The Iowa class is a class of American fast battleships, the last battleships the United States Navy ever built, with the lead ship USS Iowa commissioned in February 1943 during the Second World War, designed to combine heavy armor and a powerful main battery of nine 16-inch guns with a top speed fast enough to operate alongside the fleet's aircraft carriers rather than trailing behind as earlier, slower battleships did. Four ships of the class were completed, Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri and Wisconsin, and USS Missouri holds particular historical significance as the site of Japan's formal surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay in September 1945, ending the Second World War. Uniquely among major navies' battleships, the Iowa-class ships were repeatedly reactivated for later conflicts after 1945, serving in the Korean War, and again modernized with cruise missiles and returned to active service during the 1980s before their final decommissioning, giving the class an operational history spanning roughly half a century.
Facts
Classification
Service Status Weapon Class Introduced Year Weapon Class
Weapon Class (category) FAQs
What missiles did the Iowa-class battleships carry after their 1980s modernization?
The refit added 32 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 16 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and four 20mm Phalanx close-in weapon systems.
By 1982 the Iowa-class ships were undergoing a period of heavy modernization. It included the installation of 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles, 16 RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and four 20mm Phalanx close-in weapon systems, which are digitally controlled guns meant for close defense.
Connections
Associated With
World War II, Wars The Iowa-class battleships provided fast carrier escort and shore bombardment firepower in the Pacific theater of World War II
Operated By
Source Wikipedia: Iowa-class battleship
Used In
Source Wikipedia: Iowa-class battleship
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Iowa-class battleship
Lead section, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa-class_battleship
The Iowa class was a class of six fast battleships ordered by the United States Navy in 1939 and 1940.
Iowa ship-history subsection, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa-class_battleship
Iowa was ordered 1 July 1939, laid down 27 June 1940, launched 27 August 1942, and commissioned 22 February 1943.
service status
battleships were decommissioned by 1947 and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR) by 1963
- Weapon class classified from the entity's own sourced description text.
- Correction: a class of battleships, not a guided missile.
Used In: World War II, Lead section
In the Pacific Theater of World War II, although designed for surface action, they served primarily as fast escorts for Essex-class aircraft carriers of the Fast Carrier Task Force and also shelled Japanese positions.
Operated By: United States Navy, Wikipedia article text
The Iowa class was a class of six fast battleships ordered by the United States Navy in 1939 and 1940.
In Group: Battleships and Ironclads, Lead sentence
The Iowa class was a class of six fast battleships ordered by the United States Navy in 1939 and 1940. They were initially intended to intercept fast capital ships such as the Japanese KongÅ-class battlecruisers and serve as the "fast wing" of the U.S. battle line.
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