Iowa versus Yamato and the importance of the first hit

Who wins a one-on-one engagement between Iowa and Yamato?

Yamato is favored visually and Iowa beyond visual range, but the first hit on fire-control systems is likely to determine the fight.

Yamato's visual ranging makes her dangerous inside visual range, while Iowa has the advantage in radar-directed fire beyond it. The first heavy hit matters because radar and fire-control equipment must remain exposed even on a heavily armored battleship. Destroying those systems leaves one ship firing accurate follow-up salvos while the other struggles to return them. At close visual range Yamato's 18-inch shells remain a severe threat to Iowa, but at longer radar ranges Iowa is favored to land the decisive opening hit. Real navies seek concentration, as at Bismarck and North Cape, rather than arrange one-on-one duels.