User blog comment:Void Samukai/The 7 key BBs in history/@comment-10905876-20160120133721/@comment-14850713-20160122055137

While the Iowas can't withstand their own Mk 7 guns, they can withstand the older Mk 6, which armed the North Carolinas and South Dakotas. Battle cruisers of this era (Hood, Repulse, Scharnhorst, etc.) were vulnerable to battleship guns. This was further demonstrated by the fate of the "upgraded" Kongos. Thus the Iowass are true BBs.