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A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. As they were the largest, best-armed and most heavily armored ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a nation's naval power from the late nineteenth century until World War II. With the rise of air power, notably aircraft carriers, battleships were no longer able to establish naval superiority, and so all have been withdrawn from active service. The related battlecruiser, a successor to the armored cruiser, shared the very large main armament, general size, and cost of a battleship of the same generation, but they traded armor or firepower for higher speed.
Battleship design evolved to incorporate and adapt technological advances to maintain an edge. The word battleship was coined around 1794 as a contraction of the phrase line-of-battle ship, the dominant wooden warship during the Age of Sail. It came into formal use in the late 1880s to describe a type of ironclad warship, but these are now referred to as "pre-dreadnoughts". In 1906, the launch of HMS Dreadnought heralded a revolution in battleship design. Later designs that were influenced by this ship were referred to as "dreadnoughts". Battlecruisers were developed around this time by the British First Sea Lord Jackie Fisher. They were envisioned as being more effective armored cruisers, able to destroy any normal cruiser while being able to outrun any ships capable of sinking them.
By 1910, so-called "super-dreadnoughts" were entering service. In the four years between Dreadnought and the first super-dreadnoughts, the Orion class, displacement had increased by 25% and weight of broadside had doubled. Many battlecruisers and battleships of all varieties served in the First World War, most notably in the Battle of Jutland. None were built between the Nelsons of the early 1920s and the Dunkerques of the early 1930s due to various treaties, but quite a few battleships were constructed shortly before or during World War II. The last, HMS Vanguard, was commissioned just after the war, in 1946.
From this time on, most battleships and all battlecruisers were decommissioned and broken up. France's Jean Bart and Turkey's Yavuz were the last to be scrapped. However, members of the American Iowa class lasted until 1992 to aid troops with fire support; four were deployed in Korea, one in Vietnam, and two to Iraq. Nine battleships exist today as museum ships; eight from the United States, and Japan's Mikasa. (more...)Template:/box-footer
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HMS Royal Oak (pennant number 08) was a Revenge-class battleship of the British Royal Navy. Launched in 1914 and completed in 1916, Royal Oak saw action in First World War at the Battle of Jutland. In the inter-war period, she served in the Atlantic, Home and Mediterranean fleets, coming under accidental attack on more than one occasion. The ship became the centre of worldwide attention in 1928 when her senior officers were controversially court-martialled. During a twenty-five year career, attempts to modernise Royal Oak could not address her fundamental lack of speed, and by the start of the Second World War, she was no longer suited to front-line duty. Royal Oak was anchored at Scapa Flow in Orkney, Scotland on 14 October 1939 when she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-47, becoming the first of the five Royal Navy battleships and battlecruisers sunk in the war. Although the sinking made little difference to the naval balance of power, it considerably affected wartime morale. The raid made an immediate celebrity and war hero out of the U-boat commander, Günther Prien, who became the first Kriegsmarine submarine officer to be awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. To the British, the raid demonstrated that the Germans were capable of bringing the naval war to their home waters, and the shock resulted in rapidly arranged changes to dockland security. Now lying almost upside-down in 30 m of water with her hull 5 m beneath the surface, Royal Oak is a designated war grave. In an annual ceremony to mark the loss of the ship, Royal Navy divers place a White Ensign underwater at her stern. Unauthorised divers are prohibited from approaching the wreck at any time.
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Günther Lütjens (25 May 1889 - 27 May 1941) was a German admiral whose military service spanned almost three decades, most well known for his actions during World War II, especially his command of the Operation Rheinübung sortie. Joining the Kaiserliche Marine in 1907, he served aboard the SMS Freya, Elsass, and König Wilhelm, then commanded several torpedo boats until the end of World War I, earning the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. In 1921, he joined the Reichsmarine, serving in and eventually commanding the 3rd Torpedo Boat Flotilla and Karlsruhe. In 1936, Lütjens was appointed Chief of Personnel of the Kriegsmarine, then assigned as Führer der Torpedoboote the next year.
When World War II erupted, he was Commander of Scouting Forces in Operation Weserübung, notably the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (using the latter as his flagship), then promoted to Commander of Battleships and third Flottenchef. Rheinübung originally planned for all four battleships (Bismarck, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Tirpitz) to make a raid into the Atlantic, but ultimately sailed with only Bismarck and Prinz Eugen on 19 May, 1941. On 24 May, his ships were intercepted by HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales at the Battle of the Denmark Strait, in which Hood was famously sunk. Furious at the loss of their most powerful ship, the Royal Navy began a dogged pursuit that ultimately sunk the Bismarck and killed Lütjens on 27 May. The German destroyer Lütjens (D185), lead ship of the Lütjens-class destroyers of the modern German Navy, would be named for him.
