An Armada of Battleships

Sadly, the inventor of 'Battleship' is lost in the fog of history. The game probably existed for decades as a quill-and-parchment way to keep bored children amused while enduring tedious cross-country carriage trips. It was first released in 1931 by Starex Novelty Co. as 'Salvo,' and a half dozen competitors soon sailed into view. The 'modern' Milton-Bradley (now Hasbro) version of the game arrived in 1967 and has been produced in dozens of permutations including tabletop, travel versions, folio editions and even a tiny electronic handheld version which made it possible to, uhh, play with yourself.

This package dates from the 1980s and demonstrates how children of the Me Generation were encouraged to sweetly obliterate their siblings in a sanitized version of Mutually Assured Destruction. It was a tad better than the boxed version unveiled in 1967, which pictured a father and son doing battle while mom and sis dutifully washed dishes in the next room.

Hasbro's Current Battleship Lineup