| The second Wisconsin (BB-64) was laid down on 25 January
1941 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 7 December 1943; sponsored
by Mrs. Walter S. Goodland; and commissioned on 16 April 1944, Capt. Earl
E. Stone in command. |
| After her trials and initial training in the Chesapeake Bay,
Wisconsin departed Norfolk, Va., on 7 July 1944, bound for the British
West Indies. Following her shakedown, conducted out of Trinidad, the third
of the Iowa-class battleships to join the Fleet returned to her builder's
yard for post-shakedown repairs and alterations. |
| On 24 September 1944, Wisconsin sailed for the West Coast,
transited the Panama Canal, and reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet
on 2 October. The battleship later moved to Hawaiian waters for training
exercises and then headed for the Western Carolines. Upon reaching Ulithi
on 9 December, she joined Admiral William F. Halsey's 3d Fleet. |
| The powerful new warship had arrived at a time when the re-conquest
of the Philippines was well underway. As a part of that movement, the planners
had envisioned landings on the southwest coast of Mindoro, south of Luzon.
From that point, American forces could threaten Japanese shipping lanes through
the South China Sea. |
| The day before the amphibians assaulted Mindoro, the 3d Fleet's
Fast Carrier Task Force (TF) 38-supported in art by Wisconsin-rendered
Japanese facilities at Manila largely useless. Between 14 and 16 December,
TF 38's naval aviators secured complete tactical surprise and quickly won
complete mastery of the air and sank or destroyed 27 Japanese vessels; damaged
60 more; destroyed 269 planes; and bombed miscellaneous ground installations.
|
| The next day the weather, however, soon turned sour for Halsey's
sailors. A furious typhoon struck his fleet, catching many ships refueling
and with little ballast in their nearly dry bunkers. Three destroyers-Hull
(DD-350), Monaghan (DD-354), and Spence (DD-512)-capsized and sank.
Wisconsin proved her seaworthiness as she escaped the storm unscathed.
|
| As heavily contested, as they were, the Mindoro operations proved
only the introduction to another series of calculated blows aimed at the
occupying Japanese in the Philippines. For Wisconsin, her next operation
was the occupation of Luzon. Bypassing the southern beaches, American amphibians
went ashore at Lingayen Gulf-the scene of the Japanese landings nearly three
years before. |
| Wisconsin-armed with heavy antiaircraft batteries-performed
escort duty for TF 38's fast carriers during air strikes against Formosa,
Luzon, and the Nansei Shoto, to neutralize Japanese forces there and to cover
the unfolding Lingayen Gulf operations. Those strikes, lasting from 3 to
22 January 1945, included a thrust into the South China Sea, in the hope
that major units of the Japanese Navy could be drawn into battle. |
| Air strikes between Saigon and Camranh Bay, Indochina, on 12 January
resulted in severe losses for the enemy. TF 38's warplanes sank 41 ships
and damaged heavily damaged docks, storage areas, and aircraft facilities.
At least 112 enemy planes would never again see operational service. Formosa,
already struck on 3 and 4 January, again fell victim to the marauding American
airmen, being smashed again on 9, 15, and 21 January. Soon, Hong Kong, Canton,
and Hainan Island felt the brunt of TF 38's power. Besides damaging and sinking
Japanese shipping, American planes from the task force set the Canton oil
refineries afire and blasted the Hong Kong Naval Station. They also raided
Okinawa on 22 January, considerably lessening enemy air activities that could
threaten the Luzon landings. |
| Subsequently assigned to the 5th Fleet-when Admiral Spruance relieved
Admiral Halsey as Commander of the Fleet-Wisconsin moved northward
with the re-designated TF 58 as the carriers headed for the Tokyo area. On
16 February 1945, the task force approached the Japanese coast under cover
of adverse weather conditions and achieved complete tactical surprise. As
a result, they shot down 322 enemy planes and destroyed 177 more on the ground,
Japanese shipping-both naval and merchant-suffered drastically, too, as did
hangars and aircraft installations. Moreover, all this damage to the enemy
had cost the American Navy only 49 planes. |
| The task force moved to Iwo Jima on 17 February to provide direct
support for the landings slated to take place on that island on the 19th.
