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Iowa Battleship
The development of Iowa class battleships began in 1937, and was mostly based on the experience of the WWI. Iowa was launched on February 27, 1942. Since the ship was designed for passing the Panama Canal, her displacement was limited to 58.000 tons. So the American engineers had to find the best combination of characteristics for the battleship. This task was successfully accomplished; and the class was considered to be the best American battleship ever constructed. The ship had powerful protection, excellent 406mm guns, high speed, and a long range of fire.
Of course, most of its characteristics were worse than those of the Yamato destroyer. But the American battleship had many advantages if compared to its Japanese counterpart, such as the radar equipment that had gradually taken the naval warfare to a wholly new level. The battleship was equipped with early detection radars, which were replaced with radar targeting systems for both main and AA-guns, and afterwards enemy radar suppressing systems were installed.
But the aircraft carriers played the main part in the war on the Pacific. And the battleships took the role of a “big stick”, their task being the enemy suppression with artillery fire in the landing zones. That is why the Japanese fortifications were much more often under fire than the Japanese ships. Nevertheless, the battleships still remained the symbol of the naval power, and the Japanese signed the capitulation agreement on board the similar Missouri battleship.
The fate of those battleships is remarkable: they are still used in the navy! Their missile and electronic equipment is constantly being updated. However, good old guns occasionally have their own share.
Iowa Battleship in the "Pacific Storm"
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