History of US Battleships from WWII to the Gulf War and a tour of the Battleship Wisconsin

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May of 1956 and heavy fog right off of the Virginia capes.

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The battleship collides with the Eaton.

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So the Wisconsin and the Eaton collide and fog.

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Xen.

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It's a destroyer.

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Okay.

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So it, if you see pictures, it basically has taken off the nose of this ship.

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Right under the anchors.

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And almost back to the numbers.

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Wow.

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So it's it's hull damage.

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Like it probably could have sunk it.

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If you think about it.

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So it's, it's towed back into.

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The shipyard here in Norfolk.

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But remember when I talked about those Iowa class ships,

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they didn't finish the other.

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The other two.

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They had the hall for the Kentucky.

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And they were able to load the bow of the Kentucky onto a

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barge, bring it over to Norfolk.

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And just basically graph it onto the new bow in 16 days.

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The Wisconsin was seaworthy again . Oh my gosh.

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I got hit.

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Beginning of may.

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And it see where the, again, the end of June in 1956.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Doug.

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Mentioned that fact to us once I think he did too.

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That's why it's called.

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They call it the whiskey.

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The w I S and then capital K Y, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

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And that that's why they call it that.

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So if you hear the big whiskey.

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It's because it's a hybrid of the Wisconsin and the Kentucky.

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So now you have a little bit of trivia.

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Welcome to talk with history.

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I am your host Scott here with my wife and historian, Jen.

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Hello.

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On this podcast, we give you insights to our history.

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Inspired will travels.

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YouTube channel journey and examine history through deeper conversations

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with the curious, the explorers and the history levers out there.

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As we step back in time.

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Picture the mighty USS Wisconsin.

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A silent giant in the inky abyss of the wide open.

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See its silhouette cutting through the waves with a purpose

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that transcends the ordinary.

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Born in the crucible of world war two, this battleship has

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weathered the storms of history.

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Only to be resurrected for a role that would edge its name.

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In the annals of Naval legend.

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It's 1991.

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And the air is charged with anticipation as the Wisconsin in you, its crew

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embark on a journey that will test your metal in the crucible of conflict.

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It isn't merely a ship.

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It's a symbol of American maritime prowess, a guardian of

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freedom, poised to make history.

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Once again.

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Operation desert storm unfolds on the horizon and the Wisconsin resplendent

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in its coat of battleship gray sails into the heart of uncertainty.

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And you look onto the horizon.

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As a silent witness to an unfolding drama that would soon grip.

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The Gulf.

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The Wisconsin's mighty guns as if awakening from a slumber stand ready

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for a dance with destiny, you can almost hear the echoes of a bygone era.

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Whispers of battles, fought and victories earned.

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Resonating within the steel hole humming in anticipation.

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In the stillness of the night, you observed the faces of your fellow

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sailors, their eyes, reflecting a blend of determination and camaraderie.

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These are the warriors of the sea guardians of freedom.

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Entrusted with a mission that will echo through the quarters of history.

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And so dear listeners.

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Please join me on this voyage tonight.

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Through time as we unveil the story of the battleship Wisconsin and the Gulf

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war it's tale of bravery sacrifice and a brave spirit of those who sailed

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into the unknown set, sail with us.

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As we navigate the waters of war and honor the legacy of the battleship Wisconsin.

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All right, Jen.

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I think I laid it out there.

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We're going to talk about the Wisconsin today.

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Yes, it's so awesome.

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For two sailors to talk about

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the Navy, this is right up my

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alley.

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I know, I love talking about the U S Navy.

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So.

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It's the best service and we get to talk about true.

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Battleship.

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Yeah.

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And, and to kind of set the stage, we were trying to make

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this video for quite some time.

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So we do talk a little bit about behind the scenes for the YouTube channel.

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And so we knew w we had a, for our friend, Doug McClafferty, who is a

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listener of the podcast and reached out, and we were trying to coordinate time

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to come out and film on the Wisconsin.

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He connected us with some of the folks who kind of run operations for the.

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Nauticus in the battleship.

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Catherine over there, Katherine, over there and Keith Nitka.

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And so eventually, eventually we got things set up.

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We got out to the battleship what's constant cause.

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We only live a couple miles away.

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Yes.

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And we got to kind of one-on-one time with Catherine and Keith.

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And Keith gave us the whole grand tour, but before we get into our

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discussions with Keith in his time as a sailor on board, the Wisconsin, Let's

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talk a little bit about the history.

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Of the

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battleships.

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Sure.

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So I want you to picture.

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A true.

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Naval battleship.

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And this is what the Wisconsin looks like.

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These Iowa class battleships.

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I had three sets of 16 inch turret guns, and these are huge three barrel guns.

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They're they're set in three three barrel increments.

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So there's nine of them across the ship.

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And it's something you can picture.

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There are numbered one.

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Two and three and three is behind.

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The superstructure.

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But the first two are right in front of the superstructure.

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So these big three.

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16 inch guns, that kind of move in unison.

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It's very awe inspiring when you see, this is what this ship did.

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It was

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it's very classic world war two.

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If you've had a toy battleship in your hand, like that's what, that's

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what you would most likely have.

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It was a gunner.

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Yeah, it was this what's the, this ship was designed to

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take down ships and aircraft.

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And actually then for desert storm, it's going to bomb

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land targets, provide Naval surface

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fire support.

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Yes.

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And the very tip of the bow, which is the front of the ship Naval terms here.

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You'll see the anchors.

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So the anchors are very tip of the bow and their chains are laid out on the very top.

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Of the, of the deck of the deck.

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Yeah.

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And then you see 64.

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That's its number.

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It's the highest number.

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Last number of the battleships it's painted right there

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on the bow of the hull.

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And then on the very back of the ship, fantail stern, all these Naval terms I

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want you guys to know is the helo deck.

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So that's where they would land their aircraft.

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During desert storm, it's helicopters.

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They do have drones on board.

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During world war two, they were able to launch sea planes and then they

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would have to get them from the ocean and they had a crane on the back.

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I don't think I realized that, pick them up out of the ocean because you couldn't

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really land it back onto the deck.

