Editing Iowa-class battleship (section)

{{Short description|Fast battleship class of the United States Navy}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = BB61 USS Iowa BB61 broadside USN.jpg
| Ship caption = {{USS|Iowa|BB-61}} fires a full broadside on 15 August 1984 during a firepower demonstration after her recommissioning
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
| Name = ''Iowa''-class battleship
| Builders = *[[Brooklyn Navy Yard|New York Naval Shipyard]]
* (BB-61 & BB-63)
* [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]]
* (BB-62, BB-64, & BB-65)
* [[Norfolk Naval Shipyard]]
* (BB-66)
| Operators = {{navy|United States}}
| Class before = {{sclass|South Dakota|battleship (1939)|4}}
| Class after = {{sclass|Montana|battleship|4}} (planned)
| Cost = US$100&nbsp;million per ship
| Built range = 1940–1944
| In service range = 
| In commission range = * 1943–1958
* 1968–1969
* 1982–1992
| Total ships planned = 6
| Total ships completed = 4
| Total ships cancelled = 2
| Total ships retired = 4
| Total ships preserved = 4
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = 
| Ship type = [[Battleship]]
| Ship displacement = *{{cvt|48,110|LT|t|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
* {{cvt|57540|LT|t}} ([[full load]])<ref>[https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/BB/BB-61_Iowa.html Hyperwar: BB-61 USS Iowa] Retrieved 1/7/23</ref>
* {{convert|60000|LT|t}} (full load) (''New Jersey'' 1968)<ref name=Jerseyman>{{Harvard citation no brackets|Helvig|2002|p=2}}</ref>
| Ship length = *{{convert|860|ft|m|abbr=on|2}} ([[between perpendiculars|pp]])
* {{convert|887|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on|2}} ([[length overall|oa]])
| Ship beam = {{convert|108|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on|2}}
| Ship draft = *{{convert|37|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on|2}} (full load)
* {{convert|37|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on|2}} (maximum)
* {{convert |41|ft|m|abbr=on|2}} aft, {{convert |39|ft|m|abbr= on|1}} forward (''New Jersey'' 1968)<ref name=Jerseyman/>
| Ship power = *8 × [[water-tube boiler]]s
* {{cvt|212000|shp|lk=on}}
| Ship propulsion = 4 × [[propeller|screws]]; 4 × geared [[steam turbine]]s
| Ship speed = {{convert|33|kn|1|lk=in}} (up to {{convert|35.2|kn}} at light load)
| Ship range = {{cvt|14890|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|15|kn}}
| Ship sensors = *'''World War II:'''
**Mark 8 fire control radar
**Mark 12/22 fire control radar
**[[SC-2 radar]] (''Iowa'' and ''Wisconsin'')
**[[SK radar|SK]]/SK-2 radar
**[[SG radar]]
**SR radar
*'''Korea, Vietnam:'''
**Mark 13 fire control radar
**Mark 25 fire control radar
**[[AN/SPS-6]]
**[[AN/SPS-8]]
**[[AN/SPS-10]]
*'''1980s, Gulf War:'''
**Mark 13 fire control radar
**Mark 25 fire control radar
**[[AN/SPS-49]]
**[[AN/SPS-67]]
| Ship complement = * c. 2,700 (WWII, Korea)
* c. 1,800 (1980s, Gulf War)
| Ship EW = *'''World War II, Korea:'''
** SPT-1/4
** DBM radio direction finders
** TDY-1 jammers
*'''Vietnam:'''
** AN/ULQ-6 deception transmitter
*'''1980s, Gulf War:'''
** [[AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare Suite|AN/SLQ-32(V)3]] [[electronic warfare]] system
** [[AN/SLQ-25 Nixie]] acoustic decoy
** [[Mark 36 SRBOC]] [[chaff (countermeasure)|chaff]] rockets
| Ship armament = *'''World War II, Korea:'''
** 9 × [[16"/50 caliber Mark 7 gun|{{cvt|16|in|0}}/50 cal guns]]
** 20 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|0}}/38 cal guns]]
** 80 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|{{cvt|40|mm}}]] [[AA gun]]s
** 49 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{cvt|20|mm|2}} AA guns]]
* '''Cold War, Gulf War:'''
** 9 × 16 in/50 cal guns (3 Mounts x3)
** 12 × 5 in/38 cal guns (6 Mounts x2)
** 32 × [[Tomahawk (missile family)|BGM-109 Tomahawk]] launchers (8 Launchers x4)
** 16 × [[Harpoon (missile)|RGM-84 Harpoon]] launchers (4 Mounts x4)
** 4 × 20&nbsp;mm [[Phalanx CIWS]]
| Ship armor = *[[Belt armor|Belt]]: {{cvt|12.1|in|0}}
* [[Bulkhead (partition)|Bulkheads]]:
* ''Iowa''/''New Jersey'': {{cvt|11.3|in|0}}
* ''Missouri''/''Wisconsin'': {{cvt|14.5|in|0}}
* [[Barbette]]s: {{cvt|11.6|-|17.3|in|0}}
* [[Gun turret|Turrets]]: {{cvt|9.5|-|19.5|in|0}}
* [[Conning tower]]: {{cvt|17.3|in|0}}
* [[Deck (ship)|Decks]]: {{cvt|1.5|in|0}}, {{cvt|6|in|0}}, {{cvt|0.63|-|1|in}}
| Ship aircraft = *'''World War II:''' 3 × [[floatplane]]s
* '''Korea/Vietnam:''' 3 × helicopters
* ''' Cold War/Gulf War:''' 5 × [[Unmanned aerial vehicle|UAVs]]
| Ship aircraft facilities =
*No helicopter hangar built or installed; aircraft were stored on deck
*Helicopter flight deck added
*Aft floatplane crane, removed for helicopter flight deck modifications
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}

