Throwback Thursday- USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a 16-inch shell toward a North Korean target in mid-1952. Official U.S. Navy Photograph,USNHC # 80-G-K-13195, now in the collections of the National Archives
True embodiment of Veterans Day: "I did not get the names of these two veterans, but the man on the left is a USS Iowa crewman from 1943 and the man on the right is a Marine that served in WWII. Just seeing them together speaks a thousands words without having heard a single word of their conversation. God Bless them both!!"
November 12, 1943 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt embarks on USS Iowa (BB-61) to go to the Allied conferences at Teheran, Iran, and Cairo, Egypt. Photo: The "Big Three": Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill on the portico of the Russian Embassy during the Tehran Conference to discuss the European Theatre in 1943. Churchill is shown in the uniform of a Royal Air Force air commodore.
愛荷華號戰艦（舷號BB-61）是一艘隸屬於美國海軍的戰艦，為愛荷華級戰艦的首艦。她是美軍第四艘以愛荷華州為名的軍艦。
愛荷華號在1940年按照第二次文森法案（Second Vinson Act），於布魯克林造船廠開始建造，在1942年下水，並在1943年服役，其時美國已參與第二次世界大戰多時。愛荷華號首項任務是乘載並護送美國總統小羅斯福往返德黑蘭會議，然後才轉入太平洋戰區。接著愛荷華號先後參與吉爾伯特及馬紹爾群島戰事、馬利亞納群島及帛琉戰事及雷伊泰灣海戰。海戰後愛荷華號遭到颱風眼鏡蛇正面吹襲，使其中一軸螺旋槳損毀，而要返國維修。維修後愛荷華號重返戰場，並在戰爭末段炮擊了東京工業設施。日本投降後，愛荷華號協助美軍佔領日本，並在東京灣見證日本簽字投降儀式。接著愛荷華號參與魔毯行動（Operation Magic Carpet），接載美軍返國。戰後愛荷華號因海軍經費不足，而在1949年退役。一年後韓戰爆發，海軍經費逐步恢復，且亟需前線艦炮火力支援，而愛荷華號則因此在1951年重返現役，並主要炮擊北韓運輸路線及工業重鎮
1984年愛荷華號再次重返現役，並集中在大西洋、地中海與波斯灣巡航。1987年兩伊戰爭期間，愛荷華號參與摯誠意志行動（Operation Earnest Will），協助保護科威特的油船免遭兩伊攻擊。
1990年10月，愛荷華號最後一次從海軍退役，一度在1995年除籍。其時國會憂慮海軍將在四艘愛荷華級退役後喪失艦炮火力支援能力，故通過法案，限令海軍至少保留兩艘愛荷華級於船籍之內。
USS Iowa (BB-61) was the lead ship of her class of battleship and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named in honor of the 29th state. Owing to the cancellation of the Montana-class battleships, Iowa is the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships and was the only ship of her class to have served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
During World War II, she carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic to Mers El Kébir, Algeria, en route to a crucial 1943 meeting in Tehran with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin. She has a bathtub—an amenity installed for Roosevelt, along with an elevator to shuttle him between decks.[1] When transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1944, Iowa shelled beachheads at Kwajalein and Eniwetok in advance of Allied amphibious landings and screened aircraft carriers operating in the Marshall Islands. She also served as the Third Fleet flagship, flying Adm. William F. Halsey's flag at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay. During the Korean War, Iowa was involved in raids on the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet." She was reactivated in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to counter the recently expanded Soviet Navy.
