Tag Archives: USS Iowa (BB-61)

Third Battlewagon SSN this Year

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The U.S. Navy accepted delivery of the Submarine Force’s newest hunter-killer, the future USS Idaho (SSN 799), from Electric Boat on 15 December.

And with that, the Navy List is looking very 1944ish.

The future USS Idaho (SSN 799) on builders trials 251215-N-N2201-002

Idaho is the 26th Virginia-class submarine co-produced by EB and HII-Newport News Shipbuilding through a long-standing teaming arrangement. It is the 14th delivered by EB and is the eighth of 10 Block IV-configured attack submarines.

The future USS Idaho is the fifth Navy ship to be named for the state of Idaho. The first was a wooden-hulled storeship commissioned in 1866. The last was Battleship No. 42, which was commissioned in 1919 and received seven battle stars for service in World War II, then ignobly sold for scrap in 1947.

Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Vice Admiral Alexander Sharp, USN. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph NH 83900 

USS Idaho (BB-42) ship’s company posed on the after deck and after 14 gun turrets, circa 1938. Note Curtiss SOC-3 Seagull floatplanes, of Observation Squadron Three, atop the Turret # 3 catapult and on deck to port of the turrets. Courtesy of the Naval Historical Foundation. Collection of Vice Admiral Alexander Sharp, USN. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.Catalog #: NH 83900

She joins the fifth (completed) U.S. Navy vessel named for the Bay State, the future USS Massachusetts (SSN 798), which was delivered to the service from Newport News on 21 November.

Future USS Massachusetts (SSN 798) on builder’s acceptance trials. 251008-N-MQ094-002

The last and most famous to carry the name thus far (BB-59) was commissioned in 1942 as a South Dakota-class fast battleship, earning 11 battle stars for exceptional service in WWII from Casablanca to Okinawa before being decommissioned in 1947. She remained in the Reserve Fleet until stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in June 1962 and continues to serve as a floating museum.

USS Massachusetts underway somewhere in the Pacific (1943)

While Idaho and Massachusetts are set to be commissioned in 2026, the current USS Iowa (SSN 797) was commissioned in April.

Sailors attached to the fast-attack submarine USS Iowa man the newly commissioned sub during a ceremony in Groton, Conn., April 5, 2025. The Iowa operates under Submarine Squadron 4, which provides fast-attack submarines that are ready, prepared, and committed to meet the unique challenges of undersea combat and deployed operations in unforgiving environments across the globe. Navy Chief Petty Officer Joshua Karsten

The last Iowa, the famed class-leading fast battleship BB-61, which was christened on 27 August 1942, was only stricken from the NVR on 17 March 2006 and endures as a floating museum at Los Angeles, the only West Coast battlewagon.

USS Iowa (BB-61) off Pearl Harbor, en route to the U.S. at the end of her Korean War combat tour. The photograph is dated 28 October 1952. Note the ship’s hull number (61) and U.S. Flag painted atop her forward turrets. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Catalog #: NH 44536

If only Jesse Barrett “Oley” Oldendorf’s grandson were SUBRON commander…

Pig Safari

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Some 40 years ago this month, September 1985: “A Marine aboard the battleship USS Iowa (BB 61), armed with an M60 machine gun, participate in a self-defense force test during Exercise Ocean Safari ’85.”

Note the stern 16″/50 triple gun turret in the foggy Atlantic background and the battleship’s new Douglas fir deck which replaced her WWII-era teak. PH1 Jeff Hilton. 330-CFD-DN-ST-86-02496

Note the Woodland M81 pattern camo, and new PASGT kevlar frag vest (but not a K-pot, still rocking the WWII-era M1 steel helmet). The M60 appears to be a Vietnam standard “Pig” model. Around this time the Corps was replacing these heavy guns with the pared-down M60E3 which shaved a few pounds and, post-Desert Storm, would ultimately move (slowly) to the FN Mag 58 M240G variant in the 1990s.

As for Marine Dets on battleships and carriers, they went the way of the M60 in 1998.

For reference, the MarDet on Iowa in 1942 was 110 men, and by 1985 had shrunk to just 58.

Their jobs in the 1980s were primarily to man the ship’s eight M2 .50 cal mounts as well as the 27-member crew for Mount 55– their dedicated 5″/38 Mk 28 twin turret– spearhead the ship’s reaction force, as well as provide a guard for the skipper and admiral (if aboard) and protect any “special weapons” that may or may not have ever been carried by the battleships. 

Never Forget

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19 October 1984: The Twin Towers dot the Gotham skyline as crackerjack-wearing gunners mates stand at attention on USS Iowa’s (BB 61) No. 1 16″/50 gun turret as the battleship approaches the southern end of Manhattan during a scheduled port visit to New York City shortly after the dreadnought was recommissioned for the third (and final) time. Note the full-color recognition flag on the roof of the gun house.

