Battleship hangers

I was just onboard USS Iowa this past Monday. No elevators or hangars for storage of helos. Just tie down points. My buddy on the tour with me ( former FFG Gunners Mate sailor type) speculated to me that helos were likely based and stored on other ships with support facilities and used the flight deck for logistics & liaison type operations only, not long term basing.

The way the flight decks are marked, they are single-spot, meaning one aircraft at a time.  That said, if you visit the New Jersey, the SH-2 they have aboard is actually next to the barrels of turret 3, so they could have potentially folded and stashed them there.  That said, it's really bad to leave an aircraft out on the flight deck of anything closer to the water than a carrier.  The aircraft have to be sprayed down with fresh water every couple hours to prevent corrosion.  I don't know if that practice was in place while the battleships still roamed the seas, or if their flight decks were elevated enough, but it's possible.

Groot

According to Robert Sumrall's Iowa Class Battleships Their Design, Weapons, and Equipment The Iowa Class originally had three float planes assigned. There was no hanger so two were stored on the catapults and one stored on deck between them. When helicopters and drones were used there was only one landing spot, however it would appear that there was ample deck space to store two helicopters on deck forward of the landing spot, assuming of course they were flown off before the muzzle blast from the 16 inch guns destroyed them. The ships also had a control station built into the after end of the deck house just above #3 turret. Also there was a jettisonable aviation fuel tank built into a former 40 mm gun tub at the stern. Sumrall's book makes no mention of protecting either the planes or helicopters from salt water corrosion.

Thanks all. So if I want to go with a realistic set-up for display I should show one helo spotted and prepping for take-off and put the other in my spares box for some future project.  Thanks again for the info.

Jack

Pictures I've seen of helicopters used on the Iowa's were mainly for resupply or evacuation of injured/ill sailors to more extensive facilities (although few ships had better facilities except CV's). I read somewhere there was never an intent to station any aircraft permanently on the modernized Iowa's. it sounds like a case of having the capability "just in case."