Iowa

History

Design

The Iowa-class battleships were designed in 1938 when the Navy proposed a new class of battleships that were to develop on the lessons learned from the development and construction of the North Carolina-class and South Dakota-class of battleships. Of exceptional concern were the Kongo-class battleships that are able to use speed to harass convoys and outgun fast aircraft carrier escorts, as well as the refusal of Japan to disclose details regarding the construction of the Yamato-class battleships. Wishing to have an apt and equal response, the construction of the Iowa-class was approved. These factors culminated in the US, Britain, and France invoking the "Escalator Clause" of the second naval treaty, which permitted 16 inch guns and 45,000 long tons standard displacement.

With the emergence of aircraft carriers and the need to protect them from surface threats, the concept of “fast battleships” came into prominence; ships designed with the speed and the endurance to keep pace with carrier groups and serve as a major deterrent to surface attack. To fulfill this role, the design called for a top speed of 33 knots from 8 boilers connected to 4 turbines; each turbine to a propeller shaft. This layout produced a total of 230,000 shaft horsepower. Furthermore, the ship had a greater waterline length-to-beam ratio, making the ship longer than its predecessors, as well as notably faster.

The main armament of the Iowa class — while using rifles of the same diameter of 406mm as preceding ships — were longer than the rifles on the South Dakota-class (increased from 45 calibers to 50 calibers) and therefore have the distinction of being the largest rifles mounted on any US warship to date. This increase in rifle length resulted in greater distance for expanding gases in the chamber to propel the projectile, which equated to higher muzzle velocity, greater range, and greater armor-penetration capabilities than preceding rifles. Furthermore, the Iowa-class had a comprehensive suite of secondary and anti-aircraft guns due to the design emphasis of increased protection against air attacks; the armament systems were supplemented with state-of-the-art radar-based fire control systems (Iowa had Mark 8 Fire Control Radar sets fixed upon Mark 38 Fire directors).

The Iowa-class battleships had the characteristic “all-or-nothing” armor scheme seen in preceding American battleships, with the thickest armor around the citadel between Turrets A and Turret C. The outer hull plate was 38mm Special Treatment Steel (STS) and the side armor of 307mm was angled at 19-degrees inwards in order to confer greater armor thickness for little additional weight; this was especially advantageous against shells at longer range. The weather deck was 38mm STS, the main armor deck was 152mm STS/Class B, and the splinter deck was 25mm over the magazines and 16mm over machinery spaces. The hull has a triple bottom under the citadel to protect against underbottom explosions. The armor scheme of the Iowa-class was largely the same as the preceding South Dakota-class, which offered protection from 406mm/45 rifles firing 1,016 kg Mark 5 shells from ranges between 16,000 - 27,000 meters.

From the onset, Iowa was designed to fulfill the role of a fleet flagship; therefore, the conning tower was more enlarged than those of her sisters, to accommodate an admiral on board. Iowa was, therefore, the ideal choice when selecting which ship should ferry President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the Tehran Conference of 1943.

USS Iowa was the lead ship of the Iowa-class battleships. Ordered at the Brooklyn Navy Yard in New York City, she was laid down on 27 June 1940, launched on 27 August 1942, and commissioned into service on 22 February 1943.

Service

The Iowa-class battleships were a class of fast battleships ordered by the United States Navy in 1939 and 1940 to escort the Fast Carrier Task Forces that would operate in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Four were completed; two more were laid down but canceled at war's end and scrapped. Like other third-generation American battleships, the Iowa class followed the design pattern set forth in the preceding North Carolina-class and South Dakota-class battleships, which emphasized speed and the secondary and anti-aircraft batteries.

In-game historical inaccuracies

• The Measure 32/22D permanent camouflage was worn by Missouri. Iowa's camouflage was Measure 32/1B.
• Measure 22 camouflage is also missing. Iowa wore this scheme in 1943 and 1945. Only Missouri has it.
• Three 20 mm Oerlikon cannons fitted to 'B' turret are missing.
• The outer hull strake abreast of the main armor belt should be 38mm rather than the in-game 25mm. Interestingly, Missouri in-game has the proper thickness.
• The 5"/38 caliber gun's actual rate of fire is 15 rounds per minute; Iowa's is 10 rounds per minute. Only Massachusetts has the correct rate of fire.

• 

  USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a full broadside on 15 August 1984 during a firepower demonstration after her recommissioning.

See here for links to Update notes.

