USS Wisconsin

Launched on December 7, 1943, The USS Wisconsin BB-64 was the second ship to be named after the state of Wisconsin. The BB-64 was an Iowa classed battleship while the previously named ship was an Illinois class battleship. The Iowa class battleships are heavily armed with large caliber guns.

The Wisconsin was used during WWII and the Korean War. It was decommissioned on March 8, 1958. The ship was ported at The Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The ship remained there up to the time of her reinstatement.

The USS Wisconsin was reactivated on August 1, 1986. She was moved to Louisiana to be upgraded. The old weapons were removed and she was retrofitted with more modern weapons. Upon completion of the weapons upgrades she was officially recommissioned and spent the first part of 1989 in the Atlantic ocean doing training exercises.

January and February of 1991 saw the Wisconsin in battle during operation Desert Storm. She fought alongside her younger sister the USS Missouri. Her weapons systems allowed her to launch Tomahawk Missiles inland to targets in support of the groud troops that were sent into Kuwait.

The Wisconsin now sits at port at the Nautilus Naval Museum in Norfolk Virginia. She is now a Museum ship which can be toured at the Museum. She had served her country proudly and had fought in the Pacific during WWII and the Korean War providing support for the Republic of Korea.

With five battle stars for WWII and one for the Korean War, the Wisconsin is a highly decorated battleship. She sits ready for reactivation if necessary with enough ammo in storage for her to be able to battle once again should the need arise.

These two young men loved touring the Wisconsin. I had trouble keeping up with them. I did manage to get a few photos of them. The photo to the right is a good one. They are standing where the antiaircraft guns are located. I believe they truly enjoyed this tour.

I talked with one of the guides about the big cannons on the ship. He told me they were accurate up to twenty-six miles. He also said that they would send up weather balloons and measure the wind speed to calculate their aim. They would also take into account the ships speed.