A Night on the Battleship [USS Iowa] Overnight Tour $125

Atlas Obscura ^ | 10/05/16 | Atlas Obscura

[wastoute]

One hell of a shotgun.

[KC_Lion]

I am Game.

Sadly I don't live in L.A.

In 2001 The Harbor Master of Benicia California was kind enough to give us a tour of the Reserve Fleet and I got REALLY close two The Iowa there.

It was amazing!

[doorgunner69]

So....the Iowa had 9 giant 16 inch antiaircraft guns on it’s flight deck? Got it.

Hey, this liberal urinalist was selected to be the military expert this day.

[jjotto]

heh heh

Many sources confuse the armaments for the Iowa.

[zaxtres]

I got paid to stay on an aircraft carrier. Will I pay to stay on a battleship? Our Navy is the best in the world! However, I am done staying on military ships.

[x1stcav]

Hell, I saw the discrepancies too and I wasn’t even in the Navy.

Still, I think they’re doing a service with these overnights.

[BenLurkin]

Used for launching flying submarines.

[norton]

I sincerely hope that Atlas Obscura's followers in general are significantly less clueless in their obscurity than the author of this piece.
But give her points for knowing how many nautical miles a battleship takes up.

[loungitude]

.

[SkyDancer]

Looks interesting. I did tour the USS Missouri when it was docked here at Bremerton,WA

[PapaBear3625]

I just had to go look. Yes, the 16 inch guns DID have anti-aircraft capability. At the link is a table of ranges and altitudes for the guns.

A 16 inch shell bursting within a hundred yards of an aircraft would likely take it down.

[BenLurkin]

The Japanese had munitions like that for their main batteries

[jjotto]

Those with Iowa state IDs get the basic tour for free.

BTW, here are the armaments made clearer:

https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/uss-iowa-bb-61-vs-ijn-yamato.5662/

...The Iowa-class battleships had nine 16-inch guns in three triple turrets. Each big gun had a range of 20.54 nautical miles (23.64 statute miles / 38 kilometers).

The Iowa-class battleships also bristled with anti-aircraft guns as part of their carrier escort role. These included 20 5-inch guns, 80 1.6-inch guns, and 49 .8-inch guns...

[JimRed]

...the USS Iowa had the biggest guns on any U.S. Navy ship, used primarily for anti-aircraft missions: nine 16-inch guns mounted on three stacked turrets on the flight deck (capable of carrying 2000 tons of firepower).

Who writes these things, and where do they get their so-called information? The only anti-air missions for which a 16 inch naval gun is suited is if the planes are on the ground at an airfield within range of the ship. You can't shoot down fast moving aircraft with slow moving big guns except by accident! And since when do battleships have a flight deck? < /ex-Navy 5" gun loader rant >

[JimRed]

A 16 inch shell bursting within a hundred yards of an aircraft would likely take it down.

But the retargeting time to aim on any individual moving target makes it thoroughly impractical.

[Cobra64]

Yeah, the author sounds like the same dopes who refer to bullets in clips. What a moron.

[GreyFriar]

I recall reading that the Japanese cruisers and battleships had “anti-aircraft” shells for their main 8in and 14/16 inch guns. The shells were used against YS Avenger torpedo bombers during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

[BunnySlippers]

Tours are tours ... but the overnight with dinner and breakfast in the mess hall!

They say no fishing equipment, or chewing gum allowed on board. And no booze!

[mad_as_he$$]

Could almost get me to go to LA.

[windcliff]

ping