USS Wisconsin (BB-64)

USS Wisconsin (BB-64) is an built for the United States Navy (USN) in the 1940s and is currently a museum ship. Completed in 1944, the ship was assigned to the Pacific Theater during World War II, where she participated in the Philippines campaign and the Battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The battleship shelled the Japanese home islands shortly before the end of the war in September 1945. During the Korean War, Wisconsin shelled North Korean targets in support of United Nations and South Korean ground operations, after which she was decommissioned. She was reactivated in 1986; after a modernization program, she participated in 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. , Wisconsin is a museum ship operated by Nauticus in Norfolk, Virginia.

Background and description

The Iowa class of fast battleships was designed in the late 1930s in response to the 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. 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 s and the aircraft carriers of the 1st Air Fleet. Design studies prepared during the development of the earlier and es 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 to in the event that any member nation refused to sign the treaty, which Japan refused to do.

Wisconsin is long overall and is long at the waterline. The ship has a beam of and a draft of at her full combat load of . The Iowa-class ships are powered by four General Electric geared steam turbines, each driving one screw propeller using steam provided by eight oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Rated at , the turbines were designed to give a top speed of , but were built to handle a 20 percent overload. None of the Iowas ever ran speed trials in deep water, but the Bureau of Ships estimated that they could reach a speed of about from at a light displacement of . The ships had a designed cruising range of at a speed of , although Wisconsin half sister 's fuel consumption figures during her sea trials suggest that her range was at least at that cruising speed. Their designed crew numbered 117 officers and 1,804 enlisted men, and greatly increased by the end of the war in 1945. Wisconsin crew at that time numbered 173 officers and 2,738 sailors.

Armament, fire control, sensors and aircraft

The main battery of the Iowa-class ships consisted of nine /50-caliber Mark 7 guns in three triple-gun turrets on the centerline, two of which were placed in a superfiring pair forward of the superstructure, with the third aft. Going from bow to stern, the turrets were designated I, II, and III. Their secondary battery consisted of twenty /38-caliber dual-purpose guns mounted in twin-gun turrets clustered amidships, five turrets on each broadside. Unlike their half sisters and New Jersey that were the first pair of ships built, and Wisconsin were completed with an anti-aircraft suite of twenty quadruple mounts for Bofors AA guns, nine mounts on each broadside and one each on the roofs of Turrets II and III. Forty-nine Oerlikon light AA auto-cannon in single mounts were distributed almost the length of the ships.

The primary means of controlling the main armament are two Mark 38 directors for the Mark 38 fire-control system mounted at the tops of the fore and aft fire-control towers in the superstructure. These directors were equipped with rangefinders, although their primary sensor was the Mark 8 fire-control radar mounted on their roofs. A secondary Mark 40 fire-control director was installed inside the armored conning tower at the front of the superstructure that used the Mark 27 fire-control radar positioned on the top of the conning tower. Each turret is fitted with a rangefinder long and can act as a director for the other turrets. Four Mark 37 gunnery directors, two on the centerline at the ends of the superstructure and one on each broadside, control the five-inch guns. Each director was equipped with a rangefinder and a pair of radars on its roof. These were a Mark 12 fire-control system and a Mark 22 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.

An SK-2 early-warning radar was fitted on the ship's 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.

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.

Protection

The internal waterline armor belt of the Iowa-class ships is thick and has a height of . Below it is a strake of Class B homogeneous armor plate that tapers in thickness from 12.1 inches at the top to at the bottom and is 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 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 at the top that tapers to . 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.

The main-gun turrets have Class B plates thick on their faces and of Class A plates on their sides. The armor plates protecting their barbettes range in thickness from to and with the thickest plates on the sides and the thinnest ones on the front and back. The sides of the conning tower are thick. The main deck of the Iowas consists of of STS. Below this deck, the roof of the armored citadel is formed by of armor in two layers. Below this is a deck of 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 thick.

