USS Wisconsin (BB-64)

Coordinates: 36°50′54″N 76°17′43″W / 36.84833°N 76.29528°W / 36.84833; -76.29528
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see USS Wisconsin.
"Wisky" redirects here. For the drink, see
Whiskey
.

Wisconsin at sea, c. 1990
History
United States
NamesakeState of Wisconsin
Ordered12 June 1940
BuilderPhiladelphia Naval Shipyard
Laid down25 January 1941
Launched7 December 1943
Commissioned16 April 1944
Decommissioned1 July 1948
Recommissioned3 March 1951
Decommissioned8 March 1958
Recommissioned22 October 1988
Decommissioned30 September 1991
Stricken17 March 2006
IdentificationHull number: BB-64
Motto"Forward for Freedom"
Nickname(s)"Big Wisky"
Honors and
awards		6 Battle Stars
StatusMuseum ship at Nauticus
Badge
General characteristics (as built)
Class and typeIowa-class battleship
Displacement57,216
full load
)
Length887 ft 3 in (270.4 m) (
o/a
)
Beam108 ft 2 in (33 m)
Draft37 ft 9 in (11.5 m) (full load)
Installed power
  • 8 ×
    Babcock & Wilcox boilers
  • 212,000 
    kW
    )
Propulsion
Speed32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range15,000 nmi (28,000 km; 17,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement117 officers, 1,804
enlisted men
(designed)
Sensors and
processing systems
Armament
  • 3 × triple
    16 in (406 mm) guns
  • 10 × twin
    DP guns
  • 20 × quadruple
    AA guns
  • 49 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns
Armor
General characteristics (1988)
Complement1,515 officers and enlisted men
Sensors and
processing systems
Electronic warfare
& decoys
Armament
USS Wisconsin (BB-64)
USS Wisconsin (BB-64) is located in Virginia
USS Wisconsin (BB-64)
USS Wisconsin (BB-64) is located in the United States
USS Wisconsin (BB-64)
Location1 Waterside Dr., Norfolk, Virginia
Coordinates36°50′54″N 76°17′43″W / 36.84833°N 76.29528°W / 36.84833; -76.29528
Built1941
ArchitectBureau of Construction and Repair
Architectural styleIowa-class battleship
NRHP reference No.12000178[1]
VLR No.122-5414
Significant dates
Added to NRHP28 March 2012
Designated VLR15 December 2011[2]

USS Wisconsin (BB-64) is an

Operation Desert Storm
in January – February 1991.

Wisconsin was last decommissioned in September 1991 after spending a total of 14 years in active service. In that time, the ship earned six battle stars for service in World War II and Korea, as well as a Navy Unit Commendation for service during the January/February 1991 Gulf War. Wisconsin was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 March 2006, and was later donated for permanent use as a museum ship. As of 2024, Wisconsin is a museum ship operated by Nauticus in Norfolk, Virginia.

Background and description

Main articles:
Armament of the Iowa class battleship

The Iowa class of

US Navy's expectations for a future war with the Empire of Japan. The last battleships to be built by the United States, they were also the US Navy's largest and fastest vessels of the type.[3] American officers preferred comparatively slow but heavily armed and armored battleships, but Navy planners determined that such a fleet would have difficulty in bringing the faster Japanese fleet to battle, particularly the Kongō-class battlecruisers and the aircraft carriers of the 1st Air Fleet. Design studies prepared during the development of the earlier North Carolina and South Dakota classes demonstrated the difficulty in resolving the desires of fleet officers with those of the planning staff within the displacement limits imposed by the Washington Naval Treaty system, which had governed capital ship construction since 1923. An escalator clause in the Second London Naval Treaty of 1936 allowed an increase from 35,000 long tons (36,000 t) to 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) in the event that any member nation refused to sign the treaty, which Japan refused to do.[4]

Wisconsin is 887 feet 3 inches (270.4 m)

enlisted men, and greatly increased by the end of the war in 1945.[6] Wisconsin's crew at that time numbered 173 officers and 2,738 sailors.[7]

Armament, fire control, sensors and aircraft

The

auto-cannon in single mounts were distributed almost the length of the ships.[8]

The primary means of controlling the main armament are two Mark 38

height-finder radar. Each 40 mm mount was remotely controlled by a Mark 51 director that incorporated a Mark 14 lead-computing gyro gunsight while the sailors that used the 20 mm gun used a Mark 14 sight to track their targets.[9]

A

foremast; above it was a SG surface-search radar. The other SG radar was mounted at the top of the mainmast positioned on the rear funnel.[10]

The Iowas were built with two rotating aircraft catapults on their stern for floatplanes and a large crane was fitted to recover them. Initially a trio of Vought OS2U Kingfishers were carried, but these were replaced by Curtiss SC Seahawks in December 1944.[11]

