The maritime forces or the Navy is the branch of any country’s armed forces that protect or attack the country or on behalf of it based on vessels that are accessible on the water.
Key Takeaways
- Battleships are large, heavily armored warships with powerful long-range weaponry.
- Destroyers are smaller, faster ships designed for anti-submarine, anti-aircraft, and anti-ship warfare.
- Battleships focus on delivering massive firepower, while destroyers provide versatility and support to other vessels.
Battleship vs Destroyer
Battleships are an older type of warship and were invented before the destroyer. Battleships are heavily armoured, while destroyers are sparingly armoured. Battleships are larger than destroyers and have more powerful main batteries than destroyers. Guns on a battleship are short-ranged.
A battleship is a large-sized fleet or ship used by the Navy of a nation with a powerful main battery and large ammunition to engage in a war with their enemy vessel.
A destroyer is a comparatively smaller fast-moving vessel or ship used by the Navy of a nation, stacked with long-distance canons and guns used to particularly threaten to destroy or destroy the enemy fleet.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Battleship | Destroyer |
|---|---|---|
| Size | Usually, Battleships are larger than Destroyers. | Usually, Destroyers are much smaller than Battleships. |
| Use | Battleships are used to engage in naval wars. | Destroyers are used to either lead larger ships and threaten other ships of destruction. |
| Main batteries | They have powerful main batteries. | They have less powerful main batteries. |
| Movement | Battleships owing to their large size, are slow. | Destroyers are smaller swifter ships. |
| Ammunition | Battleships are loaded with more ammunition than Destroyers. | Destroyers are stacked with less ammunition than Battleships. |
| Armoury | Battleships are heavily armoured. | Destroyers are sparingly armoured. |
What is Battleship?
Battleships are heavily armoured large ships used by naval powers to initiate and engage in battle with their naval counterpart.
Today, however, they are no longer in use as battleships moved too slowly and, in battle, took more hits as they could not sail faster and escape. In short, it could be clumsy.
Battleships are provided with powerful main batteries and a huge amount of ammunition, and they rarely are short of ammunition.
Some of the most famous Battleships are USS Dreadnought, USS South Dakota etc. In the Indian context, INS Vikramaditya and INS Brahmaputra are the famous Battleships of the recent era.
What is Destroyer?
Destroyers are moderately armoured ships that are not as heavily armoured as battleships.
They were first made by the British and are actively used in today’s world. They are half the size of a Dreadnought and move much faster than them.
They were formerly called torpedo boat destroyers, a name denoting their size. Usually, the crew on them are minimal as the canons or guns installed on them just need manoeuvring.
Some of the most famous Destroyers are VSS Lamson, MMS Hornet etc. In the Indian context, INS Vishakhapatnam, and INS Ranjit are some of the important Destroyers of today’s age that have taken part in the naval expedition of the country.
Main Differences Between Battleship and Destroyer
- Guns on a battleship are short-range, while those on a Destroyer are long-range.
- Battleships used to be popular a century ago. Today it is almost out of use and is rarely used in battles and is replaced by smaller yet powerful ships.
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6793981/
- https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/pdf/10.1680/imotp.1895.19693
Last Updated : 14 August, 2023
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