<P> Their service records added to their fame, ranging from their work as carrier escorts in World War II to their shore bombardment duties in North Korea, North Vietnam, and the Middle East, as well as their service in the Cold War against the expanded Soviet Navy . Their reputation combined with the stories told concerning the firepower of these battleships' 16 - inch guns were such that when they were brought out of retirement in the 1980s in response to increased Soviet Naval activity--and in particular, in response to the commissioning of the Kirov - class battlecruisers--the United States Navy was inundated with requests from former sailors pleading for a recall to active duty so they could serve aboard one of the battleships . </P> <P> In part because of the service length and record of the class, members have made numerous appearances in television shows, video games, movies, and other media, including appearances of the Kentucky and Illinois in the anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, the History Channel documentary series Battle 360: USS Enterprise, the Discovery Channel documentary The Top 10 Fighting Ships (where the Iowa - class was rated Number 1), the stealth action game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the Real Time Tactics game World in Conflict, the book turned movie A Glimpse of Hell, the 1989 music video for the song by Cher If I Could Turn Back Time, the 1992 film Under Siege, and the 2012 film Battleship, among other appearances . Japanese rock band Vamps performed the finale of their 2009 US tour on board Missouri on 19 September 2009 . </P> <P> When brought into service during the final years of World War II, the Iowa - class battleships were assigned to operate in the Pacific Theatre of World War II . By this point in the war, aircraft carriers had displaced battleships as the primary striking arm of both the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy . As a result of this shift in tactics, U.S. fast battleships of all classes were relegated to the secondary role of carrier escorts and assigned to the Fast Carrier Task Force to provide anti-aircraft screening for U.S. aircraft carriers and perform shore bombardment . Three were recalled to service in the 1950s with the outbreak of the Korean War, and provided naval artillery support for U.N. forces for the entire duration of the war before being returned to mothballs in 1955 after hostilities ceased . In 1968, to help alleviate U.S. air losses over North Vietnam, New Jersey was summoned to Vietnam, but was decommissioned a year after arriving . All four returned in the 1980s during the drive for a 600 - ship Navy to counter the new Soviet Kirov - class battlecruisers, only to be retired after the collapse of the Soviet Union on the grounds that they were too expensive to maintain . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Ship name </Th> <Th> Hull no . </Th> <Th> Builder </Th> <Th> Ordered </Th> <Th> Laid down </Th> <Th> Launched </Th> <Th> Commissioned </Th> <Th> Decommissioned </Th> <Th> Fate </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Iowa </Td> <Td> BB - 61 </Td> <Td> Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City </Td> <Td> 1 July 1939 </Td> <Td> 27 June 1940 </Td> <Td> 27 August 1942 </Td> <Td> 22 February 1943 </Td> <Td> 24 March 1949 </Td> <Td> Preserved as museum ship in Los Angeles, California </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 25 August 1951 </Td> <Td> 24 February 1958 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 28 April 1984 </Td> <Td> 26 October 1990 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> New Jersey </Td> <Td> BB - 62 </Td> <Td> Navy Yard, Philadelphia </Td> <Td> 16 September 1940 </Td> <Td> 7 December 1942 </Td> <Td> 23 May 1943 </Td> <Td> 30 June 1948 </Td> <Td> Preserved as museum ship in Camden, New Jersey </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 21 November 1950 </Td> <Td> 21 August 1957 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 6 April 1968 </Td> <Td> 17 December 1969 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 28 December 1982 </Td> <Td> 8 February 1991 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Missouri </Td> <Td> BB - 63 </Td> <Td> Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City </Td> <Td> 12 June 1940 </Td> <Td> 6 January 1941 </Td> <Td> 29 January 1944 </Td> <Td> 11 June 1944 </Td> <Td> 26 February 1955 </Td> <Td> Preserved as museum ship in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 10 May 1986 </Td> <Td> 1 March 1992 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Wisconsin </Td> <Td> BB - 64 </Td> <Td> Navy Yard, Philadelphia </Td> <Td> 25 January 1941 </Td> <Td> 7 December 1943 </Td> <Td> 16 April 1944 </Td> <Td> 1 July 1948 </Td> <Td> Preserved as museum ship in Norfolk, Virginia </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 3 March 1951 </Td> <Td> 8 March 1958 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> 22 October 1988 </Td> <Td> 30 September 1991 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Illinois </Td> <Td> BB - 65 </Td> <Td> 9 September 1940 </Td> <Td> 6 December 1942 </Td> <Td_colspan="3"> N / A </Td> <Td> Cancelled 11 August 1945 Broken up at Philadelphia, 1958 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Kentucky </Td> <Td> BB - 66 </Td> <Td> Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth </Td> <Td> 7 March 1942 </Td> <Td> 20 January 1950 </Td> <Td_colspan="2"> N / A </Td> <Td> Broken up at Baltimore, 1959 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> BBG - 1 </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Difference between south dakota class and iowa class