USS Iowa Arrives off L.A. Coast

The battleship USS Iowa arrived off the coast of San Pedro Wednesday, where it will remain anchored about six miles offshore while undergoing a routine cleaning of its hull before being brought to its permanent home, Berth 87, at the Port of Los Angeles.

The 887-foot battleship was towed out of a Northern California port on Saturday and powered by tug boats for the four-day trip to Los Angeles. The 58,000-ton ship -- nicknamed "The Big Stick" because of its long, slender hull -- will open on July 7 as an interactive Naval museum and is now property of the Pacific Battleship Center, a nonprofit organization that was awarded custody of the USS Iowa BB-61 on Sept. 6, 2011 for display as a museum and educational attraction at Port of L.A. Berth 87, according to the organization's website. 

The U.S. Coast Guard has established a 100-yard safety zone around the ship to prevent boaters from disrupting ship workers, including divers, by moving in for a closer look. No vessel will be allowed within the safety zone without the permission of the Coast Guard or other law enforcement agency.

Construction of the ship, which took about two years, began in 1940, and the USS Iowa was the first of four completed vessels in its class. Its sister ships, which now serve as museums, are the USS New Jersey, USS Missouri and the USS Wisconsin.

Once commissioned, the USS Iowa carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his top military advisers to Casablanca en route to the 1943 Tehran Conference.

The battleship would later serve in the Pacific Fleet, shelling beachheads in the Marshall Islands. It was at the battle of Okinawa and among the first to enter Tokyo Bay after Japan's surrender in World War II.

In 1989, during a training mission off Puerto Rico, the 16-inch gun in Turret No. 2 exploded, killing 47 sailors. The ship was decommissioned the next year.

The Pacific Battleship Center plans to offer overnight stays and at least five tours, including tours focusing on life at sea, engineering and armor, and the ship's weapons.

"As America's leading port, Los Angeles is the ideal home for the leading ship of her class," said Robert Kent, director of the Pacific Battleship Center. "This national gateway for global trade will be the new base from which this great ship will begin a new era of public service."

A Welcoming Gala will be held on Saturday, June 9 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Los Angeles Harbor, 601 South Palos Verdes Street, San Pedro beginning with a receptin at 6:30 p.m. followed by a 7:15 p.m. dinner. Cost is $85 per person and $800 for a table of 10. Contact the San Pedro Convention & Visitors Bureau at 310-729-9828 or USSIowa@SPCVB.com for details or visit www.SPCVB.com.

U.S. Navy veterans who served on the World War II-era battleship are scheduled to hold a reunion in San Pedro over the Fourth of July holiday in conjunction with the grand opening of the ship's reincarnation as a floating museum.

Since 2001, the USS Iowa has been part of the Navy's "Mothball Fleet" in Suisun Bay, northeast of Oakland. 

City News Service contributed to this report.