U.S.S. Iowa (BB-61) To Be Permanently Displayed In Los Angeles!!!

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ocdart

ocdart

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Wow! I hadn't heard anything about this until I saw a small blurb online today. BB-61, U.S.S. Iowa, is going to be refurbished and go on permanent display in San Pedro. How cool is that? The scheduled opening date is July 4, 2012.


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Here's the story from the internet:

The USS Iowa will begin its trek to Richmond Thursday where the initial restoration of the ship will begin before it becomes an interactive museum at the Port of LA.
The battleship will be towed from Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet to the Benecia Car Dock. The ship will then be moved at 9 a.m. Friday to Richmond Pier 3.
The ship will stay there for three months for refurbishment until moving to Los Angeles. Its final home will be in San Pedro.
“We are bringing it back to life,” Pacific Battleship Center spokesman David Oates said. “We are honoring the sailors and the impact of the ship.”
The U.S. Navy awarded the USS Iowa to the Pacific Battleship Center, a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, in September.
"It is an incredible honor that the Navy has entrusted us (with the USS IOWA),” Oates said.
It is an honor to be trusted with the memories of those who have sacrificed in the 50 years of its work, Oates said.
Congresswoman Janice Hahn (CA-36) was involved in bringing the USS Iowa to San Pedro.
"Restoration work on the USS Iowa will begin this week, bringing us another step closer to having this remarkable piece of history in the Los Angeles area," said Hahn. "Not only will the ship educate thousands of visitors each year, it will spark local business creating new jobs.”
Once it is in Los Angeles, the ship will undergo additional refurbishment to bring it to the state of an interactive experience for guests. The opening is scheduled for July 4, 2012, but to meet that deadline the center is in need of more funds.
Center officials are hoping receive more donations to fully restore the ship to its original state. The center has already received 10 million from various groups such as the state of Iowa, Torrey Pines Bank, the USS Iowa Veteran’s Association and business and civic leaders
The center is calling on "plank owners” to make a donation of $25.
“Plank owners were the first crew of a new ship,” Oates said.
These members will receive special insights and behind the scene access of the ship before the general public.
The USS Iowa was commissioned in 1943 and served in battles dating from World War II to Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
 
thats pretty cool. definetly will be a place of interest
 

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I think it sucks. I have always thought we needed to recommission both BB61 and BB63. Far as I'm concerned, we need um "just cause".
 
I never have agreed that the Missouri belongs in Hawaii, for the reason that most of us will never be able to afford the trip. I do realize it is historically significant being there.

If we ever get my inherited estate sold, maybe I'll be able to afford to visit some of these museums. There are some great places around, and lots of good aviation display sites.

LA, though? Was that ever really a big navy town? To me, San Diego and San Francisco were the big navy towns
 
I saw the Mo in Subic Bay on probably one of its last deployments. It was awesome from a mile away! I remember them telling us grunts that an air burst salvo from its 18's could take out a grid square, about a square kilometer...Im glad LA is going to get it over San Diego, it would get lost in all the tourist ships already down there, Midway, Flat top row, etc. But they should put it in Long Beach, right in front of the Queen Mary and that punk Ruski sub as the infrastructure is already there.
 
they actually need to park it in the Rio Grand River...but that is another subject....

Glad to see the old Battle Wagon get out of the San Francisco Bay Area....It deserved better...

Will be looking forward to go to see it in South Cal...
 
I have not seen these big ships in a very long time :clock:
I was about 14 and seen some giants in Tampa Bay I believe.
Thank you for sharing this ocdart =D>
I say restore it and if need be, Have it ready to send it out again to protect our waters, but till then use it as a museum =D>
 
ocdart said:
Long Beach was a huge navy town before everything moved to San Diego.
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X2 The Navy base was known as Pier Point Landing. My Dad and Uncle used to take me and my cousins there to see the ships and to fish from the breakwater rocks. Todd Shipyards used to build destroyers and frigates in Long Beach. They also built 3 generations of submarines for Disneyland!!

It will be great to see and visit a Battlewagon in the local area.
 
With nothing but respect for the people who served on the ship and the ship itself, it will do much better as a place for people to visit and learn about the past. I state this because it really does fit in today's modern warfare plus it's loss would have a huge impact (more so on the old vs the young)
 
I agree with Stroker Scamp and the others, restore it and make it battle ready! I too saw an Iowa class at anchorage from about a mile away....it DWARFED the frigates and destroyers around it. If you looked real close you could see the smaller tincans...when the "Mo" pulled in and set anchor...Ray Charles could have seen it! You want to get a countries attention... anchor one of those in thier harbor and give em a deadline before it commences lobbing VW beetles at them! The rounds were 1600lbs and could be shot 26 miles!!!!! In truth I feel the Iowa should be towed right up the Mississippi and moored in Davenport Ia. Make its namesake the recipient of this fine museum!
 
Ture about thrm big shells screaming overhead. Talk about intimidation,but Im thinking cruise missiles are likely more effective and accurate.

Kinda cool thier keeping it around though.I'd be very tempted to tour one if it was nearby. Whats it cost to do that?
 
pishta said:
I remember them telling us grunts that an air burst salvo from its 18's could take out a grid square, about a square kilometer....
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16" main battery. The Japanese Yamato and Musashi were the only ones with the bigger 18" guns. But I read somewhere that a full broadside from one of these ships actually moves the 45,000 ton vessal sideways quite a bit! (You can see it in the first pic in this thread.)

