In the 1980s, with Cold War relations increasingly strained and a massive Soviet military buildup underway, President Reagan, as part of his plan to increase the Navy to 600 ships, ordered the U.S. Navy to reactivate its four Iowa-class battleships. Retired from service shortly after World War II, when the aircraft carrier had become the centerpiece of any major navy, these battleships underwent massive modernizations so that they might remain relevant in modern naval warfare. Upgrades included the addition of Tomahawk and Harpoon missile systems, advanced radar and fire control systems, and Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems for defense against modern threats.
Though refurbished and their power displayed in Operation Desert Storm, the end of the Soviet Union and new technology in naval warfare brought about their final decommissioning by 1992. Questions of obsolescence, the high cost of reactivation, and the impracticality of trying to maintain their old weaponry in a modern context finally resulted in all four becoming museum ships by 2006. This spelled the end for these symbolic battleships, marking a change in strategy for naval warfare and a change in military technology.
Until the Second World War, battleships had literally and figuratively been the keystone of the oceangoing navies. Their size and armament made them formidably in conventional naval battles, while their massive guns provided naval gunfire support to troops ashore. However, World War II proved aircraft carriers were the new power of the seas, and battleships became irrelevant. By 1947, all but one of the U.S. Navy’s battleships were placed in reserve status.
Less than twenty years later, in 1964, all but four battleships had been thoroughly retired and scrapped. The four Iowa-class ships remained in reserve and were periodically reactivated to provide gunfire support. How, then, did they end up being reinstated, and what befell them in the final analysis?
At the end of the Vietnam War, the public lost confidence in its armed services, while the Soviet Union was implementing an immense military buildup. By the time Ronald Reagan took office as president in the 1980s, the USSR had significantly increased the size of its armed forces and enjoyed an unquestionable numerical superiority. The USSR had also been conducting modernization; new nuclear-powered Kirov-class battlecruisers represented the largest surface combatants since World War II.
In response, President Reagan announced plans to enlarge the Navy to 600 ships, which included the reactivation of the four Iowa-class battleships. To make these venerable ships fit for duty, they received extensive refits. Far-reaching technological developments had made them vulnerable while lowering their overall offensive potential. They now had updates to their guns and electronics and a new air wing to help them stand up to the threats of the 1980s.
Even though the 16-inch guns of their main battery remained the centerpiece of their armament, the battleships were also equipped with Armored Box Launchers for Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles and Mk 141 quad launchers for RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles. This provided an immense improvement in the offensive capabilities of these vessels since the 16-inch guns could be effectively fired to about 20 miles only.
These new missile systems also entailed the upgrading of associated radars and fire control systems, which made up the lion’s share of the electronic retrofit. Other upgrades consisted mainly of refitting communications to achieve extended range and reliability. Defensively, 20 mm and 40 mm anti-aircraft turrets were replaced by four mounts of Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems as a last-ditch defense against incoming rounds. Other turret platforms were modified to MANPAD Stinger missile storage and launch sites in such a way that allowed the crew to engage attacking aircraft.
Some of the most notable upgrades were to the battleships’ air wing. Initial designs included catapults and cranes to launch and recover float planes; by the ’50s and ’60s, these aging platforms had been replaced by helicopters. Advancements in technology allowed the battleships to field RQ-2 Pioneer drones to aid in weapons spotting.
Ultimately, these leviathans never clashed on the high seas following their reactivation. The Missouri and the Wisconsin did, however, see action in battle again, serving as naval gunfire support vessels in Operation Desert Storm. Their work there provided ammunition for battleship advocates when the debate over their fate raged through the 1990s.
Whereas before 1991, the Soviet Union provided the United States with a most valid reason to have a large military buildup, afterward there were no more apparent threats. Some of the first ships to be decommissioned were the recommissioned battleships with all four retired by 1992. While there was further lobbying that tried to at least retain two vessels in reserve, arguments were made that they were too obsolete and expensive to reactivate, plus too impractical to refit with old weapons. By 2006, all four Iowa-class battleships had been stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry and turned into museum ships, thus bringing an end to their remarkable careers.