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They could launch it off because it had a catapult.

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But you couldn't land it.

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So that's kind of how CR.

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Air operations worked on a battleship.

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And what were two.

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And

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to end to put it into, USS battleship kind of to compare it

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to the, the ships of today, to what's now a guided missile cruiser,

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guided missile destroyers frigates.

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There's really no more frigates that are operating right now.

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But when I was on a cruiser, We had about 300 or 350 sailors.

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There's destroyers today, they run about 250 sailors.

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And then there's ships kind of, smaller, And then from the cruisers,

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you jump up to the big ones, right?

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You.

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The aircraft carriers, the amphibious ships.

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That are running.

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We were on the Tarawa.

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We added about a 1200 person crew.

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This battleship.

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Right there, the Wisconsin, the, I have a class.

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I mean, they had 1500 sailors.

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Onboard that's how large and, and, and.

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Okay, how much they had on board.

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It was really interesting to me to see.

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A ship.

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That was used for almost 50 years.

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And now obviously it was decommission and recommission, but over 50 years, starting

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in world war two and eventually in.

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In the Gulf launching tomahawks?

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Yes.

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That's

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wild.

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Well, I think the ship to me when I was on it.

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It was very reminiscent of what you would find on an aircraft carrier.

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Because it was where men lived.

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Yeah.

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We did today.

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Do men do sailors and women live on ships sometimes.

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And up until Before, and then they go into the barracks.

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But during the war war two times when this ship was built, you lived on the ship.

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And so there's a post office.

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There's an ice cream place.

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There's a barbershop.

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Now you have, you will find those things on other ships, smaller in detailed,

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but they were bigger on this ship.

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And.

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Again, it reminded me of what an aircraft carrier looks like.

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It's that scale.

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It's that scale.

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Now I will say as an aviator, a Naval aviator.

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I don't know a lot about ships until I did my disassociated tour, which was the

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tour you do when you become an officer of the deck and you learn about Navy ships.

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Like when you talk about the bulls-eye.

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On the ship.

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And we'll talk more about what that is.

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I had.

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My first couple years in the Navy until I did my Tarawa cruise.

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I had no idea what a bullseye was saying.

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It was like it's it's.

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Sailor mumbo jumbo.

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I don't know what they do.

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I had no idea how it was shipped.

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Worked.

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I had no idea how you pulled

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those in.

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And if you're wondering what a bullseye is, if you ever, if you

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ever watched a movie or if you go watch our video, we, till we talk

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about what it is, But it's the.

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For lack of a better word.

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Kind of these, these plaques around the ship, right?

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It's not even really a plaques, more of a sticker.

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In every space, in every single space.

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And that's how you know where you are.

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You can orient yourself.

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Where you are in the ship based off of these ships bull's eyes, right?

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So there's certain numbers followed by dashes and you kind of learn,

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where you are based on how far forward or how far back you are.

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Where you are from central line.

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If you're either port or starboard.

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And, and.

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And then what kind of, of space it is?

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Yes.

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But let's, let's rewind because we're, we're digging into this stuff.

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We want to talk about, we're two sailors.

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Excited to talk about Navy stuff, but let's kind of rewind.

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So what were the Genesis of what was the Genesis of, of the battleships?

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They came out of world war

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II came out of world war two.

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So these, so again, this is Naval warfare and that's why I was getting.

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I was talking about how I didn't really appreciate what it takes to be a Navy

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sailor, because as the aviator, you don't really get that full grasp until you are.

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Doing a disassociated tour, which is you're disassociated from flying.

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But.

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Being a sailor, an actual.

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Maybe warfighter that's what these ships were made for.

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And it was constant.

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I was.

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It was called up and made during world war two.

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When America was on this mass production of warfare fighting.

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Making planes making guns, making ships.

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And so it was laid down in 1941 and completed in 1944.

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And then it went right out to the Pacific.

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So it was in the battle of Iwo Jima.

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It actually shot down a kamikaze.

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More than one.

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And during a time when kamikazes were taking out.

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Ships, like there are three shifts that were sunk by kamikaze and the Wisconsin

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prevented that from happening was able to shoot them down before to getting to them.

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So this ship was vital during world war II.

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Went out there towards the end of the war, but really sealed the deal and some of

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these last campaigns against the Japanese.

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And again, It's a war fighter.

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It's a, it's a, it's a gunship and we don't really make those today.

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We have them to some degree, but really we're dropping bombs from aircraft.

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That's usually gets more accurate.

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It can do a lot more of it.

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Well,

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and, and we've, we've mentioned briefly in podcasts

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of the past that world war two.

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I really saw the ship from true Naval power to air power.

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That really was kind of the shift towards the end of world war II.

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Yes.

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We saw that in the Pacific, right with aircraft carriers.

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We saw that too after Pearl Harbor.

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Yes.

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That we were kind of forced into that shift.

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And so, so there was that shift, but we still had both essentially.

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And then operationally.

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When we were out in the Pacific.

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It was much more about that.

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And then obviously in the European front, we were just kind of doing

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air power, all hold to all day long.

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Yes.

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It's commissioned in April of 1944, it gets right out to the Pacific.

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It does its job.

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It's very successful.

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It's a powerful ship.

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Sees America through the surrender of Japan comes back and it does this great.

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Operation, I think it's called operation Homefront where it gets all the.

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Sailors and Marines and troops after world war two and picks them

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up from all the random islands.

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Oh, cool.

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And the Philippines and in the Pacific and starts to bring them home.

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And so you can imagine it.

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With as big as crew is it has it could, it has more space.

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And so it hits Hawaii and then it brings everyone back home to California.

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So it's one of those ships, too, that it had a really great homecoming.

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Because it's bringing everyone back after world war II, which was a very big deal.

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Then after world war two, it comes back here to Norfolk where we are, and

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it becomes the basically based here.

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And it does a lot of midshipman, cruises and training.

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It's really like a, becomes a training ship and it's taking mids.

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From the Naval academy, like you were Scott and it takes him to

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like Scotland and it takes them over so they can kind of learn.

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What excites me on a Navy

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ship.

