A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships are larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a nation's naval power from about 1875 up until World War II. With the rise of air power, guided missiles, and guided bombs, large guns were no longer deemed necessary to establish naval superiority and as a result battleships faded from use.
Battleships are well protected and have good armour, big cannons and heavy anti-aircraft defences. They also are very suitable for amphibious support gunnery (that is: shooting targets on coast or inland) as they can shoot accurately and far. They also make good flagships. That is why United States Navy used the battleships until 2004, when the last battleships were made museums.
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