Steve's Shipyard

BATTLESHIPS

TOURS USS TEXAS BB35 SELECTION PHOTOS

Axis Battleships-

The Axis navies had the biggest, baddest battleships. For example, no battleship has ever been built that could equal the displacement and firepower of the 18"-gunned IJN Yamato and Musashi! The Japanese also had a fleet of other Battleships including the Nagato, one of the more popular battleships in the hobby!

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The German navy came very close to launching a deadly force of Battleships and Battle Cruisers in 1942. Imagine, for a moment, how Churchill would have responded to the sailing of the DKM Bismark, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz Eugen! Fortunately for the British, politicians were too impatient to wait another few months for the Tirpitz to complete her training, and the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were laid up for minor repairs in Brest. Otherwise, the story of the Bismarck's first voyage may have ended differently!

Allied Battleships-

The US Navy had the best Allied battleships! The big ships role changed, as they became mostly political weapons, showing the flag, from the time they sailed into Tokyo Bay. Still, they were fast and powerful, like the USS North Carolina!

For the USA, the war began with the a battleship (when USS Arizona blew up in Pearl Harbor), and ended on a battleship (signing the treaty on USS Missouri). These two ships are now berthed together in Hawaii as the centerpiece of a war memorial.

The British and Germans also had some very cool battlecruisers which were considered as battleships except for thier lighter armor and higher speed. Click here to check out battlecruisers!

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