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It's a similar things that I did, as it as Naval academy midshipmen, I did

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time on how to just destroyer operation

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magic carpet, magic carpet, but I loved it so much.

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It was a degrade name.

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That's

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cool.

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Yeah, that's cool.

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But yes.

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Doing those types of trainings.

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The Navy's always thinking about training up the next generation.

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And so when you have these battleships there's still pretty new by, by Navy

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standards, by military standards, right?

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They're going to take it.

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Hey, was successful in the Pacific.

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I guarantee you, everybody was studying everything that happened, that

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everything they could get their hands on.

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Through of what just happened during world war II.

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And so of course the Navy is going to send midshipman out to it.

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And they, and so they use it for a couple more years after that three

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more years, but it's decommissioned in 1948, which I think in July of 48,

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which I think probably because of the sizable crew, it needs to maintain.

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And it's peace time.

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And we're recovering from a war.

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And so we're downsizing as a country.

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But then Korea happens.

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So when North Korea invades, South Korea, it's recommissioned in 1951 and

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March and it heads right out to Korea.

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And it's part of.

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A.

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Bombardment of the Republic of Korea, but it also fires artillery rounds.

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There it's also the flagship for the Admiral.

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So it's used and the Iowa classes are used for that.

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So it's relieved by the Iowa.

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So they're kind of on a rotation.

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Yeah.

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Similar to aircraft carriers.

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The aircraft carriers today.

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We always say what ha when a major conflict happens in America, the

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president for a thing goes where my carriers, I imagine at the time it

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might've been more where my battleships.

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Sure.

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And I'm sure the carrier starting to replace that idea.

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It's starting to kind of overshadowed, but I think it's still at the time.

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Where am I battleships?

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Because really those are the the operation of destruction,

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really, they are the ones that are carrying the big guns at the time.

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And we were moving into aircraft that are doing.

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Bigger jobs, but not being launched from carriers.

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So we're moving into trying to find that perfect aircraft that can lodge

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from a carrier and carry the bombs

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well, and if you, if you go and watch her video we don't.

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We do a good job of kind of showing certain parts of the ship.

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We didn't get that kind of tour for the video as much as we want to.

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We went back and tour a whole lot later.

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But the, the, the ship is so massive that ships like, that are actually designed

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to handle essentially like a staff.

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Yes.

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It's the Saint was same thing on the Tarawa.

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There was a flag bridge.

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Yeah, flag bridge is literally just for the Admiral and

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his staff to go hang out on.

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Yeah.

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It's.

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It

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was right below the regular bridge.

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Right below the regular really serve.

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No, it served no purpose other than for people to go for the Admiral to have a

Scott: 00:17:11

spot, to have his, have his bridge in, in.

Scott: 00:17:13

So in similar on these Iowa class battleships, They had the CO, right?

Scott: 00:17:19

The commanding officer had kind of multiple state rooms throughout the ship.

Scott: 00:17:24

I imagine if there was an Admiral on board, the Admiral, one of those probably

Scott: 00:17:27

the larger one belongs to the Admiral.

Scott: 00:17:29

Absolutely.

Jenn: 00:17:31

So.

Jenn: 00:17:32

We had talked to Keith about.

Jenn: 00:17:35

Restroom.

Jenn: 00:17:36

Heads are on the ship and why.

Jenn: 00:17:38

And why are they call ahead?

Jenn: 00:17:39

It's because in old Navy, The 16 hundreds, 17 hundreds think John Paul Jones Navy.

Jenn: 00:17:48

The restroom was at the front of the ship.

Jenn: 00:17:50

You went to the bathroom on the bow because you could

Jenn: 00:17:53

lean over the battleground.

Jenn: 00:17:55

And so when you would go to the bathroom and say, I'm going to the

Jenn: 00:17:58

head, I'm going to the head of the ship.

Jenn: 00:18:00

So that term is still used on Navy ships today for the restroom.

Scott: 00:18:04

And Keith was, he was a sailor.

Jenn: 00:18:08

Yes.

Scott: 00:18:09

He was a QM two.

Scott: 00:18:10

So he worked and he was a quartermaster.

Scott: 00:18:12

And he's a quartermaster.

Scott: 00:18:13

He was part of the navigation team.

Scott: 00:18:15

He did all the operations.

Scott: 00:18:16

He actually and go and watch our video.

Scott: 00:18:19

And I think what I may do is add the full on cut.

Scott: 00:18:22

Interview we have with him kind of as a link in the video description of

Scott: 00:18:25

people want to see the full interview.

Scott: 00:18:27

Um, But, but go watch that.

Scott: 00:18:29

Cause he was a QM two.

Scott: 00:18:30

He talks about kind of a little bit of his Navy time and then as time

Scott: 00:18:32

on board and actually like he was there when the call for kicked off.

Scott: 00:18:37

And he went with the ship to the Gulf and he was there during the war.

Jenn: 00:18:42

It was, it's amazing to hear that story and we're going to get into the

Jenn: 00:18:45

Gulf war, but I wanted to say, I had asked them, of course there was no women on

Jenn: 00:18:50

board during the whole time because women didn't come on to combatants till 1993.

Jenn: 00:18:54

It's the commission in 91.

Jenn: 00:18:56

But there was two female heads, two female restrooms.

Jenn: 00:18:59

And I'm like, why?

Jenn: 00:19:01

And he said for the helicopter pilots, which I was a helicopter pilot in

Jenn: 00:19:04

the Navy, but I thought to myself, I went into the, any bathroom.

Jenn: 00:19:08

I went to the closest bathroom from the hanger because you

Jenn: 00:19:10

have to go, it doesn't matter.

Jenn: 00:19:12

And what does it matter?

Jenn: 00:19:14

But but.

Jenn: 00:19:16

I can attest to when we were on the Tarawa together and we would

Jenn: 00:19:19

have dignitaries come on board or other heads of state and wives.

Jenn: 00:19:25

We did have restrooms.

Jenn: 00:19:27

Specifically for dignitaries because we kept those extremely clean.

Jenn: 00:19:31

No one was allowed to use them.

