meet maxwell: USS Iowa

Johnathan Williams, Rob's business partner had one of his dreams come true this weekend. Johnathan has been working for over a decade to secure the USS Iowa, and now that dream has come true. The Iowa was awarded to Pacific Battleship in September and entered Richmond, California over this last weekend. They have big plans for the Iowa. After getting some new paint, etc it will leave Richmond and head to LA where she will be docked. The Iowa will then be open as a museum for all to see and remember.

Here is a little more information from Wikipedia...

USS Iowa (BB-61) was the lead ship of her class of battleship and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named in honor of the 29th state. Owing to the cancellation of the Montana-class battleships, Iowa is the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships, and was the only ship of her class to have served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.

During World War II, it carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic to Casablanca en route to a crucial 1943 meeting in Tehran with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin. It is the only U.S. Navy battleship with a bathtub — an amenity installed for Roosevelt, along with an elevator to shuttle him between decks. When transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1944, Iowa shelled beachheads at Kwajalein and Eniwetok in advance of Allied amphibious landings and screened aircraft carriers operating in the Marshall Islands. It also served as the flagship for Adm. William F. Halsey at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. During the Korean War, Iowa was involved in raids on the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet." She was reactivated in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navyplan, and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to counter the recently expanded Soviet Navy. In April 1989, an explosion of undetermined originwrecked her #2 gun turret, killing 47 sailors.

Iowa was decommissioned for the last time in 1990, and was initially struck from the Naval Vessel Register in 1995. She was reinstated from 1999 to 2006 to comply with federal laws that required retention and maintenance of two Iowa-class battleships. In 2011, Iowa was donated to the Los Angeles-based non-profit Pacific Battleship Center and will be permanently moved to the Port of Los Angeles to serve as a museum and memorial to battleships.

It was really cool to watch and witness this memorable event for Johnathon. He took us on a tour, one of many to come in the future.

ol' Glory

Johnathan, aka Big Man

A 900 footer

This was a cool scene. As we were climbing the stairs to board the ship, this elderly gentleman asked if he could take a look as well. Comes to find out he was a gunner on the USS Iowa during the Korean War. He was proud of his ship and thankful that Johnathan and his company were restoring it.