List of battleships of World War II
Ships of World War II |
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This is a list of battleships of the World War II. All displacements are at standard load, in metric tonnes, so as to avoid confusion over their relative displacements[Note: Not all displacements have been adjusted to match this yet]. Ideally displacements will be as they were at either the end of the war, or when the ship was sunk.
The battleship was a capital ship built in the first half of the 20th century. At the outbreak of war, large fleets of battleships—many inherited from the dreadnought era decades before—were considered one of the decisive forces in naval warfare. There were several engagements between battleships in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Battleships were the most heavily protected ships afloat, nonetheless sixteen were sunk or crippled by bombs or torpedoes delivered by aircraft, while three more were sunk by submarine-launched torpedoes. Guided bombs developed during the war made it much easier for aircraft to sink battleships. By the end of the war, battleship construction was all but halted, and almost every existing battleship was retired or scrapped within a few years of its end. The Second World War saw the end of the battleship as the dominant force in the world's navies. [1][2][3][4] [5][6][7][8]
The List of ships of World War II contains major military vessels of the war, arranged alphabetically and by type. The list includes armed vessels that served during the war and in the immediate aftermath, inclusive of localized ongoing combat operations, garrison surrenders, post-surrender occupation, colony re-occupation, troop and prisoner repatriation, to the end of 1945. For smaller vessels, see also List of World War II ships of less than 1000 tons. Some uncompleted Axis ships are included, out of historic interest. Ships are designated to the country under which they operated for the longest period of the World War II, regardless of where they were built or previous service history.
Click on headers to sort column alphabetically.
Ship | Country | Class | Type | Displacement (tons) | First commissioned | Fate |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Alabama | United States Navy | South Dakota | battleship | 35,000 | 16 August 1942 | Decommissioned 9 January 1947, museum ship |
Almirante Latorre | Chile | Almirante Latorre | super dreadnought | 28,550 | 1 August 1920 | Scrapped 1959 |
Andrea Doria | Regia Marina | Andrea Dorea | battleship | 25,920 | 13 March 1916 | Scrapped 1956 |
Anson | Royal Navy | King George V | battleship | 39,000 | 22 June 1942 | Scrapped 1957 |
Arizona | United States Navy | Pennsylvania | super dreadnought | 32,600 | 17 October 1916 | Sunk 7 December 1941, war memorial |
Arkansas | United States Navy | Wyoming | battleship | 26,100 | 17 September 1912 | Sunk 25 July 1946 in A-bomb test |
Barham | Royal Navy | Queen Elizabeth | battleship | 31,000 | 19 August 1915 | sunk 25 November 1941 |
Bismarck | Kriegsmarine | Bismarck | battleship | 41,700 | 24 August 1940 | sunk 27 May 1941 |
Bretagne | French Navy | Bretagne | super dreadnought | 22,200 | 10 February 1916 | sunk 3 July 1940 |
Caio Duilio | Regia Marina | Andrea Dorea | battleship | 25,920 | 10 May 1915 | Scrapped 1957 |
California | United States Navy | Tennessee | battleship | 32,600 | 10 August 1921 | Decommissioned 14 February 1947, scrapped 1959 |
Conte di Cavour | Regia Marina | Conte di Cavour | dreadnought | 26,140 | 1 April 1915 | captured 10 September 1943 by Germany, scrapped 1946 |
Courbet | French Navy Free French Naval Forces |
Courbet | dreadnought | 23,200 | 19 November 1913 | scuttled as a "Gooseberry" breakwater 6 June 1944 |
Duke of York | Royal Navy | King George V | battleship | 39,000 | 28 February 1940 | scrapped 1957 |
Dunkerque | French Navy | Dunkerque | battleship | 26,500 | 15 April 1937 | scuttled 27 November 1942 |
Fusō | Imperial Japanese Navy | Fusō | dreadnought | 34,700 | 18 November 1915 | sunk 25 October 1944 |
Giulio Cesare | Regia Marina | Conte di Cavour | dreadnought | 26,140 | 10 May 1914 | Ceded to Soviet Union 1948, renamed Novorossiysk |