It would be nice if it were refurbished to a point where it could be recommisioned in case of an emergency. There are some pretty nasty anti-ship missiles and torpedoes out there that the heavy armor these ships have would hold up better than the current smaller ships.

Whenever I travel to Lousiana or Texas, I have to drive through Mobile, AL with extra caution because the battleship Alabama is clearly visible in the bay off of I-10 and it's difficult not to stare at it. Never had an opportunity to visit because I always have my race car in tow and am on a tight schedule. The North Carolina in Wilmington, NC is also on my wish list as I always see billboards for it on I-95.


"Ture about thrm big shells screaming overhead. Talk about intimidation,but Im thinking cruise missiles are likely more effective and accurate."

The 16" guns were pretty accurate, especially with the newer fire control systems and the shells were a heck of a lot cheaper than a cruise missile.
 
needsaresto said:
Kinda cool thier keeping it around though.I'd be very tempted to tour one if it was nearby. Whats it cost to do that?
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I don't know, didn't see any pricing posted yet.
The U.S.S. Midway (CV-41) aircraft carrier is moored in San Diego as a museum with the following general admission costs:
$18 adults
$15 seniors (62+) and students with valid i.d.
$10 retired military with valid i.d.
$10 youth (ages 6-17)
Free for childred 5-under and active duty military, including reservists, with valid i.d.


I read online today that the ship was offered to the City of San Francisco a couple of years ago but the the city declined the offer stating that, as a peace-loving city, San Francisco was no place for a battleship. Excuse me, but what a crock!
Los Angeles will be PROUD to be the permanent home of such a wonderful piece of history.
 
About a month ago the USS Iowa was piloted (by a CMA alumni) through the carqinez strait and to Mare Island where it is getting refurbished. As it passed underneth the Carqinez bridge and in front of the Camifornia Maritime Academy all of us midshipman were lined up on the waterfront to render a salute. It was pretty neat. So if you guys would like to check out the ship before they turn it into a museum like the Midway :/ then you guys can look at it from the dock at Mare island(Bay area). Heres a picture of it crossing our campus.
 

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Visited the Midway a couple of years ago..took a bunch of pictures...

My Dad severed on the USS Block Island (CVE-21) one of the smaller escort carriers in the Atlantic during WWII.

They were sunk on May 29, 1944.
 
Last time I drove across the Benecia Bridge I noticed something missing. It was on the third row outside facing away from the bridge. Unmistakable. The fantail was lower than anything out there.
A few years ago My dad, brother, and I got a personal tour of the USS Hornet in Alameda. My dad served on the sister CVA-31, so we got a hook up. Changed my perspective on mechanicing.
 
Being from seattle we used to go to Bremerton occasionally, before they moved them they had the Missouri and the New Jersey moored together, along with the Midway, Forrestal, the Long Beach, the Ranger, the Oriskany was there for a bit, the Kitty Hawk and the Constellation.

I saw the Enterprise getting overhauled there, and you could take a tour of the Turner Joy, sister ship to the Maddox, infamous from the Gulf of Tonkin incedent.

Seeing all those huge grey ships sitting there as a little kid was pretty impressive, but you didnt understand all the history that was sitting there until you got older.

I had the chance to go tour the ship yard when i was older, a friend of mine got me a pass, it was right before the Missouri got recommisioned to go to the Gulf. The Missouri had always been a attraction, but you could never go anywhere but the main deck as it was still mothballed, but standing on the deck was a incredibe feeling, thinking what all went on there, wishing the ship could talk.

We got a pass to go on the Nimitz, it was being refurbished, you dont realize how big a aircraft carrier is, till your standing underneath it.

But you still gazed back at the two battleships sitting there together, realizing how bad @#$$ they must have looked sailing into a conflict together, and where they got that much steel to build them.

After the Gulf War, the Missouri came back to Seattle for Seafair, along with some other ships, you should have seen the line to tour the Missouri. Then they took it to Hawaii after that.

We went to Hawaii in 2002, and went to Pearl Harbor, and took the tour to the Arizona, I was sitting on the right side of the shuttle boat, when the boat turns a certain way, you can see the named battleship mooring areas and the Arizona Memorial together i suddenly got this major pissed off feeling, grrrrrr, anyway...

They have the Missouri sitting across the harbor, i understand the significance of it being there but i agree they should have all 3 (or are there 4 left) Battleships moored together somewhere that everyone can go see them. It was pretty expensive to take a tour of the ship, but you had full access to it, INCREDIBLE, its just amazing walking the ship and realizing the role this ship played in history. Just my story
 
rp23g7 said:
... you dont realize how big a aircraft carrier is, till your standing underneath it.
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You're 100% right on big!!!
Not quite 20 years ago, one of my co-workers told me my family was going to be part of her family the following weekend. I knew her son was a jet engine mechanic aboard the carrier Ranger. Turned out he had gotten us an invitation to be part of their "family day" cruise out to sea for the day out of San Diego.
Not only did we have almost free run of the ship for the day, we got to stand out on the flight deck as they launched F-14s and other aircraft off the waist catapults. Talk about a rush!!! They also did fly-bys breaking the speed of sound not far off the surface of the ocean, dropped live ordnance and just impressed the hell out of the audience.
You gotta do something like that if you ever get a chance. My kids still talk about it as one of their "growing up" highlights.
 
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