NATION : Navy Retires Battleship Iowa
The Navy decommissioned the battleship Iowa today, for the third time retiring the World War II-era ship that fell to Pentagon budget cuts after an April, 1989, gun turret explosion killed 47 crew members.
Hundreds of former Iowa crew members, their families and loved ones of those who died in the explosion gathered on the battleship’s deck for the ceremony in wind and rain.
Many who served aboard the ship as far back as World War II said they were saddened the Iowa was being moth-balled.
“It’s like burying one of your people,” said Dusty Curtis, 67, of Lansing, Mich., who served on the Iowa from 1943 to ’45.
The Iowa is being retired along with the battleship New Jersey, based in Long Beach, which is slated to be taken out of service next February. Retirement of the two vessels will leave the United States with two active Iowa-class battleships, the Wisconsin and the Missouri.
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