Tennessee-class battleship

USS Tennessee (BB-43)
Class overview
Name:	Tennessee-class battleship
Builders:	New York Naval Shipyard Mare Island Naval Shipyard
Operators:	United States Navy
Preceded by:	New Mexico class
Succeeded by:	Colorado class
Built:	1916–1921
In commission:	1920–1947
Planned:	2
Completed:	2
Retired:	2
Preserved:	0
General characteristics
Type:	Battleship
Displacement:	33,190 long tons (33,723 t) (original) 40,950 long tons (41,607 t) (rebuilt)
Length:	600 ft (180 m) pp 624 ft (190 m) oa
Beam:	97 ft 5 in (29.69 m) (original) 114 ft (35 m) (rebuilt)
Draft:	30 ft 2 in (9.19 m)
Installed power:	26,800 shp (20,000 kW) (original) 29,000 shp (22,000 kW) (rebuilt)
Propulsion:	4 × turbo-electric transmission 4 × screws
Speed:	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Range:	8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) @ 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Capacity:	4,893 tons (1,467,900 gallons) oil
Complement:	57 officers, 1,026 enlisted (peacetime) 1,407 (wartime)
Armament:	12 × 14 in (356 mm)/50 caliber guns (4×3) 25 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 caliber guns (soon reduced to 14 × 5 in/51 caliber guns.) 2 × Mark 15 21 in (533 mm) torpedo tubes
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)

The Tennessee class was a class of battleships of the United States Navy. The class comprised two ships: Tennessee and California. They were modified versions of the New Mexico class featuring improved underwater armor for better torpedo protection and 30-degree elevation on their main batteries, as opposed to 15 degrees for the New Mexicos. Both ships were extensively rebuilt after being damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and survived World War II to be scrapped shortly after.

Tennessee and her sister ship California, already incorporating many of the innovations in the New Mexico class, were the first American battleships built to a "post-Jutland" hull design. As a result of extensive experimentation and testing, her underwater hull protection was much greater than that of previous battleships; and both her main and secondary batteries had fire-control systems.

Since Tennessee's 14-inch (356 mm) turret guns could be elevated to 30 degrees—rather than to the 15 degrees of earlier battleships—her heavy guns could reach out an additional 10,000 yards (9,100 m). Because battleships were then beginning to carry airplanes to spot long-range gunfire, Tennessee's ability to shoot "over the horizon" gave her a material tactical advantage.

The Tennessee class, and the three ships of the Colorado class which followed, were identified by two heavy cage masts supporting large fire-control tops, twin funnels and no secondary gun casemates in their hulls. These features distinguished the "Big Five" from the rest of the battleship force (older battleship classes had had their noticeably lighter cage masts replaced with tripod masts during inter-war modernization and were built with single funnels and casemates in their hulls).

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