Size: 36 x 12 inches

This ‘RESTRICTED’ blueprint type diagram poster shows the cross-section of a “Typical Battleship”, one of the U.S. Navy's most infamous ships used during World War II. The battleship was a capital ship built in the first half of the 20th century. At the outbreak of war, large fleets of battleships—many inherited from the dreadnought era decades before—were considered one of the decisive forces in naval warfare. There were two engagements between battleships in the Pacific theatre and three in the Atlantic theatre. Battleships were the most heavily protected ships afloat, nonetheless, sixteen were sunk or crippled by bombs or torpedoes delivered by aircraft, while three more were sunk by submarine-launched torpedoes. Guided bombs developed during the war made it much easier for aircraft to sink battleships. By the end of the war, battleship construction was all but halted, and almost every existing battleship was retired or scrapped within a few years of its end. The Second World War saw the end of the battleship as the dominant force in the world's navies.

This diagram (two separate posters combined to make one) of a Navy Battleship was printed on December 7th of 1942 by the Navy Department Bureau of Ships. Not only does the diagram show each important room within the ship, but it also details other important locations such as each gun emplacement, and searchlights. This poster was prepared by Newton L. Nichols, Captain of the U.S. Navy and Director of Training, and was an instrumental tool as it was used as a training tool for WWII United States Naval officers. It was of the utmost importance that an officer knew every room of a ship, thus studying this diagram was extremely crucial.