Protection

The internal waterline

homogeneous armor plate that tapers in thickness from 12.1 inches at the top to 1.62 in (41 mm) at the bottom and is 28 ft (8.5 m) high. The two strakes of armor are inclined outwards at the top 19 degrees to improve the armor's resistance to horizontal fire. In general the vertical armor plates are made from Class A cemented armor and the horizontal armor from Class B or Special treatment steel (STS). The belt armor extends to the two transverse bulkheads fore and aft of the main-gun barbettes, forming the armored citadel. Part of the lower armor belt extends aft from the rear bulkhead to protect the ships' steering gear. Its maximum thickness ranges from 13 to 13.5 in (330 to 343 mm) at the top and the plates taper to 5 inches at the bottom. Unlike the Iowa and New Jersey, the armor plates in the forward transverse bulkhead in Missouri and Wisconsin have a maximum thickness of 14.5 in (368 mm) at the top that tapers to 11.7 in (297 mm). The aft bulkhead is a consistent 14.5 inches in thickness, but does not go below the lower belt extension due it meeting the armored third deck protecting the shafts and steering gears; the steering gear is closed by another 14.5-inch aft bulkhead.[12]

The main-gun turrets has Class B plates 19.5 in (495 mm) thick on their faces and 9.5 in (241 mm) of Class A plates on their sides. The armor plates protecting their barbettes range in thickness from 17.3 in (439 mm) to 14.8 in (376 mm) and 11.6 in (295 mm) with the thickest plates on the sides and the thinnest ones on the front and back. The sides of the conning tower are 17.3 in (440 mm) thick. The main deck of the Iowas consists of 1.5 in (38 mm) of STS. Below this deck, the roof of the armored citadel is formed by 6 in (152 mm) of armor in two layers. Below this is a deck of 0.625-inch (16 mm) STS plates intended to stop splinters from shells that pierced the armored deck above it. The armor deck extends aft and the roof of the steering gear compartment is 6.2 in (160 mm) thick.[13]

The

double bottom that runs the full length of the ships and increases to a triple bottom except at the bow and stern.[14]

History

Construction

Wisconsin was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named after the

Governor of Wisconsin, and commissioned on 16 April 1944, with Captain Earl E. Stone in command.[15][17]

Wisconsin is numerically the highest-numbered US battleship built. Although her keel was laid after Missouri's, she was commissioned before Missouri's commissioning date. Wisconsin was commissioned on 16 April 1944, while Missouri was commissioned on 11 June of the same year. Thus, Wisconsin's construction began after Missouri's, and finished earlier. Iowa and Wisconsin were finally stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 17 March 2006, making them the last battleships in service in the world.[16][18]

World War II (1944–1945)

Shakedown and service with 3rd Fleet, Admiral Halsey

Wisconsin during her initial sea trials in mid-1944

After the ship's trials and initial training in the

William F. Halsey's 3rd Fleet's Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38), on 11 December.[15] Her primary duty was to serve as part of the anti-aircraft screen for the carriers. In addition to guarding the carriers, Wisconsin and the other battleships acted as oilers for the escorting destroyers, since the fleet's logistics train could not accompany the strike force during raids.[19] The battleship arrived in time to participate in the Philippines campaign. As a part of that operation, the planners had envisioned landings on the southwest coast of Mindoro, south of Luzon, which would allow American forces to interdict Japanese lines of communication through the South China Sea.[15]

Wisconsin tied up alongside the hulk of the salvaged battleship Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor in November 1944, prior to her departure to join up with the 3rd Fleet

The carriers had just completed three days of heavy raids against Japanese

capsized while nine other ships were seriously damaged.[21]Wisconsin was not damaged, but reported two injured sailors as a result of the typhoon.[20][22]

TF 38 attacked Japanese airfields in

Luzon Island. The Americans caught the Japanese by surprise and claimed to have destroyed 170 aircraft that had been unable to take-off due to bad weather in two days of airstrikes. TF 38 withdrew to refuel on 5 January while the Japanese aircraft based on Luzon were attacking the ships of the 7th Fleet with some effect. The 7th Fleet was approaching Lingayen Gulf to conduct an amphibious landing of Luzon.[23]

TF 38 was able to so thoroughly suppress the airfields on Luzon on 6–7 January that the landings were undisrupted by Japanese aircraft when they began on 9 January. The ships refueled on 8 January while moving northwards for another round of attacks on Formosa and Okinawa that began the following day with TG 38.2 this time attacking northern Formosa. This time they also attacked Japanese shipping. The task force entered the South China Sea on the night of 9/10 January to execute the next phase of Halsey's plan to interdict Japanese shipping lanes and destroy the Japanese forces defending the area, specifically including any capital ships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, as naval intelligence had reported two hybrid carrier/battleships, Ise and Hyūga, at Cam Ranh Bay in occupied French Indochina.[24]

