The Montana class battleships were authorized under the 1940 “Two Ocean Navy” building program, ordered in Fiscal Year 1941; the final battleships ordered by the U.S. Navy were larger than the preceding Iowa class by nearly a third with an intended standard displacement of 60,500 tons. The Montanas were designed to carry twelve 16″ guns, three more than the earlier class, and incorporated greatly improved underwater protection against underwater weapons and significantly enhanced armor protection against shellfire. They would have been the only new World War II-era U.S. battleships adequately armored against guns of the same power as their own. However, their beam was too great for the existing Panama Canal locks, and they were designed for a slower maximum speed than the very fast Iowas.
Completion of the Montana class would have given the late 1940s U.S. Navy a total of seventeen new battleships, a number far greater than any other nation. In addition, the Montanas also would have been the only American ships to come close to equaling the massive Japanese Yamato. However, the more urgent World War II requirements for other ships- particularly aircraft carriers, amphibious, and anti-submarine vessels- caused the Montanas to be suspended in May 1942 before any keels had been laid down. Construction of the class was canceled in July 1943, when it finally became evident that the battleship was no longer the supreme element of sea power.
The Montana class would have consisted of five ships, to be constructed at three Navy Yards:
– Montana (BB-67), to be built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania
– Ohio (BB-68), to be built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard
– Maine (BB-69), to be built at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York
– New Hampshire (BB-70), to be built at the New York Navy Yard
– Louisiana (BB-71), to be built at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia
The Montana class design characteristics included a displacement of 60,500 tons standard and 70,965 tons full load, with dimensions of 921′ 3″ in length overall and 121′ 2″ in maximum beam, a powerplant of 172,000 horsepower steam turbines producing a 28-knot maximum speed, and an armament of twelve 16″/50 guns in four triple turrets and twenty 5″/54 guns in ten twin mountings.
Ambitious designs for capital ships, such as Montana-class battleships, the German H-Class, or the Japanese Super-Yamato class, are the ultimate peaks in the development of battleships during World War II. If finished, these would have been among the largest and most heavily gunned vessels ever built. Mounted guns ranged from 16″ on the Montanas and the initial German H-39 class to 20″ on the Super Yamatos and the H-44. These latter guns would have represented the largest artillery ever mounted aboard a ship.
Of these various designs, only the H-39 class was near completion. These were intended to mount eight 16″ guns, displace more than 55,000 tons, and make 30 knots on diesel engines. Two of six projected vessels were laid down, with all canceled, some of their main guns built and used as coastal defense artillery along the Atlantic Wall.
However, the vulnerability of battleships to carrier-based aircraft brought about a revolution in naval warfare, with fast carrier task forces supplanting the traditional battle line of battleships. This would have consumed vast amounts of raw materials, labor, and industry needed for the construction of these massive battleships which were wanted by other types of vessels. It was because of this that the Germans opted for the path of U-boats whereas Japanese and Americans focused on aircraft carriers and their escort vessels.
Together with the H-Class and Super-Yamato class battleships, the Montana class remains the stuff of dreams for those who are into the history of battleships and their development. What great, unbuilt titans that would have been a wondrous sight to behold, befitting massive power and beauty but the kind of deadly beauty one wishes never had to be employed.