[COEXERJ145]

But for many naval historians such as myself, the passing of the battleship was the end of an era that had existed for roughly 500 years. (Starting with the first large wooden gunships.) It would have been amazing to see a Montana class BB.

[ABG(anybody but Gore)]

Oh, I agree, it's just that my point is that Toranto, Pearl Harbor, and the sinking of Prince of Wales and Repulse demonstrated that they were nearly helpless against a determined air attack. And of course, it was obsolete Fairey Swordfish from Ark Royal who damaged the Bismark's steering, affectively dooming her.

[P8riot]

Here's some specs on the "Montana" class

General Characteristics - Montana class
Builders:	Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Philadelphia, Penn. (BB 67 and 68) New York Naval Shipyard, Brooklyn, New York (BB 69 - 70) Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Norfolk, Va. (BB 71)
Power Plant:	8 B&W Boilers (615 PSI), 172,000 horsepower
Length:	920.6 feet (280.6 meters)
Beam:	121 feet (36.9 meters)
Draft:	36.1 feet (11 meters)
Displacement:	approx. 70,500 tons full load
Speed:	28 knots
Crew:	115 Officers, 2240 enlisted
Weapons Systems:	12 - 16-inch guns (Main Battery) 20 - 5-inch guns (Secondary Battery) 56 - 20mm guns (Secondary Battery) 10 Quad - 40mm machine guns (Secondary Battery) 12 - .50-cal machine guns (Secondary Battery) 2 - 21 in torpedo tubes (above water)
Aircraft:	four planes
Catapults:	two
Armor:	horizontal: 154mm vertical: 457mm gun turrets: 197 - 534mm conning tower: 197 - 457mm