- Battleship USS Iowa
- Heavy Cruiser USS Indianapolis
- Submarine USS Seawolf
- Aircraft Carrier USS Enterprise
These ships I obsessed with and read about everyday. I find it important to know that also (being with friends that are fans of the USMC) that if it weren't for the Navy the Marines and the Army wouldn't get past the beach of a foreign land let alone stay alive there. The Navy is in my opinion the most important part of the military even if it was founded after the Army. I also have NO respect for people who think the opposite I think that people like that have no business talking about it, and heres a good example WWII. In the Pacific had the Navy not lightened up the beaches or provided transport for the Marines Japan would have won by a landslide, or the atom bomb "Little Boy" if the Indianapolis had not delivered the parts Japan would not have surrendered when they did and we may have been at war for lots more then 5 years and millions or even billions more lives would have been unnecessarily lost. I hope that now you have at least a little more respect for the United States Navy after this.
Now off that subject. I technically have 3 user pages (the others being Battleship freak and Andrew Petersen) I just can't gain access because I forgot the passwords. I run Andrew Petersen and Battleship freak from my main computer and this one from my iPod Touch. If you want too learn more about me I am on Facebook. Type "Andrew Petersen" and click on the one with a picture of a Battleship that ones mine and if you do visit please take a look at my album marked "My Favorite Ships".
I specialize in mostly US Naval history from WWII to present day I do know a few things before that but it not much and it is a little bit sketchy but for the most part it is accurate. I do know some Air Force things but my forte is Navy. Mainly the Battleships I can tell anyone anything about them and it is all accurate. The Iowas are my favorite especially the lead USS Iowa BB-61 but I'll let it's page do that. USS Iowa (BB-61)
Now that it is the new year I (and many USS Iowa fans and Californians) can expect an answer from the U.S. Navy regarding what will happen with USS Iowa and her future. I really doubt they will say no for two reasons
- They should be happy they are getting her off their hands
- The congress strongly believes that the firepower both she and her sister USS Wisconsin (BB-64) are capable of providing may be needed in the future. (See United States Naval Gunfire Support Debate)
If they do say no then it doesn't make any sense. They would basically be putting the nail in the coffin for her, almost like they want her to be scraped. The Iowas are the only remaining fully completed Battleship class left granted there is USS Texas, USS Massachusetts, USS Alabama and USS North Carolina but they are only parts of a whole class. Like USS Texas is a New York class, USS Massachusetts and USS Alabama are South Dakota class Battleships and USS North Carolina is the lead of it's class. but only the Iowas are a 100% complete class. If Iowa is scraped then there would never be a 100% complete class of Battleship.
They would also be leaving only one for future use and who's to say that they won't be re-commissioned, if it happened once it could happen again and they would be useful. The only reason that they were decommissioned in the early 90s was because they were getting to be too expensive to maintain, but even that would not stop them from preventing World War III. They are 887 feet of pure raw firepower. Each of them are maintained in a state of readiness but only Iowa and Wisconsin are maintained under maintenance plan X meaning that they are always ready too accept a new crew should they be needed again.
USS Iowa and her sisters signify the continuance of naval superiority both then and now and they all have earned their rightful place in history. It may have not been easy but it happened and they all deserve what they have and all their awards, especially Iowa. Both her and Wisconsin were the "underdogs" of the class overshadowed by the magnitude of the surrender on their sister USS Missouri (BB-63) and the awards given to the other sister USS New Jersey (BB-62) (which holds the title of "Most decorated Battleship in The United States Navy") and in my opinion that's why they are in the naval gunfire support debate so they can gain a little more of a title for themselves.
The firepower these ships could provide was legendary. Only 1 other ship could surpass them. They were feared and powerful ships and the last of their kind. Battleships were powerful from the start. Even though USS Iowa is laid up in Suisun Bay you still get that presence of power an how can you not especially from something so feared. They could make 32 kts across the water and be ready to fight whenever and wherever she was needed.