How Much Do You Know About Famous Battleships?

The hull classification symbol of American battleships is BB. B just stands for "Battleship."

All US battleships have officially been retired. At least that gives us the opportunity to explore some of them!

There are technically 5 types of battleship. These include coastal defense, pre-dreadnought, dreadnought, standard and fast.

The USS Texas was the first US battleship to be built. It was commissioned on August 15th, 1895.

Sadly, the USS Maine was commissioned in 1895 and sunk by explosion in 1898. The USS Maine could reach a speed of 17 knots.

USS Indiana, Massachusetts and Oregon were part of the Indiana class. The first ship in this class was commissioned in 1895.

The USS Iowa was considered a pre-dreadnought battleship. It was commissioned in 1897 and decommissioned in 1919.

There were two ships in the Kearsarge class. These included the USS Kearsarge and USS Kentucky. Both of these ships were eventually scrapped.

Battleships are much better armed than cruisers or destroyers. They were known for their heavy-caliber guns.

Battleships ruled the seas from 1875 up until World War II. Battleships faded in use with the rise of air power.

Battleships also made great flagships. However, they were most famous for their big cannons and heavy anti-aircraft defences.

There were 3 Illinois class ships. These included the USS Illinois, USS Alabama and USS Wisconsin. The last of these was scrapped in 1922.

The Maine class of ship was first commissioned in 1902, with the USS Maine. All Maine ships were scrapped by 1922.

It was finally by 2004 that the US Navy had turned all existing battleships into museums. Be sure to find one near you!

The USS Texas, the Navy's first battleship, was coal-burning. It had an overall length of 309 feet.

In 1907, the USS Kansas had some remarkable innovations. It displaced twice the tonnage that the original battleship did.

The HMS Dreadnought was the battleship that changed it all. It was designed by British Admiral of the Fleet Lord Fisher.

The USS Wyoming was also known as BB32. It came about in 1912, and had a remarkable length of nearly 600 feet.

Battleship commissions basically ceased following the Washington Disarmament Conference of 1921. There were no new commissions between 1923 and 1941.

TyCom stands for Type Command. The first battleship Type Command (TyCom) was established on Nov. 1, 1940.

The South Carolina class battleships displaced a remarkable 16,000 tons. The two ships in this class were the USS South Carolina and the USS Michigan.

It's true that the Delaware class came after the famous HMS Dreadnought. Delaware class displaced 20,380 tons.

Remarkably, there were 8 battleships either sunk or damaged during Pearl Harbor. Six of these were repaired and returned to service.

The USS New Jersey was BB 62. It was brought back into service in 1968 and served as a gun platform off the coast of Vietnam.

Both the USS Wisconsin and USS Missouri had a successful effect on the war in Iraq. Iraq agreed to a cease fire agreement on Feb. 28, 1991.

The Delaware class of battleship could reach a speed of 21 knots. The two ships of this class were the USS Delaware and USS North Dakota.

The USS Utah sadly sunk in Pearl Harbor. It was part of the Florida class of battleship.

The USS Missouri was the last battleship on active duty. It was decommissioned Mar. 31, 1992.

Missouri was the last to be built, and also the last to be in service. The ship was commissioned in June 1944.

All but one of the 48 contiguous states had at least one battleship. Montana sadly never had one, although they tried twice.

There were initially four Iowa class battleships intended for WWII. These included Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri and Wisconsin.

There were a total of 2 New York class ships. These included the USS New York and USS Texas. The first was commissioned in 1914.

It's false that a US battleship has ever been lost at sea. That being said, the USS Maine exploded in port.

Where battleships are named after states, cruisers are named after cities. Destroyers are named after famous military leaders and heroes.

The US is the only country that has kept and preserved its battleships. All four Iowa class battleships are still afloat.