# Best Battleship Type **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 26, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253 "2016-01-26T11:04:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/1 "2016-01-26T11:04:29Z")
This will of course open up many arguments. The Yamato and Tirpitz were obviously excellent ships as were the Iowa class battleships. However, I’d be inclined to go for the Queen Elizabeth class (Warspite etc) given their durability. I am discounting Dreadnought as both Japan and the USA had already commenced work on similar vessels and it was soon obsolete. Open to all discussions. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/2 "2016-01-26T13:54:45Z")
Best Battleship Type? The ones what sink what your enemy has without getting sunk itself. See, simple. 😛 More to the point, why the discussion of a class of warship that was obsolete 50 years ago? Oh, and Iowa-Class, due to speed, durability, and technology. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/3 "2016-01-26T14:01:25Z")
The\* Derfflinger \*class. (Yeah, it was a battleship, deal with it… :D). ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/4 "2016-01-26T14:09:41Z")
“Best” is a variable based on mission goals. ---
**Author:** ![Gothic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Gothic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gothic)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/5 "2016-01-26T14:26:52Z")
Yamato had the best armor and guns of any BB, but could it hit an Iowa class that was weaving and using the much better radar controlled firing solutions? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/6 "2016-01-26T17:09:10Z")
Post this in Great Debates…I think you would get a lot more responses. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/7 "2016-01-26T17:14:35Z")
Assuming there were no torpedo planes and dive bombers, I would select the Iowa class based on it’s superior fire control. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/8 "2016-01-26T17:22:08Z")
How about a detailed analysis? If you open the links on this page, there’s more technical detail than you can shake a 16-inch naval rifle at: [http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm](http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/9 "2016-01-26T18:39:01Z")
Yamato was the prettiest. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/10 "2016-01-26T19:47:10Z")
[Steampunkiest battleship](http://webodysseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/World+War+I+at+Sea+38.jpg). Imagine all of the polished brass, clockwork, and handlebar mustaches on this bad boy… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/11 "2016-01-26T21:07:37Z")
The 74-gun ship of the line, workhorse of the Napoleonic navies. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/12 "2016-01-26T21:27:38Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The 74-gun ship of the line, workhorse of the Napoleonic navies. +1 ---
**Author:** ![lisiate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f05b48/32.png) [@lisiate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisiate)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2016, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/13 "2016-01-26T21:33:42Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > How about a detailed analysis? If you open the links on this page, there’s more technical detail than you can shake a 16-inch naval rifle at: > > [Battleship Comparison](http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm) \*\*Sailboat \*\*beat me to it, you easily lose an afternoon browsing through the combined fleet pages. Spoiler for those who haven’t read it - The _Iowa_ class wins it at a canter. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/14 "2016-01-27T09:41:17Z")
Iowa class. Best combination of speed, armor, and armament. I only wish one had had a chance to go up against the Bismark or Yamato. Big guns arent worth a hoot if they cannot hit their target. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/15 "2016-01-27T11:14:09Z")
> [@lisiate](#): > > \*\*Sailboat \*\*beat me to it, you easily lose an afternoon browsing through the combined fleet pages. > > Spoiler for those who haven’t read it - The _Iowa_ class wins it at a canter. [dry Brit]You don’t say.[/dry Brit] ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/16 "2016-01-27T12:56:38Z")
I think the Nevada specifically wins for sheer demonstration of tenacity (although her sister ship Oklahoma famously did not fare nearly as well). In addition to running herself aground to avoid sinking at Pearl Harbor, she later survived two atomic bomb blasts in post-war tests before being scuttled with a torpedo. Also, Dreadnought gets some notability for being the only battleship to sink a submarine in combat. In this case, she rammed a German U-Boat. ---
**Author:** ![txtumbleweed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@txtumbleweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txtumbleweed)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/17 "2016-01-27T13:42:52Z")
I wouldn’t be so quick to discount _Dreadnought_. The ship’s battle record may not match that of the World War II battleships, but her design was so revolutionary that her name was the descriptor for every battleship to come after her. So much so that battleships are generally divided as either pre-dreadnoughts or dreadnoughts. Although the _Iowa_ class is, without a doubt, the epitome of battleship design (if in doubt read the fine analysis linked by **sailboat** ), I don’t think they ever fired a round at another ship of their class to prove it. That honor goes to the _South Dakota_ and \* Washington\* during the Guadalcanal campaign and to Adm Oldendorf’s six old battleships (five of them raised from the wreckage at Pearl Harbor) in Surigao Straight. My personal favorite is the _Texas_. The oldest dreadnought that survives and my introduction to the battleship. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/18 "2016-01-27T15:17:38Z")
> [@txtumbleweed](#): > > Iher design was so revolutionary that her name was the descriptor for every battleship to come after her. Jackie Fisher. “Fear God, and dread naught.” ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/19 "2016-01-27T15:18:40Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > [Steampunkiest battleship](http://webodysseum.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/World+War+I+at+Sea+38.jpg). Imagine all of the polished brass, clockwork, and handlebar mustaches on this bad boy… The gauges, the lever switches, the valves! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253/20 "2016-01-27T16:32:32Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The 74-gun ship of the line, workhorse of the Napoleonic navies. Pretty sure the OP is talking about “Dreadnought” type battleships, although I’m not very convinced that they know about the distinction, much less understand it. My opinion- I have a feeling that the \*Iowa \*class was likely the overall most effective class of battleships, as their combination of speed, armor, firepower and technologically advanced fire control was second to none. Sure, other ships had heavier armor, bigger guns, or were faster, but none were as close to the top in all 3 categories, as well as having the most technologically advanced fire control systems in the world. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-battleship-type/744253.md?page=2)