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USS Iowa The USS ''Iowa'' fires a full broadside of 16 in (406 mm) guns.
Career	United States Navy Jack
Ordered:	1 July 1939
Laid down:	27 June 1940
Launched:	27 August 1942
Commissioned:	22 February 1943
Decommissioned:	26 October 1990
Struck:	17 March 2006
Status:	Maintained as part of the US Reserve Fleet Slated to be donated for use as a museum ship on or around 2008
General characteristics
Displacement:	45,000 tons
Length:	887 ft 3 in (270 m)
Beam:	108 ft 2 in (32.9 m)
Draft:	37 ft 2 in (11.3 m)
Speed:	33 knots (61 km/h)
Complement:	151 officers, 2637 enlisted
Armament:	1943 9 16 in (406 mm) 50 cal. Mark 7 guns 20 5 in (127 mm) 38 cal. Mark 12 guns 80 40 mm 56 cal. anti-aircraft guns 49 20 mm 70 cal. anti-aircraft guns 1983 9 16 in (406 mm) 50 cal. Mark 7 guns 12 5 in (127 mm) 38 cal. Mark 12 guns 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles 16 RGM-84 Harpoon Anti-Ship missiles 4 20 mm 76 cal. Phalanx CIWS

'USS ''Iowa'' (BB-61)', the lead ship of the U.S. Navy's lowa class of battleship, was the fourth ship of the same name to serve in the United States Navy, but the second to be commissioned, to be named in honor of the 29th state.
Iowa's keel was laid down on 27 June 1940 at the New York Navy Yard. Nicknamed "The Big Stick," the battleship was launched on 27 August 1942 sponsored by Ilo Wallace (wife of Vice President Henry Wallace), and commissioned on 22 February 1943 with Capt. John L. McCrea in command.

