Tennessee class battleship

The "Tennessee" class battleships were a class of battleship of the United States Navy. Two of this class of battleships were built, the USS|Tennessee|BB-43|2 and the USS|California|BB-44|2.

Class history

"Tennessee" and her sister ship "California", already incorporating many of the innovations in the New Mexico class, were the first American battleships built to a "post-Jutland" hull design. As a result of extensive experimentation and testing, her underwater hull protection was much greater than that of previous battleships; and both her main and secondary batteries had fire-control systems. The "Tennessee" class, and the three ships of the "Colorado" class which followed, were identified by two heavy cage masts supporting large fire-control tops. This feature was to distinguish the "Big Five" from the rest of the battleship force until World War II. Since "Tennessee's" 14 inch (356 mm) turret guns could be elevated to 30 degrees - rather than to the 15 degrees of earlier battleships - her heavy guns could reach out an additional 10,000 yards (9 km). Because battleships were then beginning to carry airplanes to spot long-range gunfire, "Tennessee's" ability to shoot "over the horizon" had a practical value.

After Pearl Harbor, both ships were extensively reconstructed into essentially new vessels. Their hulls were "bulged" for better stability, superstructures were scrapped down to the deck and completely rebuilt, their secondary battery of 5 in (127 mm) 51 caliber anti-surface and 3 in (76 mm) 50 caliber anti-aircraft guns was replaced by a uniform secondary of 5 in (127 mm) 38 calibre DP, and they added a number of 20 and 40 mm anti-aircraft weapons.

The "Tennessee" class was part of the "Standard type battleship" concept of the US Navy, a design concept which gave the US Navy a homogeneous line of battle (very important, as it allowed the Navy to plan maneuvers for the whole line of battle rather than detaching "fast wing"s and "slow wing"s). The "Standard" concept included long-range gunnery, moderate speed of 21 knots (39 km/h), a tight tactical radius of 700 yards (640 m) and improved damage control. The other Standards were the "Nevada", "Pennsylvania", "New Mexico" and "Colorado" classes.

By the naval planning theory of the US Navy, influenced strongly by Alfred Thayer Mahan, the ability to chase down enemy warships was of secondary importance to being able to win a battle, as naval objectives were seen to be more easily accomplished by seizing targets. The theory, thus, was that advancing on a target would force the enemy's naval forces to come out, give battle and be destroyed by the more powerful and tougher battleships of the US Navy.

List of Tennessee class battleships

The United States Navy built two "Tennessee"-class battleships: [ [http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/usnshtp/bb/bb43cl.htm "Tennessee Class (BB-43 and BB-44)", DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER.] ]

*USS|Tennessee|BB-43
*USS|California|BB-44

References