North Carolina class battleship

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North Carolina-class battleship
Image:Uss north carolina bb.jpg
Class Overview
Class type:	Battleship
Class name:	The State of North Carolina
Preceded by:	South Dakota-class
Succeeded by:	South Dakota-class
Ships of the line:	North Carolina (BB-55), Washington (BB-56)
General Characteristics (USS North Carolina)
Displacement:	35,000 tons (stand); 45,700 tons (mean war service)
Length:	729 ft (222 m) m)
Beam:	108 ft 2 in (32.98 m)
Draft:	North Carolina: 27 ft (8.2 m) Washington: 38 ft (11.6 m)
Speed:	27 knots (50 km/h)
Complement:	1,880
Max. cruising radius	5,740 miles (15,000 km) @ 25 knots (46 km/h); 16,320 miles (27,000 km) @ 15 knots (28 km/h)
Power:	121,000 shp (90 MW) forward
Drive:	4 screws; geared turbines
Fuel:	7,554 tons oil (max)
Armour	Belt: Bulkheads: Barbettes: Turrets: Decks:

The United States Navy built two North Carolina-class battleships:

North Carolina and her sister ship Washington were the first Post-Washington Treaty battleships as well as the first of the fast battleships. Before this class, the United States Navy favored staying power and fire power over speed. The North Carolina class had a speed of 27 knots versus the 21 knots of the pre-treaty Colorado Class. The class was completely different from all previous US battleships, and set the pattern for all subsequent vessels (as well as the reconstructions of vessels wrecked at Pearl Harbor), with a massive columnar mast replacing the familiar "cage" mast, main armament in two triple turrets forward, one aft, and dual-purpose secondaries along the sides of the superstructure. The most important advance of the class was one that could not be seen from outside: The integration of the first computer at sea, the Mark I fire control computer. The analog fire control system allowed the ship to maintain a constant fire control solution even when steaming at full speed and performing drastic evasive turns.

The ships were originally conceived as main battleships, but like their successors, the South Dakota and Iowa classes, they spent most of their operational lives as escorts for the fast carrier task force.

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