USS Iowa, .12, #10

USS Iowa (BB-61) launched in 1942, with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in attendance. To ferry President Roosevelt to the Cairo & Tehran Conferences, the Iowa was fitted w/ a bathtub for the President's (paralyzed in 1921) convenience. The Iowa transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1944 & saw much action. She was Adm. Halsey's flagship at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. During the Korean War, the Iowa served in raids on the N. Korean coast. Reactivated in 1984, she operated in both Atlantic & Pacific Fleets. In 1989, an explosion wrecked her #2 gun turret, killing 47 sailors. The ship finally was decommissioned in 1990. On 7 July, 2012, she was opened to the public at the Port of Los Angeles, San Pedro, as battleship museum and memorial.

Iowa's 16-inch-diameter guns were the biggest ever sent to sea on a U.S. ship. It took at least 77 men to fire the three guns in a single turret. The Iowa has three of these turrets. Ship's length: 887'. Beam: 108'. Speed: 33 knots. Compliment: 151 officers, 2637 enlisted

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