USS Iowa (BB-61)

The Iowa with the frigate Halyburton (rear), 1985
Overview
Order	July 1, 1939
Keel laying	June 27, 1940
Launch	August 27, 1942
1. Period of service
Commissioning	February 22, 1943
Decommissioning	October 26, 1990
Whereabouts	Museum ship
Technical specifications
displacement	approx. 45,000  tn. l. ( Standard ); approx. 57,500 ts (fully loaded)
length	270.43 meters
width	32.98 meters
Draft	11.6 meters
crew	Between 1500 and 2800
drive	4 propellers, driven by 4 steam turbines; 212,000  wave horsepower (158  MW ); 8  steam boilers
speed	33 knots
Armament	Originally 3 × triple towers 406 mm, 10 × twin mounts 127 mm flak. Later partially replaced by 32 cruise missiles and 16 anti-ship missiles

The USS Iowa (BB-61) was a battleship of the United States Navy and the lead ship Iowa-class battleship . It entered service in 1943 and was deployed in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II that same year . In 1944 she moved to the Pacific and took part in the Pacific War, where she took over the air defense for aircraft carriers and later bombarded the main Japanese islands. As part of the downsizing of the US armed forces after the end of the war, it was decommissioned for the first time in 1949, but was kept in reserve.

Two years later, Iowa was reactivated to fire its 406-millimeter ammunition against North Korean targets during the Korean War . After the armistice was declared in 1953, the battleship remained in service for four years and then went back to reserve. The Iowa remained there during the Vietnam War . Modernization only began in 1982 , when Iowa was reactivated as part of the Navy of 600 Ships on the orders of US President Ronald Reagan . In 1989, the propellant charge for the medium gun exploded in tower # 2, killing 47 crew members. The damage was no longer repaired, in 1990 the battleship was taken out of service for the last time, but was still in the reserve fleet . In 2006 she was permanently removed from the Naval Vessel Register . This means that the Iowa was in service for less than 19 years between 1943 and 1990.

In April 2012, the Navy officially handed the ship over to the Pacific Battleship Center , which the Iowa opened as a museum ship on July 7, 2012 in the port of Los Angeles .

technology

→ Main article : Iowa class

The 1945 Iowa in dry dock at Hunters Point

The Iowa is the lead ship of the Iowa class. This class of ship was around 270 meters long and 33 meters wide. These dimensions were chosen according to the Panamax specification so that such battleships could fit into the locks of the Panama Canal and thus switch quickly between the Pacific and Atlantic. The Iowa's displacement corresponded only on paper to the upper limit of 35,000 ts set at the London Naval Conference  of 1936 . When fully loaded, it was actually around 58,000 ts. The Iowa was powered by four screws, each of which received its energy from a high-pressure and a low - pressure steam turbine . At 33 knots, the Iowa-class ships were the fastest battleships ever. This was bought, however, with the waiver of further expansion of the armor compared to the previous class , which other navies, however, preferred.

The main artillery of the battleship consisted of nine guns of the caliber 16 inches (40.6 centimeters), which were combined in two triple turrets on the forecastle and another on the stern . With a range of up to 40 kilometers, these weapons could be used against sea and land targets. In addition, the Iowa initially had five multi-purpose twin guns of 5 inches (12.7 centimeters) and numerous smaller anti-aircraft guns of 40 and 20 millimeters caliber on each side of the superstructure . Since some of them had already proven to be inefficient against rapidly approaching enemy aircraft due to their short range and penetration power during World War II, this secondary armament was removed over the years. During the modernization from 1982, Iowa received several types of modern guided missiles: 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles in eight Armored Box Launchers , 16 AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles and four Phalanx CIWS short-range defense systems were distributed around the superstructure. The two aircraft on board had already been replaced by helicopters after the Second World War .

history

Planning and construction

Gun crews during testing

The planning for the ships of the Iowa class began in 1938, the Iowa was laid down as the lead ship as the first of the six planned units; only the first four were actually completed: USS Iowa (BB-61), USS New Jersey (BB-62) , USS Missouri (BB-63) , USS Wisconsin (BB-64) . BB-61 was commissioned on July 1, 1939, and the contract shipyard was the New York Naval Shipyard in Brooklyn , New York City . The keel was laid there on June 27, 1940. The battleship stayed in dry dock for 26 months, and the shipyard invested 30 million man-hours in the construction. On August 27, 1942, it was finally launched and christened. As godmother, Ilo Wallace , wife of the then US Vice President Henry Wallace , smashed the champagne bottle on the bow and spoke the traditional words “I christen thee Iowa. May God guard the Iowa and all who sail in her. " (Eng. "I baptize you Iowa. May God protect Iowa and all who ride on it." ). In the next few months the Iowa was fully equipped and tested. It was finally put into service on February 22, 1943. The solemn ceremony took place on the pier of the shipyard in New York.

