Standard - type battleship The Standard - type battleship was a production line of twelve battleship s across five classes ordered for the United States Navy between 1911 and 1916 and commissioned between 1916 and 1923 . These were considered super - dreadnoughts , with the ships of the final two classes incorporating many lessons from the Battle of Jutland and known as the " Big Five " . Each vessel was produced with a series of progressive innovations , which contributed to the pre - World War I arms race . Some historians see the American battleships as responses to match innovations introduced by the Imperial Japanese Navy . All of the Standard type vessels constituted the US Navy ' s main battle line in the interwar period , while many of the earlier dreadnoughts were scrapped or relegated to secondary duties . Restrictions under the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty limited total numbers and size of battleships and had required some under construction to be cancelled , so it was not until the onset of World War II that new battleships were constructed . On December 7 , 1941 , eight were at Pearl Harbor , one at Washington State , and three were assigned to the Atlantic Fleet . Doctrine . The Standard type , by specifying common tactical operational characteristics between classes , allowed battleships of different classes to operate together as a tactical unit ( BatDiv ) against enemy battleships . By contrast , other navies had fast and slow battleship classes that could not operate together unless limited to the performance of the ship with slowest speed and widest turning circle . Otherwise the battle line would be split into separate " fast " and " slow " wings . The Standard type was optimised for the battleship - centric naval strategy of the era of their design . The next US battleship classes , beginning with the designed in the late 1930s and commissioned in 1941 , marked a departure from the Standard type , introducing the fast battleships needed to escort the aircraft carriers that came to dominate naval strategy . Standard type battleship classes . Characteristics of the Standard type included : The " Colorado " - class , the first US battleships to mount guns , represented the endpoint of the gradual evolution of the " Standard Type " battleships . The next planned class of battleships , the never - completed s represented a significant increase in size and armament over the " Colorado " s . They would have been long , displaced 43 , 200 tons , had a top speed of , and carried 12 guns . The preceding s were long , displaced 32 , 600 tons , had a top speed of , and carried a main battery of eight guns . Service history . World War I . All the Standard Type were oil - burning . Since oil was scarce in the British Isles , only " Nevada " and " Oklahoma " actively participated in World War I by escorting convoys across the Atlantic Ocean between the United States and Britain . Interwar Years . All the Standard Types were modernised during the 1920s and 1930s . The cage mast s of all but the " Tennessee " and " Colorado " classes were replaced with tripod masts topped with fire - control director s , torpedo tubes were removed and anti - aircraft guns were upgraded . Main battery elevation in the older ships was increased to 30 degrees for greater range . Most of the Standards received anti - torpedo bulges . Each ship received one or two catapults and recovery cranes for operating floatplane s for scouting and gunnery spotting . World War II . On December 7 , 1941 , " Colorado " was undergoing overhaul at Puget Sound Navy Yard , while the three ships of the " New Mexico " class were assigned to the Atlantic Fleet , and the remaining eight Standard Type battleships were at Pearl Harbor forming Battleship Row . During the Pearl Harbor Attack , " Arizona " s forward magazine exploded from a bomb hit and " Oklahoma " capsized after multiple torpedo strikes , both with significant losses of life . " West Virginia " and " California " were also sunk , while " Nevada " managed to get underway and was beached shortly afterward . " Tennessee " and " Maryland " each received two bomb hits . " Arizona " and " Oklahoma " were considered permanent losses , but the other damaged and sunk battleships were salvaged and sent to the West Coast for repairs , where they also received varying degrees of upgrades similar to the features on the new " South Dakota " fast battleships . " Tennessee " , " California " and " West Virginia " emerged as the most modernized , though their widened beam exceeded the Panama Canal restrictions which limited their operations to the Pacific . " Maryland " , " Colorado " , and " Pennsylvania " received twin turret mounts of 5 " / 38 DP gun s , while " Nevada " also had her superstructure significantly rebuilt . The ten surviving Standard Type battleships served throughout World War II primarily as fire support for amphibious landings . Their low speed relegated them to second line duties as they could not accompany the fleet carriers that had become the dominant combatant . Six of them participated in the last battleship versus battleship engagement in naval history , the Battle of Surigao Strait , where none of them were hit . Fates . " Arizona " and " Oklahoma " were destroyed at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7th 1941 . Their sisterships " Pennsylvania " and " Nevada " were used as targets in the Operation Crossroads A - bomb tests in 1946 . In 1946 " Mississippi " was converted to a test vessel for new gun and missile systems and served until 1956 . Most other Standard Type battleships were decommissioned in 1946 or 1947 and placed in the reserve fleet ; ultimately all had been scrapped by 1959 .