North Carolina class battleship

"North Carolina" and her sister ship "Washington" were amongst the first Post-Washington Treaty battleships as well as the first of the US Navy fast battleships (though some treaty restrictions, specifically those imposed by the Second London Naval Treaty, remained in force and in the initial design the displacement of these new ships was not to exceed 35,000 tons [http://www.chuckhawks.com/treaty_battleships.htm] ). While not as heavily armored as battleships of other nations, the "North Carolina" class featured a more powerful main battery, strong anti-aircraft armament, and excellent fire control.

Design

Before this class, the United States Navy favored staying power and fire power over speed. The "North Carolina" class had a speed of convert|27|kn|km/h versus the convert|21|kn|km/h of the pre-treaty sclass|Colorado|battleship|4. The class was completely different from all previous US battleships, and set the pattern for all subsequent vessels (as well as the reconstructions of vessels wrecked at Pearl Harbor). New features included a massive columnar mast replacing the familiar "cage" mast, main armament in two triple turrets forward, one aft, and dual-purpose secondaries along the sides of the superstructure.

The most important advance of the class was one that could not be seen from outside: The integration of the most advanced computer at sea, the Mark I fire control computer. The analog fire control system allowed the ship to maintain a constant fire control solution even when steaming at full speed and performing drastic evasive turns and was far more accurate than the Dreyer or Ford type mechanical computers used during World War I.

Unfortunately, initially the North Carolinas proved prone to severe vibration problems at high speeds and had to be limited to about 24 knots (44.45 km/h) for much of their service lives - at higher speeds the ships vibrated so badly the rangefinders and radar at the top of the mast could shake to pieces. This problem has been variously attributed to the propeller and skeg design and was ultimately solved by replacing the original propellers. Another, more serious, weakness of the class was that it had been designed as a balanced 14" battleship design, being a close contemporary of the Royal Navy's "King George V" class (though the "King George V" was more heavily armored). Both classes were designed to carry twelve 14" guns in three quadruple turret mountings. [ [http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_14-50_mk11.htm USA 14"/50 (35.6 cm) Mark 7, Mark 11 and Mark B] , NavWeaps - Naval Weapons, Naval Technology and Naval Reunions, 22 May 2007.] After Japan withdrew from the Washington Treaty, the North Carolinas were modified to carry and fire 16" guns, as a result its protection was substandard against the 2,240 lb Mark 5 shells that their convert|16|in|mm|0|sing=on guns were originally designed to fire. This was rectified in the following "South Dakota" and "Iowa" classes, though all of their armour schemes were not proof against the new "super-heavy" 2,700 lb Mark 8 shells that they actually used. However, the only US battleship adequately protected against the Mark 8 shells would have been the never built "Montana" class.

The United States Navy built two "North Carolina"-class battleships:

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ervice

The ships were originally conceived as main battleships, but like their successors, the "South Dakota" and "Iowa" classes, they spent most of their operational lives as escorts for the Fast Carrier Task Force.

At the Battle of the Eastern Solomons in 1942, "USS North Carolina" downed between 7–14 Japanese aircraft. She was later hit by a Japanese submarine-launched torpedo that year; the only US fast battleship to suffer underwater damage.

USS "Washington" sank the "Kirishima' in the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, demonstrating the accuracy of fire control radar in a night fight and the destructive power of the Mark 8 shells, being the only US World War II-era fast battleship to sink an enemy battleship in combat.

Post-War and Succession

Being valuable, large hulls, they were considered for many conversion projects but ultimately remained in reserve until disposed of in 1960. "Washington" was discarded after World War II, while "North Carolina" was converted to a museum ship in her name state.

Only two "North Carolina" ships were built, as they were succeeded by the better-protected and similarly well-armed "South Dakota", and later the faster sclass|Iowa|battleships.

Armament

* 9 × convert|16|in|mm|0|sing=on guns (Mk VI 45 Cal guns, able to handle the same 2,700 lb "super-heavy" AP shells as the Mk VII 50 Cal guns found on the sclass|Iowa|battleship|4, however the Mk VI gun was lighter and had a shorter range)
* 20 × 5 inch guns
* 16 × 1.1 inch machine guns

References

External links

* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/01idx.htm NavSource Online]