Battleships Trivia Quiz

Answer: Iowa Missouri New Jersey Wisconsin

They were the BB-61 Iowa, BB-62 New Jersey, BB-63 Missouri, BB-64 Wisconsin.

Answer: Kentucky and Illinois

The war ended before either was completed. Work originally proceeded to develop these ships into guided missile battleships, but both hulls were eventually scrapped. The bow of the Kentucky was removed and fitted to the Wisconsin, following the Wisconsin's collision with the destroyer Eaton in the Chesapeake Bay in 1956.

Answer: Oklahoma

The Arizona, Oklahoma, Utah (crew training ship, but formerly a battleship), West Virginia, and the California were all sunk at Pearl Harbor. The Arizona was never raised, as well as the Utah. The Utah was used as a berth for ships. The West Virginia and California were both raised, repaired, and put back into service.

The Oklahoma was raised and sent to the West Coast, but she foundered along the way and sank a second time (one of the few ships to attain that achievement!). No other U.S. battleship was sunk during the war.

Answer: Pennsylvania

These four battleships, along with the Tennessee and Mississippi were involved in the Battle of Surigao Strait (under firect command of Rear Admiral Jesse Oldendorf) against a Japanese force under Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura, that included the battleships Fuso and Yamashiro.

The Fuso was never hit by battleship shells. She was mortally wounded by torpedoes launched from destroyers, sheered out of the column, and eventually sank before reaching the range of the U.S. battleships. The Yamashiro continued and was pounded.

The West Virginia, Tennessee, and California had modern fire-control radar and fired 225 shells at the Japanese force. The Maryland did not have modern-fire control radar, but picked up the shell splashes from West Virginia on her older radar and fired 48 shells, The Mississippi fired one salvo by using the splashes as aiming points, and the Pennsylvania (also lacking modern fire-control radar) never opened fire.

The only other engagement between battleships was at the Second Naval Battle of Guadalcanal with the South Dakota and the Washington vs. the Kirishima.

The Kirishima was sunk. No other engagement between battleships took place, although what would have been the granddaddy of them all almost did during the Battle of Leyte Gulf off Samar. Unfortunately, Halsey took his battleships north and left the San Bernardino Strait open. The Iowas versus Yamato...that would have been interesting!

Answer: France

The 16 inch gun was the most widely used type by the United States, being mounted in the Coloado-class (MD, WV, and CO), the North Carolina-class (NC and WA), the South Dakota-class (SD, MA, IN, and AL), and the Iowa-class (IA, NJ, WI, and MO). The 16 inch gun was not as popular with the British Navy. Only the Nelson and Rodney had 16 inch guns mounted (nine per ship).

These ships had on interesting design, as all of their main guns were placed fore of the bridge. The Prince of Wales class were armed with 14 inch guns and the older battleships and battlecruisers mounted 15 inch guns.

The Japanese were not big users of the 16 inch guns either, but the Nagato and Mutsu both mounted eight 16 inch guns. The majority of the Japanese fleet mounted 14 inch guns, with the exception of the Yamato and Musashi (18.1 inch).

The French battleships never mounted 16 inch guns either. The Richeliu and Jean Bart were armed with eight 15 inch guns. For the record, the Germans never used 16 inch guns either.

The Bismarck and Tirpitz mounted eight 15 inch guns, and all battlecruisers mounted 11 inch guns.

Answer: Kongo

The Kongo was the only Japanese battleship to be sunk by a submarine during World War II. She was sunk on November 21, 1944 by the Sealion, SS-315. The Hiei was severely damaged by gunfire, aircraft, and was finally scuttled by crew in Nov. 1942. The Kirishima was sunk by gunfire in Nov. 1942.

The Haruna was sunk by carrier aircraft in raids on Japan, Jul. 1945. The Kongo was sunk by the submarine Sealion SS-315, Nov. 1944. The Ise was sunk by carrier aircraft in raids on Japan, Jul. 1945. The Hyuga was sunk by carrier aircraft in raids on Japan.

The Fuso was sunk by gunfire in The Battle of Surigao Strait, Oct. 1944. The Yamashiro was also sunk by gunfire in The Battle of Surigao Strait, Oct. 1944. The Nagato survived the war. The Mutsu sank in an explosion of unknown origin in Hiroshima Bay, Jun. 1943.

The Yamato was sunk between Japan and Okinawa by carrier aircraft in Apr. 1945. The Musashi was sunk in The Battle of Sibuyan Sea by carrier aircraft in Oct. 1944.

Answer: Duke of York

Answer: Nelson

The King George V Class was composed of five ships, the Prince of Wales, Anson, Howe, Duke of York, and King George V. The Nelson was a member of the Rodney class, built in 1925.

Answer: Royal Oak

The Royal Oak was sunk by, as mentioned,a U-47. At the time, it was thought that Scapa Flow was invulnerable to submarine attack. Admiral Doenitz had always wanted to attack Scapa Flow and to strike a lethal blow to the British. On Oct. 8, 1939, Captain Gunther Prien in U-47 sailed for Scapa. On Oct. 13, Prien entered Scapa Flow, and after scoting the scene, fired three torpedoes. One explosion was heard, but no response was seen by the British. So, Prien reloaded and fired three more torpedoes, this time mortally wounding Royal Oak and sending her under in just 13 minutes with over 800 of her crew. U-47 then escaped and returned home Oct. 17.

Answer: North Carolina

Although they have the same tonnage and primary armament, the North Carolina was 728'8"long. The South Dakota was only 680' long. The North Carolina was originally designed with 14 inch guns. The amount of armor on a battleship was usually selected to be sufficient to stop a shell of the same size and calliber as the ship's own armament. Thus, the North Carolina had less armor. Since they had extra weight under the 35,000 ton limit, she was lengthened to make her more streamlined.

The decision to switch to 16 inch guns was too late to add aditional armor or change the hull, so it remained.

The South Dakota was designed with 16 inch guns, so her armor was greater. To comply with the 35,000 ton limit, she had to be shorter. Later, additional boilers were added to increase the speed, but her shorter design made her slightly slower than the North Carolina.