The tour of the USS Iowa was amazing. If you were unable to attend this year you should plan on going next year. The Battleship USS Iowa was ordered in 1939, commissioned in 1943 and served in both the Pacific and the Atlantic during WWII and the Atlantic during the Gulf War. As a Flagship, if there was an admiral in the fleet, he would be on the Iowa because it carried extra armor. During WWII, she carried President Roosevelt to the Tehran Conference to meet withPrime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. In fact, her doorways were altered to accommodate Roosevelt’s wheelchair and a bath tub installed as this was his preference for bathing. Sadly, in an exercise off Puerto Rico in 1989, an explosion occurred in Turret 2 Gun Room killing 47 sailors.
Our guide, Jim, giving his first tour since Covid, is a veteran of the USS Iowa and as a sailor his job was in the boiler room. The tour took us around the various stations in the ship including the captain’s cabin, sailors’ berths, engine & boiler rooms, the bridge, multiple mess areas, the missile decks and the nine huge 16” guns. As we passed barber shop, one of the scouts sat in the barber chair and got his hair cut. The corridors in the ship are very narrow and the bottom part of the door frame, called a“knee knocker”, is raised to ensure the doors are water tight. The ship has five different decks. For dinner we met in the mess hall where the sailor’s crew ate and for dinner we devoured a pasta and salad meal followed by ice cream bars. Retiring to bed in the sailor’s berth, it was very dark and if you woke during the night, you would hit your head on the reading light.
Following breakfast, we participated in a flag ceremony and Jack gave an inspirational speech about the six naval ships named after naval chaplains who demonstrated extraordinary bravery. Following time in the gift shop we headed for home.
Written By: Jack G.
Published By: Joseph B.
