Shock and Awe Photos of the US Battleships Firing the Big Guns

Oct 13, 2015

The Iowa-class battleships were a class of fast battleships ordered by the United States Navy in 1939 and 1940 to escort the Fast Carrier Task Forces that would operate in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Between the mid-1940s and the early 1990s, the Iowa-class battleships fought in four major U.S. wars. In World War II, they defended aircraft carriers and shelled Japanese positions. During the Korean War, the battleships provided seaborne artillery support for United Nations forces fighting North Korea, and in 1968, New Jersey shelled Viet Cong and Vietnam People’s Army forces in the Vietnam War. All four were reactivated and armed with missiles during the 1980s; during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Missouri and Wisconsin fired missiles and 16-inch (406 mm) guns at Iraqi targets.

Costly to maintain, the battleships were decommissioned during the post-Cold War draw down in the early 1990s. All four were initially removed from the Naval Vessel Register; however, the United States Congress compelled the Navy to reinstate two of them on the grounds that existing naval gunfire support would be inadequate for amphibious operations. This resulted in a lengthy debate over whether battleships should have a role in the modern navy. Ultimately, all four ships were stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and released for donation to non-profit organizations. With the transfer of Iowa in 2012, all four are part of various non-profit maritime museums across the U.S.

USS New Jersey

Aerial bow view of the Iowa Class USS NEW JERSEY (BB 62) firing its nine 16-inch/50 caliber guns simultaneously.


A view from the forward deck of the battleship USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) as her 16-inch guns are fired off the starboard side during a deployment off the coast of Beirut, Lebanon.


The USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62) fire a six gun salvo of 16 inch shell into enemy troop concentration near Kaesong, Korea. NARA FILE #: 80-G-433953


New Jersey bombarding positions off South Vietnam during the latter part of her 1968-69 WESTPAC cruise

USS Iowa

USS Iowa (BB-61) fires her 16″ guns while USS Saratoga (CV-60) conducts a underway replenishment with two unknown destroyers, 1987


USS Iowa (BB-61) fires her gun turrets to starboard during a main battery firing exercise.


A bow view of the battleship USS IOWA (BB-61) firing its Mark 7 16-inch/50-caliber guns off the starboard side during a fire power demonstration.


A bow view of the battleship USS IOWA (BB-61) firing its Mark 7 16-inch/50-caliber guns off the starboard side during a fire power demonstration.


An overhead view of the battleship USS IOWA (BB-61) firing all 15 of its guns (nine 16-inch and six 5-inch) during a target exercise near Vieques Island. Careful observation of the three main turrets shows the barrels in various states of recoil.


The business end of the Iowa firing three of her 16-inch rifles at targets in a firepower demonstration for visiting dignitaries from Guatemala in August 1984.


The U.S. Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a broadside during exercise “National Week”. Iowa was deployed to the North Sea, the Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean from September 1987 to 10 March 1988.


A starboard bow view of the battleship USS IOWA (BB-61) firing a broadside during NATO exercise BALTOPS ’85