Iowa Class Battleship Statistics

Ships in Class:

Iowa (BB-61) New Jersey (BB-62)
Missouri (BB-63) Wisconsin (BB-64)
Not Completed - Illinois (BB-65) Kentucky (BB-66)

Cost of Construction:

$90,000,000  (in 1940s dollars)

Displacement:

58,000 Tons

Length:

887'7"

Beam:

108'1"

Draft:

33' Forward, 38' Aft

Speed:

33+ knots (about 38 mph)

Crew:

WW II:   134 Officers, 2,400 Enlisted
Vietnam:   80 Officers, 1,556 Enlisted
1980s:   70 Officers, 1,400 Enlisted

Armament:

Nine 16-inch / 50 caliber guns in 3 gun turrets.  (Range: 23 miles - Projectiles: Armor Piercing 2,700 lbs and High Capacity 1,900 lbs - Powder: Standard Load six 110 lb bags - Rate of Fire: 2 Rounds per gun per minute)

 

Twenty 5-inch / 38 caliber dual purpose guns in 10 twin mounts.  (Range: 9 miles - Projectile: 55 lbs. - Powder: 30 lbs. - Rate of Fire: 15 Rounds per gun per minute) 

 

Sixty-four 40mm anti-aircraft guns in 16 quad mounts, later increased to eighty guns in 20 mounts.  (All were removed in 1967 - 68 modernization)

 

Forty-nine 20mm anti-aircraft guns, increased during WW II to fifty-seven.  (All but a few removed during 1947 - 48 inactivation, remainder removed in 1952)

 

8 Quad Tomahawk Armored Box Launchers, 4 Quad Harpoon Canister Launchers, 4 Vulcan / Phalanx CIWS all were added during 1981 modernization.

Armor:

The main armor belt of the hull is 13.5" tapering 19-degrees vertically to 1.62". Aft, to protect the propellers and shafts, the armor is 13.5’ thick. Other armor thicknesses include: Turret Faces 17", Turret Tops 7.25", Turret Backs 12", Turret Sides 9.25", Second Deck Armor 6", Conning Tower Sides 17.3".

Anchors:

Each anchor is the stockless bower type weighing 30,000 pounds; each chain is 12 shots, or 1,080 feet long, including the outboard swivel shot.  Each link weighs 110 pounds.

Boilers:

Eight Babcock & Wilcox express type, steam pressure 634 pounds per square inch.

Turbines:

Four geared Westinghouse Turbines

Horsepower:

212,000

Fuel Capacity:

2,500,000 gallons

Propellers:

Manufactured at Philadelphia Navy Yard

Right inboard:

Five blades - 53,000 shaft horsepower

Right outboard:

Four blades - 53,000 shaft horsepower

Left inboard:

Five blades - 53,000 shaft horsepower

Left outboard:

Four blades - 53,000 shaft horsepower

Aircraft:

1943-45, 3 Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes

 

1945-47, 2 Curtiss SC-1 Seahawk floatplanes

 

1951-53, 1 Sikorsky HO3S-1 helicopter

 

1983-91, 1 Kaman SH-2 Seasprite helicopter

1981 - 82 Modernization

Added eight Armored Box Launchers for 32 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles.

Added four Quad Canister Launchers for 16 Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

Added four Vulcan/Phalanx CIWS for aircraft/missile defense.  (20mm Shell - Firing Rate 3,000 rounds per minute)

Added advanced communications and air-search radar systems.

Enlarged Helicopter Landing Area on Fantail and added Helicopter Control Booth.

Removed Stern Crane to avoid interference with Helicopters.

Converted Power Plant to burn Navy Distillate Fuel in place of Black Oil.

Added Satellite Navigation and Communication Antennas.

 
 

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Last updated on September 11, 2024.