Navies are built to control the seas and you better have the right equipment on board or someone might sink your battleship! During WW2, some of the most massive, most impressive ships were constructed, only to collect barnacles at the bottom of the sea after receiving a heavy dosage of firepower. Today we’ll take an in depth look at some the most powerful WW2 battleships, and the fate they would suffer.
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5. Littorio
Being Italy’s most modernized battleship during world war 2, the Littorio class battleship was used extensively in the mediterranean sea. They built 3 power battleships capable of hitting 30 knots and came in at over 41,000 tons. Overall, the measured 780 feet long and were equipped with nine 15 millimeter guns, twelve 6 inch guns and four 120 mm guns. It consisted of 2 ships Littorio, vittorio veneto and the roma. These were the big dogs of the Italian army but they proved to be vulnerabl l le from the skies and that’s where the allies had hit them the hardest. After italy signed an armistice, the allies had captured the boats. Similar to how the french had their ships sunk by an ally, the italians had their ships sunk by their german allies in an attempt to keep them out of the hands of the Americans and British.
4. Fuso
The fuso seemed to be one of the more treaty friendly class of battleship and was equipped with 14 inch guns and displaced around 35,000 tons of water. The Fuso was first commissioned in 1915 and patrolled off the coast of china for a bit until it was modernized between 1930-1935 and then again from 1937 to 1941. Improvements included upgrades in armor, propulsion machinery. It’s armor was 12 inches thick and turrets were protected with 11 total inches. The fuso served briefly during WWII the pearl harbor attack and during the midway Island Operation. It quickly sank as the americans got the last laugh, sinking the ship in less than 40 minutes with torpedo bombers. Some claim that one torpedo hit an ammo storage room in the ship and it exploded in half!
3. Yamato
These two Japanese battleships were heaviest battleships ever made and could displace 72,800 tonnes. Just because it was big didn’t mean that this thing couldn’t move quickly by any means. It could still get around at a speed of roughly 27 knots ir 31 miles an hour Named after the ancient Japanese Province of Yamato, they were basically mocking the treaty requirements at that point!. They were hoping size would be more important than quantity because the US vastly outnumbered them in battleships. It had several large 46 cm cannons that could attack quite a few enemy boats at one time. It carried twenty four 25 millimeter guns that were used to take out any enemy planes. It reached a max speed of 31 miles per hour. The Yamato and its sister ship actually did not see too much action because the Japanese were hoping to keep its design a secret for a while and it was more commonly used as a transport barge. The large vessel currently lays at the bottom of the sea about 180 miles or 290 kilometers southeast of Kyushu.
2. Iowa Class
The iowa class battleship was possibly the best class of battleship available to the US and they were capable of displacing 57,000 tons of water! It contained nine 16 inch naval cannons, twenty 5 inch 28 cal guns. Something a little bit more powerful was needed in case the Nazis sailed a little bit too far east and this was their answer. They were so good, they were even upgraded during the cold war and korean war. It consisted of 6 different ships which all made it out of the war in one piece. This included the iowa, the New jersey, the Missouri, the wisconsin, illinois and kentucky. Used primarily at the end of the war, it was the extra advantage the allies needed to gain control in the far east. Offensive operations included the conflict at iwo jima, and okinawa.
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