While some people are very familiar with the South Dakota class battleships (consisting of USS South Dakota BB-57, USS Indiana BB-58, USS Massachusetts BB-59 and USS Alabama BB-60) they were not the first to carry this designation.
Between March, 1920 and April, 1921, six American battleships were laid down, known as the South Dakota class. These ships, USS South Dakota BB-49, USS Indiana BB-50, USS Montana BB-51, USS North Carolina BB-52, USS Iowa BB-53 and USS Massachusetts BB-54 would have been a sight to see, if they had been completed.
Sharing many of the same design features found in the Tennessee and Colorado classes, The South Dakota class would have measured 684 feet (208 m) long, 106 feet (32 m) wide and displaced 43,200 tons. The planned armament would have been 3X16 inch guns in four turrets (two forward, two aft) and a secondary armament of 16X6 inch guns. The estimated top speed was around 23 knots.
However, on February, 1922, the Washington Naval Treaty doomed the ships from ever being completed, the South Dakota was almost 40% complete when the work halted....
In August of that same year, all six incomplete battleships were ordered cancelled and scrapping began, the last remnants of these ships vanished in November 1923.
Then again, we might just see these ships again, in the virtual environment....someday....
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