Posted on 06/05/2004 8:43:57 PM PDT by Joe Hadenuf
05-06 JUNE 2004<
***4 SISTERS REUNION****
***USS IOWA - ***USS NEW JERSEY***
***USS MISSOURI - USS WISCONSIN***
Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the only time the four IOWA Class Battleships sailed together
June 7, 1954, was the only time all four of the IOWA class battleships sailed together.
It was only for a few hours and only a few pictures exist to show this very special event.
Join us for a very special celebration when these four ships will once again sail together.
The sister ships will once again sail together to celebrate their 50th Reunion! but this time on the airwaves!
05 - 06 June 2004 1200 UTC June 5 - 2359 UTC June 6, 2004
MISSION:
To celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the only time the four IOWA class battleships sailed together during their long history
PLAN OF THE DAY:
Each group will operate either from the actual ship, if possible, or within view of the ship Each ship's operating hours are shown below:
Call Sign Ship Location Operating Hours
TBD* USS IOWA (BB-61) San Francisco, CA TBD
NJ2BB USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) Camden, NJ 1200 UTC June 5 to 2359 UTC June 6, 2004
KH6BB
USS MISSOURI (BB-63) Pearl Harbor, HI 1700z to 0500z June 5-6 and June 6-7, 2004
N4WIS
USS WISCONSIN (BB-64) Norfolk, VA 1200z June 5 to 2359z June 6, 2004
*The Iowa will be represented by the Liberty Ship SS O'Brien because access to the USS Iowa is restricted. The O'Brien will be underway in San Francisco Bay, helping us out with 4 Sisters as well as celebrating the 60th anniversary of D-day.
FREQUENCIES USED: Call Sign Ship SSB CW
TBD* USS IOWA (BB-61) TBD
TBD
NJ2BB
USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) 7250 14250 21250 28450 7050 14050 21050 28050
KH6BB USS MISSOURI (BB-63) 14263 18163 21263 28463 14063 18083 21063 28063
N4WIS USS WISCONSIN (BB-64) 7245 14245 21245 28445 7045 14045 21045 28045
Frequencies used will depend on propagation, and may be adjusted +/- 20 kHz for QRM. Check the DXCluster on the days of the event for exact frequencies.
CONTACTS: Contact each of the four ships at least once on any band or mode, to be eligible for the Certificate. You may contact each ship as often as you wish on different bands or different modes. You need only make one contact per ship to qualify for the Certificate.
QSL INFORMATION: QSL cards for contacts will be handled by each individual ship. To receive a QSL card, send an SASE (or SAE with one IRC or "green stamp") to the addresses below for each ship contacted. DO NOT SEND ALL QSL REQUESTS TO ONE SHIP.
Ship
Call Sign QSL Manager Address
Iowa TBD
New Jersey NJ2BB KB2BRR Margaret Burgess, 150 Schooner Ave, Barnegat, NJ 08005 USA
Missouri KH6BB KH6BB 981547 Akaaka Street, Aiea, HI 96701-3051 USA
Wisconsin N4WIS KT4P 4821 Rosecroft Street, Virginia Beach, VA 23464 USA
CERTIFICATE: Anyone who contacts all four ships during this special event, and would like a special certificate, can send a copy of their log entries (call, time, date, frequency) plus a "donation" to the address below. Contacts will be compared to the logs submitted by each ship. If the entries are verified, a special "4 Sisters Reunion Certificate" will be issued to the operator.
To get your special "4 Sisters Reunion" Certificate send $5.00 donation to cover cost of printing and handling. Certificate requests should be sent to:
Margaret Burgess 150 Schooner Ave Barnegat, NJ 08005 USA
Four Sisters Special Event!
Way cool. God bless the men who man these ships.
Yeah, it is pretty cool.
May the propagation gods be with ya'll!!!
Heavy duty thrusters!
Ship closest to the camera is USS Iowa (BB-61).
The others are (from near to far):
USS Wisconsin (BB-64);
USS Missouri (BB-63) and
USS New Jersey (BB-62).
And don't forget the "best bent wire"
Nice shot!!
Bump. That would be some nice wallpaper for the shack. I'll give it a go on 20m CW tomorrow.
BTW, is there an FR ham radio ping list?
Oh, and I don't know if there is a ping list or not. If you start one, put me on it.
73s
73
I was on the USS Missouri in the late 70s in Long Beach. Contacting the ship today in Perl Harbor by radio was a *big* kick for me.
Yikes....
Can you confirm regular cw contact I use to make with a ham friend aboard NJ in the 60's??
just kiddin
I made two cruises aboard the USS Independence in 82-84. The New Jersey was on Bagel Station off the coast of Beirut at the same time. Impressed the heck out of me. One fact that really sticks in my mind about the Iowa class BBs was a story I read in the Navy Times when they were being reactivated. The fire control computers for the 16" guns were the same analog units that had gone into service back in the 40s. Upgrades were considered, but digital technology wouldn't have been any faster or more reliable than the old workhorses used in WWII. Pretty cool.
Think about the level of microprocessor technology available in the early 80's. Also, consider the advantages of analog computers when it comes to tracking realtime events (it's akin to parallel processing). The old analogs were, I'm sure, a much better solution.
BTW, those fire control computers were about the size of a compact car. They probably would have had to cut away a bulkhead or 2 just to be able to winch the darn things out.
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