User blog comment:TheAlphatheOmega/World of Warships Beta/@comment-27822411-20150313013045/@comment-25373667-20150313022714

Good points, but by the end of the war, the NC and SD had their 16'/45 cal. shells improved so that their firepower was only slightly inferior to an Iowa's. You also have to consider the advanced radar used by the allies by the end of the war, but that's a totally different discussion.

The IJN was expecting one of two things from US planners:

Faster, 14 inch gunned battleships, with weaker armor and armament, but faster speeds for escorting carriers. They were probably leaning more towards this, as faster ships are much more beneficial for carrier warfare.

Slower, 16 inch gunned battleships, with stronger armor and armament, but slowed down the carriers. The US actually went with this (NC went 28 knots, SD went 27.5, Iowa was the exception, going 33 knots, and New Jersey herself went 35.2 knots in sea trials in the '70s.).

But the Yamato's were originally intended to take out the US WWI fleet, as they thought that the war would be nearly over by the time the modern US battleships entered the war.