[Tallguy]

What you say is true enough. But if you treat this as a chess match then pushing a BB into the strait is going to trigger a cruise missile salvo that would make the Japanese kamikaze attacks pale in comparison. The only way you could do it would be to bomb the be-jesuz out of the Iranian shore installations. In which case you’d no longer really need a BB to run the strait.

Underwater explosions caused by “near misses” would likely lead to greater damage than a hit or 2 on the superstructure. However the latter could still lead to a “mission kill.”

[GonzoGOP]

What you say is true enough. But if you treat this as a chess match then pushing a BB into the strait is going to trigger a cruise missile salvo that would make the Japanese kamikaze attacks pale in comparison. The only way you could do it would be to bomb the be-jesuz out of the Iranian shore installations. In which case you’d no longer really need a BB to run the strait.

Yes and no. As you say "bomb the be-jesuz out of the Iranian shore installations" is a necessary first step. That prevents the overwhelming missile barrage that can saturate the ASM defenses. But you can't be sure to get every one of the mobile launchers. In Gulf I we never did get a SCUD launcher before it fired. So the first ship through after the bombardment has to be able to soak the hit from the one or two batteries that survived the initial bombardment. In effect the guys have the unenviable job of drawing fire so the second wave of air strikes and counter battery fire can finish off the defenses.

Because we don't have any armored ships in the US Navy the guys sent in to draw fire will be in FFGs that have hulls so thin a .50 cal can punch through them.