Ship -to-ship engagements among battleships did happen during WWII seldomly but, they were there....
The most notable and actually the last big-gun Ship-to-ship engagement was the "Battle of the Surigao Strait to the South of Leyte on October 24th,1944.
Involved in the engagement were two major task forces Halsey to the North with the 3rd US Fleet and Kinkaid to the South with the 7th U.S. Fleet.
Units and Commanders involved:
U.S.
Admirals: Thomas Kinkaid / Jesse Oldendorf
Ships:
7th U.S. Fleet(Battleships):
U.S.S. California
U.S.S. West Virginia
U.S.S. Tennessee
U.S.S. Maryland
U.S.S. Pennsylvania
U.S.S. Mississippi
7th U.S. Fleet(Crusiers):
H.M.A.S Shropshire
U.S.S. Louisville
U.S.S. Portland
U.S.S. Boise
U.S.S. Phoenix
U.S.S. Columbus
U.S.S. Denver
U.S.S. Minneapolis
7th U.S. Fleet(Destroyers):
U.S.S. Newcomb
U.S.S. Richard P. Leary
U.S.S. Albert W. Grant
U.S.S. Robinson
U.S.S. Halford
U.S.S. Bryant
U.S.S. Heywood L. Edwards
U.S.S. Bennion
U.S.S. Leutze
U.S.S. Claxton
U.S.S. Cony
U.S.S. Thorn
U.S.S. Aulick
U.S.S. Sigourney
U.S.S. Welles
U.S.S. Hutchins
U.S.S. Daly
U.S.S. Bache
H.M.A.S. Arunta
U.S.S. Killen
U.S.S. Beale
U.S.S. Remey
U.S.S. McGowen
U.S.S. Melvin
U.S.S. Mertz
U.S.S. McDermut
U.S.S. Monssen
U.S.S. McNair
Japanese
Admirals: Shoji Nishimura / Kiyohide Shima
Ships:
Force C(Battleships):
Yamashiro
Fuso
Force C(Crusiers):
Mogami
Nachi
Ashigara
Force C(Destroyers):
Michishio
Asagumo
Yamagumo
Shigure
Abukuma
Akebono
Ushio
Kasumi
Shiranuhi
Wakaba
Hatsushimo
Hatsuharu
So as you can see by both number and tactics this particular big-gun batte was lop-sided to begin with, with the U.S. 7th Fleet having a vast advantage. Both time and the tactics Kinkaid and Oldendorf employed more than proved themselves to be sufficient. However, big guns and aircraft were not the fatal factors so much as the experience and tactics of the individual navies.
Regards,
MARNE
__________________

"ROCK OF THE MARNE"
Sgt. James Dunigan III
Able Co., U.S. 30th Infantry Regiment
U.S. 3rd Infantry Division(Reenacted)
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