The Pittsburgh Press (February 16, 1946)
War doomed battleships, admiral says
Towers doubt U.S. will build anymore
By Keyes Beech
HONOLULU – The war signed the “death warrant of the battleship” and it is doubtful if the United States ever will build another.
That is the belief of Adm. John H. Towers, the Navy’s top-ranking airman who a week ago took command of the Pacific fleet from battleship Adm. Raymond A. Spruance.
If any further proof is needed that the battleship is obsolete, the coming test of the effects of an atomic bomb on surface units probably will supply it, Adm. Towers said.
“Nobody can predict the exact results of the atomic bomb test,” Adm. Towers said. “Some people seem to think that if you drop an atomic bomb somewhere near a fleet everything in the area will be sunk.
Predicts new type of ships
“On the basis of what I know about Hiroshima I don’t think that will happen,” he said. “It may be possible to build ships of new design that will minimize the effects of the atomic bomb.
“But I doubt if we’ll ever build another battleship.
“How many times during the Pacific war were the battleships’ big guns fired for the purpose they were intended – the destruction of enemy ships?” Adm. Towers asked. He then proceeded to give the answers:
“Only two battleships, the Washington and South Dakota, ever fired a shot in anger. That was when they ran into units of the Jap fleet off Guadalcanal early in the war.
Performed useful service
“I think that the New Jersey in support of an air raid on Truk came in close enough to sink an old Jap cruiser but the cruiser probably was already damaged by air raids.”
On all other occasions, the admiral continued, our battleships were firing at “helpless targets.”
Battleships did perform useful service in affording anti-aircraft protection and in bombarding enemy-held islands in advance of troop landings, Adm. Towers conceded.
But he said this function could just as well have been performed by other naval weapons, and less expensively.
Adm. Towers doesn’t think that the airplane will completely replace surface craft in “the foreseeable future” but he does think that aviation will play an increasingly dominant role in the Navy.