Needs More Battleship!

[WillBrink]

Don't care what anyone says, we should have Battleships! Iowa-Class battleships to be precise. In 1984 the USS Missouri was updated and modernized and Reactivated, and served until 1990. It was a glorious site to see and parked off the shore of an adversary struck fear knowing the devastation it could impart from a long ass distance via 2,700 lb HE rnds. Here's how the Iowa-Class ships could be modernized into ships for the future, and good luck to the navy that had to face such a thing:

How the U.S. Navy Could Bring Back the Iowa-Class Battleships

The National Defense Authorization Act for 1996, generally known as the defense budget, had a unique provision hidden inside the text: the text directed the Navy to keep at least of the four Iowa-class ships on the Naval Register in good condition, retain the logistical support to maintain battleships on active duty and keep those ships on the Register until the secretary of the navy certified that existing naval gunfire support equaled or exceeded the firepower of two battleships. Iowa and Wisconsin were finally stricken from the Register in 2006 after the secretary of the navy, citing the upcoming thirty-two Zumwalt-class destroyers, certified they were no longer needed.

Now, eleven years later, the Navy is only getting three of the thirty-two Zumwalt destroyers, and the long-range attack projectile specifically designed for the Zumwalt’s two 155-millimeter guns is being cancelled due to exorbitant costs. The Navy is again facing a naval gunfire shortfall, in addition to an antiship shortfall. Could the Iowas make yet another comeback, bolstered with new and powerful weapons?

Cont:

[ABNAK]

Basically offshore heavy artillery batteries. REAL heavy!

Maybe they have the technology to boost the range past 26 miles these days?

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Ok, for full giggles, replace the guns with rail guns. Plenty of electrical power...

‘Skip shot’ rounds like skip bombing?

The Missouri’s were really compromises, I want Montana’s.....

[soulezoo]

Iowa class was a compromise. It had to fit through the Panama Canal among other considerations. As sentimental as I am toward them, I just don’t know if they are sound anymore

[ABNAK]

Ok, for full giggles, replace the guns with rail guns. Plenty of electrical power...

‘Skip shot’ rounds like skip bombing?

The Missouri’s were really compromises, I want Montana’s.....

Drawing board only. Hiroshima and Nagasaki saw to that.

[SomeOtherGuy]

Or you could actually build 10-20 Zumwalts and supply them with ammo. Magically the unit price would plummet to levels that Congress would approve (if still outrageous).

The Iowa class was awesome at its time. That time is 75 years ago. Even with all the armor I don't see them surviving a real war against Russia or China, and they aren't needed against anyone else. Capital ships as a concept are practically obsolete with both ballistic missile and hypersonic anti-ship weapons. The smarter investment would be lots of destroyers/cruisers for force projection and patrol, and lots of SSGN type subs - like the early Ohio boomers converted to cruise missile carriers - as formidable, stealthy, survivable arsenal ships.

[titsonritz]

I like it when they drop anchor, pull a 90 and blast E.T.

[The_War_Wagon]

Awwww yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... USS Vengeance!

[RazorBurn]

When I was a teenager I got to go on the USS Iowa one Memorial Day while visiting relatives in the Newport News area in the mid to late '80's. We used to go there every year for Memorial Day. Being on BB-61 as a young buck was a truly awesome experience! I bought a BB-61 souvenir hat, and I think I still have it in my hat box. I have a big box full of hats I've gathered over the years as I like to collect them. I need to dig the box out and see if it's still there.

I'm all for bringing them back. They just ooze 'EFF OFF!!!

[eightmillimeter]

I was on Iowa last spring. As awesome as it was it was sobering to see just how rough the ship was. There is literally no way to bring these back without completely gutting them. Just the basic plumbing and electrical are completely shot. Apparently the 1980’s refurb program consisted of “if it looks like it need to be fixed, just throw some paint on it” because I saw paint so thick in places it had to have an armor rating.

I’d love to see one or two in service but damn it would take a lot, too much probably.

That said, there is absolutely a place for a ship that can function all of its weapons with mechanical and analog controls isolated from the digital world.