Two days later, the Navy began to extensively test their new battleship. The Iowa spent the next few months in Chesapeake Bay and off the Atlantic coast, testing the drive and weapon systems. She then returned to her shipyard for minor corrections.

First period of service (1943–1949)

Second World War

Roosevelt's bathtub on board the Iowa

On August 27, 1943, the Iowa entered World War II as the newest battleship in the US Navy . She was sent to the North Atlantic, where the Allies suspected the German battleship Tirpitz . The Iowa was supposed to counter this danger to the supply convoys . However, in October she withdrew without seeing the Tirpitz or other German units. Then she docked in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard to have minor modifications made. The Iowa was equipped to bring US President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic. For Roosevelt, who is largely dependent on a wheelchair, a bathtub was installed - a unique feature on board a US warship.

On November 11th, the Iowa left the US coast with a combat group of three destroyers. On board were Roosevelt, Secretary of State Cordell Hull , Chief of Naval Operations Ernest J. King and other high-ranking military officials. The delegation was on its way to the Tehran conference , and Iowa was the means of travel of choice to Casablanca . While casting off, one of the escorts, the destroyer William D. Porter, had a mishap when the destroyer's anchor brushed against a sister ship lying alongside and damaged it. Only one day later, there was a group in waters where German submarines were suspected, lost Porter a water bomb that detonated upon reaching the preset depth. The ships assumed a submarine attack and immediately began evasive maneuvers until the Porter broke the radio silence and clarified the situation. Two days later, President Roosevelt called for a demonstration of the anti-aircraft capabilities of his vehicle. Balloons rose from Iowa and were destroyed by artillery. The Porter was then supposed to simulate a torpedo attack. However, after a torpedo had been fired sharply, the destroyer had to break the radio silence again, and the group carried out another evasive maneuver. The weapon eventually detonated about 3,000 yards behind the Iowa in the ship's wake. The Porter was then withdrawn from the group and diverted to Bermuda , where the crew was interrogated on the basis of the incidents. Without further incident, the Iowa reached Casablanca and deposited the delegation there. After the conference ended, she accepted her again in December and brought her back to America.

The Iowa during target practice in the Pacific in 1944

On January 2, 1944, the Iowa left the US east coast with her sister ship New Jersey and reached the Pacific through the Panama Canal , where the ships were to fight Japan in the Pacific War . She became part of Task Force 58 . At the end of January, the Iowa first intervened in combat operations when they escorted the aircraft carriers involved during the Battle of Kwajalein . In mid-February, Iowa participated in the destruction of the Japanese base on Truk , code-named Operation Hailstone . The task of the Iowa and New Jersey was to attack Japanese ships that wanted to flee from the attack. On February 19, the destroyer escorts - Burns and Bradford and the heavy cruisers New Orleans and Minneapolis were in the group - sighted  a Japanese convoy that had already been attacked by the carrier aircraft. After the destroyers shot down their torpedoes, they turned and left the field to the heavy ships. The Japanese cruiser Katori , which was already immobilized by damage from previous air strikes , was sunk by gunfire by the Iowa and sank with its crew of around 300 men. Although large numbers of survivors were sighted, no one was picked up. In March, Iowa first fired on ground targets when the combat group attacked the base on Mili Atoll . In late March and April, it again offered air protection for the aircraft carriers that launched their warplanes against targets on the Palau Islands , New Guinea and Wake , among others . On April 29th, it fired at targets on Truk, then on May 1st on Ponape in order to use the island hopping strategy to advance towards the main Japanese islands.

