Very Fire 1/350 USS Montana BB67 Battleship Kit

With the design phase beginning in 1939, a full two years before the US entered the Second World War, the Montana class battleships were the largest battleships to have ever been designed and ordered by the US Navy. Upon hearing rumors of the large Yamato-class battleships fielding massive 18-inch guns, the designers of Montana envisioned a battleship that was larger than the Iowa class with more firepower and stronger armor. Without having to adhere to restrictions on size due to the Panama canal, the Montana-class grew to a length of 280 meters long overall (921 ft) with a beam of 37 meters (121 ft) and a displacement of 65,000 tons which was 20,000 tons heavier than Iowa's 45,000 tons. A trade-off of this size and weight increase meant that the Montana class was slower than Iowa's and other carriers in the fleet.

Five ships of the class were ordered in 1942 and given designations BB-67 through BB-71 with the BB-67 Montana being the first of her class. Sadly no Montana's were ever built or even had their keels laid down. The Montana class was canceled for good in 1943 when it became quite apparent that the era of battleships was over and the navy needed more aircraft carriers and ships fast enough to escort the carriers.  However a part of the Montana class lives on even today, the hull design for the Montana class was later re-used in the Midway-class aircraft carriers.  The USS Midway now serves as a museum ship in the beautiful city of San Diego, California. 

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