List of sunken battleships

USS Arizona sunk at Pearl Harbor

The battleship was the key strategic weapon of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Large numbers of battleships were built by the major military powers, in particular Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Italy, Spain, Japan, and the United States. Due to the high cost of building and maintenance, most were eventually decommissioned. Only a handful of true battleships have been retained as historical objects today. However, many battleships still exist as sunken wrecks in various stages of decay in the oceans. While most of these ships have long been considered "lost", modern technology and historical interest has drawn more attention to them while they remain relatively intact.

By tradition and maritime law, sunken warships remain the property of the government of the nation that owned them.

Locations of sunken battleships

Map of approximate locations of sunken battleships
Table of sunken battleship locations
Nearby modern landmark Nautical location Ocean Ship name(s)
Avranches, Normandy, France English Channel Atlantic Ocean HMS Centurion
Azores Atlantic Ocean São Paulo
Bikini Atoll Pacific Ocean USS Arkansas (BB-33), Nagato
Camperdown, Netherlands North Sea Atlantic Ocean HMS Prince George
Cape Hatteras, United States Atlantic Ocean USS Virginia (BB-13), USS New Jersey (BB-16)
Cape Helles, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey Aegean Sea Mediterranean Sea HMS Goliath, HMS Majestic, Masséna
Cape Paderan, Vietnam Pacific Ocean Asahi
Cape Trafalgar, Spain Atlantic Ocean HMS Britannia
Cape Tres Forcas, Morocco Mediterranean Sea España
Chesapeake Bay (Tangier Sound) Atlantic Ocean USS Texas
Dardanelles Mediterranean Sea HMS Irresistible, HMS Ocean, Bouvet, Barbaros Hayreddin
Donegal, Ireland Atlantic Ocean HMS Audacious
Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey Aegean Sea Mediterranean Sea HMS Triumph
Gulf of Mexico Atlantic Ocean USS Maine (ACR-1)
Håkøy Island, near Tromsø, Norway Atlantic Ocean Tirpitz
Jutland North Sea Atlantic Ocean SMS Pommern
Kwajalein Atoll Pacific Ocean USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)
Kuantan, Malaysia South China Sea Pacific Ocean HMS Prince of Wales (53)
Lisbon, Portugal Atlantic Ocean Suffren
Lundy Island, Britain Bristol Channel Atlantic Ocean HMS Montagu
Lüshunkou, China Yellow Sea Pacific Ocean Petropavlovsk, Yashima, Hatsuse, Sevastopol
Malta Mediterranean Sea HMS Cornwallis
Sheerness in Medway River Estuary, Britain North Sea Atlantic Ocean HMS Bulwark
Milos, Greece Aegean Sea Mediterranean Sea Gaulois
Miyakejima, Japan Pacific Ocean Satsuma
Nojimasaki, Japan Pacific Ocean Aki
North Atlantic Atlantic Ocean Bismarck
Okinawa East China Sea Pacific Ocean Yamato
Oshima, Japan Pacific Ocean Mutsu
Osmussaar Island Baltic Sea Atlantic Ocean SMS Schleswig-Holstein
Ouistreham, France English Channel Atlantic Ocean Courbet
Pacific Ocean USS Oklahoma (BB-37)
Panama Bay, Panama Pacific Ocean USS Iowa (BB-4)
Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii Pacific Ocean The wrecks of USS Arizona (BB-39) and USS Utah (BB-31) are located in Pearl Harbor.

The wrecks of USS New York (BB-34) and Nevada are located off Pearl Harbor.

