Changes

==Origins of the battleship==

==Origins of the battleship==

The battleship as we know it today is the successor of two warships: the [[ship of the line]], which saw service in several European countries for over two centuries; and the ironclad, a name given to several types of vessel generally built with a heavy wooden frame overlaid with iron plating, and esspecialy those ships with guns mounted in revolving turrets.

The battleship as we know it today is the successor of two warships: the [[ship of the line]], which saw service in several European countries for over two centuries; and the ironclad, a name given to several types of vessel generally built with a heavy wooden frame overlaid with iron plating, and esspecially those ships with guns mounted in revolving turrets.

====Ship of the line====

====Ship of the line====

[[Image:Trafalgar1.JPG|right|200px|thumb|HMS ''Victory'', currently the only existing example of a ship of the line]]

[[Image:Trafalgar1.JPG|right|200px|thumb|HMS ''Victory'', currently the only existing example of a ship of the line]]

[[Image:Mon2.JPG|right|200px|thumb|the earliest use of a gun turret, onboard USS ''Monitor'' in 1862]]

[[Image:Mon2.JPG|right|200px|thumb|the earliest use of a gun turret, onboard USS ''Monitor'' in 1862]]

The ship of the line was the largest type of sailing warship, mounting a battery of between 80-120 guns on three decks.  Slow in comparrison to the smaller frigates, ships of the line were heavily-built to withstand the pounding given by the enemy in battle, while their large number of heavy guns would pound the enemy into submission.  Descended in turn from the "great ships" of the early 1600's, the ship of the line was a by-product of a naval manuever known as the "line of battle", in which a single-file line of ships engaged the enemy abrest, with the most powerful and heavily-armed ships in the lead.  By 1794 the ship of the line was given the alternate title ''line of battle ship'', hence the origin of the word ''battleship''.

The ship of the line was the largest type of sailing warship, mounting a battery of between 80-120 guns on three decks.  Slow in comparrison to the smaller frigates, ships of the line were heavily-built to withstand the pounding given by the enemy in battle, while their large number of heavy guns would pound the enemy into submission.  Descended in turn from the "great ships" of the early 1600s, the ship of the line was a by-product of a naval maneuver known as the "line of battle", in which a single-file line of ships engaged the enemy abrest, with the most powerful and heavily-armed ships in the lead.  By 1794 the ship of the line was given the alternate title ''line of battle ship'', hence the origin of the word ''battleship''.

====Ironclads====

====Ironclads====

[[Robert Fulton]] demonstrated in his ''Clermont'' (1807) that steam power can be fitted to a sea-going vessel, freeing the ship from sails and enabling it to go wherever a captain may direct, limited only by the amount of fuel on board.  Paddlewheels were a standard means of propultion on many warships in addition to its complement of sails and masts, but the placement of the wheels on the ship's sides reduced the amount of guns in a broadside as well as leaving the wheels and engine vulnerable to enemy fire; this would be changed in the 1840's with the adoption of the screw propeller and the placement of its engines deep within the ship below the waterline.

[[Robert Fulton]] demonstrated in his ''Clermont'' (1807) that steam power can be fitted to a sea-going vessel, freeing the ship from sails and enabling it to go wherever a captain may direct, limited only by the amount of fuel on board.  Paddlewheels were a standard means of propultion on many warships in addition to its complement of sails and masts, but the placement of the wheels on the ship's sides reduced the amount of guns in a broadside as well as leaving the wheels and engine vulnerable to enemy fire; this would be changed in the 1840s with the adoption of the screw propeller and the placement of its engines deep within the ship below the waterline.

With the advent of the screw propeller came the idea of cladding warships in iron as a means of protection from enemy gun fire.  Metallurgy at the time developed to the point that iron was mass-produced, inexpensive, and readily available.  The first actual iron-cladded vessels were floating barges which served as gun platforms, and towed into place in the Black Sea during the Crimean War.  The first warship actually armored was the French ''La Gloire'' (1859), a three-masted vessel with a heavy timber frame overlaid with iron plating four inches thick.  Not to be outdone, Great Britain launched the steam frigate HMS ''Warrior'' (1860), the first warship built entirely of iron.

