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Not battleships, but America did have several nuclear powered cruisers which lasted around 15-30 years (but all were decommissioned in the 90s.) They weren't b

Not battleships, but America did have several nuclear powered cruisers which lasted around 15-30 years (but all were decommissioned in the 90s.) They weren't battleships, but that term is sometimes used colloquially to refer to any surface warship other than carriers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-powered_cruisers_of_the_United_States_Navy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear-powered_cruisers_of_th...

mLuby 4y ago
> but that term [battleships] is sometimes used colloquially to refer to any surface warship other than carriers Really? I wouldn't be surprised to hear someone call a frigate a cruiser or a littoral combat ship a destroyer or an amphibious assault ship a carrier but everyone knows battleships are the biggest big-gun ships out there.
- MichaelCollins 4y ago
  I think so, at least for some people who don't have an interest in military stuff or machines generally. Similar to the way any armored but unarmed truck may sometimes be called "a tank." (https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=police+tank&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=police+tank&iax=images&ia=i...) I try not to judge, I'm probably equally wrong without knowing it about things as far outside my area of interest.
- kelnos 4y ago
  I would not be surprised if many people who don't have knowledge of naval vessels would use "battleship" as a generic term for "surface naval vessel". A possible driver of this could be the "Battleship" game. I would also not be surprised if there were many people who'd never heard the terms "destroyer" or "cruiser".
  - josephcsible 4y ago
    But the "Battleship" game has five different kinds of ships, only one of which it calls a battleship, and it does include cruisers and destroyers.
jamiek88 4y ago
Does the USA even have a battleship? I thought they were obsolete.
- MichaelCollins 4y ago
  They're obsolete. There was some debate in the 90s and 00s over whether they should be kept around since they had an incredible amount of firepower and some people still thought that maybe contested beach landings were a good idea. But ultimately they were stricken from the Navy and are now museum ships.
implements 4y ago
“Warship” would be the correct colloquialism, I think - battleships were specifically characterised by heavy armour and large caliber guns.

mLuby 4y ago

> but that term [battleships] is sometimes used colloquially to refer to any surface warship other than carriers Really? I wouldn't be surprised to hear someone call a frigate a cruiser or a littoral combat ship a destroyer or an amphibious assault ship a carrier but everyone knows battleships are the biggest big-gun ships out there.

MichaelCollins 4y ago
I think so, at least for some people who don't have an interest in military stuff or machines generally. Similar to the way any armored but unarmed truck may sometimes be called "a tank." (https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=police+tank&iax=images&ia=images https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=police+tank&iax=images&ia=i...) I try not to judge, I'm probably equally wrong without knowing it about things as far outside my area of interest.
kelnos 4y ago
I would not be surprised if many people who don't have knowledge of naval vessels would use "battleship" as a generic term for "surface naval vessel". A possible driver of this could be the "Battleship" game. I would also not be surprised if there were many people who'd never heard the terms "destroyer" or "cruiser".
- josephcsible 4y ago
  But the "Battleship" game has five different kinds of ships, only one of which it calls a battleship, and it does include cruisers and destroyers.

jamiek88 4y ago

Does the USA even have a battleship? I thought they were obsolete.

MichaelCollins 4y ago
They're obsolete. There was some debate in the 90s and 00s over whether they should be kept around since they had an incredible amount of firepower and some people still thought that maybe contested beach landings were a good idea. But ultimately they were stricken from the Navy and are now museum ships.

implements 4y ago

“Warship” would be the correct colloquialism, I think - battleships were specifically characterised by heavy armour and large caliber guns.