World War Photos

Click on thumbnail images to enlarge

The USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was a battleship of the United States Navy and belongs to the Iowa class. She was named after the US state of Wisconsin. After entering service on April 16, 1944, the Wisconsin was used in World War II the same year. Until the end of the war in August 1945 she was in service in the Pacific Ocean off Japan. Its main tasks were to protect aircraft carriers from Japanese attack aircraft and coastal bombardment. After the war, the ship was assigned to the reserve fleet, but was reactivated in 1951 to support the UN troops against North Korea during the Korean War. As in the Second World War, the Wisconsin mainly destroyed infrastructure and industry, but also fired on artillery positions and troop convoys. After the war the Wisconsin was decommissioned and mothballed again in 1958 and remained in the reserve fleet for over 30 years. It was reactivated in 1988 as part of the 600-ship Navy and was used in 1991 during the Gulf War. The final decommissioning followed in the same year. Until 2006 the Wisconsin was kept in the reserve fleet and then finally removed from service. In 2009 the battleship was presented to the city of Norfolk, where it is now open to the public as a museum ship. 47 years between decommissioning and retirement, the Wisconsin has been in active service for less than 14 years.