Home > Iowa class battleship

The Iowa class were constructed at two Navy Yards:

• Iowa (BB-61), built at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York;
• New Jersey (BB-62), built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard;
• Missouri (BB-63), built at the New York Navy Yard; and
• Wisconsin (BB-64), built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard

All four ships were recommissioned in the 1980s, only to be decommissioned after a few short years of service.

Currently, three of the ships are on display at the following locations:

USS New Jersey
On October 14, 2001, USS New Jersey opened as a museum at Camden , New Jersey.

USS Missouri
Located 1,000 yards from USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, Missouri was opened as a museum 29 January 1999. The museum is operated by the USS Missouri Memorial Association, a non-profit organization.

USS Wisconsin
Berthed in Norfolk, Virginia

1 General Characteristics (USS Iowa)

• Displacement: 45,000 tons (stand); 56,500 (mean war service)
• Length: 887'3"
• Beam: 108'2"
• Draft: 37'9"
• Speed: 33 knots
• Complement: 2,800
• Armament: Nine 16" guns; twenty 5" guns; 20 40mm quads; 47-52 20mm
• Max cruising radius:
  • 9,600 miles @ 25 knots
  • 16,600 miles @ 15 knots
• Horsepower: 212,000 (shaft)
• Drive: 4 screws; geared turbines
• Fuel: 9,033 tons oil (max)

1 Class History

The Iowa class was the last battleship line built by the United States before switching over to an aircraft carrierUSS John C. Stennis (left), and HMS Illustrious (right), showing the difference in size between a supercarrier and a typical aircraft carrier. An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft. Aircraft carriers thus allow based navy. The Iowas were unique for several reasons. First, these ships were designed as "fast attack" battleships. Secondly, all of them were designed to fit through the Panama canal with less than a foot to spare on either side. Third, all four of the Iowa class battleships were recommissioned and refitted under the Reagan administration as part of Reagan's " 600-ship NavyThe 600 Ship Navy was a plan put forth as a campaign plank by Ronald Reagan in 1980 to rebuild the United States Navy to its former size after post- Vietnam cutbacks. It was one of the ideas to rebuild the whole armed forces. The programme included: Recom" plan. Fourth, these ships actively particiapted in the U.S. navy thoughout the latter half of the twentith century. Lastly, all four of the ships are still in existance, which is unusual because the navy usually uses derlict ships to test weapons on before scuttling them or selling them for scrap.