Thecapital ships of anavy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in anaval fleet.[1]
There is usually no formal criterion for the classification, but it is a useful concept in naval strategy; for example, it permits comparisons between relative naval strengths in atheatre of operations without the need for considering specific details of tonnage or gun calibres.
A notable example of this is theMahanian doctrine, which was applied in theplanning of the defence of Singapore in World War II, where theRoyal Navy had to decide the allocation of its battleships and battlecruisers between the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. The Mahanian doctrine was also applied by theImperial Japanese Navy, leading to itspreventive move toattack Pearl Harbor and the capital ships of theU.S. Pacific Fleet.[2] The naval nature of thePacific Theater of Operations, more commonly referred to as thePacific War, necessitated theUnited States Navy mostly deploying its battleships and aircraft carriers in the Pacific. The war in Europe was primarily a land war; consequently, Germany's surface fleet was small, and the Allied escort ships needed in theBattle of the Atlantic were mostlydestroyers anddestroyer escorts to counter theU-boat threat.
Before the advent of the all-steel navy in the late 19th century, a capital ship during theAge of Sail was generally understood as a ship that conformed to theRoyal Navy'srating system of aship of the line as being of thefirst,second,third orfourth rates:
Frigates were ships of thefifth rate;sixth rates comprised small frigates andcorvettes. Towards the end of theNapoleonic Wars and into the late 19th century, some larger and more powerful frigates were classified as fourth rates.
The term "capital ship" was coined in 1909 and formally defined in the limitation treaties of the 1920s and 1930s, in the 1922Washington Naval Treaty, 1930London Naval Treaty, and 1936Second London Naval Treaty. This applied mainly to ships resulting from thedreadnought revolution; dreadnought battleships (also known first as dreadnoughts and later as battleships) and battlecruisers.[1] The term is also defined in the 1936Montreux Convention.[3]
In the 20th century, especially in World Wars I and II, typical capital ships would bebattleships andbattlecruisers. All of the above ships were close to 20,000 tons displacement or heavier, with large caliber guns and heavy armor protection.
Cruisers, despite being important ships, were not considered capital ships. An exception to the above in World War II was theDeutschland-class cruiser. Though this class was technically similar to aheavy cruiser, albeit slower but with considerably heavier guns, they were regarded by some as capital ships (hence the British label "Pocket battleship") since they were one of the few heavy surface units of theKriegsmarine. The AmericanAlaska-class cruiser, DutchDesign 1047 battlecruiser and the JapaneseDesign B-65 cruiser, planned specifically to counter the heavy cruisers being built by their naval rivals, have been described as "super cruisers", "large cruisers" or even "unrestricted cruisers", with some advocating that they even be considered battlecruisers; however, they were never classified as capital ships.[4]
During theCold War, aSovietKirov-class large missile cruiser had a displacement great enough to rival World War II-era battleships and battlecruisers, perhaps defining a new capital ship for that era. In regard to technical design, however, theKirov is simply a supersized guided-missile cruiser with nuclear propulsion.
_during_flight_operations.jpg)
It took until late 1942 foraircraft carriers to be universally considered capital ships. Only full-size fleet carriers (whether purpose-built or converted from battleship/battlecruiser hulls) were regarded as capital ships, whilelight carriers (often using cruiser hulls) andescort carriers (often using merchant ship hulls) were not. After the Japaneseattack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 the U.S. Navy had to[5][6][7] rely primarily on its aircraft carriers, none of which had been at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack, which sank or damaged eight of its Pacific-fleet battleships.
In the 21st century, the aircraft carrier is the last remaining capital ship, with capability defined in decks available and aircraft per deck rather than in guns andcalibers. The United States has supremacy in both contemporary categories of aircraft carriers, possessing 11 active dutysupercarriers each capable of carrying and launching nearly 100 tactical aircraft, and nineamphibious assault ships which are equivalent in the "Sea Control Ship" configuration to the lightVSTOL carriers operated by other nations.[8]
_underway_at_sea%2c_circa_in_the_1970s.jpg)
Nuclear submarines, while important ships and similar in tonnage to early battleships, are usually counted as part of a nation'snuclear deterrent force and do not share the sea control mission of traditional capital ships. Nevertheless, many navies, including the Royal Navy and theUnited States Navy, consider these ships to be capital ships and have given some of them names previously used for battleships, e.g.Dreadnought andVanguard,Oklahoma andIowa.
Some navies reserve specific names for their capital ships. Names reserved for capital ships include chiefs of state (e.g.Bismarck), important places, historically important naval officers or admiralty (e.g.De Ruyter), historical events or objects (e.g.USS Constitution), and traditional names (e.g.HMS Ark Royal). However, there are some exceptions to the rule.
Beginning withUSS Texas (the first U.S. battleship), U.S. capital ships were traditionally named after U.S. states.[a] Cruisers are typically named afterU.S. territories (e.g.Alaska-class cruisers just before and during World War II) or U.S. cities. Prior to and during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy also followed the practice of naming battleships after provinces (e.g.Yamato).
The U.S. Navy has never named aircraft carriers after U.S. states. Avariety of names (Wasp,Independence, ...) were used until 1968, whenJohn F. Kennedy was commissioned, since then U.S. aircraft carriers are almost always named after politicians and people notable in US naval history, such asGerald R. Ford (president) andChester W. Nimitz (admiral); an exception isEnterprise.
US ballistic missile submarines were not initially named for states (e.g.Poseidon). Beginning with theOhio class commissioned from 1981, the first class ofTrident-equipped ballistic missile submarines, U.S. nuclear submarines have been named after states. After the completion of the lastOhio-class ballistic missile submarine, state names were also applied to attack submarines (e.g.Virginia class). Earlier attack submarines had usually been named for marine animals or, commencing with theLos Angeles class, cities and towns.
| International | |
|---|---|
| Other | |