Contents

World War II

The Korean War

1953 to 1958

1985-2001

Awards

USS ''Iowa'' in Fiction

See also

External links

World War II

On 24 February 1943, ''Iowa'' put to sea for shakedown in Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast. It got underway on 27 August for Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland, to neutralize the threat of German battleship ''Tirpitz'', which was reportedly operating in Norwegian waters.
In the fall, ''Iowa'' carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to Casablanca, French Morocco, on the first leg of the journey to the Tehran Conference in November. After the conference, the ship returned the president to the United States.
As flagship of Battleship Division 7, ''Iowa'' departed the United States 2 January 1944 for the Pacific Theater and the ship's combat debut in the campaign for the Marshall Islands. From 29 January to 3 February, the battleship supported carrier air strikes made by Rear Adm. Frederick C. Sherman's task group against Kwajalein and Eniwetok Atolls. ''Iowa's next assignment was to support air strikes against the Japanese naval base at Truk, Caroline Islands. ''Iowa'', in company with other ships, was detached from the support group 16 February 1944 to conduct an anti-shipping sweep around Truk to destroy enemy naval vessels escaping to the north. On 21 February, it was underway with the Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 58 or TF 38, depending on whether it was part of 5th Fleet or 3rd Fleet) while it conducted the first strikes against Saipan, Tinian, Rota, and Guam in the Mariana Islands.
On 18 March, ''Iowa'', flying the flag of Vice Adm. Willis A. Lee, commander of Battleships, Pacific, joined in the bombardment of Mili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Although struck by two Japanese 4.7 inch projectiles during the action, ''Iowa'' suffered negligible damage. The battleship then rejoined Task Force 58 on 30 March and supported air strikes against the Palau Islands and Woleai of the Carolines; these continued for several days.
From 22 April to 28 April 1944, ''Iowa'' supported air raids on Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura), Aitape, and Wakde Islands to support Army forces on Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay, and Humboldt Bay in New Guinea. The battleship then joined the task force's second strike on Truk, 29 April and 30 April, and bombarded Japanese facilities on Ponape in the Carolines on 1 May.
In the opening phases of the Marianas campaign, ''Iowa'' protected the flattops during air strikes on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Rota and Pagan on 12 June. ''Iowa'' was then detached to bombard enemy installations on Saipan and Tinian on 13 June and 14 June. On 19 June, in an engagement known as the Battle of the Philippine Sea, ''Iowa'', as part of the battle line of TF 58, helped repel four massive air raids launched by the Japanese Middle Fleet. This resulted in the almost complete destruction of Japanese carrier-based aircraft. ''Iowa'' then joined in the pursuit of the fleeing enemy fleet, shooting down one torpedo plane and assisting in splashing another.
Throughout July, ''Iowa'' remained off the Marianas, supporting air strikes on the Palaus and landings on Guam. After a month's rest, ''Iowa'' sortied from Eniwetok as part of the Third Fleet, and helped support the landings on Peleliu on 17 September. The battleship then protected the carriers during air strikes against the Central Philippines to neutralize enemy air power for the long-awaited invasion of the Philippines. On 10 October, ''Iowa'' arrived off Okinawa for a series of air strikes on the Ryukyu Islands and Formosa. The battleship then supported air strikes against Luzon on 18 October and continued this vital duty during General Douglas MacArthur's landing on Leyte on 20 October.
In a last-ditch attempt to halt the U.S. campaign to recapture the Philippines, the Japanese Navy struck back with a three-pronged attack aimed at the destruction of American amphibious forces in Leyte Gulf. ''Iowa'' accompanied TF 38 during attacks against the Japanese Central Force as it steamed through the Sibuyan Sea toward San Bernardino Strait. The reported results of these attacks and the apparent retreat of the Japanese Central Force led Adm. William "Bull" Halsey to believe that this force had been ruined as an effective fighting group. ''Iowa'', with TF 38, steamed after the Japanese Northern Force off Cape Engaño, Luzon. On 25 October 1944, when the ships of the Northern Force were almost within range of ''Iowa's guns, word arrived that the Japanese Central Force was attacking a group of American escort carriers off Samar. This threat to the American beachheads forced the battleship to reverse course and steam to support the vulnerable "baby carriers". However, the valiant fight put up by the escort carriers and their screen in the Battle off Samar had already caused the Japanese to retire and ''Iowa'' was denied a surface action. Following the Battle of Leyte Gulf, ''Iowa'' remained in the waters off the Philippines screening carriers during strikes against Luzon and Formosa. It sailed for the West Coast late in December 1944.
''Iowa'' arrived in San Francisco, California, on 15 January 1945, for overhaul. The battleship sailed 19 March for Okinawa, arriving 15 April. Commencing 24 April, ''Iowa'' supported carrier operations that assured American troops vital air superiority during their struggle for that bitterly contested island. The battleship then supported air strikes off southern Kyūshū from 25 May to 13 June. ''Iowa'' participated in strikes on the Japanese homeland 14 July and 15 July and bombarded Muroran, Hokkaidō, destroying steel mills and other targets. The city of Hitachi on Honshū was given the same treatment on the night of 17 July to 18 July. ''Iowa'' continued to support fast carrier strikes until the cessation of hostilities on 15 August.
''Iowa'' entered Tokyo Bay with the occupation forces on 29 August. After serving as Adm. Halsey's flagship for the surrender ceremony on 2 September, ''Iowa'' departed Tokyo Bay 20 September for the United States.
Arriving Seattle, Washington on 15 October, ''Iowa'' returned to Japanese waters in January 1946 and became flagship of the Fifth Fleet. The battleship continued this role until it sailed for the United States on 25 March 1946. From that time on, until September 1948, ''Iowa'' operated from West Coast ports, on Naval Reserve and at sea training and drills and maneuvers with the fleet. ''Iowa'' was decommissioned 24 March 1949.

The Korean War

When the Korean War necessitated an expansion of the active fleet, ''Iowa'' was recommissioned on 25 August 1951 with Capt. William R. Smedberg III in command. The battleship operated off the West Coast until March 1952, when it sailed for the Far East. On 1 April 1952, ''Iowa'' became the flagship of Vice Adm. Robert P. Briscoe, commander of the Seventh Fleet, and departed Yokosuka, Japan, to support United Nations forces in Korea. From 8 April to 16 October 1952, ''Iowa'' was involved in combat operations off the east coast of Korea: the primary mission was to aid ground troops by bombarding enemy targets at Songjin, Hungnam, and Kojo, North Korea. During this time, Adm. Briscoe was relieved as commander of the Seventh Fleet. Vice Adm. Joseph J. Clark, the new commander, continued to use ''Iowa'' as his flagship until 17 October 1952. ''Iowa'' departed Yokosuka, Japan, on 19 October 1952 for overhaul at Norfolk, Virginia and training operations in the Caribbean Sea.

