A BatDiv or BATDIV was a standard U.S. Navy abbreviation or acronym for "battleship division." The Commander of a Battleship Division was known, in official Navy communications, as COMBATDIV, such as COMBATDIV ONE.
Before the Second World War, the U.S. Navy battleship force 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" concept of the US Navy, a design concept developed before 1922 calling for uniform top speed of 21 knots and a tight tactical radius of 700 yards for all battleships of the,,, and classes.
Stationed at Pearl Harbor as part of the U.S. Pacific Fleet were three battleship divisions; BatDiv 1, 2 and 4. These nine battleships were intended to counterbalance the ten capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy. At the time of the Pearl Harbor Attack, was in dry dock and was being refitted at Bremerton Navy Yard, Washington. was mated with and at that time. The U.S. Atlantic Fleet contained BatDiv 3 and 5. BatDiv3 had been part of the Pacific Fleet until 20 May 1941 when its three ships were transferred to the Atlantic Fleet for Neutrality Patrol duty. BatDiv 5 was a training division consisting of three older battleships. An additional BATDIV was attached to the Atlantic Fleet during 1941; this consisted of the new battleships and, both of which were in the process of undergoing post-commissioningwork up.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, the BATDIV was replaced by the Task Group as the operational wartime unit. However, the BATDIV remained the administrative unit for purposes of personnel, training, maintenance and the like. Moreover, the BATDIV could subsist in the operational chain of command, for example at the Battle of Surigao Strait, where BATDIV FOUR and BATDIV TWO operated as units under BATFOR SEVENTH FLEET; COMBATFOR, Rear Admiral Oldendorf, was overall commander of the Surigao force Battleship Division 1 was active in the Pacific at least until 1946, according to U.S. Navy records with the National Archives and Records Administration. On June 7, 1954, under the direction of Battleship Division 2, Norfolk, Virginia, the four battleships of the operated together for the only time. On January 15, 1957, reported to Commander Fleet Training Group, Guantanano Bay, Cuba and Rear Admiral Henry Crommelin, Commander Battleship Division Two broke his flag in Wisconsin. On May 27, 1957 Rear Admiral Lewis S. Parks relieved Rear Admiral Crommelin as Commander Battleship Division Two.
