I have grinded all 4 US BB Lines.
I have to say, the Guam was my favorite US BB1:
Here is how I ranked BB1-3 in terms of which I believed performed the best of the tier for USN:
BB1s:
Guam>Pennsyvania>Nevada>New Mexico>Tennesse>Alaska
BB2s:
Colorado>Pennsyvania>Tennesse>New Mexico 1945
BB3:
Sodak>NorCal
Reasons: BB1: Guam can easily dodge salvos, even at 30 degrees from the other BB1s, it can easily sneak in and out of range and it basicly OH Caps out of the box and its CV engine gives it plenty of OH, the Penny has nice firepower like the Nevada, NM and Tenny, but has excellent turn rate and can easily out maneuver anything; the Tenny is slightly slower turn wise and less submergence but still great; New Mexico 30 quite honestly sucks and its remodel compared to the other BB2s really has no advantages; The Alaska has very limited ammo with the Ls, doesn't hit hard, has horrible spread for most players and has a horrible glass jaw.
Reasons: BB2: Colorado is just all around the Best USN BB2, It can run 14" trips, 16" duals, it speed caps @ 44 knots, it turns 2nd best for USN BB2s only behind the penny, its small, has a great AA battery and after lvl 75 great spread for a BB2, The Mark 7Ls spread really hurt the other 3 but the Penny negates it with its speed cap right out of the box, with excellent firepower, quick nimble movements and a small hitbox, its a force to reckon with, the tennessee is like a Penny/Colorado hybrid, slightly weaker than both, it can mix key elements of the other 2 and put them together; the New Mexico's spread really kills it but its still got decent speed and is pretty usable for those to lazy to grind to 70 in the guam and just get the Colorado which outclasses the NM in every way.
Reasons: BB3: The Sodak, withs its great speed advantage can easily rush into belt range and out manuver any ship. Its great firepower with ~40k salvos can rip apart teams in seconds with some great shots. The spread is a little iffy at low level but with a seamen, blocking in the sodak can hurt like no other. The CV engine also gives the sodak great OH time and the ability to rush or run for very long periods of time; The NorCal is fast @ 45 for its range, but the spread even with a seamen and 120 gunners sucks. Never mind the horrid glass jaw and hugh hitbox compared to the sodak and Iowa.
Favorite 2 classing lines:
Alaska->Guam->Colorado->South Dakota->Iowa->Montana->Nebraska
Nevada->Pennslyvania 1930->Pennslyvania 1941->North Carolina->Iowa->Montana->Nebraska