Pensacola Bay, Gulf of Mexico Atlantic Ocean USS Massachusetts (BB-2)
Pentland Firth, North Sea Atlantic Ocean HMS King Edward VII
Portland, Britain English Channel Atlantic Ocean HMS Formidable, HMS Hood, HMS Empress of India
Port Said, Egypt Mediterranean Sea Peresvet
Portsmouth, Britain Atlantic Ocean SMS Baden
Premuda Adriatic Sea Mediterranean Sea SMS Szent István
Pula Adriatic Sea Mediterranean Sea SMS Viribus Unitis
Quiberon Bay, France Atlantic Ocean France
Santander, Spain Atlantic Ocean Alfonso XIII
Sardinia Gulf of Asinara Mediterranean Sea Roma, Danton (south of Sardinia)
Scapa Flow North Sea Atlantic Ocean HMS Royal Oak (08), HMS Vanguard, SMS König, SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm, SMS Markgraf
Sedd-al Bahr, Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey Aegean Sea Mediterranean Sea Masséna
Sibuyan Sea Pacific Ocean Musashi
Sidi Barrani near Libyan Border Mediterranean Sea HMS Barham (04)
Surigao Strait, Leyte Gulf Pacific Ocean Fusō, Yamashiro
Świnoujście, Poland Baltic Sea Atlantic Ocean SMS Schlesien
Toulon, France Mediterranean Sea SMS Prinz Eugen
Tripoli, Lebanon Mediterranean Sea HMS Victoria
Tsushima Island Tsushima Strait, Korea Strait, Sea of Japan Pacific Ocean Navarin, Sissoi Veliky, Borodino, Oslyabya, Imperator Aleksandr III, Knyaz Suvorov, Admiral Ushakov
Valletta, Malta Mediterranean Sea HMS Russell
Viborg Gulf of Finland Atlantic Ocean Gangut
Virginia Capes Atlantic Ocean SMS Ostfriesland
Bungo Channel Pacific Ocean Retvizan
? Pacific Ocean Iki
? Pacific Ocean Iwami
? Atlantic Ocean HMS Monarch

The battleships listed are grouped according to how they came to be sunk in their final resting place. In each category, they are listed in chronological order by date sunk.

Sunk in combat

The following battleships were destroyed in full combat. These ships are considered war graves.

Navarin

Sunk after striking either one or two mines, or being torpedoed during the Battle of Tsushima on May 28, 1905.

Sissoi Veliky

Scuttled by her crew after sustaining heavy damage during the Battle of Tsushima on May 28, 1905.

Oslyabya

Sunk at the Battle of Tsushima on May 28, 1905.

Borodino

Sunk at the Battle of Tsushima on May 28, 1905.

Imperator Aleksandr III

Sunk at the Battle of Tsushima on May 28, 1905.

Knyaz Suvorov

Sunk at the Battle of Tsushima on May 28, 1905.

Admiral Ushakov

Sunk at the Battle of Tsushima on May 29, 1905.

HMS Irresistible

Irresistible sinking

Struck a mine on March 18, 1915, while participating in the final attempt to force the Dardanelles straits.

HMS Ocean

Struck a mine and also hit by shore batteries March 18, 1915, while participating in the final attempt to force the Dardanelles straits.

Bouvet

Struck a mine and also hit by shore batteries March 18, 1915, while participating in the final attempt to force the Dardanelles straits.

HMS Goliath

Torpedoed by Ottoman torpedo boat Muâvenet-i Millîye on May 13, 1915, while supporting the Battle of Gallipoli.

SMS Pommern

Torpedoed by destroyer HMS Faulknor during Battle of Jutland on June 1, 1916. The torpedo hit was followed by a massive explosion in one of her magazines, and the ship broke apart and sank quickly.

Bismarck

The final battle, 27 May 1941. Surrounded by shell splashes, Bismarck burns on the horizon.

Sunk on May 27, 1941 following an extensive naval battle against British battleships, aircraft, cruisers, destroyers, and aircraft carriers. Heavily shelled by battleships and cruisers, and also torpedoed by aircraft and destroyers. The German survivors reported that the heavily damaged ship was finally scuttled to prevent capture.

USS Arizona

USS Arizona's forward magazines explode.