Iowa (left) next to Missouri after the fighting ends

In June, the Iowa took part in the attack on the Mariana Islands as a porter , and they fired at positions on Saipan and Tinian . On June 19, the Battle of the Philippine Sea , the great Japanese counterattack , began . Several Japanese capital ships and around 500 aircraft were lost in the battle, while the US Navy lost fewer than 150 aircraft. The Iowa had little contact with the enemy and only shot down three planes. The battleship stayed with the Mariana Islands until the end of July, assisting air strikes on the Palau Islands and landing on Guam in the Battle of Guam . In August, the crew was given a period of rest from the war effort, Iowa was in the Eniwetok Atoll. There she cast off on September 17 to secure carrier attacks on the Philippines and the Carolines . In October it supported the air strikes on the Ryūkyū Islands and Formosa, as well as Luzon and Leyte . After these attacks began, Japanese forces struck back in a final attempt to stop the US Navy on its way across the islands. At the beginning of the sea ​​and air battle in the Gulf of Leyte , the Japanese Navy succeeded in luring the majority of the American forces out of the Gulf of Leyte. The group, which also included the Iowa , left the Gulf to attack a decoy fleet in the north. Meanwhile, a much more powerful Japanese fleet came from the west through the San Bernardino Strait into the Gulf of Leyte. The Iowa then turned to to assist the defeated American ships remaining in the Gulf. Before reaching the Gulf, however, the Japanese fleet had been defeated and retreated west. After the battle, the battleship remained in the region to escort the porters. In Typhoon Cobra was Iowa damaged on 17 December. The battleship rolled up to 45 °, a drive shaft had to be replaced. To do this, the Iowa returned to home waters. The overhaul took place at the Hunters Point Shipyard in San Francisco , where the ship arrived on January 15, 1945.

Only two months later, the Iowa was already at sea again, on April 15, 1945, she reached Okinawa , where she protected the porters from air raids in the Battle of Okinawa . From the end of May, attacks on the main Japanese islands followed, initially Kyūshū . In July, the battleship then fired at industrial targets in Muroran on Hokkaidō and in Hitachi on Honshū . Until the armistice on August 15, Iowa remained off the main Japanese islands. She entered Tokyo Bay on August 29th . For the signing of the surrender of Japan on Iowa's sister ship Missouri , Admiral William Halsey used the Iowa as a flagship . After the ceremony ended, she left Japanese waters and reached Seattle on October 15 .

Post-war years

In early 1946, the Iowa was back in front of Tokyo, where it served as the flagship of the 5th US fleet. She then returned to the US coast in March. From Long Beach, California , she took part in maneuvers and training trips for reservists and midshipmen . From October, the battleship was overhauled and modernized in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard . New radars were retrofitted there and many of the small-caliber anti-aircraft guns were removed. In the following two years, the Iowa operated regularly off the west coast on training and instruction trips.

In September 1948, the Iowa went into dry dock in San Francisco to be mothballed. On March 24, 1949, she was decommissioned and assigned to the reserve fleet.

Second period of service (1951–1958)

Korean War

Iowa during the coastal fire off Korea

Only two and a half years later, Iowa was reactivated on August 25 because of the Korean War that broke out in 1950 . The ship and crew received refresher training over the next few months, and in March 1952 the voyage to the Far East began. On April 1, the Iowa left the advanced base in Yokosuka , eight days later they began shelling North Korean troops in the region between Wŏnsan and Sŏngjin . The battleship stayed there for the next few days; in an attack on troop concentrations, the guns killed 100 North Korean soldiers. Until the end of May, Iowa shelled industrial and infrastructure targets along North Korea's coast, from Ch'ŏngjin in the north to Kosong near the 38th parallel. On May 25 alone, the Iowa fired 202 16-inch projectiles in eleven hours at the industrial areas of Ch'gebietengjin, which were completely destroyed after the attack. On May 28, 95 North Korean soldiers were killed in attacks on troop concentrations.

On June 1, the Iowa set course for Sasebo to bunker there. In the same month, she resumed the coastal bombardment, including the port of Hangnam . At times she also operated off the west coast in the Yellow Sea . However, partly because of fear of submarine attacks, this remained a one-time attempt. After the destroyer Thompson had suffered a direct hit on the bridge from a coastal gun battery at Sŏngjin on August 20 , the Iowa covered the retreat of the damaged ship and picked up the wounded. In September General Mark Clark , commander of US forces in Korea, was embarked to watch for gun strikes by the Iowa . On October 17, the Iowa drove back through the Panama Canal to the east coast, where it was overtaken at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard . This was followed by practice drives in the Caribbean.

