Posted on 12/24/2015 6:47:59 PM PST by iowamark
SAN PEDRO, California- The Battleship USS Iowa will welcome the University of Iowa Hawkeye fans to the Rose Bowl, by firing it's 5 inch guns in celebration. These are the small guns on the side of the ship. A pep rally will be held on the dock in front of the USS Iowa on Thursday December 31, from 12 to 5 p.m..
The guns may be fired around 4 p.m..
All Iowa fans are invited to the free rally. Food and drink will be available through local vendors.
Because of the State of Iowa providing $3 million toward the restoration of the ship, any Iowa resident is given free admission to the floating ship museum. In addition, any University of Iowa student with a student id will also be given free admission, even if they are not from Iowa. The free admission to U of I students is extended through January.
"We have had Iowa by the sea, they do have their annual picnic at the ship," said Andrew Bossenmeyer, spokesman for the USS Iowa. "But as far as the amount of attention the Rose Bowl is getting, we have not seen this, we are looking forward to having Iowans visit, they have been very supportive of us."
The guns on the ship are only fired on special occasions. This could be the largest gathering of Iowans to ever visit the ship in its' four year history as a museum.
The ship is located in the Los Angeles Harbor, across from the Long Beach Ship Yards, where huge container ships unload.
Trump rally on board the USS IOWA.
5” gun is hardly worth the effort. 16” gun is a whole different matter.
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Is there any ordnance left? Don’t forget the gun mechanical stuff and barrel liners. I doubt any is left that is remotely usable. Sad in a way.
The 16” rounds and powderbags used in d first Gulf War were produced in the 1940s. With proper storage, munitions will pretty much have an unlimited shelf life.
Look at the bow of the ship, the streaks below the water line show the lateral movement of the ship.
Yeah, I noticed that. Must have been something to actually been on board.
Probably gets old if you’re doing shore bombardment though.
Is there any ordnance left? Don’t forget the gun mechanical stuff and barrel liners. I doubt any is left that is remotely usable. Sad in a way.
Finally, all four of these arguably antique ships and their remaining 20,000 rounds of 16-inch shells were stood back up in the 1980s
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The Navy held on to 22 of these giant, slightly used barrels as late as 2011, when it decided that it just didn’t need them anymore. These barrels had all seen wartime service and were rotated out into storage during refits. In a fit of spring-cleaning on a massive scale, 14 of the barrels, stored in Hawthorne, Nevada, were cut into 8-foot sections and sold for scrap. Eight barrels, located at the St Juliens Creek Naval Annex in Chesapeake, Virginia, were given a brief reprieve to see if anyone wanted them or they would suffer the same fate.
‘’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’
the last two remaining barrels at St Juliens are only being held on a month to month basis.
Each gun weighs 120-tons and is over 68-feet long, which would require special lift cranes and a dedicated oversize hauler or rail flatbed that could transport the immense load from Chesapeake, Virginia.
Some 1,500 inert 16-inch projectiles, each 65 inches tall and weighing 1,750 pounds, are also up for donation. More centrally located, they are stored at Crane Naval Weapons Center in Indiana. If you know some organization that could take a shell or twenty, that’s good, if you know one that can take a cannon, that’s great. Contact Terry McGovern with the CSDG at tcmgovern@att.net or 703-934-3661.
The largest battleship ever put to sea, the Japanese mega warships of the Yamato class, carried armor up to 26-inches thick. While no Iowa class battleship ever fought a Yamato, a section of 26-inch armor plate for these Japanese beasts was found at Kure Naval Base after World War 2. Settling a great historic ‘what if’, the plate was shipped to the US Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia and in tests, was shot at by a 16-inch/50cal armor-piercing round. The results? Zipped right through it like butter. To ensure bragging rights, the armor is on display at the US Navy Museum just in case anyone asked to see the math.
I had no idea.
Thank you.
I remember reading about a soldier involved in the retaking of Seoul Korea from the port of Inchon. He was near the west bank of the Han river and was taking machine gun fire from a North Korean from the opposite bank. He noticed this “Major” calling in coordinates on a radio. A few moments later what sounded like a freight train rolling overhead and a tremendous explosion erupted where the machine gunner was. The Major was a Lieutenant Commander and forward observer for a battleship anchored in Inchon harbor. The crater filled in with fresh water overnight there in Seoul.
There were nine different types of shells used over the 50-year lifespan of the guns, the smallest were 1750-pound inert target rounds, and the largest were 2700-pound super heavy Armor Piercing Mk 8 battleship killers.
Let’s Go Hawks!!!!!
That is impressive.
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