USS IOWA - BB 61

[mklotz]

On the old forum I mentioned that the battleship USS IOWA was brought to Los Angeles harbor as a museum ship.  In July it was opened to the public.  My wife and I got down there today and took the tour. 

As a WWII history buff, I found it all fascinating.  Actually seeing and touching stuff I'd read about in a hundred books was really exciting.

A selection of pictures is in one of my Photobucket albums...

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j234/mklotz/IOWA/

[steamer]

Now that's a hatch!



Dave

[Jack]

I always wanted to be a buff.


Jack

[mklotz]

Dave,

That's the hatch for the command deck entry to the "citadel", an armored trunk that runs vertically through the forward tower.  It protects the vital command crew and the electrical lines needed to communicate orders to the engineering spaces.  It's meant to be the last thing standing when the ship is blown away.

The whole ship is so impressively 'solid'.  Bang your fist on a bulkhead and it's like hitting a mountain.  Nothing rattles or rings.  That's what you get when you weld 45,000 tons of steel into one piece.

The picture of the side of the turret with the small grapefruit size scar is interesting too.  During action off Korea, the Koreans fired on the Iowa with a 4.7 cm (?) gun - lord knows why - and that scar is where it bounced off the turret.

One of the more fascinating statistics I learned is that each turret weights more than a (WWII) destroyer.

[zeeprogrammer]

Very neat. Lucky guy to see it.

I'm more of a WWI buff (particularly with respect to airplanes) but the changes both wars (and a few others) wrought is a fascinating study.

[rleete]

I toured the USS North Carolina a couple years back.  She was almost scrapped, so a lot of stuff is missing, loads of rust, and she's looking every bit her age.  But they are still impressive machines.

I'd love to see one restored to fighting trim.

[Jo]

I love these old warships full of character.

I think that you will find that the gun/shells fired at her was the standard 4.7 inches (120 mm). In those days not a very big gun but very effective for shooting Pirates out of the water .

Jo

[derekwarner]

Guys....working in weapons [on board our HMA vessels] at Sydney's Garden Island Naval dockyard in 1986, we were lucky to get a special tour of BB63 Missouri when she attended the Australian 75th Naval anniversary

That hatch as shown is also similar to the three individual hatches within the turret that separate each ordnance [16" barrel & asssociated hoists & rams etc] as they are each in their own separate sub compartment withing the actual turret housing

As previously stated, each FMC built turret of a BB weighed approx 4,900 tons...when our OZ FFG frigates were 4,700 tonnes displacement

The enormity of everything about the vessel is beyond comprehension...including the history  when viewing the bronze plaque on her quarter deck

My brother toured her a few weeks back in Hawaii

Derek

[steamer]

I got a chance to tour the engine room of the Massachusetts about 27 years ago....before they got their knickers in a twist about safety.and got a chance to go below to one of her engine rooms....WOW

The HP turbine had the top case off and was on display...it looked about the size that would fit nicely in a pickup truck with the help of 4 guys.....except it was sitting on top of a transmission case the size of a 3 story building!   The prop shaft was huge!  had to be over 3 feet in diameter....steam coming in at 900 psi and 1100 F and exiting at something like 2 psi absolute......that's a lot of power.

I wish I wasn't such a young pup then or I would have taken more notes and paid better attention....

[b.lindsey]

Great pictures Marv!!  From what I see it look like quite a restoration too.  Hurling 1900 pounds 24 miles is rather mind boggling to say the least...far better to be on the sending rather than the receiving end though!! Just the storage space for all that ordinance and the handling of it at up to two rounds per turret per minute must be most impressive too.

Bill

[rhitee93]

I hate to steer something off topic on my 4th post, but the memory of this is so fond that I can't help myself.

About 2 years ago we were in Gulf Shores with may parents.  We went over to Mobile to go through the Alabama that is setup as a museum ship.  BB-60 is not quite the bruiser that the Iowa class ships are, but it was very impressive to see.

The memorable part of the story was the USS Drum next door.  The Drum is a Balao class submarine that you can also tour.  My dad earned his Dolphins on a Balao class sub, and it was the first time I ever got to be one board one with him.  We spent an hour pouring over that boat with my daughters and dad still knew what every valve and handle did.  He pointed out the equipment that he used most (sonar) and where his bunk was supposed to have been.  All in all it still makes me tear up to think about it.  We lost dad to cancer not a year later, and I have been so thankful to have had that experience...

[steamer]

Glad you had the chance to make that special connection with your Dad....we should all be so lucky

Dave

[cfellows]

Nice pics, Marv.  Couple of those pictures really demonstrate how long that ship is.  Guess I know what they mean when they say trying to turn a battleship!  By the way, I was born and raised in Iowa...

Chuck

[mklotz]

Maybe one of you ex-naval types can help answer a question.

Several of the pictures show the signal flags flown on the ship.  The ones on the starboard (wharf) side of the ship spell out "welcome aboard".

On the port (channel) side are flown four flags.  I make them out to be NEPM, which doesn't make much sense to me as a word.  I know the flags can act as a code as well as represent a letter of the alphabet.  Checking on their code interpretations, I find:

N = No or negative
E = I am directing my course to starboard
P = All personnel return to ship; proceeding to sea (Inport)
M = My vessel is stopped; making no way

Except for the 'M', none of these seem to make any sense for a stationary, unmanned, decomissioned ship.

So what, if anything, does the NEPM denote?

[steamer]

NEPM is the IOWA's international call sign while underway.   

http://www.ussiowa.org/pics/model/6.htm

as well as Navsource

NOVEMBER   ECHO   PAPA  MIKE

 

Dave

[mklotz]

NEPM is the IOWA's international call sign while underway.   

http://www.ussiowa.org/pics/model/6.htm

as well as Navsource

NOVEMBER   ECHO   PAPA  MIKE

Thanks a bunch, Dave.

I guess it never occurred to me to Google something so obscure because I wasn't sure I'd read the flags correctly.  I really should know better, though.  Now that you told me, I can find several references to NEPM as the ship's code.

[steamer]

Yeah Marv, but she's not under way!.....what's up with that?

Probably just nostalga.....

Dave