Destroyed by Japanese aerial bombing on December 7, 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

USS Utah

The USS Utah capsizing

Destroyed by Japanese aerial torpedoes on December 7, 1941 during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Utah had been downgraded from a battleship and converted to a combined gunnery training ship and radio-controlled target ship. It has been speculated that Japanese planners had assigned the Utah a low priority as a target, but that the extensive wooden planking covering the Utah's decks had misled Japanese pilots into believing that the ship was a high-priority aircraft carrier.

HMS Prince of Wales

HMS Prince of Wales was attacked and sunk by aerial torpedoes from Japanese aircraft off the coast of Malaya on December 10, 1941, while deployed in defense of Singapore. The battlecruiser HMS Repulse was sunk in the same engagement. The Prince of Wales was the first battleship to be sunk by aircraft while at sea and under fire.

Roma

The first capital ship to be sunk by guided missiles. Destroyed by German bomber-launched Fritz X guided bombs on September 9, 1943, while en route to surrender to the Allies.

Hiei

Scuttled after heavy damage by naval gunfire and aerial attacks during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 14 November 1942.

Kirishima

Sunk by gunfire during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 15 November 1942.

Scharnhorst

Though classified by the Germans as a battleship, some argue the Scharnhorst and her sister ship represent the ultimate example of the German theory of battlecruiser design. On a platform with high-speed machinery and battleship-class armor, the Germans installed guns that were smaller than contemporary battleships. However, this was not due to a desire to reduce weight to increase speed, it was due to the Versailles Treaty, which limited German production of 15" guns to one per year.

Destroyed by gunfire and torpedoes from a British task force off the coast of Norway on December 26, 1943 during the Battle of North Cape.

Musashi

Musashi under attack at the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, 24 October 1944.

Sunk by 17 bombs and 19 torpedoes by many dozens of US aircraft during the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. A large number of the entire American attack force of around 250 planes generally concentrated on Musashi rather than other ships in the force. This concentration allowed for an unheard of number of hits against one ship which overwhelmed this huge armored vessel. In total, 18 US aircraft were lost overall in the attack.

Fusō

Destroyed along with her sister ship Yamashiro on October 25, 1944, at the Battle of Surigao Strait. Split in half after being torpedoed by US destroyers. The bow section was sunk by gunfire from the USS Louisville.

Yamashiro

Destroyed along with her sister ship Fusō on October 25, 1944, at the Battle of Surigao Strait. Wrecked first by gunfire from US battleships, her hull was sunk after being torpedoed by US destroyers.

There is some discussion among historians about the small possibility that the positions and roles of the sister ships Fusō and Yamashiro were reversed during their last battle. The Battle of Surigao Strait was fought at night and at some distance between the battleship combatants. There were very few Japanese survivors. To date, there has been no scientific survey of the wrecks that would resolve the debate.

Tirpitz

The Tirpitz capsized in 1944.

Sunk on November 12, 1944 by the Royal Air Force using special 5-ton bombs. Near the wreck-site there are artificial lakes along the shore formed from bomb craters from the giant Tallboy bombs that missed their target.

Yamato

Yamato explodes

Destroyed while on a one-way mission to interdict American landings on Okinawa. Torpedoed and bombed by US carrier-based aircraft on April 7, 1945. Lies East China Sea north of Okinawa

Sunk by torpedoes or mines

The following battleships were destroyed in wartime, but struck below the waterline with torpedoes fired by submarines or mines. These ships are considered war graves.

Petropavlovsk

Sunk after striking a mine on April 13, 1904, early in the Russo-Japanese war.

Yashima

Struck a Russian mine on May 15, 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War.

Hatsuse

Struck two Russian mines on May 15, 1904 during the Russo-Japanese War.

HMS Audacious

Struck a mine on October 27, 1914, becoming the first British battleship sunk in World War I.

HMS Formidable

Torpedoed by U-boat on January 1, 1915, while participating in gunnery exercises in the English Channel.

HMS Triumph

Torpedoed by U-21 on May 25, 1915, while supporting the Battle of Gallipoli.

HMS Majestic

HMS Majestic sinking

Torpedoed by U-21 on May 27, 1915, while supporting the Battle of Gallipoli.

