USS Iowa Finds a New Home

Way back in the early days of this blog (August, 2005) I did a story on the USS Iowa.  The Navy was looking for a place to donate it where it would be appreciated and San Francisco was not the place:

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.

Feinstein called it a "very petty decision."

The USS Iowa no longer needs to worry about petty San Francisco politicians. The ship will have a new home in Los Angeles:

The Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus announced today that theUnited States Navy has donated the Battleship USS Iowa to the Pacific Battleship Center, a Los Angeles‐based nonprofit on course to turn the ship into a permanent museum and memorial at the Port of Los Angeles.

The donation of the USS Iowa to the Pacific Battleship Center, under the Navy’s ship donation program, is the culmination of years of work by many dedicated volunteers. The USS Iowa is the only Iowa‐class battleship that has not been saved and turned into a permanent museum,and was the last battleship available for donation.

When the Navy brought the USS Abraham Lincoln for a port visit in Los Angeles recently thousands of people lined up for hours to visit it (including me). The USS Iowa will be a big draw, and all the money it generates will go to Los Angeles instead of San Francisco.

Take that, Gay Bay!