Jenn: 00:19:33

So I did find in 1952 in January, they did have the president of South

Jenn: 00:19:39

Korea and his wife come on board.

Jenn: 00:19:43

And the couple was he full military honors and they came on board and

Jenn: 00:19:46

they were entertained on the ship.

Jenn: 00:19:48

So that would be a purpose for why they had a female head on an

Scott: 00:19:52

all male shop.

Scott: 00:19:53

Yeah.

Scott: 00:19:53

And I actually do show some like a brief clip that they got of the four

Scott: 00:19:58

battleships actually sailing together.

Scott: 00:20:00

And it was, I think it was in 52.

Scott: 00:20:01

Yes.

Scott: 00:20:02

And so that was actually pretty neat to see.

Scott: 00:20:04

And I kind of point out which one the Wisconsin was in the, in the video.

Scott: 00:20:07

But I think that was the last time that all four actually sailed

Scott: 00:20:10

together was in the early fifties.

Jenn: 00:20:12

Yes.

Jenn: 00:20:13

And so everyone knows there were four Iowa class battleships, of course, the Iowa

Jenn: 00:20:18

hoots named after you have the New Jersey, you have the Missouri and the Wisconsin.

Jenn: 00:20:24

And so when everyone ever asks you, what are the four Iowa class battleship

Jenn: 00:20:28

she'll know all named after states?

Jenn: 00:20:31

And if Keith said each one has a little special purpose, then we can,

Jenn: 00:20:34

we can get more into that as we go in.

Jenn: 00:20:36

But into the detail of that.

Jenn: 00:20:38

Podcast, but.

Jenn: 00:20:39

Just know that there's only four of them.

Jenn: 00:20:41

They had commissioned I think,

Scott: 00:20:42

six.

Scott: 00:20:43

But six, but the other two didn't never got finished.

Jenn: 00:20:46

I got finished, but we are going to talk about a piece of, one of them.

Jenn: 00:20:49

That was used.

Jenn: 00:20:50

So after Korea.

Jenn: 00:20:53

It's decommissioned again.

Jenn: 00:20:54

So it's like this board ship is like commission.

Jenn: 00:20:57

I don't know if it's ever been a ship that was commissioned three times.

Scott: 00:21:02

I don't know.

Scott: 00:21:03

I'd have to look into them.

Jenn: 00:21:03

Maybe all.

Jenn: 00:21:04

All the IRA classes where it's very possible.

Jenn: 00:21:06

So it's decommissioned again in March of 1958 after it.

Jenn: 00:21:09

So action in Korea.

Jenn: 00:21:10

It goes to Philadelphia and it sits in those shipyard there, and it sits there

Jenn: 00:21:16

with the other Iowa class battleships.

Jenn: 00:21:18

And this is where Reagan will come into the presidency and 1980.

Jenn: 00:21:24

And his part of his promise is a 600 ship Navy.

Jenn: 00:21:28

And to fulfill that promise, it's easier to look around and

Jenn: 00:21:33

say, what do we have built?

Jenn: 00:21:35

That we can retrofit to modernization.

Jenn: 00:21:40

And not have to rebuild a ship.

Scott: 00:21:42

And that is exactly what they did.

Jenn: 00:21:44

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:21:44

And they did all four of

Scott: 00:21:45

them.

Scott: 00:21:45

Yeah.

Scott: 00:21:46

So I actually found some clips again, this was the recommissioning of the New Jersey.

Scott: 00:21:51

This was December of 1982.

Scott: 00:21:54

So young Scott Benny was all of six months old at the time.

Scott: 00:21:57

And.

Scott: 00:21:58

But it's, it's Reagan standing there, giving kind of the, the, the address.

Scott: 00:22:01

And speaking to the crowd and obviously there's news cameras

Scott: 00:22:03

and everything like that.

Scott: 00:22:04

So I found it on YouTube.

Scott: 00:22:06

But he's talking about.

Scott: 00:22:07

And as Reagan does classic Reagan speech, and he's talking about

Scott: 00:22:10

how much he loves his wife and the leading, she was leading lady.

Scott: 00:22:13

And he's but I fell in love with another leading lady.

Scott: 00:22:16

And then he starts talking about she's gray.

Scott: 00:22:17

She got a facelift and she's now coming back into, into her own.

Scott: 00:22:21

And it was the New Jersey.

Scott: 00:22:22

So Reagan's always cracking jokes, but it was cool to see.

Scott: 00:22:25

Him there.

Scott: 00:22:27

And obviously he's kind of.

Scott: 00:22:29

If you watch more of a club, not in a video, you can find it on YouTube, but

Scott: 00:22:32

if you watch more, he, he kind of he's messaging Congress through his speech.

Scott: 00:22:38

Yes.

Scott: 00:22:38

About kind of how important this is.

Jenn: 00:22:45

That's when the ships are really retrofitted for modernization, they

Jenn: 00:22:49

removed guns that were not be effective against aircraft of the nineties.

Jenn: 00:22:55

They retrofitted it with better radars.

Jenn: 00:22:57

The CWIS.

Jenn: 00:22:58

Things that were going to be more effective.

Jenn: 00:23:01

In the Gulf war, they removed the crane from the back of the ship.

Jenn: 00:23:04

You're not any, you're not picking up planes anymore from the ocean.

Jenn: 00:23:08

And they equipped it with drones.

Jenn: 00:23:12

So that'll be very interesting.

Jenn: 00:23:15

The Gulf war.

Jenn: 00:23:16

I'm going

Scott: 00:23:16

to take key.

Scott: 00:23:17

We've actually talked a little bit about watching some of

Scott: 00:23:18

those drone feeds from the ship.

Scott: 00:23:20

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:23:20

Oh, I did want to talk about one more thing before we get into that.

Jenn: 00:23:22

Sure.

Jenn: 00:23:23

Okay.

Jenn: 00:23:23

So after the Korean war, Before it goes into maintenance, it

Jenn: 00:23:27

goes back into what it was doing.

Jenn: 00:23:29

With the midshipman again, comes back here to Norfolk.

Jenn: 00:23:33

So let's take a midshipman across the, the Atlantic ocean.

