The Ships of Battlegroup: United States Iowa (BB-61)

Displacement	48,425 tons	Belt Armor	12 inches
Overall Length	860 feet	Deck Armor	8.75 inches
Beam	108.25 feet	Main Turret Armor	18 inches
Speed	33 knots	Main Guns	9 × 16/50″

Prior to building BB-61 a number of ships with the Iowa name served in the United States Navy, including Battleship #4, a pre-dreadnought launched in 1897 that played a prominent part in the Spanish-American War of 1898. All United States dreadnought battleships were named after states, a custom that went back to the naming of wooden ships of the line during the age of sail and all battleships were assigned a hull number from 1920 that was normally displayed on the hull. The first modern United States battleships built since the 1920s were the two North Carolinas (North Carolina and Washington) and the four South Dakotas (Alabama, Indiana, Massachusetts, and South Dakota ) all of which could manage at least 27 knots and were among the most powerful battleships in the world.

Next, the U. S. Navy wanted a class of battleships capable of more than 32 knots for independent operations or for accompanying the fast aircraft carriers. The Iowa (BB-61) was the name ship of this six ship "fast" battleship class; of which four ships were completed (the others were Missouri, New Jersey and Wisconsin). The Iowa was laid down on June 27, 1940; launched on August 27, 1942 and commissioned on February 22, 1943. Iowa and her sisters were the world’s best battleships, although aircraft carriers had already stolen much of the thunder from their big guns. The new, longer 16 inch/50 caliber guns carried gave them more range and punch than any other U. S. battleships. Only the two larger Japanese Yamato class battleships, with their 18-inch guns and thicker armor could claim to match or excel them, although the Japanese vessels were much slower, had much inferior radar and would probably have fared poorly in a gun duel with the Iowas .

The Iowa spent 1943 in the Atlantic, watched for a sortie by the German battleship Tirpitz and carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) to the Cairo and Teheran conferences. In two incidents, Iowa grounded on July 16, 1943, requiring repairs and she was almost torpedoed by a friendly destroyer while Roosevelt was on board. Early in 1944, the ship was transferred to the Pacific. On March 18, 1944, while bombarding Mili Atoll in the Marshalls, she was hit by two Japanese 152mm shells for minor damage and two slight crew injuries. During the rest of 1944, BB-61 was constantly in action in raids on Japanese bases, the Marianas invasion and the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the invasion of the Philippines, including the decisive Battle of Leyte Gulf. In 1945, following an overhaul in San Francisco, Iowa participated in the invasion of Okinawa and bombardments of the Japanese home islands. Iowa was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945.

Decommissioned on March 24, 1949, she was re-commissioned on August 25, 1951 for the Korean War. She served as a bombardment vessel off the Korean coast and as Seventh Fleet flagship. After later operating with the Atlantic Fleet, she was once again placed out of commission in February 1958 and sat in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for almost 25 years. The Reagan administration’s naval defense buildup saw all four of the Iowas once again at sea, with major modernizations and long-range cruise missiles added to their big guns. The Iowa required much dockyard work and modernization after so many years in mothballs but was recommissioned in April 1984. During this deployment a fire in her second forward sixteen-inch gun turret killed 47 crewmen on April 19, 1989. BB-61 was decommissioned in October 1990 with the turret still un-repaired. She was towed from Rhode Island through the Panama Canal and arrived in San Francisco on April 20, 2001 where she is currently administered by the HISTORIC SHIPS MEMORIAL AT PACIFIC SQUARE ("HSMPS").

The Iowas usually accompanied the fast carriers, including: Enterprise, and the Essex class flattops like Hornet, Intrepid, Lexington and Yorktown .

Where did we get all these fascinating historical tidbits and factoids? See the Bibliography for the culprits.