I agree with the statements that hood was a battelcruiser, because from the outset thats what she was...when world war two, or even two or three years before, she was in serious, and i re-state serious need of refit. She was losing some speed that is essential to a battlecruiser, she needed more armor, on decks especially, and more AA armament.
As for the comparison of Yamato and Iowa, i wrote one as well, turned out really long too, but as luck would have it, the computer crashed...Long stpry short, if the Iowa could keep the range very distant, about the max of its range, it could stand a damn good chance, but if it closed range with yamato, which would seem likely, yamatos 18in guns would have more penetration power, the optical sights, the most advanced ever, hands down, would come into play as much as radar, and the heavier armor and tighter turning radius would give yamato an advantage..and if range closed more, yamato had good secondary armament as well. I seriously, seriously doubt Iowa could stand up to the aircraft Yamato or Musashi were swamped by, hell half of them. Iowa lacked underwater protection, and one must remember how many torpedoes hit yamato and musashi
http://www.chuckhawks.com/yamato.jpg
yamato just looks mean doesnt she?