Jenn: 00:23:37

It's a very foggy day in.

Jenn: 00:23:42

1956.

Jenn: 00:23:45

May of 1956 and heavy fog right off of the Virginia capes.

Jenn: 00:23:50

The battleship collides with the Eaton.

Jenn: 00:23:53

So the Wisconsin and the Eaton collide and fog.

Jenn: 00:23:57

Xen.

Jenn: 00:23:58

It's a destroyer.

Jenn: 00:23:59

Okay.

Jenn: 00:23:59

So it, if you see pictures, it basically has taken off the nose of this ship.

Jenn: 00:24:04

Right under the anchors.

Jenn: 00:24:05

And almost back to the numbers.

Jenn: 00:24:07

Wow.

Jenn: 00:24:07

So it's it's hull damage.

Jenn: 00:24:09

Like it probably could have sunk it.

Jenn: 00:24:11

If you think about it.

Jenn: 00:24:12

So it's, it's towed back into.

Jenn: 00:24:15

The shipyard here in Norfolk.

Jenn: 00:24:17

But remember when I talked about those Iowa class ships,

Jenn: 00:24:21

they didn't finish the other.

Jenn: 00:24:22

The other two.

Jenn: 00:24:24

They had the hall for the Kentucky.

Jenn: 00:24:27

In Newport news.

Jenn: 00:24:28

So if you know anything about where we are in Norfolk, Newport

Jenn: 00:24:30

news is right across the channel.

Jenn: 00:24:32

And they were able to load the bow of the Kentucky onto a

Jenn: 00:24:35

barge, bring it over to Norfolk.

Jenn: 00:24:38

And just basically graph it onto the new bow in 16 days.

Jenn: 00:24:44

The Wisconsin was seaworthy again and the end of June.

Jenn: 00:24:46

Oh my gosh.

Jenn: 00:24:47

I got hit.

Jenn: 00:24:48

Beginning of may.

Jenn: 00:24:50

And it see where the, again, the end of June in 1956.

Jenn: 00:24:53

And

Scott: 00:24:53

to be honest, right.

Scott: 00:24:55

There's something to be said about the simplicity of some of those older

Jenn: 00:24:58

ships.

Jenn: 00:24:58

Exactly.

Jenn: 00:24:59

And how quick those people worked in the shipyards.

Jenn: 00:25:01

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:25:01

That's when we talk about world war two and what these people were doing.

Jenn: 00:25:06

Turning out this material.

Jenn: 00:25:09

And making things here in America, as fast as they were.

Jenn: 00:25:13

Nobody could catch up with America.

Jenn: 00:25:16

And

Scott: 00:25:17

if.

Scott: 00:25:18

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe Doug.

Scott: 00:25:21

Mentioned that fact to us once I think he did too.

Scott: 00:25:24

That's why it's called.

Scott: 00:25:25

They call it the whiskey.

Scott: 00:25:26

The w I S and then capital K Y, Wisconsin and Kentucky.

Scott: 00:25:31

Yes.

Scott: 00:25:32

So it, because even today it is a hybrid

Jenn: 00:25:35

of the two.

Jenn: 00:25:36

Exactly.

Jenn: 00:25:36

And that that's why they call it that.

Jenn: 00:25:38

So if you hear the big whiskey.

Jenn: 00:25:40

It's because it's a hybrid of the Wisconsin and the Kentucky.

Scott: 00:25:44

That's a pretty cool fact right there.

Jenn: 00:25:50

So it's, recommissioned in October of 1988.

Jenn: 00:25:53

So I think it's the last one.

Jenn: 00:25:55

The Iowa class that's commission, but.

Jenn: 00:25:58

It's commissioned so close that.

Jenn: 00:26:02

This is where Keith gets his orders to the Wisconsin.

Jenn: 00:26:09

August 2nd, 1990 Iraq evades Kuwait.

Jenn: 00:26:12

And then on August 7th the Wisconsin and her battle group were ordered

Jenn: 00:26:17

to deploy in defense of Kuwait for operation desert shield.

Jenn: 00:26:20

And they arrive in the Persian Gulf August 23rd.

Jenn: 00:26:24

I think Keith had said he checked on board.

Jenn: 00:26:26

Like the fifth or 6th of August.

Scott: 00:26:29

What he was saying was that.

Scott: 00:26:31

He was talking about how the ship was supposed to go on

Scott: 00:26:33

next to an extended med cruise.

Scott: 00:26:34

Oh, that's right.

Scott: 00:26:35

So they were supposed to be going all around the med, doing

Scott: 00:26:37

all these port visits there for.

Scott: 00:26:38

Just go up to Scotland and do all this fun stuff.

Scott: 00:26:40

So he was talking about how excited he was about this deployment right here.

Scott: 00:26:44

You are.

Scott: 00:26:45

you're going to go see all over the med and do all these cool things.

Scott: 00:26:49

And all of a sudden, oh yeah, you.

Scott: 00:26:50

Iraq invaded Kuwait.

Scott: 00:26:52

And

Jenn: 00:26:53

plans change.

Jenn: 00:26:54

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:26:54

The five days later.

Jenn: 00:26:55

Yup.

Jenn: 00:26:56

It's evaded on August 2nd, five days later, you're sent to the middle east.

Jenn: 00:27:00

And so he talks about going through the Suez.

Jenn: 00:27:01

So if you know anything about again, geography.

Jenn: 00:27:04

The ship is coming from the east coast.

Jenn: 00:27:06

It has to go through the med.

Jenn: 00:27:08

And then it goes through the Suez, into the Persian Gulf.

Jenn: 00:27:10

That's different.

Jenn: 00:27:11

We were west coast sailors.

Jenn: 00:27:12

We would go across the Pacific.

Jenn: 00:27:13

But they got over there to the approach and golf and.

Jenn: 00:27:18

The whisky there, Wisconsin.

Jenn: 00:27:20

Really.

Jenn: 00:27:21

It's been now retrofitted with Tomahawk missiles.

Jenn: 00:27:24

It's been retrofitted with harpoon missiles.