The underwater protection system of the Iowa-class battleships consists of three watertight compartments outboard of the lower armor belt and another behind it. The two outermost compartment are kept loaded with fuel oil or seawater to absorb the energy of the torpedo warhead's detonation and slow the resulting splinters so they can be stopped by the lower armor belt. Behind the belt is a holding bulkhead intended to protect the ships' inner spaces from any splinters that might penetrate and the subsequent flooding. For protection against naval mines, the Iowas have a double bottom that runs the full length of the ships and increases to a triple bottom except at the bow and stern.

History

Construction

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

Wisconsin is numerically the highest-numbered US battleship built. Although her keel was laid after Missouri, she was commissioned before Missouri commissioning date. Wisconsin was commissioned on 16 April 1944, while Missouri was commissioned on 11 June of the same year. Thus, Wisconsin construction began after Missouri, 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.

World War II (1944–1945)

Shakedown and service with 3rd Fleet, Admiral Halsey

thumb|left|Wisconsin at anchor during her initial sea trials in mid-1944.

After the ship's trials and initial training in the Chesapeake Bay, Wisconsin departed Norfolk, Virginia, on 7 July 1944, bound for the British West Indies. Following her shakedown cruise (conducted out of Trinidad), she returned to the builder's yard for alterations and repairs. On 24 September, Wisconsin sailed for the West Coast, transiting the Panama Canal, and reporting for duty with the Pacific Fleet on 2 October. The battleship later steamed to Hawaiian waters for training exercises and then headed for the Western Caroline Islands. Rear Admiral Edward Hanson, commander of Battleship Division 9, hoisted his flag aboard Wisconsin on 25 November. Shortly after reaching Ulithi, she was assigned to Task Group (TG) 38.2, part of Admiral William F. Halsey's 3rd Fleet's Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38), on 11 December. 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. and had withdrawn to begin refueling at sea on 17 December about east of Luzon in the Philippine Sea. The task force was struck by Typhoon Cobra the following day. The small but violent typhoon surprised the task force while many of the ships were attempting to refuel. Three destroyers capsized while nine other ships were seriously damaged.

TF 38 attacked Japanese airfields in Formosa, Okinawa, and the Sakishima Islands with TG 38.2 tasked to cover southern Formosa and the Pescadore Islands beginning on 3 January 1945 to destroy aircraft that the Japanese had concentrated there to attack any amphibious landings on 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.

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, and , at Cam Ranh Bay in occupied French Indochina.

Halsey tasked Wisconsin carrier group with closing to 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.

Formosa was raided again on 15 January, and 21 January. Throughout January Wisconsin shielded the carriers as they conducted air raids at Hong Kong, Canton, Hainan Island, the Canton oil refineries, the Hong Kong Naval Station, and Okinawa.

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 Okinawa (Operation Iceberg) that was scheduled for 1 April. 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.

Wisconsin and Missouri were transferred to TG 58.4 afterwards and they resumed their primary duty of protecting the aircraft carriers. The ships returned to Ulithi on 14 May where they replenished their supplies and ammunition before setting off for Okinawa again on 24 May. Halsey relieved Spruance on 28 May and the units switched designations accordingly. The task group avoided a typhoon that shut down air operations from 4 to 7 June. The following day the carriers' aircraft attacked targets on Kyūshū, southernmost of the Japanese Home Islands. One of Wisconsin floatplanes rescued a pilot from the carrier 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.

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 brief career in World War II, she had steamed since commissioning, shot down three enemy planes, claimed assists on four occasions, and fueled her screening destroyers on some 250 occasions."

After again supporting 1st Marine Division with her heavy rifles, the battleship returned to Japan on 19 March.

thumb|left|Damage to Wisconsin [[bow (watercraft)|bow from collision with 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 . Wisconsin suffered extensive bow damage, A novel experiment sped her repairs and enabled the ship to carry out her scheduled midshipman training cruise that summer. A 120-ton, 68 foot (21 m) section of the bow of Wisconsin incomplete sister ship was transported by barge, in one section, from Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation of Newport News, Virginia, across Hampton Roads to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

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.

Reactivation (1986–1990)

thumb|left|Wisconsin alongside around 1990–1991.

