Built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Iowa-class battleship USS Wisconsin was ordered on 12 December 1940, launched on 7 December 1943, and commissioned into the United States Navy on 16 April 1944. She was the third of four Iowa-class ships to be built. Service with Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet and Admiral Spruance's Fifth Fleet in the Pacific Theatre of the Second World War saw Wisconsin escorting US aircraft carriers during air strikes against Japanese targets and shelling Japanese fortifications in 1944-45. After decommissioning on 1 July 1948 and a period of layup, USS Wisconsin was prepared for Korean War service and recommissioned on 3 March 1951. After arriving in Korean waters, Wisconsin was used to attack North Korean targets in support of UN and South Korean ground force operations between December 1951 and the end of March 1952. Following her Korean War service, Wisconsin served as a training ship, based at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, and participated in a number of exercises and training cruises for new midshipmen. It was on one such exercise that Wisconsin received extensive damage to her bow after colliding with the destroyer USS Eaton on 6 May 1956. Repairs were expedited by grafting onto Wisconsin a 68-foot, 120 ton bow section taken from her incomplete sister ship USS Kentucky, with shipyard workers and Wisconsin's own crew working around the clock to complete the work in only 16 days. Decommissioned for a second time on 8 March 1958, Wisconsin was placed in storage at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. As part of President Ronald Reagan's buildup of US military forces designed to bankrupt the Soviet Union through an arms race, USS Wisconsin was reactivated on 1 August 1986 and recommissioned into the US Navy on 22 October 1988 after an extensive modernisation program. Alongside her modernised sister ship USS Missouri, Wisconsin participated in Operation Desert Storm in January-February 1991, firing her 16-inch guns and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles against Iraqi ground targets. Her final salvo against Iraqi targets on 9 February 1991 marked the last time in history that a battleship of any nation saw action. With the Cold War over and the cost of maintaining battleships in the US Navy fleet prohibitive, USS Wisconsin was decommissioned for the last time on 30 September 1991, re-entering the US Navy reserve fleet at Philadelphia. In October 1996, Wisconsin was towed to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and, in December 2000, was repositioned next to Nauticus, a maritime-themed museum and science centre in downtown Norfolk, Virginia. Finally stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 March 2006, Wisconsin was purchased by the City of Norfolk in April 2010 and remains there today moored next to Nauticus and open to the public as a museum ship.
USS Wisconsin holds six battle stars for service in the Second World War and the Korean War, as well as a Navy Unit Commendation for her Gulf War service in 1991.
Photos taken 3 April 2018
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| The imposing bow and sleek hull of the Iowa-class battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64). The barrels of the ship's forward 16-inch gun turrets point skyward. |
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| A deck plan of USS Wisconsin provided to visitors at the Nauticus maritime museum in Norfolk, Virginia, where Wisconsin is now permanently moored as a museum ship. |
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| The starboard superstructure of the USS Wisconsin, seen while crossing the gangway from Nauticus to the battleship. A belt of heavy steel armour (the Citadel) covering one-third of the ship protected all vital areas, including ammunition magazines, machinery, control and plotting rooms, and crew quarters. |
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Looking aft from the bow of USS Wisconsin. The ship's two forward turrets, each mounting three 16-inch guns can be seen.
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| A closer view of Wisconsin's 16-inch/50 calibre Mark 7 guns mounted in three-gun turrets, two forward and one aft. Each gun barrel is 66.6 feet long from breechface to muzzle, and each gun weighs 267,900 pounds including the breech. The 16-inch naval gun could fire a shell weighing between 1,900 and 2,700 pounds at a maximum speed of 2,690 feet per second over a range of up to 24 miles (38.6 km). Each gun could fire two rounds per minute. Each turret required 79 men to operate and each was outfitted with an optical rangefinder, a ballistic analog computer, and a switchboard to permit local control if the primary and auxiliary fire control centres were put out of action in battle. |
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| An image overlaying the range of the USS Wisconsin's 5-inch and 16-inch guns on a map of the Hampton Roads region to demonstrate the impressive range of these weapons: 8 nautical miles (14.8 km) for the 5-inch guns and 21 nautical miles (38.9 km) for the 16-inch guns. |
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| The interior of USS Wisconsin's Turret I, showing some of the fire control equipment inside, as well as the partitioned nature of each of the three guns sited in each turret. One-ton shells and 110 pound silk bags of gun powder, stored on separate decks well down in the ship were brought up to the guns on hoists and loaded into the breeches of the guns before firing. |
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As part of President Reagan's 600-ship navy plan of the mid-1980s, USS Wisconsin was modernised in 1987-88 and reactivated. Part of the modernisation was the replacement of obsolete weapons systems with modern armament, such as the RGM-84 Harpoon all-weather, over-the-horizon anti-ship missile, seen here.
