Awesome in size, immensely powerful and ingrained in the socio-economic and psychological structure of the U.S. Navy, the battleship served as chief guardsman of territory, reigning as monarch of the sea. For two hundred years it played an essential role in U.S. military affairs, yet as Robert L O'Connell demonstrates, the battleship was never actually an effective weapon of war - even before advances in submarine and aircraft technology rendered it impractical. Battleships have never played an actively important role in the outcome of any modern war but they have continued to be resurrected and refurbished, capturing the hearts of the public with their awesome beauty and size, and the myopic devotion of the military with their patently inefficient presence. Sacred Vessels tells the story of the evolution of the battleship. It is a cautionary tale about the often unacknowledged influence of human faith, culture and tradition and of the exceedingly important, costly and, supposedly rational, process, of nations arming themselves for war.