In 1901, Theodore
Roosevelt was asked to summarize his approach to foreign
policy and his answer was "Speak softly and carry a big
stick". The battleship U.S.S. Iowa was called
the "big stick" because it was the biggest stick in the world
playground when it was built. An impressive combination of
(then advanced) technology and awesome, raw fire power, the Iowa
was eventually used in 3 major conflicts over 50 years.
During that time, it received a number of significant weapon
systems upgrades that maintained its relevance for enforcing
U.S. policy overseas. The final design for the Iowa was
approved in 1938 and the keel was laid in mid-1940 and
construction was completed only 2 years later. The Iowa
was commissioned in 1943 and saw action in WWII, Korea,
Vietnam. The ship has since been decommissioned and now
serves as a floating museum and testament to naval technology.
The
Iowa was designed with current world circumstances in mind: the
beam of the ship is 108 feet wide and the Panama Canal is 110
feet wide, thus allowing it to transit the canal. A number
of significant retrofits were performed to keep weapon systems
and combat capabilities relevant. The Iowa carried both
Harpoon and Tomahawk cruise missiles, nuclear artillery rounds
for it's awesome 16" guns and a slew of conventional armament.
As a side note, the Iowa and the U.S.S. Missouri were sister ships (both Iowa-class battleships). Both the USS Iowa and USS Missouri were commissioned during World War II and participated in significant Pacific Theater operations. Notably, the USS Missouri became famous as the site of Japan’s official surrender on September 2, 1945, ending World War II.
The photos below are what we saw.
The Iowa
is berthed in Long Beach. When we arrived, the visitor
parking area was nearly empty allowing us a full view of the
ship. But it is SO long, that I could not make it fit in a
single frame, even at a 24mm setting The bow of the Iowa
is visible in the photo above as well as the #1 and #2 16" gun
turrets.
The Iowa
was equipped with a total of 2,000 feet of anchor chain for it's
twin anchors. These links are 128 pounds each. Including
two anchors at 30,000 each, the Iowa carried over 300,000 pounds
of steel for its anchorage system. During the Korean war,
the Iowa weighed in at 48,000 tons of displacement (960 million
pounds). That is a lot of steel.
The
anchors were on display in the parking lot. Visible at the
left of the photo above are dummy practice rounds for the 16"
guns. In the next berth, the LA County Fire Department has
its harbor fireboat facilities with both rescue and firefighting
equipment to service the harbor. Harbor tugs are visible
in the top center of the photo above.
These
16" guns, of which there were 9 on the Iowa, were some of the
largest cannons ever used in combat. They required huge
supporting infrastructure, both mechanically and crew, and were
expensive to operate and maintain.
Not part
of the original equipment, this antenna set was added during one
of the retrofits to give the Iowa modern communication
capabilities.
The
anchor windlasses were huge, as would be expected to be capable
of hoisting such massive anchor chain.
From the
bow looking aft, the older weapons systems were clearly visible.
The
shells for the 16" rounds were huge. I doubt that theft is
a concern given that they clock-in at about 2,000 pounds
each. These are dummy practice rounds and can be
identified by the shape of the nose. More on this in
photos below.
The
round-roofed structure is where the fire boats are
berthed. Next to the fire equipment are a set of harbor
tugs that service the container fleet that put into LA/Long
Beach Harbor to exchange cargo.
This
plaque showed the various types of shells available for the
massive 16" guns.
Just for fun, I asked ChatGPT for the stats on the W19 shell. It replied: The W19 artillery shell was a nuclear shell fired from a 16-inch (406 mm) gun, specifically designed for use by the U.S. military during the Cold War. It had a yield of approximately 15 to 20 kilotons, similar to the yield of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
The minimum safe distance or blast radius for a nuclear explosion depends on the yield of the device and the level of protection required. For the W19:
Minimum safe distance for personnel: For a 20-kiloton explosion, the minimum safe distance for unshielded personnel would likely be around 2 to 3 miles (3.2 to 4.8 kilometers) to avoid immediate lethal effects such as blast pressure, heat, and initial radiation.
Lethal blast radius: The radius for serious damage (including building destruction) would be up to 1 mile (1.6 kilometers), with lesser damage extending farther.
However, exact safety distances would have been determined by military guidelines, which take into account factors like terrain, wind, and altitude of detonation. For unprotected individuals, the safe distance could vary depending on the operational context.
This
display shows the relative size of one of the shells compared to
a man.
Each
shell got 6-100 pound sacks of gun cotton as propellant (the
white plugs). The total length of the shell and powder
charge was about 12 feet.
The
crux of effectiveness for cannons is putting the rounds
on-target. Aiming at targets 20 miles away is no small
feat and there we a set of optical sights and mechanical
computers that assisted in this process.
Discharging
all 9 guns at once is an awesome sight. The photo above
shows the blast overpressure wavefront as it impacts the ocean's
surface as seen from above.
There
was a small access port at the rear of the #1 turret that
allowed me to stick the camera in for a shot of the inside.
As noted
in the plaque above, operating these guns is a dangerous
undertaking. Even with strict rules in place, it is still
possible to have fatal accidents. 47 sailors were killed
in a training accident involving the 16" guns.
While
the 16" guns are the stars of the show, there were a large
number of the smaller, faster to fire 5" guns around the
perimeter of the Iowa. Some of these turrets were removed
during later retrofits to allow the installation of missile
launch and support hardware.
Each of
the guns, 16" or 5" had an extensive support system of equipment
to handle and hoist shells and power from below deck. In
the 16" guns, shells and power were stored in separate
compartments for safety reasons. In the 5" gun, the
cartridge is "complete" in that the shell and propellant are in
a container. In the 16" gun, shells and powder were only
combined when ready to shoot.
While
it is better to give than receive, the Iowa had extensive 17"
armor plating securing the command and control areas for the
guns. While not providing complete protection for the
gun crews it did minimize the risk of death given an accurate
counter-strike. The Iowa did suffer a number of enemy
hits during combat.
Old-style,
tried-and-true optical and mechanical controls for the weapons
systems.
Ships
of this era were rat's nests of wires and cables.
Newer
radars and electronics were added to 1930's style optics for
fire control.
The
plaque states it better than I could.
In the
post-Vietnam era, the Phalanx CIWS radar-controlled terminal
defense system was added to the Iowa.
BB-61
was also equipped with passive chaff defense systems.
The launchers are the short tubes with red plugs.
The
plaque tells the story.
BB-61
carried 4 Phalanx systems positioned such that 2 can be used
at once for any incoming target.
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