Halsey tasked Wisconsin's carrier group with closing to 50 kilometres (31 mi) of the Indochinese coast on 12 January while the rest of TF 38 supported TG 38.2 and attacked other targets further north. Halsey also formed a surface action group from TG 38.2 with Wisconsin and New Jersey and five cruisers to bombard Cam Ranh Bay under cover of the morning's airstrikes, but night reconnaissance aircraft revealed well before dawn that the two hybrids were no longer there and their mission was canceled. They resumed their escort duties, but surprise was complete and no Japanese aircraft attacked TG 38.2. TF 38 withdrew shortly after sunset and refueled the following day in the middle of the South China Sea despite another typhoon in the area.[25]

Formosa was raided again on 15 January, and 21 January. Throughout January Wisconsin shielded the carriers as they conducted air raids at Hong Kong,

Okinawa.[15]

Service with 5th Fleet, Admiral Spruance

Wisconsin escorting Essex-class aircraft carriers during World War II

Wisconsin was assigned to the 5th Fleet when Admiral Raymond A. Spruance relieved Admiral Halsey as commander of the fleet while it was anchored in Ulithi. She moved northward with the redesignated TG 58.2 as the carriers departed for the Tokyo area on 10 February. The ship was transferred to TF 59 under Vice Admiral Willis Lee three days later, covering the carriers of TF 58 as they attacked targets around Tokyo and on Chichijima between 16 and 25 February to prevent the Japanese from reinforcing Iwo Jima. On 20 February Captain John W. Roper relieved Stone, and the 5th Fleet arrived back at Ulithi on 4 March to resupply.[15][26]

Still assigned to TF 59, Wisconsin departed Ulithi on 14 March bound for Japan. Their mission was to neutralize or destroy aircraft, their airfields and warships that could interfere with the invasion of

Operation Iceberg) that was scheduled for 1 April.[27] On 24 March, the ship joined Missouri and New Jersey as they bombarded targets in southeastern Okinawa to deceive the Japanese about the location of the intended landing beaches, which were actually on the western coast. Five days later, a crewman aboard Missouri was wounded by a 20 mm shell from Wisconsin as a Japanese aircraft flew between the ships at low level.[28][29]

Wisconsin and Missouri were transferred to TG 58.4 afterwards

Japanese Home Islands. One of Wisconsin's floatplanes rescued a pilot from the carrier Shangri-La that day. TF 38 headed to Leyte, Philippines, on 11 June and arrived there two days later. The battleship received repairs over the following three weeks while restocking ammunition and supplies.[15]

Bombardment of Japan

See also: Allied naval bombardments of Japan during World War II

Accompanied by her sisters Iowa and Missouri in TG 38.4, Wisconsin departed on 1 July for operations in Japanese home waters and the carriers commenced their attacks 9 days later. On 15 July the three battleships bombarded the

coal liquefication plants and coking ovens in Muroran and adjacent Wanishi, Hokkaido, with 860 main-gun shells. While only 170 landed within the boundaries of the plants they demolished half of the coke ovens and all but one of the blast furnaces. Reinforced by the British battleship King George V and the American battleships Alabama and North Carolina, the sisters bombarded industrial facilities in the Hitachi Miro area, northeast of Tokyo with a total of 1,207 16- and 267 14-inch (356 mm) shells. The attack reduced copper output from 40,000 to 1,500 short tons (36,300 to 1,400 t) per month.[31][32]

Afterward the ships returned to the carrier groups, resuming their tasks of covering them from attack. The Japanese surrendered on 15 August, ending World War II. "Wisconsin, as part of the occupying force, arrived at Tokyo Bay on 5 September, three days after the formal surrender occurred on board the Missouri. During Wisconsin's brief career in World War II, she had steamed 105,831 mi (170,318 km) since commissioning, shot down three enemy planes, claimed assists on four occasions, and fueled her screening destroyers on some 250 occasions."[15]

Post World War II (1945–1950)

Shifting subsequently to Okinawa, the battleship embarked homeward-bound GIs on 22 September 1945, as part of Operation Magic Carpet staged to bring soldiers, sailors, and marines home from the far-flung battlefronts of the Pacific. Departing Okinawa on 23 September, Wisconsin reached Pearl Harbor on 4 October, remaining there for five days before she pushed on for the West Coast on the last leg of her state-side bound voyage. She reached San Francisco on 15 October.[15]

Heading for the East Coast of the United States soon after the start of the new year, 1946, Wisconsin transited the Panama Canal from 11 to 13 January and reached

La Guaira, Venezuela, from 22 to 26 November, before returning to Norfolk on 2 December 1946. Wisconsin spent nearly all of 1947 as a training ship, taking naval reservists on two-week cruises throughout the year. Those voyages commenced at Bayonne, New Jersey, and saw visits conducted at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and the Panama Canal Zone. While underway at sea, the ship would perform various drills and exercises before the cruise would end where it had started, at Bayonne. During June and July 1947, Wisconsin took United States Naval Academy midshipmen on cruises to northern European waters. In January 1948, Wisconsin reported to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Norfolk for inactivation. Placed out of commission, in reserve on 1 July, Wisconsin was assigned to the Norfolk group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.[15]