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| The After Fire Tower, housing part of the ship's fire control system and with a Mark 38 gun crew director for the Number III 16-inch gun turret. The large grey box in the foreground of the photo is a launcher for the BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles which were fitted aboard Wisconsin during her 1987-88 modernisation. USS Wisconsin was equipped with a complement of 32 Tomahawks, each launcher holding four missiles. |
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| Looking aft out over Turret III and the stern of USS Wisconsin. The fantail area of the stern was used to launch and recover helicopters employed to spot targets for the 16-inch guns; these helicopters were later replaced by RQ-2 Pioneer drones during the 1987-88 modernisation. The fantail was also used for social activities, such as speeches, concerts, boxing matches, crew picnics, and the famous 'Crossing the Line' ceremonies held when the ship crossed the equator. Ed Sullivan broadcast an episode of Toast of the Town live from the fantail of USS Wisconsin in 1957. |
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| The wardroom, the main dining and relaxation area for USS Wisconsin's officers. Although designed for 117 officers, during the Second World War the ship actually carried 170 officers. In contrast, following the 1987-88 refit and reactivation of the ship, the officer complement consisted of only 65. The wardroom could also be used as a makeshift surgical theatre in an emergency, being equipped with appropriate light fixtures over the tables and with required sterilisation equipment located nearby. The photo shows microwaves, coffee pots, ice cream machines, and other food service equipment located against the rear bulkhead of the wardroom. |
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| The stateroom of USS Wisconsin's Executive Officer, the second in command of the ship, as it would have appeared in the early 1990s. The term 'stateroom' is used by the US Navy to denote accommodations for any officer below flag rank who is not in command of a ship. The staterooms also served as offices and were therefore outfitted with work-related equipment, such as desks and safes. Most officers aboard Wisconsin enjoyed private or semi-private staterooms located forward of the wardroom or one deck above. |
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| The Executive Officer's bedroom, located off the larger space that served as lounge and office. |
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| Officers' wash space, with sinks and shower stalls. |
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| A smaller stateroom for a more junior ranking officer, equipped with a small desk, wash basin, mirror, and cabinets, as well as a bunk (not seen). |
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| In contrast to the relatively comfortable quarters enjoyed by Wisconsin's officers, enlisted personnel slept in large dormitory style compartments outfitted with bunk beds and with little storage space for personal items. |
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| Another view of one of the crew bunks located deep in the ship. USS Wisconsin was designed to accommodate 1,804 enlisted personnel but actually carried 2,738 in 1944 and 2,503 in 1949, making for very cramped accommodations. By 1988, the enlisted complement was down to 1,450, and each crewman had his own bunk with privacy curtain, reading light, and storage locker. |
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| USS Wisconsin's Communications Center, comprising the Message Processing Center and Facilities Control 1. These spaces are full of communications gear for intercepting, decoding, and transmitting messages, and it was into the Communications Center that all orders to the ship to sail and perform strategic, operational, and tactical missions were processed. |
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| More communications gear occupies racks in the Communications Center, once a restricted space containing much classified cryptographic equipment. |
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| Radiomen, teletype operators, Communications Yeomen, and Electronics Technicians maintained a 24/7 watch in the Communications Center, even when the ship was docked. |
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| Facilities Control contained low and high frequency receivers, audio, radio teletypewriter, and digital patch panels and transfer switchboards for connecting all external tactical ship-to-ship, ship-to-aircraft and ship-to-shore voice and data communications networks. The various patch boards and switchboards are used to patch equipment and hundreds of circuits throughout the ship's tactical spaces such as the Admiral's and Captain's bridges, Combat Information Center, and Combat Engagement Center. |
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| The USS Wisconsin's post office, which functioned much as a regular US Postal Service outlet on shore, processing regular and registered mail and selling stamps and money orders. |
