Iowa Battleship: Back for More

On the eve of World War II, the leading naval powers, above all the United States and Japan, built battleships that pushed close to the technical limits of their time. Their displacement approached 40,000 t, their armor exceeded 400 mm in thickness, and the caliber of their guns was awe-inspiring. But these steel giants shared one major flaw: they lacked the speed to maneuver effectively alongside aircraft carriers. To solve this problem, designers in several countries set out to create a new generation of battleships that were fast but sacrificed little to no protection or firepower.