It revisited Tokyo on the 25th and, the next day, hit the island of Hachino
off the coast of Honshu. During these raids, besides causing heavy damage
or ground facilities, the American planes sent five small vessels to the
bottom and destroyed 158 planes. |
| On 1 March, reconnaissance planes flew over the island of Okinawa,
taking last minute intelligence photographs to be used in planning the assault
on that island. The next day, cruisers from TF 58 shelled Okino Daito Shima
in training for the forthcoming operation. The force then retired to Ulithi
for replenishment. |
| March, bound for Japan. The mission of that group was to eliminate
airborne resistance from the Japanese homeland to American forces off Okinawa.
Enemy fleet units at Kure and Kobe, on southern Honshu, reeled under the
impact of the explosive blows delivered by TF 58's airmen. On 18 and 19 March,
from a point 100 miles southwest of Kyushu, TF 58 hit enemy airfields on
that island. However, the Japanese drew blood during that action when kamikazes
crashed into FRANKLIN (CV-13) on the 19th and seriously damaged that fleet
carrier. |
| That afternoon, the task force retired from Kyushu, screening
the blazing and battered flattop. In doing so, the screen downed 48 attackers.
At the conclusion of the operation, the force felt that it had achieved its
mission of prohibiting any large-scale resistance from the air to the slated
landings on Okinawa. |
| On the 24th, Wisconsin trained her 16-inch rifles on targets
ashore on Okinawa. Together with the other battlewagons of the task force,
she pounded Japanese positions and installations in preparation for the landings.
Although fierce, Japanese resistance was doomed to fail by dwindling numbers
of aircraft and trained pilots to man them. In addition, the Japanese fleet,
steadily hammered by air attacks from 5th Fleet aircraft, found itself confronted
by a growing, powerful, and determined enemy. On 17 April, the undaunted
enemy battleship Yamato, with her 18.1-inch guns, sortied to attack the American
invasion fleet off Okinawa. Met head-on by a swarm of carrier planes, Yamato,
the light cruiser Yahagi, and four destroyers went to the bottom, the victims
of massed air power. Never again would the Japanese fleet present a major
challenge to the American fleet in the war in the Pacific. |
| While TF 58's planes were off dispatching Yamato and her consorts
to the bottom of the South China Sea, enemy aircraft struck back at American
surface units. Combat air patrols (CAP) knocked down 15 enemy planes, and
ships' gunfire accounted for another three, but not before one kamikaze
penetrated the CAP and screen to crash on the flight deck of the fleet carrier
Hancock (CV-19). On 11 April, the "Divine Wind" renewed its efforts; and
only drastic maneuvers and heavy barrages of gunfire saved the task force.
None of the fanatical pilots achieved any direct hits, although near misses,
close aboard, managed to cause some minor damage. Combat air patrols bagged
17 planes, and ships' gunfire accounted for an even dozen. The next day,
151 enemy aircraft committed hara-kiri into TF 58, but Wisconsin,
bristling with 5-inch, 40-millimeter and 20- millimeter guns, together with
other units of the screens for the vital carriers, kept the enemy at bay
or destroyed him before he could reach his targets. |
| Over the days that ensued, American task force planes hit Japanese
facilities and installations in the enemy's homeland. Kamikazes, redoubling
their efforts, managed to crash into three carriers on successive days-Intrepid
(CV-11), Bunker Hill (CV- 17), and Enterprise (CV-6). |
| By 4 June, a typhoon was swirling through the Fleet.