Gneisenau | Kriegsmarine | Scharnhorst | battleship | 32,000 | 21 May 1938 | sunk as block ship March 1945 |
Howe | Royal Navy | King George V | battleship | 39,150 | 28 September 1942 | scrapped 1958 |
Hyūga | Imperial Japanese Navy | Ise | dreadnought | 38,872 | 30 April 1918 | sunk 28 July 1945 |
Indiana | United States Navy | South Dakota | battleship | 35,000 | 30 April 1942 | decommissioned 11 September 1947, scrapped 1963 |
Iowa | United States Navy | Iowa | battleship | 45,000 | 22 February 1943 | decommissioned 1990, museum |
Iron Duke | Royal Navy | Iron Duke | dreadnought | 25,400 | 1 March 1914 | paid off March 1946 |
Ise | Imperial Japanese Navy | Ise | dreadnought | 36,000 | 15 December 1917 | sunk 28 July 1945 |
Jean Bart | French Navy | Courbet | dreadnought | 23,475 | 5 June 1913 | captured Germany 27 November 1942, sunk 1944, scrapped 14 December 1945 |
King George V | Royal Navy | King George V | battleship | 39,100 | 11 December 1940 | decommissioned and scrapped 1949 |
Kirishima | Imperial Japanese Navy | Kongō | battleship | 36,600 | 19 April 1915 | Sunk 15 November 1942 |
Haruna | Imperial Japanese Navy | Kongō | battleship | 36,600 | 19 April 1915 | Sunk at her moorings on 28 July 1945; raised and scrapped in 1946 |
Hiei | Imperial Japanese Navy | Kongō | battleship | 36,600 | 21 November 1912 | Sunk following the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on November 14, 1942 |
Kongō | Imperial Japanese Navy | Kongō | battleship | 36,600 | 18 May 1912 | Sunk by USS Sealion in the Formosa Strait, 21 November 1944 |
Littorio | Regia Marina | Littorio | battleship | 41,377 | 6 May 1940 | renamed Italia, scrapped 1948 |
Lorraine | French Navy Free French Naval Forces |
Bretagne | super dreadnought | 22,200 | 27 July 1916 | Decommissioned 17 February 1953 |
Malaya | Royal Navy | Queen Elizabeth | battleship | 31,000 | 1 February 1916 | decommissioned 1944, scrapped 1948 |
Maryland | United States Navy | Colorado | battleship | 32,600 | 21 July 1921 | decommissioned 1947, scrapped 1959 |
Massachusetts | United States Navy | South Dakota | battleship | 37,970 | 12 May 1942 | Decommissioned 27 March 1947, museum ship |
Minas Geraes | Brazil | Minas Geraes | dreadnought | 19,200 | 6 January 1910 | Decommissioned 20 September 1953 |
Mississippi | United States Navy | New Mexico | battleship | 32,000 | 25 January 1917 | decommissioned 1956 (for scrap) |
Missouri | United States Navy | Iowa | battleship | 45,000 | 11 June 1944 | decommissioned 1992; museum ship |
Moreno | Argentine Navy | Rivadavia | dreadnought | 27,720 | 26 February 1915 | scrapped February 1956 |
Musashi | Imperial Japanese Navy | Yamato | battleship | 68,200 | 5 August 1942 | sunk 25 October 1944 |
Mutsu | Imperial Japanese Navy | Nagato | dreadnought | 39,050 | 24 October 1921 | sunk 8 June 1943 |
Nagato | Imperial Japanese Navy | Nagato | dreadnought | 39,130 | 25 November 1920 | sunk as target 29 July 1946 |
Nelson | Royal Navy | Nelson | battleship | 34,000 | 10 September 1927 | decommissioned February 1948, scrapped March 1949 |
Nevada | United States Navy | Nevada | battleship | 29,000 | 11 March 1916 | decommissioned 29 July 1946; sunk as a target 31 July 1948 |
New Jersey | United States Navy | Iowa | battleship | 45,000 | 23 May 1943 | decommissioned 1991. museum ship |
New Mexico | United States Navy | New Mexico | battleship | 33,000 | 20 May 1918 | Scrapped November 1947 |
New York | United States Navy | New York | battleship | 27,000 | 15 April 1914 | decommissioned 29 August 1946, sunk as target 8 July 1948 |
North Carolina | United States Navy | North Carolina | battleship | 35,000 | 9 April 1941 | decommissioned 27 June 1947, museum ship |
Oklahoma | United States Navy | Nevada | battleship | 29,000 | 2 May 1916 | sunk 7 December 1941; raised and sunk under tow 1947 |
Oktyabrskaya Revolutsiya | Soviet Navy | Gangut | battleship | 23,000 | 3 June 1909 | scrapped 1959 |
Paris | French Navy Royal Navy |
Courbet | dreadnought | 23,475 | 5 June 1913 | captured by Britain 3 July 1940 used as depot ship, scrapped 1956 |
Pennsylvania | United States Navy | Pennsylvania | super dreadnought | 33,000 | 12 June 1916 | Decommissioned 29 August 1946, sunk as target 10 February 1948 |
