What was the best Battleship?

[KiwiRob]

Out of all the battleships produced prior to, during and right after WW2 which was the superior fighting ship. I believe the last (best) battleships produced by each nation were:

France

Richelieu Class
47,584 tonnes full load
247.9 meters
30 knots
8 x 15 inch guns

Germany

Bismark Class
50,900 tonnes full load
251 meters
30.8 knots
8 x 15 inch guns

Great Britian

Vangard Class
48,500 tonnes
246.8 meters
30 knots
8 x 15 inch guns

Italy

Littorio class
45,963 tons full load
237.8 meters
31.5 knots
9 x 15 inch guns

Japan

Yamato class
72,820 tonnes
263 meters
27 knots
9 x 18.1 inch

United States

Iowa class
58,000 tons full load
271.27 meters
33 knots
9 x 16 inch

 

[Stuart Mackey]

Out of all the battleships produced prior to, during and right after WW2 which was the superior fighting ship. I believe the last (best) battleships produced by each nation were:

snip

Uhh, mate, Im not sure that this is the right forum for that kind of question and its one that has been done to death for years. I have always found, however, that searching out information for yourself and drawing a conlusion based on what you find, is vastly more interesting and educational than asking such questions that cannot yeild more than a mere paragrapaph of words of uncertain provenance and reliablity.

 

[KiwiRob]

Ok, a mod can delete it if they want to.

Cheers

Rob

 

[Tasman]

Arguing what was the 'best battleship' in and immediately after WW2 is difficult because each of the new designs had strengths and weaknesses so a lot would depend on the role for which they were used.

The Iowas were clearly the fastest and this made them ideal to support the fast carrier task forces. They were fine AA vessels and their excellent 16" guns made them fine bombardment ships.

The Yamato class had the most powerful main armament but the blast effect of these guns would have made it difficult to keep them in action for a sustained period without damaging the host ships. Rate of fire of the 18.1" gun was also less than the American 16" so a clash between Yamato and Iowa may not have seen the US ship disadvantaged as much as it would seem 'on paper'. This class was also 6 knots slower.

The British Vanguard was a very well balanced design which benefited from war experience. It had good speed, reasonable armour and an excellent AA armament (arguably the best ever mounted in a battleship). Its main armament comprised 4 of the excellent 15" twin mounts that had been refined over several decades and were probably the most reliable and efficient of the big guns. Even though they appear 'on paper' to be inferior to the German, Italian and French weapons of the same calibre, in practice they were accurate and dependable. The problems Prince of Wales had with its new 14" guns during its clash with Bismark (half the guns were out of action shortly into the battle) demonstrates how important it is to have a gun that is reliable rather than one that has good theoretical performance but which breaks down when subjected to sustained fire.

Bismark has been elevated to almost mythical status by naval writers re the strength of its armoured protection but in reality was not much different to the latest German WW1 designs in this regard.

I think all of the ships listed by KiwiRob were fine vessels. All had their particular strengths. But I suspect that a battleship versus battleship clash between any two of them may well have come down to a 'lucky shot' such as the one that penetrated the armour and detonated the magazine of HMS Hood.

Tas