Shipbucket

Iowa-Class (BB) in 1990's



The Iowa-Class battleships were six battleships ordered by the United States Navy between 1939 and 1940 to escort the carrier detachments that would operate in the Pacific theater in World War II. Four were completed in the mid-1940s; two more were started and canceled prior to completion. They were the last class of battleships in service built in the United States. Built without regard for cost, the Iowa class was the latest in the evolution of the "capital ship."

Iowa-class battleships were present in every major United States war of the second half of the 20th century. In World War II, they protected aircraft carriers and eroded Japanese defenses before being put into reserve at the end of the war with the exception of the Missouri.

She provided artillery support for United Nations troops fighting North Korea. In 1968, the New Jersey was returned to active duty for the Vietnam War and attacked targets near the Vietnamese DMZ.

All four were reactivated and armed with missiles during the 1980s as part of the US Navy 600-ship program. In 1991, the Missouri and Wisconsin fired their missiles and 406-millimeter weapons at Iraqi targets during the Gulf War. The four battleships were decommissioned in the early 1990s and erased from the naval register in 2006, all four being preserved as museum ships.

General characteristics (varies around class)

Ships in Class
• USS Iowa (BB-61)
• USS New Jersey (BB-62)
• USS Missouri (BB-63)
• USS Wisconsin (BB-64)

Displacement-
• 58,000 t full-load
Length
• 270.43 m
Sleeve
• 32.98 m
Draft
• 11.6 m

Armor
• Armored belt: 307 mm
• Bulkheads: 287 mm
• Barbetas: from 295 to 439 mm
• Turrets: 500 mm
• Deck: 190 mm

Modernization 1984:
• 9 Mark 7 406mm / 50 (16 ") guns
• 12 x 127mm / 38 (5 ") Mark 12 guns
• 32 BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles
• 16 RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles
• 4 CIWS Phalanx 20 mm / 76

Propulsion
• 212,000 Cv
Speed
• 33.0 knots (61.0 km / h)
Autonomy
• 28 500 km

Crew
• Reformed: 1,859 men

Aircraft
• 3 SH-60

Very nice work!

_________________

MS State Guard - 08 March 2014 - 28 January 2023

The Official IJN Ships & Planes List

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