Trump: The US Considers Possibility of Bringing Back Battleships

The US President announced the possibility of returning the Navy to the concept of battleships equipped with heavy artillery.

He said this in a speech to the US Department of War.

“I think we should start thinking about battleships. We’re talking about these ships; some people will say: “No, that’s outdated”. I don’t think it’s old technology when you look at those guns.

We’re really considering the concept of a battleship. A sturdy six-inch mounting, thick steel. Not aluminum. Aluminum that melts at the sight of a missile… And the shells are significantly cheaper than missiles… I’m telling you, this is something we’re seriously considering,” he said.

Donald Trump did not specify whether he was talking about the possibility of building new ships of this class or reactivating the Iowa-class battleships that fought in World War II and are now mothballed and turned into floating museums.

Last March, Militarnyi reported that one of the American battleships of this class, the USS New Jersey, was sent for repairs after 30 years of idle time in the port dock.

Recommissioning of the Iowa-class battleships

After World War II, battleships lost their leading role in the fleet. Nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and destroyers became the key elements of American naval power. However, the United States still had four Iowa-class battleships (Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin) that still had great potential.

In the 1950s and 1970s, they were taken out of service one by one, and the USS New Jersey even returned to service and fought in Vietnam as a floating artillery battery. During one of its operations, the battleship sank eleven Viet Cong logistics vessels.

In the 1980s, during the new Cold War, the Ronald Reagan administration announced an ambitious program to build a “600-ship fleet.” Battleships were seen as a powerful, relatively cheap way to quickly strengthen surface forces: they had unique 406-mm guns, strong armor protection, and huge space for deploying modern weapons.

The ships were modernized with the most advanced weapons of the time, including four Mk.141 launchers for 16 RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, eight launchers for 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles, and four Phalanx Close anti-aircraft guns. This project cost the US government $1.7 billion for four ships (~5.5 billion today).

In 1983, the USS New Jersey was sent to Lebanon to support US troops, and the USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin were actively used in the 1991 Gulf War. They fired 406-mm guns at Iraqi positions in Kuwait and launched Tomahawks at strategic targets.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the US defense budget was significantly reduced, and the operation of battleships was recognized as too expensive and impractical. Therefore, from 1991 to 1992, the battleships were decommissioned and mothballed for the last time.