A BatDiv or BATDIV was a standard U.S. Navy abbreviation or acronym for "battleship division."

The Commander of a Battleship Division is known, in official Navy communications, as COMBATDIV (followed by a number), such as COMBATDIV ONE.

One of the Battleship Divisions active during World War I was United States Battleship Division Nine which augmented the striking power of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

's Grand Fleet in 1917-1918.

US Navy Pre-World War II BATDIVs

Pre-World War II the U.S. Navy battleship fleet was organized into five Battleship Divisions of three battleships each. Only two of these BATDIVs were composed of three battleships of the same class, but mixing battleships of separate two-ship classes to form three-ship BATDIVs was facilitated by the "Standard type battleship

Standard type battleship

The Standard-type battleship was a production line of twelve battleships across five classes ordered for the United States Navy between 1911 and 1916 and commissioned between 1916 and 1923...

" concept of the US Navy, a design concept developed before 1922 calling for uniform top speed of 21 knots (39 km/h) and a tight tactical radius of 700 yards (640 m) for all battleships of the Nevada

Nevada class battleship

The Nevada class battleships were the United States Navy's first battleship design equipped with triple gun turrets , as well as introducing the so-called "all or nothing" armor scheme, in which protection of vital areas was optimized against heavy caliber guns, leaving other parts...

, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania class battleship

The Pennsylvania-class battleships, of the United States Navy, were an enlargement of the Nevada class; having two additional 45-caliber main battery guns, greater length and displacement, four propellers and slightly higher speed...

, New Mexico

New Mexico class battleship

The New Mexico class battleships of the United States Navy, all three of whose construction began in 1915, were improvements on the design introduced three years earlier with the Nevada class....

, Tennessee

Tennessee class battleship

The Tennessee class was a class of battleships of the United States Navy. The class comprised two ships: and the . They were modified versions of the featuring improved underwater armor for better torpedo protection and 30 degree elevation on their main batteries, as opposed to 15 degrees for...

 and Colorado

Colorado class battleship

The Colorado class battleships was a group of four battleships built by the United States Navy after World War I. However, only three of the ships were completed: , , and . The fourth, , was over 75% completed when she was canceled under the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922...

 classes.

Stationed at Pearl Harbor as part of the US Pacific Fleet were three BATDIVs: BB-38 Pennsylvania

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)

USS Pennsylvania was a United States Navy super-dreadnought battleship. She was the third Navy ship named for the state of Pennsylvania....

 and BB-39 Arizona

USS Arizona (BB-39)

USS Arizona, a , was built for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state's recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of "super-dreadnought" battleships. Although commissioned in 1916, the ship remained stateside...

 with BB-36 Nevada

USS Nevada (BB-36)

USS Nevada , the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships; her sister ship was...

 (BatDiv 1); BB-43 Tennessee

USS Tennessee (BB-43)

USS Tennessee , the lead ship of her class of battleship, was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 16th US state. During World War II in the Pacific Theater, she was damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 but was repaired and modernized...

 and BB-44 California

USS California (BB-44)

USS California , a Tennessee-class battleship, was the fifth ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 31st state. Beginning as the flagship of the Pacific Fleet, she served in the Pacific her entire career. She was sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor at her moorings in Battleship Row,...

 with BB-37 Oklahoma

USS Oklahoma (BB-37)

USS Oklahoma , the only ship of the United States Navy to ever be named for the 46th state, was a World War I-era battleship and the second of two ships in her class; her sister ship was . She, along with her sister, were the first two U.S...

 (BatDiv2); and BB-45 Colorado

USS Colorado (BB-45)

USS Colorado , the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 38th state, was the lead ship of her class of battleships. Her keel was laid down on 29 May 1919 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey. She was launched on 22 March 1921 sponsored by Mrs. Max...

, BB-46 Maryland

USS Maryland (BB-46)

USS Maryland , a , was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named in honor of the seventh state.Her keel was laid down 24 April 1917 by Newport News Shipbuilding Company of Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 20 March 1920, and sponsored by Mrs. E. Brook Lee, wife of the...

 and BB-48 West Virginia

USS West Virginia (BB-48)

USS West Virginia , a , was the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 35th state.Her keel was laid down on 12 April 1920 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Newport News, Virginia. She was launched on 17 November 1921 sponsored by Miss Alice Wright Mann,...

 (BatDiv 4). These nine battleships were intended to counter balance the ten battleships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. At the time of the Pearl Harbor Attack, BB-38 Pennsylvania

USS Pennsylvania (BB-38)

USS Pennsylvania was a United States Navy super-dreadnought battleship. She was the third Navy ship named for the state of Pennsylvania....

 was in dry dock and BB-45 Colorado

USS Colorado (BB-45)

USS Colorado , the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 38th state, was the lead ship of her class of battleships. Her keel was laid down on 29 May 1919 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey. She was launched on 22 March 1921 sponsored by Mrs. Max...

 was being refitted at Bremerton Navy Yard, Washington State. BB-39 Arizona

USS Arizona (BB-39)

USS Arizona, a , was built for the United States Navy in the mid-1910s. Named in honor of the 48th state's recent admission into the union, the ship was the second and last of the Pennsylvania class of "super-dreadnought" battleships. Although commissioned in 1916, the ship remained stateside...

 was mated with BB-36 Nevada

USS Nevada (BB-36)

USS Nevada , the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships; her sister ship was...

 and BB-37 Oklahoma

USS Oklahoma (BB-37)

USS Oklahoma , the only ship of the United States Navy to ever be named for the 46th state, was a World War I-era battleship and the second of two ships in her class; her sister ship was . She, along with her sister, were the first two U.S...

 at that time.

The US Atlantic Fleet had a BATDIV (BatDiv 3) composed of BB-40 New Mexico

USS New Mexico (BB-40)

USS New Mexico was a battleship in service with the United States Navy from 1918 to 1946. She was the lead ship of a class of three battleships. New Mexico was extensively modernized between 1931 and 1933 and saw service during World War II both in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres. After her...

, BB-41 Mississippi

USS Mississippi (BB-41)

USS Mississippi , a , was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 20th state, and the second battleship to carry the name. Commissioned in 1917, too late to serve in World War I, she served extensively in the Pacific in World War II, for which she earned eight battle stars...

 and BB-42 Idaho

USS Idaho (BB-42)

USS Idaho , a , was the fourth ship of the United States Navy to be named for the 43rd state. Her keel was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation of Camden, New Jersey...

 and a training division (BatDiv 5) made up of the older battleships BB-34 New York

USS New York (BB-34)

USS New York was a United States Navy battleship, the lead ship of her class of two . She was the fifth ship to carry her name....

 and BB-35 Texas

USS Texas (BB-35)

USS Texas , the second ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the U.S. state of Texas, is a . The ship was launched on 18 May 1912 and commissioned on 12 March 1914....

 with BB-33 Arkansas

USS Arkansas (BB-33)

USS Arkansas , a was the third ship of the United States Navy named in honor of the 25th state.A dreadnought battleship, Arkansas was laid down on 25 January 1910 at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was launched on 14 January 1911 sponsored by Miss Nancy Louise...

.

After the Pearl Harbor attack, the BATDIV was replaced by the Task Group (TG) as the operational wartime unit.