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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Iowa (BB-61), 1943-____

USS Iowa, lead ship of a class of 45,000-ton battleships, was built at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York. Commissioned in February 1943, she spent her initial service in the Atlantic and carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt to and from Casablanca, Morocco, in November 1943. Early in January 1944, Iowa steamed to the Pacific, where she took part in the Marshalls Campaign later in that month and in February. From then until the end of 1944, she was actively involved in raids against Japanese facilities and campaigns to capture the Marianas, the Palaus and Leyte, including participation in the Battles of the Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf.

After overhaul in early 1945, Iowa returned to the western Pacific for the Okinawa campaign and the final operations against Japan. She was present in Tokyo Bay during the formal surrender of Japan on 2 September 1945. She returned to the United States later in that month and operated with the Pacific Fleet until she was decommissioned in March 1949.

The Korean War brought Iowa back into active service. She was recommissioned in August 1951 and made a combat deployment to Korean waters in April-October 1952, during which time she served as Seventh Fleet flagship. Upon return to the U.S., she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet. Over the next several years, Iowa made several European cruises and was present for the International Naval Review in Hampton Roads, Virginia, in June 1957. She was decommissioned in February 1958.

After two and a half decades in "mothballs", Iowa was modernized under the 1980s defense buildup and recommissioned in April 1984. She went to European waters in 1985, 1986 and 1987-88, with the latter cruise continuing into the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea. A fire in her second sixteen-inch gun turret killed 47 crewmen on 19 April 1989, but Iowa was still able to deploy to Europe and the Mediterranean Sea in mid-year. Turret two remained unrepaired when she decommissioned for the last time in October 1990. USS Iowa is presently part of the Reserve Fleet.

This page features selected views concerning USS Iowa (BB-61).


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 53264

USS Iowa (BB-61)


Raising her anchor, as she prepares to move from Bayonne, New Jersey, to Gravesend Bay, 29 March 1943.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 585 pixels

 
Photo #: 80-G-235080

USS Iowa
(BB-61)

Underway at sea during the Marshalls Operation, 24 January 1944.
She is wearing Camouflage Measure 32, Design 1B.
In the left distance, also painted in Camouflage Measure 32 (possibly Design 11D), is USS Indiana (BB-58).

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 62KB; 650 x 675 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-235080 (cropped)

USS Iowa
(BB-61)

Underway at sea during the Marshalls Operation, 24 January 1944.
She is wearing Camouflage Measure 32, Design 1B.
In the left distance, also painted in Camouflage Measure 32 (possibly Design 11D), is USS Indiana (BB-58).
This image has been cropped from Photo # 80-G-235080 to emphasize the ships and their camouflage patterns.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 60KB; 740 x 580 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-15631 (Color)

USS Iowa (BB-61)

At sea with Task Force 38 in December 1944.
Photographed by LCdr. Charles Fenno Jacobs, USNR.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 122KB; 740 x 510 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

Note:
This image has been erroneously identified as showing USS New Jersey (BB-62). Iowa's distinctive pattern camouflage can be faintly seen in the original transparency.

 
Photo #: NH 44538

USS Iowa (BB-61)


Steaming into Pearl Harbor with rails manned, 28 October 1952, while en route to the U.S. following her first Korean War deployment.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 125KB; 740 x 620 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 92213

USS Iowa (BB-61)


Off Koje, Korea, Firing her 16-inch guns at enemy coastal defenses.
Photo is dated 17 October 1952, the day after Iowa completed her Korean War combat operations.

Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute Photographic Collection.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

Online Image: 138KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-13195 (Color)

USS Iowa (BB-61)

Fires a 16-inch shell toward a North Korean target, in mid-1952.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 510 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: NH 97201

USS Iowa (BB-61)


Anchored in Hampton Roads, Virginia, with her crew paraded on deck, as last minute details are completed for the International Naval Review, 12 June 1957.
Photographed by PH1 Castiglia.
A HUP helicopter is flying overhead.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 620 pixels

 
Photo #: DN-ST-85-05379 (Color)

USS Iowa (BB-61)

Fires a full broadside of nine 16"/50 and six 5"/38 guns during a target exercise near Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, 1 July 1984.
Photographed by PHAN J. Alan Elliott.
Note concussion effects on the water surface, and 16-inch gun barrels in varying degrees of recoil.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the the Department of Defense Still Media Collection.

Online Image: 183KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-16469 (Color)

USS Iowa (BB-61)

20mm gun crew in action on the battleship's forecastle, probably during her shakedown period in the late winter and spring of 1943.
Note gunner using the Mark 14 lead-computing gunsight mounted on the 20mm gun at right.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 78KB; 740 x 510 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-13507 (Color)

USS Iowa (BB-61)

Being prepared for launching, at the New York Navy Yard, NY, circa late August 1942.
Note: heavy chains used to brake the ship after she had entered the water; and men lounging at lower right, near a Navy Department safety poster, listening to a Marine Corps band.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 188KB; 580 x 765 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 
Photo #: 80-G-K-825 (Color)

USS Iowa (BB-61)

Commissioning ceremonies on the ship's after deck, at the New York Navy Yard, NY, 22 February 1943.
Note: Mark 38 main battery director with Mark 8 fire control radar on top, 16"/50 triple gun turret, freshly raised National Ensign, and incomplete condition of some features of the ship's after superstructure.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.

Online Image: 121KB; 740 x 610 pixels

Reproductions of this image may also be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system.

 


If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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Page made 8 January 2000
New images added 30 June 2007