Can you really drift a battleship? Which American admiral would you trust to fight an alien invasion—and which one would get us all killed? Naval historian Trent Hone and military historian Colin Colbourn join Jason Herbert to put Battleship (2012) through a very unserious inspection with some serious U.S. Navy history.
Using the film’s alien showdown as our starting point, we explore the USS Missouri, Iowa-class battleships, and how naval warfare actually works. Could a crew of veterans bring a museum ship back into combat? How do you aim those enormous guns? And why did battleships give way to aircraft carriers and guided-missile destroyers?
We also trace the rise of American sea power, from the Navy’s early struggles to Alfred Thayer Mahan, Theodore Roosevelt’s Great White Fleet, and the Pacific War. Along the way, we discuss Japan’s naval strategy, nighttime combat around Guadalcanal, and the leadership and adaptation that can decide a battle.
Plus: Rihanna’s firepower, Liam Neeson’s burrito diplomacy, Hollywood’s relationship with military recruiting, and why the veteran sailors’ return hits harder than anyone expected. Come for the battleship drift. Stay for the history—and the admiral draft that might determine humanity’s survival.
Follow Reckoning with Jason Herbert for more conversations about history, movies, and the stories that bring them together.
Dr. Colin Colbourn is Project Recover’s Lead Historian and a Postdoctoral Researcher with the University of Delaware. Since 2016, he has managed historical operations including archival research, data management, case analysis, and field investigations. Through these efforts, Project Recover has developed a massive internal archive comprised of thousands of historical reports, maps, and images.
Trent Hone is a Vice President with ICF and an award-winning naval historian. He works with organizations to improve their art of practice, increase effectiveness, and accelerate learning. He has helped dozens of government and commercial organizations around the world in Asia, Oceania, Europe, and North America. Trent regularly writes and speaks about organizational learning, Agile methods, and naval history. He has presented at the Annual North American Agile Conference, Lean Kanban North America, Lean Agile US, Lean Agile Scotland, the Society of Military History’s Annual Meeting, the McMullen Naval History Symposium, and numerous other conferences.
Trent co-authored Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919-1939 and regularly writes and speaks about the Navy’s organizational learning, doctrine, and strategy. He has written chapters for several books, including To Crown the Waves: The Great Navies of the First World War and On Seas Contested: The Seven Great Navies of the Second World War. His article, “U.S. Navy Surface Battle Doctrine and Victory in the Pacific” was awarded the U.S. Naval War College’s Edward S. Miller Prize and the Naval History and Heritage Command’s Ernest M. Eller Prize. His essay, “Guadalcanal Proved Experimentation Works” earned second place in the 2017 Chief of Naval Operations Naval History Essay Contest. Trent’s latest book, Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898–1945, brings a new and valuable perspective that explains how the Navy improved its tactical doctrine before and during World War II. It was published by the U.S. Naval Institute in June 2018.