Jenn: 00:27:26

It's been retrofitted with these really see the air, see the surface,

Jenn: 00:27:30

like these really strong weapons.

Jenn: 00:27:33

And so it just goes down.

Jenn: 00:27:35

Oh, yeah.

Scott: 00:27:35

When he still has a 16 inch guns too.

Scott: 00:27:37

That's the 16 inch guns.

Scott: 00:27:39

So, not only can it launch missiles, but it can provide legitimate.

Scott: 00:27:43

Naval surface, fire support miles inland.

Scott: 00:27:46

With these massive 16 inch guns.

Scott: 00:27:49

I mean, they are.

Scott: 00:27:50

It's mind boggling to me.

Scott: 00:27:52

How big these guns are.

Scott: 00:27:53

You really have to go in person.

Scott: 00:27:55

This is, this is one of those things.

Scott: 00:27:57

On the west coast.

Scott: 00:27:58

I think you can still do tours on the Iowa.

Scott: 00:28:00

Cause it's out there.

Scott: 00:28:01

Yeah.

Scott: 00:28:01

When I was recruiting out there and I was, I was stationed out there.

Scott: 00:28:03

We did some changes command on board.

Scott: 00:28:05

The.

Scott: 00:28:05

Which is pretty cool out here.

Scott: 00:28:07

You have the Wisconsin I'm not sure what the status of, of the other ships

Jenn: 00:28:10

are.

Jenn: 00:28:10

Missouri is in Hawaii.

Jenn: 00:28:12

Okay.

Jenn: 00:28:12

So you can go there and see where the surrender took place so

Jenn: 00:28:15

that the Missouri is known for.

Jenn: 00:28:16

Yep.

Jenn: 00:28:17

And then the New Jersey, I'm not sure if anyone knows, put in the comments.

Jenn: 00:28:21

Yeah.

Scott: 00:28:21

I'm not sure either.

Scott: 00:28:22

But The New Jersey and an absolute amazing visit.

Scott: 00:28:25

And so it kind of, it does it's time on the golf.

Jenn: 00:28:28

That's tied to the Gulf.

Jenn: 00:28:29

And then, like I said, it gets out there and it just immediately.

Jenn: 00:28:33

Sends 11 shells over to Kuwait and just obliterates I Iraq.

Jenn: 00:28:39

Artillery.

Jenn: 00:28:44

In the process of doing this and in the process of kind of making its

Jenn: 00:28:48

name, it sends drones out to kind of search and record and to verify.

Jenn: 00:28:55

Early days of drone use early days of And something very interesting

Jenn: 00:28:59

happen on one of those drone.

Jenn: 00:29:02

Reconnaissance missions.

Jenn: 00:29:04

The Iraqis heard the drone.

Jenn: 00:29:08

And thought it was a missile.

Jenn: 00:29:10

And pulled out white flags and handkerchiefs and

Jenn: 00:29:13

surrendered to the drone.

Jenn: 00:29:15

So the sick well, Or whoever was in CIC.

Jenn: 00:29:19

Took.

Jenn: 00:29:20

Those people as prisoners of war.

Jenn: 00:29:23

I

Scott: 00:29:24

even said that.

Scott: 00:29:25

The story went.

Scott: 00:29:26

Like I, it must've, I think it was probably the, the Tao.

Scott: 00:29:30

But it was whoever the officer was like, stood up and said, those are my prisoners.

Scott: 00:29:33

Those are my prisons.

Jenn: 00:29:35

And so you went to the commanding officer who was captain David Bell at the

Jenn: 00:29:38

time and said, sir, they wanted surrender.

Jenn: 00:29:40

What should I do with them?

Jenn: 00:29:42

So this surrender was Wisconsin's like it became pioneer.

Jenn: 00:29:46

And one of the most remembered moments of the Gulf war, because.

Scott: 00:29:49

This group of, of, soldiers.

Scott: 00:29:52

Surrendered to a drone, which essentially was surrendering to

Scott: 00:29:55

somebody at a ship, miles away.

Scott: 00:29:57

The sitting in a combat information center.

Scott: 00:29:59

In a watch center and a, and the officer in there.

Scott: 00:30:02

It says those are my prisons.

Scott: 00:30:05

I just, I love that story because I can absolutely see

Jenn: 00:30:07

that happen.

Jenn: 00:30:08

Again too, because you can imagine Navy sailors want to be a part of that action.

Jenn: 00:30:12

And so it'd be like you took parts as a war would be such a great

Jenn: 00:30:16

moment for your Naval career.

Jenn: 00:30:18

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:30:18

You

Scott: 00:30:18

know, I would be putting that in my fitrep.

Jenn: 00:30:21

So one of the biggest things that come out of this, and I think it's a

Jenn: 00:30:25

really good nod to the battleship Navy is one of the Saudi Marine commanders

Jenn: 00:30:32

commented over the radio that he wished that his Navy had battleships.

Jenn: 00:30:38

And I think it's a really good testimony to what the Navy does

Jenn: 00:30:43

and Navy heritage that this ships are here to fight their war ships.

Jenn: 00:30:48

And what the whiskey did in the Gulf war was, was pretty

Scott: 00:30:51

amazing.

Scott: 00:30:52

Yeah, it was pretty amazing.

Jenn: 00:30:58

During the eight months it's been in the Persian Gulf.

Jenn: 00:31:01

It flew 348.

Jenn: 00:31:04

Drone hours.

Jenn: 00:31:04

It recorded 661 safe helicopter landings.

Jenn: 00:31:08

It fired 319 16 inch rounds.

Jenn: 00:31:13

And it lasts 24 Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Jenn: 00:31:18

And then all four remaining battleships that were

Jenn: 00:31:20

decommissioned after the Gulf war.

Jenn: 00:31:22

And this was the last time.

Jenn: 00:31:24

Any.

Jenn: 00:31:25

The United States battleship act participated in a war and

Jenn: 00:31:28

it was the Wisconsin who was the last ship to fire those guns.

Jenn: 00:31:33

And wartime

Scott: 00:31:34

in combat and combat one of the things that Keith told us it.

Scott: 00:31:37

It wasn't the last ship to fire existing 16 inch gun.

