How to Play Battleship: Setup, Coordinates, Hits, Misses & Sinking
Battleship is a two-player game of hidden ship placement and coordinate guessing.
Set up your fleet
Each player takes one battle case and one of each ship: Carrier, Battleship, Destroyer, Submarine and Patrol Boat. Place all five secretly on the ocean grid before play begins.
Call a coordinate
On your turn, name one letter-number coordinate on the opponent’s grid, such as D-4.
If it is a hit
If a ship occupies that coordinate, the defender announces a hit and identifies the ship under the F4527 rules. The attacker marks that coordinate as a hit on the target grid; the defender marks the corresponding hole on the ship.
If it is a miss
If no ship occupies the coordinate, mark it as a miss on the target grid so you do not call the same location again.
Sinking a ship
When every hole in one ship has been hit, that ship is sunk and its owner announces which ship went down.
Winning
The first player to sink all five ships in the opponent’s fleet wins.