"The end result was the BEST battleship class of all time- need proof - No Iowa was ever sunk in battle can anyone name another class of battleship, which saw heavy active combat without a single loss.  Now that is American design and engineering baby!!"

There are so many battleship classes that saw active combat without losses and are not American at all....



The Richelieu class BB's?

The Moltke class BC's? Goeben/Yavuz was decomissioned in 1950

Konig class?

Bayern class?

Iron Duke Class?

Andrea Doria Class?



What battleships did the Oiwa's encounter?

 

The Moltke class BC- These ships were Battle Cruisers, not Battleships.  They had different positions in the "line of battle" and were used differently from actual battleships as they were often constructed "lighter" having less armor.  You can try to use a cruiser as a battleship, however when it meets a real battleship it won't exist anymore.  They don't fall into the battleship class.

 

Konig class, Bayern class, and Iron Duke Class- these ships collective combat experience comes down to just one battle: the 2 day long Battle of  Jutland.  The Battle of Jutland was a major fleet battle beween the British and Germans.  The British took heavier losses, but the Germans went into hiding for the rest of the war never leaving the safety of their ports.  The Iron Duke Class were surpassed by the Queen Elizabeth Class and put to lesser duties.  I would not really call that HEAVY ACTIVE COMBAT when compared to the service history (and service length) of the Iowa Class.

 

Andrea Doria Class- Consisted of 2 ships which although lasting into the 1960s saw very little combat action- not heavy active combat.

 

When compared to the Iowa Class Battleships these classes of battleships didn't see the same level of combat, number of battles, or service length of the Iowas.