Iowa VS Tirpitz

[Chomper98]

In 1943 the Iowa was sent to counter the Tirpitz, sister ship to the Bismarck. If the two met, with only a few escorts, say the Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen for Tirpitz against the Iowa with a couple of Destroyers. Who do you think would win.

It would probably depend in my opinion on who got the first good hit. Say, Tirpitz and her fleet have the advantage of being able to fire their full broadside at Iowa, probably they could have damaged the Iowa and sunk a few of the destroyers, though Iowa could dish out its own firepower that was stronger then Tirpitz(Iowa had 16 inch guns against Tirpitz' 15 inch).

If that did happen, then I think that a battle would be with both ships badly damaged, Scharnhorst either surrendering or getting sunk, Eugen a burning hulk, most of the destroyers sunk or crippled, and the Iowa and Tirpitz getting towed by their surviving allies.

This is my hypothesis if they did encounter eachother.

[f-22 "raptor" ace]

The Iowa would win. Faster,better guns, armor, and more importantly longer range. So even if the Tirpitz sighted the Iowa first they'd have to close the gap so the could get in range which would put them in range of the Iowa first. And I'm pretty sure The Iowa would have another battleship or a cruiser or two with it along with the destroyer escort. Though this is probably the most important damage control for the American navy was better.

[Pterano]

The Iowa's guns did damage more akin to an 18 inch gunned battleship than a 16 incher. She'd destroy the Tirpitz no problem. Plus we've already been over this, and I believe I've already posted this chart: http://www.combinedfleet.com/baddest.htm

The Tirpitz's armor was not upgraded during the war. She'd be out ranged by the Iowa, and "smacked." It'd be a good battle for the opening stages, but it wouldn't last beyond that. Plus the Scharnhorst and Prinz Eugen in particular would be useless in this fight. 8 inch guns wouldn't penetrate Iowa's armor belt except at extremely close range, and Iowa would've sent Prinz Eugen to the bottom long before that. As the Battle of the North Cape demonstrated, even a 14 inch gunned battleship was more than a match for the Scharnhorst, which failed to score appreciable damage on the Duke of York.