The '''''Iowa'' class''' was a [[ship class|class]] of six [[fast battleship]]s ordered by the [[United States Navy]] in 1939 and 1940. They were initially intended to intercept fast [[capital ships]] such as the [[Imperial Japanese Navy|Japanese]] {{sclass|Kongō|battlecruiser|4}} battlecruiser and serve as the "fast wing" of the U.S. [[battle line]].{{sfn|Hough|1964|pp=214–216}}{{sfn|Sumrall|1988|p=41}} The ''Iowa'' class was designed to meet the [[Second London Naval Treaty]]'s "escalator clause" limit of {{convert|45000|LT|-2|adj=on}} standard displacement. Beginning in August 1942, four vessels, {{USS|Iowa|BB-61|2}}, {{USS|New Jersey|BB-62|2}}, {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|2}}, and {{USS|Wisconsin|BB-64|2}}, were completed; two more, {{USS|Illinois|BB-65|2}} and {{USS|Kentucky|BB-66|2}}, were [[Keel laying|laid down]] but canceled in 1945 and 1958, respectively, before completion, and both hulls were scrapped in 1958–1959.

The four ''Iowa''-class ships were the last battleships commissioned in the U.S. Navy. All older U.S. battleships were [[Decommissioned (ship)|decommissioned]] by 1947 and stricken from the ''[[Naval Vessel Register]]'' (NVR) by 1963. Between the mid-1940s and the early 1990s, the ''Iowa''-class battleships fought in four major U.S. wars. In the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theater]] of World War II, they served primarily as fast [[Ocean escort|escorts]] for {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|}}s of the [[Fast Carrier Task Force]] and also shelled Japanese positions. During the [[Korean War]], the battleships provided [[naval gunfire support]] (NGFS) for [[United Nations Command|United Nations forces]], and in 1968, ''New Jersey'' shelled [[Viet Cong]] and [[Vietnam People's Army]] forces in the [[Vietnam War]]. All four were reactivated and modernized at the direction of the [[United States Congress]] in 1981, and armed with [[missile]]s during the 1980s, as part of the [[600-ship Navy]] initiative. During [[Operation Desert Storm]] in 1991, ''Missouri'' and ''Wisconsin'' fired missiles and {{convert|16|in|0|adj=on}} guns at [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]]i targets.

Costly to maintain, the battleships were decommissioned during the post-[[Cold War (1985–1991)|Cold War]] drawdown in the early 1990s. All four were initially removed from the ''Naval Vessel Register'', but the United States Congress compelled the Navy to reinstate two of them on the grounds that existing shore bombardment capability would be inadequate for [[Amphibious warfare|amphibious operations]]. This resulted in [[United States battleship retirement debate|a lengthy debate]] over whether battleships should have a role in the modern navy. Ultimately, all four ships were stricken from the ''Naval Vessel Register'' and released for donation to non-profit organizations. With the transfer of ''Iowa'' in 2012, all four are [[museum ship]]s part of non-profit [[maritime museum]]s across the US.