US Navy Iowa-Class Battleships Had Up to 17 Inches of Armor and 4 Power Plants. Today’s Destroyers Are ‘Tin Cans’

US Navy Iowa-Class Battleships Had Up to 17 Inches of Armor and 4 Power Plants. Today’s Destroyers Are ‘Tin Cans’

Churchill called capital ships eggshells smiting one another with hammers, and Jutland, Pearl Harbor, and the Yamato proved him right. The Iowa-class battleships answered the problem with design: armor up to 17 inches thick, a bank-vault citadel around the bridge, four propulsion plants on four shafts that could cross-connect steam under fire, many watertight compartments, and nine 16-inch guns throwing ton-plus shells past 20 miles. Today’s Arl…