Trips in the Atlantic

The Iowa was no longer sent to Korea after its overhaul after the ceasefire agreement was signed in July 1953. Instead, she drove in July in Operation Mariner , a NATO maneuver in northern European waters. Meanwhile, she served as the flagship for Vice-Admiral Edmund T. Wooldridge , the commander of the 2nd US Fleet. The battleship remained off the US coast for the following months. During a training voyage off Guantánamo Bay , the Iowa met all three sister ships for the only time in June 1954.

Iowa spent the first four months of 1955 on a midshipmen training voyage in the Mediterranean; Visits to several European ports were part of the program. After their return an overhaul in Norfolk followed. In the summer of 1956, Iowa again visited England and Denmark on a training trip. In early 1957, the battleship sailed in the Mediterranean, in the summer it took part in the fleet parade off Hampton Roads , Virginia . In September it then took part in the NATO exercise Strikeback in the North Atlantic off Scotland. In October, the Iowa docked in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , where preparations were made to deactivate it again. On February 24, 1958, she was officially decommissioned and assigned to the reserve fleet off Philadelphia. There she was mothballed next to her sister ship Wisconsin .

Third period of service (1984–1990)

Reinstatement

Modernization at Ingalls 1983

A 2/3 broadside - here during a target exercise near the island of Vieques on July 1, 1984 - creates shock waves on the surface of the water

In the early 1980s, President Ronald Reagan planned a massive armament of the US military. For the US Navy, Secretary of the Navy John Lehman designed the “ Navy of 600 Ships ” program. Among other things, this provided for all four Iowa- class battleships to be retrieved from the reserve fleet. The Iowa was towed out of Philadelphia's port in 1982. Docking work was done at Avondale Shipyards in New Orleans and modernization was carried out at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula . Among other things, modern radar and weapon systems were retrofitted. The old small-caliber guns, on the other hand, were removed - if this was not done before the Korean War - because they would have been completely ineffective against the current combat aircraft and anti-ship missiles .

On April 28, 1984, the Iowa was returned to service before the twice advanced date and within the specified cost. The ceremony took place at Ingalls Pier, where the modernization had taken place. Only two days later, the crew began shooting training, among other things the restricted area of Vieques in Puerto Rico was used intensively to test the guns. After completing the exercises in July, the voyage to the Pacific began in early August, where the Iowa sailed off the coast of Nicaragua to monitor the situation of the Sandinista government, which Reagan wanted to destabilize. The crew also provided humanitarian aid in Guatemala . In September, the Iowa returned to Naval Station Norfolk , their home port. After a week-long port visit to New York in October, the Iowa took part in a maneuver off Puerto Rico in November.

Maneuvers in the Atlantic

The Iowa fires a full broadside

In February 1985, the Iowa sailed off Central America again, testing the concept of a Battleship Surface Action Group (SAG), a combat group made up of several ships grouped around a battleship. In April the ship went to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for overhaul for three months. In August, the Ocean Safari exercise was scheduled , during which the battleship trained together with an SAG on how to defend supply convoys from the US west coast to northern Europe against Soviet attacks. A total of 160 warships from ten countries, including the German frigate Bremen , took part in this naval exercise, the largest until then in peacetime . The exercise ended in September with port visits to France, Denmark and Norway. In September Iowa took part in BALTOPS , a maneuver in the Baltic Sea. Among other things, the Iowa drove in close association with the German destroyer Mölders . At the end of the maneuver, the Iowa and the missile cruiser Ticonderoga lay in front of the Tirpitzhafen in Kiel from October 18 to 26 . During this time, the association completed a mine-clearing maneuver with the 3rd minesweeping squadron , which was then based in Kiel, under Fkpt. Fright.

Iowa refueled the Schleswig-Holstein

In late 1985 and early 1986, the Iowa sailed in Central American waters to show its presence there. In July, the battleship took place in the international naval show off New York, President Reagan took the parade from the Iowa bridge . In September, the NATO exercise Operation Northern Wedding followed off the coast of Norway. Resupply security for Europe was trained again, as was the amphibious landing of troops on the Norwegian coast. Among other things, the Iowa sailed in association with the German ships Schleswig-Holstein and Rommel . After visiting ports in England and Bremerhaven , the battleship left Europe. The Iowa was the first battleship to launch a drone during exercises off Chesapeake Bay . The AAI RQ-2 Pioneer missile was caught by a net on the helicopter platform after a test flight. In the first half of 1987 several exercises followed in the Caribbean.