1953 to 1958

''Iowa'' embarked midshipmen for at sea training to northern Europe, July 1953, and immediately after took part in Operation "Mariner," a major NATO exercise, serving as flagship of Vice Adm. Edmund T. Wooldridge, commanding the Second Fleet. Upon completion of this exercise, until the fall of 1954, ''Iowa'' operated in the Virginia Capes area. In September 1954, ''Iowa'' became the flagship of Rear Adm. R. E. Libby, commander of the Battleship Cruiser Force, Atlantic Fleet.
From January to April 1955, ''Iowa'' made an extended cruise to the Mediterranean Sea as the first battleship regularly assigned to the commander of the Sixth Fleet. ''Iowa'' departed on a midshipman training cruise 1 June 1955 and upon return, entered Norfolk, Va., for a four-month overhaul. Following refit, ''Iowa'' continued intermittent training cruises and operational exercises, until 4 January 1957 when the battleship departed Norfolk for duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. Upon completion of this deployment, ''Iowa'' embarked midshipmen for a South American training cruise and joined in the International Naval Review off Hampton Roads, Virginia, on 13 June 1957.
On 3 September 1957, ''Iowa'' sailed for Scotland for NATO Operation "Strikeback". ''Iowa'' returned to Norfolk on 28 September 1957 and departed Hampton Roads for the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 22 October 1957. The battleship was decommissioned 24 February 1958 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia.

1985-2001

After a quarter-century in mothballs, ''Iowa'' was modernized, primarily at Avondale Shipyards near New Orleans, Louisiana as part of President Ronald Reagan's "600-ship Navy" plan, and recommissioned 28 April 1984. The ship went to European waters in 1985, 1986 and 1987 through 1988, with the latter cruise continuing into the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. During that cruise, the ''Iowa'' participated in Operation Earnest Will, escorting Kuwaiti gas and oil tankers "reflagged" as U.S. merchant ships from the Persian Gulf through the Straits of Hormuz. During the 1980s, the Navy proposed to create a homeport at Stapleton, Staten Island in New York City, which was to be the base for ''Iowa'' and several other ships, but the project was canceled before its completion.
On 19 April 1989, an explosion ripped through the number two gun turret, killing 47 crewmen. Sailors quickly flooded the #2 powder magazine, likely preventing catastrophic damage to the ship. At first, the NCIS investigators theorized that one of the dead crewman, Clayton Hartwig, had detonated an explosive device in a suicide attempt after the end of an alleged homosexual affair with another sailor. This theory was later abandoned and Hartwig cleared. The cause of the explosion, though never determined with certainty, is generally believed to have been static electricity igniting loose powder.
Testing at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dalhgren, Virginia of powder in the same lot was able to reproduce spontaneous combustion of the powder, which had been originally milled in the 1930s and stored during a 1988 dry-docking of the Iowa in a barge at the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, Virginia. Gunpowder gives off ether gas as it degrades; the ether is highly flammable, and can be ignited by a spark. The captain of the ''Iowa'', Fred Moosally, was severely criticized for his handling of the matter, and the Navy changed the powder-handling procedures. ''Iowa'' deployed to Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in mid-year. Turret Two remained unrepaired when the battleship was decommissioned in Norfolk for the last time, 26 October 1990.
A Season 5 episode of ''JAG'', "Into The Breech" [1], was loosely based on this incident. It was also the centerpiece for the FX movie ''A Glimpse of Hell''.
''Iowa'', as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet, was berthed at the Naval Education and Training Center in Newport, R.I., from 24 September 1998 to 8 March 2001, when the ship began a journey, under tow, to California. It arrived in Suisun Bay near San Francisco on 21 April 2001 and is now part of the Reserve Fleet there.
Due to the damage in Turret Two, the Navy put ''New Jersey'' into the mothball fleet, even though the training mechanisms on ''New Jersey''’s guns had been welded down. The cost to repair ''New Jersey'' was thought less than the cost to repair ''Iowa''. However, the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act of 1999 demanded that the Navy substitute ''Iowa'' for ''New Jersey''; additionally, the Navy was to arrange for ''New Jersey''’s donation for use as a museum ship. The Navy made the switch in January 1999, paving the way for Camden, New Jersey, to acquire the USS ''New Jersey''.
''Iowa'' was maintained in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 until 2006, when the Secretary of the Navy struck ''Iowa'' and placed the ship on donation hold to allow transfer for use as a museum ship, although that plan has encountered resistance from those who believe that there is still a place for battleships in a modern Navy.