Barbaros Hayreddin - previously SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm

Torpedoed by British submarine HMS E11 on August 8, 1915.

HMS King Edward VII

Struck a mine on January 6, 1916 laid by SMS Moewe.

HMS Russell

Struck a mine on April 27, 1916.

Suffren

Destroyed by U-52 with a dramatic torpedo hit in a magazine on November 26, 1916.

Gaulois

Torpedoed by UB-47 on December 27, 1916.

Peresvet - later Sagami – later cruiser Peresvet

Peresviet sunk in Port Arthur.

Sunk twice by two different enemies. First sunk at her moorings by Japanese Army artillery during the Siege of Port Arthur. Raised and repaired by the Japanese and incorporated into the Imperial Japanese Navy as the Sagami. Purchased by Russia in April 1916 and renamed Peresvet. She was due to be the ship of the Russian Arctic Sea Flotilla but was sunk a second time while en route by mines laid by the U-73 outside Port Said, Egypt on 4 January 1917.

HMS Cornwallis

Torpedoed by U-32 on January 9, 1917.

Danton

Torpedoed by U-64 on March 19, 1917.

SMS Viribus Unitis

Sunk by limpet mines attached by Italian frogmen riding manned torpedoes on November 1, 1918.

SMS Szent István

Sunk by two torpedoes launched from the Italian MAS-15 Motor Torpedo Boat on June 10, 1918 while on sortie in the Adriatic Sea.

HMS Britannia

Torpedoed by SM UB-50 on November 9, 1918. The second last Royal Navy vessel to be sunk during World War I.

Alfonso XIII

Causing confusion among some historians, Alfonso XIII was renamed España after her sister ship España ran aground and sank off Morocco in 1923. Struck a mine and sank within three hours in the late afternoon on April 30, 1937 during the Spanish Civil War. The mine was initially believed to be laid by the Republican side, but a number of sources now believe it to be a Nationalist mine which the Alfonso XIII (España) struck by accident.

HMS Royal Oak

Torpedoed by U-47 on October 14, 1939, with loss of 833 men.

HMS Barham

HMS Barham explodes as her 15-inch (380 mm) magazine ignites, 25 November 1941.

Torpedoed by U-331 on November 25, 1941, while steaming to cover an attack on Italian convoys.

Asahi

Torpedoed by USS Salmon on May 25, 1942. This early British-built pre-Dreadnought had been repeatedly converted into other ship types, and was serving as a transport.

Kongō

Torpedoed by USS Sealion on November 21, 1944. The first super-dreadnought type battlecruiser of the Imperial Japanese Navy, and upgraded to a battleship rating in the 1930s. Kongō was the only battleship sunk by a submarine in the Pacific War, and the last battleship ever sunk by a submarine.

Other ships

The Chilean battleship Almirante Cochrane, under construction, was purchased by the British, completed as an aircraft carrier, and christened HMS Eagle. She was torpedoed by U-73 and sunk near Majorca.

The Japanese Yamato-class battleship Shinano was converted to and completed as a super-carrier. While en route from her builder's yard at Yokosuka to Kure for outfitting, she was torpedoed and sunk by USS Archer-Fish.

Lost at sea

The following battleships were lost at sea for reasons other than combat.

HMS Victoria

Rammed and sunk by HMS Camperdown in one of the most famous warship collisions in history on June 22, 1893.

Gangut

Sank on June 12, 1897 after hitting an uncharted pinnacle rock.

HMS Montagu

Ran aground and amongst rocks in fog due to poor navigation on May 30, 1906. The ship could not be pulled off the rocks, so was stripped and abandoned in place.

HMS Bulwark

Destroyed by an ammunition and magazine explosion on November 26, 1914.

HMS Vanguard

Destroyed by a magazine explosion on July 9, 1917.

HMS Prince George

Ran aground while in tow on the way to be broken up on December 28, 1921. Stripped and left in place as a breakwater.