Wisconsin rode out the storm unscathed, but three cruisers, two carriers,
and a destroyer suffered serious damage. Offensive operations were resumed
on 8 June with a final aerial assault on Kyushu. Japanese aerial response
was pitifully small; 29 planes were located and destroyed. On that day, one
of Wisconsin's floatplanes landed and rescued a downed pilot from
the carrier Shangri-La (CV-38). |
| Wisconsin ultimately put into Leyte Gulf and dropped anchor
there on 18 June for repairs and replenishment. Three weeks later, on 1 July,
the battleship and her consorts sailed once more for Japanese home waters
for carrier air strikes on the enemy's heartland. Nine days later, carrier
planes from TF 38 destroyed 72 enemy aircraft on the ground and smashed
industrial sites in the Tokyo area. So little was the threat from the dwindling
Japanese air arm that the Americans made no attempt whatever to conceal the
location of their armada which was operating off her shores with impunity.
|
| On the 16th, Wisconsin again unlimbered her main battery,
hurling 16-inch shells shoreward at the steel mills and oil refineries at
Muroran, Hokkaido. Two days later, she wrecked industrial facilities in the
Hitachi Miro area, on the coast of Honshu, northeast of Tokyo itself. During
that bombardment, British battleships of the Eastern Fleet contributed their
heavy shellfire. By that point in the war, Allied warships were able to shell
the Japanese homeland almost at will. |
| Task Force 38's planes subsequently blasted the Japanese naval
base at Yokosuka, and put one of the two remaining Japanese battleships-the
former fleet flagship Nagato out of action. On 24 and 25 July, American carrier
planes visited the Inland Sea region, blasting enemy sites on Honshu, Kyushu,
and Shikoku. Kure then again came under attack. Six major fleet units were
located there and badly damaged, marking the virtual end of Japanese sea
power. |
| Over the weeks that ensued, TF 38 continue its raids on Japanese
industrial facilities, airfields, and merchant and naval shipping. Admiral
Halsey's airmen visited destruction upon the Japanese capital for the last
time on 13 August 1946. Two days later, the Japanese capitulated. World War
II was over at last. |
| Wisconsin, as port of the occupying force, arrived at Tokyo
Bay on 6 September, three days after the formal surrender occurred on board
the battleship Missouri (BB-63). During Wisconsin's brief career in
World War II, she had steamed 105,831 miles since commissioning; had shot
down three enemy planes; had claimed assists on four occasions; and had fueled
her screening destroyers on some 250 occasions. |
| Shifting subsequently to Okinawa, the battleship embarked
homeward-bound GI's on 22 September, as part of the "Magic Carpet" operation
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 stateside
bound voyage. She reached San Francisco on 15 October. |
| Heading for the east coast of the United States soon after the
start of the new year, 1946, Wisconsin transited the Panama Canal
between 11 and 13 January and reached Hampton Roads, Va., on the 18th. Following
a cruise south to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the battleship entered the Norfolk
Naval Shipyard for overhaul. After repairs and alterations that consumed
the summer months, Wisconsin sailed for South American waters. |
| Over the weeks that ensued, the battleship visited Valparaiso,
Chile, from 1 to 6 November; Callao, Peru, from 9 to 13 November; Balboa,
Canal Zone, from 16 to 20 November; and La Guajira, 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 Guantanamo
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 of 1947, Wisconsin took
Naval Academy midshipmen on cruises to northern European waters. |
| In January 1948, Wisconsin joined the Atlantic Reserve
Fleet at Norfolk, for inactivation. Placed out of commission, in reserve
on 1 July 1948 Wisconsin was assigned to the Norfolk group of the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet. |
| Her sojourn in "mothballs," however, was comparatively brief because
of the North Korean invasion of South Korea in late June 1950.
