USS Iowa

The famed Battleship IOWA was ordered on July 1, 1939, commissioned on Feb. 22, 1943, and served the USA for almost 50 years. She was designated the “World’s Greatest Naval Ship” because of her big guns, heavy armour, fast speed, longevity and modernization flexibility, which allowed her to keep pace with technology.

Also known as the “Battleship of Presidents,” Battleship IOWA was outfitted in WWII to be the flagship that carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic in 1943 for meetings with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin. A bathtub was installed on the IOWA as a convenience for FDR, making it the only U.S. Navy warship with a bathtub built for a president.

Battleship IOWA also was re-commissioned in 1984 by Vice President George H.W. Bush, who would later be the ship’s Commander-in-Chief from 1989 until she was decommissioned in 1990. In addition, the Battleship IOWA was the flagship for President Ronald Reagan for our nation’s Celebration of Liberty in New York City on July 4, 1986.