[COEXERJ145]

Yep, the Montana class would have been the ultimate battleships but alas they were never built.

As an interesting note, during the days of battleship building, Montana was the only state never to have an active duty battleship named for it.

[Doohickey]

Interestingly, Montana got screwed twice. The firest Montana (BB-51) was laid down in 1920, but was cancelled in 1922 by the Washington Treaty.

BB-67 never actually had her keel laid.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

By the time the Montana class was canceled, the aircraft carrier had already supplanted battleships as the dominant force in naval combat. Midway took care of that when Yamamoto was forced to retreat before his battlewagons could have any affect on the battle.

[SoCal Pubbie]

Actually, a USS Montana was begun but canceled due to arms limitations in 1922:

http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-m/bb51.htm

Here's an artist conception of what the WWII Montana class would have looked like.