Wisconsin was re-commissioned, on 3 March 1951, Capt. Thomas Burrowes
in command. After shakedown training, the revitalized battleship conducted
two midshipmen training cruises, taking the officers-to-be to Edinburgh,
Scotland; Lisbon, Portugal; Halifax, Nova Scotia; New York City; and Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, before she returned to Norfolk. |
| Wisconsin departed Norfolk on 25 October 1951, bound for
the Pacific. She transited the Panama Canal on the 29th and reached Yokosuka,
Japan, on 21 November. There, she relieved New Jersey (BB-62) as flagship
for Vice Admiral H. M. Martin, Commander, 7th Fleet. |
| On the 26th, with Vice Admiral Martin and Rear Admiral F. P.
Denebrink, Commander, Service Force, Pacific, embarked, Wisconsin
departed Yokosuka for Korean waters to support the fast carrier operations
of TF 77. She left the company of the carrier force on 2 December and, screened
by the destroyer WILTSIE (DD-716), provided gunfire support for the Republic
of Korea (ROK) Corps in the Kasong-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 shellings 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
a communist attack that was consequently repulsed with considerable enemy
casualties. |
| After being relieved on the gunline by the heavy cruiser St. Paul
(CA-78) on 6 December, Wisconsin retired only briefly from gunfire
support duties. She resumed them, however, in the Kasong-Kosong area on 11
December screened by the destroyer Twining (DD-540). The following day, 12
December, saw the embarkation in Wisconsin of Rear Admiral H. R. Thurber,
Commander, Battleship Division 2. The admiral came on board via helicopter,
incident to his inspection trip in the Far East. |
| The battleship continued 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 Kojo area blasting coastal
targets in support of United Nations (UN) troops ashore. That same day, she
returned to the Kasong-Kosong area. On the 15th, she disembarked Admiral
Thurber by helicopter. The next day, Wisconsin departed Korean waters,
heading for Sasebo to rearm. |
| Returning to the combat zone on the 17th, Wisconsin embarked
United States Senator Homer Ferguson of Michigan on the 18th. That day, the
battleship supported the 11th ROK invasion with night illumination fire that
enabled the ROK troops to repulse a communist assault with heavy enemy
casualties. Departing the "bombline" on the 19th, the battleship later that
day transferred her distinguished passenger, Senator Ferguson, by helicopter
to the carrier Valley Forge (CV-45). |
| Wisconsin next participated in a coordinated air-surface
bombardment of Wonsan to neutralize pre-selected targets. She shifted her
bombardment station. to the western end of Wonsan harbor, hitting boats and
small craft in the inner swept channel during the afternoon. Such activities
helped to forestall any communist attempts to assault the friendly-held islands
in the Wonsan area. Wisconsin then made an anti-boat sweep to the
north, utilizing her 5-inch batteries on suspected boat concentrations. She
then provided gunfire support to UN troops operating at the "bombline" until
three days before Christmas 1951. She then rejoined the carrier task force.
|
| On 28 December, Francis Cardinal Spellman-on a Korean tour over
the Christmas holidays-visited the ship, coming on board by helicopter to
celebrate Mass for the Catholic members of the crew. The distinguished prelate
departed the ship by helicopter off Pohang. Three days later, on the last
day of the year, Wisconsin put into Yokosuka. |
| Wisconsin departed that Japanese port on 8 January 1952
and headed for Korean waters once more. She reached Pusan the following day
and entertained the President of South Korea, Syngman Rhee, and his wife,
on the 10th. President and Mrs. Rhee received full military honors as they
came on board, and he reciprocated by awarding Vice Admiral Martin the ROK
Order of the Military Merit. |
| 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. One such occasion
occurred; on 14 January when she shelled enemy troops in the open at the
request of the ROK 1st Corps. |
| Rearming at Sasebo and once more joining TF 77 off the coast of
Korea soon thereafter, Wisconsin resumed support at the "bombline"
on 23 January. Three days later, she shifted once more 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. |
| 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 besides conducting call-fire missions on enemy command
posts, bunkers, and personnel shelters, making numerous cuts on enemy trench
lines in the process. |
| 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,
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. |
| Wisconsin arrived off Songjin, Korea, on 15 March 1952
and concentrated her gunfire on enemy railway transport. Early that morning,
she destroyed a communist troop train trapped outside of a destroyed tunnel.
