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Iowa-class battleship
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== Ships in class== [[File:All Four Iowas (cropped).jpg|thumb|alt=A black and white photograph of four large ships sailing on calm seas from the right to the left.|The four ''Iowa''-class ships operating as Battleship Division 2 off the [[Virginia Capes]] in 1954; from front to back is ''Iowa'', ''Wisconsin'', ''Missouri'' and ''New Jersey'']] <!-- Please keep the descriptions in the following sections brief. No details should be added here beyond those deemed essential, and specific statistics such as shells expended, missiles fired, etc, should not be included here on grounds that the respective ship pages are set up to better handle such information. Additions made to the ship description sections that are deemed to be unhelpful, controversial, or too detailed are subject to removal from the article at any wikipedian's discretion. --> When brought into service during the final years of World War II, the ''Iowa''-class battleships were assigned to operate in the [[Pacific War|Pacific Theatre of World War II]]. By this point in the war, aircraft carriers had displaced battleships as the primary striking arm of both the United States Navy and the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. As a result of this shift in tactics, US fast battleships of all classes were relegated to the secondary role of carrier escorts and assigned to the Fast Carrier Task Force to provide anti-aircraft screening for Allied aircraft carriers and perform shore bombardment.{{sfn|Johnston|McAuley|2002|p=161}} Three were recalled to service in the 1950s with the outbreak of the [[Korean War]],{{refn|''Missouri'' had not been mothballed prior to the outbreak of the Korean War due to an executive order issued by then President Harry S. Truman.|group=N}} and they provided naval artillery support for U.N. forces for the entire duration of the war before being returned to mothballs in 1955 after hostilities ceased. In 1968, to help alleviate US air losses over North Vietnam,{{sfn|Neubeck|2002|p=42}} ''New Jersey'' was summoned to Vietnam, but she was decommissioned a year after arriving.{{sfnm|1a1=Polmar|1y=2001|1p=129|2a1=Stillwell|2y=1986|2pp=222, 230}} All four returned in the 1980s during the drive for a 600-ship Navy to counter the new Soviet ''Kirov''-class battlecruisers,{{sfnm |1a1=Bishop|1y=1988|1p=80 |2a1=Miller|2a2=Miller|2y=1986|2p=114}} only to be retired after the collapse of the Soviet Union on the grounds that they were too expensive to maintain.<ref name="GAO_Potential_Reductions" />{{refn|A Government Accountability Office report on the operating cost for each individual ''Iowa''-class battleship in 1991 reported that it cost the United States Navy $58 million to operate each individual battleship.<ref name="GAO_Potential_Reductions" />|group=N}} {| class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders" |+ Construction data |- !scope="col" |Ship name !scope="col" |Hull no. !scope="col" |Builder !scope="col" |Ordered !scope="col" |Laid down !scope="col" |Launched !scope="col" |{{abbr|Comm.|commissioned}}/{{wbr}}{{abbr|Recomm.|recommissioned}} !scope="col" |{{abbr|Decomm.|decommissioned}} !scope="col" |Fate |- !scope="row" rowspan=3|{{USS|Iowa|BB-61|2}} |rowspan=3|BB-61 |rowspan=3|[[Brooklyn Navy Yard]], [[New York City]] |rowspan=7|1 July 1939 |rowspan=3|27 June 1940 |rowspan=3|27 August 1942 |22 February 1943 |24 March 1949 |rowspan=3|Preserved as [[museum ship]] in [[Los Angeles]], [[California]] |- |25 August 1951 |24 February 1958 |- |28 April 1984 |26 October 1990 |- !scope="row" rowspan=4|{{USS|New Jersey|BB-62|2}} |rowspan=4|BB-62 |rowspan=4|[[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard|Navy Yard]], [[Philadelphia]] |rowspan=4|16 September 1940 |rowspan=4|7 December 1942 |23 May 1943 |30 June 1948 |rowspan=4|Preserved as museum ship in [[Camden, New Jersey]] |- |21 November 1950 |21 August 1957 |- |6 April 1968 |17 December 1969 |- |28 December 1982 |8 February 1991 |- !scope="row" rowspan=2|{{USS|Missouri|BB-63|2}} |rowspan=2|BB-63 |rowspan=2|Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York City |rowspan=5|12 June 1940 |rowspan=2|6 January 1941 |rowspan=2|29 January 1944 |11 June 1944 |26 February 1955 |rowspan=2|Preserved as museum ship in [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]] |- |10 May 1986 |1 March 1992 |- !scope="row" rowspan=3|{{USS|Wisconsin|BB-64|2}} |rowspan=3|BB-64 |rowspan=4|Navy Yard, Philadelphia |rowspan=3|25 January 1941 |rowspan=3|7 December 1943 |16 April 1944 |1 July 1948 |rowspan=3|Preserved as museum ship in [[Norfolk, Virginia]] |- |3 