 USSIowa unleashes abroadside of nine 16-inch guns on 15 August 1984 during a firepower demonstration after her modernization | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Namesake | State of Iowa |
| Ordered | 1 July 1939 |
| Builder | New York Naval Yard |
| Laid down | 27 June 1940 |
| Launched | 27 August 1942 |
| Sponsored by | Ilo Wallace |
| Commissioned | 22 February 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 24 March 1949 |
| Recommissioned | 25 August 1951 |
| Decommissioned | 24 February 1958 |
| Recommissioned | 28 April 1984 |
| Decommissioned | 26 October 1990 |
| Stricken | 17 March 2006 |
| Identification |
|
| Motto | "Our Liberties We Prize, Our Rights We Will Maintain" |
| Nickname(s) |
|
| Honors & awards |  11battle stars |
| Fate | Museum ship |
| Status | On display at the Pacific Battleship Center at thePort of Los Angeles (33°44′32″N118°16′38″W / 33.7423°N 118.2772°W /33.7423; -118.2772) |
| Badge |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Iowa-classbattleship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 887 ft 3 in (270.43 m) |
| Beam | 108 ft 2 in (32.97 m) |
| Draft | 37 ft 2 in (11.33 m) (full load) |
| Installed power |
|
| Speed | 33knots (38 mph; 61 km/h) |
| Complement | 151 officers, 2,637 enlisted (WWII) |
| Armament |
|
| Armor | |
| Aircraft carried | floatplanes,helicopters,UAVs |
USSIowa (BB-61) is a retiredbattleship, thelead ship ofher class, and the fourth in theUnited States Navy to be named after the state ofIowa. Owing to the cancellation of theMontana-class battleships,Iowa is the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships and was the only ship of her class to serve in theAtlantic Ocean duringWorld War II.
During World War II, she carried PresidentFranklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic toMers El Kébir, Algeria, en route to aconference of vital importance in 1943 inTehran with Prime MinisterWinston Churchill of the United Kingdom andJoseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. When transferred to thePacific Fleet in 1944,Iowa shelled beachheads atKwajalein andEniwetok in advance ofAllied amphibious landings and screenedaircraft carriers operating in theMarshall Islands. She also served as theThird Fleetflagship, flying AdmiralWilliam F. Halsey's flag at theJapanese surrender inTokyo Bay.
During theKorean War,Iowa was involved in raids on the North Korean coast, after which she wasdecommissioned into theUnited States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet." She was reactivated in 1984 as part of the600-ship Navy plan and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to counter the recently expandedSoviet Navy. In April 1989,an explosion of undetermined origin wrecked her No. 2 gun turret, killing 47 sailors.
Iowa was decommissioned for the last time in October 1990 after 19 total years of active service, and was initially stricken from theNaval Vessel Register (NVR) in 1995, before being reinstated from 1999 to 2006 to comply with federal laws that required retention and maintenance of twoIowa-class battleships. In 2011Iowa was donated to theLos Angeles–based non-profit Pacific Battleship Center and was permanently moved to Berth 87 at thePort of Los Angeles in 2012, where she was opened to the public as theUSSIowa Museum.
Ordered in July 1939,[3] USSIowa was laid down atNew York Naval Shipyard in June 1940. She waslaunched on 27 August 1942,sponsored byIlo Wallace (wife ofVice PresidentHenry Wallace), andcommissioned on 22 February 1943 with CaptainJohn L. McCrea in command.[4]
USSIowa's main battery consisted of nine16-inch/50 caliber Mark 7 gun, which could fire 2,700 lb (1,200 kg) armor-piercing shells 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km). Her secondary battery consisted of twenty5"/38 caliber guns in twin mounts, which could fire at targets up to 12 nmi (14 mi; 22 km) away. With the advent of air power and the need to gain and maintainair superiority came a need to protect the growing fleet of Alliedaircraft carriers; to this end,Iowa was fitted with an array ofOerlikon 20 mm andBofors 40 mmanti-aircraft guns to defend Allied carriers from enemy airstrikes.[5]
_bathtub_DN-ST-86-02543.JPG)
On 24 February 1943,Iowa put to sea for ashakedown cruise in theChesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast. She got underway on 27 August forArgentia, Newfoundland, to counter the threat of the German battleshipTirpitz which was reportedly operating in Norwegian waters, before returning to the United States on 25 October for two weeks of maintenance at the Norfolk Navy Yard.[6]
