Battleship

Concept art of the USS Kentucky (BB-66) as a guided missile battleship.

A battleship is a large, heavily armed and armored warship, often the largest class in a fleet. The term stems from Line of Battle, a common naval formation used by opposing fleets during the age of sail. Battleships were the backbone of the world's navies until the introduction of the aircraft carrier during the second world war.

Battleships built after 1906 are often called dreadnoughts due to the significance of adopting an "all big guns" design philosophy that emerged after the Russian-Japanese war. This philosophy was first demonstrated in the ship of the same name.

List of Historical Battleships

• HMS Dreadnought
• IJN Yamato
• IJN Musashi
• USS Iowa
• USS Missouri

Battleships in Science Fiction

• Dominion battleship (Star Trek)
• Emperor-class (Warhammer 40,000)
• D'deridex-class (Star Trek)
• Negh'var-class (Star Trek)
• Aurora-class (Stargate)
• O'Neill-class (Stargate)
• Space Battleship Yamato