Averaging 45,000 armor-plated tons, with guns firing enormous projectiles 20 miles, battleships are the ultimate symbols of naval power. Explore some of the mighty dreadnoughts that helped propel the world into war: Bismarck, with almost half its weight in armor; and Yamato, whose suicide mission ended in a mushroom cloud visible from 50 miles. See how the fate of war often hinges on the brute strength of the battleship: from the bitter legacy of the Prince of Wales and Repulse, the first battleships sunk by aircraft, to the aging USS Missouri, a survivor of WWII, recently fortified with modernized firepower to emerge as an invincible Gulf War force.