In September, the Iowa moved again to European waters, for the first time in 30 years in the Mediterranean. After a maneuver, she docked in Istanbul . At the end of October, the crew trained on exercises in the North Sea and visited Trondheim before the Iowa entered the Indian Ocean through the Mediterranean and the Suez Canal in late November. After a stopover in Diego Garcia, the battleship protected tankers from the beginning of 1988 when entering and leaving the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will . The mission ended at the end of February and the ship returned to Norfolk through the Suez Canal. Between May and August, Iowa was in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for overhaul. She spent the rest of 1988 in the Caribbean on training drives. The crew also exercised in 1989.

Explosion in turret number 2

Smoke emerges from turret # 2

On April 19, 1989, an explosion destroyed turret number 2 during a target practice off Puerto Rico. The turret crew was loading six sacks of propellant - each weighing over 50 kilograms - into the middle of the three guns when the explosion was triggered. The projectile was a non-explosive training grenade. To prevent the fire from spreading further, the gunpowder magazine was flooded and the fire in tower 2 was extinguished within 80 minutes. 47 people died on board, a total of 58 people were in the turret. The eleven survivors were on the lower floors of the tower, which extends six decks into the ship's belly. Immediately after the explosion, the Iowa drove back to Norfolk under its own power.

An investigation conducted by the Navy and the Naval Investigative Service found evidence that a petty officer deliberately set off the explosion in order to commit suicide. He was in a relationship with another Navy soldier that had deteriorated in the period before the explosion. As the person responsible for the middle tube, he placed a detonator between two of the propellant sacks that triggered the explosion. The names of both soldiers were mentioned in the press. In October 1991, Chief of Naval Operations Frank B. Kelso apologized to the alleged suicide's family, saying there was no evidence to support the theory. Previously, under pressure from Congress , the Navy had initiated an independent investigation by scientists from Sandia National Laboratories . This investigation indicated that the propellant could also have self-ignited.

Recent trips and decommissioning

As early as June 6, 1989, only one and a half months after the explosion, the Iowa was relocated again, and turret No. 2 was sealed. For six months, the ship went on a training voyage in the Mediterranean and the North Sea. Among other things, it was back in front of Kiel. Between August and November, the Iowa was the flagship of the US Mediterranean fleet, while the regular flagship Belknap was in the shipyard. In December the Iowa returned to Norfolk, where it was prepared from early 1990 in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for the upcoming decommissioning, which was brought forward because of the unrepaired explosion damage.

On October 26, 1990, the decommissioning was officially completed at the pier of the Norfolk Naval Base.

Since the final decommissioning (since 1990)

The Iowa 2006 in Suisun Bay

As after the Korean War, the Iowa was mothballed in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. In 1995 she was removed from the Naval Vessel Register  - the official ship register of the US Navy - along with her three sister ships. This sparked controversy in the United States , as it was how the last ships with large-caliber guns went off. This would have made it impossible for the US military to shoot beaches ready for storming for landing companies. A year later, in the National Defense Authorization Act 1996 , Congress decided to return two Iowas to the reserve fleet. The Navy chose Wisconsin and New Jersey for this. However, since the latter had already been partially demilitarized, the Navy exchanged it for the Iowa in 1999 .

In 2006 it was - presumably permanently - removed from the register. However, Congress again insisted  on being able to reactivate Iowa  - like Wisconsin - in an emergency. That is why it was imposed on the Navy that the ships should not be demilitarized and technically maintained, even if they were donated as museum ships. In addition, the Navy must keep sufficient spare and consumable materials such as projectiles in stock and draw up process plans for a return to service.

