The American battlecruisers that traded heavy guns for flight decks

Countries & Cities · Published 10 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: In 1916, the United States Navy ordered a fleet of high-speed giants designed to outrun the enemy. Yet, due to political shifts and treaty restrictions, these massive vessels never fought as battlecruisers. Instead, they underwent a radical transformation, becoming the pioneers of modern naval aviation.

The Lexington-class battlecruisers were the only class of their kind ever ordered by the U.S. Navy. Originally requested in 1911 as a response to Japan's Kongō-class, the project was driven by strategic studies from the Naval War College. While the Navy initially sought ships capable of 35 knots, the final design settled on a speed of 33.25 knots to accommodate heavier armor and more powerful 16-inch guns, replacing the original 14-inch armament. The initial 1916 configuration even proposed ten 14-inch guns in a complex turret arrangement. This design change was part of a broader effort to balance firepower with the ship's stability.

Designing these vessels presented immense engineering hurdles for the Bureau of Construction and Repair. To achieve unprecedented speeds in a capital ship, designers had to manage extreme longitudinal stresses and the massive power requirements of an estimated 180,000 shaft horsepower. The need for 24 boilers in a narrow hull was so great that half were placed above the armored deck, necessitating a complex arrangement of at least seven funnels. Engineers also had to account for the significant difference in tensile strength between the hull and armor steel. To maintain structural integrity, designer R.H. Robinson adjusted the expected wave-stress ratios to optimize weight savings.

The class's ultimate legacy was shaped by the Washington Naval Treaty. In 1922, four of the six ships—Lexington, Constellation, Ranger, and United States—were scrapped. However, the Lexington and Saratoga were spared and converted into the United States' first fleet carriers. These converted ships became legends of World War II, with the Lexington seeing intense combat before being sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea, and the Saratoga serving across both the Pacific and Indian Oceans. While the Lexington was lost in the Coral Sea, the Saratoga survived multiple campaigns. The latter's long career ended only when she was used as a target during Operation Crossroads.

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