As part of President Ronald Reagan's Navy Secretary John F. Lehman's effort to create a "600-ship Navy," Wisconsin was reactivated 1 August 1986, a precommissioning unit (PCU) crew established, and the ship moved under tow to the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans, Louisiana, to commence pre-recommissioning workups. The battleship was then towed from the Avondale Shipyard and arrived at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on 2 January 1987 to receive weapons system upgrades for her modernization.

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 BGM-109 Tomahawk missiles, and four of the United States Navy's Phalanx close-in weapon system 20 mm Gatling guns for defense against enemy antiship missiles and enemy aircraft. Wisconsin also received eight RQ-2 Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), remotely controlled drones that replaced the helicopters previously used to spot for her nine guns. Also included in her modernization were upgrades to radar and fire control systems for her guns and missiles, and improved electronic warfare capabilities. Wisconsin also assumed the responsibility of the local antisurface warfare coordinator for the Northern Persian Gulf Surface Action Group. Wisconsin drone also carried out a number of reconnaissance missions on occupied Kuwait before the coalition's ground offensive. 881 rounds, and 5,200 20 mm Phalanx CIWS rounds,

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 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.

thumb|upright=1.0|Wisconsin docked in [[Norfolk, Virginia.]]

On 17 March 2006, the Secretary of the Navy struck both Iowa and Wisconsin from the Naval Vessel Register, which cleared the way for both ships to be donated for use as museums. However, the U.S. Congress remained "deeply concerned" over the loss of naval surface-gunfire support that the battleships provided, and noted, "...navy efforts to improve upon, much less replace, this capability have been highly problematic." Partially as a consequence, Congress passed , 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. Congress had ordered that the following measures be implemented to ensure that Wisconsin could be returned to active duty if needed:

She must not be altered in any way that would impair her military utility.
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.
Spare parts and unique equipment, such as the gun barrels and projectiles, must be preserved in adequate numbers to support Wisconsin, if reactivated.
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. A formal ceremony transferring the ship to the city of Norfolk took place on 16 April 2010. Wisconsin was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on 28 March 2012.

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

Awards

Wisconsin earned five battle stars for her World War II service, and one for the Korean War. The ship also received the Combat Action Ribbon and Navy Unit Commendation for actions in the Korean War and Operation Desert Storm in 1991. She also received over a dozen more awards for World War II, the Korean War, and Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

{|style="text-align:center; margin-right:auto; margin-left:auto;"

|colspan="3" |

{| class="wikitable"

|colspan=3 align=center|Combat Action Ribbon w/ 1 award star

|colspan=3 align=center|Navy Unit Commendation

|colspan=2 align=center |American Campaign Medal

|colspan=2 align=center |Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal w/ 5 battle stars

|colspan=2 align=center |World War II Victory Medal

|colspan=2 align=center |Navy Occupation Service Medal

|colspan=2 align=center |National Defense Service Medal w/ 1 service star

|colspan=2 align=center |Korean Service Medal w/ 1 battle star

|colspan=2 align=center |Southwest Asia Service Medal w/ 2 service stars

|colspan=2 align=center |Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon

|colspan=2 align=center |Philippine Presidential Unit Citation

|colspan=2 align=center |Korean Presidential Unit Citation

|colspan=2 align=center |Philippine Liberation Medal w/ 2 service stars

|colspan=2 align=center |United Nations Korea Medal

|colspan=2 align=center |Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia)

|colspan=2 align=center |Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)

|colspan=2 align=center |Korean War Service Medal

Notes

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links

Nauticus, Norfolk, VA
Hampton Roads Naval Museum
Operation Desert Storm Timeline
Maritimequest USS Wisconsin BB-64 Photo Gallery
USS Wisconsin Photo Gallery and Facts
USS Wisconsin Association
1995 US General Accounting Office report on the US Navy's Naval Surface Fire Support program
2005 US Government Accountability Office Report: Issues Related to Navy Battleships
Satellite image of the USS Wisconsin
1956 Booklet of General Plans for the U.S.S. Wisconsin (BB-64), Iowa Class, hosted by the Historical Naval Ships Association (HNSA) Digital Collections