Even though the Illinois no longer exists, a small fragment of it remains to remind us of what might have been.
America’s Iowa-class battleships were engineered in the late 1930s to counter the growing threat of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). Known as “fast battleships,” these warships were designed to combine speed, firepower, and armor, making them ideal for escorting America’s new Essex-class aircraft carriers and engaging enemy fleets.
The USS Illinois (BB-65) was one proposed Iowa-class battleship that might have altered the fate of World War II. But the battleship had scarcely made it off the drawing board before it was canceled due to the rapidly changing strategic environment.
In 1940, the Navy Flirted With A New Kind of Battleship
The USS Illinois was authorized under the Two-Ocean Navy Act of July 19, 1940. This was a legislative attempt to bolster what was feared to be a flagging United States Navy in response to growing global tensions.
But the Illinois, even at the outset, was a victim of uncertainty and indecision. The battleship was originally conceived of as one of the first warships in an entirely new class of battleships, the Montana-class. This design would have been larger and more heavily armored than the Iowa-class battleships of the fleet.
As the Second World War escalated, however, the Navy faced an urgent need for warships that could be produced quickly and efficiently. New designs like the Montana-class, which would have required more time and expense to build than known designs, were shelved. BB-65 was reordered and reconfigured as the fifth Iowa-class battleship, named after the 21st state of the Union.
The USS Illinois Might Have Been Great
Had the Illinois been built as originally intended, it would have displaced 48,110 long tons standard and up to 57,540 long tons at full combat load. Armed with nine 16-inch/50-caliber guns, 20 five-inch/38-caliber guns, and an array of 40mm and 20mm anti-aircraft weapons, the Illinois promised to be a formidable battleship. Its top speed was around 33 knots, or 37 mph, that would have allowed it to keep up with carrier task forces—a key feature for serving in the Pacific Theater.
Almost exactly one year after Pearl Harbor, on December 6, 1942, construction of the USS Illinois initiated at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Funding for the project was partially raised through a unique wartime initiative in Illinois, where a Hereford swine named “King Neptune” was auctioned off repeatedly across the state, ultimately raising $19 million in war bonds to support the BB-65’s construction.
The keel of the battleship was laid with a projected completion date of May 1, 1945. But it wasn’t meant to be. The same year that the keel was laid for the new battleship, the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway demonstrated the decisive role of aircraft carriers in modern naval warfare. These two battles were fought primarily by carrier-based aircraft with opposing fleets never even seeing each other in combat. Thus, most naval strategists and politicians assumed that battleships were less relevant to the war and would no longer serve as the primary instrument of naval dominance.
With that realization came the decision to prioritize aircraft carriers—and resources and shipyard capacity originally intended for battleships were redirected toward the construction of new Essex-class carriers. Meanwhile, the Illinois and her sister ship, the USS Kentucky (BB-66) were deprioritized. Indeed, the Bureau of Ships even contemplated converting the Illinois into an aircraft carrier, proposing a design with an 864-foot flight deck and armament similar to the Essex-class carrier.
The Navy Agonized Over What to Do About the Illinois
The Navy assessed, though, that the converted Illinois would carry fewer planes than would a full Essex-class carrier and would cost just as much as building a new Essex-class. So, the Navy chose to continue building the Illinois as a battleship—but slowly.
And that glacial pace of construction did little to ensure that the Illinois would ever hit the High Seas. By August 12, 1945, just days before the Japanese would surrender and the war would end, the Illinois was formally canceled and struck from the Naval Vessel Register. Until 1955, the Illinois would sit incomplete and abandoned in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, as the military agonized over whether to scrap the project entirely or finish it and use it as a nuclear weapons test target.
Even using it as a nuclear test dummy was deemed to be too expensive and wasteful of resources, as it would have cost at least $30 million merely to ensure the Illinois was seaworthy. The Navy understandably did not want to blow that kind of money on a ship that was destined to be nuked shortly after it was completed.
So, in September 1958, the Navy pulled the plug on the USS Illinois. They broke the ship apart on the slipway where it had been built.
Even though the Illinois no longer physically existed after that point, a small figment of it remains to remind us of what might have been. The ship’s bell, with the words “USS Illinois 1946” inscribed upon it was preserved and loaned to the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Today, the USS Illinois’ bell is rung by NROTC members at Memorial Stadium to celebrate touchdowns by the university’s football team. So, in some small way, the fighting ethos that embodied the Iowa-class warships—that would have undoubtedly been carried on by the Illinois—continues to be felt today at the University of Illinois.
About the Author: Brandon J. Weichert
Brandon J. Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest as well as a contributor at Popular Mechanics, who consults regularly with various government institutions and private organizations on geopolitical issues. Weichert’s writings have appeared in multiple publications, including the Washington Times, National Review, The American Spectator, MSN, the Asia Times, and countless others. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine is available for purchase wherever books are sold. He can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
Image: Wikimedia Commons.
