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I've gotta soft spot for sails and cannons, don't get me wrong... but they weren't battleships. As was already mentioned, the equivilent of the time were the 100+ gun man of wars... and the USA never had one.
What I was looking for was this... If you asked for the symbolic battleship of Imperial Japan, it would have to be the Yamato, or Bismark for Nazi Germany... even though both had sisterships that were technically larger and just as deadly (at least I think the Musashi was of greater tonnage...correct me if I'm wrong).
It's harder to pick symbolic capital ships for the allies... Dreadnought, Hood or Rodney or King George V for UK? ... Richelieu or Jean Bart for France? Oh well, it's fun to think about anyway.
I would have to say the Mighty Mo. But the USS South Dakota is the ship that shot down over 20 planes in one engagement a record never equaled by any ship. And the USS Washington engaged the Japenese battleship the Kiroshima and sunk it at Guadalcanal. It was one of the only times US battleships fought it out with a Japenese battleship. But they never got the fame of the Mighty Mo. Ron
I'm gonna stick with the Arizona as the "most symbolic" because it demonstrates how we hoped for peace but prepared for war... and when we got knocked on our collective asses we got back up and still fought the good fight no matter what the odds.
The Arizona is is also a good metaphor for remembering and honoring the past, but not dwelling on it. Rather than trying to keep the Arizona in stasis as a museum piece, we are letting nature slowly reclaim it. There is just something psychologically powerful about a shipwreck... It's probably the same reason why the Bismarck is so compelling today too.
It has the same lines as the Iowa Class battleships, just smaller (and the twin 5"? on the bow).
I believe those were 40mm "Pom-Pom" guns. The gun bucket is still out there on the prow of the Iowa, but there's no guns in it. You can see it poking out from a line of mothballed ships near Benecia, CA.
You said symbolic. I'll take the Arizona and she was the symbol that started WWII. More men and women on the street would recognize the Arizona's name. Now as for as a symbol of Power and longjevity the Missouri takes the cake! I was on the Missouri and she is one impressive Battle Ship
With the 18.1 inch main guns the Yamato and her sister ship were probably the most impressive battle ships ever made. They were also, the most under-utilized and the Japanese almost seemed afraid to use them??
You said symbolic. I'll take the Arizona and she was the symbol that started WWII. More men and women on the street would recognize the Arizona's name. Now as for as a symbol of Power and longjevity the Missouri takes the cake! I was on the Missouri and she is one impressive Battle Ship
With the 18.1 inch main guns the Yamato and her sister ship were probably the most impressive battle ships ever made. They were also, the most under-utilized and the Japanese almost seemed afraid to use them??
The sister ship of the "Yamato", "Musashi", was sunk in action by carrier aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in October, 1944. The "Yamato" was also sunk by carrier aircraft on a forlorn, one way, suicide mission to Okinawa, in April, 1945.
I suppose you could say that they were underutilized, at least until 1944. The third hull of this class, the "Shinano", was converted to an aircraft carrier, but was sunk by a USN submarine before ever seeing action.
There is an interesting Japanese movie on DVD, titled "Yamato', which I purchased, that covers her final sortie to Okinawa. Very well done, with subtitles.
The sister ship of the "Yamato", "Musashi", was sunk in action by carrier aircraft during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in October, 1944. The "Yamato" was also sunk by carrier aircraft on a forlorn, one way, suicide mission to Okinawa, in April, 1945.
I suppose you could say that they were underutilized, at least until 1944. The third hull of this class, the "Shinano", was converted to an aircraft carrier, but was sunk by a USN submarine before ever seeing action.
There is an interesting Japanese movie on DVD, titled "Yamato', which I purchased, that covers her final sortie to Okinawa. Very well done, with subtitles.
They were "underutilized" because they never had the opportunity to engage in their intended role. They were supposed to be the centerpiece of the Japanese fleet to engage the Americans in their "decisive battle". The Japanese knew they couldn't outproduce the US in ships, so they created these "battleship killers". The problem is, they never had an opportunity to fight the "decisive battle" and everytime they tried to create one, it failed miserably. They are pretty much icons in the diminished role of the battleship in WW2. Take away aircraft carriers and these ships would have been killers.
The Missouri gets my vote. I had the good fortune to stand on her decks when I lived in San Francisco and she was there in port. One of the crew told me she could totally outrun all of her support ships. What an awesome vessel! It might not be feasible economically, or militarily, but I so wish she would be put back in service! Just watching her come into port that day was a very moving experience for me.
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