Korean War (1950–1952)

Buck, Wisconsin, and Saint Paul steam in close formation during operations off the Korean coast, 1952

Her sojourn in "mothballs" was rather brief, due to the

Halifax, Nova Scotia; New York City and Guantánamo Bay, Cuba before she returned to Norfolk.[15]

Wisconsin departed Norfolk on 25 October, bound for the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal on 29 October and reached Yokosuka, Japan on 21 November. There she relieved New Jersey as flagship for Vice Admiral Harold M. Martin, Commander 7th Fleet.[15]

On 26 November, with Martin and Rear Admiral

Kosong area. After disembarking Admiral Denebrink on 3 December at Kangnung, the battleship resumed station on the Korean "bombline", providing gunfire support for the American 1st Marine Division. Wisconsin's shelling accounted for a tank, two gun emplacements, and a building. She continued her gunfire support task for the 1st Marine Division and 1st ROK Corps through 6 December, accounting for enemy bunkers, artillery positions, and troop concentrations. On one occasion during that time, the battleship received a request for call-fire support and provided three star-shells for the 1st ROK Corps, illuminating an enemy attack that was consequently repulsed with a considerable number of enemy casualties.[15]

After being relieved on the gunline by the heavy cruiser Saint Paul on 6 December, Wisconsin briefly retired from gunfire-support duties. She resumed them in the Kasong-Kosong area on 11 December screened by the destroyer Twining. The following day, 12 December, had the helicopter embarkation on Wisconsin of Rear Admiral H. R. Thurber, Commander Battleship Division 2 (BatDiv 2), as part of his inspection trip in the Far East.[15]

Wisconsin continued her naval gunfire-support duties on the bombline, shelling enemy bunkers, command posts, artillery positions, and trench systems through 14 December. She departed the "bombline" on that day to render special gunfire support duties in the

Sasebo to rearm.[15]

Returning to the combat zone on 17 December, Wisconsin embarked United States Senator Homer Ferguson of Michigan on 18 December. That day, the battleship supported the 11th ROK invasion with night illumination fire that enabled the ROK troops to repulse a North Korean assault with heavy enemy casualties.[15][17] Departing the "bombline" on 19 December, the battleship transferred Ferguson by helicopter to the carrier Valley Forge.[15]

On 20 December, Wisconsin participated in a coordinated air-surface bombardment of Wonsan to neutralize selected targets in its area. The ship shifted its bombardment station to the western end of Wonsan harbor, hitting boats and small craft in the inner swept channel with her 5-inch (127 mm) guns during the afternoon and helping forestall attempts to assault the friendly-held islands nearby. Wisconsin then made an antiboat sweep to the north, firing her 5-inch batteries on suspected boat concentrations. She then provided gunfire support to UN troops operating at the bombline until 22 December, when she rejoined the carrier task force.[15]

Wisconsin shells North Korean targets during the Korean War

On 28 December, Cardinal Francis Spellman, on a Korean tour over the Christmas holidays, helicoptered aboard the ship to celebrate Mass for Catholic crew members. He left as he came, off Pohang. On New Year's Eve day, Wisconsin put into Yokosuka.[15]

Wisconsin departed that port on 8 January 1952 and returned to Korean waters. She reached

Pusan the following day and entertained the president of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, and his wife, on 10 January. The couple received full military honors as they came aboard, which Rhee reciprocated by awarding Vice Admiral Martin the ROK Order of the Military Merit.[15][17]

Wisconsin returned to the bombline on 11 January, and over the ensuing days, delivered heavy gunfire support for the 1st Marine Division and the 1st ROK Corps. As before, her primary targets were command posts, shelters, bunkers, troop concentrations, and mortar positions. As before, she stood ready to deliver call-fire support as needed, shelling enemy troops in the open on 14 January at the request of the ROK 1st Corps.[15]

Rearming once more at Sasebo, she shortly joined TF 77 off the coast of Korea and resumed support at the bombline on 23 January. Three days later, she shifted again to the Kojo region, to participate in a coordinated air and gun strike. That same day, the battleship returned to the bombline and shelled the command post and communications center for the 15th North Korean Division during call-fire missions for the 1st Marine Division.[15][17]

Returning to Wonsan at the end of January, Wisconsin bombarded enemy guns at Hodo Pando before she was rearmed at Sasebo. The battleship rejoined TF 77 on 2 February, and the next day blasted railway buildings and marshaling yards at Hodo Pando and Kojo before rejoining TF 77. After replenishment at Yokosuka a few days later, she returned to the Kosong area and resumed gunfire support. During that time, she destroyed railway bridges and a small shipyard while conducting call-fire missions on enemy command posts, bunkers, and personnel shelters, making numerous cuts on enemy trench lines in the process.[15]