Scott: 00:31:41

But it was the last one to do so.

Scott: 00:31:44

In combat

Jenn: 00:31:44

combat.

Jenn: 00:31:45

And so it's decommissioned for good.

Jenn: 00:31:48

September 30th, 1990

Scott: 00:31:50

1, 19 91.

Scott: 00:31:52

So far from there,

Scott: 00:31:54

then it kind of spends some.

Scott: 00:31:55

The Wisconsin specifically.

Scott: 00:31:57

I remember spent some time just kind of sitting in the sit around doing nothing.

Scott: 00:32:00

And I believe that was right around 2006.

Scott: 00:32:03

And it got kind of donated or turned into a museum?

Scott: 00:32:06

Yes.

Jenn: 00:32:07

March, 2006.

Jenn: 00:32:08

It came over to one Waterside drive.

Jenn: 00:32:12

Here in Norfolk, part of the Nauticus museum and became.

Jenn: 00:32:16

Retrofitted.

Jenn: 00:32:17

A lot of things were, had been removed from it.

Jenn: 00:32:19

Of course Navy likes to repurpose and we use things.

Jenn: 00:32:22

A lot of things were removed from it, but it became a museum ship.

Jenn: 00:32:26

Where we see today, which you can go on today.

Jenn: 00:32:28

And.

Jenn: 00:32:29

The motto is Forward for freedom.

Jenn: 00:32:32

The big whiskey has six battle stars.

Jenn: 00:32:35

It has the wood decks.

Jenn: 00:32:36

I get people who ask me, why, why does the battleship have a wood deck?

Jenn: 00:32:39

And this is true of all four of them give you see there

Jenn: 00:32:42

was surrender on the Missouri.

Jenn: 00:32:44

You'll notice there on a wood deck.

Jenn: 00:32:46

And if you ever see.

Jenn: 00:32:47

Different museums will have pieces of the wood deck from that deck.

Jenn: 00:32:50

And you'd be like, oh my gosh, that's a word deck for the battleship Missouri.

Jenn: 00:32:54

Teak word is used for these battleship decks, because a it's

Jenn: 00:32:58

it's very durable and strong.

Jenn: 00:33:00

It was less expensive at the time now where it is kind of more expensive,

Jenn: 00:33:03

but at the time it's less expensive than, than a steel deck than.

Jenn: 00:33:06

In a steel deck.

Jenn: 00:33:07

But the most important thing is the insulation and the relief of heat.

Jenn: 00:33:12

It gives to the crew inside the ship.

Jenn: 00:33:14

Because when you think about where are these 1600 men.

Jenn: 00:33:17

They're inside the ship.

Jenn: 00:33:19

And since this elbow, air conditioning and world war II.

Jenn: 00:33:23

With a metal deck.

Jenn: 00:33:24

It's basically you could be baking people inside with the heat.

Jenn: 00:33:28

Oh yes.

Scott: 00:33:28

My room in the Tarawa.

Scott: 00:33:31

I was right below the flight deck.

Scott: 00:33:33

And I got all the sun.

Scott: 00:33:35

And we had quote unquote, air conditioning.

Scott: 00:33:37

It was just a nice little sauna.

Scott: 00:33:40

in Ensign Bennie's a state

Jenn: 00:33:41

room.

Jenn: 00:33:41

So the would provide some of that absorption of the heat

Jenn: 00:33:44

and insulation from the heat.

Jenn: 00:33:46

And that, that was the biggest purpose of it.

Jenn: 00:33:48

It's also lighter buoyant, all these other things.

Scott: 00:33:51

So, so the Wisconsin.

Scott: 00:33:53

The Nauticus itself right there.

Scott: 00:33:55

I mean, it's a full, you could spend the vast majority of a day

Scott: 00:33:59

there with your family doing both.

Scott: 00:34:01

The Nauticus side of things and the, and the battleship Wisconsin side of things.

Scott: 00:34:04

So it was kind of two pieces of this.

Scott: 00:34:07

You're, you're kind of paying a ticket to get the vast

Scott: 00:34:10

majority of, of, of one thing.

Scott: 00:34:12

But they have tours that go around the Wisconsin.

Scott: 00:34:15

They show you and all the tour guides were fantastic.

Scott: 00:34:18

I mean, Doug, we've, we kind of chatted with him for, for quite some time.

Scott: 00:34:21

But they all know they're all passionate about it,

Scott: 00:34:24

they, most of them have served in some form or fashion, whether it's army Navy.

Scott: 00:34:30

Whatever it, whatever it is, and you're often seeing, it's because

Scott: 00:34:34

it's in the Norfolk area, you're seeing retirement ceremonies there.

Scott: 00:34:38

You're seeing all sorts of different actually official Naval ceremonies.

Scott: 00:34:42

There I am MC'd.

Scott: 00:34:43

Our retirement ceremony there within you came as, as a guest, Two months

Jenn: 00:34:47

ago.

Jenn: 00:34:47

I will say we have been on that ship when it was blistering hot.

Jenn: 00:34:51

And we have been on that ship when it was freezing cold.

Jenn: 00:34:54

We've been, they do a fantastic Christmas where they decorate the ship with lights.

Jenn: 00:34:59

That's great.

Jenn: 00:34:59

It's pretty amazing.

Jenn: 00:35:00

And we brought the kids to that, but I've been on retirement

Jenn: 00:35:02

ceremonies with you and you're in full uniform and we're sweating it.

Jenn: 00:35:07

But.

Jenn: 00:35:08

Like you said, people who work there are so passionate about

Jenn: 00:35:12

that ship and love that ship.

Jenn: 00:35:14

And they love bringing any veteran who have served on that ship on board.

Jenn: 00:35:19

They really do a great service.

Jenn: 00:35:20

Even if you can't walk around the ship, they have cameras set up where

Jenn: 00:35:24

you can sit on the first deck and they'll take the cameras to any space.

Jenn: 00:35:29

You worked in a, you want to see, and they'll show you the space.

Jenn: 00:35:33

You can see it.