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| Looking inside Wisconsin's post office. The post office was manned by US Navy Postal Clerks and the office was always busier than normal before and after each at-sea replenishment, when sailors could send outgoing mail and receive mail from home, delivered courtesy of the replenishment vessel. |
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| More crew bunks in an endless maze of accommodation spaces below decks. |
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| The ship's chapel, originally the Warrant Officers' mess and converted into a chapel during Wisconsin's refit in 1987-88. The chapel served a variety of religious groups, and larger religious services for more personnel than could be accommodated here were held in the mess decks or outside on the fantail. |
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| A Chief Warrant Officer's stateroom. Chief Warrant Officers ranked above the most senior enlisted personnel (Master Chief Petty Officers) and the most junior commissioned officers (Ensigns), and combined officer-level leadership skills with extensive technical knowledge. Although Chief Warrant Officers were not originally permitted to command a ship because they possessed only a 'warrant' to fill a specific technical trade and did not have a 'commission' from Congress, today all Chief Warrant Officers in the US Navy are commissioned and may command units and small vessels. |
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| Looking down one of USS Wisconsin's long passageways, the compartmentalisation of sections clearly evident from the watertight hatches between compartments. |
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| The USS Wisconsin's Public Affairs Office. The Public Affairs Officer position is generally held by a junior line officer whose responsibilities include supervising the preparation of public affairs materials, choosing the best media to deliver messaging, responding to reporters' questions and assisting the ship's Commanding Officer during interviews, and preparing briefing material for onboard guests. The Wisconsin's onboard newspaper, The Badger, was also overseen by the Public Affairs Officer. |
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| One of the ship's heads, containing showers, sinks, and toilets. Wisconsin's heads were modernised during the ship's 1987-88 refit, though the original sinks were retained and the new shower stalls adhered to the old design; however, the modern toilets installed were a major improvement over the original metal troughs and wooden plank seating. |
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| The Chief Engineer's Office and Engineering Log Room. The Chief Engineer was head of the Engineering Department and responsible for operating and maintaining the ship's main propulsion plant. The Engineering Log Room maintained all department records and logs, blueprints, and technical manuals, and was staffed by a log room engineering yeoman from the Engineering Department. The Chief Engineer held meetings in his office with his Main Propulsion Assistant, senior enlisted men, and division officers. |
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| The Educational Services Office aboard USS Wisconsin maintained a library of publications to assist crewmen in keeping up to date on their naval trades, as well as enhance their skills and knowledge for the purposes of promotion. |
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| The Electrical Shop, where the ship's electricians were responsible for fixing any problems with electrical motors, wiring, and onboard lighting. Rewind Shop electricians were in charge of disassembling, repairing, and reassembling malfunctioning electric motors. Additionally, USS Wisconsin's electricians checked any personal electrical appliances brought aboard, such as radios, coffee pots, toasters, televisions, or stereos, to ensure they were safe to use. |
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| The doughnut shop, which produced doughnuts throughout the day using a conveyor belt-fed deep fryer. Doughnuts and coffee were morale boosters for sailors during long days at sea. The ship's bakery also produced brownies, cakes, pies, and cookies for the crew. |
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| The port side serving line in the Crew Mess; an identical serving line on the starboard side permitted the rapid distribution of food to hungry sailors. After taking a tray, sailors proceeded down the serving line to pick up their meal, which they then ate in one of the cafeteria-style messes aft of the galley. The double-wide passageway here allowed crew on duty to move about the ship while their off duty shipmates queued up for food. At lunchtime, the port side serving line served hot meals, while the starboard serving line served fast food lunches (hotdogs, hamburgers, french fries) for those sailors wishing to eat more quickly. |