On 26 February, Wisconsin arrived at Pusan, where Vice Admiral Shon, the ROK chief of naval operations, United States Ambassador J.J. Muccio and Rear Admiral Scott-Montcrief, Royal Navy, Commander, Task Group 95.12 (TG 95.12) visited the battleship. Departing that South Korean port the following day, Wisconsin reached Yokosuka on 2 March. A week later, she shifted to Sasebo to prepare to return to Korean waters.[15]

Wisconsin arrived off Songjin, Korea, on 15 March and concentrated her gunfire on enemy railway transport. Early that morning, she destroyed a communist troop train trapped outside a destroyed tunnel. That afternoon, she received the first direct hit in her history, when one of four shells from a North Korean 155 mm[15] gun battery struck the shield of a starboard 40 mm mount. Although little material damage resulted, three men were injured.[15][17] Wisconsin subsequently destroyed that battery with a full 16-inch (406 mm) salvo before continuing her mission.[15][17] After again supporting 1st Marine Division with her heavy rifles, the battleship returned to Japan on 19 March.[15]

Relieved as flagship of the 7th Fleet on 1 April by sister ship Iowa, Wisconsin departed Yokosuka, bound for the United States. En route home, she touched briefly at Guam, where she took part in the successful test of the Navy's largest floating dry dock on 4–5 April, the first ever to accommodate an Iowa-class battleship. She continued her homeward-bound voyage via Pearl Harbor and arrived at Long Beach, California, on 19 April before continuing on for Norfolk.[15] Singer Gene Vincent, who was not one of Wisconsin's Company, but who had been in Korea in a non-combat rôle, was on board.

After the Korean War (1952–1981)

Wisconsin off Norfolk during the 1950s

On 9 June, Wisconsin resumed her role as a training ship, taking midshipmen to

Operation Mainbrace, which was held out of Greenock, Scotland. After her return to Norfolk, Wisconsin underwent an overhaul in the naval shipyard there. Wisconsin remained in the Atlantic fleet throughout 1952 and into 1953, training midshipmen and conducting exercises. After a month of routine maintenance Wisconsin departed Norfolk on 9 September 1953, bound for the Far East.[15]

Sailing via the Panama Canal to Japan, Wisconsin relieved New Jersey as 7th Fleet flagship on 12 October. During the months that followed, Wisconsin visited the Japanese ports of

Nagasaki. She spent Christmas at Hong Kong and was ultimately relieved of flagship duties on 1 April 1954 and returned to the United States soon thereafter, reaching Norfolk, via Long Beach and the Panama Canal, on 4 May.[15]

Entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 11 June, Wisconsin underwent a brief overhaul and commenced a midshipman training cruise on 12 July. After revisiting Greenock, Brest, and Guantánamo Bay, the ship returned to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs. Shortly thereafter, Wisconsin participated in Atlantic Fleet exercises as flagship for the commander, Second Fleet. Departing Norfolk in January 1955, Wisconsin took part in Operation Springboard, during which she visited Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Then, upon returning to Norfolk, the battleship conducted another midshipman's cruise that summer, visiting Edinburgh,

Copenhagen, Denmark, and Guantánamo Bay before returning to the United States.[15]

Upon completion of a major overhaul at the

Tampico, Mexico, and Cartagena, Colombia, to her list of ports of call. She returned to Norfolk on the last day of March 1955 for local operations.[15] On 18 October, while operating in the East River in New York Harbor, Wisconsin was accidentally grounded, but the ship was freed in about an hour without any serious damage.[33]

bow from collision with Eaton
on May 6, 1956

In April and the beginning of May 1956, Wisconsin operated in the Virginia Capes area. On 6 May, in heavy fog, the battleship collided with the destroyer

Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation of Newport News, Virginia, across Hampton Roads to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.[15] Repair personnel completed the operation that grafted on the new bow in 16 days. On 28 June 1956, the ship was ready for sea.[17]

Wisconsin resumed her midshipman training on 9 July 1956. That autumn, Wisconsin participated in Atlantic Fleet exercises off the coast of the Carolinas, returning to port on 8 November 1956. Entering the Norfolk Naval Shipyard a week later, the battleship underwent major repairs that were not finished until 2 January 1957.[15]

After local operations off the Virginia capes on 3–4 January 1957 and from 9–11 January, Wisconsin departed Norfolk on 16 January, reporting to the commander, Fleet Training Group, at Naval Station Guantánamo Bay. Wisconsin served as Admiral Henry C. Crommelin's flagship during the ensuing shore bombardment practices and other exercises held off the isle of Culebra, Puerto Rico, from 2–4 February. Sailing for Norfolk upon completion of the training period, the battleship arrived on 7 February and resumed local operations off Norfolk. On 27 March, Wisconsin sailed for the Mediterranean Sea, reaching Gibraltar on 6 April, she pushed on that day to rendezvous with TF 60 in the Aegean Sea before reporting to Turkey for the NATO exercise Red Pivot.[15]

Departing Xeros Bay on 14 April, she arrived at

Valencia, Spain, on 10 May, and three days later, entertained prominent civilian and military officials of the city.[15]

The bow of Kentucky was transported in one section, by barge, to repair Wisconsin

Departing Valencia on 17 April, Wisconsin reached Norfolk on 27 May.

