Key Points and Summary – The Montana-class was designed to be the ultimate American battleship, the successor to the legendary Iowa-class.
-These behemoths would have been larger, more heavily armored, and armed with twelve 16-inch guns, making them the most powerful battleships ever conceived by the U.S. Navy.
Montana-Class Battleship. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-However, the program was a case of bad timing. The realities of World War II, particularly the lessons from carrier-centric battles like Coral Sea and Midway, proved that the age of the aircraft carrier had dawned.
-The five planned Montana-class ships were canceled in 1943 before their keels were ever laid.
The Montana-Class Battleships, A Case Of Bad Timing
The Montana-class battleship was a planned class for the United States Navy, intended as the successor to the Iowa class authorized under the 1940 “Two Ocean Navy” building program and funded in Fiscal Year 1941. These battleships were the last of their kind ordered by the US Navy.
They were better armored and with superior firepower, but were slower. Five were approved for construction during World War II, but were canceled to continue production of Essex-class aircraft carriers and Iowa-class battleships before any Montana-class keels were laid.
The Montana-class marked the end of the battleship era, as the age of the aircraft carrier began. So, why did the Navy want, and ultimately cancel, the huge, powerful battleship?
Meet The Montana-Class Battleships, Firepower To The Nth Degree
With a standard displacement of 60,500 tons, they were nearly a third larger than the preceding Iowa-class, four of which were the final battleships actually completed by the United States.
The ships were to be 903 feet long, with a 121-foot beam and a 36-foot draft. With a full load, the Montana would have seen the displacement rise to over 72,000 tons.
The Montanas were to carry twelve 16-inch (406 mm)/50 caliber Mark 7 guns, three more than the earlier Iowa class. They were to be carried in four three-gun turrets. Secondary armament was also improved.
Twenty 5-inch 127 mm/54 cal Mark 16 dual-purpose guns were housed in ten two-gun turrets along the superstructure. These guns, designed for the Montana class, were intended to improve the effective range over the shorter-barreled 38 caliber Mark 12 guns in service.
From Dr. Brent Eastwood, “The Montana, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, and Louisiana would have boasted 25 percent more firepower than the already lethal main battery of the Iowa class.”
Each Montana-class battleship would have carried an anti-aircraft armament of thirty-two 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns and twenty 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon guns. The Bofors guns would be carried in eight quadruple mounts, while the Oerlikon would have been mounted individually.
However, the number of Bofors and Oerlikon mounts would have increased considerably had the ships been built since the design was done before the carrier threat was fully realized.
Each battleship could carry three floatplanes, which would have been launched with two aft catapults. The aircraft would have been used for reconnaissance and gunnery spotting.
Armor Protection
Protection against underwater weapons and shellfire was also greatly enhanced. They would have been the only new World War II-era U.S. battleships to be adequately armored against guns of the same power as their own. The armor was 22.5 inches thick at its thickest point.
Propulsion
The Montana-class was designed to have a slower maximum speed than the Iowa-class, to achieve these advances in armament and armor.
For propulsion, the vessel would have relied on eight Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers, capable of producing 172,000 horsepower, which would have driven four screw propellers. Behind the two inboard screws, the Montana would have featured two rudders.
Curiously, the much heavier Montana-class would have been less potent than the 212,000 Iowa class; however, the Montana class design allowed for more subdivided machinery spaces. The top speed was expected to be around 28 knots, and the range was 15,000 nautical miles.
Myths About the Montana-class Battleships
Many myths about the Montana class abound that the Navy has tried to dispel, but they persist nonetheless. A few were; she was just a stretched Iowa class with an extra gun turret. She was a ship designed to be a Yamato killer.
And don’t forget the Panama Canal story. “The Montana class Ignored the Panama Canal Restrictions.” Right? Wrong … kinda. The US had plans to expand the Panama Canal locks to 140ft. Construction was intended to be completed around the same time the Montana ships entered service.
However, there was a requirement that ships had to fit under the Brooklyn Bridge to get to the New York Navy Yard. That was true.
As for the Yamato story, at the time of the Montana class’s design in 1939, no one in US intelligence believed that the Yamato was anything but a normal-sized battleship. That didn’t come until the war had already started.
The design was not an elongated Iowa-class battleship. While the two shared the same main gun, the Montana class carried a much more powerful secondary armament. The Montana class would have carried a more powerful 5″/54 model rather than the older 5″/38. Firing a heavier shell at a higher velocity, the Montana class would have enjoyed much greater anti-surface firepower than the Iowa class.
The armor on the Montana class was much improved; it was designed to go toe-to-toe with heavily armed battlewagons.
Would it have been the best battleship ever built? Most definitely. However, the timing was slightly off. The era of the battleship was ending just as she was being designed.
Why Did The Navy Cancel The Montana-Class Battleships?
The Navy suspended the big battleship project in May 1942 and subsequently canceled it in 1943. Why? The US needed ships of all kinds in early 1942; the Pacific fleet had been hit hard at Pearl Harbor only six months prior.
The Navy needed amphibious ships and anti-submarine ships in both the Pacific and the Atlantic due to the U-boats of Germany taking a massive toll on US shipping. And of course, we needed aircraft carriers in the Pacific.
In May of 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea just reinforced the idea of carrier warfare after the Japanese nearly wiped out the US battleships at Pearl Harbor. Just a short time later, the Battle of Midway showed the Navy that the Pacific war was to be a carrier war.
And the battleship order was canceled for more carriers.
About the Author: Steve Balestrieri
Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.
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