# How would an Iowa-class battleship fare against this kind of beating? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2011, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-an-iowa-class-battleship-fare-against-this-kind-of-beating/594916 "2011-09-02T03:10:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-an-iowa-class-battleship-fare-against-this-kind-of-beating/594916/121 "2021-12-11T12:06:55Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > On its own with a few other ships against a hypothetical US enemy, it would be sunk. So…a BB is never, ever on its own. Right? ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-an-iowa-class-battleship-fare-against-this-kind-of-beating/594916/122 "2021-12-11T13:46:39Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > So…a BB is never, ever on its own. Right? The sinking of Prince of Wales changed things. That was in the opening days of the Pacific war and the British commander badly miscalculated a number of factors. Battleships had not been sunk at sea just by air attack yet at sea. Wiki [summarizes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse) the reasons really well. > [@](#): > > Regardless, Phillips elected to proceed. It is believed that four factors entered into his decision: He thought that Japanese planes could not operate so far from land, he believed that his ships were relatively immune from fatal damage via air attack, he was unaware of the quality of Japanese aircraft and [torpedoes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torpedo),[[23]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse#cite_note-stephen108-24) and like many Royal Navy officers, Phillips underestimated the fighting abilities of the Japanese.[[9]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse#cite_note-stephen102-10) Up to that point, no capital ship at sea had been sunk by air attack. The [Italian heavy cruiser _Pola_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_cruiser_Pola) had been disabled by a torpedo from a Fleet Air Arm [Fairey Swordfish](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairey_Swordfish) at the [Battle of Cape Matapan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cape_Matapan) on 29 March 1941, and was later sunk by a torpedo from the destroyer [HMS _Jervis_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Jervis_(F00)).[[25]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse#cite_note-26) These and other Royal Navy operations in the Mediterranean theater (September 1939 – December 1941) showed that it was risky but possible to operate in waters covered by enemy land-based air, as German and Italian aircraft damaged but could not stop [Malta convoys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malta_convoys), while no British battleships had been lost. Phillips grossly underestimated the scale of attack, and believed that the majority of enemy attack aircraft would be level bombers rather than land-based naval torpedo bombers.[[26]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_Prince_of_Wales_and_Repulse#cite_note-Boyd_320-323-27) However the Japanese bombers that were slated to attack his ships were specially trained and equipped for “ship killing”, which the British did not realize due to intelligence failures. Yamato should not have been without air cover, either, but the IJN has not been candid with the Emperor concerning how badly it was faring. When Okinawa was invaded, the IJA discussed its plans for the defense and the IJN basically has nothing. When the Emperor asked what they would do, all they could think of was sending Yamato, along with the light cruiser Yahagi and eight destroyers on the suicide mission. Admiral Ito, the man tasked with commanding the raid, initially objected to the mission, believing it would be futile and meaningless. The captains of the ships sent along also objected, coming close to a mutiny. The believed that a daytime mission without aircover was impossible, and rightfully believed that they would not get close to Okinawa. However, orders from the Emperor were orders and they fell in line. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-an-iowa-class-battleship-fare-against-this-kind-of-beating/594916/123 "2021-12-11T13:46:49Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > An Iowa class ship would have been sunk much more easily than Yamato. On what basis do you say that ? Look, the tests aim to decide if the USS BB can withstand torpedo hits, not whether the USS BB is better than IJN BB. _Skate_ fired a spread of four torpedoes at _Yamato_ ; one struck the battleship’s starboard side toward the stern. A hole 5 metres (16 ft) below the top of her anti-torpedo bulge and measuring some 25 metres (82 ft) across was ripped open in the hull, and a joint between the upper and lower armored belts failed, causing the rear turret’s upper magazine to flood… TDS on Yamato and Iowa is similarly only going to serve to make them difficult to sink. Both Yamato and Iowa class were easily disabled by torpedoes , our attempts to assess how to sink an Iowa is rather speculative but Iowa does have the same compartmentalization concept as Yamato and Titanic… the torpedoes are only getting to the outer compartments right ? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-an-iowa-class-battleship-fare-against-this-kind-of-beating/594916.md?page=6)