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- Featured topics
Battlecruisers of Germany • Bayern-class battleships • Indefatigable-class battlecruisers • Iowa-class battleships • König-class battleships • Rivadavia-class battleships • Tosa-class battleships • Yamato-class battleships
- Featured articles
Almirante Latorre-class battleship • Amagi-class battlecruiser • Alaska-class cruiser • ARA Moreno • ARA Rivadavia • Armament of the Iowa-class battleship • Battle of Midway • Battle of the Eastern Solomons • Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands • Battleship • Bayern-class battleship • Brazilian battleship Minas Geraes • Brazilian battleship São Paulo • Chilean battleship Almirante Latorre • Courageous-class battlecruiser • Derfflinger-class battlecruiser • Design 1047 battlecruiser • Dreadnought • Dutch 1913 battleship proposal • Ernst Lindemann • Fred Moosally • HMAS Australia (1911) • HMS Eagle (1918) • HMS Indefatigable (1909) • HMS Lion (1910) • HMS Royal Oak (08) • Helgoland-class battleship • Indiana-class battleship • Japanese aircraft carrier Akagi • Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga • Japanese battleship Haruna • Japanese battleship Tosa • Japanese battleship Yamato • Kaiser-class battleship • König-class battleship • Minas Geraes-class battleship • Moltke-class battlecruiser • Montana-class battleship • Nassau-class battleship • Naval Battle of Guadalcanal • North Carolina-class battleship • Operation Ten-Go • Pre-dreadnought battleship • Rivadavia-class battleship • Russian battleship Slava • SMS Baden (1915) • SMS Bayern (1915) • SMS Derfflinger • SMS Erzherzog Franz Ferdinand • SMS Friedrich der Grosse (1911) • SMS Goeben • SMS Grosser Kurfürst (1913) • SMS Helgoland • SMS Hindenburg • SMS König • SMS Kronprinz (1914) • SMS Lützow • SMS Markgraf • SMS Moltke (1910) • SMS Rheinland • SMS Seydlitz • SMS Von der Tann • SMS Westfalen • Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleship • South American dreadnought race • USS Connecticut (BB-18) • USS Illinois (BB-65) • USS Indiana (BB-1) • USS Iowa (BB-61) • USS Iowa turret explosion • USS Kentucky (BB-66) • USS Massachusetts (BB-2) • USS Missouri (BB-63) • USS Nevada (BB-36) • USS New Jersey (BB-62) • USS Wisconsin (BB-64) • Yamato-class battleship
- Featured lists
List of battlecruisers of Germany • List of battlecruisers of Japan • List of battlecruisers of Russia • List of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy • List of battleships of Austria-Hungary • List of battleships of Germany • List of battleships of the Ottoman Empire
- A-Class articles
Borodino-class battlecruiser • Design A-150 battleship • Deutschland-class battleship • Florida-class battleship • Fusō-class battleship • German battleship Tirpitz • HMS Courageous (50) • HMS Hood (51) • HMS New Zealand (1911) • HMS Princess Royal (1911) • HMS Queen Mary • Japanese battleship Hiei • Japanese battleship Kirishima • Japanese battleship Kongō • Japanese battleship Musashi • Kongō-class battlecruiser • Lexington-class battlecruiser • Russian battleship Rostislav • Russian battleship Sevastopol (1895) • SMS Deutschland (1904) • SMS Hannover • SMS Kaiser (1911) • SMS Kaiserin • SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm • SMS Nassau • SMS Ostfriesland • SMS Posen • Tosa-class battleship • USS Hawaii (CB-3) • USS Texas (BB-35) • United States Naval Gunfire Support debate
- Good topics
Battlecruisers of Russia • Battlecruisers of the Royal Navy • Battleships of Austria-Hungary • Battleships of Germany • Courageous-class battlecruisers and aircraft carriers • Ekaterina II-class battleships • Evstafi-class battleships • Gangut-class battleships • Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleships • Imperatritsa Mariya-class battleships • Kongō-class battlecruisers
- Good articles
