The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they are generally the larger ships when compared to other warships in their respective fleet. A capital ship is generally a leading or a primary ship in a naval fleet.
A notable example of this is the Mahanian doctrine, which was applied in the planning of the defence of Singapore in World War II, where the Royal Navy had to decide the allocation of its battleships and battlecruisers between the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. The Mahanian doctrine was also applied by the Imperial Japanese Navy, leading to its Preventive war to attack Pearl Harbor and the capital ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. The naval nature of the Pacific Theater of Operations, more commonly referred to as the Pacific War, necessitated the United States Navy mostly deploying its battleships and aircraft carriers in the Pacific. The war in Europe was primarily a land war; consequently, Germany's surface fleet was small, and the Allied escort ships needed in the Battle of the Atlantic were mostly and to counter the U-boat threat.
Sailing frigate were ships of the fifth rate; comprised small frigates and . Towards the end of the Napoleonic Wars and into the late 19th century, some larger and more powerful frigates were classified as fourth rates.
In the 20th century, especially in World Wars I and II, typical capital ships would be and . All of the above ships were close to 20,000 tons displacement or heavier, with large caliber guns and heavy armor protection. Cruisers, despite being important ships, were not considered capital ships. An exception to the above in World War II was the . Though this class was technically similar to a heavy cruiser, albeit slower but with considerably heavier guns, they were regarded by some as capital ships (hence the British label "Pocket battleship") since they were one of the few heavy surface units of the Kriegsmarine. The American , Dutch Design 1047 battlecruiser and the Japanese Design B-65 cruiser, planned specifically to counter the heavy cruisers being built by their naval rivals, have been described as "super cruisers", "large cruisers" or even "unrestricted cruisers", with some advocating that they even be considered battlecruisers; however, they were never classified as capital ships.Chesneau, p. 388; Garzke & Dulin, p. 86; Friedman 1984, p. 288; McLaughlin 2006, p. 104
During the Cold War, a Soviet Navy large missile cruiser had a displacement great enough to rival World War II-era battleships and battlecruisers, perhaps defining a new capital ship for that era. In regard to technical design, however, the Kirov is simply a supersized guided-missile cruiser with nuclear propulsion.
In the 21st century, the aircraft carrier is the last remaining capital ship, with capability defined in decks available and aircraft per deck rather than in guns and . The United States has supremacy in both contemporary categories of aircraft carriers, possessing 11 active duty each capable of carrying and launching nearly 100 tactical aircraft, and nine amphibious assault ships which are equivalent in the "Sea Control Ship" configuration to the light VSTOL carriers operated by other nations.James F. Amos "Gen Amos' speech to Surface Navy Association."
Beginning with (the first U.S. battleship), U.S. capital ships were traditionally named after U.S. states. Cruisers are typically named after U.S. territories (e.g. Alaska-class cruisers just before and during World War II) or U.S. cities. Prior to and during World War II, the Imperial Japanese Navy also followed the practice of naming battleships after provinces (e.g. ).
The U.S. Navy has never named aircraft carriers after U.S. states. A variety of names (, , ...) were used until 1968, when was commissioned, since when U.S. aircraft carriers are almost always named after politicians and people notable in US naval history, such as Gerald R. Ford (president) and USS Nimitz (admiral); an exception is Enterprise.
US ballistic missile submarines were not initially named for states (e.g. Poseidon). Beginning with the commissioned from 1981, the first class of Trident-equipped ballistic missile submarines, U.S. nuclear submarines have been named after states. After the completion of the last Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, state names were also applied to attack submarines (e.g. ). Earlier attack submarines had usually been named for marine animals or, commencing with the , cities and towns.
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