France

Capsized and sank on August 26, 1922, after being sliced open by an uncharted rock in a well-travelled bay. Heavily salvaged and then abandoned.

España

Ran aground in fog off the coast of Morocco on August 28, 1923. Stripped and abandoned in place.

Mutsu

Destroyed by an unexplained magazine explosion on June 8, 1943.

USS Oklahoma

Destroyed by Japanese aerial torpedoes on December 7, 1941 during the surprise air raid on Pearl Harbor. The Oklahoma remained as a capsized wreck in Pearl Harbor for over a year. Following a herculean engineering effort, the hull of the Oklahoma was righted and refloated to help clear the harbor. The decision was made to scrap the ship, and the hulk was being towed to San Francisco in 1947 when it sank at sea.

São Paulo

While being towed across the Atlantic to be scrapped in Britain in 1951, the tow lines snapped in a gale, and the ship was never seen again.

Scuttled in shallow water

The following battleships were intentionally sunk while not engaged in battle.

Sevastopol

Scuttled in 1904 during the Siege of Port Arthur, to prevent the ship falling into Japanese hands.

USS Maine

Wreckage of the Maine, 1898

The second US battleship, the Maine was destroyed in Havana harbor on February 15, 1898 by a mysterious explosion. At the time, this was believed to have been caused by a Spanish attack using a mobile mine, which precipitated the Spanish–American War. Subsequent work by Rickover (How the Battleship Maine Was Destroyed) suggests an ordnance explosion caused by fire in the coal on board may have been responsible. After years as a wreck and navigational hazard, the wreck was refloated, investigated, towed out to sea, and sunk with ceremony in 1912.

HMS Hood

Scuttled in Portland Harbour, England on November 4, 1914 to block the Southern Ship Channel from penetration by U-boats or torpedoes.

Masséna

Scuttled off the Gallipoli Peninsula on November 10, 1915 to form a breakwater.

SMS König

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I.

SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I.

SMS Markgraf

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I.

Rostislav

Scuttled on November 16, 1920 by the White Forces during the Russian Civil War to block the Kerch Strait. The wreckage was later raised and scrapped.

HMS Centurion

Scuttled of the coast of Normandy on June 7, 1944 as a blockship to protect one of the artificial harbors installed as part of the D-Day invasion.

Courbet

Scuttled of the coast of Normandy on June 9, 1944 as a blockship to protect one of the artificial harbors installed as part of the D-Day invasion.

Gneisenau

Turret of Gneisenau as coastal artillery

The target of frequent and massive Allied bombing raids, Gneisenau was eventually decommissioned and scuttled as a blockship in Gotenhafen. Later raised and scrapped.

SMS Schlesien

Scuttled at Swinemünde on May 4, 1945, to prevent capture by the Soviets. Used as a stationary target by the Soviet military. Later partially salvaged.

SMS Schleswig-Holstein

Sunk twice near the end of World War II. Bombed and sunk in shallow water in Gdynia on December 19, 1944. Raised and moved by the Soviets, she was eventually scuttled again and served as a stationary target for the Soviet military.

Expended as targets

The following battleships were intentionally sunk as targets. While cheaper disposable targets were conventionally used to maintain crew proficiencies, destructive testing was commonly used to validate theories about armor, ammunition, or tactics in real circumstances.

USS Texas

HMS Empress of India

Sunk as a gunnery target in 1913.

Hoche

Sunk as a target on November 25, 1913.

Iki - previously Imperator Nikolai I

Built as the Russian Imperator Nikolai I, but captured by the Japanese. Expended as a gunnery target and sunk by the battlecruisers Kongō and Hiei on October 3, 1915.

USS Massachusetts

SMS Ostfriesland

Ostfriesland bombed by aircraft

SMS Baden

Her crew attempted to scuttle her at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919, but she was beached and saved by the British. Converted by the British into a target, she was subjected to a carefully studied series of bombardment tests, and finally sunk by British battleships.

