Editing Florida-class battleship (section)

=== General characteristics ===

The ''Florida''-class ships were {{cvt|510|ft|lk=on}} [[Waterline length|long at the waterline]] and {{cvt|521|ft|6|in}} [[length overall|overall]]. They had a beam of {{cvt|88|ft|3|in}} and a draft of {{cvt|28|ft|6|in}}. They displaced {{cvt|21825|LT|t|lk=on}} at standard displacement and {{cvt|23033|LT|t}} at [[full load]].{{sfn|Friedman|1986|p=114}} This was an increase of approximately {{cvt|2500|LT|t}} over the previous ''Delaware'' class.{{sfn|Hore|p=57}} The ships also had some of their [[superstructure]] rearranged, including the [[lattice mast]]s and the funnels.<ref name="USN Florida class" /> The ''Florida''-class ships had a crew of 1,001 officers and men.{{sfn|Hore|p=57}} The wider beam increased the vessels' metacentric height, which allowed the ''Florida''s to accommodate their larger medium-caliber guns without any real penalty in topweight.{{sfn|Friedman|1985|p=74}}

''Florida'' was fitted experimentally with a larger bridge than was then standard, to house both ship and fire control personnel under armor, while ''Utah'' received a heavily armored fire-control tower atop a standard-sized bridge. The former proved especially successful, to the point that when a larger armored fire-control tower and standard bridge was proposed for the ''Nevada'' class, it was rejected in favor of a roomier bridge like that of ''Florida''.{{sfn|Friedman|1985|pp=72–73}}

The two ships were modernized in 1925–27; among the improvements were the addition of [[torpedo bulge]]s, which were designed to increase resistance to underwater damage—this widened the ships to {{cvt|106|ft}}.<ref name="USN Florida class" /> The ships also had their rear lattice masts removed and replaced with a pole mast. A [[Aircraft catapult|catapult]] for launching aircraft was mounted on the number 3 gun turret.{{sfn|Hore|p=57}}