Iowa's armor is not fool proof. They did what they could with the tonnage allowed, the speed and arms required, and the limits the Panama Canal provides.
Iowa's armor is not fool proof. They did what they could with the tonnage allowed, the speed and arms required, and the limits the Panama Canal provides.
That and the fact the US Navy had a "All or Nothing" doctrine where armor was used in the greatest practicable thickness or not at all
Yes, yes "we won the war so we have better technology than the Germans and the Japanese together" kind of thing. You would believe at this point someone would understand wars are not always won by glorified after the war units, but also by many other factors than only "the best armor" or "the best weapon".
Not trying to demerit Iowa's achievements mind you, just pointing to many other things you may consider.
Not true. Even Iowa's weak points will bounce 8' inch cruiser shells.
The all or nothing armour means that the ship has practical thickness armour not literal thickness armour, meaning it should be able to sufficent to defend against 16 inch/45 cal rounds but not their own 16 inch 50cal rounds. In easy terms, think of it as sloped armour on a tank, say a T-34, the literal thickness of the front of T-34 is 45 mm but because it is sloped, it has a practical armour that is much thicker
Iowa has thinner armour then many battleship built in WWI, due to her internal armour layout.
In addition All-Or-Nothing armour was utilised by many other nations, namely all Japanese Battleships after Nagato and all British Battleships after HMS Rodney.
Also the nature of All-Or-Nothing Armour meant that the entire hull of the Iowa except for her citadel was was unprotected and vulnerable to weaponry above 20mm. In addition, outside her belt is a thin 1.5 inch thick decapping plate, which is insufficient to to stop naval shells of any calibre, but was intended to decap the Armoured piercing caps of shells (this would have only been effective to shells of size 12 inches and smaller due to faulty testing)
1st panel: Iowa boasts about having no weak spots. Last panel: Iowa, after being kanchou'd by Verniy scream in pain something similar to Bruce Lee's typical vocalization before his fights.
1st panel: Iowa boasts about having no weak spots. Last panel: Iowa, after being kanchou'd by Verniy scream in pain something similar to Bruce Lee's typical vocalization before his fights.
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