USS Illinois (BB-65)

USS [Technically the "USS" should not be in the article title since the battleship was never commissioned; however, the USS has been included here to adhere to the naming conventions on Wikipedia.] "Illinois" (BB-65) was to be the fifth sclass|Iowa|battleship constructed for the United States Navy; she was the fourth ship to be named in honor of the 21st state.

Hull BB-65 was originally to be the first ship of the sclass|Montana|battleships, but changes during the Second World War resulted in her being reordered as an sclass|Iowa|battleship midway through the war. Adherence to the "Iowa"-class layout rather than the "Montana"-class layout allowed BB-65 to gain eight knots in speed, carry more 20 mm and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, and transit the locks of the Panama Canal; however, the move away from the "Montana"-class layout left BB-65 with a reduction in the heavier armaments and without the additional armor that were to have been added to BB-65 during her time on the drawing board as USS "Montana".

Like her sister ship USS|Kentucky|BB-66, "Illinois" was still under construction at the end of World War II. Her construction was canceled in August 1945, but her hull remained until 1958 when it was broken up.

Design

The passage of the Second Vinson Act in 1938 had cleared the way for construction of the four "South Dakota"-class fast battleships and the first two "Iowa" class battleships (those with the hull numbers BB-61 and BB-62).cite web |url=http://web.umr.edu/~rogersda/american&military_history/World%27s%20Fastest%20Battleships.pdf |title=Development of the World's Fastest Battleships |accessdate=2007-04-28 |format=pdf |last=Rogers |first=J. David] The latter four battleships of the class, those designated with the hull numbers BB-63, BB-64, BB-65, and BB-66 were not cleared for construction until 1940, and at the time BB-65 and BB-66 were intended to be the first ships of the "Montana"-class. [ [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/bb-67.htm BB-67 Montana Class] ]

Originally, BB-65 was to be the United States Navy's counter to the Empire of Japan's sclass|Yamato|battleships, whose construction at the time was known to the highest ranking members of the United States Navy, along with the rumors that "Yamato" and "Musashi" were carrying guns of up to in to mm|num=18|abbr=yes|spell=Commonwealth|precision=2|wiki=yes. To combat this the United States Navy began designing a 58,000 ton ship with an intended armament of twelve in to mm|num=16|abbr=yes|spell=commonwealth|precision=2|wiki=yes. This battleship took shape in the mid-1930s as USS "Montana", the lead ship of her class of dreadnought battleships. She would have fielded three more in to mm|num=16|abbr=yes|spell=Commonwealth|precision=2|wiki=yes guns than those mounted aboard the "Iowa"-class, a more powerful secondary battery of 5 in (127 mm)/54 caliber DP mounts,cite web
author=Staff | date=28 October 2007
url=http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_5-54_mk16.htm
title=United States of America, 5"/54 (12.7 cm) Mark 16
publisher=NavWeaps | accessdate=2007-12-20 ] an increase in armor that was to enable "Montana" to withstand the effects of the in to mm|num=16|abbr=yes|spell=Commonwealth|precision=2|wiki=yes caliber guns and the lb to kg|num=2700|abbr=yes|spell=Commonwealth|precision=2|wiki=yes ammunition she and her "Iowa"-class sisters were to carry.

The increase in "Montana’s" firepower and armor came at the expense of her speed and her Panamax capabilities, but the latter issue was to be resolved through the construction of a third, much wider set of locks at the Panama Canal. As the situation in Europe deteriorated in the late-1930s, the USA began to be concerned once more about its ability to move warships between the oceans. The largest U.S. battleships were already so large as to have problems with the canal locks; and there were concerns about the locks being put out of action by enemy bombing. In 1939, to address these concerns, construction began on a new set of locks for the canal that could carry the larger warships which the U.S. had either under construction or planned for future construction. [The work proceeded for several years, and significant excavation was carried out on the new approach channels; but the project was canceled after World War II. ( [http://www.czbrats.com/Articles/3rdlocks/3rdlocks.htm "Enlarging the Panama Canal"] , Alden P. Armagnac, [http://www.czbrats.com/ CZ Brats] )( [http://www.czimages.com/CZMemories/thirdlocks/tcindex.htm "Enlarging the Panama Canal for Bigger Battleships"] , notes from [http://www.czbrats.com/ CZ Brats] )] These locks which would have enabled "Montana" to transit between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans without the need to sail around the tip of South America.Citation | last = Friedman | first = Norman | publication-date =1985 | title =U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History | publication-place =Annapolis, Maryland | publisher =United States Naval Institute | isbn =0-87921-715-1] As USS "Montana," BB-65 would have been the only battleship class commissioned by the U.S. to have come close to equaling the Empire of Japan's sclass|Yamato|battleships on the basis of armor, armament, and tonnage.cite web
author=Staff | date=2 June 2006
url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/bb-67.htm
title=BB-67 Montana Class
publisher=GlobalSecurity.org | accessdate=2007-12-20 ] Minks, R. L. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa4442/is_200609/ai_n17193832 "MONTANA CLASS BATTLESHIPS END OF THE LINE"] . Sea Classics. Sep 2006. FindArticles.com. 2007-12-01.]

