sentences:  Armament of the Iowa-class battleship
  
  The s were the most heavily armed gunships the United States Navy has ever put to sea due to the continual development of their onboard weaponry.The first "Iowa"-class ship was laid down in June 1940; in their World War II configuration, each of the "Iowa"-class battleships had a main battery of guns that could hit targets nearly 20 statute miles (32 km) away with a variety of artillery shells designed for anti-ship or bombardment work.