USS Iowa, the Last Battleship, Filled With Memories as It Arrives at New Home
After decades of action and several stints in mothballs, the USS Iowa has found a new home in San Pedro, Calif., where she will become a museum. The Iowa, one of America’s last battleships, has a storied past that includes tours in World War II, Korea, and the Cold War.
She was the first of four fast battleships built during World War II, giving the name “Iowa” to her class. “The Iowas were the fastest U.S. battleships at [40 mph],” said Paul Stillwell, a naval historian who served aboard the New Jersey. And with nine 16-inch guns the Iowas were, in Stillwell’s words, “beautiful, fast, awesome and inspiring.”
The other two completed in the class were the Missouri and the Wisconsin.
The Iowa was a monolith of war and power. As Stillwell points out, there was a time when disarmament conferences focused on battleships, not nuclear weapons.