USS Panama BBM-01

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Alternate History The USS Panama and her sister USS Peurto Rico came out of a 1917 requirement for a “Micro Battleship”. Along the same lines as Germany’s Deutschland Class Pocket Battleships, the new ship would be required to have a large main battery while maintaining a displacement under 18,000 tons. The resulting design featured 3x2 11 inch main cannon and a variety of 6 and 4-inch secondaries. Unfortunately, poor space management meant the ship suffered from more drawbacks than boons. With a top speed of only 16.5 knots and a range of a little over 3,900 nautical miles she was poorly suited to long-range duties. She was too slow to keep up with the Heavy Cruisers she was designed to defeat and too lightly armed and armored to match a modern battleship. Ultimately the Panama Class would only serve as convoy escort at the start of during WWII, later being relegated to coastal patrol. Both Ships were decommissioned and scrapped in 1947.