Well, two out of three ain't bad...
The Iowa class modernized in the 80's with new reduction gearing could steam at 37 knots and keep up with the nuke carriers. They were among the fastest ships in the fleet. In WWII they could do 33 knots and were the fastest battleships of all time.
32 knots isn't slow.
Yes, speed. An Iowa class BB can make 32 knots and cruise at over 20 knots. They were designed to keep up with fast carriers. Until the advent of nukes they were the among fastest, longest ranged ships in the world. Come to think of it, nukes or not, they still are!
What Col. North may not realize is that the USN no longer has the manpower to to crew these monsters. It takes at least 1200 sailors, bare minimum. You can crew 3-4 Aegis class cruisers with that.
Also there are some really cool things in the pipeline that make battleships look like the dinosaurs they are.
http://belmontclub.blogspot.com/2004/07/return-of-dreadnought-nearly-hundred.html
I remember how PROUD I was when Ronaldus Magnus had the weapons sytems up-dated on the Iowa class Battleships!!Hey,just ask the people that were shelled by those 16-inch rifles in Lebanon and Irag!!!I know that The USS Missouri is moored at Pearl Harbor(next to The USS Arizona).Are the USS Iowa,New Jersey and Wisconsin up at Bremerton?The keel was laid for a fifth "Iowa class",but she was never completed.
They have speed as well---all the IOWA's exceeded 35 knots in service.