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The battleship Iowa, once one of the most powerful warships, is docked on a quiet channel at the Port of Richmond, where it is being prepared for its last voyage. Sometime this winter, once its hull has been scrubbed clean of barnacles and other marine growth, the Iowa will be towed out the Golden Gate to Los Angeles to begin a new life as a combination museum and educational exhibit. "The Iowa is the last battleship in the world to be saved for preservation," said Dave Way, a tour manager with the Pacific Battleship Center, which raised $8 million to...

BENICIA - After resting in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet for about a decade, the famous USS Iowa is about to take another voyage. The prominent World War II battleship will take the first leg of its journey to Los Angeles starting today, according to Pacific Battleship Center, the southern California organization assuming control of the ship. The Pacific Battleship Center won the U.S. Navy's bid for the ship over a Vallejo group which had been attempting for years to get the ship towed to the Mare Island waterfront. The Southern California group intends to transform the vessel into an...

The USS Iowa -- the last surviving World War II battleship without a home -- will head to the Port of Los Angeles to stand as a permanent museum and memorial to battleships... The Navy's decision also comes six years after the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted against making a public display of the ship in that city, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays, among other things... The Iowa's new home will offer 4 1/2 acres of parking space in North America's busiest seaport, adjacent to the World Cruise Center, where cruise...

The ghost ships of Mothball Fleet: Incredible pictures of abandoned Navy war ships taken by crew of illegal squatters They are the Navy ships that heroically fought in World War Two, now slowly rotting in a San Francisco bay. And as they are being towed, one by one, for scrapping, in just a few years they will all be gone. A group of illegal squatters gained unprecedented access to the vessels by rowing at night for two years past security and climbing onto the ships, sleeping secretly on board for days at a time. And as these stunning images show,...

Nonprofits fight for USS Iowa By Kevin Parrish Record Staff Writer January 30, 2011 12:00 AM The USS Iowa's last battle is a war of words. Will the historic battleship find a final mooring place in Northern or Southern California? Will it retire at the Port of Los Angeles or at Mare Island in Vallejo? Two nonprofit organizations are fighting to host the decommissioned ship as a tourist attraction. The Navy is expected to make a decision early this year. Stockton is no longer a part of the debate. Four years ago, a local group dropped its bid to become...

<p>VALLEJO – Since the USS Iowa was commissioned in 1943, the famous battleship that President Franklin D. Roosevelt dubbed "The Big Stick" has seen more than its share of action over the years.</p> <p>Just ask John Wolfinbarger of San Martin.</p>

NORFOLK - Twenty years ago today, a routine exercise turned into disaster aboard the USS Iowa when an explosion in a gun turret killed 47 crewmen. Today, around 250 people whose lives were touched by that day are expected to gather at Naval Station Norfolk to remember the men who perished and, hopefully, to heal some old wounds. They will gather at Iowa Point, where a small memorial at the water's edge pays tribute to the fallen sailors. Crew and family members will speak, and Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim will offer remarks. The names of the dead will be read...

VALLEJO - The creation of a USS Iowa memorial and museum in Vallejo has moved a giant step closer to reality with the Navy's declaration that Mare Island is the mothballed battleship's only practical option, it was learned Thursday. "The Navy has deemed our organization the only viable candidate, so the other parties are out of the running," said Merylin Wong of the Vallejo-based, nonprofit Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square. "We're very excited. We've survived the competitive bidding process." The historic ship fought in World War II and the Korean War and has been in the Suisun Bay's mothball...

On Dec. 4, 1983, 28 aircraft from the USS Independence Carrier Battle Group attacked Hezbollah and Syrian anti-aircraft positions in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. Two U.S. Navy A-7s were lost on the mission and a third aircraft was damaged. One of the downed pilots died of wounds in captivity and the other, Lt. Robert Goodman, was taken prisoner and paraded before the cameras. Though Lt. Goodman was eventually released, the U.S. Navy had learned a hard lesson. Ten days later, U.S. reconnaissance flights were fired on again -- but this time the response was different. Instead of launching air strikes, the...

from "Hannity & Colmes," ... SEAN HANNITY...from San Francisco tonight, the board of supervisors here overwhelmingly voted to reject a plan last year that would bring the historic World War II Iowa battleship right here to San Francisco harbor, as a museum and tourist center. We're now joined by one of the supervisors that voted against that plan, Gerardo Sandoval is with us. You don't want a symbol of war in the harbor. Is what you said to me. GERARDO SANDOVAL: That's right... it's a warship and it's got guns on it. It fires things. You know, you can't deny...

