Editing Battleship (section)

== Cold War: end of the battleship era ==
[[File:Operation Crossroads Baker Edit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|[[Operation Crossroads]]]]

After World War II, several navies retained their existing battleships, but most were either placed in their reserve fleets or scrapped outright. Of their surviving pre-war battleships, most of the American vessels were either scrapped or sunk as [[target ship]]s by 1948, though the most modern vessels, those of the {{sclass|Tennessee|battleship|5}} and {{sclass|Maryland|battleship|4}}es, survived until the late 1950s and early 1960s. One of the earlier vessels, {{USS|Texas|BB-35|6}}, was preserved as a [[museum ship]]. The four ''King George V''-class ships were all broken up by 1957, Only two battleships—the British {{HMS|Vanguard|23|6}} and the French {{ship|French battleship|Jean Bart|1940|2}}—were completed after the war. ''Vanguard'' did not long outlast the ''King George V''s, being scrapped herself in 1960. ''Jean Bart'' (and her sister ''Richelieu'') remained in the French fleet's inventory until the early 1960s, when they were discarded. Three of the six American ''North Carolina''- and ''South Dakota''-class ships were similarly scrapped in the early 1960s, but the other three—{{USS|North Carolina|BB-55|2}}, {{USS|Massachusetts|BB-59|2}}, and {{USS|Alabama|BB-60|2}}—were retained as museum ships. With the reduced naval budgets of the immediate postwar period, the US Navy chose to concentrate its resources on its carrier force.{{sfn|Gardiner|Chesneau|1980|pp=15–16, 90, 97–99, 260}}{{sfn|Marriott|2010|p=206}} Besides the rise of aircraft carriers as the preeminent naval striking force, the advent of nuclear weapons influenced the decision to abandon large battleship fleets. In 1946, ''Nagato'', which was seized by the US, and four American battleships were used during the [[Operation Crossroads]] nuclear weapons tests, though three of the American ships survived the two blasts and were later sunk with conventional weapons.{{sfn|Marriott|2010|pp=202, 205}}

Of the remaining, smaller battleships fleets, Italy retained its two {{sclass|Andrea Doria|battleship|1}}s, of 1913 vintage, until the late 1950s and early 1960s, when they were scrapped. One other battleship, {{ship|Italian battleship|Giulio Cesare||2}} was taken by the Soviets as reparations and renamed ''Novorossiysk''; she was sunk by a mine in the Black Sea on 29 October 1955. The two surviving ''Littorio''-class ships were taken by the US and UK as war reparations and scrapped in the late 1940s. The Soviets still had a pair of World War I-era battleships—{{ship|Soviet battleship|Parizhskaya Kommuna||2}} and {{ship|Soviet battleship|Gangut||2}}—, but they, too, were scrapped in the late 1950s. The three large South American navies still had a handful of pre-World War I dreadnoughts in service after the war. Brazil eventually discarded its two {{sclass|Minas Gerais|battleship|1}}s in the early 1950s; ''Argentina'' sold its two {{sclass|Rivadavia|battleship|1}}s in 1956; the last ship in the region, the Chilean {{ship|Chilean battleship|Almirante Latorre||2}}, followed them to the breakers' yard in 1959.{{sfn|Gardiner|Chesneau|1980|pp=284, 290, 322, 416, 419}}

[[File:Battle Group Alpha (Midway, Iowa) underway, 1987.jpg|thumb|USN carrier group led by {{USS|Iowa|BB-61|6}} in 1987]]