Jenn: 00:35:33

You can show your family, the space, even if you can't walk because a Navy ship,

Jenn: 00:35:37

I will tell people is a lot of stairs.

Jenn: 00:35:39

It's a lot of ladders.

Scott: 00:35:41

They don't build military ships, to be kinda handicapped compliant.

Scott: 00:35:45

That's just, that's just not the nature of things.

Scott: 00:35:47

They did a really good job.

Scott: 00:35:48

And I'm glad you brought that up of accommodating people who

Scott: 00:35:52

still want to come to the ship.

Scott: 00:35:53

Maybe they've served a very long time ago or whatever it was.

Scott: 00:35:56

And.

Scott: 00:35:57

So there is you can walk kind of across the gangplank.

Scott: 00:36:00

Right across the, across the brow.

Scott: 00:36:03

You can get in there.

Scott: 00:36:04

And if you don't, if you can't climb ladders and stuff like that,

Scott: 00:36:07

they have that station essentially inside the ship with all those,

Scott: 00:36:11

that just kind of a bank of screens.

Scott: 00:36:13

What are these screens?

Scott: 00:36:14

Will the screens go to these cameras that they set up around the ship?

Scott: 00:36:17

Which I thought was so cool.

Jenn: 00:36:19

Yeah.

Jenn: 00:36:19

So they can take it to the engineering space.

Jenn: 00:36:22

We worked in the engineering spaces.

Jenn: 00:36:23

I've talked about that.

Jenn: 00:36:24

It's so great.

Jenn: 00:36:25

If you want to go back and visit, but you can't do the stairs anymore,

Jenn: 00:36:29

but you want to show your family.

Jenn: 00:36:31

You can still go there and see the place that you've served your country.

Jenn: 00:36:35

And.

Jenn: 00:36:36

That's I love this ship.

Jenn: 00:36:38

I love the Navy, but I love the passion that people have for it.

Jenn: 00:36:42

I love how well they tell the story.

Jenn: 00:36:44

I love how well they keep up this ship.

Jenn: 00:36:46

It is amazing to be on it.

Jenn: 00:36:48

And they preserved so many things on it that even when we stepped on

Jenn: 00:36:52

board, It's smelled like the Navy, like the mess decks smelled like mid

Jenn: 00:36:58

rats, mid rats is when you can get food at midnight, midnight rations.

Jenn: 00:37:02

Because you've worked all day or like me, I flew and I just got

Jenn: 00:37:07

done flying and I missed dinner.

Jenn: 00:37:09

And they have little bits of lunch, leftover dinner

Jenn: 00:37:12

leftover even some breakfast.

Jenn: 00:37:14

And so you can eat.

Jenn: 00:37:16

Something, some something more meal.

Jenn: 00:37:18

Yeah, and

Scott: 00:37:18

it brings back so many

Jenn: 00:37:19

memories.

Jenn: 00:37:20

It really was amazing.

Jenn: 00:37:21

And I'm really thankful to the USS Wisconsin and their crew who provide,

Jenn: 00:37:27

who allowed us to come on board and tell some great CS stories.

Jenn: 00:37:30

And I'm really thankful that that we were able to do that.

Jenn: 00:37:33

But if you want to get out there and see it, we definitely recommend doing it.

Jenn: 00:37:37

The Nauticus tells a great story of the Navy in that area in Norfolk.

Jenn: 00:37:41

There's a lot of good Naval history there.

Jenn: 00:37:43

It's one of the oldest harbors here in America.

Jenn: 00:37:46

You got the battle of the ironclads you got George Washington,

Jenn: 00:37:49

you got some good stories.

Scott: 00:37:51

A little museum display inside that you can walk through.

Scott: 00:37:53

They were like actually doing some work.

Scott: 00:37:56

Some some more work.

Scott: 00:37:57

I'm sure by the time this, this episode comes out, like

Scott: 00:38:00

some of that may, may be up.

Jenn: 00:38:01

Yeah, they have a really good, they have some great artifacts from the battle

Jenn: 00:38:05

of the ironclads and they really want to showcase that even more, but it's a great.

Jenn: 00:38:10

Spot to visit, especially if you want to pay some homage to world war

Jenn: 00:38:13

two, Korea, Gulf war Navy, or you just want to see a really awesome.

Jenn: 00:38:20

Last battleship, it's there waiting for you.

Jenn: 00:38:23

Yeah.

Scott: 00:38:23

I just enjoyed it so much.

Scott: 00:38:26

And we've been there, a few times now kind of in the span of a couple months.

Scott: 00:38:29

Highly recommended.

Scott: 00:38:31

Very easy to find you don't need links in our show notes to find it.

Scott: 00:38:34

You can Google us the USS Wisconsin, battleship, Wisconsin.

Scott: 00:38:39

He'll be able to find a pretty easy.

Scott: 00:38:45

So as we lower the anchor on this episode, Remember that the sea of

Scott: 00:38:50

history is vast and we have only scratched the surface, even talking

Scott: 00:38:55

about the battleship Wisconsin.

Scott: 00:38:57

We extend our deepest gratitude to the sailors who served on board

Scott: 00:39:01

the Wisconsin over the years.

Scott: 00:39:03

And those like Keith who share their tales, those guardians of

Scott: 00:39:07

the sea who braved the storm.

Scott: 00:39:10

If you're ever in the Norfolk area, you have to visit the Wisconsin, the history,

Scott: 00:39:14

the guides, the grandeur of the battleship are a must see for any history fan.

Scott: 00:39:19

And definitely.

Scott: 00:39:20

For any sailor out there.

Scott: 00:39:23

So thank you for listening to talk with history podcast, and please

Scott: 00:39:26

reach out to us at our website.

Scott: 00:39:27

Talk with history.com, but more importantly, if you know someone

Scott: 00:39:30

else that might enjoy this podcast, your sailor buddies out there.

Scott: 00:39:34

Please share this with them.

Scott: 00:39:36

Shoot him a text and tell him to look us up.

Scott: 00:39:38

We rely on you, our community to grow, and we appreciate you all every day.

Scott: 00:39:43

We'll talk to you next time.

Scott: 00:39:44

Thank you.