What You Need to Know: The Iowa-class battleships were reactivated in the 1980s to counter the growing Soviet naval threat, particularly the Kirov-class battlecruisers.
-These fast battleships, initially designed to escort aircraft carriers and engage enemy capital ships, were refitted with modern electronics and armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles, enhancing their relevance during the Cold War.
-Reactivating the Iowas was a cost-effective response to the Soviet Navy's expansion compared to building new ships.
-However, with the collapse of the Soviet Union and advancements in naval technology, the Iowas became obsolete and were retired in the early 1990s.
Before the aircraft carrier became the most powerful ship afloat, hulking battleships ruled the waves. The last U.S. battleships, the Iowa class, were built for the Second World War and saw sporadic service in the decades that followed. Somewhat incredibly, they were retired for the final time in the early 1990s following a reactivation in the early 1980s.
Their return to service was hard-fought and is often questioned, but why did the Reagan administration push so hard to reactivate the Iowas?
Typically cited is their ability to handle the........