World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseIowa was the lead ship of her class of modern battleships. Commissioned with Captain John L. McCrea in command, she sailed for the Chesapeake Bay and along the east coast of the United States for her shakedown cruise. Her first mission came six months later when she sailed on 27 Aug 1943 for Argentia, Newfoundland to counter the threat of the German battleship Tirpitz. In Oct 1943, she carried President Franklin Roosevelt to Casablanca as he was en route to the conferences at Cairo and Tehran; she also brought Roosevelt back to the United States after the conferences.

ww2dbaseOn 2 Jan 1944, acting as the flagship of Battleship Division 7, Iowa sailed for the Pacific. She supported carriers as their aircraft struck Marshall, Caroline, Mariana, and Palau Islands in the first few months of 1944. Between 22 and 28 Apr 1944, she supported air raids on Hollandia, Aitape, and Wakde Islands to support the landing operations in New Guinea. In Jun, she supported the landing operations against the Mariana Islands. On 13 and 14 Jun, she was detached to bombard Japanese installations on Saipan and Tinian; she also participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. On 17 Sep, she supported the landings on Peleliu. On 10 Oct, Iowa supported the carrier strikes on the Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan, on 18 Oct Luzon, then on 20 Oct Leyte. On 25 Oct 1944, lured by Admiral Jinsaburo Ozawa's decoy fleet, Admiral William Halsey brought Task Force 38, with Iowa as a member, away from Samar. Halsey's action resulted in the destruction of several destroyers, destroyer escorts, and escort carriers. The losses suffered at the Battle off Samar was demoralizing for the United States, and Halsey was bitterly criticized. After the Leyte actions, Iowa returned to the United States on 15 Jan 1945 for an overhaul at San Francisco.

ww2dbaseArriving in the Ryukyu Islands region on 15 Apr 1945, Iowa supported carrier operations beginning nine days later through Jul 1945, in which the American aircraft struck Japanese targets ranging from Okinawa to Hokkaido.

ww2dbaseDuring the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay on 2 Sep 1945, Iowa served as Halsey's flagship. She remained with the occupation forces until 20 Sep.

ww2dbaseAfter the war, Iowa was decommissioned in Mar 1949, but the hostilities in Korea brought her back into service in Aug 1951. Operating out of Yokosuka, she was the flagship of the Seventh Fleet under Vice Admiral Robert Briscoe then Vice Admiral Joseph Clark. Her big guns bombarded North Korean and Chinese targets at Songjin, Hungnam, and Kojo. She left the region in Oct 1952 and conducted training operations in the Caribbean Sea and Northern Europe. In Jul 1953, she acted as Vice Admiral Edmund Wooldridge's flagship of the Second Fleet. In Sep 1954, she was Rear Admiral R. E. Libby's flagship of the Battleship Cruiser Force of the Atlantic Fleet. From Jan to Apr 1955, she served as the flagship of the Sixth Fleet, though intermittently interrupted by overhaul and training missions. She was placed in reserve on 24 Feb 1958. She was recommissioned in 1984. On 19 Apr 1989, an explosion onboard killed 47 men, but the damage was contained by flooding of the number two powder magazine in time; the cause of this explosion was never determined for certain, though static electricity and lose powder is believed to be the cause today. Turret number two, damaged during the explosion, was never repaired when she was decommissioned for the final time in 1990.

ww2dbaseIowa is now anchored off Richmond, California, United States as a museum ship while undergoing conversion work to expand the area within the ship available for tours. She will ultimately be moved to Los Angeles, California, United States.

Battleship Iowa (BB-61) Interactive Map

Photographs

Iowa Operational Timeline

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