Stuff You Should Know
USS Iowa was an Iowa-class battleship laid down on June 27, 1940 and launched on August 27, 1942. It was commissioned for the first time on February 22, 1943 under Capt. John L. McCrea’s command with the hull number BB-61 and served in the US Navy for 19 years until it was decommissioned on October 26, 1990. During its activity, the ship carried a complement of 2,788 men on board and had the main missions in Argentia, the Marshalls, the Carolines, the Palaus, the Philippines, Leyte, Samar, Japan or Vietnam. After the decommissioning, the ship was struck from the Navy List on March 17, 2006 and used as a museum ship. For the services brought to the country during the World War II, USS Iowa received 11 battle stars.