Thousands visit the battleship USS IOWA.

[powderman]

http://www.yahoo.com/_ylt=Ahhmq71bNVGrRN_7k2iWF8qbvZx4;_ylu=X3oDMTVzcGQ4bjQ5BGEDVGhvdXNhbmRzIHZpc2l0IGJhdHRsZXNoaXAgVVNTIElvd2EgYXMgbXVzZXVtIG9wZW5zIGluIEwuQS4EY2NvZGUDcHpidWFsbGNhaDUEY3BvcwM2BGcDaWQtMjQxMTgxOQRpbnRsA3VzBG1jb2RlA3B6YnVhbGxjYWg1BG1wb3MDNwRwa2d0AzIEcG9zAzEEc2VjA3RkLXBvbARzbGsDdGl0bGUEdGVzdAM3MDEEd29lAzEyNzc1MTUw/SIG=13bls4cvi/EXP=1341789923/**http%3A//news.yahoo.com/thousands-visit-battleship-uss-iowa-museum-opens-l-225950532.html
 
 
  Thousands visit battleship USS Iowa as museum opens in L.A.By Dana Feldman | Reuters – 30 mins ago     
 

• The battleship USS Iowa approaches …

   LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Thousands of visitors climbed aboard the USS Iowa - its sides draped in red, white and blue ribbons - as the storied battleship that served during World War Two and the Cold War opened as a museum on Saturday at the port of Los Angeles.
A B-25 bomber, a P-40 Warhawk and a P-51 Mustang flew over the ship in a triangle formation to mark the first day of public visits.
The 887-foot-long (270-meter) Iowa was commissioned in 1943 and decommissioned in 1990. It was mothballed in a Northern California port until it could be towed to Los Angeles this year to serve as a museum.
The battleship underwent a $7 million restoration that included $3 million from the state of Iowa.
During World War Two, the Iowa ferried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the perilous Atlantic waters to a historic meeting with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.
It was known as "The Battleship of Presidents" and also as "The Big Stick" for its actions in combat in the Pacific Ocean.
Visitors on Saturday scaled gangplanks to board the ship, where some viewed the specially built bath installed on board for Roosevelt, who was partially paralyzed and could not use a shower.
Paul Chiappinelli, 86, served as a Navy radio man during World War Two though not aboard the Iowa. "This is the real thing to me, made me feel good to be here today," he said. "I've been waiting for this day."
Joe Nishimura, 78, served aboard the Iowa in 1953 when he was 18 years old and received gunnery training as it sailed in the Atlantic Ocean. He said superiors made life "pretty miserable" with all the requirements placed on him.
But on Saturday, working his post as a volunteer aboard the ship, Nishimura admitted to feeling nostalgic. "You forget all the bad things and only remember the good," he said.
About 1,500 visitors bought tickets in advance to see the ship before it opened and over 1,000 other guests purchased tickets at the counter on Saturday before getting on the 175-foot-tall (53-meter) ship.
Pacific Battleship Center, the group that brought the Iowa to Los Angeles from northern California, had called the ship the last of its kind that had not been sunk, scrapped or turned into a museum.
The museum will be open daily, except on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

[powderman]

WE toured the battleship N Carolina at Wilmington NC years ago and the Iowa is even bigger. I was very immpressed with the ship. We were blessed to meet a crew member from ww11, this was in 97. POWDERMAN. 

[Boomer68]

I remember visiting the Missouri in the early 80's when she was docked in Bremerton. Impressive ships.

[Victor3]

 My Wife has applied to be a volunteer on the Iowa and had a tour of the main deck a couple of weeks ago. She tells me it appears to need a ton of work to be ready for prime time.
 
 Another ship to visit if you're at the port of LA is the SS Lane Victory. I've taken two cruises out to Catalina Island on her. Was able to act as gun trainer on her 5" gun during the mock air attack about 15 years ago. Pretty cool to shoot down an enemy plane. 
 
http://www.lanevictory.org/
 
 My Son and I visited the LA Maritime museum a couple of weeks ago. Neat stuff to see there...
 
http://www.lamaritimemuseum.org/
 
 The USS Midway is really something. Got to spend the night in a bunk on her with my Son's Cub Scout pack on Memorial Day weekend about 5 years ago. That was a memorable Memorial Day ceremony...
 
http://www.midway.org/

[336SC]

A friend and I visited the New Jersey this Spring.  Quite an experience for both of us.  Went on a guided tour then we could go all over
the ship.  Even had lunch on board.  They had a display in CIC that simulated the firing of a battery of 16" guns.  The room even vibrated and shook!  What a great day we had.
336SC

 

[Doublebass73]

I've loved battleships ever since I toured the Massachusetts when I was a kid.

[powderman]

VICTOR. THanks for the links. Battleships have always been in my blood.
The WW11 vet I mentioned pointed out various areas of the ship saying so and so died rt there, lost 5 good boysover there, etc. He pointed to a forward turrett and said it took a direct hit from a jap 500 lb bomb and all it did was give the boys inside a headache for a while. He said they were in 28 major battles and over 100 skirmishes. He said they took a torpedo at guadalcanal and had to withdraw. They sailed to the Fiji islands to repair the ship. He said a giant squid had made the hold it's home where the torpedo had torn a huge hole in the hull. He said they had to kill the squid before they could repair the damage. They sent him home for 30 days and the ship had sailed without him. He was assigned then to an attack troup carrier headed for Japan. He was a radio operator and said he kept getting a signal from the mainland in code which he broke. They were telling the residents to send their children out with a boquet of flowers to greet the allies, with a grenade inside to kill as many allies as possible. He said, our orders were to shoot children carrying flowers on site. About a few days before they were to land the big bombs were dropped, he said Thank God because we were told to expect at least a million allied casualties. He shook a bony finger in the air and said, I don't want to hear nothing about killing 100,000 japs either, we saved a million lives. I gave him a big hug, told him my Dad was on guadalcanal, and thanked him for his service. We really felt blessed to have met him. POWDERMAN.