2001-present

For several years plans had been under way to berth the ''Iowa'' in San Francisco, California, opening the battleship there as a museum; however, in 2005 San Francisco’s city council, citing opposition to the Iraq War and the military's policies regarding homosexuals, voted 8-3 against maintaining ''Iowa'' in the city, paving the way for other California communities to bid for the battleship. Vallejo (site of the former Mare Island Navy Shipyard) and Stockton are competing for the vessel. The organization, Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square (HSMPS), that attempted to place the ship in San Francisco, is now working with the Mare Island, Vallejo, site. Both communities have identified berthing piers and have submitted proposals to the Department of the Navy to open the vessel to tourists and educational groups as a memorial and museum. Prior to arriving in California, ''Iowa'' was temporarily docked at Naval Station Newport, R.I., as it awaited its fate as a naval museum. The battleship was docked for some time in Newport, next to the aircraft carrier USS ''Forrestal''.
The 2006 Defense Appropriations Act authorized the Secretary of the Navy to strike ''Iowa'' and ''Wisconsin'' from the Naval Vessel Register (NVR), clearing the way for them to be donated as museum ships. Acting on this authority the navy officially struck USS ''Iowa'' from the NVR on 17 March 2006. This is likely the first step in preparing ''Iowa'' for ultimate transfer for use as a museum ship. Despite this, ''Iowa'' has yet to be transferred to any memorial association, although that will likely change when the Navy completes its evaluation of the two leading proposals. Currently, ''Iowa'' is the only ship of its class not open to the public as a museum.
In the 2007 House Defense Bill (battleship transfer) conference report (H. Rept. 109–360) accompanying the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2006, the committee included instructions regarding the transfer of the battleships USS ''Wisconsin'' and USS ''Iowa'' to the Commonwealth of Virginia and State of California, respectively, and the President’s reversion authority pursuant to a national emergency. The committee seeks to clarify that the battleships USS ''Wisconsin'' and USS ''Iowa'' must be regarded as potential mobilization assets and both the recipients and the U.S. Navy are instructed to treat them as such (this is consistent with numerous other warship museum types, including the aircraft carrier USS Midway (CV-41)). The committee notes that the following measures should be taken:
#The ships must not be altered in any way that would impair their military utility;
#The ships must be preserved in their present condition through the continued use of cathodic protection and dehumidification systems and any other preservation methods as needed;
#Spare parts and unique equipment such as gun barrels and projectiles, be preserved in adequate numbers to support the two ships, if reactivated; and
#The Navy must prepare plans for the rapid reactivation of the two battleships should they be returned to the Navy in the event of a national emergency.

Awards

''Iowa'' earned nine battle stars for World War II service and two for Korean War service.

USS ''Iowa'' in Fiction

The ''Iowa,'' as class leader of the last battleships in the US Navy, was often seen as a potent symbol of American diplomacy, foreign policy and military strength. It was the subject of several works of fiction, including the Clive Cussler novel ''Vixen 03'' in which the ''Iowa'' plays a significant part and Tom Clancy’s novel ''Red Storm Rising'', where ''Iowa'' and its sister ''New Jersey'' assist US Marines landing in Iceland.

See also

★ United States battleships

★ Iowa class battleship

★ List of broadsides of major World War II ships

★ USS Iowa for other ships of that name

★ United States Navy

★ State of Iowa

External links

★ Information on the investigations into the turret explosion

★ Satellite image from Google Maps

★ Maritimequest USS Iowa BB-61 Photo Gallery

★ cnn.com Losing the Battleships

★ Navy League/Stockton Council photo of USS Iowa

★ Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square - Non-profit organization established to acquire the ''Iowa'' for use as a museum and memorial on Mare Island

★ Official Stockton, California Visitors Bureau - USS Iowa Page