USS Iowa To Depart During Golden Gate Bridge Anniversary

Get out your flags and cameras ready, folks. The mighty U.S.S. Iowa is leaving San Francisco Bay on Saturday.

Her departure coincides with the numerous events planned for the 75th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge.

The warship is headed to Los Angeles, where it will become a floating museum in San Pedro.

The U.S.S. Iowa (BB-61) is the first of four “Iowa Class Battleships” from World War II. It is the last such ship to find a permanent home.

The other three are:

1. the U.S.S. New Jersey, now in Camden, N.J.
2. U.S.S. Missouri, where Japanese leaders signed their surrender documents, is at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
3. U.S.S. Wisconsin, in Norfolk, VA

In the 1980s, then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein lost a bid to homeport the U.S.S. Missouri in San Francisco. Efforts to keep the Iowa in the Bay Area also failed more recently.

In January, Parke Ballantine of Los Altos Patch wrote about as volunteers cared for it while it was berthed in Richmond undergoing repairs.

It will take three to four days for the battleship to make its way to Los Angeles. The ribbon-cutting ceremony at San Pedro will take place on July 7.

Plan to find a spot around San Francisco Bay to wave goodbye Saturday as this elegant warship sails away.

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