How many battleships in active duty?

Answer 1

Zero. The government says there is little need because they are so old, large and ineffecient. My personal opinion is that is not true. They are still important because their guns are so large and they can shoot accurately for many miles. It is also a good place to shoot missiles from and because of their impressive size it is good for morale. There is still one chance, however, to have another battleship in the Navy. There is still one on reserve but would take a long time to fix it up.

Answer 2

No - the last Iowa-class battleship to be stricken from the Naval Register was the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) in 2006.

The primary reason their time in history has essentially is maintenance cost and relevance in Naval warfare. The overall cost-return investment is just too high, even with those ships that were upgraded in the 80's and used during the Gulf War.

The Battleships were originally designed in an era where visual ship-ship combat with naval gunfire was the norm. The Battle of Midway, in which neither fleet actually came within visual range of each other, proved that air power could effectively replace naval guns in fleet warfare, as several key Japanese Carriers and capital ships were sunk by aircraft bombing alone.

Today, aerial precision GPS and laser-guided missiles and bombs provide more effect on target than the old 16" guns could do, with less collateral damage. Additionally, GPS guided cruise missiles can cause much more damage.

For embedded ground forces, hi-yield penetration bombs for bunkers, B-52 strikes using JDAM and GPS large bombs can cause a devastating physical and psychological effect on the enemy, and with much more precision than battleship guns.

A few battleships remain as museums, though by law, at least one needs to be maintained to the point where it could be readily put back to service if necessary.