Iowa vs Yamato comparison

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The Kongos were heavily modernized in the thirties.
We all wander off topic a bit from time to time.
 
Clearly this is a scenario that was never going to happen and just my thoughts on a one to one with no exterior involvement

Assumptions / Thoughts
a) The Yamato is better able to withstand the fire of the Iowa than the Iowa is able to withstand the Yamato, her armour is much thicker, the shells a lot larger and she herself is a lot bigger.
b) Almost any hit from the Yamato is going to penetrate the Iowa yet the same cannot be said about the Iowa's shells.
c) At long range the Radar with FC linked to it is always going to give an advantage to the USA, however the size of the advantage depends on the time of day and the weather.
d) Please note it's only an advantage. I believe pre-war the IJN were practicing over the horizon shooting and could get some good results with their spotter aircraft. It would be a mistake to assume that the Iowa wouldn't get hit. The Japanese like the RN were well trained to fight at night and training in a confused night battle shouldn't be underestimated.
e) The Iowa can control the initiative due to its higher speed, but once it takes some hits there is a very good chance that this will soon be lost. Then they are in trouble deep.
f) If the range does close down, the 6.1 on the Yamato, are capable of inflicting significant damage to the Iowa
g) Ultimately the advantage will go to the Yamato
 
I can't back this up with any documentation but I cannot help but believe that after the actions of 14 November, 1942, Admiral Lee's tactics and methods were applied to the rest of the fleet. The late Admiral Scott had his forces practice night fighting earlier (still needed work). I can't help but believe the USN's night fighting ability would be much improved when this clash of the titans would've happened. Mid 1944? The USN adapted with experience.
 
Iowa: Call in airstrike
Essex carrier : No prob, Fam.
Yamato sinks.

The End.

I am certainly of the opinion that Iowa wins the day. And even if Yamato does win and survive, it ain't getting home. As soon as Yamato sets foot on the field of honour, it's not surviving.

The Americans can always build another Iowa. The Japanese cannot build another Yamato.
 

My main point was and is that in a night engagement, radar is superior to eyeballs, especially when your guns are slaved to that radar via a complex RFC system. I know it wasn't a fair fight, but even in a fair fight, radar is a big advantage.

Can you not admit that?

mew said:
Iowa has speed in night battles but Yamato has manuevrebility.
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Turning tight circles won't chase away a faster enemy, and will prove difficult to use for unmasking the main turrets because hard turns disrupt firing solutions. Also, Iowa has a speed advantage any time of day or night, and in most if not all weather as well.

mew said:
In this case it really isn't who shoots first. The shell types for an instance is different to begin. One more deadly than the other,( however both are still deadly and are pretty much unpredictable)
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Assuming that Yamato is shooting in daylight, you could have a point. At night, the Iowa will almost certainly have a longer effective range given that it isn't relying on optical cues.

mew said:
Yamato would have the advantage of being trained in night battles while the Iowa will have the advantage of that radar. But a hit to Yamato wouldn't be as crippling as a hit to Iowa. I can explain why so but for now I don't have time
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Of course the 18.1" shell will do more damage; you needn't explain something so simple to me. Getting the first hits with it in anything but nice weather is going to be a tough order. But although Iowa is shooting smaller shells, it has the advantage of a faster rate of fire, as well as better guidance, as well as higher speed for dodging. And bear in mind that Yamato's belt armor thinned out towards either end of the ship, and the bow showed signs of structural weakness. One can kill a ship without penetrating the main belt.

As I've already said, this battle could go either way, depending on circumstances.
 
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Just an observation but lets not forget that the Yamato was commissioned in Dec 41 and the Nearest US BB was probably the S Dakota class, which on commissioning in 1942 had an early Mk3 FC Radar. However the crews often had difficulties and experience with the Mk3 could best be described as mixed.
If we are looking at like for like in1942, all my money is on the Yamato
 
I is wandering what Yamato min threat would have been. Hood? Rodney?

Don't get me wrong. Gotta love Yamato. Go up against a ww1 battleship, absorb the shells, remove cigarette and then one shot em straight through the belt.

Like a boss.

And then things like radar and air power and submarines and it just ruined it all. The execution of Yamashiro and Fuso and Kirishima are quite illuminating in this regard.

So how Yamato would do against Little Boy or Fat Man is just as relevant.

I do love battleships but it's telling that neither the full Iowas or Yamatos class was ever completed. Or their replacements finished either.

A bygone age like knights jousting on horseback.
 
I is thinking.

Put Okha on Yamato. That would be sweet. That would change the dynamic a bit. Perhaps give Yamato a kill radius making it very dangerous to get within gun range.

This was based on a earlier suggestion. The Japanese would only have a cruise missile if it killed the user. And my idea bore fruit.

Perfect for Yasukuni.
 
One aspect is none of this happened so there is no proof either way so don't get hang up.

One aspect is the IJN liked diving shells. So diving shells get under the belt so this is a real danger. This could be the end of any Iowa.

I will have to do research if Yamato carry torpedo. I don't know. Or carried its own torpedo boats.
 
Why not fill the seaplanes with explosives and Kamikaze them onto Iowa? I am doing all the heavy lifting round here!

The seaplanes during Ten-Go were flown off. No point wasting the seaplanes.

Torpedoes on capital ships can be problematic as they are open spaces that can flood. Lutzow is an example here.
 
It's a possibility as she carried six seaplanes and Iowa would be forced to do a few turns giving Yamato a chance for a few free shots.

It's also possible for Iowa to use the three planes she had to do the same.
 
With hindsight then would Yamato be built? Why not build 3 more Shokakus? Would they be useful?

The IJN thought not as Shinano was not made into a battleship.

So basically 3 giant Uber expensive paperweights were made.

So did Yamato achieve a military aim?

Yes and no. They achieve the old fleet in being but actually didn't do much more. Bit like Tirpitz.

But all a bit tangled. The IJN would have done more if Yamato was melted down and made into mess tins.

Next up. Datsun Cherry v Dodge Charger.
 
WARSPITER said:
No torpedoes or boats and her seaplanes didn't have the capacity either.

Yamato certainly didn't have a lot of luck with torpedoes being walloped twice - the second time was the worst result of course.
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Not that American torpedoes were terribly good, but that second hit revealed a flaw in the way the upper belt and lower belt were joined on the Yamatos, springing leaks along the seam.
 
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