In November 1943,Iowa carried President Roosevelt,Secretary of StateCordell Hull, Roosevelt's Chief of Staff AdmiralWilliam D. Leahy,Chief of Staff of the Army GeneralGeorge C. Marshall,Chief of Naval OperationsErnest King, Commanding General of the US Army Air ForcesHenry "Hap" Arnold,Harry Hopkins, and other military leaders toMers El Kébir, Algeria, on the first leg of the journey to theCairo andTehran conferences.[7] On 14 November, in waters east ofBermuda,USS William D. Porter (DD-579), adestroyer that was part ofIowa's anti-submarine screen, accidentally discharged a torpedo towardIowa during a drill. Following warnings from the destroyer and her own lookouts,Iowa turned hard to avoid the torpedo, which detonated approximately 1200 yards astern in the ship's wake.[8]Iowa trained her guns onWilliam D. Porter, concerned that the smaller ship might have been involved in an assassination plot.[9]
Iowa completed her presidential escort mission on 16 December by returning the President to the United States.[9] Roosevelt addressed the crew ofIowa prior to leaving by stating, "... from all I have seen and all I have heard, theIowa is a 'happy ship,' and having served with the Navy for many years, I know—and you know—what that means." He also touched on the progress made at the conference before concluding his address with "... good luck, and remember that I am with you in spirit, each and every one of you."[10]
_Preps.jpg)
Asflagship of Battleship Division 7 (BatDiv 7),Iowa departed the United States on 2 January 1944 for the Pacific Ocean, transiting thePanama Canal on 7 January in advance of her combat debut in the campaign for theMarshall Islands. From 29 January to 3 February, she supported carrier air strikes made by Rear AdmiralFrederick C. Sherman's Task Group 58.3 (TG 58.3)[11] againstKwajalein andEniwetok atolls. Her next assignment was to support air strikes against the major Japanese naval and logistics base atTruk,Caroline Islands.Iowa, in company with other ships, was detached from the support group on 16 February 1944 to conduct an anti-shipping sweep around Truk, with the objective of destroying enemy naval vessels escaping to the north. During this action,Iowa, along with her sisterNew Jersey, sank the Japaneselight cruiserKatori, the cruiser having escaped Truk the day before followingOperation Hailstone, the US air attack on Truk.[6]
On 21 February, she was underway with theFast Carrier Task Force (alternatively designated TF 38 while with3rd Fleet and TF 58 while with5th Fleet) while it conducted the first strikes againstSaipan,Tinian,Rota, andGuam in theMariana Islands.On 18 March 1944,Iowa, flying the flag of Vice AdmiralWillis A. Lee (Commander, Battleships, Pacific), joined in the bombardment ofMili Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Although struck by two Japanese 4.7 in (120 mm) projectiles,Iowa suffered negligible damage. She then rejoined TF 58 on 30 March, and supported air strikes against thePalau Islands andWoleai of the Carolines for several days.[4]
From 22 to 28 April,Iowa supported air raids onHollandia (now known as Jayapura),Aitape, andWake Islands to support Army forces on Aitape and atTanahmerah andHumboldt Bays inNew Guinea. She then joined the Task Force's second strike on Truk, on 29 and 30 April, and bombarded Japanese facilities onPonape in the Carolines on 1 May.[4]
_in_floating_dry_dock_ABSD-2_at_Manus%2c_Admirality_Islands%2c_on_28_December_1944_(80-G-421124).jpg)
In the opening phases of theMariana and Palau Islands campaign,Iowa protected the American carriers during air strikes on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Rota, andPagan Island on 12 June.Iowa was then detached to bombard enemy installations on Saipan and Tinian on 13–14 June, which resulted in the destruction of a Japanese ammunition dump. On 19 June, in an engagement known as theBattle 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 air-forces, withIowa claiming the destruction of three enemy aircraft.Iowa then joined in the pursuit of the fleeing enemy fleet, shooting down onetorpedo plane and assisting in splashing another.[4][6]
Throughout July,Iowa remained off the Marianas supporting air strikes on the Palaus and landings on Guam. After a month's rest,Iowa sailed from Eniwetok as part of the Third Fleet, and helped support thelandings on Peleliu on 17 September. She 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 offOkinawa for a series of air strikes on theRyukyu Islands andFormosa. She then supported air strikes againstLuzon on 18 October and continued this duty during GeneralDouglas MacArthur'slanding on Leyte on 20 October.[4]
