The ‘Last’ Yankee Battleship

[Talyn]

Some 80 years ago today, the final American battleship laid down whose construction was completed* entered the fleet.

The ‘Last’ Yankee Battleship

Some 80 years ago today, the final American battleship laid down whose construction was completed* entered the fleet. The second U.S. Navy warship to be named for the 30th State, USS Wisconsin (BB-…

laststandonzombieisland.com

While Missouri and Wisconsin both fought in the First Gulf War (Desert Storm) in 1991, it was the “Big W” who fired the last battleship naval gunfire-support mission of the war, and, on 28 May 1991, would be the final member of her class to fire her 16-inch guns.

The Nauticus Museum, where she has been since 2001 (although the Navy only transferred ownership to the City of Norfolk in 2010, still technically holding on to the possibility of reactivating her until then) is celebrating all month.

Nauticus & The Battleship Wisconsin

Nauticus is a maritime discovery center located along the waterfront in downtown, Norfolk, VA, offering a unique form of experiential learning for all ages.

nauticus.org

Nauticus & The Battleship Wisconsin

Nauticus is a maritime discovery center located along the waterfront in downtown, Norfolk, VA, offering a unique form of experiential learning for all ages.

nauticus.org

 

[powerboatr]

those battleships profile always look like they are saying COME AND TAKE IT, i will flat remove you from the earth.

they mean business and there is no escaping what the business is.
my favorite ships of that era

 

[Shibadog]

My favorite ships period. I look at the huge sums spent onthe three Zumwalts that don’t even have ammofor their main 5” gun, and at the countless millions more poured into “littoral combat” ships that were/are being retired within a decade of construction and have a hard time understanding “why” the Iowa’s were retired because they were “too expensive to operate”. There re, literally no more survivable ships in the world, and nothing provides fire support from the sea like 16 inch rifles. Todays modern “anti ship” misses with conventional warheads would be hard pressed to do a lot to ships designed to survive repeated hits from 18” rifles. As the Captain of New Jersey noted when interviewed following the sinking of a Brit destroyer by an Exocet during the Falklands War, “there’s a lot of difference between 16” of copper nickel steel and an inch of aluminum”

 

[powerboatr]

My favorite ships period. I look at the huge sums spent onthe three Zumwalts that don’t even have ammofor their main 5” gun, and at the countless millions more poured into “littoral combat” ships that were/are being retired within a decade of construction and have a hard time understanding “why” the Iowa’s were retired because they were “too expensive to operate”. There re, literally no more survivable ships in the world, and nothing provides fire support from the sea like 16 inch rifles. Todays modern “anti ship” misses with conventional warheads would be hard pressed to do a lot to ships designed to survive repeated hits from 18” rifles. As the Captain of New Jersey noted when interviewed following the sinking of a Brit destroyer by an Exocet during the Falklands War, “there’s a lot of difference between 16” of copper nickel steel and an inch of aluminum”

agreed , even during desert storm and fitted with tomahawks. they were still very very lethal

on a return trip from long cruise back in 80s we had a BB behind us firing the big guns to the 1812 overture of sorts with practice flare rounds
OMG it was impressive
even from 2000k yards ahead of her , it shook our ship and lite up the world
the littoral was a boondoggle waste,

our CG was a formidable weapon , but hiding behind alum plate didnt give me a warm fuzzy