14,700 shells fired: The US Navy Iowa-class battleships wore out their 16-inch barrels in the Korean War. The replacements came from ships that were never built

Thousands of full-charge rounds wore the rifling out of the Iowas’ 16-inch guns, and the Navy replaced barrels after the war. The spares came from weapons ordered for ships that were never finished — the incomplete Illinois and Kentucky, and the cancelled Montana class. Battleships that never fired a shot kept the ones that did in action. Four Iowa-Class Battleships Fired More Than 14,700 16-Inch Shells in Korea: Every completed Iowa-class battleship served against North Korea: USS Missouri, USS New Jersey, USS Wisconsin, and USS Iowa. Missouri arrived first in September 1950. New Jersey followed in May 1951, Wisconsin in...