It was released in August 1989 as the lead single from their third album with Geffen Records, Pump, released in September.
It peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached number 1 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart.
During the writing process, lead singer Steven Tyler is said to have come upon the concept of the song while researching famous battleships.
The song was produced by Bruce Fairbairn and was engineered by Mike Fraser with Ken Lomas as second engineer.