USA Wisconsin

Statistics:
Displacement: 45,000 tons
Length: 887'3"
Beam: 108'2"
Draft: 28'1l"
Speed: 33 knots
Complement: 1,921
Armament: Nine 16" guns; twenty 6" guns, eighty 40mm. guns, forty-nine 20mm.guns
Class: Iowa


The second Wisconsin (BB-64) was laid down on 25 Jan. 1941 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard; launched on 7 Dec. 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Walter S. Goodland; and commissioned on 16 Apr. 1944, Capt. Earl E. Stone in command.


After her trials and initial training in the Chesapeake Bay, Wisconsin departed Norfolk, Va., on 7 Jul. 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 Sept. 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 Carolinas. Upon reaching Ulithian on 9 December, she joined Admiral William F. Halsey's 3d Fleet.
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 Feb. 1991.


USS Wisconsin was decommissioned for the final time, on 30 Sept. 1991. After being berthed at the Naval Station Norfolk, Va., 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 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. Wisconsin opened to the public on 16 April 2001.