Iowa (BB 61) - Naval Cruise Book

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The crest for the third era of active service was designed by John Giss of Iowa. Symbolically, the outside circle is rendered in red, white and blue to represent the patriotic mission of the USS IOWA in defense of the United States of America. The motto Our Liberties We prize, Our Rights We Will Maintain is the motto of the state of Iowa and was used on the ship ' s 1943 crest. The World War II drawing of BB-61 in camouflage is used as a reminder of past glory and victory and denotes vigilance. The hawk represents strength and speed in response to enemy acts of aggression. The hawk is shown returning the numbers 61 to the ship ' s bow as she is once again placed in service to her country. The two stars beneath the ship are representative of her two previous periods of service and of operations in both the East and West Hemispheres. The star rising in the blue field of the sky represents the beginning of her third era of service and high ideals and standards set by the ship ' s crew. The dates 1943 and 1984 commemorate the ship ' s original commissioning and her most recent commissioning.

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CONTENTS 4 THE STORY OF THE BIG STICK 8 COMMANDING OFFICER 10 EXECUTIVE OFFICER 12 COMMAND MASTER CHIEF 13 REACTIVATION 22 COMMISSIONING 32 LEAVING PASCAGOULA 33 UNDERWAY . . . AFTER 26 YEARS 36 RETURN TO NORFOLK 38 OPEN HOUSE 40 IOWA MEETS THE PRESS 42 THE FIRST DEPLOYMENT 43 UNDERWAY REPLENISHMENT 49 AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS 59 TEAM SPORTS 66 RELIGIOUS SERVICES 68 TALENTED lOWANS 70 HELPING HANDS 74 OFF DUTY 81 PORTS OF CALL 113 HOMECOMING 116 BATTLESHIP ' S COMPANY 118 ADMIN 128 NAVIGATION 132 OPERATIONS 144 DECK 168 WEAPONS 188 MARDET 194 ENGINEERING 218 SUPPLY 230 MEDICAL 234 DENTAL 238 CREDITS 240 LATE ARRIVALS

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THE STORY OF THE BIG STICK Twenty four years out of commis- sioned service had not been kind to the mothballed battleship. Once considered the mightiest warship afloat, she sat lifelessly at her mooring in Philadelphia, with sistership WISCONSIN alongside. Her 16 inch guns had been silent for more than two decades; her teak wood deck was rotting in places. A thick layer of dust covered the spaces below decks. Solidly boar ded bridge windows concealed out dated equipment. It was a disaster, said Captain Gerald E. Gneckow, commanding officer, recalling the first time he saw his new ship. F or the officers, crew and civilians who gave IOWA back to the fleet, the effort was almost superhuman — 18 months of 18-20 hour working days, often seven days a week. Their work culminated at 11:39 a.m. on April 28, 1984 when Vice President Bush placed IOWA in commis- sion. A crowd of 15,000 cheered as the Battleship came alive for the third time in her career. More than four decades earlier, 30,000 shipyard workers had gathered at the New York Navy Yard to witness lOWA ' s launching. I christen thee IOWA said Mrs. Henry A. Wallace, wife of the vice president and sponsor of the ship, as she swung a metal encased champagne bottle against the ship ' s bulbous bow. May God guard the IOWA and all who sail in her. With those words, the simple wartime ceremony ended, as IOWA slid down the ways and into the East River. Frank Knox, then Secretary of the Navy, proclaimed the namesake of her class the greatest ship ever launched by the American nation. With the possible exception of Japan ' s YAMATO and MUSASHI battleships, which the IOWA class was designed to encounter, she was without question the most powerful warship in history. Working day and night, it took thousands of men three years to build her at an original cost of $110 million. Nearly the length of three football fields, the 887 foot, 55,000 ton behemoth carried nine 16-inch guns (capable of firing a shell the weight of a Cadillac well over 20 miles), twenty 5-inch guns, and twenty 40mm anti aircraft guns. In places, her steel plated armor was more than 16 inches thick. A crew of 2,800 sailed her at speeds well in excess of 30 knots. Commissioned on Washington ' s birthday in 1943, IOWA embarked on her shakedown cruise just two days later with a crew who, for the most part, had just enlisted for the war effort and had never been to sea before. Because of the war, she received her first orders just three months later. On August 27, 1943, IOWA set for Argentia, Newfoundland, and the Tirpitz Watch , which was designed to keep that feared German battleship penned up in Norway, where she reportedly awaited the chance to pounce on Allied commerce. 4 In the fall of that same year, IOWA was given perhaps the most distinguished assignment in her 13 years of commissioned service. She was selected to carry President Roosevelt from the United States to Mers- el-Kebir, North Africa, the first leg of his trip to the Teheran conference with Churchill and Stalin. Because of the secrecy of the mission, the President ordered that no honors were to be rendered him. And so on November 13, 1943, IOWA slipped out of Hampton Roads, Virginia, with the Commander-in-Chief, his special advisor, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and 76 of their party. A white porcelain bathtub, the only one on any US Navy ship, had been installed in the Captain ' s cabin for the President, who suffered from infantile paralysis. It remains in place today. At lOWA ' s helm was Capt. John McCrea, former aide to President Roosevelt when he was Undersecretary of the Navy. IOWA was forced to return to sea during the Teheran conference, because of the constant threat from German glider bombs. On November 27, 1943, while enroute to Bahia, Brazil, she crossed the equator for the first time, welcoming King Neptune on board and conducting her first shellback ceremony. R ' eturning to North Africa via Freetown and Dakar, IOWA again embarked President Roosevelt, to return him to the United States. He was taken aboard from LA GAZELLE, a French destroyer, by use of a special boatswain ' s chair designed and made under the supervision of lOWA ' s chief boatswain. As he was about to leave IOWA at the mouth of the Potomac on a cold and raw December morning, he paused to thank the officers and crew who had carried him safely to North Africa and back. By this time, IOWA had steamed 16,161 miles at an average speed of 22.5 knots — a speed so great that relays of destroyers had been required to screen her.