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A BatDiv or BATDIV was a standard U.S. Navy abbreviation or acronym for "
battleship A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1880s to describe a type ...
division Division or divider may refer to: Mathematics *Division (mathematics), the inverse of multiplication *Division algorithm, a method for computing the result of mathematical division Military *Division (military), a formation typically consisting ...
." The Commander of a Battleship Division was known, in official Navy communications, as COMBATDIV (followed by a number), such as COMBATDIV ONE.


World War I and prior

BatDivs existed from at least 1913, when there were four Battleship Divisions in the US Atlantic Fleet. By April 1917, with the
American entry into World War I American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
, there were at least nine Battleship Divisions, as BatDiv 9 was dispatched to operate with the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
's
Grand Fleet The Grand Fleet was the main battlefleet of the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was established in August 1914 and disbanded in April 1919. Its main base was Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. History Formed in August 1914 from the F ...
.


Inter-War period

Before the Second World War, the U.S. Navy battleship force was organized into five Battleship Divisions of three battleships each. Only two of these BATDIVs were composed of three battleships of the same class, but mixing battleships of separate two-ship classes to form three-ship BATDIVs was facilitated by the " Standard type battleship" concept of the US Navy, a design concept developed before 1922 calling for uniform top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h) and a tight tactical radius of 700 yards (640 m) for all battleships of the , , , and classes. *Battleship Division 1 ** ** ** *Battleship Division 2 ** ** ** *Battleship Division 3 ** ** ** *Battleship Division 4 ** ** ** *Battleship Division 5 ** ** ** Stationed at Pearl Harbor as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were three battleship divisions; BatDiv 1, 2 and 4. These nine battleships were intended to counterbalance the ten capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. At the time of the
Pearl Harbor Attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawai ...
, was in dry dock and was being refitted at Bremerton Navy Yard, Washington. was mated with and at that time. The U.S. Atlantic Fleet contained BatDiv 3 and 5. BatDiv3 had been part of the Pacific Fleet until 20 May 1941 when its three ships were transferred to the Atlantic Fleet for
Neutrality Patrol On September 3, 1939, the British and French declarations of war on Germany initiated the Battle of the Atlantic. The United States Navy Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) established a combined air and ship patrol of the United States Atlantic coa ...
duty. BatDiv 5 was a training division consisting of three older battleships. An additional BATDIV (BatDiv 6) was attached to the Atlantic Fleet during 1941; this consisted of the new battleships and , both of which were in the process of undergoing post-commissioning work up.


World War II and beyond

After the
Pearl Harbor attack The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawai ...
, the BATDIV was replaced by the Task Group (TG) as the operational wartime unit. However, the BATDIV remained the administrative unit for purposes of personnel, training, maintenance and the like. Moreover, a Battleship Division could function in the operational chain of command, for example at the Battle of Surigao Strait, where BATDIV FOUR (''Maryland'', ''Mississippi'' and ''West Virginia'') and BATDIV TWO (''Pennsylvania, Tennessee'' and ''California'') operated as units under BATFOR (Battleship Force) SEVENTH FLEET; Commander, Battle Force (COMBATFOR) Rear Admiral Oldendorf, was overall commander of the Surigao force ( Task Group 77.2). Battleship Division 1 was active in the Pacific at least until 1946, according to U.S. Navy records with the
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
. On June 7, 1954, under the direction of Battleship Division 2,
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the N ...
, Virginia, the four battleships of the operated together for the only time under the flag of RAdm George R. Cooper. On January 15, 1957, reported to Commander Fleet Training Group, Guantanano Bay, Cuba and Rear Admiral Henry Crommelin, Commander Battleship Division Two broke his flag in ''Wisconsin''. On May 27, 1957 Rear Admiral Lewis S. Parks relieved Rear Admiral Crommelin as Commander Battleship Division Two.


See also

* United States Battleship Division Nine * ComBatPac, Commander, Battleships, U.S. Pacific Fleet * Carrier battle group#Battleship battle group


References

{{DANFS BatDiv Seagoing divisions of the United States Navy