Some Photos from Inside the USS Iowa (BB-61)

[Proost]

I didn't waste a lot of time taking photos of weapons on the decks, you can google and find much better images of these that I could've taken with my iPhone. I focused mostly on the engineering stuff that visitors to the USS Iowa museum do not get to see yet. I posted the images in spoiler boxes because they don't autoresize and are obnoxiously large.

 

A quick primer before we begin:

The Iowa is the lead ship in her class of battleships. The Iowa class was built to be the biggest and the baddest. With the development of the new 16 inch/50 caliber guns and, most importantly, the revocation of the Washington Naval Treaty, she was fully capable of being just that.

 

She was laid down in June of 1940, launched in August 1942 and commissioned in February 1943. Her armor belt was 12.1 inches thick, bulkhead armor was 11.3 inches thick, the barbettes ranged from 11.6 to 17.3 inches thick and the decks had armor of 7.5 inches. When she was launched, her armament included nine 16 inch guns, twenty 5 inch guns, eighty 40mm Bofors AA, and forty-nine 20mm AA gun mounts.

 

In 1949, she was decommissioned and put into long-term storage (mothballs). She was recommissioned in 1951 to serve in Korea and was again decommissioned in 1958. Iowa was again recommissioned in 1984 by President Reagan in an attempt to create a 600 ship Navy. She undertook limited Naval Surface Fire Support and Strike missions during the Gulf War. She was put back into mothballs in 1990 and finally struck from the Naval Register in 2006.

 

During her modernization in 1984, the remaining 20mm and 40mm guns were stripped, four CIWS were mounted along with Harpoon missiles and Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles. She underwent limited modernization of comms systems and target tracking systems.

 

 

This is the best photo of Broadway I could get. It's the longest single passageway on the ship and leads from aft berthing all the way to the forward barbette. The rails on top were used to move the massive 16inch shells around the ship.

 

 

Here you can see shafts 2 and 3. 2 is further away and 3 is the painted thing right at the top of the frame. Just about 75 or 80 feet to the stern, the 18ft diameter propellers are attached to these puppies.

 

 

Another shot of shaft 2. You can see the packing gland that keeps the watertight integrity of the spaces on the bulkhead to the right.

 

 

Here is one of the most important parts of the ship, the main reduction gear (or MRG). This is the piece of equipment that turns the steam from the boilers into lateral motion. The steam comes out at such high pressure (it's water vapor superheated to around 850F) that it spins the first set of gears here around 5000rpm. The props on this ship like to turn between about 100 and around 220rpm. The MRG steps the 5000rpm of the boiler down to the appropriate prop speed through either 18:1 or 25:1 gear ratios. These things cost millions of dollars and the Navy doesn't even own them. They're all rented.

 

 

Top view of the MRG. These are such delicate pieces of equipment. A small bolt, a little piece of rag, anything really can ruin the extremely tight tolerances of these machines and then the ship is dead in the water.

 

I tried to get a bit artsy here in Forward Plot. This station took in data about wind, current, ship's course and speed, enemy ship's course and speed and wind at target. It would create a firing solution and feed that information to the turrets which would aim and fire the guns at the appropriate time. These mechanical computers could guide a 16inch shell around 23miles from the ship and land within 10 feet of where the gun was pointed. Built in 1942 everyone.

 

A view of a computer in forward plot. There are tons of levers and dials to turn to adjust the targeting data. It was so cool down here.

 

EDIT: Formatting.

[Sampsonite]

These are great pics.  Nice post

[Jahona]

It's neat to see the insides of the magnificent beasts.  I have a lot of photos of the inside of BB35, USS Texas, that are usually off limits to normal guests.  I should post them up later.

[Fast_Battleship_Iowa]

I've been inside USS Iowa myself, it's way bigger on the inside than it looks from the exerior - and that's just the parts you're allowed to walk through.  I was also suprised by all the ducts, wires and cables everwhere crammed all over the ceiling and walls, it was not a very visually pleasing interior.  I guess functionality vs. appearance though, a battleship doesn't have to look good to be effective.

 

Don't know how you got below the waterline interior though, did you have a special tour?  The standard walk-through-it-yourself doesn't show any of this if I remember correctly.

[Proost]

This was taken during a special tour of the ship. My division officer class did a volunteer event on the Iowa and cleaned a bakery space. Afterwards we got an awesome tour. I wish I would've taken photos of the fireroom, but it was very dark.

[TinCanSailr]

 BB-61 Battle Awards - Taken Vets Day 2013

 BB-61 Ribbons - Taken Vets Day 2013

 

 

Spoiler View of BB-61 from Officer's country taken summer 1990

 

Spoiler View of BB-61 citadel helm taken summer 1990

 

Spoiler View of BB-61 powder mag taken summer 1990

 

 

 

 

 

[Proost]

Those photos from '92 were awesome.

