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Iowa-Class Battleships — Freedom’s Thunder

Talyn said:
Been on the Missouri at Pearl, the North Carolina and the Massachusetts; three different classes.

Too bad they didn't save more of the BBs, older than the Iowa's, as WW2 Memorials.
Click to expand...

I don't know who "they" is that didn't save more of them, but I've never been a fan of the taxpayer flipping the bill to keep up such an expensive keepsake. I have toured the USS Alabama and the USS Intrepid and the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park is not funded by the government and The Intrepid Museum Foundation is a private, non-profit institution. I don't know who funds the rest of them.
 
"They" means collectively as a country that the US didn't save more of them. It's called the history of the greatest generation.

And especially, the USS Enterprise (CV-6) the most decorated ship of WW2.

en.wikipedia.org

USS Enterprise (CV-6) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

USS Enterprise (CV-6)

The Yorktown class aircraft carrier, USS Enterprise (CV-6) was commissioned at Newport News, Virginia, on May 12, 1938. Relocating to the Pacific, she was at sea during the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Three days after, she became the first U.S. Navy warship to sink a...
www.history.navy.mil www.history.navy.mil


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The final voyage of the USS Enterprise (CV-6) as she is towed to the breakers. August 21, 1958.​

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My .02
 
In early '72 I was flying as a door gunner with the 162nd Assault Helicopter Co. out of Can Tho. Flying over terrain S. of there (forget exactly where), we passed over a cluster of HUGE craters. I asked if they were from a B52 strike & was told "No, from the New Jersey."
A few years ago I got to tour the NJ at Camden. Not only was it very impressive, but I had to marvel at what it must have been like to be in a battle, especially if your duty station was in the engine room or the lower decks. You wouldn't have any idea what was going on, & if the ship were sinking, I don't imagine you'd have much chance of making it topside to escape. Took a lot of guts for sure.
 
An incredible walk through history. From a time when America could rise to the occasion and do incredible things for both nation and the world.
 
New Jersey is currently in dry dock at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, they are offering tours in the dry dock, kinda pricey though, she should be returning to camden in a few weeks, the battleship new jersey museum organization has currently has several videos on youtube, very nice. As I as in the Navy in 1980 onwards I went TAD to the New Jersey after she reactivated and went on a "world tour" got on her from Guam and dropped off in the Philippines, Great ship!!
 
Really well-done piece. My dad served in WWII in the South Pacific on a destroyer that ran with the fast carrier groups. He told me a story of waking up one morning and saw the silhouette of the new Iowa class wagons that had rendezvoused with the group overnight and thought, “That’s it, we’re done,” thinking it was a Japanese ship! He had some good stories…miss ya dad.

As a NJ resident, I have visited BB62, which is currently back in the Phila shipyard undergoing maintenance, it is awesome, and support it with my BB license plate. Come visit when it’s back!
 
I don't believe the generation now can even understand what or how the great generation and the people from that era worked together. Not only were they frugal and did not waste anything, but they could also be counted on to help each other out during tough times. Neighbors all knew one another, even if you lived miles apart.
 
My Dad, a Korean War vet, and I toured the Missouri when she was docked in SoCal and the public was allowed to tour just the deck. He was a big WWII buff...and having been a vet, he admired/respected what America accomplished during that war, so it was a significant thing for him to see Missouri.

I was just a young kid then, but I think it was sometime in the late 80's or early 90's...and I don't remember what city she was docked at for the tour...I was simply too young to recall the details or know the history enough to appreciate her.

But I was awed by the battleship and do remember that all the doors/hatches were sealed shut to prevent the public from going inside her and the tour was restricted to just the deck. The line for the tour was huge and my Dad & I waited for hours in line to go onboard.

I've tried a few times to do some online reading to figure out that tour date and where this tour happened, but haven't had much luck.

In the end, it'll always be a nice memory of my Dad & I spending the day together, seeing & being on a battleship.

Now, decades later and my Dad having recently passed away, my bucket list includes going to Pearl to see Missouri again for sentimental reasons. Dad always wanted to see the Arizona Memorial, but we never had the money for such a trip...then later in life, he was in bad health & too disabled to make the trip.

So I'll go there myself with his ashes when I can afford it someday, so he gets his wish to 'see' the Arizona Memorial and we'll also tour the Missouri together again.
 
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