[Phlyer]

Burke class DDG is 10,000 tons and carries 96 VLS missiles with a 1,000 mile range?

None of which could penetrate to the vitals of an armored ship. It is possible to sink any ship, but it takes specialized weapons (or nukes) to sink an armored ship. As nations quit building armored ships (except US CVs, which have a surprising amount of armor), nations also quit stocking armor-piercing weapons. As a result, there isn't anything in anyone's current inventory that could put an Iowa-class BB at risk (again, aside from nukes, which do tend to change the nature of things).

And an Iowa-class BB could go just about anywhere it wanted to with virtual impunity - making a great trip-wire that adversaries would have to respect. No small ship or ordinary planes/weapons would put one at risk. After a Burke runs its magazines dry, it can either run away (leaving the BB in control of the contested area) or wait until the BB gets close enough to sink it. For that matter, fifty Burkes would have the same effect - and result.

Again, an Iowa-class BB could be sunk, but it would take such a huge commitment (e.g. nukes) that doing so would move things from the regional/brushfire class into a truly world war class - which few adversaries can or would do over 'brushfire' objectives.

As a point of reference: No US battleship was sunk while alert and underway with reasonable maneuvering space - despite the fact the Japanese Navy had bigger ships and more of them, plus the world's best (at that time) torpedoes.

[Mariner]

“None of which could penetrate to the vitals of an armored ship.”

You don’t have to sink it in the moment.

Just blow the antennas off it and blind it.

Then send aircraft, or subs if you can spare them to finish it off. At leisure.

Without advanced radar every warship is little more than a barge. And A target barge at that.

[ealgeone]

And an Iowa-class BB could go just about anywhere it wanted to with virtual impunity - making a great trip-wire that adversaries would have to respect. No small ship or ordinary planes/weapons would put one at risk. After a Burke runs its magazines dry, it can either run away (leaving the BB in control of the contested area) or wait until the BB gets close enough to sink it. For that matter, fifty Burkes would have the same effect - and result.

Let a concentrated air attack happen against the Iowas and they would have suffered the same fate as HMS Price of Wales.

[Rebelbase]

Propeller planes sank the largest warship ever built.

Are you saying Exocet and Harpoon missiles would not sink a WWII era battleship?

[Does so]

the Japanese Navy had bigger ships and more of them, plus the world's best (at that time) torpedoes.

We should have entered WWII with WWI's torpedoes. They were more reliable!

[SauronOfMordor]

Opponents could make armor penetrating missiles much faster than we could build, or restore to service, armored battleships.