Fast Battleship - Summary of "fast Battleship" Classes

Summary of "fast Battleship" Classes

The following classes of warship have been considered to be fast battleships, in accordance with the definition used in this article and/or with contemporary usage. The list includes all new construction of the 1930s and 1940s, along with some reconstructions; this reflects the fact that, while not all of these ships were notably fast by contemporary standards of new construction, they were all much faster than the considerable number of capital ships built in the pre-Treaty era and still in service at that time. All speeds are design speeds, sourced from Conway’s; these speeds were often exceeded on trial, though rarely in service.

Royal Navy

• Queen Elizabeth class (25 knots): the prototype fast battleship class
• Hood, the sole member of the Admiral-class was characterised by the Royal Navy as a battlecruiser throughout her lifetime, nonetheless some modern authorities characterise her as a fast battleship as she appeared on paper to be an improvement over the Queen Elizabeth class. (28 knots)
• King George V class (28 knots)
• Vanguard (30 knots)

United States Navy

• North Carolina class (28 knots)
• South Dakota class (1939) (27.5 knots)
• Iowa class (32.5 knots)

Imperial Japanese Navy (Dai-Nippon Teikoku Kaigun)

• Kongo class – as reconstructed (30.5 knots). Originally classified as battlecruisers, these ships were reclassified as battleships after their first reconstruction in 1929-1931. Even after a second reconstruction in the late 1930s, they remained relatively weak in armament and protection by Second World War standards.
• Nagato class – as completed (26.5 knots). Unusually for a Japanese design, the speed was reduced to 25 knots (46 km/h) when the class was reconstructed in 1934-36.
• Yamato class (27 knots)

German Navy (Kriegsmarine)

• Scharnhorst class (also known as the Gneisenau class) (32 knots). These ships were officially designated kleine Schlachtschiffe ("small battleships"). The contemporary Royal Navy termed them "battlecruisers", on the basis of their exceptionally high speed and weak armament.
• Bismarck class (30.8 knots)

French Navy (Marine Nationale)

• Dunkerque class (29.5 knots). As with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the contemporary Royal Navy termed these ships "battlecruisers". Some modern French-language sources also characterise these ships as battlecruisers (croiseurs de bataille) rather than battleships (cuirassés or bâtiments de ligne).
• Richelieu class (30 knots)

Italian navy (Regia Marina)

• Conte di Cavour class – as reconstructed, 1933-1937 (27 knots)
• Andrea Doria class – as reconstructed, 1937-1940 (26 knots)
• Vittorio Veneto class (30 knots).