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USS ''Illinois'' (BB-65) was to be the fifth Iowa battleship constructed for the United States Navy and was the fourth ship to be named in honor of the 21st US state.

Hull BB-65 was originally to be the first ship of the Montana battleships, but changes during World War II resulted in her being reordered as an Iowa battleship. Adherence to the ''Iowa''-class layout rather than the ''Montana''-class layout allowed BB-65 to gain eight knots in speed, carry more 20 mm and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, and transit the locks of the Panama Canal; however, the move away from the ''Montana''-class layout left BB-65 with a reduction in the heavier armaments and without the additional armor that were to have been added to BB-65 during her time on the drawing board as USS ''Montana''.

Like her sister ship Kentucky BB-66 2, ''Illinois'' was still under construction at the end of World War II. Her construction was canceled in August 1945, but her hull remained until 1958 when it was broken up.

Design

The passage of the Second Vinson Act in 1938 had cleared the way for construction of the four ''South Dakota''-class battleships and the first two ''Iowa'' class fast battleships (those with the hull numbers BB-61 and BB-62). The latter four battleships of the class, those designated with the hull numbers BB-63, BB-64, BB-65, and BB-66 were not cleared for construction until 1940, an increase in armor that was to enable ''Montana'' to withstand the effects of the 16 in mm abbr=on guns and the 2700 lb kg abbr=on ammunition she and her ''Iowa''-class sisters were to carry.

The increase in ''Montana’s'' firepower and armor came at the expense of her speed and her Panamax capabilities, but the latter issue was to be resolved through the construction of a third, much wider set of locks at the Panama Canal. As the situation in Europe deteriorated in the late-1930s, the USA began to be concerned once more about its ability to move warships between the oceans. The largest US battleships were already so large as to have problems with the canal locks; and there were concerns about the locks being put out of action by enemy bombing. In 1939, to address these concerns, construction began on a new set of locks for the canal that could carry the larger warships which the US had either under construction or planned for future construction. These locks which would have enabled ''Montana'' to transit between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans without the need to sail around the tip of South America. As USS ''Montana,'' BB-65 would have been the only battleship class commissioned by the US to approach the Empire of Japan's Yamato battleships on the basis of armor, armament, and tonnage.

By 1942 the United States Navy shifted its building focus from battleships to aircraft carriers after the successes of carrier combat in both the Battle of Coral Sea, and to a greater extent, the Battle of Midway.

As a result the construction of the US fleet of Essex aircraft carriers had been given the highest priority for completion in the US shipyards by the US Navy. Accordingly, the United States accepted shortcomings in the armor for their North Carolina battleship 2s, ''South Dakota''-class, and Iowa battleship 6s in favor of additional speed, which enabled these battleship classes to steam at a comparable speed with the ''Essex''-class and provide the carriers with the maximum amount of anti-aircraft protection. Her funding was authorized via the passage of the Two Ocean Navy bill through the United States Congress in 1940, and she would now be the fifth Iowa battleship 4 battleship built for the United States Navy.

Like her ''Iowa''-class sisters, ''Illinois'' was to cost US $125 million and take approximately 30 to 40 months to complete. She would be tasked primarily with the defense of the US fleet of ''Essex''-class aircraft carriers. In adherence with the ''Iowa''-class design, ''Illinois'' would have a maximum beam of 108 ft m abbr=on and a waterline length of 860 ft m abbr=on, permitting a maximum speed of 34.9 kn km/h 1. The Navy also called for the class to have a lengthened forecastle, amid-ship, and a bulbous bow, which would increase her speed to 35 knots. This was rejected due to time constraints and ''Illinois'' was built with an ''Iowa''-class hull design. but her construction was canceled after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Her incomplete hulk (at the time 22% finished) was retained along with her sister Kentucky BB-66 2 until 1958, when both ships were finally scrapped. She was broken up in her dry dock on the builder's ways starting in September 1958.

The ship's bell was cast and currently resides at Memorial Stadium at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; it reads ''USS Illinois 1946''. While University of Illinois records are unclear as to whether the bell was donated to it or specifically to the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) at the university, an Associated Press article published in 1983 seemed to indicate the latter. According to the AP, the bell had previously resided in a Washington museum until finding its new home with the Fighting Illini football team in 1982; since then, the bell is traditionally rung by NROTC members when the football team scores a touchdown or goal.