Q&A · 1:17:28-1:18:21

Faster US battleships built around 14-inch guns

Retaining 14-inch guns in later US battleships could trade projectile weight for speed or a smaller hull, potentially producing an even faster Iowa-class concept.

Question

What if the United States retained 14-inch guns for its Second World War battleships?

Short answer

The ships could be smaller or, more likely for the US Navy, substantially faster because less weight and space would be devoted to guns and ammunition.

Notes

The gun decision creates a weight-and-volume trade rather than a simple loss of firepower. Smaller weapons and their ammunition free displacement that can be used for machinery or removed from the ship altogether. The US Navy would likely favor more speed, producing faster capital ships rather than merely cheaper ones. That would reshape the familiar Iowa-versus-Yamato comparison because the American design would lean even more heavily into mobility.