Super-Battleships of World War II

A study of the design, development, and eventual fates of the uncompleted 'superbattleships' intended to be built before and during World War II.

Using photos and illustrated colour artwork including a detailed cutaway of the 'superbattleship' USS Montana, this book explores the largely uncompleted, sometimes fantastical 'superbattleships' in development at the beginning of the 20th century. Naval expert, Mark Stile, presents a comprehensive overview of their origins and design, detailing their proposed specifications and eventual fate.

At the start of World War II, all the major powers were planning and developing classes to replace their most modern and powerful battleships. The US Navy wanted five Montana-class 'superbattleships' based on the Iowa class with a heavier main battery and deeper protection. The German Navy planned the H Class, an improved Bismarck class, with an H-44 design incorporating an incredible 141,500 tons full load with 20in guns. The Japanese Yamato class was an entirely new design incorporating 20.1in guns, the largest ever mounted on a battleship. 15 ships planned for the Sovetsky Soyuz class for the Soviet Navy would have rivaled the Montana-class in size. Most of these ships were never completed and when war broke out, they were immediately rendered obsolete by the advent of the aircraft carrier.

Tracing the design, development, and eventual fate of these unrealised 'superbattleships', this study recounts the story of these never-to- be- seen leviathans, detailing the plans that never came to fruition and explaining the reasons for the decisions to abandon them.