No battleships in the U.S. Navy

[snopes]

Comment: As a retired Navy man i won a few bar bets on the following:
Rumor is there are NO battleships active in the US Navy. This is wrong.
The USS ARIZONA is still a commissioned ship. It is, however, sitting on
the bottom of Pearl Harbor. But colors are held every day. And it is
still on the list of active Navy ships.

[hambubba]

Not "decommissioned", but "struck from the register":

Placed "in ordinary" at Pearl Harbor on 29 December 1941, Arizona was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 December 1942

Whatever that means. Definitely not "in service".

[TrekkerScout]

The term "in ordinary" is naval jargon for "mothballed". Ships in ordinary can sometimes be recalled to active status. However, in the case of the Arizona, I doubt that will ever happen.

[dfresh]

Originally Posted by TrekkerScout

The term "in ordinary" is naval jargon for "mothballed". Ships in ordinary can sometimes be recalled to active status. However, in the case of the Arizona, I doubt that will ever happen.

I doubt it, but old, sunken battleships have been recalled before

[CannonFodder]

Originally Posted by TrekkerScout

The term "in ordinary" is naval jargon for "mothballed". Ships in ordinary can sometimes be recalled to active status. However, in the case of the Arizona, I doubt that will ever happen.

You never can tell. Remember the Yamato!

Hurry Star Force, the Earth only has 256 days left!

DAMMIT, spanked horribly by dfresh! I LOVE that show.

[Old goat]

http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/BB39.htm

The USS Arizona was officially decommissioned in 1962. It is a memorial only and is not considered an active vessel in any form.

Originally Posted by snopes

Comment: As a retired Navy man i won a few bar bets on the following:

It seems like someone owes their mates a lot of drinks back.

[llewtrah]

This comes up regularly on sci.military.naval (where I hang out for work-related matters). The talk there is of frigates, carriers etc. When a newbie mentions "battleships" the military guys yell "Aaaagh!!!" On subsequent offences they come down on him like a ton of bricks for his ignorance.

[RichardM]

What is the status and rating of the USS Constitution?

[Nick Theodorakis]

Originally Posted by RichardM

What is the status and rating of the USS Constitution?

It's still in commission, but it's a frigate, not a battleship (nor whatever the 19th century equivalent of what a battleship was -- ship-of-the-line, maybe?).

Nick

[snopes]

The USS Arizona isn't on the Navy's list of active ships:

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/.../shipalfa.html

- snopes

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by Nick Theodorakis

It's still in commission, but it's a frigate, not a battleship (nor whatever the 19th century equivalent of what a battleship was -- ship-of-the-line, maybe?).

This is why newbies on the naval newsgroup are laughed at so much. They use "battleship" to mean any armed military vessel.

And every TV reporter ever made. If I hear one more call a destroyer a battleship, I'm .. going ... to e-mail snopes.

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by diving_cecil

And every TV reporter ever made. If I hear one more call a destroyer a battleship, I'm .. going ... to e-mail snopes.

Corvettes, carriers, destroyers, frigates ... but not battleships!

I have a standing instruction to my parents to take photos of every military vessel they see when on their cruises. I obscure any obvious ident and set it as a picture poser to sci.military.naval

[Eddylizard]

So at the risk of getting laughed at, what broadly speaking is the difference between different classes of warship? Is it displacement, weaponary, something else?

[DemonWolf]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

So at the risk of getting laughed at, what broadly speaking the difference between different classes of warship? Is id displacement, weaponary, something else?

IIRC, size, armament, and purpose are all factors in what type a ship is called. Although with missile replacing heavy guns, smaller vessels can now unleash a temendous amount of firepower. The old Missouri class battleships of WWII would probably be easy pickings for one of today's light cruisers.

[Nick Theodorakis]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

So at the risk of getting laughed at, what broadly speaking the difference between different classes of warship? Is id displacement, weaponary, something else?

Originally, classes were defined by role, displacement, and weaponry. Some classes are obvious, such as submarines and aircraft carriers (although a modern amphibious assault ship may look an awful lot like a small aircraft carrier). A battleship was the largest, most heavily armored and armed surface combat vessel whose main function was to destroy other warships. For moderrn surface vessels smaller than battleships, there were a number of classes including cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes, and others, which are briefly described in this wikipedia article. These had various roles such as anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, surface warfare, and land attack. Nowadays the lines between classes have become blurred, and many ships have multiple roles, so the class names are not as descriptive as they used to be. ISTM that the trend in the US Navy is to call any largish ocean-going general-purpose surface warship a "destroyer."

Nick

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by Eddylizard

So at the risk of getting laughed at, what broadly speaking is the difference between different classes of warship? Is it displacement, weaponary, something else?

Google for Royal Navy to find their definitions and a lovely photo library

[Giant Communist Robot]

The old Missouri class battleships

Originally posted by DemonWolf:

Just to quibble a little, there is no Missouri class--that would be Iowa.

[me, no really]

Originally Posted by DemonWolf

IIRC, size, armament, and purpose are all factors in what type a ship is called. Although with missile replacing heavy guns, smaller vessels can now unleash a temendous amount of firepower. The old Missouri class battleships of WWII would probably be easy pickings for one of today's light cruisers.

Given that the Iowa's during their service life were fitted with the missile systems and modern radar, and were also heavily armoured against much larger warheads than you find in a modern missile, I suspect your light cruiser would be toast From what I have read, I suspect they were retired more due to the cost to keep such a large vessel running with such a large crew rather than combat effectiveness. I have talked to a few Aussie troops who wish there was still a chance to be able to call on a Battleship with 16" guns for fire support though.

me