Azores Islands following a double engine failure, and subsequently floated for 10 days.[35]

On 27 May, Rear Admiral Lewis S. Parks relieved Rear Admiral Crommelin as Commander, BatDiv 2. Departing Norfolk on 19 June, the battleship, over the ensuing weeks, conducted a midshipman training cruise through the Panama Canal to South American waters, and reached Valparaiso on 3 July. Eight days later, the battleship headed back to the Panama Canal and the Atlantic.[15]

After exercises at Guantánamo Bay and off Culebra, Wisconsin reached Norfolk on 5 August and conducted local operations that lasted into September. She then participated in

NATO exercises, which took her across the North Atlantic to the British Isles.[15]

Wisconsin's days as an active fleet unit were numbered, and she prepared to make her last cruise. On 4 November, she departed Norfolk with a large group of prominent guests on board. Reaching New York City on 6 November, the battleship disembarked her guests, and on 8 November, headed for Bayonne, New Jersey, to commence a preinactivation overhaul. She was placed out of commission at Bayonne on 8 March 1958, and joined the United States Navy reserve fleet (better known as the "mothball fleet") there, leaving the Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1895.[15] Subsequently, taken to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Wisconsin remained there with her sister ship Iowa into the 1980s.[15] While berthed in the Philadelphia Naval Yard, an electrical fire damaged the ship and left her as the Iowa-class battleship in the worst material condition prior to her 1980s reactivation.[36]

Reactivation (1986–1990)

Wisconsin alongside Saratoga (CV-60) around 1990–1991

As part of

starboard sides of the battleship were removed.[37]

Over the next several months, the ship was upgraded with the most advanced weaponry available. Among the new weapon systems installed were four MK 141 quad cell launchers for 16 RGM-84 Harpoon antiship missiles, eight armored box launcher mounts for 32

battleship battle group
(BBBG).

Wisconsin spent the first part of 1989 conducting training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean and off the coast of Puerto Rico before returning to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for a post-recommissioning shakedown that lasted the rest of the year. In mid-1990, the battleship participated in a fleet exercise.[17]

Gulf War (January/February 1991)

Tomahawk missile
during Operation Desert Storm

On 2 August 1990,

Operation Desert Storm commenced operations, and Wisconsin found herself serving alongside her sister Missouri, just as she had done in Korea 40 years previously. Both Wisconsin and Missouri launched Tomahawk missile attacks against Iraq; they were among the first ships to fire cruise missiles during the 1991 Gulf War. Wisconsin served as the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) strike commander for the Persian Gulf, directing the sequence of launches that marked the opening of Operation Desert Storm and firing a total of 24 of her own TLAMs during the first two days of the campaign.[41] Wisconsin also assumed the responsibility of the local antisurface warfare coordinator for the Northern Persian Gulf Surface Action Group.[17]

Wisconsin, escorted by

OV-10 Bronco aircraft. Using an RQ-2 Pioneer UAV as a spotter in combat for the first time, Wisconsin pounded an Iraqi communications compound on 7 February. Her main guns lobbed 24 shells on Iraqi artillery sites, missile facilities, and electronic-warfare sites along the coast. That evening, she targeted naval sites with her 16 in (406 mm) guns, firing 50 rounds, which severely damaged or sank 15 Iraqi boats, and destroyed several piers at the Khawr al-Mufattah marina.[17] In response to calls for fire support from US and coalition forces, Wisconsin's main battery was used again on 9 February, blasting bunkers and artillery sites, and shelling Iraqi troop positions near Khafji after the Iraqis were ousted from the city by Saudi and Qatari armor.[17] On 21 February, one of Wisconsin's UAVs observed several trucks resupplying an Iraqi command post; in response, Wisconsin trained her 16 in (406 mm) guns on the complex, leveling or heavily damaging 10 of the buildings.[17] Wisconsin and Missouri alternated positions on the gun line, using their 16 in (406 mm) guns to destroy enemy targets and soften defenses along the Kuwait coastline for a possible amphibious assault.[17][41]

Wisconsin bombarding Iraqi positions during the 1991 Persian Gulf War

On the night of 23 February, Missouri and Wisconsin turned their big guns on Kuwait's

