The US last built a battleship in 1944.

Test: the last US Navy battleship was finished in 1944. Count a battleship as 'built' when it was completed and commissioned. If the record is mixed, also count launch. Ignore later reactivations and refits, and ignore ships cancelled or never completed (for example hulls left unfinished, or converted before completion). True: the last US battleship to be commissioned or completed was commissioned or completed in 1944. Mostly true: the last completion was in 1944 by one reasonable measure (commissioning or launch) but in an adjacent year by another. Mostly false: the last US battleship was completed in 1943 or 1945, a year away from the claim. False: it was completed two or more years away from 1944. The side remark that battleships 'were obsolete even then' is opinion and is not tested.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 USS MISSOURI HAER HI-62 (Battleship MISSOURI) HI-62 (BB63) Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

   “USS MISSOURI was the last battleship built by the United States.”

2. E2 USS MISSOURI HAER HI-62 (Battleship MISSOURI) HI-62 (BB63) Historic American Engineering Record, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior

   “6 January 1941 - 11 June 1944”

E1 states that USS Missouri was the last battleship built by the United States, and E2 gives an unlabelled date span ending 11 June 1944. Neither item shows when Missouri was completed, commissioned or launched, which is what the criteria test.