Prince of Wales | Royal Navy | King George V | battleship | 39,000 | 31 March 1941 | sunk 10 December 1941 |
Provence | French Navy | Bretagne | super dreadnought | 22,200 | 1 March 1916 | scuttled 27 November 1942, |
Queen Elizabeth | Royal Navy | Queen Elizabeth | battleship | 31,000 | 22 December 1914 | decommissioned and scrapped 1948 |
Ramillies | Royal Navy | Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 1 September 1917 | Decommissioned 31 August 1945, scrapped 1949 |
Resolution | Royal Navy | Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 7 December 1916 | scrapped 1949 |
Revenge | Royal Navy | Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 1 February 1916 | scrapped 1948 |
Richelieu | French Navy Free French Naval Forces |
Richelieu | battleship | 35,000 | 15 July 1940 | scrapped 1968 |
Rivadavia | Argentine Navy | Rivadavia | dreadnought | 27,720 | 27 August 1914 | scrapped February 1956 |
Rodney | Royal Navy | Nelson | battleship | 34,000 | 10 November 1927 | scrapped 1948 |
Roma | Regia Marina | Littorio | battleship | 41,649 | 14 June 1942 | sunk 9 September 1943 |
Royal Oak | Royal Navy | Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 1 May 1916 | sunk 14 October 1939 |
Royal Sovereign | Royal Navy Soviet Navy |
Revenge | battleship | 29,150 | 1 February 1916 | transferred to USSR as Arkhangelsk 30 May 1944 |
São Paulo | Brazil | Minas Geraes | battleship | 19,200 | 12 July 1910 | Sold 1951 |
Scharnhorst | Kriegsmarine | Scharnhorst | battleship | 32,000 | 7 January 1939 | sunk 26 December 1943 |
Schlesien | Kriegsmarine | Deutschland | battleship | 14,218 | 5 May 1908 | blown up 4 May 1945 |
Schleswig-Holstein | Kriegsmarine | Deutschland | battleship | 14,218 | 6 July 1908 | scrapped after 1946 |
South Dakota | United States Navy | South Dakota | battleship | 35,000 | 20 March 1942 | decommissioned 31 January 1947, scrapped 1962 |
Strasbourg | French Navy | Dunkerque | battleship | 26,500 | 15 March 1938 | scuttled 27 November 1942 |
Tennessee | United States Navy | Tennessee | battleship | 33,190 | 3 June 1920 | Decommissioned 14 February 1947, scrapped 1959 |
Texas | United States Navy | New York | battleship | 27,000 | 12 March 1914 | Decommissioned 21 April 1948; museum ship |
Tirpitz | Kriegsmarine | Bismarck | battleship | 42,900 | 25 February 1941 | sunk 12 November 1944 |
Valiant | Royal Navy | Queen Elizabeth | battleship | 31,000 | 13 January 1916 | scrapped 1950 |
Vanguard | Royal Navy | battleship | 45,200 | 15 October 1946 | launch during war 30 November 1944, paid off 7 June 1960 | |
Vittorio Veneto | Regia Marina | Littorio | battleship | 41,337 | 28 April 1940 | scrapped 1948 |
Warspite | Royal Navy | Queen Elizabeth | battleship | 31,000 | 8 March 1915 | scrapped 1950 |
Washington | United States Navy | North Carolina | battleship | 35,000 | 15 May 1941 | Decommissioned 27 June 1947, scrapped 1960 |
West Virginia | United States Navy | Colorado | battleship | 31,500 | 1 December 1923 | Decommissioned 9 January 1947, scrapped 1959 |
Wisconsin | United States Navy | Iowa | battleship | 45,000 | 16 April 1944 | decommissioned 30 September 1991; museum ship |
Yamashiro | Imperial Japanese Navy | Fusō | dreadnought | 34,700 | 31 March 1917 | sunk 25 October 1944 |
Yamato | Imperial Japanese Navy | Yamato | battleship | 74,170 | 16 December 1941 | sunk 7 April 1945 |
References
- ↑ Sondhaus
- ↑ Gardiner
- ↑ Parks
- ↑ Stilwell
- ↑ Naval Vessel Register Index
- ↑ Archives, The National. "Royal Navy operations in the Second World War - The National Archives". The National Archives. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
- ↑ "US Navy Inactive Classification Symbols". Naval Vessel Register. NAVSEA Shipbuilding Support Office. Retrieved 21 April 2015.
- ↑ Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Index
Bibliography
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- navy.mil: List of homeports and their ships
- NavSource Naval History
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- "Allied warships". uboat.net. Guðmundur Helgason. 1995–2007.
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