Faylaka Island to support the US-led coalition ground offensive to free Kuwait from the Iraqi occupation forces. The two ships were to conduct a diversionary assault aimed at convincing the Iraqi forces arrayed along the shores of Faylaka Island that coalition forces were preparing to launch an amphibious invasion.[41] As part of this attack, Missouri and Wisconsin were directed to shell known Iraqi defensive positions on the island. Shortly after Missouri completed her shelling of Faylaka Island, Wisconsin, while still over the horizon (and thus out of visual range of the Iraqi forces) launched her RQ-2 Pioneer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle to spot for her 16 in (406 mm) guns. As Wisconsin's drone approached Faylaka Island, the pilot of the drone was instructed to fly the vehicle low over Iraqi positions so that the soldiers would know that they were once again being targeted by a battleship.[40] Iraqi troops on the ground heard the Pioneer's distinctive buzzing sound, and having witnessed the effects of Missouri's artillery strike on their trench line, the Iraqi troops decided to signal their willingness to surrender by waving makeshift white flags, an action dutifully noted aboard Wisconsin. Amused at this sudden development, the men assigned to the drone's aircrew called Wisconsin's commanding officer, Captain David S. Bill III, and asked, "Sir, they want to surrender, what should I do with them?"[40] This surrender to Wisconsin's Pioneer has since become one of the most remembered moments of the Gulf War; the incident was also the first-ever surrender of enemy troops to an unmanned aircraft controlled by a ship.[42][43] Wisconsin drone also carried out a number of reconnaissance missions on occupied Kuwait before the coalition's ground offensive.[17]

The next day, Wisconsin answered two separate call-fire support missions for coalition forces by suppressing Iraqi troops barricaded in two bunkers. After witnessing the effects of Wisconsin's strike against the Iraqi positions, an elated Saudi marine commander commented over the radio, "I wish we had a battleship in our navy."[17]

Both Wisconsin and Missouri delivered more than 1 million pounds of ordnance on Iraqi targets by the time President George H. W. Bush ended hostilities on 28 February. With one last salvo from her big guns, Wisconsin fired the last naval gunfire-support mission of the war,

Tomahawk cruise missiles.[44] Since all four remaining battleships were decommissioned and stricken following the Gulf War, this was the last time that United States battleships actively participated in a war.[38]

Museum ship (1992–present)

Crewmembers manned the rails aboard Wisconsin during her decommissioning ceremony.

With the

Nauticus, The National Maritime Center in Norfolk. On 16 April 2001 the battleship's weather decks were opened to the public by the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, a U.S. Navy museum charged with Wisconsin's interpretation and public visitation. The ship was still owned by the Navy and was considered part of the mothball fleet.[17][38][45]

Wisconsin was named (along with Iowa) as one of two US Navy battleships to be maintained in the reserve fleet in accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act of 1996[46] as shore-bombardment vessels. However, Wisconsin was then over 60 years old and would have required extensive modernization to return to the fleet since most of her technology dated back to World War II, and the missile and electronic-warfare equipment added to the battleship during her 1988–89 modernization were considered obsolete.[37] In addition, the cost of modernizing the battleships was estimated to be around $500 million for reactivation and $1.5 billion for a full modernization program.[47]

Wisconsin docked in Norfolk, Virginia

On 17 March 2006, the Secretary of the Navy struck Iowa and Wisconsin from the Naval Vessel Register, which cleared the way for both ships to be donated for use as

Pub. L.Tooltip Public Law (United States) 109–163 (text) (PDF), the National Defense Authorization Act 2006, requiring that the battleships be kept and maintained in a state of readiness should they ever be needed again.[49]
Congress had ordered that the following measures be implemented to ensure that Wisconsin could be returned to active duty if needed:

  1. She must not be altered in any way that would impair her military utility.
  2. The battleship must be preserved in her present condition through the continued use of cathodic protection, dehumidification systems, and any other preservation methods as needed.
  3. Spare parts and unique equipment, such as the 16 in (406 mm) gun barrels and projectiles, must be preserved in adequate numbers to support Wisconsin, if reactivated.
  4. The Navy must prepare plans for the rapid reactivation of Wisconsin should she be returned to the Navy in the event of a national emergency.[49]

These conditions closely mirrored the original three conditions that the Nation Defense Authorization Act of 1996 laid out for the maintenance of Wisconsin while she was in the mothball fleet.[46]

On 14 December 2009, the US Navy officially transferred Wisconsin to the city of Norfolk, ending the requirement for the ship to be preserved for possible recall to active duty. The US Navy had paid the city of Norfolk $2.8 million between 2000 and 2009 to maintain the ship.[50] A formal ceremony transferring the ship to the city of Norfolk took place on 16 April 2010.[51][52] Wisconsin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 28 March 2012.

Visitors have included the crew of the Royal Navy's HMS Prince of Wales, who also volunteered to help clean and repaint Wisconsin while stationed in Norfolk during the WESTLANT 23 naval aviation trials in 2023.[53]

Awards

Wisconsin earned five

Desert Storm.[54]

Gold star
|
Silver star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
Bronze star
award star
 Navy Unit Commendation
American Campaign Medal
battle stars
World War II Victory Medal
Navy Occupation Service Medal National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 service star
battle star
Southwest Asia Service Medal w/ 2 service stars Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
Korean Presidential Unit Citation
 Philippine Liberation Medal w/ 2 service stars
United Nations Korea Medal
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia) Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait) Korean War Service Medal

See also

Notes

  1. ^ /50 refers to the length of the gun in terms of calibers. A /50 gun is 50 times long as its bore diameter.