By 1942 the United States Navy shifted its building focus from battleships to aircraft carriers after the successes of carrier combat in both the Battle of Coral Sea, and to a greater extent, the Battle of Midway.Naval Historical Center. Bureau of Ships' "Spring Styles" Book # 3 (1939-1944) -- (Naval Historical Center Lot # S-511) -- Battleship Preliminary Design Drawings. Accessed 2007-12-01.] As a result the construction of the U.S. fleet of sclass|Essex|aircraft carriers had been given the highest priority for completion in the U.S. shipyards by the U.S. Navy. The "Essex"-class carriers were proving vital to the war effort by enabling the Allies to gain and maintain air supremacy in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, and were rapidly becoming the principal striking arm of the United States Navy in the ongoing effort to defeat the Empire of Japan.cite episode | title = The 10 Greatest Fighting Ships in Military History | network = The Discovery ChannelWeb page: [http://military.discovery.com/convergence/topten/warships/slideshow/slideshow_10.html Top Ten Fighting Ships] Retrieved 23 April 2007.] Accordingly, the United States accepted shortcomings in the armor for their sclass|North Carolina|battleships, "South Dakota"-class battleships, and sclass|Iowa|battleships in favor of their additional speed, which enabled these battleship classes to steam at a comparable speed with the "Essex"-class and provide the carriers with the maximum amount of anti-aircraft protection.

Development

When BB-65 was redesignated an sclass|Iowa|battleship, she was assigned the name "Illinois" and reconfigured to adhere to the "fast battleship" designs planned in 1938 by the Preliminary Design Branch at the Bureau of Construction and Repair.cite book | last =Johnston, Ian & McAuley, Rob | title =The Battleships | publisher =Channel 4 Books (an imprint of Pan Macmillian, LTD) | year =2002 | location =London | pages =pages 108–123 | url = http://www.panmacmillan.com/ | id =ISBN 0752261886] [ This was not the first time that changes to the "Iowa" class had been proposed: at the time the battleships were cleared for construction some policymakers were not sold on the U.S. need for more battleships, and proposed turning the "Iowa"-class ships into aircraft carriers by retaining the hull design, but switching their decks to carry and handle aircraft (This had already been done on the battlecruisers USS|Lexington|CV-2|2 and USS|Saratoga|CV-3|2). The proposal was countered by Admiral Ernest King, the Chief of Naval Operations. cite web | title =BB-61 Iowa-class Aviation Conversion | url =http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/bb-61-av.htm | accessdate =2007-05-19] Her funding was authorized via the passage of the Two Ocean Navy bill through the United States Congress in 1940, [This bill was passed after the German invasion of France, which prompted President Franklin D. Roosevelt to demand that the US Congress fund a Two Ocean Navy to meet the threats posed by Hitler's Germany and Hirohito's Japan.] and she would now be the fifth sclass|Iowa|battleship|4 of battleship built for the United States Navy.cite web
url=http://www.voodoo.cz/battleships/usa/iowa.html
title=BB-67 Montana Class
publisher=Voodoo World | accessdate=2007-12-20 ] Like her "Iowa"-class sisters, "Illinois" was to cost US $125 million [Adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, each individual "Iowa"-class battleship would cost US $1.8 billion in 2008 dollars ( [http://www.austintxgensoc.org/calculatecpi.php Calculate Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 1665-2012] ).] and take approximately 30 to 40 months to complete.cite web
author=Staff | date=9 October 2007
url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/bb-61-design.htm
title=BB-61 Iowa-class Design
publisher=GlobalSecurity.org | accessdate=2007-12-20 ] and would be tasked primarily with the defense of the US fleet of "Essex"-class aircraft carriers. In adherence with the "Iowa"-class design, "Illinois" would have a maximum beam of 108 ft (32.9 m) and a waterline length of 860 ft (262 m), permitting a maximum speed of convert|34.9|kn|km/h|1. The Navy also called for the class to have a lengthened forecastle, amid-ship, and a bulbous bow, which would increase her speed to 35 knots.