More on Dead-Eye Dick Cheney...who will we have discussing it...Charles Rangel? Bob Beckel?Sean is in sunny San Diego...except it isn't sunny. He brought the crap weather with him..Come one, come all...

Whatever you do, watch the rerun of Hannity & Colmes tonight. They are discussing the City of San Fransciscos declining to accept the U.S.S. Iowa as a memorial.Democrats on parade! The person interviewed (a democRAT) claimed the United States should have NO MILITARY!Even Allen disagreed with this person.

Turning a battleship around is never easy — especially in the politically roiled waters of the San Francisco Bay. Last July, San Francisco’s county supervisors voted 8-3 against bringing the vintage World War II battleship Iowa to San Francisco as a permanent tourist attraction. Some opponents said they were taking a stand against both the war in Iraq and a military that boots out gays and lesbians, a powerful faction in local politics. But now, advocates of the move are trying to woo the supervisors with a promise to create a privately funded dockside museum that will tell the story...

Pressure increased on San Francisco officials Friday to decide whether they want the World War II battleship Iowa after two key federal lawmakers agreed to let any California community bid for the vessel. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., and Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, who had been offering dueling proposals on the Iowa's future, agreed that the ship should be transferred to California for permanent donation status and that any city in the state could bid for it. Pombo's proposal would have directed the Navy to give the 63-year-old Iowa, now moored in Suisun Bay, to the Port of Stockton. Feinstein proposed...

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Marines, while fighting valiantly in Iraq, are on the verge of serious defeat on Capitol Hill. A Senate-House conference on the Armed Services authorization bill convening this week is considering turning the Navy's last two battleships, the Iowa and Wisconsin, into museums. Marine officers fear that deprives them of vital fire support in an uncertain future. Gen. Michael W. Hagee, the current commandant of the Marine Corps, testified on April 1, 2003, that loss of naval surface fire support from battleships would place his troops "at considerable risk." On July 29 this year, Hagee asserted: "Our aviation...

SAN FRANCISCO - After city officials rejected a plan to bring the USS Iowa to San Francisco earlier this year, supporters of the idea have come up with a new plan that they hope will convince leaders to welcome the historic battleship here. Supporters say a proposal to turn part of the vessel into a museum honoring the contributions of gays, lesbians, ethnic minorities and women to the military should help sway the Board of Supervisors' decision. In July, the board voted 8-3 to oppose taking in the ship, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance...

There's a new battle plan for bringing the battleship Iowa to San Francisco. The battleship's supporters now hope to gain the support of city leaders by turning part of the vessel into a museum about the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy and the contributions of gays, lesbians, ethnic minorities and women to the military.

Everyone knows that San Francisco is a focal point for anti-war sentiment. Protests, civil disobedience and other acts designed to show opposition to the war in Iraq are standard fare in these parts. But now it seems that San Francisco anti-war activists have taken their opposition to the war in Iraq a step further. Not content with simply protesting the war, they've trained their sights on all things military. In an apparent effort to rid the city of any semblance of its military history, various leftist groups, and even some city officials, are trying to erase the military's presence altogether....

Liberals often lamented, during the election of 2004, that the presence of war gave a natural advantage to Republicans. For some unknown reason, most Americans do not trust Liberals to run a war, or treat the military well, or even put America’s international interests above pet social causes. The anti-war left responded to this belief with a set of standard talking points: Liberals oppose the war, but they support the troops. They hate the President’s policies, but they respect and honor the military and their sacrifice. Somebody, however, forgot to send the memo to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors,...

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a former San Francisco mayor, helped secure $3 million to tow the Iowa from Rhode Island to the Bay Area in 2001 in hopes of making touristy Fisherman's Wharf its new home. But city supervisors voted 8-3 last month to oppose taking in the ship, citing local opposition to the Iraq war and the military's stance on gays, among other things. "If I was going to commit any kind of money in recognition of war, then it should be toward peace, given what our war is in Iraq right now," Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi said.