The four ''Iowa''-class battleships were the only vessels of the type to see significant combat after World War II. All four ships were reactivated for gunfire support duties during the [[Korean War]] in the early 1950s, and {{USS|New Jersey|BB-62|2}} was also deployed during the [[Vietnam War]] in 1968–1969 for the same task. All four ships were modernized in the early 1980s with [[Tomahawk (missile family)|Tomahawk]] cruise missiles, [[Harpoon (missile)|Harpoon]] anti-ship missiles, and [[Phalanx CIWS]] systems, along with the latest radar systems. They were recommissioned as part of the [[600-ship Navy]] program under President [[Ronald Reagan]]. ''New Jersey'' next saw action in 1982, bombarding Syrian artillery during the [[Lebanese Civil War]]. ''Missouri'' and {{USS|Wisconsin|BB-64|2}} took part in [[Operation Desert Storm]] against Iraqi forces in 1991, bombarding enemy positions along the coast. The ships proved to be expensive to operate, and they required thousands of men to keep in service, so ''Iowa'' and ''New Jersey'' were already back in reserve by that time, and ''Missouri'' and ''Wisconsin'' were also decommissioned by the end of 1991. All four were struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] in 1995.{{sfn|Marriott|2010|pp=206–208}}

When the last ''Iowa''-class ship was finally stricken from the [[Naval Vessel Registry]], no battleships remained in service or in reserve with any navy worldwide. A number are preserved as museum ships, either afloat or in drydock. The U.S. has eight battleships on display: ''Massachusetts'', ''North Carolina'', ''Alabama'', ''Iowa'', ''New Jersey'', ''Missouri'', ''Wisconsin'', and ''Texas''. ''Missouri'' and ''New Jersey'' are museums at Pearl Harbor and [[Camden, New Jersey]], respectively. ''Iowa'' is on display as an educational attraction at the Los Angeles Waterfront in [[San Pedro, California]]. ''Wisconsin'' now serves as a museum ship in [[Norfolk, Virginia]].<ref>[http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/City-to-take-ownership-of-USS-Wisconsin-Friday "WCBC files lawsuit"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100416025639/http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/City-to-take-ownership-of-USS-Wisconsin-Friday |date=April 16, 2010 }}. Associated Press. April 14, 2010. Retrieved April 15, 2010.</ref> ''Massachusetts'', which has the distinction of never having lost a man during service, is on display at the [[Battleship Cove]] naval museum in [[Fall River, Massachusetts]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.battleshipcove.org/exhibits.asp |title=Battleship Cove: Exhibits |website=USS Massachusetts Memorial Committee |access-date=April 21, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402224345/http://www.battleshipcove.org/exhibits.asp |archive-date=April 2, 2013 }}</ref> ''Texas'', the first battleship turned into a museum, is normally on display at the [[San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site]], near [[Houston]], but as of 2021 is closed for repairs.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://battleshiptexas.org/battleship-updates/ |title = Battleship Updates |date = October 9, 2021 |work = The Battleship Texas Foundation |access-date = October 21, 2021 |archive-date = October 21, 2021 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211021162809/https://battleshiptexas.org/battleship-updates/ |url-status = live }}</ref> ''North Carolina'' is on display in [[Wilmington, North Carolina]].{{sfn|Dennis|2024}} ''Alabama'' is on display in [[Mobile, Alabama]].<ref name=PCH>{{cite web|url=http://www.ussalabama.com/park-complete-history/|title=Park Complete History|access-date=1 May 2019|website=ussalabama.com|publisher=[[Battleship Memorial Park|USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park]]|date=2017}}</ref> The [[USS Arizona Memorial]] was erected over the wreck of {{USS|Arizona|BB-39|2}}, which was sunk during the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941, to commemorate those killed in the raid.<ref>{{cite web | title = USS Arizona Memorial | url = https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor-raid/remembrance-of--a-date-which-will-live-in-infamy-/uss-arizona--bb-39--memorial-at-pearl-harbor.html | access-date = 11 March 2025 |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command}}</ref> Memorials were also placed to mark the wreck of {{USS|Utah|BB-31|2}}, also sunk during the attack.<ref>{{cite web | title = USS Utah Memorial | url = https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/our-collections/photography/wars-and-events/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor-raid/remembrance-of--a-date-which-will-live-in-infamy-/uss-utah-memorial-at-pearl-harbor.html | access-date = 11 March 2025|publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command}}</ref> The only other 20th-century battleship on display is the Japanese pre-dreadnought {{ship|Japanese battleship|Mikasa||2}}, preserved since 1923.{{sfn|Gardiner|Chesneau|1980|p=171}}