March 1951 |8 March 1958 |- |22 October 1988 |30 September 1991 |- !scope="row" |{{USS|Illinois|BB-65|2}} |BB-65 |rowspan=3|9 September 1940 |6 December 1942 | {{n/a}} | {{n/a}} | {{n/a}} |Canceled 11 August 1945<br />Broken up at Philadelphia, 1958 |- !scope="row" rowspan=2|{{USS|Kentucky|BB-66|2}} |BB-66 |rowspan=2|[[Norfolk Naval Shipyard|Norfolk Navy Yard]], [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]] |rowspan=2|7 March 1942 |rowspan=2|20 January 1950{{efn|name=Kentucky}} |rowspan=2 {{n/a}} |rowspan=2 {{n/a}} |rowspan=2|Broken up at Baltimore, 1959 |- |BBG-1 |} {{notelist|refs= {{efn|name=Kentucky|''Kentucky'' was not officially launched; her hull was moved from drydock to allow ''Missouri'' to be admitted for repairs following her [[1950 USS Missouri grounding incident|grounding]].}} }} === ''Iowa'' === {{main|USS Iowa (BB-61)}} [[File:USS Iowa (BB-61) firing her 406 mm guns at North Korean coastal defenses in 1952.jpg|thumb|''Iowa'' fires her 16-inch armament at coastal positions during her 1952 Korean deployment|alt=A large ship resting on the ocean, with smoke visible from the back of the vessel.]] ''Iowa'' was ordered 1 July 1939, laid down 27 June 1940, launched 27 August 1942, and [[Ship commissioning|commissioned]] 22 February 1943. She conducted a [[shakedown cruise]] in [[Chesapeake Bay]] before sailing to [[Naval Station Argentia]], [[Dominion of Newfoundland|Newfoundland]], to be ready in case the {{ship|German battleship|Tirpitz}} entered the Atlantic.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|1995|p=115}} Transferred to the [[United States Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]] in 1944, ''Iowa'' made her combat debut in February and participated in the [[Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign|campaign for the Marshall Islands]].{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|1995|p=120}} The ship later escorted US aircraft carriers conducting air raids in the [[Mariana and Palau Islands campaign|Marianas campaign]], and then was present at the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]].{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|1995|p=120}} During the Korean War, ''Iowa'' bombarded enemy targets at [[Kimchaek|Songjin]], [[HΕngnam]] and Kojo, North Korea. ''Iowa'' returned to the US for operational and training exercises before being [[Ship decommissioning|decommissioned]] on 24 February 1958.{{sfn|Muir|1989|p=149}} Reactivated in the early 1980s, ''Iowa'' operated in the Atlantic Fleet, cruising in North American and European waters for most of the decade and participating in joint military exercises with European ships.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|1995|pp=218β222}} On 19 April 1989, 47 sailors were killed following an [[USS Iowa turret explosion|explosion in her No. 2 turret]].{{sfn|Thompson|1999|p=261}} In 1990, ''Iowa'' was decommissioned for the last time and placed in the mothball fleet. She was stricken from the ''Naval Vessel Register'' on 17 March 2006. ''Iowa'' was anchored as part of the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]] in [[Suisun Bay]], California until October 2011, when she was towed from her mooring to Richmond, California for renovation as a [[USS Iowa Museum|museum ship]]. She was towed from Richmond in the San Francisco Bay on 26 May 2012, to San Pedro at the Los Angeles Waterfront to serve as a museum ship run by Pacific Battleship Center and opened to the public on 7 July 2012. === ''New Jersey'' === {{main|USS New Jersey (BB-62)}} [[File:USS New Jersey.jpg|thumb|alt=A black and white image; a large ship with gun barrels pointed to the right and up, flames and smoke can be seen emanating from the gun barrels.|''New Jersey'' bombarding positions off South Vietnam during the latter part of her 1968β69 WESTPAC cruise]] ''New Jersey'' was ordered 4 July 1939, laid down 16 September 1940, launched 7 December 1942, and commissioned 23 May 1943. ''New Jersey'' completed fitting out and trained her initial crew in the Western Atlantic and [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]] before transferring to the Pacific Theatre in advance of the planned assault on the Marshall Islands, where she screened the US fleet of aircraft carriers from enemy air raids. At the Battle of Leyte Gulf, the ship protected carriers with her anti-aircraft guns. ''New Jersey'' then bombarded [[Iwo Jima]] and [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]]. During the Korean War, the ship pounded targets at [[Wonsan]], [[Yangyang]], and Kansong. Following the [[s:Korean Armistice Agreement|Armistice]], ''New Jersey'' conducted training and operation cruises until she was decommissioned on 21 August 1957. Recalled to duty in 1968, ''New Jersey'' reported to the gunline off the Vietnamese coast and shelled North Vietnamese targets before departing the line in December 1968.