The fires of gunfire have long since burned down to memory, and the decks that quivered beneath the salvos of main battery gunfire now lie still. Former symbols of naval might and prestige, the United States Navy battleships today are silent sentinels of history, museum ships and living memorials to the men who manned them.
The very fact of these steel giants’ existence lesions of some ancient era of naval war is telling us something about the evolving nature of military strategy and technology. The battleship, the dominant idea in naval doctrine and theory for the majority of the 20th century, has shifted from front-line service to a permanent page in the history books of the seas.
The USS New Jersey, or simply “Big J,” is one of those which boasts a legendary war record. Commissioned in 1942, the Iowa-class leviathan accrued more battle stars of any battleship in US history. Her lifespan ranged from the World War II to the Korean War and the Vietnam War, finally coming to an end when she was decommissioned in 1991.
And another mythical warship is the USS Texas, who was a World War veteran and also the last of the dreadnoughts. Her decommissioning in 1947 and later being converted to a museum were succeeded by a gigantic conservation effort that had cost more than $20 million, marking the efforts to conserve such sea monsters.
USS Massachusetts, also known as “Big Mamie,” lies in Battleship Cove in Fall River, Massachusetts. She was commissioned in 1941 and is best known for her performance at the Battle of Casablanca and is now the world’s most complete battleship.
