The age of the battleship was an age of daring, creative engineering, and combatant naval rivalry. Country by country pushed the limits of technology to construct gargantuan warships that would dominate the seas through brute power and armor. They were the super-battleships—gigantic ocean fortresses with cannons launching several-ton projectiles. But as technologies emerged for sea warfare, many of these titans never made it beyond the drawing board. Four of the greatest super-battleship designs ever conceived are described below.
4. British Lion-class (1944 Design)
The Royal Navy’s Lion-class battleships were years in design, redesigned and with shifting priorities. The 1944 design was the largest and most advanced, displacing more than 76,000 long tons and being 935 feet stem to stern.
Nine 16-inch guns in triple turrets were fitted in these warships, and with their deadly firepower came attendant rapid-firing secondaries and effective anti-aircraft defense. Design was for light belt armor with integrated deck and submarine torpedo and bomb protection. The Lion-class would have been one of the fastest battleships in history at more than 33 knots at maximum speed. The program was ultimately canceled because costs were increasing and there was a shift to building aircraft carriers, with only HMS Vanguard, a variant of Lion, finished.
3. US Montana-class
Montana-class represented the pinnacle of American battleship design, leaving the Iowa-class in the dust with more firepower and protection. At over 70,965 long tons, the vessels would have carried twelve 16-inch guns in four triple turret configurations and featured among the thickest armor ever fitted—409mm for the belt and well over 10 inches for the decks.
Built for highest survivability, Montanas also possessed advanced underwater protection. Five were planned, but none were built because the U.S. returned to aircraft carriers.
The Montana-class today stands as a testament to American industrial power and the frenetic breakdown of the battleship as the center of naval combat.
2. German H-41 Class
The most realistic version of Germany’s extravagant H-class battleship project was the H-41. It displaced close to 78,000 long tons and was 925 feet in length, and would have mounted eight 16.5-inch guns, twelve 5.9-inch secondaries, and a large anti-aircraft squadron.
German design concentrated on armor and underwater protection such as torpedo bulkheads and stern reinforcement with greater rudders and skegs. Though drawing design from state-of-the-art design, wartime need and industrial capability never permitted the H-41 to move beyond the design stage.
1. Japanese A-150 “Super Yamato”
While the Yamato-class was the pinnacle of battleship construction, the A-150 “Super Yamato” was seen as one step further. Japan envisioned this monster ship dominating the oceans, with six colossus guns, additional armor plating, and greater speed than its predecessors.
Built during the post-World War II period as a sea monstrosity, the A-150 embodied Japan’s ambitions for overwhelming power and domination. Like all super-battleships, it went no farther than the drawing board, a testament to arrogance and excess in naval ship construction.
These four programs show the amazing extremes to which nations resorted in the desire for sea power. Though most never left port, they are strong reminders of human imagination and the limits of technical want on the open ocean.