U.S. Navy photo DNST8505245 by PH1 Jeff Hilton, NARA 330-CFD-DN-ST-85-05245

Two other views from the same photographer that day, including a cameo by the Staten Island Ferry.

Welcome Back, Iowa

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The future USS Iowa (SSN 797) was officially christened by Christie Vilsack, the ship’s sponsor and former first lady of Iowa, during a ceremony at the Electric Boat shipyard facility in Groton, Connecticut last Saturday. She is the 23rd Virginia-class submarine and the 6th advanced Block IV boat of the class.

230617-N-UR986-0140 GROTON, Conn. (June 17, 2023) – Christie Vilsack, sponsor of the pre-commissioning unit (PCU) USS Iowa (SSN 797), christens the ship during a ceremony at General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard facility in Groton, Connecticut , June 17, 2023. Iowa and crew will operate under Submarine Squadron (SUBRON) FOUR 

230617-N-UR986-0042 GROTON, Conn. (June 17, 2023) – The crew of the pre-commissioning unit (PCU) USS Iowa (SSN 797), stand in ranks next to their ship during a christening ceremony at General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard facility in Groton, Connecticut, June 17, 2023. 

The future USS Iowa (SSN 797) is the fourth U.S. Navy vessel and first submarine named in recognition of the state. Previous ships named after the state were battleships, as well as, a converted merchant ship that was never activated.

Her crest includes BB-61, “The Grey Ghost” that I saw recommission in 1984 as an excited 10-year-old at Pascagoula– and accidentally bumped into then Veep George Bush in a passageway.

The final battleship Iowa decommissioned on 26 October 1990 and her name was stricken from the NVR on 17 March 2006, leaving an almost 16-year gap on the Navy List without the Hawkeye State.

Ironically, the first USS Iowa (Battleship No. 4) was launched on 16 June 1897– 126 years and one day prior.

The Grey Ghost of the Korean Coast, 70 years ago today

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Here we see the super dreadnought USS Iowa (BB-61) firing off Koje, Korea, 17 October 1952 with those beautiful 16″/50cal Mk7 guns.

Laid down 18 months prior to Pearl Harbor, she was a war baby and meant to show the Germans, Italians, and Japanese that the U.S Navy would come correct in the battlewagon department should the Great Neutral be drawn into the war. She commissioned more than a year after Pearl Harbor to a very different conflict than what she was intended but she and her three sisters proved their worth as floating AAA batteries for carrier task forces and, as seen above, in shore bombardment.

Iowa earned 11 battle stars in WWII before being laid up in 1949. Recommissioned on 25 August 1951 and rushed to Korea, by 24 February 1958 she would again see mothballs for a long 26-year nap before modernized for the Reagan 600-ship Navy.  Decommissioned an amazing third time in 1990, she has been a museum ship at the Port of Los Angeles since 2012.

Happy New Years!

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What’s your 2020 going to look like? A whole new decade to put a stamp on. Good luck and welcome to the new year, fellas.

As today is a holiday and a Wednesday, the typical Warship Wednesday offering has been kicked down the road until tomorrow.

To tide you over, here is the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61)s New Year’s Dinner Menu, 1955:


Said menu contained: Tomato Juice, Beef Broth, Crackers, Grilled Beef Steaks, Roast Fresh Ham, Snowflake Potatoes, Mushroom Gravy, Spiced Applesauce, Buttered Corn, Salad Bar Selection, Quartered Tomatoes, Lettuce Leaves, French Dressing, Assorted Pickles, Assorted Olives, Iced Pound Cake, Ice Cream Slices, Hot Parker House Rolls, Butter, Mixed Nuts, Hard Candy, Fresh Milk, Coffee.

That’s one big porcupine, 74 years back

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Aerial view of the super-dreadnought USS Iowa (BB-61) underway, 10 June 1944.

At the time her armament consisted of 9x 16″/50 cal Mark 7 guns in three triple turrets, 20x 5″/38 Mark 12 guns in 10 dual mounts, an impressive 80x 40mm/56 cal Bofors anti-aircraft guns in a score of quad mounts, and 49x 20mm/70 Oerlikon cannon, for a total of about 158 large caliber guns of all size– which is a whole lotta lead in anyone’s book.

 

90,000 tons of floating hurt

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USS Missouri (BB-63) (at left) transferring personnel to USS Iowa (BB-61), while operating off Japan on 20 August 1945

USS Missouri (BB-63) (at left) transferring personnel to USS Iowa (BB-61), while operating off Japan on 20 August 1945. As a young boy in 1984, I  stood by with goosebumps in Pascagoula as the crew manned the rails of Iowa again for the first time since 1958. Both of these classic battle wagons are preserved as museum ships today.