What's the absolute
minimum crew needed for an Iowa class? Guessing three shifts (more likely I'd think there were just two per day with everyone on duty during combat) that brings us down to 600. Remove some of the "excess" crew such as laundry staff, perhaps medical, QM staff, chaplain, etc and we might have half that many (mind you, I'm just stabbing in the dark here).
Even at those low numbers (and combat ability would be SEVERELY curtailed) in my mind at least, 300-400 able bodied men still have a greater utility on shore in other roles.
Regarding fuel consumption, this site is very informative.
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/...l/Fuel-BB.html from "page 79" (near the bottom).