USS Iowa departure

[jyasaki]

Went out on SF Bay last Saturday to see the USS Iowa depart the Bay Area for LA.

Had a friend and her father on board; luckily, the winds cooperated and the water stayed relatively calm during the time we were out.

Not sure how the pics will order, but within there, there's a pic of the Iowa under tow, a 733 Hurricane that was out to witness the departure (though they left earlier than we did, which was pretty damn early), the SF Police SAFE Boat running herd on all the rec boats sightseeing, and the Potomac, who shadowed the Iowas aobut as long as we did (The Potomac was FDR's yacht; reportedly the first yacht outfitted for disabled access.)

We shadowed the tow from Richmond to the south end of Angel Island, and headed back in for lunch. As we left the restaurant the winds had really picked up, and the Bay was looking really snotty. Pam's Dad would not ahve had a good time had we stayed longer.

jky

jky

[ncp]

Zodiac 733 or Willard 730?

The Potomac is a beautiful old yacht. We need a picture or two of your RIB too!

[jyasaki]

Hard to get a shot of my boat from my boat. If my dive buddy hadn't wimped out and decided to make some money, I could have passed the camera off to him. But...

Okay, I admit, I assumed it was Hurricane. I have no idea what it really was. The 2 guys on board weren't exactly friendly, either.

jky

[ncp]

Bummer. I don't think that's indicative of all Hurricane/Willard owners.

[Martini Henry]

Very nice photos. I went onboard Iowa in about 1990 when she visited Portsmouth, England. A wonderful experience. I think that makes seven US battleships preserved as museums. It certainly puts us to shame. Out of 56 British Dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers all that's left are two 15" guns outside the Imperial War Museum in London.
Very sad.

[jyasaki]

Martini; Don't feel too bad. San Francisco has had the chance to have two of them to convert to museums: Missouri and Iowa. Since the wonderful SF voters feel that a museum should not glorify our violent past (despite the fact that's what defended their right to vote), USS Missouri (think Japanese Surrender, WWII) went to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; Iowa is going to Los Angeles.

The Bay Area does have the USS Hornet (recovery of the first Apollo moon-walk mission astronauts) as a museum, but they are (or at least were, a couple of years ago) in dire financial straits.

I suspect we're doomed to repeat history, as nobody seems all that eager to learn it, much less learn from it.

jky

[Maximus]

Originally Posted by Martini Henry

Very nice photos. I went onboard Iowa in about 1990 when she visited Portsmouth, England. A wonderful experience. I think that makes seven US battleships preserved as museums. It certainly puts us to shame. Out of 56 British Dreadnought battleships and battlecruisers all that's left are two 15" guns outside the Imperial War Museum in London.
Very sad.

And Two 24'' BRONZE! Portholes Salvaged from 'HMS Hood' (1st World War Dreadnaught) Complete with Solid Half inch Battle Covers..My Father had Acid Bathed and Polished them to 'As New' Condition...Unreal!!.. Sold in 76 for next to nothing when the Old Man Died Yep.. Still Pisses me off now!!
Out there somewhere..I live in Hope!

[Pikey Dave]

HMS Audacious First dreadnought sunk in WW1

[Martini Henry]

I think that makes seven US battleships preserved as museums.

Sorry, miscounted. It's eight, not seven. Alabama, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin.

MH