Battleship Wisconsin

The US Navy ordered six Iowa-class battleships between 1939 and 1940, though the last two, the USS Illinois BB-65 and USS Kentucky BB-66 were cancelled while still under construction. The Wisconsin was built at the Navy Yards in Philadelphia, and was launched on 7 December 1943. She served exclusively in the Pacific Theater, using her 16" guns to shell Japanese positions and her anti-aircraft cannons to screen the US carriers from Japanese kamikaze. As part of the 5th Fleet, Wisconsin would have been part of Operation DOWNFALL, the planned invasion of the Japanese home islands, had Japan not surrendered following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. After the formal declaration of the end of the war, the ship remained in Tokyo Bay as part of the occupation force until 22 September, when as part of Operation MAGIC CARPET she left the bay with a number of soldiers, sailors and Marines, stopping first in Okinawa before pressing on to Pearl Harbor and finally arriving at San Francisco on 15 October. Wisconsin served as a training ship for a short time after the war, but was placed into mothballs in 1948, only to be brought out in 1950 as part of the UN forces defending South Korea from North. She then spent the next two years shelling North Korean positions, and on 15 March 1952 the Wisconsin received her first ever damage from an enemy attack when a 152mm shell struck the shield on a 40mm anti-aircraft gun. Three sailors were injured, but the ship was only lightly damaged, and returned fire with a full salvo from her 9 guns, obliterating the enemy guns and prompting an escorting ship to signal "Temper, temper." After the end of the Korean War, the Wisconsin returned to being a training ship, and on 6 May 1956 during one such cruise she hit the destroyer Eaton in heavy fog, causing extensive damage to her bow. Rather than repairing the damaged section, the bow of the incomplete USS Kentucky was removed and transported to Norfolk, where it was grafted onto the Wisconsin. After several more years of training cruises and participating in exercises, the ship was mothballed again in 1958, where she remained until 1980's, when the four Iowa-class ships were reactivated, modified, and placed back into service. The 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft guns were removed and replaced by modern CIWS mounts, and two of her 5" guns were also removed. Additions included a helicopter deck, eight RQ-2 Pioneer RPVs used to spot targets, 4 quad-cell launchers for Harpoon anti-ship missiles, and 8 box launchers for Tomahawk cruise missiles. It was the latter weapons that served the ship so well during the 1991 Gulf War, when the Wisconsin and Missouri both launched two dozen Tomahawks as part of the opening strikes. The ship also employed her 16" guns, guided by her RPVs as well as Marine and Naval spotters, to destroy Iraqi artillery sites, missile facilities, shipyards, tanks, trucks, bunkers and command posts. During a fire mission against Faylaka island on 23 February, a number of Iraqi troops surrendered to the Wisconsin's Pioneer drone, a first in warfare. During the eight months Wisconsin spent in the Persian Gulf, she recorded 348 UAV hours, 661 safe helicopter landings, steamed 46,000 nautical miles, fired 319 16" rounds, 881 5" rounds, 5,200 20mm Phalanx CIWS rounds, and launched 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles. With the end of Desert Storm and the collapse of the USSR, the Iowa-class ships were once again decommissioned, this time permanently. The Wisconsin was transferred to the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, where she was placed on display to the public. By Congressional order, the ship was maintained by the museum to be as close to operable as possible from 1992 through 2010, allowing the Navy the option to recall the ship if need be. In 2010 however, the Wisconsin was formally turned over to the city of Norfolk, ending the requirement and all but ensuring that the ship will not fight again.

While on vacation in 2007, I had the opportunity to visit Nauticus and go aboard the Wisconsin. Here are some of the pictures from that trip.