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| The Crew Mess, where food was prepared for the ship's enlisted crew, numbering between a high of 2,503 in 1949 and a low of 1,450 in 1988. The mess was in the charge of the Chief Cook, whose work was approved by the Commanding Officer or Executive Officer. Menus were regularly sampled by an officer to ensure crewmen were being fed balanced, nutritious meals. |
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| The Crew Mess is outfitted with stainless steel appliances and cooking utensils and kept very clean to avoid foodborne illnesses. Four meals were served aboard USS Wisconsin each day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight rations), with each meal being managed by one of four Watch Captains and with a galley crew working in shifts. |
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| Industrial sized deep fryers, ovens, and soup pots are evidence of the thousands of meals produced here each day. For example, in one week during the Second World War, the ship's more than 2,700 officers and crew consumed 20 tons of food, including 4,110 pounds of vegetables, 1,640 pounds of fruit, 2,465 pounds of meat, 6,500 eggs, 1,200 pounds of potatoes, 1,500 pounds of flour, 164 pounds of butter, 217.5 gallons of ice cream, and 2,000 gallons of coffee. |
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| Posters encouraged the ship's sailors not to waste food. |
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| The cafeteria-style mess where sailors ate their meals. This arrangement reflects the USS Wisconsin's 1987-88 refit, which incorporated modern conveniences, such as the soft drink dispensers and ice cream machines fitted in the mess. |
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| The cafeteria-style mess runs through several large compartments, providing seating for hundreds at a time. |
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| The Dental Clinic, where Navy Dental Corps Officers and Dental Technicians saw a steady stream of sailor patients for everything from teeth cleaning to dental surgery. And because smaller ships like frigates and destroyers did not carry trained dentists, Wisconsin's dental officers were often dispatched to these vessels via boat, helicopter or bosun's chair to attend to sailors requiring dental care. |
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| USS Wisconsin's port side refuelling gear. The battleship could carry 2.3 million gallons of F-76 ship fuel, 37,000 gallons of helicopter fuel, and 210,000 gallons of fresh water, and often serviced smaller vessels in need of these commodities. Wisconsin's onboard distilling plant could produce up to 60,000 gallons of fresh water daily, for use in the ship's boilers, and for cooking and other domestic needs of the crew. USS Wisconsin refuelled so many smaller warships during the Second World War that her crew nicknamed her the 'USS Texaco'. |
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| USS Wisconsin's aft gun directors, part of the ship's fire control system and used to consistently and accurately deliver shells onto selected targets. The pyramidal tower on the upper right is the Mark 38 gun director for the aft 16-inch guns in Turret III. The tower with the round dish on top is a Mark 37 gun director for the 5-inch/38 guns, one of four such 'Sky' director positions aboard Wisconsin. Crews manned these gun directors, using radar, optical instruments, and computers to target enemy positions. |
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| On the fantail of USS Wisconsin, located on the stern, aft of Turret III. A steel deck installed on the fantail during the ship's 1987-88 modernisation permitted the landing of even the heaviest helicopters in the US Navy, such as the M-53 Sea Stallion; however, even during the Korean War, helicopters had been landing on this spot, though directly onto the fantail's teak decking. |
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| A final look at the USS Wisconsin, moored along the waterfront of downtown Norfolk, Virginia, USA. |
USS Wisconsin (BB-64) - Specifications:
Displacement:46,000 tons (light) / 58,400 tons (full load)
Length: 887 feet 3 inches (270.43 metres)
Beam: 108 feet 2 inches (32.97 metres)
Draught (full load): 37 feet 9 inches (11.51 metres)
Propulsion: 8 x Babcock and Wilcox boilers producing steam at 600 pounds per square inch; Westinghouse geared turbines producing 212,000 shaft horsepower
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h)
Armament (1943): 9 x 16-inch/50 calibre Mk 7 guns; 20 x 5-inch/38 calibre Mk 12 guns; 80 x 40mm anti-aircraft guns; 49 x 20mm anti-aircraft guns
Armament (1983): 9 x 16-inch/50 calibre Mk 7 guns; 12 x 5-inch 38 calibre Mk 12; 32 x BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles; 16 x RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missiles; 4 x 20mm 76 calibre Phalanx Close-In Weapon Systems
Armour: 12.1 inches (belt); 11.6 to 17.3 inches (barbettes); 19.5 inches (turrets); 1.5 inch (main deck)
Complement: 170 officers (1944) / 65 officers (1988); 2,738 enlisted men (1944) / 2,503 enlisted men (1949) / 1,450 enlisted men (1988)