[JAD1920]

Is there any areas or equipment on board that remain Classified? I appreciate the pictures. Thank you for posting.

[Jahona]

Is there any areas or equipment on board that remain Classified? I appreciate the pictures. Thank you for posting.

 

I doubt it.  All of the Iowas have been struck from the Navy register and have been demilitarized.  The Wisconsin was one of the last US Battleships that was maintained and kept ready in case it was needed.  That ended in 2009 when it was transferred to the city of Norfolk and made a National Historic Landmark.  I'm not sure if any of them could sail on their own power.  When they filmed the movie Battleship, the Missouri was moved and transported using tugboats.

 

This is the computer systems installed aboard the Wisconsin.  As you can see your smartphone is more powerful than what was installed on this ship.

 

 

This area was, if I remember correct, part of the communications and information for the ship.  It would have been considered classified and top secret.

 

 

[JAD1920]

So what you are saying and what I am seeing is that the idea of them being upgraded and reactivated is a far stretch? She looks like she is in good shape compared to the USS Little Rock or Texas.

[Jahona]

So what you are saying and what I am seeing is that the idea of them being upgraded and reactivated is a far stretch? She looks like she is in good shape compared to the USS Little Rock or Texas.

 

She is in great shape all things considered since she was deactivated in 2009.  Modernization though....  My dad was part of the modernization of the Iowa in the 80s.  I was talking to him tonight about it and he was saying how much of a pain it was.  She wasn't designed for modern systems.  They were also pulling parts from the Alabama in order to repair and make her operational.  One of the reasons you can't go to the bottom decks on the Alabama.

[BnaditCorps]

well the Iowa was the last BB in inactive reserve in the world (mothball fleet in Sisun bay, CA) I remember watching the news and hearing about her being towed out under the Golden Gate.

 

And actually i think it would be possible for them to be reactivated as it is a very easy task since they were active in the 80's and 90's not like the Massachusetts, Alabama, or North Carolina as they are in the WW2 configuration and have been striped for parts in order to keep the Iowas going, and don't even think about hte Texas as she would require over 1.5-3 years in a dry-dock to repair fully into working order and she would also need a new hull and 14in shells would need to be built and just a big mess

[Jahona]

It really depends with the Iowas if their boilers and propulsion systems are still somewhat functional.  I would love to see those old girls sail just for events.  The age of the battleship is over, but that doesn't mean you still can't take them for a stroll every now and then.

[Valkyriel]

There wouldn't really be a reason to activate these ships.  Missiles, Airplanes, and new Gun technologies would make these things really expensive anchors really fast if they went to war.  They are glorious, and I always tear up whenever I think about their proud history, but the current trend is working towards a "Lower Crew Count" when designing new ships and these kind of go against that.

[Shigure_DD]

Nice pics, I was lucky enough to be able to get down to san pedro and see her being towed in. They were blasting god bless America and the star spangled banner.

[Jjtt0105]

good pictures

[JuiceEFruit]

It really depends with the Iowas if their boilers and propulsion systems are still somewhat functional.  I would love to see those old girls sail just for events.  The age of the battleship is over, but that doesn't mean you still can't take them for a stroll every now and then.

 

Word is, Iowa could sail under her own power within one year.   My guess is that the same could be said for Wisconsin and Missouri. 

 

And yes, they are still required to be maintained in good enough condition that the Navy could take them back and recommission them if the President were to declare a National Emergency. 

 

Wisconsin and Missouri are in the best shape of the 4.   Iowa is also in good shape, and New Jersey, unsurprisingly, is in the worst shape of the 4.   Of course, she's been used the most, too.   The other 3 had an almost-30 year nap before being reactivated in the 80's. 

 

Regardless of crew requirements, there is no ship currently in any navy that is as capable as an Iowa class BB.   They carried plenty of missiles, were unmatched in speed by any capital ship, at least in our Navy, they're the only ships with any armor to speak of, and then there's those big rifles.  

16" weapons, which already had the R&D done to develop shells that could go out to 40+ miles, and by now easily could be reaching out and touching the enemy up near 100 miles.    All while "showing the flag" like no other ship afloat can.  

 

But, if you follow the money, it's in developing and building new ships, not modifying and refitting older ones.   And getting shiny new stuff is what the Navy is all about, so there you have it.   

[Geep]

A fellow who served aboard Iowa and contributes to ars technica had an article up with a fairly impressive gallery of photos. below is the link:

 

http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/05/gallery-ars-tours-the-battleship-uss-iowa-bb-61/

 

I rather enjoyed them.

 

[SpiderWolve]

Judging from these pics she's in great shape. I mean seriously. She looks like the crew is asleep somewhere. 

[Chronic_Penetration]

America!

 

[Jahona]

America!

 

 

The comments on that video alone was worth it.  The arguments going back and forth on how battleships are obsolete was priceless.