Changes

The ''New Mexico''-class further improved on the basic design introduced three years earlier with the [[Nevada-class battleship|''Nevada'']]-class. The twelve-gun main battery of the preceding [[Pennsylvania-class battleship|''Pennsylvania'']]-class was retained, but with longer 14"/50 guns in improved triple turrets. Hull design was also upgraded, with a "clipper" bow for better seakeeping, and one ship was fitted with a new propulsion system, in which steam turbines turned electrical generators and the ship's propellers were driven by electric motors. Though eight secondary battery guns were located in very wet bow and stern positions and were soon removed, the rest of the ships' five-inch guns were mounted in the superstructure, a great improvement over the earlier arrangements.

The ''New Mexico''-class further improved on the basic design introduced three years earlier with the [[Nevada-class battleship|''Nevada'']]-class. The twelve-gun main battery of the preceding [[Pennsylvania-class battleship|''Pennsylvania'']]-class was retained, but with longer 14"/50 guns in improved triple turrets. Hull design was also upgraded, with a "clipper" bow for better seakeeping, and one ship was fitted with a new propulsion system, in which steam turbines turned electrical generators and the ship's propellers were driven by electric motors. Though eight secondary battery guns were located in very wet bow and stern positions and were soon removed, the rest of the ships' five-inch guns were mounted in the superstructure, a great improvement over the earlier arrangements.

Completed during and soon after the First World War, the ''New Mexico''-class were active members of the Battle Fleet during the decades between the World Wars. All were rebuilt in 1931-34, receiving entirely new superstructures, modern controls for their guns, new engines and improved protection against air and surface attack. Anti-torpedo "bulges" increased their width to 106" 3" and displacement went up by a thousand tons or more.

Completed during and soon after the [[First World War]], the ''New Mexico''-class were active members of the Battle Fleet during the decades between the World Wars. All were rebuilt in 1931-34, receiving entirely new superstructures, modern controls for their guns, new engines and improved protection against air and surface attack. Anti-torpedo "bulges" increased their width to 106" 3" and displacement went up by a thousand tons or more.

In order to counter the German threat, these ships were transferred from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1941, leaving the Pacific Fleet inferior in battleship strength to the Japanese Navy. Sent back to the Pacific after the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] raid devastated the Pacific Fleet's battle line, they were active in the war with Japan until final victory was achieved in August 1945. Their heavy guns provided vital assistance to the many amphibious invasions that marked the Pacific conflict, and ''Mississippi'' took part in the [[Battle of Surigao Strait]], the last time in history that battleships fought each other. ''New Mexico'' and ''Idaho'' were disposed of soon after the War ended, but ''Mississippi'' was converted to a training and weapons trials ship and served for another decade. The Navy's first generation of ship-launched guided missiles, the replacements for most of the guns that had long been the focus of her career, first went to sea aboard this old former battleship.

In order to counter the German threat, these ships were transferred from the Pacific to the Atlantic in 1941, leaving the Pacific Fleet inferior in battleship strength to the Japanese Navy. Sent back to the Pacific after the [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|Pearl Harbor]] raid devastated the Pacific Fleet's battle line, they were active in the war with Japan until final victory was achieved in August 1945. Their heavy guns provided vital assistance to the many amphibious invasions that marked the Pacific conflict, and ''Mississippi'' took part in the [[Battle of Surigao Strait]], the last time in history that battleships fought each other. ''New Mexico'' and ''Idaho'' were disposed of soon after the War ended, but ''Mississippi'' was converted to a training and weapons trials ship and served for another decade. The Navy's first generation of ship-launched guided missiles, the replacements for most of the guns that had long been the focus of her career, first went to sea aboard this old former battleship.