Four ships comprised the class: , , , and . They were designed to the same treaty standard displacement limit of as the preceding and had the same main battery of nine 16"/45 caliber Mark 6 guns in three-gun turrets, but were more compact and better protected. The ships can be visually distinguished from the earlier vessels by their single funnel, compared to twin funnels in the "North Carolina"s. According to naval historians William Garzke and Robert Dulin, the "South Dakota" design was the best "treaty battleship" ever built.