With the advent of the screw propeller came the idea of cladding warships in iron as a means of protection from enemy gun fire.  Metallurgy at the time developed to the point that iron was mass-produced, inexpensive, and readily available.  The first actual iron-cladded vessels were floating barges which served as gun platforms, and towed into place in the Black Sea during the Crimean War.  The first warship actually armored was the French ''La Gloire'' (1859), a three-masted vessel with a heavy timber frame overlaid with iron plating four inches thick.  Not to be outdone, Great Britain launched the steam frigate HMS ''Warrior'' (1860), the first warship built entirely of iron.

==World War II==

==World War II==

===Atlantic===

===Atlantic===

In December 1939 at the start of the war German's small [[Pocket Battleship|pocket battleship]] ''Graf Spee'' sank numerous merchant ships in the South Atlantic. On December 13 three British cruisers found it along the coast of Uruguay, defeated it in a running fight, and forced it into Montevideo harbor, where it was scuttled by its captain. In October 1940, the pocket battleship ''Scheer'' broke out into the Atlantic via the Danish Straits. It attacked an Allied convoy of 36 ships on November 5; the the armed merchant ship ''Jervis Bay'' defended the convoy and enabled 31 ships of the convoy to escape. On May 22, 1941, the battleship ''Bismarck'' ventured into the North Atlantic to attack British commerce. A Royal Navy (British) task force intercepted it between Iceland and Greenland. The ''Bismarck''  sank the battle cruiser ''Hood'' with one salvo and damaged the battleship ''Prince of Wales''. The ''Bismarck'' was hit too and made for home waters, pursued by a pack of British destroyers. The aircraft carrier ''Ark Royal'' gave chase, and the ''Bismarck'' was hit by torpedo planes and bombers. Finally two large British battleships joined the hunt; the ''Bismarck'' lost its rudder controls; a torpedo finally sank it, ending the era of German surface raiders in the open Atlantic. A solitary battleship undefended by air power was proven helpless, as the British discovered when their Asian fleet, the battleship ''Prince of Wales'' and the battlecruiser ''Repulse'' were sunk by Japanese air power in December 1941 near [[Singapore]].

In December 1939 at the start of the war German's small [[Pocket Battleship|pocket battleship]] ''Graf Spee'' sank numerous merchant ships in the South Atlantic. On December 13 three British cruisers found it along the coast of Uruguay, defeated it in a running fight, and forced it into Montevideo harbor, where it was scuttled by its captain. In October 1940, the pocket battleship ''Scheer'' broke out into the Atlantic via the Danish Straits. It attacked an Allied convoy of 36 ships on November 5; the armed merchant ship ''Jervis Bay'' defended the convoy and enabled 31 ships of the convoy to escape. On May 22, 1941, the battleship ''Bismarck'' ventured into the North Atlantic to attack British commerce. A Royal Navy (British) task force intercepted it between Iceland and Greenland. The ''Bismarck''  sank the battle cruiser ''Hood'' with one salvo and damaged the battleship ''Prince of Wales''. The ''Bismarck'' was hit too and made for home waters, pursued by a pack of British destroyers. The aircraft carrier ''Ark Royal'' gave chase, and the ''Bismarck'' was hit by torpedo planes and bombers. Finally two large British battleships joined the hunt; the ''Bismarck'' lost its rudder controls; a torpedo finally sank it, ending the era of German surface raiders in the open Atlantic. A solitary battleship undefended by air power was proven helpless, as the British discovered when their Asian fleet, the battleship ''Prince of Wales'' and the battlecruiser ''Repulse'' were sunk by Japanese air power in December 1941 near [[Singapore]].

===End of the battleships===

===End of the battleships===