| Design | Tillman Battleships | South Dakota(BB-49) class (For comparison) | |||||
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | IV-1 | IV-2 | ||
| Date | 13 Dec 1916 | 13 Dec 1916 | 13 Dec 1916 | 29 Dec 1916 | 30 Jan 1917 | 30 Jan 1917 | 8 Jul 1918 |
| Displacement, in tons | 70,000 | 70,000 | 63,500 | 80,000 | 80,000 | 80,000 | 43,200 |
| Waterline Length, in feet (meters) | 975 (297.2) | 660 (201.2) | |||||
| Beam, in feet (meters) | 108 (32.9) | 106 (32.3) | |||||
| Draught, in feet (meters) | 32.75 (10.0) | 32.75 (10.0) | |||||
| Max. Speed, in knots | 26.5 | 26.5 | 30 | 25.2 | 25.2 | 25.2 | 23.5 |
| Max. Power, in EHP (SHP) | 65,000 EHP (130,000 SHP) | 65,000 EHP (130,000 SHP) | 90,000 EHP (180,000 SHP) | 90,000 EHP (180,000 SHP) | 90,000 EHP (180,000 SHP) | 90,000 EHP (180,000 SHP) | 60,000 SHP |
| Number of Boilers | 18 | 24 | 12 | ||||
| Main Battery | Twelve 16"/50 in four 3-gun turrets | Twenty-four 16"/50 in four 6-gun turrets | twelve 16"/50 in four 3-gun turrets | Twenty-four 16"/50 in four 6-gun turrets | Thirteen 18"/50 in five 2-gun turrets and one 3-gun turret | Fifteen 18"/50 in five 3-gun turrets | Twelve 16"/50 in four 3-gun turrets |
| Belt Armor | 18"/9" | 13"/7" | 13"/7" | 18"/9" | 16"/8" | 16"/8" | 13.5"/8" |
| Barbette Armor | 17"/5" | 12.5"/4" | 12.5"/4" | 17"/5" | 15"/5" | 15"/5" | 13.5"/4.5" |
| Turret Armor | 20"/14"/6"10" | 18"/10"/5"/9" | 18"/10"/5"/9" | 20"/14"/6"/10" | 21"/12"/8"/14" | 18"/10"/5"/9" | |
| Deck Armor | 5" | 3" | 3" | 5" | 5" | 5" | 5"/1.75" |
| Images | Click Here | Click Here | Click Here | Click Here | Click Here | ||
| Notes | In some ways, this is a greatly enlarged South Dakota (BB-49) class battleship. While the South Dakota design was not finalized until 1918, design work was well under way at this point. | Similar to design #1, but trades off some armor for increased armament. (BuOrd considered 13.5" to be the practical limit for armor plate thickness.) | Design 3 was a "fast battleship". At the time, the General Board was not particularly interested in fast battleship designs. | Adding 10,000 tons to the displacement allowed the armor of Design #1 to be combined with the main battery of Design #2. | Had these ships actually been built, the guns probably would have been 18"/48 Mk1 | ||
A note of clarification, the South Dakota-class referenced in the table above was canceled due to the Washington Naval Treaty, and is not the South Dakota-class of WWII.
Of the four designs given to Tillman it was #4 which was considered the most practical, and the IV-1 and -2 were spin-offs of design #4. It was designs 1 and 3 which influenced the design of the South Dakota-class (BB-49). The South Dakotas would have had a similar main armament, but only 13.5" belt armor, and a top speed of 23.5 knots. The South Dakotas would have had a displacement of ~43,200 tons.
There has been speculation of class of Tillman battlecruisers (based in Design #3) had there not been a Washington Naval Treaty, however the Navy never considered it on the grounds that it would been to radical a change in battlecruiser design. Design #3 did have a speed of 30 knots easily making it a fast battleship by WWII standards, and does have specs similar to what an enlarged Iowa could have had.
The Tillman battleships were not built mainly due to the Washington Naval Treaty, but frankly these designs were not really serious. Rather, they were speculation as to what the Navy might ask had the naval arms race post-WWI continued between the World Wars. These designs are in some way comparable to the Yamato-class, and would have been extremely susceptible to air attack. In the end the Tillman battleships were no more than mental exercises by the Navy taking battleship designs to the extreme, and are rivaled only by the Yamatos, the N3-class, the #13-class, and perhaps the H-41 and -42.
Further reading:
Photo Credit: Model Ship Gallery
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