Ships named for Iowa, her towns and residents: U.S.S. Iowa BB-61 Pt 2
USS Iowa at anchor Mare Island, California 1949 (US Navy Photo)
I recently wrote a brief history of the Iowa, and included responses from one of the two groups looking to turn the Iowa into a museum.
Recently I spoke with Ron Ploof of the Pacific Battleship Center and asked him about his group, and their hopes of helping to preserve the USS Iowa and their plans for her use as a museum.
Osky News: What is the current status of the battleship?
The USS IOWA is presently located in Suisun Bay as part of what is colloquially known as the Navy’s Mothball Fleet. The IOWA is the ship located on the far right of this group of ships. She arrived in Suisun Bay in 2001 and is awaiting an organization to take care of her.
Osky News: What benefits will it provide to you and your group having the ship in your location?
The Port of Los Angeles is the busiest seaport in North America. In addition to moving millions of tons of products, cruise ships bring 850,000 passengers annually to the port. Berth 87, the location approved by the LA Board of Harbor Commissioners for USS IOWA, is located right next to the World Cruise Terminal which serves as home to many great cruise companies including Carnival, Disney, Norwegian, and Princess Cruise Lines. Here is an overhead look at where the IOWA is planned to go, including all of the surrounding places of interest.
On September 29, 2009, The Port of Los Angeles approved $1.2 billion to be spent over the next ten years for its waterfront development project. Planned improvements include 27 acres of new parks along an eight-mile promenade and an extension of the Waterfront Red Car Line. Not only will the IOWA benefit from the additional foot traffic that this redevelopment activity will bring, local business owners see it another way. They describe the USS IOWA as the centerpiece, or “Wow Factor,” that will pull the entire waterfront plan together. Here is a video that shows an artist’s renderings of the planned improvements.
USS Iowa with early mesh radar still visible approx 1946 (US Navy Photo)
Osky News: Will there be a benefit to those of us from Iowa, other than of course our namesake not being scrapped?
There are deep ties between the state of Iowa and Greater Los Angeles. In a recent letter, Captain Bob Wells, USN (retired), described the cultural links between the two:
Iowan’s helped build Los Angeles County and were significant players with the establishment of Long Beach and Los Angeles harbor. The famous California historian Carey McWilliams writing in “Southern California Country” expresses in great detail their cultural linkage to the area. “The Iowa migration to Southern California started about 1900, momentarily abated during the first World War, and then sharply increased from 1920 to 1930 when it was estimated that at least 160,000 Iowans came to the coast…”
The geography and job opportunities drew so many Iowans that the area became known as “Iowa by the Sea.” At last summer’s public hearings, we heard stories of how Iowans made Southern California’s seaside communities their new homes. Here is an example from an Iowan (all cued up) who spoke before the Los Angeles City Council in support of a resolution to bring the USS IOWA to the harbor.
Lastly, the Los Angeles community of San Pedro is so excited about hosting the USS IOWA, that they named her the Grand Marshal of their 2010 Spirit of San Pedro Holiday Parade. Here are some photographs and video from the December 5, 2010 parade including the 40 ft. float that the Pacific Battleship Center built for the occasion!
USS Iowa at anchor Mare Island California 1949 (US Navy Photo)
Osky News: What was the factor in your groups desire to preserve the Iowa?
Our biggest motivation for saving the IOWA comes from the WWII, Korean War, and Cold War vets that served aboard her.
Although The Pacific Battleship Center appears to be a newcomer to the race, our roots go back to 1994, when our founder, Robert Kent and a group of battleship experts from the Long Beach Naval Shipyard founded a nonprofit organization called The Iowa Class Preservation Association (ICPA). The ICPA’s mission was to help organizations save the four Iowa-class vessels vessels: IOWA (BB-61), NEW JERSEY (BB-62), MISSOURI (BB-63) and WISCONSIN (BB-64). Between 1994 and 2007, the ICPA provided significant support for organizations vying to become the caretakers of these great ships. By 2007, the ICPA had fulfilled its mission, as the NEW JERSEY was in Camden, the WISCONSIN in Norfolk, MISSOURI in Pearl
Harbor, and IOWA had just been awarded to the group in Vallejo.
Unfortunately, three years after the award, the Vallejo group couldn’t meet the Navy’s requirements to take possession of the ship. At that time, some members of the USS IOWA Veterans Association began worrying if they’d ever be able to step foot on their beloved ship again. That’s when Korean War Vet, Bryan Moss (‘52-’53), approached Robert Kent with a question: Can you help bring the USS IOWA to Los Angeles?
In On May 13, 2010, the Navy reopened the bidding process, citing the Vallejo group’s lack of progress. On May 26, 2010, the Navy accepted the Pacific Battleship Center’s Letter of Intent to submit an application for the ship. On November 22, 2010, the Pacific Battleship Center submitted its 1080 page application, officially entering the race.
Our biggest motivation? Seeing vets like Bryan Moss take their first steps on USS IOWA for the first time in almost 60 years!
Osky News: Who has endorsed your desire to turn the ship into a museum?
We are very fortunate to have a litany of support, from former US Presidents (George Bush), to the past four Governors of Iowa (Terry Branstad, Chet Culver, Bob Ray, and Tom Vilsack) to Congess (Tom Latham (IA), Buck McKeon (CA) and Jane Harman (CA)) to the Mayor of Los Angeles (Antonio Villaraigosa), to the entire LA City Council, under the leadership of Councilwoman Janice Hahn, to all of the San Pedro neighborhood councils, veteran’s organizations (Navy League, VFW) and other organizations such as FilmLA, Inc, who see the value of having USS IOWA as a movie set for nearby Hollywood. Rather than list all of them, please feel free to visit our supporter’s page for a complete list.
Here it is, the only bath tub on a US Naval Ship. Installed on the USS Iowa for President Franklin Roosevelt when he used the Iowa as the Air Force 1 of his day. (Photo by Pacific Battleship Center)
Osky News: Do you have any recent pictures and or video of the Iowa that you would be willing to share with those of us who are not able to step on board for our own view?
We published some photographs after our ship check in October 2010. One of our supporters, Greg Bishop has also published some photos from a trip he made in November 2010, including: Broadway, Mothball Fleet, looking down a hatch, and massive chain links.
As mentioned before, veterans provide our motivation to save the IOWA. We’ve started to record interviews with them for our Living History Series. Here is an example clip, with Joe Tedaro (USS IOWA ’43-’45) describing his experience during a WWII torpedo attack against the USS IOWA.
Osky News: I appreciate your time, if you have anything that I did not cover in my questions that you feel is of importance, please feel free to include that here as well.
Since our esteemed competitors to the north decided to comment on our ability to to draw visitors, we’d like to respond. One of the most important things that any nonprofit organization must do is ensure that it is making responsibly conservative estimates. With a museum attraction, annual visitors must be estimated. We are confident that our estimate of
350,000 visitors per year is responsibly conservative enough to build our financial plans around, and offer this open analysis to show why.
But we do question how our esteemed competitors to the north calculated their estimate of 400,000 annual visitors. For example, the same “independent study” referenced in their response shows how the WWII aircraft carrier, HORNET, located right across the bay from San Francisco, only draws 85,000 people per year. If that’s true, how can a battleship, 30-minutes farther north expect to attract 400,000 visitors per year?
We believe that the Port of Los Angeles is the best location for this historic vessel and have created a side-by-side analysis comparing Los Angeles and Vallejo. Please feel free to determine for yourself the best location for the long-term viability of the USS IOWA (BB-61).
Next week there will be yet another little known ship from Iowa to carry our namesakes to foreign waters and shores.