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 3/26/12 through 3/30/12". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved 1 December 2012.
  2. ^ "Virginia Landmarks Register". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Archived from the original on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
  3. ^ Friedman 1980, p. 99
  4. ^ Friedman 1985, pp. 306–307
  5. ^ Sumrall, p. 157
  6. ^ Friedman 1985, pp. 317, 319, 323, 449
  7. ^ Sumrall, p. 159
  8. ^ Friedman 1985, pp. 323, 449
  9. ^ Sumrall, pp. 91—94, 98–100, 102–103
  10. ^ Sumrall, pp. 109, 113
  11. ^ Sumrall, p. 94–95; Draminski, p. 29
  12. ^ Sumrall, pp. 128–129, 170–171
  13. ^ Sumrall, pp. 129–130
  14. ^ Sumrall, pp. 130, 132
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as Cressman
  16. ^ a b "Naval Vessel Register – USS Wisconsin". United States Navy. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Ship's History". USS Wisconsin BB-64. USS Wisconsin BB-64 Association of Former Crewmembers. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Naval Vessel Register – USS Missouri". United States Navy. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  19. ^ Stillwell, p. 27
  20. ^ a b "Third Fleet in Typhoon Cobra, December 1944". History of US Naval Operations in World War II. Samuel Eliot Morison. Archived from the original on 18 October 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2006.
  21. ^ a b "Typhoons and Hurricanes: Pacific Typhoon, 18 December 1944". United States Navy. Archived from the original on 3 January 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2006.
  22. ^ "Pacific Typhoon, 18 December: Personnel Casualties Suffered by Third Fleet, 17–18 December 1944, Compiled from Official Sources". United States Navy. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 8 January 2006.
  23. ^ Lardas, pp. 48–50
  24. ^ Lardas, pp. 50–52
  25. ^ Lardas, pp. 53, 56, 61; Rohwer, p. 380
  26. ^ Macdonald, pp. 424–435
  27. ^ Macdonald, p. 438
  28. ^ Stillwell, pp. 30, 32
  29. ^ Rohwer, p. 402
  30. ^ Rohwer, p. 408
  31. ^ Rohwer, pp. 421–422
  32. ^ Lane Herder, pp. 59–60, 62
  33. ^ Benjamin, Philip (19 October 1955). "Battleship Grounded on Reef Off Battery". The New York Times. No. 35697. pp. 1, 19.
  34. ^ Garzke & Dulin, p. 134
  35. ^ Harro Ranter (9 May 1957). "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing KC-97F-55-BO Stratofreighter 51-0258 Azores Islands". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  36. ^ "Back on the battle line". All Hands. No. 841. Arlington, VA (published April 1987). 1987. pp. 28–29.
  37. ^ a b c d "BB-61 IOWA-class (Specifications)". Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
  38. ^
    ISBN 0-7522-6188-6
    .
  39. ISBN 0-7607-6218-X
    .
  40. ^ a b c "The Warfighter's Encyclopedia: Aircraft – RQ-2 Pioneer". US Navy. Archived from the original on 15 July 2007.
  41. ^ a b c d "V: "Thunder And Lightning"- The War With Iraq (Subsection:The War At Sea)". The United States Navy in "Desert Shield" / "Desert Storm". United States Navy. Archived from the original on 5 December 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
  42. ^ Federation of American Scientists. Pioneer Short Range (SR) UAV. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
  43. ^ National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Pioneer RQ-2A. 14 September 2001. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
  44. ^ a b Polmar, p. 129
  45. ^ NavSource Naval History. BB-64 USS Wisconsin: Keel Laying – Shakedown Cruise. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
  46. ^ a b 104th Congress, House of Representatives. National Defense Authorization Act of 1996 Archived 20 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Page 237. Retrieved 17 December 2006.
  47. ^ Novak, Robert. Losing the battleships. CNN.com 6 December 2005.
  48. ^ 109th Congress, House of Representatives. Report 109–452. "National Defense Authorization Act of 2007" (PDF). p. 193. Archived from the original on 21 September 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
  49. ^ a b 109th Congress, House of Representatives. Report 109-163. National Defense Authorization Act of 2006. p. 68. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
  50. Military Times, "Navy transfers battleship to Norfolk
    ", 14 December 2009.
  51. Norfolk Virginian-Pilot
    , 17 April 2010.
  52. ^ "City to take ownership of USS Wisconsin". Associated Press. 14 April 2010. Archived from the original on 16 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  53. ^ HMS Prince of Wales [@HMPWLS] (23 November 2023). "Happy Thanksgiving to our hosts here in Norfolk VA. The USS Wisconsin museum ship received our thanks as a makeover..." (Tweet). Retrieved 11 December 2023 – via Twitter.
  54. ^ USS Wisconsin Association. Ship's Awards Archived 23 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 November 2006.

Bibliography

Further reading

External links

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