That afternoon, she received the first direct hit in, her history, when one
of four shells from a communist 155-millimeter gun battery struck the shield
of a starboard 40-millimeter mount. Although little material damage resulted,
three men were injured. Almost as if the victim of a personal affront,
Wisconsin subsequently blasted that battery to oblivion with a 16-inch
salvo before continuing her mission. After lending a hand to support once
more the 1st Marine Division with her heavy rifles, the battleship returned
to Japan on 19 March. |
| Relieved as flagship of the 7th Fleet on 1 April by sistership
IOWA (BB-61), 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 and 5 April, marking the
first time that an Iowa-class battleship had ever utilized that type of facility.
She continued her homeward-bound voyage, via Pearl Harbor, and arrived at
Long Beach, California, on l9 April, She then sailed for the east coast;
her destination: Norfolk. |
| Early in June 1962, Wisconsin resumed her role as a training
ship, taking midshipmen to Greenock, Scotland; Brest, France; and Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, before returning to Norfolk. She departed Hampton Roads on 25
August and participated in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) exercise,
Operation "Mainbrace" which commenced at Greenock and extended as far north
as Oslo, Norway. After her return to Norfolk, Wisconsin underwent
an overhaul in the naval shipyard there. She then engaged in local training
evolutions until 11 February 1953, when she sailed for Cuban waters for refresher
training. She visited Newport, Rhode Island, and New York City before returning
to Norfolk late in April. |
| Following another midshipman's training cruise to Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil; Port-of-Spain, Trinidad; and Guantanamo Bay, Wisconsin put
into the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 4 August for a brief overhaul. A little
over a month later, upon conclusion of that period of repairs and alterations,
the battleship departed Norfolk on 9 September, bound for the Far East.
|
| Sailing via the Panama Canal to Japan, Wisconsin relieved
New Jersey (BB-62) as 7th Fleet flagship on 12 October. During the months
that followed, Wisconsin visited the Japanese ports of Kobe, Sasebo,
Yokosuka, Otaru, and 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, teaching Norfolk, via Long Beach and the Panama
Canal, on 4 May 1954. |
| 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 Guantanamo Bay, the ship returned
to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs. Shortly thereafter,
Wisconsin participated in Atlantic Fleet exercises as flagship for
Commander, 2d Fleet. Departing Norfolk in January 1955, Wisconsin
took part in operation "Springboard," during which time 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 Guantanamo Bay before returning to the United States. |
| Upon completion of a major overhaul at the New York Naval Shipyard,
Wisconsin headed south for refresher training in the Caribbean, later
taking part in another "Springboard" exercise. During that cruise, she again
visited Port-au-Prince and added 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. |
| Throughout April and into May, Wisconsin operated locally
off the Virginia capes. On 6 May, the battleship collided with the destroyer
EATON (DDE-510) in a heavy fog; Wisconsin put into Norfolk with extensive
damage to her bow and, one week later, entered dry-dock at the Norfolk Naval
Shipyard. A novel expedient speeded her repairs and enabled the ship to carry
out her scheduled midshipman training cruise that summer. A 120-ton, 68-foot
long section of the bow of the uncompleted battleship KENTUCKY was transported
by barge, in one section, from New Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock
Corp., Newport News, Virginia, across Hampton Roads to the Norfolk Naval
Shipyard. Working round-the clock, Wisconsin's ship's force and shipyard
personnel completed the operation, which grafted the new bow on the old
battleship in a mere 16 days. On 28 June 1956, the ship was ready for sea.