Like "Kentucky", "Illinois" differed from her earlier sisters in that her design called for an all-welded construction, which would have saved weight and increased strength over a combination riveted/welded hull used on the four completed "Iowa"-class ships. Engineers considered retaining the original sclass|Montana|battleship|0 armor for added torpedo and naval mine protection because the newer scheme would have improved "Illinois"’ armor protection by as much as 20%.cite web |url=http://www.battleship.org/html/Articles/IowaClass/Armor.htm |title=Iowa Class: Armor Protection |accessdate=2007-12-22] This was rejected due to time constraints and "Illinois" was built with an "Iowa"-class hull design.cite web |url=http://web.umr.edu/~rogersda/american&military_history/World%27s%20Fastest%20Battleships.pdf |title=Development of the World's Fastest Battleships |accessdate=2007-04-28 |format=pdf |last=Rogers |first=J. David] Funding for the battleship was provided in part by "King Neptune", a Hereford swine auctioned across the state of Illinois as a fund raiser, and ultimately helped raise $19 million in war bonds [Beth Py-Lieberman. [http://www.jcs-group.com/military/wariipatriots/anybonds.html Any Bonds Today?] Smithsonian. February 2002.] (equivalent to about $200 million in 2007 adjusted dollars). [cite web|url=http://www.austintxgensoc.org/calculatecpi.php|title=Calculate Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 1665-2012]

crapping

"Illinois’s" keel was laid down at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on 15 January 1945,cite web | title = Illinois | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/i1/illinois.htm | work = Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships | publisher= United States Navy | accessdate=2007-12-21] but her construction was canceled after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 12 August 1945. cite web | title = USS Illinois (BB 65) | url = http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/BB65.htm | work = Naval Vessel Register | publisher = United States Navy |accesessdate=2007-12-17] Her incomplete hulk (at the time 22% finished) was retained along with her sister USS "Kentucky" (BB-66) until 1958, when both ships were finally scrapped. She was broken up in her dry dock on the builder's ways starting in September 1958.Naval Institute Press. (December 1985). U.S. Battleships: An Illustrated Design History. ISBN 0-87021-715-1.] ["Illinois" was never considered for a rebuild of any type, while "Kentucky" was a candidate for a guided missile rebuild.]

The ship's bell was cast and currently resides at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; it reads "USS Illinois 1946". While University of Illinois records are unclear as to whether the bell was donated to it or specifically to the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) at the university,cite web |url=http://www.oc.uiuc.edu/OnOurWatch/infocus/102007.html |title=Illinois On Our Watch |accessdate=2007-11-14 |author=Chancellor Richard Herman |publisher=Public Affairs for the Office of the Chancellor and the University of Illinois Alumni Association ] an Associated Press article published in 1983 seemed to indicate the latter.Associated Press. "Rose Bell" rings loudly for Illinois". The Chronicle Telegram, Elyria, Ohio, Sunday, 30 October 1983. Page 31.] According to the AP, the bell had previously resided in a Washington museum until finding its new home with the Fighting Illini football team in 1982; since then, the bell is traditionally rung by NROTC members when the football team scores a touchdown or goal.

Notes

References

*Sumrall, Robert. "Iowa Class Battleships: Their Design, Weapons & Equipment." Naval Institute Press, 1988. ISBN 0870212982
*William H. Garzke and Robert O. Dulin, Jr. "Battleships: United States Battleships 1935–1992"
*"The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914". David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, 1978.
*"The Panama Canal, what it is, what it means". J. Barrett, 1913.
*DANFS

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/65.htm NavSource]
* [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/usnshtp/bb/bb61cl.htm Iowa Class (BB-61 through BB-66), 1940 & 1941 Building Programs]