Will the US reactivate the Iowa-Class Battleship? We have done it, why not again?

The United States Iowa-class battleship is iconic that most recognize​ even if they do not know their technical details or historic past.

The four Iowa-class ships operating as Battleship Division 2 off the Virginia Capes in 1954; from front to back is Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, ​and New Jersey.

The Iowa-class has seen several periods of interest and reactivation rather than continued service. With decades in between periods of commission, the Iowa class has proven themselves at adapting to modernization​ due to changing naval combat requirements.

Most notably in the 1980's by the Regan Administration and renewed interest in creating a 600 ship navy.

The military saw a period of drawdowns due to the ​unpopularity of the Vietnam war.

The US Navy saw many cutbacks following the Vietnam War despite Soviet forces increasing capability. In June 1978, Admiral James L. Holloway III (retired) publicly stated that the US Navy only had a slim margin of superiority over Soviet forces.

The Soviet Kirov-class battlecruiser was unlike any Western counterpart​ due to its massive armament​. The United States did not have a surface combatant​ of similar size besides carriers and amphibious​ ships. The Kirov-class was a show of force by the Soviets and the United States Navy was looking for similar capital ship capabilities to fill the void in the public​ eye.

The Iowa-class was the answer for the Regan administration​ and the United States Navy.

Bringing back the Iowa-class battleships was expensive. Crews added weapon systems and removed outdated hardware, command and control systems were upgraded to provide modern battlegroup capabilities. Electronic warfare (EW) systems attached to the ships to provide (EW) countermeasures and decoys for advanced missile threats.

9 × 16-inch (406 mm)/50 cal. Mark 7 guns
12 × 5-inch (127 mm)/38 cal. Mark 12 guns

Cold War, Gulf War additions:

32 × BGM-109 Tomahawk
16 × RGM-84 Harpoon
4 × 20 mm (.78 inch).Phalanx CIWS

With the fall of the iron curtain and a former Soviet Navy parted out between former Soviet states, underfunded and rusting away​ the 1990s saw​ an end for the need of the Iowa-class and many ships that formed the Regan Navy build up.

In 1989, the USS Iowa (BB-61) suffered an​ explosion in turret number 2. Due in large to the severity of the explosion in the turret and survivors in the upper parts of the turret it is unlikely we will ever know the actual cause of the blast. But over ramming of powder bags and the age of the propellant are leading factors that are likely to have caused the massive explosion. The USS Iowa was never fully repaired, and the ship's turret was permanently sealed by the US Navy before donation as a museum.

Due to the cost of repair and increasing operating costs of the ships, the Navy placed the four battleships in readied reserve. Publically acknowledging that they could be brought back into service. The reality, age proved too​ much for the ​Iowas despite public outcry. So much so, Congress only recently released the last of the battleships from the reserve fleet sight cost-cutting​ measures. Removing the battleships from any possible reactivation allowed aging stores of battleship shells and powder to be removed from the national stockpile. However, all four of the Iowa-class battleships are preserved as museum ships.

While it is unlikely for ​the Iowas to come back as fighting capital ships, the possibility remains. The adaptive ability of modern 3D printing in industrial capacity allow for the feasible recreation of original​ parts and integration​ of modern machinery could bring these ships back into the fleet all it would take is public will and the funds from Congress.