These mighty warships were thrice returned from retirement to serve on the front line. Key point: The age of the battleship eventually drew to a close. However, it took much longer than is commonly realized and the Iowa-class served well in many conflicts. The Second World War marked the end of the Age of Battleships. Aircraft carriers, with their flexible, long range striking power made battlewagons obsolete in a matter of months. American battleships, once expected to fight a decisive battle in the Pacific that would halt the Japanese Empire, were instead relegated to providing artillery support for island-hopping campaigns. Yet after the war America’s battleships would return, again and again, to do the one thing only battleships could do: bring the biggest guns around to bear on the enemy.