SMS Prinz Eugen

Transferred to France at the end of World War I as a war prize. Used by the French as an aircraft target and for destructive underwater testing. Finally sunk as a gunnery target on June 28, 1922 by the French battleships France, Jean Bart, and Paris.

USS Iowa

Converted to the first radio-controlled target ship, she was sunk by the USS Mississippi in 1923.

USS Virginia

Converted to a target for aerial bombing tests, she was sunk as part of Army Air Corps bombing exercises in 1923.

USS New Jersey

Converted to a target for aerial bombing tests, she was sunk as part of Army Air Corps bombing exercises in 1923.

Hizen - previously Retvizan

Sunk at least twice while serving in two different navies. Originally built in the United States for the Russian Imperial Navy as the Retvizan. She was present at the Battle of Port Arthur where she was torpedoed by Japanese destroyers, ran aground and later repaired. After suffering moderate damage during the Battle of the Yellow Sea, she became trapped in Port Arthur and sunk at her moorings by Japanese army artillery on 6 December 1904, during the Siege of Port Arthur.

Retvizan was raised by the Japanese, repaired, and renamed Hizen. She served in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I, was retired in 1923 and sunk as a target in 1924.

Iwami - previously Oryol

Originally built by the Russian Imperial Navy as the Oryol. She was present at the Battle of Tsushima where she was lightly damaged by gunfire. Oryol was captured by the Japanese, repaired, improved, and renamed Iwami. She served in the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War I, was retired in 1923 and sunk as a target on July 10, 1924. Oryol was the last battleship to surrender on the high seas.

Aki

Expended in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty on September 7, 1924. Sunk by gunfire from the Nagato and Mutsu in the presence of Crown Prince and all the Japanese military heads.

Satsuma

Expended in compliance with the Washington Naval Treaty on September 7, 1924. Sunk by gunfire from the Kongō and Hyūga.

HMS Monarch

Converted to a target ship and sunk as a gunnery target by HMS Revenge on January 20, 1925.

USS Arkansas

USS Arkansas, Nagato, USS Pennsylvania, and other warships in Operation Crossroads Event Baker explosion

Converted to a target for atomic bombing tests in Bikini Atoll, she survived an aerial atomic bomb test but was sunk following a submerged atomic bomb test on July 25, 1946.

Nagato

Converted to a target for atomic bombing tests in Bikini Atoll, she survived an aerial atomic bomb test but was sunk following a submerged atomic bomb test on July 25, 1946.

USS Pennsylvania

Converted to a target for atomic bombing tests in Bikini Atoll, she survived both the aerial atomic bomb test and the submerged atomic bomb test in 1946. She was towed to Kwajalein Lagoon for studies, and sunk off Kwajalein Atoll in 1948.

USS New York

Converted to a target for atomic bombing tests in Bikini Atoll, she survived both the aerial atomic bomb test and the submerged atomic bomb test in 1946. She was towed back to Pearl Harbor, and sunk following a massive assault by ships and planes in 1948.

USS Nevada

Heavily bombed during the Attack on Pearl Harbor, she was beached by her crew. Had long war-time service history after being repaired. Converted to a target for atomic bombing tests in Bikini Atoll, she survived both the aerial atomic bomb test and the submerged atomic bomb test in 1946. She was towed back to Pearl Harbor, and sunk by gunfire and aerial torpedoes in 1948.

Sunk and later salvaged

The following battleships were sunk, but were later salvaged and scrapped.

Poltava - later Tango and Chesma

Built as the Russian pre-dreadnought Poltava, she fought in the Battle of the Yellow Sea, but failed to escape and was scuttled during the Siege of Port Arthur. Salvaged after the war in October 1905, she was refloated, repaired, and taken into service in the Imperial Japanese Navy as the Tango. Purchased by the Russians during World War I and renamed Chesma. She was later captured by the British during the Allied invasion of northern Russia during the Russian Civil War. Scrapped in 1923.

