{"id":58154,"date":"2024-12-21T23:17:54","date_gmt":"2024-12-21T22:17:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=58154"},"modified":"2025-12-21T01:59:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T00:59:00","slug":"spending-a-night-on-the-uss-wisconsin-a-large-world-war-ii-battleship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/12\/21\/spending-a-night-on-the-uss-wisconsin-a-large-world-war-ii-battleship\/","title":{"rendered":"Spending a night on the USS Wisconsin, a large World War II battleship"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Iowa-class battleships were the largest ships of their type built in the entire naval history of the United States.<\/p>\n

A tour inside the gigantic battleship USS Iowa, now a museum ship<\/a><\/rel>
\nThe battleship USS Alabama and the formidable military museum around it<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

Although construction of six ships of this class was begun, only four were ever completed:<\/strong> USS Iowa BB-61, USS New Jersey BB-62, USS Missouri BB-63, and USS Wisconsin BB-64. The fifth ship, USS Illinois BB-65, was scrapped<\/strong> in 1958 without ever being launched (her construction was cancelled in August 1945), while the sixth, USS Kentucky BB-66, was launched on 20 January 1950, but never entered service,<\/strong> being scrapped in 1959.<\/p>\n

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The USS Wisconsin in a photo taken during her second tour of duty with the US Navy, from 1988 to 1991 (Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The four completed Iowa-class battleships are preserved as museum ships today.<\/strong> The USS Iowa is in Los Angeles,<\/a> California. The USS New Jersey is in Camden, New Jersey. The USS Missouri is in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The USS Wisconsin is in Norfolk, Virginia,<\/strong> home of the largest naval base in the world.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The USS Wisconsin firing its powerful 406 mm guns (Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The USS Wisconsin was laid down on January 25, 1941,<\/strong> just months before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It is a massive ship, 900 feet (270.4 meters) long<\/strong>, 110 feet (33 meters) wide, and displacing 45,000 tons. Its main armament is nine massive 16-inch (406 mm) guns in three triple turrets. It was launched just two years after the attack, on December 7, 1943, and entered service on April 16, 1944<\/strong>. It saw combat in the Pacific Theater of Operations, taking part in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and later also fought in the Korean War<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The USS Wisconsin firing its guns during a demonstration in the Gulf of Mexico in 1988 (Photo: Naval History and Heritage Command<\/a>).<\/div>\n

During the Cold War, battleships were thought to have become obsolete due to the new king of the seas: the aircraft carrier. As a result, the USS Wisconsin was decommissioned from the US Navy on March 8, 1958<\/strong>. But that was not the end of its military history.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The USS Wisconsin in a photo taken in January 2001, a few months before it opened as a museum ship in Norfolk, Virginia (Photo: NARA<\/a>).<\/div>\n

On October 22, 1988, the USS Wisconsin was commissioned into the US Navy,<\/strong> after a two-year modernization process that included the installation of Phalanx CIWS anti-aircraft rotary cannons and launchers for Tomahawk cruise missiles and Harpoon anti-ship missiles. With this new arsenal, it participated in the Gulf War in 1991,<\/strong> receiving its final decommissioning on September 30 of that year.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The USS Wisconsin at dusk in its current home in Norfolk (Photo: sg.sam<\/a>).<\/div>\n

On December 7, 2000, marking its 57th anniversary, the USS Wisconsin was towed to the National Maritime Center in Norfolk<\/strong>, where it was recommissioned on April 16, 2001 as part of the U.S. Navy\u2019s Hampton Roads Naval Museum<\/strong>. On December 14, 2009, the ship was officially transferred to the city of Norfolk and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 28, 2012<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
A beautiful night photo of the USS Wisconsin in Hampton Roads, Norfolk, in 2008 (Photo: Missy Schmidt<\/a>).<\/div>\n

In addition to the usual visits to this museum ship, the USS Wisconsin offers an unusual experience: the possibility of spending a night inside it<\/strong>, as if you were one of the crew members of this great battleship when it was active. Dave Parker<\/a> has shown this experience in an interesting video:<\/p>\n