A 16-Inch Shell From a Navy Iowa-Class Battleship Weighed 2,700 Pounds and Reached 24 Miles. The Tomahawk the Navy Bolted On in the 1980s Weighed 992 Pounds and Reached 1,553 Miles.

Automatically curated summary from 19FortyFive.

According to Senior Defense Editor Christian D. Orr writing for 19FortyFive, the U.S. Navy modernized its 57,500-ton Iowa-class battleships during the 1980s with advanced modern weaponry. Upgrades included four Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems, 16 RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles. During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin launched a combined 52 Tomahawks alongside their 16-inch guns against Iraqi forces, marking the final instances of battleships firing in combat before transitioning to floating museums.

Context and limitations

Report relies on defense commentary and historical summaries from 19FortyFive. Excerpt includes an anomalous caption date (August 2025) and solicits reader verification regarding whether Harpoon or CIWS systems were ever fired in combat.