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→End of the battleships: photo
===End of the battleships===
===End of the battleships===
The Royal Navy sank the Italian fleet in Nov. 1940 at the [[Battle of Taranto]] using warplanes from [[aircraft carrier]]s. The Japanese took note and at the [[Battle of Pearl Harbor]] (Dec. 7. 1941), sank nearly the entire American battleship fleet using carrier planes. Immediately the carrier replaced the battleship as the capital ship of seapower. The era of big-gun battles between fleets at 30,000 yards was (almost) over. Heavy guns were useful for shore bombardment, but for combat were replaced by bombs delivered by air, and torpedoes (delivered bvy airplane, submarine, or destroyer) as the chief offensive weapons of naval warfare.
The Royal Navy sank the Italian fleet in Nov. 1940 at the [[Battle of Taranto]] using warplanes from [[aircraft carrier]]s. The Japanese took note and at the [[Battle of Pearl Harbor]] (Dec. 7. 1941), sank nearly the entire American battleship fleet using carrier planes. Immediately the carrier replaced the battleship as the capital ship of seapower. The era of big-gun battles between fleets at 30,000 yards was (almost) over. Heavy guns were useful for shore bombardment, but for combat were replaced by bombs delivered by air, and torpedoes (delivered bvy airplane, submarine, or destroyer) as the chief offensive weapons of naval warfare. [[Image:USSIowaBB61.jpg|thumb|290px|''U.S.S. Iowa'' firing a broadside with 16-inch guns, 1945]]
The role of naval gunfire in supporting amphibious operations remains of importance. Beyond the scope of this form of bombardment, seaborne weapons also have a share in the delivery of nuclear ballistic missiles against targets deep in continental landmasses; this mission involves the use of missiles fired underwater from submarines.
The role of naval gunfire in supporting amphibious operations remains of importance. Beyond the scope of this form of bombardment, seaborne weapons also have a share in the delivery of nuclear ballistic missiles against targets deep in continental landmasses; this mission involves the use of missiles fired underwater from submarines.