USS Iowa

D

deltabighat

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Took a boat trip from the Berekley Marina a short way over to the Richmond docks to see the grand old lady the USS Iowa. They only let us wander around on the forward deck but it was very cool. They are preparing her for the trip south to LA where she will be a museum. This ship fought in WWII, Korea, Vietnam Nam and the gulf war in 1991. It's well worth a visit to see a real fighting lady with enormous history. We had a little trouble with the boat, nothing serious, only a bilge full of gasoline but we managed not to catch fire or blow up. All and all a fun weekend on the bay.

Dbh
 
DBH: Glad to hear you made it to see the Iowa. I've been to Alameda to see the carrier USS Hornet, and that's definitely worth visiting as well.

A couple of questions:

Do you know how long the Iowa is going to be in Richmond?

Where in the Richmond area were you able to temporarily tie up?

Tom
 
she is in the Richmond deep water ship channel. We went by boat to the Bay Marina in Richmond and to the launch ramp that is there. I guess this would be the Richmond launch ramp. From there it was a very short walk to the ship. You can also drive there and park in a lot adjacent to the ship. It will be there for a couple more months we were told. I also would wait a couple weeks because right now they are only letting people up on the forward deck and in a few weeks they will be opening the enterior for tours. We were told the entire enterior is in pristine condition whereas the exterior and deck needs lots of work. Well worth a visit

DBH
 
You consider a "bilge full of gasoline" a little problem?????? I'm speechless...........
 
that was a failed attempt at humor in that we got off the water immediately when we found we had fuel in the bilge
 
Refueled from her in the mid 80's. What a ship. They did a powder only salute out of the 16" guns as we were preparing to come along side. Unbelievable.
 
did alot of unreps with her and the N.J. in the 80's when I was on the Butte AE-27. Got to watch them launch Tomahawks in GW1 and the N.J. shell Syrians. And them big ole Boats hauled A$$
 
Of interest. we were told that the state of Iowa has donated 3 million dollars for painting the entire exterior. We were told that would add ten thousand pounds of weight when finished. Most all the work is being done by volunteers so if any of you bay area folks want to help, they would gladly welcome you

DBH
 
quote:
Originally posted by alexander38

...And them big ole Boats hauled A$$

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True dat. If you check your six and see these crawling up your butt at 30+ knots, your attention gets grabbed real quick or your brain dead.

bb-62-DNST8704541_JPG.jpg
 
quote:
Originally posted by deltabighat

... Most all the work is being done by volunteers so if any of you bay area folks want to help, they would gladly welcome you

DBH

Click to expand...


Well, that would bring back memories of painting the USS Saginaw, LST-1188 in the summer of '79. Seemed like I got a few pounds of that Haze Grey paint on my working blues...
 
Two bad they can not keep it in Alameda next to the U.S.S. Hornet. It would be pretty cool to have them side by side. Actually what would be really neat is if they could get as much of a fleet together as possible as a floating museum. Sort of like the Air Force Museum at Wright Patterson AFB.
 
It's hard to believe that this grand old lady was commissioned in about 1938 and served with distinction until 1994 or so. So glad they are not going to make razor blades out of her.......she deserves to be on display for a long time to come
 
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