Complete Guide to American Battleships

In the late 1880s, the US Navy commenced building its first steel battleships, USS Texas and USS Maine.  These were soon followed by seven classes of pre-dreadnoughts (Indiana to Connecticut).  Beginning with the South Carolina-class which entered service in 1910, the US Navy embraced the "all-big-gun" dreadnought concept which would govern battleship design moving forward.  Refining these designs, the US Navy developed the Standard-type battleship which embraced five classes (Nevada to Colorado) that possessed similar performance characteristics.  With the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, battleship construction halted for over a decade. 

Developing new designs in the 1930s, the US Navy focused on building classes of "fast battleships" (North Carolina to Iowa) that would be capable of operating with the fleet's new aircraft carriers.  Though the centerpiece of the fleet for decades, battleships were quickly eclipsed by the aircraft carrier during World War II and became supporting units.  Though of secondary importance, battleships remained in the inventory for another fifty years with the last leaving commission in the 1990s.  During their active service, American battleships took part in the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Gulf War.