“what would those be?”
Iowa has no Immune Zone against 46cm shells. Yamato has a decent IZ somewhere around the 20-30,000yd band. I’ll let someone else run the calculations.
“but the often cited reason for a victorious IOWA is due to its higher accuracy at longer range.”
Iowa would likely be more accurate any any range, assuming her radar is working. Even when visual range is clear, radar can be a help.
“A range that the Yamatos couldn’t effectively engage.”
Yamato could top-spot her salvoes at ranges beyond 40,000 yards, depending on the conditions.
“Imp. Japanese warships are also known to be extrememly unstable due to their tendency to be very top heavy.”
Please note that a topheavy ship will be a steadier gun platform. However, this is not an issue here. Both Yamato and Iowa are in the “sweet spot” of stability. Iowa had a GM of 9.26 feet, while Yamato had a bit more stability with a GM of 9.81 feet. Thus they are both between 8-9% in GM/beam ratio. (A well designed ship will be in the 5-10% range.) In fact, Yamashiro, Nagato, and Kongo all showed perfectly fine stability figures, so it would be a mistake to foresee a problem. These were not Tomozurus.
“apparently the Higher muzzle velocity of the Iowa”
Yamato had a higher muzzle velocity.
“the superior rangefinding equpiment”
I like radar, but otherwise, wouldn’t we have to say Yamato had the superior rangefinding equipment?
“the better top speed”
I don’t know how Iowa’s speed advantage, impressive though it is, would be much of a factor except in allowing her to escape if things turn against her. However, the one-on-one duel is such an artificiality that who knows?
Having said all that, I still see Iowa as the better ship. She’s a lot more versatile than Yamato.
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