Pobeda - later Suwo

Built as the Russian pre-dreadnought Pobeda, she fought in the Battle of the Yellow Sea. While moored at Port Arthur, she was sunk on December 7, 1904 by Japanese army artillery during the Siege of Port Arthur. Salvaged after the war in October 1905, she was refloated, repaired, and taken into service in the Imperial Japanese Navy as the Suwo. Scrapped in 1946.

Potemkin

The battleship was partly scuttled in the Port of Constanța by her mutinous Russian crew on 8 July 1905, after surrendering to Romanian authorities.[2] The Romanians handed her over to the Russians the following day.[3] She was then resurfaced and left Romanian waters on 10 July, having to be towed to Sevastopol, where she arrived on 14 July.[4]

Liberté

Caught fire and exploded in Toulon harbor on September 25, 1911. The explosion severely damaged nearby warships, including the battleship République.

Leonardo da Vinci

Destroyed in Taranto harbor by Austrian saboteurs on August 2, 1916. Later raised and partially repaired, then scrapped.

Imperatritsa Mariya

Destroyed in Sevastopol harbor on October 20, 1916 by an internal explosion. The reason remained unclear: tragic chance or diversion. Raised in 1918 and scrapped in 1927. Her turrets and guns were salvaged and used in coastal defense batteries near Sevastopol.

Slava

Slava sinking in the Baltic

Scuttled by her crew on October 17, 1917 after sustaining heavy damage during the Battle of Moon Sound in the Baltic. The Slava had taken too many hits below the waterline and was drawing too much water to navigate the dredged channel in the strait at Moon Sound. The Slava was scuttled in the strait in an attempt to block passage by German warships pursuing the Russian fleet. The wreckage was later raised and scrapped.

Imperatritsa Ekaterina Velikaya - later Svobodnaya Rossiya

Scuttled on June 18, 1918 in Tsemes Bay near Novorossiysk to prevent capture by the Germans. Later raised and scrapped. Her turrets and guns were salvaged and used in coastal defense batteries near Sevastopol.

Kawachi

Destroyed by an internal explosion from unstable cordite on September 12, 1918 in Tokuyama Bay. Later raised and scrapped.

Potemkin - later Panteleimon, Potemkin-Tavricheskiy and Borets za Svobodu

Legend of the silver screen, the Potemkin and her crew had one of the most curious and famous histories of any battleship. Destroyed at Sevastopol in April 1919 by Interventionists in the Russian Civil War. The wreckage was later raised and scrapped.

SMS Kaiser

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I. Later raised and scrapped.

SMS Friedrich der Grosse

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I. Later raised and scrapped.

SMS Kaiserin

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I. Later raised and scrapped.

SMS Prinzregent Luitpold

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I. Later raised and scrapped.

SMS König Albert

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I. Later raised and scrapped.

SMS Grosser Kurfürst

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I. Later raised and scrapped.

SMS Bayern

Scuttled by her crew at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919 while interned at the end of World War I. Later raised and scrapped.

USS Indiana

Converted to a target for ordnance and aerial bombing tests, she was sunk in 1920. The hulk was later scrapped.

USS Alabama

Converted to a target for early aerial bombing tests, she was sunk as part of the Army Air Corps bombing exercises arranged by Billy Mitchell in 1921. The hulk was later scrapped.

HMS Emperor of India

Converted to a target ship, and sunk as a gunnery target in 1931. Later raised and scrapped.

Bretagne

Destroyed by gunfire from the British battlecruiser HMS Hood and battleships HMS Barham, and HMS Resolution at Mers-el-Kebir on July 3, 1940, with the loss of 977 French sailors. Later raised and scrapped.

Conte di Cavour

Torpedoed by British aircraft on November 12, 1940 during the Battle of Taranto. Raised, partially repaired, then scrapped after the war.

Kilkis - previously USS Mississippi

Destroyed by German aerial bombing on April 23, 1941, during the German invasion of Greece.

Lemnos - previously USS Idaho

Destroyed by German aerial bombing on April 23, 1941, during the German invasion of Greece.

