Editing Battleship (section)

===Pacific theater===
[[File:Japanese battleship Yamato under attack in the East China Sea on 7 April 1945 (L42-09.06.05).jpg|thumb|The Japanese battleship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Yamato||2}} under heavy air attack and burning badly in April 1945]]

On 7 December 1941, the Japanese launched [[Attack on Pearl Harbor|a surprise attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor]]. Over the course of two waves of dive-, level- and torpedo bombers, the Japanese sank or destroyed five battleships and inflicted serious damage to the facilities there. Three days later, land-based Japanese aircraft operating out of [[French Indochina]], then occupied by Japan, [[Sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse|caught and sank]] the British battleship {{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|6}} and the battlecruiser {{HMS|Repulse|1916|6}} off the coast of [[British Malaya]]. Though the Taranto and Pearl Harbor strikes were significant steps toward aircraft replacing the battleship as the primary naval striking arm, the sinking of ''Prince of Wales'' and ''Repulse'' marked the first time aircraft had sunk capital ships that were maneuvering and returning fire.{{sfn|Peattie|2007|pp=168–170}}{{efn|Though World War II ultimately saw this process come to fruition, the first two years of the war in Europe proved to be inconclusive; the attacks at Taranto and Pearl Harbor had only managed to sink battleships at anchor, providing limited resistance. Only the torpedoing of ''Bismarck'' by ''Ark Royal'' in 1941 had pointed toward the dominance of aircraft carriers, but ''Bismarck'' was only destroyed by British battleships.{{sfn|Peattie|2007|p=130}}}}

Employment of battleships during the [[Pacific War]] was limited by a number of factors. Japanese strategic doctrine, the {{lang|ja|[[Kantai Kessen]]}}, envisioned a decisive clash of battleships at the end of the war, and so kept most of their battleships in home waters,{{sfn|Gibbons|1983|pp=262–263}} and only the four ''Kongō''s were routinely detached to escort the aircraft carriers of the {{lang|ja|[[Kido Butai]]}}.{{sfn|Peattie|2007|p=172}} For their part, the US kept its surviving pre-war battleships out of action primarily because they were too slow to keep up with the carriers. Later in the war, they were employed as coastal bombardment vessels.{{sfn|Gardiner|Chesneau|1980|p=87}} Nevertheless, American and Japanese battleships saw significant action during the [[Guadalcanal campaign]] in 1942, most notably at the [[Naval Battle of Guadalcanal]] in November. There, an American squadron centered on the battleships {{USS|Washington|BB-56|2}} and {{USS|South Dakota|BB-57|2}} intercepted and sank the battleship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Kirishima||2}}, though ''South Dakota'' received significant damage in return.{{sfn|Frank|1990|pp=475–488}} As more and more of the American fast battleships entered service from 1942, onward, they were frequently used as escorts for the [[fast carrier task force]] that was the US Navy's primary striking arm in its campaign across the central Pacific.{{sfn|Rohwer|2005|pp=258, 303–306, 354, 364}}{{sfn|Marriott|2010|p=194}}

During the [[Philippines campaign (1944–1945)|Philippines campaign]], battleships played a central role during the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]] in October 1944. The action was one of the [[largest naval battles in history]], which took place over several days and as three Japanese fleets attacked the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] invasion fleet. The Japanese battleship {{ship|Japanese battleship|Musashi||2}}, part of Center Force, was sunk by American carrier aircraft during the [[Battle of Sibuyan Sea]] on 24 October. During the [[Battle of Surigao Strait]] the following night, several US battleships that had been repaired from the attack on Pearl Harbor defeated the Japanese Southern Force that included a pair of battleships. Center Force attacked again on 25 October and in the [[Battle off Samar]], but was driven off by destroyers and aircraft from several [[escort carrier]]s.{{sfn|Wilmott|2015|pp=73–74, 110–123, 165–182}}{{sfn|Whitley|1998|p=216}} During the [[Battle of Okinawa]] in April 1945, Japan sent ''Yamato'' as a final [[Operation Ten-Go|suicide mission]] to attack the landing beaches and attempt to stop the invasion of the island. American aircraft scored between nine and thirteen torpedo hits and six bomb hits on the ship and sank her. {{ship|Japanese battleship|Haruna||2}} was sunk by US aircraft off [[Kure]], Japan, in July. Only {{ship|Japanese battleship|Nagato||2}} survived the war.{{sfn|Jentschura|Jung|Mickel|1976|p=39}}{{sfn|Gardiner|Chesneau|1980|pp=171–172, 178}} The war ended with the [[Japanese surrender]] aboard the battleship {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} in September 1945.{{sfn|Marriott|2010|p=201}}