USS Montana

It's been a long time since I've done a "what-if" ship, so why not try one of the granddaddies of them all, the USS Montana?

The Montana-class battleships were the closest thing to a "superbattleship" the United States would ever have: meant to take on the Japanese Yamato-class, the Montanas were essentially scaled up Iowas, though they were significantly wider (unlike the Iowas, the Montanas would've never been able to fit through the Panama Canal in World War II) and somewhat slower. Most noticeable was the fourth 16-inch triple turret. Five (Montana, Ohio, Maine, New Hampshire, and Louisiana) were planned, but though the Montana's keel was laid, they were never built. The battleship's day was over by 1943, and the steel was needed for more Essex-class fast carriers.

But what if the Montana at least had been built and survived to modern times?

Most likely, it would be used as a flagship and fire support vessel. I've upgraded it significantly to carry the Aegis multimode radar system, removed two 5-inch turrets and all the 40mm and 20mm guns in favor of Tomahawks, Harpoons, RAMs, and 20mm Phalanx turrets, and given it the same sensor suite as a Ticonderoga-class cruiser. The Montana would be rather expensive to operate, but the intimidation factor would be quite something. The fact that the heavily armored battleship would be virtually impervious to nearly all above-water gunfire and missiles (short of nuclear ones) would also be rather helpful.

This was fun to do, and a way to honor my home state. Montana is the only one of the 50 states never to have a ship named for it in the modern era--not even a submarine.