Petropavlovsk - later Marat

Russian dreadnought. After the Revolution of 1917 renamed Marat after the French revolutionary leader Jean-Paul Marat, the ship served in the Soviet Baltic during the World War II Siege of Leningrad. She was heavily damaged at her moorings by German Stuka pilot Hans-Ulrich Rudel on September 23, 1941 and laid on ground. Three of four turrets continued in action as a floating 12-inch battery for the remainder of the siege under the restored name Petropavlovsk. She was raised in 1950 and served as the training ship Volkhov until being scrapped in 1952.

HMS Queen Elizabeth

Mined and sunk by Italian frogmen in Alexandria, Egypt in on December 18, 1941 with the loss of nine men. Since she was sunk in very shallow water, she was sunk without submerging, and was able to maintain the illusion of being afloat and battle-ready. Raised and repaired, she served in the Pacific war. Was scrapped after the war.

HMS Valiant

Mined and sunk by Italian frogmen in Alexandria, Egypt in on December 18, 1941. Since she was sunk in very shallow water, she was sunk without submerging, and was able to maintain the illusion of being afloat and battle-ready. Raised and repaired, she served in the Mediterranean and in the Pacific war. Was scrapped after the war.

Dunkerque

Sunk twice, then scrapped after World War II. First sunk (in shallow water) by the British at the port of Mers-el-Kébir in French Algeria on July 3, 1940. Refloated, she was sunk again on November 27, 1942 during the Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon.

Strasbourg

Sunk twice, then scrapped after World War II. First sunk on November 27, 1942 during the Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon. Refloated by the Italians, she was sunk again by US aerial attack on August 27, 1944. Raised again in 1944, she was scrapped in 1955.

Jean Bart

Captured by the Germans and sunk in explosives tests on March 15, 1944. Was scrapped after the war.

Provence

Scuttled twice, then scrapped in 1949. First sunk on November 27, 1942 during the Scuttling of the French fleet in Toulon. Raised by the Germans and recaptured by the Allies, she was sunk again as a blockship after D-Day.

SMS Zähringen

Scuttled twice, then scrapped in 1949. Originally a battleship in the Kaiserliche Marine, she had been converted to serve as a target ship in the Reichsmarine and Kriegsmarine. First sunk in an air raid on Gotenhafen (today Gdynia) on December 18, 1944 and sank in shallow water. Sunk a second time after being refloated and towed to the harbor entrance, where she was scuttled as a blockade ship on March 26, 1945. The wreck was raised and scrapped in 1949–1950.

Impero

Launched but never completed. Sunk by Allied bombers on February 20, 1945. Raised in 1947 and scrapped by 1950.

Settsu

Destroyed by US aircraft on July 24, 1945. This early semi-Dreadnaught had been converted to a radio-controlled target ship.

Ise

Battleship Ise after sinking

Destroyed by US aircraft on July 28, 1945. Sunk at her moorings in Kure harbor. Later scrapped in place.

Hyūga

Watercolor of Hyūga after sinking

Destroyed by US aircraft on July 24, 1945. Sunk at her moorings in Kure harbor. Later raised and scrapped.

Haruna

Haruna after sinking

Destroyed by US aircraft on July 28, 1945. Sunk at her moorings in Kure harbor. Later raised and scrapped

Novorossiysk - previously Giulio Cesare

After World War II, the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare was ceded to the Soviet Union as compensation for war damages. Sunk on October 29, 1955 while moored in Sevastopol Bay, probably by a German mine left over from World War II. Several German mines were found near the wreck site after the sinking.

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ http://www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/Kirishima_Damage_Analysis.pdf
  2. ↑ Neal Bascomb, Red Mutiny: Eleven Fateful Days on the Battleship Potemkin, pp. 286-99
  3. ↑ Neal Bascomb, Red Mutiny: Eleven Fateful Days on the Battleship Potemkin, pp. 286-99
  4. ↑ Stephen McLaughlin, Russian & Soviet Battleships, p. 121
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