See nations race to launch ever-bigger, faster, more powerful, and deadlier battleships to control the sea. Marvel their beauty and size; wonder at what might have been; honor courage; and mourn the deaths of these castles of the sea – predicted by General Billy Mitchell – the super-dreadnought USS Arizona, HMS Hood, KMS Bismarck, and the two behemoths, IJN’s Yamato and Musashi.
US Captain (later Admiral) Mahon wrote a book in 1890. It is entitled, “The Importance of Sea Power on History” became required reading for officers in every nation. It described how control of the sea mattered. At the time, Great Britain had the largest naval fleet in the world by far. Other nations attempted to not just build up their fleets, but to equal or surpass the British. The German Kaiser — cousin of the King of Great Britain — led this watery charge.
England responded. Admiral of the Fleet, Jackie Fischer, ordered a new battleship. It was named “HMS Dreadnought” (Fear Nothing). She launched in 1906 and was faster, more heavily armored, and more powerfully gunned than any other ship in the world. By herself, she outclassed every other ship. She dominated to such an extent, that all battleships before were known as “Pre-Dreadnoughts”. She was an all-big-gun battleship, with ten, 12″ guns. She was 526 feet long, had a crew of 800, and weighed in at 18,000 tons. Driven by steam turbines, she could make 21 knots.
The lesson ever other navy learned was simple. Just build one larger battleship. By the start of the first World War, she was obsolete, as nations raced to build and launch ever-bigger battleships. This included the United States. For a while, USS Arizona was the King of the Water. Starting in 1937, Japan built three super, super battleships. The IJN Yamato carried a main battery of nine 18″ guns. She had a crew of 3,233 in a hull 862 feet long, displacing 72,000 tons, traveling at 27 knots.
Yet Yamato and her sisters were already obsolete. In 1925 US General Billy Mitchell was court-martialed after he proved that. He accused his superiors of threatening UN National Security by engaging in the Battleship Race.
The history has relevance today, to explain why the world’s last battleship (launched 1946 was scrapped in 1960). There have been none built since then.