes, beginning with the  designed in the late 1930s and commissioned in 1941, marked a departure from the Standard type, introducing the fast battleships needed to escort the aircraft carriers that came to dominate naval strategy.
List of Standard-type battleships +Ship nameClassHull No.BuilderLaid downLaunchedCommissionedDecommissionedFate BB-36Bethlehem Steel Corporation, Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts4 November 191211 July 191411 March 191629 August 1946Struck 12 August 1948; sunk as a target, 31 July 1948BB-37New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey26 October 191223 March 19142 May 19161 September 1944Struck 1 September 1944; hulk sank while under tow, 17 May 1947 BB-38Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia27 October 191316 March 191512 June 191629 August 1946Target ship, Operation Crossroads; scuttled, 10 February 1948BB-39New York Naval Shipyard16 March 191419 June 191517 October 191629 December 1941Sunk during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941BB-40Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City14 October 191513 April 191720 May 191819 July 1946Struck 25 February 1947; broken up at Newark, 1947BB-41Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News5 April 191525 January 191718 December 191717 September 1956Struck 17 September 1956; broken up at Baltimore, 1956BB-42New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden20 January 191530 June 191724 March 19193 July 1946Broken up at Newark, 1947BB-43New York Naval Shipyard14 May 191730 April 19193 June 192014 February 1947Struck 1 March 1959; sold for scrap, 10 July 1959BB-44Mare Island Naval Shipyard25 October 191620 November 191910 August 192114 February 1947Struck 1 March 1959; sold for scrap, 10 July 1959BB-45New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey29 May 191922 March 192130 August 19237 January 1947Struck 1 March 1959; sold for scrap, 23 July 1959BB-46Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia24 April 191720 March 192021 July 19213 April 1947Struck 1 March 1959; sold for scrap, 8 July 1959BB-47New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey30 June 19191 September 1921Cancelled after signing of Washington Naval Treaty; sunk as target, 25 November 1924BB-48Newport News Shipbuilding Company, Newport News, Virginia12 April 192017 November 19211 December 19239 January 1947Struck 1 March 1959; sold for scrap, 24 August 1959Characteristics of the Standard type included:* all-or-nothing armor scheme* All main guns on the centerline in fore and aft turrets with no amidships guns* designed range of about  at economical cruising speed* top speed of * tactical turn radius of 700 yardsThe ''Colorado''-class, the first US battleships to mount  guns, represented the endpoint of the gradual evolution of the "Standard Type" battleships. The next planned class of Standard battleships, the never-completed s, represented a significant increase in size and armament over the ''Colorado''s. They would have been  long, displaced 43,200 tons, had a top speed of , and carried 12  guns. The preceding s were  long, displaced 32,600 tons, had a top speed of , and carried a main battery of eight  guns.
Service history === World War I ===All the Standard Type were oil-burning. Since oil was scarce in the British Isles, only ''Nevada'' and ''Oklahoma'' actively participated in World War I by escorting convoys across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Britain.=== Interwar years ===All the Standard Types were modernized during the 1920s and 1930s. The cage masts of all but the ''Tennessee'' and ''Colorado'' classes were replaced with tripod masts topped with fire-control directors, torpedo tubes were removed and anti-aircraft guns were upgraded. Main battery elevation in the older ships was increased to 30 degrees for greater range. Most of the Standards received anti-torpedo bulges. Each ship received one or two catapults and recovery cranes for operating floatplanes for scouting and gunnery spotting.=== World War II ===On December 7, 1941, ''Colorado'' was undergoing a refit to install new torpedo bulges at Puget Sound Navy Yard, while the three ships of the ''New Mexico'' class were assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. The remaining eight Standard Type battleships were at Pearl Harbor forming Battleship Row.During the Pearl Harbor Attack, ''Arizona''s forward magazine exploded from a bomb hit and ''Oklahoma'' capsized after multiple torpedo strikes, both with significant losses of life. ''West Virginia'' and ''California'' were also sunk, while ''Nevada'' managed to get underway and was beached shortly afterward. ''Tennessee'' and ''Maryland'' each received two bomb hits. ''Arizona'' and ''Oklahoma'' were considered permanent losses, but the other damaged