Jump to content

USS Iowa Moving to Los Angeles, CA as Museum


zepher11
 Share

Recommended Posts

I don't know if this was posted, but news out yesterday about the future home of the USS Iowa. Very happy to see it become a museum... :thumbsup:

 

I was hoping for Vallejo, California since it is only a two hour drive from where I live. Oh well, one can't have everything. The important part is that it is going somewhere. Here's an article about the move:

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The USS Iowa — the last surviving World War II battleship without a home — will head to the Port of Los Angeles to stand as a permanent museum and memorial to battleships, the Navy said Tuesday.

 

The nonprofit Pacific Battleship Center, which has been working to bring the ship to Los Angeles, beat out the San Francisco Bay area city of Vallejo. The Navy's decision also comes six years after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted against making a public display of the ship in that city, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays, among other things.

 

The nearly 900-foot battleship must be rehabilitated in San Francisco Bay before it can be towed down the California coast, Pacific Battleship Center president Robert Kent said. That should happen in late October, when unusually high tides are expected in the bay, he said.

 

The Iowa's new home will offer 4 1/2 acres of parking space in North America's busiest seaport, adjacent to the World Cruise Center, where cruise ships dock and flocks of tourists could tour the Iowa.

 

"Our focus for our museum will be on the history of the battleships, not only the Iowa being the ultimate in design, but we'll be focusing from the very beginnings" of the massive vessels, Kent said.

 

President Franklin Roosevelt traveled home aboard the USS Iowa after the 1943 Tehran conference of allied leaders, where he met with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to plan war strategies against Nazi Germany.

 

The 45,000-ton ship, which towers 15 stories above the water line, engaged in battles in the Pacific theater during World War II and entered Tokyo Bay with the occupation forces in 1945 where it served as Admiral William F. Halsey's flagship for the surrender ceremony. The battleship later served off Korea's eastern shores during that conflict.

 

In 1989, the USS Iowa suffered one of the nation's deadliest military accidents after 47 sailors were killed in an explosion during a training exercise. Before being decommissioned in 1990, it served as an escort for oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

 

The Iowa was towed to San Francisco from Rhode Island in 2001, after Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., helped secure $3 million to bring it to San Francisco in hopes of making it a tourist attraction at Fisherman's Wharf. Four years later, Feinstein, a former San Francisco mayor, called the city's supervisors' 8-3 vote against the idea a "very petty decision."

 

The Iowa's sister boats are already serving as museums: The USS Missouri is docked at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the USS Wisconsin is docked in Norfolk, Va., and the USS New Jersey is docked in the state it is named for.

 

The Iowa and the Wisconsin will be maintained to avoid rust and other mechanical problems in the unlikely event the ships are ever needed in war, Kent said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know if this was posted, but news out yesterday about the future home of the USS Iowa. Very happy to see it become a museum... :thumbsup:

 

I was hoping for Vallejo, California since it is only a two hour drive from where I live. Oh well, one can't have everything. The important part is that it is going somewhere. Here's an article about the move:

 

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The USS Iowa — the last surviving World War II battleship without a home — will head to the Port of Los Angeles to stand as a permanent museum and memorial to battleships, the Navy said Tuesday.

 

The nonprofit Pacific Battleship Center, which has been working to bring the ship to Los Angeles, beat out the San Francisco Bay area city of Vallejo. The Navy's decision also comes six years after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted against making a public display of the ship in that city, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays, among other things.

 

The nearly 900-foot battleship must be rehabilitated in San Francisco Bay before it can be towed down the California coast, Pacific Battleship Center president Robert Kent said. That should happen in late October, when unusually high tides are expected in the bay, he said.

 

The Iowa's new home will offer 4 1/2 acres of parking space in North America's busiest seaport, adjacent to the World Cruise Center, where cruise ships dock and flocks of tourists could tour the Iowa.

 

"Our focus for our museum will be on the history of the battleships, not only the Iowa being the ultimate in design, but we'll be focusing from the very beginnings" of the massive vessels, Kent said.

 

President Franklin Roosevelt traveled home aboard the USS Iowa after the 1943 Tehran conference of allied leaders, where he met with Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to plan war strategies against Nazi Germany.

 

The 45,000-ton ship, which towers 15 stories above the water line, engaged in battles in the Pacific theater during World War II and entered Tokyo Bay with the occupation forces in 1945 where it served as Admiral William F. Halsey's flagship for the surrender ceremony. The battleship later served off Korea's eastern shores during that conflict.

 

In 1989, the USS Iowa suffered one of the nation's deadliest military accidents after 47 sailors were killed in an explosion during a training exercise. Before being decommissioned in 1990, it served as an escort for oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.

 

The Iowa was towed to San Francisco from Rhode Island in 2001, after Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., helped secure $3 million to bring it to San Francisco in hopes of making it a tourist attraction at Fisherman's Wharf. Four years later, Feinstein, a former San Francisco mayor, called the city's supervisors' 8-3 vote against the idea a "very petty decision."

 

The Iowa's sister boats are already serving as museums: The USS Missouri is docked at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, the USS Wisconsin is docked in Norfolk, Va., and the USS New Jersey is docked in the state it is named for.

 

The Iowa and the Wisconsin will be maintained to avoid rust and other mechanical problems in the unlikely event the ships are ever needed in war, Kent said.

