Battlecarrier: The Navy Almost Merged an Aircraft Carrier and a Battleship

Key Points and Summary on the Battlecarrier – The U.S. Navy once considered a radical and powerful warship concept: the “battlecarrier,” a hybrid of a battleship and an aircraft carrier.

-The plan, seriously floated in the late 1970s, was to convert the iconic Iowa-class battleships by removing their rear 16-inch gun turret and replacing it with a V-shaped flight deck for Harrier “jump jets.”

-This “Interdiction Assault Ship” would have also been armed with up to 320 missile silos for Tomahawks and other munitions, creating an unparalleled warship.

-Though the ingenious idea was ultimately scrapped, it remains a fascinating chapter in naval “what ifs.”

Iowa-Class Battlecarriers, An Ingenious But Failed Idea

The US Navy could have aircraft carriers with 16-inch guns. Think about that one for a second. But wait, what the heck (politically correct) is a battlecarrier?

A battlecarrier is the concept of modifying a battleship to include a flight deck aft, where Gun Turret #3 would typically be located. The magazines would be removed, and a hangar deck built in.

While Iowa-class battleships were never initially built with flight decks, proposals were made in the early days of World War II, and even a late-1970s design was considered to convert them into “battlecarriers” with a flight deck for VSTOL aircraft, such as the Harrier jump jet.

However, these plans were never realized. The Iowa-class battleships carried floatplanes during World War II (Vought OS2U Kingfisher and Curtiss SC Seahawk) and later helicopters. Still, these were used primarily for spotting and rescue operations, rather than for dedicated flight operations.

The Original Design Did Have Aircraft

The Iowa-class battleships were designed with two aircraft catapults to launch floatplanes for spotting and rescue missions. However, after Pearl Harbor, the Navy learned that the day of the carriers had come, and the big battleships, while still valuable, were no longer the king of the seas.

In June 1942, plans were prepared for the General Board as part of an exploration of carrier conversions for warship hulls then under construction. This plan, dated June 1942, represents the conversion of Iowa-class battleship hulls. It would have produced a ship similar in external appearance to the Essex-class (CV-9).

Of course, it is essential to understand what was happening during that time frame. Despite stopping the Japanese during the Battle of the Coral Sea and sinking all four frontline carriers ( Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, and Hiryū) during the Battle of Midway, the Japanese still held a numerical advantage in carriers. The US had lost the Lexington in the Coral Sea and the Yorktown during Midway.

That left the US with just two carriers, the Enterprise and the Hornet. Japan had two fleet carriers and four light carriers.  The Hornet would be sunk during the Battle of Santa Cruz in October 1942.

The US sank one light carrier (the Shōhō) during the Coral Sea action. She was hit by at least 13 bombs and seven torpedoes. She sank in four minutes.

Thus, the US was desperately short of carriers in the Pacific, with only two usable flattops to cover a vast ocean, which may be why they considered converting some battleship hulls into carriers.

Proposals To Convert Battleships In the 1970s

In the late 1970s, proposals were made to convert the Iowa-class battleships into “battlecarriers” with a flight deck capable of supporting STOVL (Short Take-Off and Vertical Landing) operations for aircraft.

One specific proposal, known as the “Interdiction Assault Ship,” envisioned a V-shaped flight deck replacing the number three turret, along with missile silos and upgraded gunnery.

Instead of the number three turret, the modifications would require a significant increase in armament. The V-shaped, ramped flight deck would be installed, with its base positioned on the ship’s stern. Two elevators would bring Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jump-jets up from a new hangar to the flight deck. It was envisioned that the battleships could support up to 12 Harriers.

Existing five-inch gun turrets would be removed and replaced with 155-millimeter howitzers for naval gunfire support.

In the space between the V would be a field of tactical missile silos, such as the MK 41 made by Lockheed. Up to 320 silos could fit in this space, supporting a mixture of Tomahawk land-attack missiles, ASROC anti-submarine rockets, and Standard surface-to-air missiles.

This massive loadout would dwarf even the 154 Tomahawks found on today’s Ohio-class guided missile submarines.

The hangar deck could accommodate 500 Marines and be ferried to shore via helicopters, supported by Harriers, 155mm howitzers, and the forward 16-inch guns. Unfortunately, this concept never materialized. And the Iowa-class battleships were retired and repurposed as museum ships.

However, that would have been a heckuva lot of firepower to bring to bear on our enemies.

That’s what I would call being assaulted.

About the Author:

Steve Balestrieri is a National Security Columnist. He served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer. In addition to writing on defense, he covers the NFL for PatsFans.com and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA). His work was regularly featured in many military publications.

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