The Iowa class were the only battleships with the speed required for post-war operations based around fast aircraft carrier task forces. There were a number of proposals in the early Cold War to convert the class to take into account changes in technology and doctrine. These included plans to equip the class with nuclear missiles, add aircraft capability and—in the case of Illinois and Kentucky—a proposal to rebuild both as aircraft carriers instead of battleships.
Initially, the Iowa class was to consist of only four battleships: Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, and Wisconsin. However, changing priorities during World War II resulted in the battleships Montana and Ohio being reordered as Illinois and Kentucky respectively. At the time these two battleships were to be built a proposal was put forth to have them constructed as aircraft carriers rather than fast battleships. The plan called for the ships to be rebuilt to include a flight deck and an armament suite similar to that placed aboard the Essex-class aircraft carriers that were at the time under construction in the United States.
![[ img ]](https://i.imgur.com/dG4RqKV.png)
this because unlike most other ships, a carrier is defined a lot by its deck and is asymetrical.
