Historic Battleship (U.S.S. Iowa) Becoming Naval Museum in SoCal

[Johnny Rico]

http://news.yahoo.com/historic-battleship-becoming-naval-museum-socal-150141738.html

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) — Firing its 16-inch guns in the Arabian Sea, the U.S.S. Iowa shuddered. As the sky turned orange, a blast of heat from the massive guns washed over the battleship. This was the Iowa of the late 1980s, at the end of its active duty as it escorted reflagged Kuwaiti oil tankers from the Persian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz during the Iran-Iraq war. Some 25 years later, following years of aging in the San Francisco Bay area's "mothball fleet," the 887-foot long ship that once carried President Franklin Roosevelt to a World War II summit to meet with Churchill, Stalin and Chiang Kai Shek is coming to life once again as it is being prepared for what is most likely its final voyage.

Not far from where "Rosie the Riveters" built ships in the 1940s at the Port of Richmond, the 58,000-ton battlewagon is undergoing restoration for towing May 20 through the Golden Gate, then several hundred miles south to the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. There it is to be transformed into an interactive naval museum. On May 1, ownership of the Iowa was officially transferred from the U.S. Navy to the Pacific Battleship Center, the nonprofit organization that has been restoring the boat for its new mission.

"This means everything — it's going to be saved," John Wolfinbarger, 87, of San Martin, Calif., who served aboard the USS Iowa for almost two years in the mid-1940s and recently began giving public tours of the old ship during repairs here.

(more at link)

Good news.

[taterguy]

1. They should put it in Des Moines

[SidDithers]

7. My first thought too...

Sid

[demosincebirth]

2. SF had first choice to permanently host the Iowa but turned it down

[Johnny Rico]

3. I remember that. Here's a story about it:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-03-08-san-francisco-battleship_x.htm

"I don't think the climate has improved for tying a 10-story warship, or gun, to the waterfront," Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval says.

[TheMightyFavog]

4. Are they goinf to require that she be kept ready for activation on 30 Days notice?

Like the other 3 Iowa Classes?

[Johnny Rico]

6. All Iowa-class battleships were stricken from Naval Vessel Register as of 2006.

The day of the battleship is over.

[Archae]

5. Not a word about the turret disaster and botched cover-up of that disaster's cause?

"Human error" my ass.

They were using out-of-date propellant, and tried making up a fake story about a sailor causing it.

[Johnny Rico]

8. It is mentioned in the full article.

A dark part of the ship's history took place in 1989, when 47 sailors were killed in an explosion in the No. 2 gun turret. After the blast, the Navy alleged a crewmember caused the explosion as a result of a failed relationship with another male crewmember. A follow-up investigation found the explosion was most likely the result of human error.

If I'm not mistaken, it's against the rules to post more than 4 paragraphs from an article.