Can the Arsenal Ship Replace the Battleship?

This monograph examines the U.S. Navy's proposed arsenal ship and its potential for support to land forces operating in littoral regions. The undisputed platform of choice for naval surface fire support was the now deactivated Iowa class battleships. The arsenal ship will attempt to replace the battleships, while adding a new deep strike capability. The paper addresses the genesis of the arsenal ship program by tracing the history of its predecessors. From the 'long ship' of the Phoenicians, through the various ships-of-the-line, and finally to the Iowas. It examines the improvements in armor and armament along the way, and it culminates with the operational history of the Iowas. The monograph then introduces the arsenal ship program as the logical descendant of the battleship. It highlights the arsenal ship's required capabilities and concept of operations, and it attempts to compare battleship and arsenal ship capabilities. This monograph concludes with the decision that comparing the battleship and the arsenal ship is difficult at best. Their purposes are too different, and the intervening sixty years make objective assessments questionable. The arsenal ship is clearly the future of naval surface fire support, just as the battleship is clearly the past.