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/* World War II */
In the period up to the beginning of the [[Second World War]] construction projects for new battleships began in many nations. In Great Britain, the ''King George V''-class battleships were built from 1936 onward; although officially they were measured at 35,000 tons, they actually displaced well over 40,000 tons. In the United States, the ''North Carolina''-class was laid down in 1937, with a maximum displacement of 45,000 tons and nine 16-inch guns; by 1941 the larger ''South Dakota'' and ''Iowa'' classes would be started. The mid-1930s also saw the construction of the ''Bismarck''-class in Germany, the ''Littorio''-class in Italy, and the ''Richelieu''-class in France, all of which had tonnages exceeding 43,000. In 1937 Japan laid down the keels of the two ships of the ''Yamato''-class, which exceeded 70,000 tons and carried to sea nine 18-inch guns, the largest battleships ever built.
==World War II=====Atlantic=End of the battleships==In December 1939 at the start of the war German's small [[Pocket Battleship|pocket battleshipSecond World War]] ''Graf Spee'' sank numerous merchant ships in , the South Atlantic. On December 13 three British cruisers found it along weakness of the coast of Uruguay, defeated it battleship became clear: despite a massive increase in a running fightair defense, and forced it into Montevideo harbor, where it was scuttled battleships were not adequately protected against attacks by its captainaircraft. In October 1940, Developments in air warfare combined with the pocket battleship ''Scheer'' broke out into the Atlantic via the Danish Straits. It attacked an Allied convoy emergence of 36 ships on November 5; the armed merchant ship ''Jervis Bay'' defended the convoy and enabled 31 ships of the convoy powerful carrier forces relegated battleships to escapea secondary status. On May 22, 1941, This fact was shown several times early in the battleship ''Bismarck'' ventured into the North Atlantic to war: a British attack British commerceon moored battleships at Taranto, Italy (Nov. A Royal Navy (British1940) task force intercepted it between Iceland and Greenland. The ''Bismarck'' sank ; the battle cruiser ''Hood'' with one salvo and damaged sinking of the German battleship ''Prince of Wales''. The ''Bismarck'' was hit too and made for home waters(May, pursued by a pack of British destroyers. The aircraft carrier ''Ark Royal'' gave chase1941), and the ''Bismarck'' was hit by torpedo planes and bombers. Finally two large which succeeded when antiquated British battleships joined biplanes dropped the hunt; torpedoes which disabled the ship''Bismarck'' lost its rudder controlss rudders; a torpedo finally sank it, ending the era of German surface raiders in the open Atlantic. A solitary battleship undefended by air power was proven helpless, as the British discovered when their Asian fleet, the battleship ''Prince of Wales'' and the battlecruiser ''Repulse'' were sunk by Japanese air power in December 1941 near [[Singapore]]. ===End of the battleships===The Royal Navy sank the Italian fleet in Nov. 1940 at the Battle of Taranto using warplanes from [[aircraft carrier]]s. The Japanese took note and at the [[Battle of attack on Pearl Harbor]] (Dec. 7. 1941), sank nearly the entire American battleship fleet using carrier planes. Immediately the carrier replaced the battleship as the capital ship of sea-power. The era of big-gun battles between fleets at 30,000 yards was (almost) over. Within months after the Pearl Harbor the battleship component of the US Pacific Fleet was back stronger than ever ; and capable of fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific. But the battleship fleet, designated Task Force One, went largely unused. Initially, logistical problems played a large role in the failure to commit the battleships, but by late November 1942 considerations sinking of operational capability and survivability were more important. Admiral [[William Halsey]], the South Pacific theater commander, believed the battleships were a liability, while Admiral [[Chester Nimitz]], commander of the Pacific Fleet, believed the benefit to be gained from using them was not worth the risk of losing them and their personnel in battle. As a result, the battleships were relegated to shore bombardment, but for combat were replaced by bombs delivered by air, and torpedoes (delivered by airplane, submarine, or destroyer) as the chief offensive weapons of naval warfare. The last British battleship ever was built in 1945.<ref>David C. Fuquea, "Task Force One: the Wasted Assets of the United States Pacific Battleship Fleet, 1942." ''Journal Prince of Military HistoryWales'' 1997 61(4): 707-734while at sea near Singapore a few days later.</ref>
Within months after the Pearl Harbor the battleship component of the US Pacific Fleet was back stronger than ever and capable of fighting the Japanese in the South Pacific. But the battleship fleet, designated Task Force One, went largely unused<ref>David C. Fuquea, "Task Force One: the Wasted Assets of the United States Pacific Battleship Fleet, 1942." ''Journal of Military History'' 1997 61(4): 707-734.</ref>. Initially, logistical problems played a large role in the failure to commit the battleships, but by late November 1942 considerations of operational capability and survivability were more important. Admiral [[William Halsey]], the South Pacific theater commander, believed the battleships were a liability, while Admiral [[Chester Nimitz]], commander of the Pacific Fleet, believed the benefit to be gained from using them was not worth the risk of losing them and their personnel in battle. As a result, the battleships were relegated to shore bombardment and a supporting role to the ship which replaced them as the chief offensive weapon: the aircraft carrier. And it was planes launched from carriers that would turn the tide of the war, as well as sink nearly all of Japan's battleships, including the giant ''Yamato'' and her sister ''Musashi''.
After World War II battleships were largely scrapped. The last battleship actually constructed and commissioned was Great Britain's HMS ''Vanguard'' in 1946; she had only 14 years of life before decommissioning in 1960 and scrapping. French battleship ''Jean Bart'' only had two years in commission - 1955-1957 - before she too was scrapped. Of the American battleships, the four ''Iowas'' (''Iowa'', ''New Jersey'', ''Missouri'', ''Wisconsin'') had a brief period of active duty during the 1980s, with ''Missouri'' and ''Wisconsin'' being the last battleships to fire their weapons in combat during the Persian Gulf War in 1991; all four were eventually decommissioned (the reason cited is high maintenance costs) and relegated to museum attractions. The remaining battleships (''Massachusetts'', ''Alabama'', ''North Carolina'', ''Texas'') are also museums in their respective states.
==See also==
