1. You're right, they don't. 2. Nonetheless, a battleship does engage in combat in the movie. Again, to go much further on this is to spoil one of the movie's plot points. If anyone WANTS to know the spoiler...
It should be noted that the Missouri and Iowa are both kept in sufficient state of readiness that they can be reactivated within weeks if needed. Per the National Defense Authorization Act 2006, all unique spare parts like the 16 inch gun barrels are kept and maintained should they become necessary for use.
If there was extra money in the defense budget (and there isn't) then they should keep the Missouri and Iowa active just for sheer cool factor.
I and my wife finally got to see the movie. Not bad. Not the best in the world of course. Not up to Avengers or Men in Black but still better than the dismissive rankings by critics. Upsides: 1) Good battle scenes. Basically a commercial for the Burke class destroyers in some respects as two of them and a Japanese destroyer based on the Burke get most of the screen time. 2) Brooklyn Decker and the black disabled veteran (played by an actual disabled veteran). The dialogue between them actually clicks and they have good chemistry. Downsides: 1) Not enough Liam Neeson. Neeson has very successfully remade himself as an action star but in battleship he mainly seems to be there to collect a paycheck. 2) Aliens doing inconsistent and incomprehensible things. Sometimes the aliens kill humans that are not remotely a threat. Other times they seem to ignore them like they are not there. I've seen worse movies. I've seen better ones. And there are plenty of good scenes for me to cull out for my World War 3 compilation on YouTube one day.
