Deployments of USS Iowa (BB 61)

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Deployments of USS IOWA:

Date of Departure	Date of Return	Area of Operations	Tasks and Events	Ports of Call
August 27, 1943	October 1943	Northern Atlantic, Newfoundland	Participation in the Tirpitz Watch trying to neutralize the threat of German battleship Tirpitz
November 11, 1943	December 16, 1943	Atlantic, Mediterranean	Carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other high-ranking members of American delegation to Casablanca and back to the US.	Casablanca, French Morocco
January 2, 1944	January 1945		Flagship of Battleship Division 7 and member of Pacific Fleet Task Force 58. February 16: First firing of weapons in combat in attack on Japanese naval base at Truk in Caroline islands. In action off Truk, the USS Iowa sank light cruiser Katori March 18: First shore bombardment against Mili Atoll in Marshall Islands. The USS Iowa received her first hit when she was struck by two Japanese 4.7 projectiles, neither of which caused significant damage March 30: In support of Task group 58, air strikes against Palau and Woleai islands, followed by further strikes against Hollandia, Aitape and Wake Islands April 22: Supporting Army landing at Aitape, Tanahmerah and Humbolt Bays May 1: Bombardment of airfield, bombs wharf and other enemy facilities at Ponape June 13: Shelled Saipan and Tinian and blew up an ammunition dump June 19: In action throughout battle of the Philippine Sea. Downed at least three attacking planes September: A unit of Fleet Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey's third Fleet in support of carrier strikes against Philippine and Caroline Islands October 10: Participating in air strikes against Ryukyu Islands, Taiwan and Luzon October 23: Headed for Battle of Leyte Gulf December 17-18: At Ulithi for replenishment and maintenance
March 19, 1945	October 15, 1945	Western Pacific	April 15: Arrives off Okinawa May 25: Supported air strikes against Kyushu July 15: USS Iowa, USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin attack Muroran on Hokkaido inflicting significant damage on Nihon Steel Company and Wanishi Ironworks July 17: The three battleships bombard industrial city of Hitachi Miro July 29-30: Bombarded island of Kahoolawe August 27: In company with USS Missouri, USS Iowa put into Sagami Bay to effect the surrender of Yokosuka naval district August 29: USS Iowa and USS Missouri enter Tokyo Bay in support of landing of occupation forces to take place next day
January 1946	March 25, 1946	Western Pacific	Served as flagship for Commander Fifth Fleet
April 1, 1952	October 1952	Western Pacific, Korea	Served as flagship of Vice Admiral Robert T. Briscoe, Commander, Seventh Fleet April 8: gun strikes against enemy supply routes in Wonson-Songjin area April 9: Joined bombline to strike enemy troop concentrations, supply areas and suspected gun positions in vicinity of Suwon Dan and Kojo April 13: Bombardment in support of I ROK Corps, killing 100 enemy troops, destroying six gun emplacements and seriously damaging divisional headquarters April 14: In Wonsan Harbor to bomb warehouses, observation posts and railroad marshaling yards and then back to the bombline to support UN forces in Kosong area April 20: Operating north of 38th Parallel, USS Iowa closed four railroad tunnels near Tanchon April 25-26: Bombardment of Chindong and Kosong May 25: In action against North Korean industrial and rail transportation center at Chongjin May 27: Bombardment of Songjin, closing railroad tunnels and seriously damaging area bridges May 28: Again on bombline in support of X Corps, followed by gun strikes on islands in Wonsan harbor June 1: Underway for Sasebo and replenishment followed by gun strikes against Mayang-do, Tanchon, Chongjin, Chodo-Sokto and ports of Hungnam and Wonsan June 9: USS Iowa’s helicopter rescued downed pilot from USS Princeton August 20: Went to aid of destroyer USS Thompson off Songjin, taking aboard her casualties and covering her escape to safer waters September 23: Gun strikes in Wonsan area destroying a major ammunition dump September 25: Gun Strikes against railroad and thirty-car train October 14: Participated in Operation Decoy, an attempt to draw enemy troops under fire at Kojo October 16: Provided anti-aircraft support for the USS Mount McKinley during Kojo action	Sasebo, Japan
July 1953			Served as flagship for Commander Second Fleet and participated in Operation Mariner
January 1955	April 1955	Mediterranean		Gibraltar Mers El Kebir, Oman Genoa, Italy Naples, Italy Istanbul, Turkey Athens, Greece Cannes, France
June 1, 1955	June 1955	Northern Atlantic, Mediterranean	Midshipmen Cruise	Barcelonia, Spain Portsmouth, England
June 1956		Northern Atlantic	Midshipmen Cruise	Guantanamo Bay Bermuda Portsmouth, England Copenhagen, Denmark
January 4, 1957	~June 1957	Mediterranean
September 3, 1957	September 28, 1957	Northern Atlantic	Participation in NATO Operation Strikeback
August 8, 1984	September 17, 1984	Caribbean, Eastern Pacific, Nicaraguan coast	Surveillance of thirteen miles of Nicaraguan coast in conjunction with embassy contingency communication exercises.
August 27, 1985	November 5, 1985	Northern Atlantic, Baltic Sea	Participation in Exercise Ocean Safari as part of Battleship Surface Action Group providing protection for convoy of supply ships en route from Boston to Northern Europe. Rendezvous with USS America Battle Group. Participation in BALTOPS 85.	Le Havre, France Copenhagen, Denmark Aarhus, Denmark Oslo, Norway Kiel, West Germany
August 17, 1986	October 1986	Northern Atlantic	Participation in NATO exercise Northern Wedding	Portsmouth, England Bremerhaven, West Germany
January 9, 1987	February 26, 1987	Caribbean	Participation in BLASTEX 1-87, Operational Readiness Inspection Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and gunnery exercises at Vieques Island, Puerto Rico	Honduras, Columbia Virgin Islands Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
April 25, 1987	July 28, 1987	Caribbean, Western Atlantic	Conducted SACEX in Puerto Rican operations area and participated in FLEETEX 3-87
September 10, 1987	March 10, 1988	Atlantic, Mediterranean, North Sea, Indian Ocean, Arabian Gulf	Participation in Exercise Display Determination and Persian Gulf Presence Operations. Operation Earnest Will.	Istanbul, Turkey Trondheim, Norway Diego, Garcia
October 7, 1988	December 7, 1988	Caribbean	Refresher training and numerous exercises.	Port Everglades, Florida Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
January 20, 1989	March 16, 1989	Caribbean	Operations with units of the Standing Naval Forces, Atlantic, and gunnery exercises of Vieques Island.	New Orleans, Louisiana
April 13, 1989	April 22, 1989	Caribbean	Participation in FLEETEX 3-89 and serving as flagship for Commander Second Fleet. Explosion within Turret Two.
June 7, 1989	December 7, 1989	Northern Atlantic, Mediterranean	Contingency operations off the Lebanese coast, serving as command ship for Commander Sixth Fleet, participation in Exercise Display Determination	Kiel, West Germany Portsmouth, England Rota, Spain Casablanca, Morocco Gibraltar Marseille, France Antalya, Turkey Gaeta, Italy Istanbul, Turkey Haifa, Israel Alexandria, Egypt Ajaccio, Corsica (France) Augusta Bay, Sicily (Italy) Naples, Italy Palma, Mallorca (Spain)

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