New Mexico-class battleship
USS New Mexico (BB-40)
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | New Mexico-class battleship |
| Builders: | |
| Operators: |
 United States |
| Preceded by: | Pennsylvania class |
| Succeeded by: | Tennessee class |
| Built: | 1915-1919 |
| In commission: | 1917–1956 |
| Planned: | 3 |
| Completed: | 3 |
| Retired: | 3 |
| Preserved: | 0 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Battleship |
| Displacement: | Standard: 32,000 long tons (32,514 t) |
| Length: | |
| Beam: | 97 ft 5 in (29.69 m) |
| Draft: | 30 ft (9 m) |
| Installed power: |
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| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h) |
| Range: | 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) @ 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 1,084 |
| Armament: |
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| Armor: |
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| Notes: | When modernized in the 1930s, two more 5-inch/51 caliber guns were removed and 5 in (127 mm)/25 caliber guns anti-aircraft guns were added. |
The New Mexico-class battleships of the United States Navy, all three of whose construction began in 1915, were improvements on the design introduced three years earlier with the Nevada class.
The twelve-gun main battery of the preceding Pennsylvania class was retained, but with longer 14-inch (356 mm)/50 caliber guns in improved triple turrets. Hull design was also upgraded with a 'clipper' bow for better seakeeping and a sleeker look. One ship, New Mexico, was fitted with turbo-electric propulsion.
Though eight secondary battery guns were located in extremely wet bow and stern positions and were soon removed, the rest of the ships' 5-inch (127 mm)/51 caliber guns were mounted in the superstructure, a great improvement over earlier U.S. Navy battleships' arrangements.
Completed during and soon after World War I, the New Mexicos were active members of the Battle Fleet during the decades between the World Wars. All were rebuilt between 1931 and 1934, receiving entirely new superstructures, modern controls for their guns, new engines and improved protection against air and surface attack. Anti-torpedo bulges increased their width to 106 feet 3 inches (32.39 m) and displacement went up by a thousand tons or more.
The New Mexico class was part of the standard-type battleship concept of the U.S. Navy, a design concept which gave the Navy a homogeneous line of battle (it allowed planning maneuvers for the whole line of battle rather than detaching "fast" and "slow" wings). The standard-type battleship concept included long-range gunnery, moderate speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph), a tight tactical radius of 700 yards (640 m) and improved damage control. The other standard-type battleships were the Nevada, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Colorado classes.
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