Battleship Building Frenzy

The attack on Pearl Harbor, caused a battleship building frenzy within the US.  A direct result of this was the rapid completion of the four South Dakota class battleships.

Although featuring the same armament as the North Carolina's (nine 16 inch guns and twenty 5 inch guns), the South Dakota class was "on paper" an improvement over the North Carolina's, because they were designed to withstand hits from 16 inch shells (where as the North Carolina's protection was limited to 14 inch shells).  This resulted in a shortened hull form/superstructure area, most "visible" in the single funnel (where North Carolina had two).

In iron sight, it appears that the North Carolina's were better ships to have served on, as they were not "half as cramped".