{{sfn|Polmar|2001|p=129}} She was decommissioned the following year.{{sfn|Stillwell|1986|p=222}} Reactivated in 1982 under the 600-ship Navy program,{{sfn|Stillwell|1986|pp=243β251}} ''New Jersey'' was sent to [[Lebanon]] to protect US interests and US Marines, firing her main guns at [[Druze]] and [[Syria]]n positions in the [[Beqaa Valley]] east of [[Beirut]].{{sfn|Stillwell|1986|pp=261β273}} Decommissioned for the last time 8 February 1991, ''New Jersey'' was briefly retained on the ''Naval Vessel Register'' before being donated to the Home Port Alliance of [[Camden, New Jersey]] for use as a museum ship in October 2001.{{sfn|Hore|2005|p=217}} === ''Missouri'' === {{main|USS Missouri (BB-63)}} [[File:KoreanWarNavyGunfire.jpg|thumb|alt=A black-and-white photograph depicting a large gunship sailing toward and slightly to the left of the camera. Guns of various size are visible on the ship, with smoke and flames visible from the turret No. 2 as the gun fires at an unseen target. The pressure from the gun fire has created a disturbance on the water surface.|''Missouri'' fires 16 in guns at Chong Jin, Korea, 21 October 1950]] ''Missouri'' was the last of the four ''Iowa''s to be completed. She was ordered 12 June 1940, laid down 6 January 1941, launched 29 January 1944, and commissioned 11 June 1944. ''Missouri'' conducted her trials off New York with shakedown and battle practice in the Chesapeake Bay before transferring to the Pacific Fleet, where she screened US aircraft carriers involved in offensive operations against the Japanese before reporting to Okinawa to shell the island in advance of the planned landings. Following the bombardment of Okinawa, ''Missouri'' turned her attention to the Japanese homeland islands of [[Honshu]] and [[Hokkaido]], performing shore bombardment and screening US carriers involved in combat operations. She became a symbol of the US Navy's victory in the Pacific when representatives of the Empire of Japan boarded the battleship to sign the documents of unconditional [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|surrender]] to the Allied powers in September 1945. After World War II, ''Missouri'' conducted largely uneventful training and operational cruises until suffering a grounding [[1950 USS Missouri grounding incident|accident]]. In 1950, she was dispatched to Korea in response to the outbreak of the Korean War. ''Missouri'' served two tours of duty in Korea providing shore bombardment. She was decommissioned in 1956. She spent many years at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]] in Bremerton, Washington. Reactivated in 1984, as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, ''Missouri'' was sent on operational cruises until being assigned to [[Operation Earnest Will]] in 1988. In 1991, ''Missouri'' participated in Operation Desert Storm, firing 28 Tomahawk Missiles and 759 16-inch shells at Iraqi targets along the coast.{{sfnm|Polmar|2001|1p=129|Stillwell|1996|2p=327}} Decommissioned for the last time in 1992, ''Missouri'' was donated to the USS ''Missouri'' Memorial Association of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for use as a museum ship in 1999.{{sfn|Hore|2005|p=219}} === ''Wisconsin'' === {{main|USS Wisconsin (BB-64)}} [[File:USS Wisconsin (BB-64) launching Tomahawk.jpg|thumb|alt=A forward view of a ship with large gun barrels pointing forward. To the left, a missile is flying away from the ship.|''Wisconsin'' fires a Tomahawk missile during her 1991 deployment to the Persian Gulf]] ''Wisconsin'' was ordered 12 June 1940, laid down 25 January 1942, launched 7 December 1943, and commissioned 16 April 1944. After trials and initial training in the Chesapeake Bay, she transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1944 and was assigned to protect the US fleet of aircraft carriers involved in operations in the Philippines until summoned to Iwo Jima to bombard the island in advance of the Marine landings. Afterward, she proceeded to Okinawa, bombarding the island in advance of the Allied amphibious assault. In mid-1945 ''Wisconsin'' turned her attention to bombarding the Japanese home islands until the surrender of Japan in August. Reactivated in 1950, for the Korean War, ''Wisconsin'' served two tours of duty, assisting South Korean and UN forces by providing call fire support and shelling targets. In 1956, the bow of the uncompleted ''Kentucky'' was removed and grafted on ''Wisconsin'', which had collided with the destroyer {{USS|Eaton|DD-510|6}}.