Whew I can't believe I really just read every single post in this thread. Ok a few observation from another tanker (me). The info was dead on target and the post about the oil in the bulges is absolutly correct. This was pointed out to me when I visited the USS Alabama in Mobile. There were open hatches on top of the bulges so I asked. About the Iowa class or "the greyhounds of the sea". They were specific built to keep up with the carrier task groups. I believe the Yamoto could do 28 knots? The Iowa's with 250,000 horses could and did keep station with the carriers and the carriers ran what about 32 to 36 knots when launching and retreiving planes? All American Battleships I believe after BB 53 were constructed with an internal armored box which ran from in front of the first babbit back beyond the last babbit. The top of this box was an anti-bomb shield comprised of armor plate 16" thick. All important functions were incased in this box including CIC, como, the gun control center, ammo storage and propulsion. Crew spaces were along both sides of this box and the deck just above the armor plate deck. The Marines of course were in the bows. Where they should be. These factor added to the superior fire control systems and manuverability of the Iowas, gave them a vast edge over the competition. Think about it, America only lost 2 battleships in WW2 both by sneak attack. The Utah dosen't count. she was classed as an auxilery because her main function was to train dive bombers. Yep, she was bombed more times by us then anyone else. Range. What I've read is that the Iowas could fire a 3200 lb shell more than 23 miles. Kill marks. On tanks we call them kill rings. Don't know what the sailors called them I think the Air Corps called them flags? Clean sweep. Hey I have seen every damn war movie made and if "The Duke" was in it then way more than one time. Anyway they were always saying that clean sweep ment that they had fired all they're torpedos and some of them had actually hit something Obsolete. Funny calling a class of ships with such awsome abilities obsolete. When you think of the ships that have been sunk by missles and sabatoge in the last 15 20 years, and then take in to account the capabilities of the Iowas you wonder whos running the store. Or who was, they're gone now. In they're day they didn't just intimidate, they scared the hell out of em. They didn't just ingage an enemy, they assulted them. The Montanas. They were infact streched Iowas. When the Missouri collided with another ship her bows were severly damaged. What they did instead of rebuilding her bows, they cut the front off the Kentuckey I think, and welded it on the Mo. The Montana had already been launched before the class was declared obsolete and the Kenucky was still on the ways.

So how come the navy refers to ships as surface ships and subs as boats?

Hey, I got one for ya! What's the atomic weight of an African Swallow?