A World War Two Iowa-class battleship could absolutely not be used for modern infantry fire support. And it’s not the issue of whether it could or couldn’t actually put steel on target. It could, the physical guns still exist. But that is not the point.

First of all, there would be a tremendous lead-in time before a ship could be made battle-ready. It could be a year or even two to physically get the ship back into operation. Training the thousands needed to man the obsolete ship in abandoned seafaring and engineering principles would also extend the time in shakedown training cruises.

We are talking many hundreds of millions of dollars in cost. With no guarantee that all systems could be made operational. Example: Power plants are overhauled, and then you find that 2 of the propeller shafts are permanently bound up by rust, corrosion, or unseen damage.

These are hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of Naval personnel and civilian technicians that could be better used elsewhere. Important to remember, that in a national emergency we require an almost immediate response.

In Desert Shield and Desert Storm (relatively small conflicts) we had forces in place within weeks and months respectively. For these conflicts, we already had these battleships manned and ready to deploy. In a future operation, that would not be the case.

As for the Iowa-class utility in modern war: The have very little utility, save for their 16 inch guns. Even in Desert Storm and Desert Shield, they were used as a bluff. While they did indeed shell targets with those big guns, they did so only to make Saddam believe that the main invasion would come by sea. It did not, but it did tie up a large portion of the Iraqi Army while the real battle raged elsewhere.

The bottom line is that even though the Iowa-class 16 inch guns are devastating, they are relatively short range (25 mile) weapons. Our modern weapons, strike fighters, cruise missiles, and laser-guided bombs can hit targets precisely, hundreds of miles farther than those old 16 inch guns. A single destroyer or submarine can hit dozens of targets with cruise missiles at tremendous range. As can aircraft carrier-borne planes.

These other weapon systems can carry a great variety of specialized munitions: Airfield denial weapons, cluster munitions, tank-killing missiles, anti-radar missiles, and about a dozen different types of bombs. These are all weapons that any US Navy battle group has in stock while on routine patrol throughout the World at this very hour.

No, the American Iowa-class battleships have served their intended purpose. They serve a greater duty today as museum ships and memorials to their proud history.

An already deployed battleship certainly could, though there would be some caveats:

The first is that you would be well within range of explosive aerial drones and many types of surface launched missile systems, and not only modern ones. Older Iranian, Russian and Chinese systems could engage you (the Chinese Silkworm, Russian Scud, French Exocet, etc.).

Smaller, FPV type drones would be unlikely to reach you but larger commercial drones could. About a dozen Russian guns and rockets could engage at range of the standard 16″ round. Maximum range of a standard round is a bit under 25 miles, give or take.

Firing “danger close” to friendly ground units at maximum range would be high risk to friendly troops and catastrophic should shots land their way.

Finally, being close to a coast and remaining relatively stationary would make you a sitting duck for modern anti-ship missiles, cruise missiles and air attacks—not to mention giving time for seagoing threats to approach your position.

There is a possible alternative though:

The U.S. Navy’s, Project Gunfighter introduced a lesser weigh (1700 lb.), higher penetration sabot round that scored target hits during testing at ranges over 45 miles. While abandoned after the catastrophic gun accident on the USS Iowa, all it would take is a production line being created to put them into service today. Robust microelectronics one are standard on several types of shells already in-service today and the utility of such enhancements on a 2600 lb. 16″ shell could be substantial.

As a real example of the potential utility of U.S. battleship guns in modern combat, I offer to you my pet “if only” dream. Itis improbable this would ever be done, and it would be a “boat load” (pardon my pun) of work, but it could be extremely useful in the present to Ukraine.

The city of Kharkiv, Ukraine has the misfortune of sitting close to the Belarus border (within roughly 20 miles). Belgorod is around 25 miles away and has been a major base for Russian forces.

Russian artillery near the border is easily able to pummel this city, and has since the war began. This is Ukraine’s second largest city and it’s complete demolition or occupation has been a Russian goal since day one of the war.

Kharkiv has extensive underground infrastructure that includes bomb shelters in subway stations and purpose-built subterranean schools, and there are even plans for a larger “underground town”. The city is adapting to constant attacks by moving a variety of activities, including education, into the ground, using metro stations, basements, and newly constructed bunkers for safety.

In my dream, the U.S. would have contacted Ukraine at war’s start to allow them accommodate a later installation of one of the turrets and its 16″ three-gun battery in an underground, reinforced bunker—possibly on a below ground rail carriage with multiple firing openings.

This battery could have been providing counter-battery fire against Russian close artillery as well as devastating any approaching ground units—Belgorod itself as well as several key within-Ukraine areas outdoors have been engaged by these guns, especially if the 45 mile range variant was available. A second such installation near Kherson also could have seriously disrupted Russia’s holds in that area.

Here’s a map showing the standard (inner circle), and “Gunslinger” (outer circle) reaches and areas that could have been impacted throughout the war:

Ukraine is a rare example where, in the modern day, such a weapon could be extremely valuable. The effect of 16″ shells is truly devastating even today and Ukraine’s desperate, unconventional, and continuous brilliant innovations might have made great use of this.