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The Iowas could fire full broadsides when designed, but that was when everything was made of cast iron, i.e. when exterior equipment was rather robust. Much of the newer electronic equipment aboard, which was entirely unknown to the original designers of the ships, proved to be comparatively frail, and when the ships were brought back into service in the 1980's, topside damage was common. This could not be solved with delay coils; even with delay coils in place, the unfortunate convergence of shock waves from adjacent turret firings, focused into various and sundry corners, etc. could sometimes do real damage. For that reason some changes in routine were made in order to prevent the guns from firing exactly simultaneously, i.e. the delay between projectile exits was significantly increased. This much longer delay caused problems with turret whip, i.e. the azimuthal movement of the turret, causing an increase in deflection dispersion. So one had to be patient enough for the fire control system to bring the turret back in line before firing a second or third shot. Afterwards the Iowas could fire full salvos again, although strictly speaking there was actually a brief (but physically perceptible) delay involved.

Bill Jurens