• Added to the game in Update 0.1.1 as a Tier IX Battleship.
• Update 0.1.2:
  • The horizontal aiming angles of the guns of the second and third turrets of the main battery were reduced (due to visualization errors).
  • Reduced maneuverability.
• Update 0.1.3.2:
  • Iowa was moved to Tier X.
• Update 0.1.5:
  • Iowa was moved to Tier IX.
• Update 0.3.1.5:
  • Depending on the hull configuration, the AA defense efficiency of medium calibers was reduced to 40%, and their short-range aura was reduced to 18%.
• Update 0.5.2:
  • Increased rudder shift times:
    • On the stock hull by +2.34s.
    • On the researchable hulls by +3.25s.
  • Credits and experience earnings ratios were changed:
    • Experience +12%.
    • Credits +11%.
• Update 0.5.3.2:
  • The Type 14 camouflage was renamed to Type 16.
• Update 0.5.6:

• AA defenses were significantly reinforced. The secondary guns were also improved. Firing accuracy of the main guns was enhanced. Now the guns will be more comfortable to fire. Moreover, the ship's maximum speed was increased.
• Hull (A): All 2x 20mm Bofors Mk1 AA mounts were replaced with 4x 20mm Bofors Mk2 mounts. As a result, the average AA damage within the 3.5km AA engagement area radius increased by 65 points (158 -> 223 points).
• Hull (B): All 2x 20mm Bofors Mk1 AA mounts were replaced with 4x 20mm Bofors Mk2 mounts. As a result, the average AA damage within the 3.5km AA engagement area radius increased by 83 points (203 -> 286 points).
• Hull (C): All 4x 20mm Oerlikon Mk20 AA mounts were replaced with 1x 20mm Oerlikon Mk4 mounts, and all 2x 20mm Bofors Mk1 AA mounts were replaced with 4x 20mm Bofors Mk2 mounts. One 4x 20mm Bofors Mk2 AA mount was added on top of the third main turret. As a result, average AA damage within the 2km AA engagement area radius increased by 30 points (from 165 to 195 points), and average AA damage within the 3.5km AA engagement area radius increased by 80 points (from 222 to 302 points).
• Firing range of her secondary guns was increased by 1km (5km -> 6km).
• Traverse angles were extended for the second and third main turrets (previously the traverse angles had been limited by obstructing AA mounts).
• Firing accuracy of her main guns was increased by adjusting the distribution of shell impact points within the dispersion ellipse.
• For the 172,000 hp propulsion module, her maximum speed was increased by 2.2 knots (from 26.6 knots to 28.8 knots).
• For the 212,000 hp propulsion module, her maximum speed was increased by 2.5 knots (from 30.5 knots to 33 knots).

• Update 0.5.9:
  • The armored model of the hull was refined.
• Update 0.6.0:
  • Fixed the bug where the AA mount on the main turret disappeared if the turret had been destroyed.
• Update 0.6.5:
  • Barrel jacket color corrected from light to dark for higher historical accuracy.
  • Improved the appearance of Tier IX ships with the use of a special technology for drawing thin elements (mainly rigging).
• Update 0.6.6:
  • The citadel was lowered: now the roof is almost at waterline level. The vacant place where the citadel was was filled with casemates, which increased their volume. Therefore, there was a slight redistribution of HP: part of the HP was moved evenly from fore and aft ends and superstructures to the central part of the ship's casemates.
• Update 0.6.12 :
  • Detectability when firing main guns in smoke changed to 15.64 km.
  • Detection range of the Vought OS2U Kingfisher aircraft was increased from 4 km to 7 km in air, and to 8 km by sea.
• Update 0.6.13:
  • The survivability of air defense weapons was tested and brought to a single standard. The change affects 40mm guns.
• Update 0.7.6:
  • Minor fixes to ship textures and geometry.
• Update 0.7.12:
  • The rudder shift time for hulls (A) and (B) was reduced from 25.6 to 22.5 s.
  • The rudder shift time for hull (C) was reduced from 19.5 to 17.1 s.
  • HP recovery rate for the Repair Party consumable was increased from 0.5 to 0.66 % HP per second.
• Update 0.9.6:
  • The value of the in-game turning circle radius was changed to 920 m to correct prior discrepancy.
• Update 0.10.0:
  • The firing range of the secondary battery was increased to 6.95 km.
• Update 0.10.3:
  • Hulls A and B were removed, Hull C was renamed to B. A new stock Hull was created on the basis of Hull C with a modified air defense composition.