The surface action I mentioned would have occured pre-exchange.
If an Iowa survived past '97-'98, I could see it being used as a fixed long-range artillery battery. In WWII, the Germans uses a couple of large surface warships as floating batteries in their defense of East Prussia and the Baltic shelf during the last few months of the war. These vessels probably wouldn't have survived long at sea, but close to shore, under the protection of additional AAA, they provided very effective heavy long-range fire support to the hard-pressed German ground forces in the "fortress" cities of Danzig, Gydnia, and Konigsberg- in some cases decisively, prolonging the duration of the defenses.
I can see an Iowa doing much the same thing in northeast German or northwest Poland. It would be beached/moored close to friendly-controlled shore and out of range of enemy artillery. Since the ship would no longer retain its mobility due to a lack of fuel and/or because of mechanical problems with its engines, much of the crew could be removed to shore (likely farmed out to a nearby man-power starved ground unit). Only enough crew to effectively operate its guns and power them would remain aboard. An Iowa could really strengthen a shore-based cantonment. Even once the 16" shells are gone, its 5" batteries should still be able to provide local fire support for nearby ground forces.
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