 

Great unexpected News! It going to be nice to have a Battleship located close by. Hopefully I can volunteer when it comes into port

 

Leonardo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's probably because Vallejo is bankrupt...and it's really tough to properly care for a battleship if you don't even have enough money to fund the city infrastructure!

 

It would have been nice to have the IOWA 20 minutes from where I live, but at the same time, I lived 15 minutes from the WISCONSIN for 6 years and went on it maybe only 2 times. :pinch:

 

Dave

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's probably because Vallejo is bankrupt...

 

Dave

 

Yes, I followed the Vallejo bankruptcy. It's nice that even in this economy there was the wherewithal for a group to get it together and get it done! A little bit of sunshine is still out there...

 

Zeph

Link to comment
Share on other sites

vostoktrading
Great unexpected News! It going to be nice to have a Battleship located close by. Hopefully I can volunteer when it comes into port

 

Leonardo

That's great she found a home. Fortunately LA has a large population base.

This is only the begining Angelinos. This is a great big beautiful painted hunk of metal sitting in salt water.

She is going to need lots of tender loving care from volunteers in the area to get her back to prime condition and keep her there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

El Bibliotecario
[LOS ANGELES (AP) — The USS Iowa...will head to the Port of Los Angeles...The Navy's decision also comes six years after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted against making a public display of the ship in that city, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays...

 

San Francisco missed an opportunity...they could have just painted it pink.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

collectsmedals

I went on board Iowa back in the early 1980s when she was still in commission.

 

Bought a belt buckle in the ships store.

 

I was a great experience.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
Well....that's way it didn't end up in San Diego either!! :lol:

 

 

True, we are bankrupt, but the Midway Museum is making a ton of money. That was one of the best tourist trap ideas San Diego has ever had. I have a friend volunteering on the ship and he said the Midway is stealing visitors from the zoo. The Midway is $18 per person while the zoo is $50 something per person. The other factor is that a lot of former Navy veterans visit San Diego with their families who want to go on a Navy ship. 32nd Street and North Island are locked down pretty tight with visitors allowed maybe once a year so the Midway fills that gap. I just hope the folks in LA are able to turn the Iowa into the same success as the Midway. SF still has the Jerimiah O'Brian and the Pampanito and the USS Hornet is rusting away in Alameda.

 

Ian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This gives me an excuse to go back to LA again once she's there. I saw the Iowa tied up at the Philly Navy yard in 98 but never got closer than the ganplank...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

True, we are bankrupt, but the Midway Museum is making a ton of money.

Ian

The Midway is being handled very well, I will agree with you on that point!! BUT, can San Diego support TWO of these treasured ships?

 

The fight for the entertainment dollar has been very tough over the past 20years, and it's even tougher now with Lego Land. I can't imagine too much more (or anything for that matter) being added.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was saddened when Kansas lost out on getting the Iowa here. It's like the Navy has something against us, we have lost out on every proposal ever made. They refuse to even build any bases here, it's a sad thing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

hbtcoveralls

USS New Jersey is struggling due to unbelievably bad location and access. She's in Camden NJ just across the river from the tourist areas of Philadelphia, but she might as well be on the moon. Everybody I know who tried to get to the New Jersey has gotten lost in downtown Camden (not a fun place to be lost) with some just giving up. There has been serious consideration given to moving her to a better location possibly near New York. The volunteers have been wonderful but expenses are enormous. The lesson of a historic ship is that you need feet on the deck to keep the ship afloat. I wish the Iowa well. Just hope they pick a good location

Tom Bowers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

USS New Jersey is struggling due to unbelievably bad location and access....... Tom Bowers

I agree, location.....location....location!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was saddened when Kansas lost out on getting the Iowa here. It's like the Navy has something against us, we have lost out on every proposal ever made. They refuse to even build any bases here, it's a sad thing.

 

 

Dude, it's because the idea of hiring UFOs to lift it into the middle of a cornfield just didn't pan out....... :lol:

 

(Sorry man, couldn't resist...) ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

went out to see her at "Rotten Row" before she is moved to LA last weekend. they may be moving her to LA at the end of Sept. which is not likely or the end of Oct since there will be an unusual high tide. would like to see it moving. the trip out was a nice lunch trip from Martinez. she will be rejuvenated five miles off shore in international waters then berthed in LA harbor as a museum ship can't wait. I think that may have been the best all around decision since Vallejo may not have been the best place for her.

 

claymore

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I Hate Moths

It's great to see a piece of history saved from the scrappers cutting torch, target practice, or a man made reef.

post-7425-1317589633.jpg

Did San Francisco reject the USS Iowa, due to the don't ask policy?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Midway is being handled very well, I will agree with you on that point!! BUT, can San Diego support TWO of these treasured ships?

 

The fight for the entertainment dollar has been very tough over the past 20years, and it's even tougher now with Lego Land. I can't imagine too much more (or anything for that matter) being added.

 

 

I absolutely agree with you that a second ship would not do well. The San Diego Maritime Museum went on a shopping spree a few years ago and ended up with a repro British frigate and a diesel Russian sub and now they are in worse financial shape. I also think a battleship would be inappropriate in San Diego. San Diego has always been more of a destroyer/aircraft carrier city. The battleships being up in Long Beach. The Iowa is in a good spot especially with the very active cruise ship terminal in LA/Long Beach. The key is to develop a good/professional self guided tour with knowledgable docents there to answer questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...