As early as September 1998, the Iowa had been towed from Philadelphia to the Naval War College and Naval Education and Training Center in Newport , Rhode Island . In 2001 the battleship was towed again and assigned to the reserve fleet in Suisun Bay , San Francisco . The organizer was Senator Dianne Feinstein , who hoped the ship could be opened as a museum in her home country. In 2005, the San Francisco City Council rejected plans to keep the ship in town. Reasons were, among other things, the prevailing rejection of the Iraq war in the city and the attitude of the military towards homosexuals. As a result, groups in Stockton and Vallejo stepped up their efforts on the Iowa . Ultimately, the Navy rated the Vallejo offer as the better and began exclusive talks with the aim of mooring the battleship to the piers of the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard . After the talks stalled, however, the Navy reopened the bidding process in May 2010 for six months. In September 2010, the city of Los Angeles announced that it would support plans to bring the ship to San Pedro . A year later, the US Navy announced that the Iowa would go to San Pedro and open there as a museum ship in the Port of Los Angeles . In the fall of 2011, the Iowa was towed to Richmond , where it was overhauled.

On April 30, 2012, the Navy officially handed the ship over to the museum operator Pacific Battleship Center . The tow trip from San Francisco to Los Angeles began on May 26th, and Iowa was opened as a museum on July 7th .

Media reception

In the 1978 novel The Death Flight of the Cargo 03 by Clive Cussler , the then decommissioned Iowa was bought by a South African front company in order to commit a terrorist attack on Washington, DC by being shot at with ship grenades developed in the 1950s and filled with deadly bacteria .

In the 2001 television film The Iowa Inferno ( A Glimpse Of Hell ) by Mikael Salomon , the explosion in Tower 2 was thematically taken up and used as an essential part of the plot. The commanding officer was portrayed by James Caan .

In the American film American Warships , shot in 2012, an alien invasion can be stopped with the help of the USS Iowa.

literature

• Malcolm Muir: The Iowa Class Battleships: Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri & Wisconsin. Blandford Press, Poole 1987, ISBN 0-7137-1732-7 .
• Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Comeback of the IOWA class. The American battleships from 1941 to the present day. Bernard & Graefe, Munich 1989, ISBN 3-7637-5862-3 .
• Stefan Terzibaschitsch: The last giants of the seas. Bernard & Graefe, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-7637-5961-1 .

Web links

Commons : USS Iowa (BB-61)  - Collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

• History of Iowa in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
• Site of the USS Iowa (BB-61) Veteran's Association (English)
• Pictures of the Iowa at history.navy.mil (English)
• Images of the Iowa at navsource.org (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The Navy Yard Shipworker (PDF; 3.5 MB). Volume 1, Issue 16, August 27, 1942
2. ↑ Veterans Association of the USS Iowa: Newsletter ( Memento of the original from May 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 2.3 MB). Volume 37, Issue 3, Autumn 2008 (English) 
3. ↑ Description and photo of the bathtub ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (engl.) 
4. ↑ Kit Bonner: The Ill-Fated USS WILLIAM D. PORTER ( Memento of the original from June 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , in: The Retired Officer Magazine, March 1994 
5. ↑ History of Katori on combinedfleet.com (Engl.)
6. ↑ Muir 1987, p. 50
7. ↑ Muir 1987, p. 89
8. ↑ Muir 1987, pp. 90 f.
9. ↑ Muir 1987, p. 92
10. ↑ Terzibaschitsch 1997, p. 32
11. ^ The New York Times: EXPLOSION AND FIRE KILL AT LEAST 47 ON NAVY WARSHIP. April 20, 1989
12. ^ The New York Times: IOWA HEADS HOME, MOURNING 47 DEAD. April 21, 1989
13. ^ The New York Times: Suicide Theory Pursued in Iowa Blast. June 3, 1989
14. ^ The New York Times: Navy Says It's Sorry For Iowa Accusation. October 18, 1991
15. ^ The New York Times: New Data on Iowa Blast Bolster Accident Theory. August 8, 1991
16. ↑ NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 1996 (English; PDF; 1.8 MB)
17. ↑ NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT FOR FISCAL YEAR 2007 , p 68 (Engl.)
18. ^ ^{A b} The New York Times: After Years in Limbo, New Option for Ship. August 22, 2005
19. ↑ Note about the reopening of the procedure ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English; PDF; 162 kB) 
20. ^ Battleship Iowa's final voyage. In: San Francisco Chronicle of May 27, 2012, last accessed November 23, 2012.
21. ^ USS Iowa opens as a floating museum in San Pedro. In: KABC-TV Los Angeles on July 7, 2012, last accessed on November 21, 2012.

Coordinates: 33 ° 44 ′ 29 ″  N , 118 ° 16 ′ 39 ″  W.

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on March 28, 2011 in this version .