Key Points and Summary – An expert ranks the top five battleships in U.S. Navy history, with the USS New Jersey (BB-62) taking the top spot as the most decorated battleship in American history.
-The number two slot goes to the USS Washington (BB-56) for scoring the only one-on-one battleship kill by a U.S. ship in WWII.
An aerial bow view of the battleship USS IOWA (BB 61) with its 15 guns (nine 16-inch and six 5-inch) firing a salvo off the starboard side. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-The iconic USS Missouri (BB-63) is third, famous for hosting the Japanese surrender.
-In a tie for fourth are the five Pearl Harbor survivors that exacted revenge at the Battle of Surigao Strait, and the USS Iowa (BB-61) rounds out the list.
5 Best US Navy Battleships Ever
The battleship’s run as the capital ship of naval forces is long over.
Battleships were superseded by aircraft carriers during World War II as the primary instrument of naval power projection.
But the battleships had a glorious run.
This lifelong naval historian will now attempt to rank the Top 5 battleships in the history of the U.S. Navy.
To be sure, this is a subjective list, but rest assured, dear readers, that solid, objective criteria were used in the process.
#1. USS New Jersey (BB-62)
For sheer number of accolades, “The Big J,” AKA “The Black Dragon,” has to top the list. BB-62 is America’s most decorated battleship – earning more battle stars for combat actions than all her three Iowa-class sister ships.
She earned nine battle stars for service in World War II, and an incredible ten more after that. As is true of the three other Iowas, the New Jersey has been converted into a floating museum. She is docked at Penn’s Landing in Camden, New Jersey.
USS New Jersey 16-Inch Guns. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
USS New Jersey National Security Journal Photo by Stephen Silver.
(By coincidence, the USS New Jersey is located right across the Delaware River from another legendary museum ship. The protected cruiser USS Olympia [C-6], Commodore Dewey’s famous flagship from the Spanish-American War, is docked on the Philadelphia side of the border.)
#2 USS Washington (BB-56)
Some of our readers might be surprised not to see another Iowa-class as the next awardee on this list, but there’s a good reason to award the silver medal to this North Carolina-class battlewagon: The Washington was the only warship to score a one-on-one battleship kill during World War II.
Not even the Kriegsmarine’s Bismarck can make a similar claim; she had some assistance from the Prinz Eugen when she sank the HMS Hood.
This crowning achievement took place during the Second Battle of Guadalcanal on Nov. 14-15, 1942, when the Washington, skippered by Capt. Glenn B. Davis and serving as the flagship of Vice Admiral Wills A. “Ching” Lee—sank the Imperial Japanese Navy battleship Kirishima with her 16-inch guns.
The Washington also sank the IJN destroyer Ayanami in that same engagement.
#3. USS Missouri (BB-63)
Okay, now we circle back to the Iowa-class warships.
To be honest, one could just as easily cite the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) in this slot, as the Wisconsin and Missouri were the last two battleships from any nation to fire their guns in anger, doing so during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
USS Missouri. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
However, with all due love and respect to BB-64, BB-63 gets the third-place nod by virtue of her participation in one of the most iconic moments in military history: hosting Imperial Japan’s surrender ceremony on Sept. 2, 1945.
#4. Tie: USS Maryland (BB-46) and five other BBs
Yes, this writer is exercising some creative license here by putting six ships into a single fourth-place slot.
All six deserve the honor, because they all participated in the U.S. Navy’s only other battleship vs. battleship engagement of WWII.
Once again, the Americans won the engagement, thus giving the Navy a perfect 2-0 record during World War II battleship fights.
The victory occurred during the Battle of Surigao Strait phase of the monumental Battle of Leyte Gulf, on Oct. 25, 1944. Rear Admiral Jesse “Oley” Oldendorf’s battleship fleet “crossed the T” of Japanese Vice Admiral Shoji Nishimura’s fleet, resulting in the sinking of the Fusō-class battleship Yamashiro and the heavy cruiser Mogami. (The latter had survived heavy damage during the Battle of Midway two years earlier). This turned out to be history’s last ever battleship vs. battleship clash.
It was an act of sweet revenge for Pearl Harbor, as five of the six Navy battleships participating in Surigao Strait had been sunk or damaged during the Pearl Harbor raid: the USS Maryland, USS California (BB-44), USS Pennsylvania (BB-38), Tennessee (BB-43), and West Virginia (BB-48). The lone exception was the USS Mississippi (BB-41), which had been on convoy escort duty off of Iceland at the time.
#5. USS Iowa (BB-61)
We started the list with an Iowa-class battleship, and we end it with the lead ship of the class. Though none of the Iowas ever got into a fight against an enemy battleship, BB-61 does stand out as the only ship of her class to sink an enemy warship of any kind.
USS New Jersey Iowa-Class Battleship. Image Taken on 8/2/2025 by National Security Journal/Stephen Silver.
The victim was the IJN light cruiser Katori, which was sent to Davy Jones’ locker by the Iowa’s 16-inch guns off Truk Atoll on Feb. 19, 1944.
Out of all the battleships converted into floating museums, the Iowa tour is the only one for which this reporter can personally vouch.
Located in San Pedro’s Downtown Harbor, within the Port of Los Angeles, the tour is fun-filled and never gets boring.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).
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Jackson
September 1, 2025 at 3:29 pm
The Texas. The last surviving battleship to have served in both WWs
Christopher V Horne
September 2, 2025 at 6:53 am
The USS North Carolina… How did she Not make the list?
Robert Seybold
September 2, 2025 at 11:00 am
Don’t know if this helped in the rankings, but as all of these BB’s were being decommissioned in the late 80’s and early 90’s, USS New Jersey also won the red battle E for the engineering dept. the last E for any of the big boys. I was serving aboard as Main Propulsion Assistant (MPA).
M W Johnson
September 3, 2025 at 2:56 am
I can’t believe the USS TEXAS didn’t make the cut. It was built the same year that the Titanic was built. Any boat that has been in the Navy that long you know has seen more action than any other boat.If it wasn’t for Texas our troops would’ve never made it up the banks in the battle of Normandy