|
| Embarking 700 NROTC midshipmen, representing 52 colleges and
universities throughout the United States, Wisconsin departed Norfolk
on 9 July, bound for Spain. Reaching Barcelona on the 20th, the battleship
next called at Greenock and Guantanamo Bay before returning to Norfolk on
the last day of August. 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. |
| After local operations off the Virginia capes from 3 to 4 January
and from the 9th to the 11th, Wisconsin departed Norfolk on the 16th,
reporting to Commander, Fleet Training Group, at Guantanamo Bag. Breaking
the two-starred flag of Rear Admiral Henry Crommelin, Commander, Battleship
Division 2, Wisconsin served as Admiral Crommelin's flagship during
the ensuing shore bombardment practices and other exercises held off the
isle of Culebra, Puerto Rico, from 2 to 4 February 1957. Sailing for Norfolk
upon completion of the training period, the battleship arrived on 7 February.
|
| The warship conducted a brief period of local operations off Norfolk
before she sailed, on 27 March, for the Mediterranean. Reaching Gibraltar
on 6 April, she pushed on that day to rendezvous with TF 60 in the Aegean
Sea. She then proceeded with that force to Xeros Bay, Turkey, arriving there
on 11 April for NATO Exercise "Red Pivot." |
| Departing Xeros Bay on 14 April, she arrived at Naples four days
later, After a week's visit-during which she was visited by Italian
dignitaries-Wisconsin conducted exercises in the eastern Mediterranean.
In the course of those operational training evolutions, she rescued a pilot
and crewman who survived the crash of a plane from the carrier FORRESTAL
(CVA-59). Two days later, Vice Admiral Charles R. Brown, Commander, 6th Fleet,
came on board for an official visit by high-line and departed via the same
method that day. Wisconsin reached Valencia, Spain, on 10 May and,
three days later, entertained prominent civilian and military officials of
the city. |
| Departing Valencia on the 17th, Wisconsin reached Norfolk
on 27 May. On that day, Rear Admiral L. S. Parks relieved Rear Admiral Crommelin
as Commander, Battleship Division 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. She transited the canal
on 26 June; crossed the equator on the following day; and reached Valparaiso,
Chile, on 3 July. Eight days later, the battleship headed back to the Panama
Canal and the Atlantic. |
| After exercises at Guantanamo 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. She arrived in the
Clyde on 14 September and subsequently visited Brest, France, before returning
to Norfolk on 22 October. |
| Wisconsin's days as an active fleet unit were numbered,
and she prepared to make her last cruise. On 4 November 1957, 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 the 8th,
headed for Bayonne, New Jersey, to commence pre-inactivation overhaul. |
| Placed out of commission at Bayonne on 8 Mar. 1968,
Wisconsin joined the "Mothball Fleet" there, leaving the United States
Navy without an active battleship for the first time since 1896. Subsequently
taken to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Wisconsin remained there
with USS Iowa (BB 61) until recommissioned again on 22 Oct.
1988. |
| USS Wisconsin returned to war when Iraqi dictator Sadam
Hussein invaded Kuwait. In February 1991, Wisconsin fired her 16-inch
guns at targets just north of Khafji, Saudi Arabia, the ship assisted shore-based
ground units in their tasks. Wisconsin shared gunnery duties with
USS Missouri (BB 63) and the two battleships continued to hammer at
their targets with 16-inch gunnery. Near the end of the month,
Wisconsin turned her big guns on Faylaka Island and Kuwait City in
support of the ground offensive. Iraq agreed to a cease fire agreement on
28 February 1991. |
| USS Wisconsin was decommissioned for the final time, on
30 Sept. 1991. After being berthed at the Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia,
she was moved on 31 May 2000 to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard. On Pearl Harbor
Commemoration Day, 7 December 2000, Wisconsin moored at the National
Maritime Center and the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in downtown Norfolk to
be the centerpiece in a four-part exhibit featuring the battleship's role
in U.S. naval history and also as an example of the relationship between
the Navy and the Hampton Roads area. |
|
|
|
buy
this book
