Posted on 05/12/2012 9:47:50 AM PDT by bigbob
Future USS IOWA Museum
The ship will be presented as a living ship, which provides at sea experiences. Auditory and visual backgrounds, interactive exhibits, and commemorative information will help visitors to understand the history and function of the USS IOWA over 50 years of service.
Key exhibits include:
The History of Gunner Ships from the Year 1400 to Present
History of the USS IOWA
History of U.S. Battleships
History of Allied and Axis Battleships
Rotating exhibits of particular interest
Battleship Research Library
Containing the most comprehensive library of every battleship built in the world, the library will be useful for students of battleship history as well as research scholars and enthusiasts. This will also be the center of our Oral History program, capturing the personal experiences of the service personnel who served on these ships.
Great to see this historic ship being preserved in this way. A little USS Iowa history via Wikipedia:
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 Casablanca en route to a crucial 1943 meeting in Tehran with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin. 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 #2 gun turret, killing 47 sailors.
Iowa was decommissioned for the last time in 1990, and was initially struck 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, Iowa was donated to the Los Angeles-based non-profit Pacific Battleship Center and will be permanently moved to the Port of Los Angeles to serve as a museum and memorial to battleships.
My understanding is that the 1989 gun turret explosion was caused by a lovers’ quarrel between two homosexual sailors. I can’t supply details on that, so don’t ask ‘cause I can’t tell.
Your understanding is the Navy’s official version. There have been other things that have come out over the years. The most damning is a report that the propellent bags in that turret came from a bad lot. Nothing has ever been proven that any of the sailors assigned to that turret were invoved in a sexual relationship. I believe that the propellent bags were the cause of the tragedy.
Your understanding is the Navy’s official version. There have been other things that have come out over the years. The most damning is a report that the propellent bags in that turret came from a bad lot. Nothing has ever been proven that any of the sailors assigned to that turret were invoved in a sexual relationship. I believe that the propellent bags were the cause of the tragedy.
I have applied for a job to work on developing the museum when it gets to So Cal. Say a prayer for me, I really need work!
If you getto Wiliongton, go see the North Carolina./
I have visited many of the ships on display and the North Carolina is definitely the best.
One day the Wisconsin at Virginia Beach may be a good display ,but right now it isn’t worth the trip.
I haven’t been since a kid but what few times I have ever been at the coast in SC or near NC, never could swing it. I’d like it.
I sometimes go to Patriot’s Point with the carrier and other ships.
Good luck.
The USS Iowa couldn't take it up the Mississippi to Davenport, let alone up the Des Moines River due to draft issues.
Didn’t the Navy retract the homosexual crew story a few years after the explosion ?
When I think of the Iowa, I think of Larry and Carla Sequist... which in turn make me want to barf. Larry’s not too bad (but still a raging leftist), but Carla makes Pelosi look like a conservative.
>>>I cannot think of a single reason the Iowa cannot be on permanent display in downtown Des Moines
Other than how in the sam hell would you get it here? Cut it up and weld it back together???
I bet many would say that is indeed the only option.
But we really need to keep our battleships ready, you never know when they will need to same mankind from an alien invasion when the hi tech ships fail.
Can’t we just put rockets on it and jump it from the Gulf? Nothing bad ever happens when a big ramp is around.
Other than how in the sam hell would you get it here? Cut it up and weld it back together???
“Other than how in the sam hell would you get it here?”
Well, that is one reason.
You gotta think big.
Where is The London Bridge?
ARIZONA!
The only thinkin’ I’m doing is you are nuttier than squirrel poop in a pecan grove... and that’s as big of thinkin’ as I’m gonna do on this subject.
Iowa Class Battleship beam: 108 ft
Iowa Class Battleship draft: 36 ft
St. Lawrence Seaway maximum length: 740 ft
St. Lawrence Seaway maximum beam: 78 ft
St. Lawrence Seaway maximum depth: 30 ft
Do you see a problem, Sparky?
On the Mississippi you have issues of bridge heights, channel depth less than 36 ft., turns in the river which an 890 ft. ship cannot maneuver, etc. In short, no way.
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