Touring the battleship USS Iowa

[NWFlyer 2]

It was a beautiful day in Northern California yesterday, so monkycndo and I were looking for something fun to do (and we'd ruled out skydiving because of some lingering sinus issues). Scrolled through the event listings in the local paper and noticed that the battleship USS Iowa was right up the road from us in Richmond, CA, being cleaned up prior to moving to its permanent exhibit home in San Pedro, CA (near Long Beach). Perfect timing, too, since it's only been open a few weeks and will only be here a few more weeks.

The Wikipedia article has a great summary of the extensive history of the Iowa - the WWII section, particularly the part about Roosevelt's trip, is particularly interesting. And of course, it's had a tragic history, too, with the explosion of the #2 turret killing 47 in 1989.

The cleanup process is just beginning, so right now only the forward deck is open, but as you can see from the photos, it's still enough to get a good sense of the massive scale of the ship. The volunteers indicated that more sections may be opened in the next few weeks before it heads down to San Pedro, and eventually they hope to open the majority of the ship to tours. #2 Turret will remain closed in honor of those who died there.

All in all, a great way to spend an unusually-warm winter Sunday.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[NWFlyer 2]

Couple more photos.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[JohnRich 4]

You seem to be having an awful lot of fun fondling that big gun barrel...

Neat photos. I'm glad the ship is going to be preserved instead of cut-up for scrap. It's awesome to tour those things and think of what life was like for the sailors who manned them.

[JohnMitchell 16]

Cool shots, Krisanne. I liked the one of the shell in front of the silk powder bags. I've read many times of how battle ships fire "shells the size of Volkswagens." The weight of, maybe, but certainly no VW bug could squeeze out that barrel.

[rwieder 0]

Wow! Cool Pics of a piece of Americana. I'm jealous, you were there, and I wasn't! Best post with .jpegs I've ever seen here. Now go get some info & pics of the USS Arizona.

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

[NWFlyer 2]

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pics of the USS Arizona.

You first.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[kallend 2,150]

I visited the USS Missouri a couple of years ago.

Fascinated by how the Canadian delegate to the surrender of Japan signed on the wrong line on the surrender document. Canucks!

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[rwieder 0]

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You first.

That's a good one! BUT, NO you first!

-Richard-
"You're Holding The Rope And I'm Taking The Fall"

[Niki1 2]

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Cool shots, Krisanne. I liked the one of the shell in front of the silk powder bags. I've read many times of how battle ships fire "shells the size of Volkswagens." The weight of, maybe, but certainly no VW bug could squeeze out that barrel.

And they could throw that "wieght" of a VW 25 MILES. One of those ships could've been 2 miles off of Daytona Beach and pounded DeLand flat. Awesome firepower.

Most of the things worth doing in the world had been declared impossilbe before they were done.
Louis D Brandeis

Where are we going and why are we in this basket?