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New Mexico-class battleship

Uss new mexico bb.jpg
USS New Mexico (BB-40)
Class overview
Name: New Mexico-class battleship
Builders:
Operators: U.S. flag, 48 stars.svg 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:
  • 600 ft (180 m) pp
  • 624 ft (190 m) oa
Beam: 97 ft 5 in (29.69 m)
Draft: 30 ft (9 m)
Installed power:
  • New Mexico:
  • 27,500 hp (20,500 kW)
  • Mississippi and Idaho:
  • 32,000 hp (24,000 kW)
Propulsion:
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:
Armor:
  • Belt: 8–13.5 in (203–343 mm)
  • Barbettes: 13 in (330 mm)
  • Turret face: 18 in (457 mm)
  • Turret sides: 9–10 in (229–254 mm)
  • Turret top: 5 in (127 mm)
  • Turret rear 9 in (229 mm)
  • Conning tower: 11.5 in (292 mm)
  • Decks: 3.5 in (89 mm)
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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