American battleships
Ironclad warships were an innovation of the American Civil War and showed that the age of the wooden battleship was over. Although the Americans had started the ball rolling by using armoured ships, they failed to maintain any sort of advantage regarding building a large fleet of them and by the late 1880s, the US was rated 12th in the world for the strongest sea power. Realising the need to compete with other nations to guarantee open sea lanes and provide national security, the United States, in 1890, initiated a programme for the construction of battleships with the intention of matching Europe’s navies.
The building of battleships commenced in 1892 and the first one to enter the US fleet was the
USS Indiana with the USS Texas and USS Maine following three years hence. A fourth ship, the USS Iowa was also subsequently authorised. Initially, the ships were intended for defensive coastal operations only, but were almost immediately used for offensive operations during the Spanish American War.
By 1900, the Americans had an additional three Illinois class and two Kearsarge class battleships either in the fleet or under construction which raised their status to the world’s fifth strongest power at sea. Not satisfied with that standing, seven classes of pre-dreadnoughts USS Indiana to USS Connecticut were constructed over the next decade bringing the total number of battleships to 25.
Although the American fleet of battleships had grown significantly, they were small in stature when compared with the size, armament, and overall performance features of the British dreadnought. Not to be outdone, the US Navy designed and commenced construction of their own class of big gun battleships beginning with the South Carolina class launched in 1910.
This would set the benchmark for American battleships giving rise to the design and construction of five more classes from the USS Nevada to USS Colorado class, with each one growing in size.
Battleships were the essence of national tactical offensive and defensive weapons intended mainly to steam in formation with other battleships and engage similar opponents much like their wooden predecessors had done for centuries. However, being both heavily armored and armed made them relatively slow.
By the 1920s the calibre of guns was increased from 10in on the Maine to
16in on the newer classes. The advances in technology also increased the gunnery range from a couple of thousand yards to about 20 miles.
The need for additional speed and increased firepower was recognised by the US Navy and commencing in the 1930s, 17 x 35,000 tonne-60,500 tonne faster big-gun battleships from the North Carolina to Iowa classes were created.
However, during WWII, aircraft carriers became the centerpiece of naval warfare, particularly in the
Pacific theatre, as their planes could out-range the big guns, but battleships were prominent in shore-bombardment missions. After the 1990s battleships had been rendered obsolete. In total, 59 American battleships of 23 different classes were constructed.
USS WYOMING
USS Wyoming (BB-32) was the lead ship of her class of dreadnought battleships with USS Arkansas being her almost identical sister ship. Completed in September 1912, she was armed with a main battery of a dozen 12in guns in six Mark 9 twin-gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in a super firing pair forward and two aft. Her secondary battery consisted of 21 x 5in/51 calibre guns mounted in casemates along the side of the hull.
In 1925, Wyoming was modernised by installing anti-torpedo bulges, oil-fired boilers, additional deck armour, eight 3in/50 calibre anti-aircraft guns, and an aircraft catapult. Her secondary battery was reduced to 16 x 5in guns.
In 1931 in accordance with the London Naval Treaty Wyoming was demilitarised by removing her anti-torpedo bulges, side armor, and half of her main battery guns. She was reclassified as AG-17, to reflect her new role as a training ship for midshipmen in the Atlantic. Wyoming later participated in a number of amphibious assault exercises and gunnery drills. She performed her typical routine of training cruises in the Atlantic through 1941. During WWII, Wyoming functioned in the capacity of a gunnery training ship operating primarily in the Chesapeake
Bay area. During a modernisation in 1944, the remaining three 12in gun turrets were removed and replaced with four twin and two single enclosed mounts for 5in/38 calibre guns, and new fire control radars were installed.
Over the course of the war, Wyoming trained approximately 35,000 sailors on seven different guns.
USS ARKANSAS
USS Arkansas (BB-33) was a dreadnought type battleship of the Wyoming class armed with a main battery of 12 x 12in guns and powered by four-shaft Parsons’ steam turbines fed by 12 coal-fired Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers that generated a top speed of 20.5 knots. 13 years after her 1912 commissioning, Arkansas was modernised to include the installation of armoured anti-torpedo bulges which widened her beam to 106ft from 93ft; the 12 coal-fired boilers were replaced with four White-Forster oilburning models which did not increase the power, but was a cleaner source of energy and greatly reduced the smoke trailing from her stacks; and additional deck armour was added to the second deck between the end barbettes, on the third deck on the bow and stern, and over the engines and boilers.
USS Arkansas
Class: Wyoming
Displacement: 31,000 tonnes
Length: 562ft
Beam: 106ft
Draft: 32ft
Speed: 20.5 knots
Range: 9,206 miles
Crew: 1,063 officers and enlisted men Armament: 12 × 12in Mark 7 guns • 6 × 5in guns • 10 × 3in AA guns • 4 × 3pdr saluting guns • 9 × quad 1.6in Bofors guns • 26 × 0.79in AA guns Armour: Deck - 1.5in–2.5in, Waterline belt 5in–11in