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The strategy for placing follows from the optimal strategy for shooting, so let's start with shooting.
To shoot, do the following:
Start in a random part of the board. Go to step 2.
Check every N squares from where you started, where N is the smallest opponent ship remaining (N = 2 to start). If you already have an established search grid in another part ...
3
A strong algorithm for a slightly different set of rules:
Ships Can be placed next to each other.
DataGenetics wrote a fun piece about solving Battleship a few years ago. If their algorithm isn't optimal, it's at least extremely close. The author combined the concept of parity with probability density functions. That is, you only have to fire at every i'th ...
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I would say the optimal strategy for shooting is aiming to destroy the largest ships first in order to cover as much as the board as fast as possible. I would suggest starting out with a gap of 4 and move down as you sink the larger ships.
Below is an example of starting out with a gap of 3 between shots and filling it in later with a gap of 1 between shots.
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It's a variation on the classic Battleship game, mostly played in the same way as normal.
There are possibly two versions as the patent for the game (US2058079) describes a different layout to the one that I've encountered.
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I use Battleships as a teaching tool in my English Foreign Language classes, so I've developed a simple way to teach the game to my teenage students. I'd recommend breaking the game into steps, something like this:
Start with a real world example. "This is a game about ships at sea. They can't see each other, so they use maps to try and hit their target."
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