ABSTRACT
Considering the amount of excess baggage battleships are forced to carry in terms of symbolism, emotion, and controversy, it is appropriate that battleships are large and well-built. In 1914, Atlantic Fleet battleships served as early amphibious warfare vessels when landing parties of sailors and marines occupied Veracruz, Mexico, after a tiff involving national honor. In World War I, a division of US battleships was dispatched to serve as the Fifth Battle Squadron of the British Grand Fleet. If battleships needed any reinforcement of their status as symbols of naval power, it came in the years immediately following World War I when the country was determined to return to normal. Admiral David L. McDonald, chief of naval operations from 1963 to 1967, was a vociferous opponent of reactivating any mothballed battleships for service off the coast of Vietnam. When the battleships were being considered for reactivation, the area commanders in chief were polled as to possible uses.