{{sfn|Hore|2005|p=220}} Decommissioned in 1958, ''Wisconsin'' was placed in the reserve fleet at the [[Philadelphia Naval Shipyard]] until reactivated in 1986 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan.{{sfn|Hore|2005|p=221}} In 1991, ''Wisconsin'' participated in Operation Desert Storm, firing 24 Tomahawk Missiles at Iraqi targets and expending 319 16-inch shells{{sfn|Polmar|2001|p=129}} at Iraqi troop formations along the coast. Decommissioned for the last time 30 September 1991, ''Wisconsin'' was placed in the reserve fleet until stricken from the ''Naval Vessel Register'' on 17 March 2006, so she could be transferred for use as a museum ship. ''Wisconsin'' is currently berthed at the [[Nauticus]] maritime museum in [[Norfolk, Virginia]].{{sfn|Hore|2005|p=221}} === ''Illinois'' and ''Kentucky'' === {{main|USS Illinois (BB-65)|USS Kentucky (BB-66)}} [[File:USS Illinois BB-65.jpg|thumb|alt=USS ''Illinois''|{{ship|USS|Illinois|BB-65|2}} under construction on the slipway at Philadelphia, just prior to her cancellation]] Hull numbers BB-65 and BB-66 were originally intended as the first and second ships of the ''Montana''-class of battleships;{{sfn|Hore|2005|p=222}} however, the passage of an emergency war building program on 19 July 1940 resulted in both hulls being reordered as ''Iowa''-class units to save time on construction.{{sfnm|1a1=Gardiner|1y=1980|1p=99|2a1=Johnston|2a2=McAuley|2y=2002|2pp=108β23}} The war ended before either could be completed, and work was eventually stopped. Initially, [[#Conversion proposals|proposals were made]] to convert the hulls into aircraft carriers similar to the ''Essex'' class, but the effort was dropped.{{sfnm|1a1=Friedman|1y=1986|1p=190|2a1=Garzke|2a2=Dulin|2y=1995|2p=288}} {{ship|USS|Illinois|BB-65|2}} was ordered on 9 September 1940 and initially laid down on 6 December 1942. However, work was suspended pending a decision on whether to convert the hull to an aircraft carrier. Upon determination the result would cost more and be less capable than building from scratch, construction resumed, but it was canceled for good approximately one-quarter complete on 11 August 1945.{{sfn|Garzke|Dulin|1995|p=137}} She was sold for scrap and broken up on the slipway in September 1958.{{sfnm|1a1=Dulin|1a2=Garzke|1y=1976|1p=137|2a1=Whitley|2y=|2p=311}}<ref name="NVR Illinois">{{cite web |title= Illinois (BB 65) |date= 22 July 2002 |url= {{Naval Vessel Register URL |BB-65}} |website= Naval Vessel Register |publisher= NAVSEA Shipbuilding Support Office |access-date= 20 November 2020 }}</ref> [[File:USSKentuckyBB-66.jpg|thumb|alt=USS ''Kentucky''|The hull of {{ship|USS|Kentucky|BB-66|2}} is floated out of drydock to allow it to be used for repairs to {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|2}}]] {{ship|USS|Kentucky|BB-66|2}} was ordered on 9 September 1940 and laid down on 7 March 1942. Work on the ship was suspended in June 1942, and the hull floated out to make room for the construction of [[Landing Ship, Tank|LSTs]].<ref>{{cite web |last= Yarnall |first= Paul R. |url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/66.htm |title= BB-66 Kentucky |date= n.d. |website= NavSource Online: Battleship Photo Archive |access-date= 20 November 2020}}</ref> The interruption lasted for two and a half years while a parallel aircraft carrier debate played out as with ''Illinois'', reaching the same conclusion. Work resumed in December 1944, with completion projected for mid-1946. Further suggestions were made to convert ''Kentucky'' into a specialist anti-aircraft ship, and work was again suspended. With the hull approximately three-quarters completed, she was floated on 20 January 1950, to clear a dry dock for repairs to ''Missouri'', which had run aground. During this period, plans were proposed to convert ''Kentucky'' into a guided missile battleship, which saw her reclassified from BB-66 to BBG-1.{{sfnm|Hore|2005|1p=222|Gardiner|1980|2p=99}} When these failed construction of any sort, work never resumed and the ship was used as a parts [[Hulk (ship type)|hulk]]; in 1956, her bow was removed and shipped in one piece across [[Hampton Roads]] and grafted onto ''Wisconsin'', which had collided with the destroyer ''Eaton''.{{sfn|Hore|2005|p=221}} In 1958, the engines installed on ''Kentucky'' were salvaged and installed on the [[Sacramento-class fast combat support ship|''Sacramento''-class fast combat support ships]] {{USS|Sacramento|AOE-1|2}} and {{USS|Camden|AOE-2|2}}.{{sfn|Hore|2005|p=222}} Ultimately, what remained of the hulk was sold for scrap on 31 October 1958.{{sfn|Muir|1989|p=149}} {{Clear}}
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