28 cm SK L/40 gun • 30.5 cm SK L/50 gun • Admiral-class battlecruiser • BL 18 inch Mk I naval gun • Bismarck-class battleship • Brandenburg-class battleship • Braunschweig-class battleship • Bretagne-class battleship • Colorado-class battleship • Courbet-class battleship • Delaware-class battleship • Design B-65 cruiser • Ekaterina II-class battleship • Ersatz Monarch-class battleship • Ersatz Yorck-class battlecruiser • Erzherzog Karl-class battleship • Evstafi-class battleship • Franz von Hipper • French battleship Courbet (1911) • French battleship Dunkerque • French battleship France • French battleship Iéna (1898) • French battleship Jauréguiberry • French battleship Jean Bart (1911) • French battleship Paris • French battleship Suffren • G3 battlecruiser • Gangut-class battleship • German battleship Gneisenau • German battleship Scharnhorst • Greek battleship Kilkis • Greek battleship Lemnos • Greek battleship Salamis • H-class battleship proposals • Habsburg-class battleship • High Seas Fleet • HMS Agamemnon (1906) • HMS Agincourt (1913) • HMS Anson (79) • HMS Dreadnought (1906) • HMS Eagle (1918) • HMS Furious (47) • HMS Glorious • HMS Howe (32) • HMS Indomitable (1907) • HMS Inflexible (1907) • HMS Invincible (1907) • HMS King George V (41) • HMS Lord Nelson (1906) • HMS Renown (1916) • HMS Repulse (1916) • HMS Royal Sovereign (05) • HMS Swiftsure (1903) • HMS Tiger (1913) • HMS Triumph (1903) • HMS Vanguard (23) • Imperator Aleksandr II-class battleship • Imperatritsa Mariya-class battleship • Indefatigable-class battlecruiser • Invincible-class battlecruiser • Iowa-class battleship • Iron Duke-class battleship • Italian battleship Roma (1940) • Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano • Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleship • Kronshtadt-class battlecruiser • L 20 α-class battleship • Lion-class battlecruiser • Lion-class battleship • Littorio-class battleship • Mackensen-class battlecruiser • Mississippi-class battleship • O-class battlecruiser • Operation Kita • Radetzky-class battleship • Reinhard Scheer • Renown-class battlecruiser • Russian battleship Andrei Pervozvanny • Russian battleship Chesma (1886) • Russian battleship Dvenadsat Apostolov • Russian battleship Ekaterina II • Russian battleship Evstafi • Russian battleship Gangut (1911) • Russian battleship Georgii Pobedonosets • Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr II • Russian battleship Imperator Aleksandr III • Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I • Russian battleship Imperator Nikolai I (1916) • Russian battleship Imperator Pavel I • Russian battleship Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya • Russian battleship Imperatritsa Mariya • Russian battleship Ioann Zlatoust • Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1897) • Russian battleship Petropavlovsk (1911) • Russian battleship Poltava (1894) • Russian battleship Poltava (1911) • Russian battleship Retvizan • Russian battleship Sevastopol (1911) • Russian battleship Sinop • Russian battleship Tri Sviatitelia • Scharnhorst-class battleship • SMS Árpád • SMS Babenburg • SMS Brandenburg • SMS Braunschweig • SMS Elsass • SMS Erzherzog Ferdinand Max • SMS Erzherzog Friedrich • SMS Erzherzog Karl • SMS Habsburg • SMS Hessen • SMS Kaiser Barbarossa • SMS Kaiser Friedrich III • SMS Kaiser Karl der Grosse • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse • SMS Kaiser Wilhelm II • SMS Lothringen • SMS Mecklenburg • SMS Oldenburg (1910) • SMS Pommern • SMS Preussen (1903) • SMS Prinz Eugen • SMS Prinzregent Luitpold • SMS Radetzky • SMS Schlesien • SMS Schleswig-Holstein • SMS Schwaben • SMS Szent István • SMS Tegetthoff • SMS Thüringen • SMS Viribus Unitis • SMS Weissenburg • SMS Wettin • SMS Wittelsbach • SMS Wörth • SMS Zähringen • SMS Zrínyi • Scuttling of the German fleet in Scapa Flow • South Dakota-class battleship (1939) • Stalingrad-class battlecruiser • Swiftsure-class battleship • Tegetthoff-class battleship • United States Battleship Division Nine (World War I) • USS Alaska (CB-1) • USS Guam (CB-2) • USS Lexington (CV-2) • USS Massachusetts (BB-59) • USS Texas (1892) • USS Missouri grounding incident • Wittelsbach-class battleshipTemplate:/box-footer Template:/box-header  Operation Majestic Titan is the code name for a long-term Wikipedian project with two primary objectives, the first of which is to create the single largest featured topic on Wikipedia, centered around the battleships considered, planned, built, operated, canceled, or otherwise recorded. There are probably a few hundred articles of this nature which will be included, from the earliest pre-dreadnoughts to the last of the dreadnoughts. Once all articles are featured this project will reorient to ensuring that the articles remain up to standard. If you're interested, please view the project page to familiarize yourself with the guidelines, and simply pick an article to improve! There is also ongoing discussion you can participate in.Template:/box-footer Template:/box-header
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War and the military
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