In a last-ditch attempt to halt the United States campaign to recapture the Philippines, theImperial Japanese Navy struck back withShō-Gō 1, a three-pronged attack aimed at the destruction of American amphibious forces inLeyte Gulf. The plan called for Vice-AdmiralJisaburō Ozawa to use the surviving Japanese carriers as bait to draw US carriers of TF 38 away from the Philippine beachheads, allowing Imperial Japanese AdmiralsTakeo Kurita,Kiyohide Shima, andShōji Nishimura to take surface task forces through theSan Bernardino Strait andSurigao Strait, where they would rendezvous and attack the US beachheads.[12][13]Iowa accompanied TF 38 during attacks against the Japanese Central Force under the command of Admiral Kurita as it steamed through theSibuyan Sea toward San Bernardino Strait. The reported results of these attacks and the apparent retreat of the Japanese Central Force led AdmiralWilliam "Bull" Halsey to believe that this force had been ruined as an effective fighting group; as a result,Iowa, with TF 38, steamed after the Japanese Northern Force offCape Engaño, Luzon. On 25 October 1944, when the ships of the Northern Force were almost within range ofIowa's guns, word arrived that the Japanese Central Force was attacking a group of Americanescort carriers offSamar. This threat to the American beachheads forced TF 38 to reverse course and steam to support the vulnerable escort carrier fleet, but fierce resistance by the7th Fleet in theBattle off Samar had already caused the Japanese to retire andIowa was denied a surface action. Following theBattle of Leyte Gulf,Iowa remained in the waters off the Philippines screening carriers during strikes against Luzon and Formosa. She sailed for the West Coast late in December 1944.[4]
On 18 December, the ships of TF 38 unexpectedly found themselves in a fight for their lives whenTyphoon Cobra overtook the force—7 fleet carriers, 6 light carriers, 8 battleships, 15 cruisers, and about 50 destroyers—during their attempt to refuel at sea. At the time, the ships were operating about 300 mi (480 km) east of Luzon in thePhilippine Sea.[14] The carriers had just completed three days of heavy raids against Japanese airfields, suppressing enemy aircraft during the Americanamphibious operations againstMindoro in the Philippines. The task force rendezvoused withCaptain Jasper T. Acuff and his fueling group on 17 December with the intention of refueling all ships in the task force and replacing lost aircraft.[15]
Although the sea had been growing rougher all day, the nearby cyclonic disturbance gave relatively little warning of its approach. On 18 December, the small but violent typhoon overtook the task force while many of the ships were attempting to refuel. Many of the vessels were caught near the center of the storm and buffeted by extreme seas and hurricane-force winds. Three destroyers—Hull,Monaghan, andSpence—capsized and sank with nearly all hands, while a cruiser, five aircraft carriers, and three destroyers suffered serious damage.[14] Approximately 790 officers and men were lost or killed, with another 80 injured. Fires occurred in three carriers when planes broke loose in their hangars, and some 146 planes on various ships were swept overboard or damaged beyond economical repair by fires or impacts.[15]Iowa reported zero injured sailors as a result of the typhoon,[16] but suffered a loss of one of her float planes, and damage to one of her shafts.[6][15] The damaged shaft requiredIowa to return to the US, and she arrived at San Francisco on 15 January 1945, for repairs. During the course of the overhaulIowa had her bridge area enclosed, and was outfitted with new search radars and fire-control systems.[6]
Iowa sailed on 19 March 1945 for Okinawa, arriving on 15 April to relieve her sister shipNew Jersey. From 24 April,Iowa supported carrier operations which aimed to establish and maintain air superiority for ground forces during their struggle for the island. She then supported air strikes off southernKyūshū from 25 May to 13 June. Afterward, she sailed toward northernHonshū andHokkaido, and participated in strikes on the Japanese home islands on 14–15 July by bombardingMuroran, Hokkaido, destroying steel mills and other targets. The city ofHitachi on Honshū was shelled beginning the night of 17 July and lasting to 18 July. On 29 and 30 July,Iowa trained her guns onKahoolawe for a bombardment and continued to support fast carrier strikes until the cessation of hostilities on 15 August.
On 27 August,Iowa and her sister shipMissouri enteredSagami Bay to oversee the surrender of theYokosuka Naval Arsenal.[4][6] Two days later, she enteredTokyo Bay with the occupation forces. Here, a number of sailors fromMissouri were temporarily stationed onIowa for the duration of the surrender ceremony which took place aboardMissouri.[17] After serving as Admiral Halsey's flagship for the surrender ceremony on 2 September,Iowa remained in the bay as part of the occupying force. As part of the ongoingOperation Magic Carpet, she received homeward bound GIs and liberated USprisoners of war before departing Tokyo Bay on 20 September, bound for the United States.[4][6]
Iowa arrived inSeattle, Washington, on 15 October 1945, then sailed forLong Beach, California, where she engaged in training operations until returning to Japan in 1946 to serve as flagship for the 5th Fleet. She returned to the United States on 25 March 1946 and resumed her role as a training ship. During her usual routine of drills and maneuvers she also embarked Naval Reserve elements andmidshipmen for training. In October,Iowa underwent a period of overhaul and modernization, which resulted in the addition of the SK-2 Radar and the loss of a number of 20 mm and 40 mm gun mounts. In July, following theBikini atomic experiments, the old battleshipNevada was selected as a target for alive fire exercise to be carried out byIowa and other sea and air assets of the navy. The exercise began with separate shellings from a destroyer,heavy cruiser, andIowa, but this did not sink the ship, and soNevada was finished off with oneaerial torpedo hit amidships, sinking her 65 mi (105 km) fromPearl Harbor on 31 July 1948.[18][19] In September 1948, as part of the post World War II drawdown of the armed forces,Iowa was deactivated at San Francisco, and then formally decommissioned into theUnited States Navy reserve fleets on 24 March 1949.[6]
In 1950,North Koreainvaded South Korea, prompting the United Nations to authorize military intervention. PresidentHarry S. Truman ordered US forces stationed in Japan to transfer to South Korea. Truman also sent US based troops, tanks, fighter and bomber aircraft, and a strong naval force to the area to support South Korea. As part of the naval mobilization,Iowa was reactivated on 14 July 1951, and formally recommissioned on 25 August, with Captain William R. Smedberg III, in command.Iowa sailed for Korean waters in March 1952. On 1 April she relieved her sister shipUSS Wisconsin and became the flagship ofVice AdmiralRobert P. Briscoe, Commander of the Seventh Fleet.[6] In her first combat operation of the Korean War,Iowa fired her main guns nearWonsan–Sŏngjin on 8 April 1952, with the goal of striking North Korean supply lines. In the company of other naval vesselsIowa again engaged North Korean forces the following day, this time against enemy troop concentrations, supply areas, and suspected gun positions in and around Suwon Dan and Kojo. In support of South Korea'sI Corps,Iowa shelled enemy positions on 13 April, killing 100 enemy soldiers, destroying six gun emplacements, and wrecking a division headquarters. The next day she entered Wonsan Harbor and shelled warehouses, observation posts and railroad marshaling yards before moving out to rejoin the UN flotilla aiding ground forces aroundKosong. On 20 April, in her first combat action above the38th parallel,Iowa shelled railroad lines atTanchon, where four railroad tunnels were destroyed, before sailing to Chindong and Kosong for a two-day bombardment of North Korean positions.[6]
_fires_at_North_Korean_target_in_mid-1952.jpg)
On 25 MayIowa, following her sister shipMissouri's example, arrived in the waters offChongjin, a North Korean industrial center approximately 48 nmi (55 mi; 89 km) from the Russian border. Upon arrival,Iowa proceeded to shell the industrial and rail transportation centers in Chongjin, after which she moved south to aid theUS X Corps.En route to US positions,Iowa again bombarded Sŏngjin, destroying several railroad tunnels and bridges in the area. On 28 May,Iowa rejoined the main body of the US fleet supporting the X Corps, heavily shelling several islands in Wonsan Harbor.[6]
Throughout June,Iowa trained her guns on targets at Mayang-do, Tanchon, Chongjin, Chodo–Sokcho and the ports ofHŭngnam and Wonsan in support of the UN and South Korean forces. On 9 June, a helicopter fromIowa rescued a downed pilot from the carrierUSS Princeton.[6] At the time,Princeton was operating with TF 77, and with other carriers in the task force who were involved in a bombing campaign against North Korean supply lines, troop concentrations, and infrastructure; additionally, the carriers were flyingclose air support missions for ground forces fighting against the North Korean forces.[20] In July,Iowa received a new skipper, Captain Joshua W. Cooper, who assumed command of the battleship for the remainder of her Korean War tour.[6]
On 20 August,Iowa took aboard nine wounded men from the destroyerUSS Thompson afterThompson was hit by a Chinese artillery battery while shelling enemy positions at Sŏngjin. At the time,Iowa was operating 16 mi (26 km) south of Sŏngjin, and after receiving the wounded destroyer crewmen,Iowa coveredThompson as she retreated into safer waters.[6][21]
On 23 September,GeneralMark W. Clark, the Commander-In-Chief ofUnited Nations Forces in Korea, came aboardIowa. Clark observedIowa in action as her guns shelled the Wonsan area for a third time, accounting for the destruction of a major enemyammunition dump. On 25 September,Iowa fired her guns at an enemy railroad and 30-car train.[6] The following month,Iowa was part of the force involved in Operation Decoy, afeint to draw enemy troops into Kojo and bring them within striking distance of the battleships' big guns. During the operation,Iowa provided anti-aircraft support toUSS Mount McKinley, an amphibious force command ship.[6]
In October 1952Iowa was serving as flagship for the Commander, Seventh Fleet, and she engaged in 43 gun strikes on targets in the areas of Wonsan, Songjin, Kojo, Chaho, Toejo, Simpo, Hungnam and northern Inchon North Korea, and in 27 bombline operations. During these operations, 16,689 rounds were fired from her main and secondary batteries on enemy installations. This action established eligibility for theUnited Nations Service Medal and theKorean Service Medal with one bronze star.[22]
%2c_USS_Wisconsin_(BB-64)_and_USS_Shangri-La_(CVS-38)_laid_up_in_1978.jpg)
Iowa embarked midshipmen for at-sea training to Northern Europe in July 1953, and shortly afterwards took part in Operation Mariner, a major NATO exercise, serving as flagship of Vice Admiral Edmund T. Wooldridge, commander of the2nd Fleet. Upon completion of this exercise,Iowa operated in theVirginia Capes area. Later, in September 1954, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral R. E. Libby, Commander, Battleship Cruiser Force, United States Atlantic Fleet.[4]
From January–April 1955,Iowa made an extended cruise to theMediterranean Sea as the flagship of the Commander,6th Fleet. She departed on a midshipman training cruise on 1 June, and upon her return entered Norfolk for a four-month overhaul. Afterward,Iowa continued intermittent training cruises and operational exercises, until 4 January 1957 when she departed Norfolk for duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Upon completion,Iowa embarked midshipmen for a South American training cruise and joined in the InternationalNaval Review offHampton Roads,Virginia on 13 June.[4]
On 3 September,Iowa sailed for Scotland for NATO'sExercise Strikeback. She returned to Norfolk on 28 September, and departed Hampton Roads for thePhiladelphia Naval Shipyard on 22 October. She was decommissioned on 24 February 1958 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia.[4]
As part of PresidentRonald Reagan's andSecretary of the NavyJohn F. Lehman's effort to create an expanded600-ship Navy,Iowa was reactivated in 1982 and towed byUSNSApache[23] toAvondale Shipyard nearNew Orleans, Louisiana, for refitting and equipment modernization in advance of her planned recommissioning.[4] During the refit,Iowa had all of her remainingOerlikon 20 mm andBofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns removed, due to their ineffectiveness against modernfighter jets andanti-ship missiles. Additionally, the two 5 in (127 mm) gun mounts located at mid-ship and in theaft on theport andstarboard sides of the battleship were removed.[24]
Iowa was then towed toIngalls Shipbuilding,Pascagoula, Mississippi,[6] where over the next several months the battleship was upgraded with the most advanced weaponry available. Among the new weapons systems installed were four MK 141 quad cell launchers for 16AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, eightArmored Box Launcher mounts for 32BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles, and a quartet ofPhalanxClose-in weapon systemGatling guns for defense against enemy anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft.[24] Sometime after June 1986,Iowa was the first battleship to receive theRQ-2 PioneerUnmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). She could carry up to eight of the remotely controlled drones, which replaced the helicopters (although helicopters were not carried by battleships) previously used to spot for her nine 16 inch (406 mm)/50 cal Mark 7 guns.[25][26] Also included in her modernization were upgrades toradar andfire-control systems for her guns and missiles, and improvedelectronic warfare capabilities.[24] Armed as such,Iowa was formally recommissioned on 28 April 1984, ahead of schedule, within her budget at a cost of $500 million, and under the command of Captain Gerald E. Gneckow.[6] In order to expedite the schedule, many necessary repairs toIowa's engines and guns were not completed and the mandatory NavyBoard of Inspection and Survey (InSurv) inspection was skipped.[27]
From April to August 1984,Iowa underwent refresher training and naval gunfire support qualifications at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the Puerto Rican Operating area. After a short period in her new home port of Norfolk, Virginia, she spent the two periods of time during the rest of 1984 and early 1985 conducting "presence" operations shakedown in the area around Central America. During this time she transited the Panama Canal to operate off the west coast of Central America while also conducting people-to-people humanitarian operations, including in El Salvador,Costa Rica andHonduras,[6][28] before returning to the United States in April 1985 for a period of routine maintenance.[6]
In August 1985,Iowa joined 160 other ships for Exercise Ocean Safari, a NATO naval exercise aimed at testing NATO's ability to control sea lanes and maintain free passage of shipping. Owing to bad weather,Iowa and the other ships were forced to ride out rough seas, butIowa made use of the time to practice hiding herself from enemy forces. While serving with the exercise force,Iowa crossed theArctic Circle.[29] In October, she took part in Baltic operations, and fired her phalanx guns, 5 in (127 mm) guns, and 16 in (406 mm) guns in theBaltic Sea on 17 October while operating with US and other allied ships.[30] After these operations during which she visited Le Havre in France, Kiel in Germany, Copenhagen (where the current King of Denmark visited the ship as a schoolboy) and Aarhus in Denmark, and Oslo in Norway where the King of Norway was entertained at lunch, she returned to the United States.[6]
Beginning on 17 March 1986,Iowa underwent her overdueInSurv inspection. The inspection, whichIowa ultimately failed, was conducted under the supervision of Rear AdmiralJohn D. Bulkeley. Bulkeley found that the ship was unable to achieve her top speed of 33 kn (38 mph; 61 km/h) during a full-power engine run. Other problems included hydraulic fluid leaks in all three main gun turrets, electrical wiring shorts, pump failures, deteriorated bilge piping, unrepaired soft patches on high-pressure steam lines, and frozen valves in the ship's firefighting system. He recommended to theChief of Naval Operations and Lehman thatIowa be taken out of service immediately. Rejecting this advice, Lehman instead instructed the leaders of the Atlantic Fleet to ensure thatIowa's deficiencies were corrected.[31]
Afterward,Iowa returned to the waters around Central America and conducted drills and exercises while providing a military presence to friendly nations. On 4 July, President Ronald Reagan andFirst LadyNancy Reagan boardedIowa for the International Naval Review, which was held in theHudson River.[32] On 25 April, CaptainLarry Ray Seaquist assumed command of the battleship and her crew during Naval Gunfire Support requalification off Vieques Island near Puerto Rico.[6][33]
On 17 August,Iowa set sail for the North Atlantic, and in September she participated in Exercise Northern Wedding by ferryingMarines ashore and assisting helicopter gunships. During the exerciseIowa fired her main guns atCape Wrath range in Scotland in support of a simulated amphibious assault on 5–6 September, firing a total of 19 16-inch (406 mm) shells and 32 5-inch (127 mm) shells during a 10-hour period and operating in rough seas. During the live fire exercise, a small number ofIowa marines were put ashore to monitor the fall of shot and advise the battleship of gunnery corrections.[34] Afterward,Iowa visited ports, including Portsmouth, in England and Germany before returning to the United States in October.
In December, the ship became the test bed for the Navy's RQ-2 Pioneer (UAV). The drone was designed to serve as an aerial spotter for the battleship's guns, thereby allowing the guns to be used against an enemy without the need for an airplane or helicopter spotter. Pioneer passed its tests and made its first deployment that same month aboardIowa.[26]
_alongside_USS_Midway_(CV-41)_in_1987.JPEG)
From January–September 1987Iowa operated in the waters in and around Central America and participated in several exercises until sailing for the Mediterranean Sea on 10 September to join the 6th Fleet based there. She remained in the Mediterranean until 22 October, when she was detached from the 6th Fleet and departed for operations in the North Sea. On 25 November, as part ofOperation Earnest Will,Iowa transited theSuez Canal and set sail for thePersian Gulf, which at the time was one of the battlefields of the first Gulf War (also referred to as theIran–Iraq War).[6] The presence of US naval vessels in the gulf was in response to a formal petition fromKuwait,[35] whose ships were being raided by Iranian forces who were attempting to cut off weapons shipments from the United States and Europe toSaddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, via Kuwaiti territory. This phase of the war would later be called the "Tanker War" phase of the Iran–Iraq War.[36]Iowa and other vessels operating in the gulf were assigned to escort Kuwaiti tankers from Kuwaiti ports to the open sea, but because US law forbade military escorts for civilian ships flying a foreign flag, the tankers escorted by the United States were reflagged as US merchant vessels and assigned American names.[36] For the remainder of the yearIowa escorted Kuwaiti gas and oil tankers reflagged as US merchant ships from the Persian Gulf through theStrait of Hormuz.[6]
On 20 February 1988,Iowa departed from the Persian Gulf, transited the Suez Canal, and set sail for the United States, arriving at Norfolk on 10 March for routine maintenance. In April, she participated in the annual Fleet Week celebrations before returning to Norfolk for an overhaul. On 26 May,Fred Moosally replaced Larry Seaquist as Captain ofIowa.[37] After the overhaul, Moosally tookIowa on a shakedown cruise around Chesapeake Bay on 25 August. Encountering difficulty in conning the ship through shallow water, Moosally narrowly missed colliding with thefrigateMoinester, destroyerFarragut, and the cruiserSouth Carolina before running aground in soft mud outside the bay's main ship channel near the Thimble Shoals. After one hour,Iowa was able to extricate herself without damage and return to port.[38]Iowa continued with sea trials throughout August and September, then began refresher training in the waters around Florida and Puerto Rico in October, during which the ship passed an Operation Propulsion Program Evaluation.[6][39]
On 20 January 1989, during an improperly authorized gunnery experiment offVieques Island,Iowa fired a 16-inch (406 mm) shell 23.4 nmi (26.9 mi; 43.3 km), setting a record for the longest-ranged 16 in (406 mm) shell ever fired. In February, the battleship sailed forNew Orleans for a port visit before departing for Norfolk. On 10 April, the battleship was visited by the commander of the2nd Fleet, and on 13 April she sailed to participate in a fleet exercise.[6][40]
During a gunnery exercise, at 0955[41] on 19 April 1989, an explosion ripped through the Number Two 16-inch (406 mm) gun turret, killing 47 crewmen. A gunner's mate in the powder magazine room quickly flooded the No. 2 powder magazine, likely preventing catastrophic damage to the ship.[42] At first,Naval Investigative Service (NIS, later renamed Naval Criminal Investigative Service or NCIS) investigators theorized that one of the dead crewmen, Clayton Hartwig, had detonated an explosive device in a suicide attempt after the end of an alleged affair with another sailor.[42][43] To support this claim, naval officials pointed to several different factors, including Hartwig's life insurance policy, which named Kendall Truitt as the sole beneficiary in the event of his death,[44] the presence of unexplained materials inside turret 2,[45] and his mental state, which was alleged to be unstable.[46][47]
Although the Navy was satisfied with the investigation and its results,[43] others were unconvinced,[46] and in October 1991, amid increasing criticism,Congress forced the Navy to reopen the investigation.[42] This second investigation, handled by independent investigators, was hampered as most of the original debris fromIowa had been cleaned up or otherwise disposed of by the Navy before and after the first investigation,[43][44][48] but it did uncover evidence pointing to an accidental powder explosion due to over-ramming rather than an intentional act of sabotage.[42][47][49]
WhileIowa was undergoing modernization in the early 1980s, her sister shipNew Jersey had been dispatched to Lebanon to provide offshore fire support.[50] At the time,New Jersey was the only commissioned battleship anywhere in the world, and it was found that, in an effort to get another battleship commissioned to relieveNew Jersey, the modernization ofIowa was stepped up, leaving her in poor condition when she recommissioned in 1984.[44] It was also determined that Captain Fred Moosally was more concerned with the maintenance of the missiles than the training and manning of guns.[51]
Powder from the same lot as the one under investigation was tested at theNaval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division.Spontaneous combustion was achieved with the powder, which had been originally milled in the 1930s and improperly stored in a barge at the Navy'sYorktown, Virginia, Naval Weapons Station during a 1988 dry-docking ofIowa.[42][43][44][47] As it degrades, gunpowder gives offether gas, which is highly flammable and could be ignited by a spark which could be caused by static electricity.[52] This revelation resulted in a shift in the Navy's position on the incident, and AdmiralFrank Kelso, the Chief of Naval Operations at the time, publicly apologized to the Hartwig family, concluding that there was no real evidence to support the claim that he had intentionally killed the other sailors.[42][44][47][53]Iowa captain Fred Moosally was severely criticized for his handling of the matter, and as a result of the incident the Navy changed the powder-handling procedures for its battleships.[49] The incident remains one of the surface Navy's worst losses of life during peacetime operations.[54]
With thecollapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and the lack of a perceived threat against the United States came drasticcuts to the defense budget and the battleships were deemed uneconomical. As a result,Iowa was decommissioned for the last time on 26 October 1990, after a total of 19 years of commissioned service. She was the first of the reactivated battleships to be decommissioned, and this was done earlier than originally planned as a result of the damaged turret.Iowa was originally berthed at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard and later atNaval Station Newport inNewport, Rhode Island from 24 September 1998 to 8 March 2001, when the tugSea Victory began her tow to California. The ship arrived inSuisun Bay near San Francisco on 21 April 2001 and joined theReserve Fleet, where she remained in reserve untilstruck again from theNaval Vessel Register in March 2006. (She and her sister ships had been struck previously in 1995.[24]) She remained at the Suisun Bay anchorage until November 2011.
Section 1011 of theNational Defense Authorization Act of 1996 required the US Navy to reinstate to the Naval Vessel Register two of theIowa-class battleships that had been struck by the Navy in 1995; these ships were to be maintained in the United States Navy reserve fleets (or "mothball fleet"). The Navy was to ensure that both of the reinstated battleships were in good condition and could be reactivated for use in the Marine Corps' amphibious operations.[55] Due toIowa's damaged turret, the Navy selectedNew Jersey for placement into the mothball fleet. The cost to fixNew Jersey was considered less than the cost to fixIowa;[24] as a result,New Jersey andWisconsin were reinstated to the Naval Vessel Register and placed back in the reserve fleet.[55]
New Jersey remained there until the Strom Thurmond National Defense Authorization Act of 1999 required the Secretary of the Navy to list and maintainIowa andWisconsin on the Naval Vessel Register. The Act also required the Secretary of the Navy to strikeNew Jersey from the Naval Vessel Register and transfer the battleship to a not-for-profit entity in accordance with section 7306 ofTitle 10 of the United States Code. It also required the transferee to locate the battleship in the state ofNew Jersey.[56] The Navy made the switch in January 1999, allowingNew Jersey to open as a museum ship in her namesake state.[57]
On 17 March 2006, the Secretary of the Navy struckIowa andWisconsin from the NVR, which cleared the way for both ships to be donated for use asmuseum ships; but the United States Congress remained "deeply concerned" over the loss of the naval surface gunfire support that the battleships provided, and noted that "navy efforts to improve upon, much less replace, this capability have been highly problematic."[58] As a partial consequence, Congress passedPub. L. 109–163 (text)(PDF), the National Defense Authorization Act 2006, requiring that the battleships be kept and maintained in a state of readiness should they ever be needed again.[59] Congress ordered that measures be implemented to ensure that, if need be,Iowa could be returned to active duty.[59] These measures closely mirrored the original three conditions that the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 which laid out for the maintenance ofIowa while she was in the "mothball fleet".[24][60][61]
_superstructure.jpg)
In March 2007, the Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square (HSMPS) ofVallejo, site of the formerMare Island Naval Shipyard, and aStockton group submitted proposals to use the ship as a museum.[62] The HSMPS, which had attempted to place the ship in San Francisco, supported the Mare Island–Vallejo site. In October 2007 the Navy informed HSMPS that they were the only viable candidate to acquireIowa, and their application would be further reviewed after evidence was presented that financing was in place, and when the Stockton and San Francisco groups withdrew or failed to submit a final application respectively.[63][64] On 25 April 2009, Iowa Senate Resolution No. 19 was approved, endorsing HSMPS as USSIowa's custodian and supporting the battleship's placement at Mare Island.[65]
In February 2010, the Pacific Battleship Center (PBC)[66] supported the efforts to have the ship berthed inSan Pedro, Los Angeles, California.[67] In late February thePort of Los Angeles (which includes the San Pedro area) rejected a proposal by the PBC to berth USSIowa at its facilities because the battleship was not yet available.[68] On 12 April 2010, the Governor of Iowa signed into law Bill SJR2007, which officially formed a 10-member committee to raise about $5 million for the group awarded USSIowa.[69] The statement supporting the Vallejo group in the original Iowa State Senate's version SR19 was struck in favor of supporting any group actually awarded the battleship.[65]
On 13 May 2010, the Navy announced it would reopen the bidding process, citing HSMPS's lack of progress as the reason.[70] On 24 May 2010 the Federal Register officially reopened the bidding process for USSIowa to a California-based city or non-profit organization.[71][72]
On 18 November 2010, the Port of Los Angeles Harbor Commissioners voted unanimously on a resolution to support Berth 87 as the future home of USSIowa, clearing the way for The Pacific Battleship Center to send its completed application to the Navy.[73] On 6 September 2011, USSIowa was awarded to Pacific Battleship Center for placement at the Port of Los Angeles. After rehabilitation at thePort of Richmond, California (beginning in October 2011), she was towed to and eventually berthed in the Port of Los Angeles.[74][75]
Starting in December 2011, USSIowa was open for weekend tours. The Battleship Expo at the Port of Richmond included shipboard access and other exhibits such as 16-inch shells, a short film about the battleship, and other exhibits.[76] On 30 April 2012, USSIowa was officially donated to the Pacific Battleship Center in Los Angeles by the United States Navy.[77]
Iowa began her journey to the Port of Los Angeles on 26 May 2012 under tow by fourCrowley Maritime tugboats. After being anchored off the Southern California coast to have her hull scrubbed to remove any invasive species or contaminants, on 9 June 2012 she was permanently docked in San Pedro at Berth 87, along the Main Channel, directly south of theWorld Cruise Center. Themuseum opened to the public on 7 July, under the direction and control of Pacific Battleship Center.[78][79]
Iowa earned ninebattle stars for World War II service and two for Korean War service.[4] She has also earned the following awards:[72][80]
   | ||
 |   |  |
 |  |  |
 |  | .svg) |
.svg) |  |  |
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1989 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents |
|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
