Navy transfers battleship to Norfolk

[Ken_NJ]

Link to the article

Navy transfers battleship to Norfolk

Staff report
Posted : Monday Dec 14, 2009 16:45:06 EST

Navy officials signed the paperwork Monday to donate the service’s last battleship, the Wisconsin, to the city of Norfolk, Va., the Navy announced. The transfer is the next step in opening up many of the ship’s interior spaces for public tours.

Before the official transfer, Nauticus and the affiliated Hampton Roads Naval Museum had to maintain the Wisconsin in a low level of readiness in case the Navy needed to reactivate the battleship for service. During that time, only the topside and a few decks in the superstructure were available for public tours. Now that the ship has been transferred, Nauticus will eventually be able to open more of the ship to the public, said Monica McCoy, a spokeswoman for Naval Sea Systems Command.

Navy and Norfolk city officials had hoped the transfer would have taken place earlier this year, but worries about hazardous materials aboard prompted the Environmental Protection Agency to slow the process until its standards were met.

The Wisconsin will remain berthed on the waterfront at the Nauticus museum in downtown Norfolk, where it has been tied up in a reserve status since 2000. Decommissioned in 1991, the ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Registry in 2006, and so technically is the “ex-Wisconsin.” From 2000 to 2009, the Navy paid Norfolk about $2.8 million to dock the Wisconsin on the waterfront.

The Wisconsin is the 46th museum ship donated by the Navy for display in 22 states, according to an announcement from Naval Sea Systems Command. Three of the four Iowa-class battleships are on display. In addition to the Wisconsin, the other two are the New Jersey, in Camden, N.J.; and the Missouri, which is undergoing repairs in a drydock in Pearl Harbor.

A group in Valejo, Calif., is trying to acquire the class-leading battleship Iowa for a museum attraction, but today the ship remains moored with the National Defense Reserve Fleet, better known as the “ghost fleet,” in Suisun Bay, Calif.

[Rumrunner]

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Yet another nail in the coffin of those who think the BB's will prowl the seas again.

I wonder where this really leaves the Iowa. No longer is she a potential spare parts hulk for the Wisconsin, which could have been reactivated much faster than her, so the only options now seem to be a museum or the breakers...

[Doomarias]

I'm betting scrap, but it is sad. Wouldn't it look great moored near the Intrepid!

[Dreadnought]

Scrap? Not a chance. The USN would revoke their donation orders if those words were even mentioned.;)

She has been an icon in downtown Norfolk and rests on the friges of "hell" the bar, not the place.:));)

[Dreadnought]

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Yet another nail in the coffin of those who think the BB's will prowl the seas again.

I wonder where this really leaves the Iowa. No longer is she a potential spare parts hulk for the Wisconsin, which could have been reactivated much faster than her, so the only options now seem to be a museum or the breakers...

Every gentlemen I have met military related that resides on the West Coast has stated that if they even attempt to sink her, they will all go down with her.;)

The USN dont regulary admit it, but they wont sink her, she holds far too much Naval tradition along with the rest of the sisters otherwise they would have gone to the breakers before their 80's reactivation. There are no replacements for those ships. The USN just wants them off of their normal percieved operating budgets yet they still hold the pinkslips which is written into all of the Battleship foundation contracts and they are still visited by the Brass when the Navy is in town and still operated under USN guidelines.

[TopHatter]

The USN dont regulary admit it, but they wont sink her, she holds far too much Naval tradition along with the rest of the sisters otherwise they would have gone to the breakers before their 80's reactivation. There are no replacements for those ships. The USN just wants them off of their normal percieved operating budgets yet they still hold the pinkslips which is written into all of the Battleship foundation contracts and they are still visited by the Brass when the Navy is in town and still operated under USN guidelines.

That sounds about right. It's one thing to scrap a big-gun crusier like Des Moines, but a battleship like Iowa simply won't be written off so easily.

On the other side of the coin, she needs a lot of care and attention that the reserve fleet simply can't provide, even though they do as much as they can and then some.

[Dreadnought]

On the other side of the coin, she needs a lot of care and attention that the reserve fleet simply can't provide, even though they do as much as they can and then some.

*Many havent forgotten Boxer nor Pelosi nor SF politics I assure you TH. If they were going to scrap her, many would have recieved a call long before now. The phones not ringing. And if they did suceed in passsing it surely it would call for one final all gun salvo. (Aimed right at the center of SF's Democratic political district when they are all in):));)

*Last, you will note the government just gave USS Missouri 18 million to have her hull all refinished and painted out along with the lower structure.;)

[connaye]

Anybody in Pearl ????

Any recent visits to the dry dock in Pearl of the restoration of the Missouri?

Jpegs would make a great Christmas present for this thread

[HoratioNelson]

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later. Yet another nail in the coffin of those who think the BB's will prowl the seas again.

Not really. More a nail in the coffin of those who think the Iowas will prowl the seas again. Battleships, in one form or another, will come again. Even if they aren't called battleships.

[Ken_NJ]

I have been trying to find recent photos of the progress of the Missouri since she entered drydock. Have not been able to find any. Only these when she first entered the drydock.

USS Missouri in drydock

[RmK]

If the Wisconsin was the service's last battleship, who owns Iowa?

[Ken_NJ]

I'd say the US government still owns all of the museum ships, and those in mothballs, as the museum associations have restrictions on what the associations can do to the ships. And if the museum association should fold up, any ship would revert back into the governments hands.

Someone more knowledgeable can speak up also...

[Dreadnought]

If the Wisconsin was the service's last battleship, who owns Iowa?

If not mistaken, since she is a member of the mothball reserve fleet her undertaking should fall upon MARAD who intern oversee upkeep for the USN. However, Rusty should be able to pinpoint who takes care of her and the rest better then my answer.;)

[Rumrunner]

If not mistaken, since she is a member of the mothball reserve fleet her undertaking should fall upon MARAD who intern oversee upkeep for the USN. However, Rusty should be able to pinpoint who takes care of her and the rest better then my answer.;)

Correct, the USS Iowa is presently in the care, custody and control of the US Maritime Administration, but is still listed on the Naval Vessel Register.

[Dreadnought]

Correct, the USS Iowa is presently in the care, custody and control of the US Maritime Administration, but is still listed on the Naval Vessel Register.

*Wishfull thinking: A perfect test platform for USN ship mounted railgun systems. Pull turret two and now you have alot of empty space to incorporate the internals.:));)