AcePilots
Home World War Two Ships Home
US Navy Page Battleships Page
(note: illustrations are of sister
ship Iowa, BB-61)
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 C arolines. 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 reconquest 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 c ould 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 operatio ns. 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. Beside s 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 threa
ten 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 redesignated TF 58 as the carriers headed for the Tokyo area. On 16
February 1945, the task force appr oached 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 r aids, 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 o peration. The force then
retired to Ulithi for replenishment.
Wisconsin's task force stood out of Ulithi on 14 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 delive red 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
dam aged 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 resi stance 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 an other 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 sa ved 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 Kyush u. 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 Honsh u, 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.
Postwar
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 state-side 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 through-out the year. Those voyages
commenced at Bayonne, N.J., 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 recommissioned, 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.
Korea
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 st ation 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 d estroyer 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 i n 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 wat ers, 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 du ring 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 concentrat
ions. 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 Po hang. 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 recei ved 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 concentrat ions 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 gu n 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 enem y 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. Departi ng 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 a ffront, 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.
Post-Korea
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 large st 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, Calif., on l9
April, She then sailed for the east coast; her destination: Norfolk.
Early in June 1952, 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 n orth 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 visit ed Newport,
R.I., 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 t hat 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. Sh e 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 re pairs. 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-Princ e, 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.
Collision!
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, on e week later, entered drydock 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 battle ship Kentucky was transported by barge, in one
section, from New Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corp., Newport
News, Va., 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 batt leship 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 H enry 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 v ia 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, co nducted 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 Isle s. 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 disemba rked her guests and, on
the 8th, headed for Bayonne, N.J., to commence pre-inactivation
overhaul.
Placed out of commission at Bayonne on 8 March 1958, 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, W isconsin remained there with her
sistership Iowa into 1981.
Wisconsin earned five battle stars for her World War II service and one
for Korea.
.
Sources: Public domain Dictionary of
American Naval Fighting Ships
and scans from my father's 1943 Naval
Recognition Manual
Continue the discussion at the Ships
Forum or email me
(photos of
WW2 ships welcome).
Copyright 2008, by
Acepilots.com.
All rights reserved.