and sunk battleships were salvaged and sent to the West Coast for repairs and reconstruction. ''Nevada'' and ''Pennsylvania'' received entirely new superstructures with revised secondary armaments of 5"/38 DP guns in twin mounts, as well as numerous new 20mm and 40mm AA guns. ''Tennessee'', ''California'' and ''West Virginia'' were even more thoroughly rebuilt, incorporating not just changes similar to ''Nevada'' but increased deck armour, torpedo bulges and improved subdivision and a modern radar and electronics suite, though their widened beam exceeded the Panama Canal restrictions which limited their operations to the Pacific. ''Maryland'', ''Colorado'', and the three ''New Mexico'' class ships were too urgently needed in 1942 to undergo similar rebuilds. Most changes to these ships focused on updating their radar suites and expanding their light AA armaments, though ''Idaho'' would receive an updated secondary battery of 5in/38 guns in late 1944 and ''Maryland'' received a partial rebuild in 1945 at the end of the war.The ten surviving Standard Type battleships served throughout World War II primarily as fire support for amphibious landings. Their low speed relegated them to second line duties as they were too slow to accompany the fleet carriers that had become the dominant combatant. Six of them participated in the last battleship versus battleship engagement in naval history, the Battle of Surigao Strait, where none of them were hit.=== Fates ===''Arizona'' and ''Oklahoma'' were destroyed at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.Their sister ships ''Pennsylvania'' and ''Nevada'' were used as targets in the Operation Crossroads atomic tests in 1946.In 1946 ''Mississippi'' was converted to a test vessel for new gun and missile systems and served until 1956.Most other Standard-type battleships were decommissioned in 1946 or 1947 and placed in the reserve fleet; ultimately all were scrapped by 1959.
Footnotes ===Notes======Citations===
References * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * "//www.history.navy.mil/danfs/a11/arizona-ii.htm ''Arizona''." ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships''. Naval History & Heritage Command. * " Battleship ''Pennsylvania''." ''Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers'' 27, no. 2 (1915): 519. * Barber, G.H. " Launching of the Battleship Arizona," ''International Marine Engineering'' 20, no. 8 (1915): 334–36. * Breyer, Siegfried. ''Battleships and Battle Cruisers, 1905–1970''. Translated by Alfred Kurti. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1973..* Campbell, John. ''Naval Weapons of World War II''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1985.. OCLC . * Cates Junior, Clifton B. ''War History of the USS Pennsylvania BB (38)''. N.p. : Ship's Welfare Fund, 1946.OCLC . * Friedman, Norman. ''Battleship Design and Development, 1905–1945''. New York: Mayflower Books, 1978.. OCLC . * Friedman Norman. ''US Battleships: An Illustrated Design History''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1985.. OCLC . * Gill, C.C. " 'Pennsylvania' Trials." ''Proceedings'' 42, no. 2 (1916): 584. * Jones, Jerry W. ''US Battleship Operations in World War I''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1998.. . * McCarthy, J. Crosby. " Launching a Giant Battleship a Long-planned and Risky Job." ''Popular Mechanics'' 14, no. 5 (1915): 673–76. * "//www.history.navy.mil/danfs/p4/pennsylvania-ii.htm Pennsylvania." ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships''. Naval History & Heritage Command. * " Recent Launches." ''International Marine Engineering'' 20, no. 4 (1915): 180. * Stillwell, Paul. ''Battleship Arizona: An Illustrated History''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1991.. OCLC . * Tillman, Benjamin Ryan and William Adger Moffett. ''Construction of Battleships: Remarks of Hon. Benjamin R. Tillman ... United States Navy'' . 64th Cong., 1st sess., 20 June 1916.S. Doc 465. * " Trials of the Battleship Pennsylvania." ''International Marine Engineering'' 21, no. 4 (1916): 189. * " The Tillman Maximum Battleship." ''Advocate of Peace'' 74, no. 7 (1912): 182–83. * "The United States Battleship 'Pennsylvania' and Class." ''Scientific American'' 111, no. 13 (1911): 244, 254. * "Trials of Our Latest Dreadnought." ''Scientific American'' 114, no. 12 (1916): 297. * Whitley, M.J. ''Battleships of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia''. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998.. OCLC . * Wright, Christopher C., ed. (2002–03). "The US Navy's Study of the Loss of the Battleship Arizona". ''Warship International'' 39–40 (3, 4, 1): 247–99, 360–80, 44–105. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ** * * * * * * * ******************** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *