|
HISTORY
 USS
Iowa (BB-61) is the lead ship of her class of battleship and the
fourth in the United States Navy to be named in honor of the state
of Iowa. Owing to the cancellation of the Montana-class battleships,
Iowa is the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships
and was the only ship of her class to have served in the Atlantic
Ocean during World War II.
During World War II, she carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt
across the Atlantic to Mers El Kébir, Algeria, en route to a crucial
1943 meeting in Tehran with Prime Minister Winston Churchill of
Britain and Josef Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. She has a
bathtub—an amenity installed for Roosevelt, along with an elevator
to shuttle him between decks. When transferred to the Pacific Fleet
in 1944, Iowa shelled beachheads at Kwajalein and Eniwetok in
advance of Allied amphibious landings and screened aircraft carriers
operating in the Marshall Islands. She also served as the Third
Fleet flagship, flying Adm. William F. Halsey's flag at the Japanese
surrender in Tokyo Bay. During the Korean War, Iowa was involved in
raids on the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned
into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the
"mothball fleet." She was reactivated in 1984 as part of the
600-ship Navy plan and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific
Fleets to counter the recently expanded Soviet Navy. In April 1989,
an explosion of undetermined origin wrecked her No. 2 gun turret,
killing 47 sailors.
The Iowa was decommissioned for the last time in the year 1990, and
was initially stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1995. She
was reinstated from 1999 to 2006 to comply with federal laws that
required retention and maintenance of two Iowa-class battleships. In
2011 USS Iowa was donated to the Los Angeles–based non-profit
Pacific Battleship Center and was permanently moved to Berth 87 at
the Port of Los Angeles in 2012, where she was opened to the public
as the USS Iowa Museum.
Contents
1. World War II (1943–1945)
1.1 Shakedown and service with the Atlantic Fleet
1.2 Service with Battleship Division 7, Admiral Lee
1.3 Bombardment of Japan
2. Post World War II (1945–1949)
3. Korean War (1951–1952)
3.1 Post-Korean War (1953–1957)
4Reactivation (1982–1984)
4.1 Shakedown and NATO exercises (1984–1989)
4.2 1989 turret explosion
5 Reserve Fleet and museum ship (from 1990)
6 Awards
Iowa earned nine battle stars for World War II service and two for
Korean War service
|
