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Iowa Class Battleships

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  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan
Iowa Class Battleships
Posted by bilbirk on Sunday, September 9, 2007 9:01 AM
Hello all. I was wondering if the all the Iowa class battleships were the same during WWII. I'd like to have all four ships together. I was thinking that if I got 4 of the Tamiya U.S.S Missouri 1/350 battleships I could do all of them. I know this is a lot of work but what the heck I can dream you knowQuestion [?]
  • Member since
    May 2006
  • From: UK
Posted by David Harris on Sunday, September 9, 2007 10:11 AM

I think that the Iowa as commissioned had a different bridge to the remainder of the class.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/61d.htm shows some pictures of it. I don't know when it was changed, but hopefully someone more up on the Iowa's could tell you.

You are a brave man wanting to do all 4 of these with their bristling AA armaments & the camo schemes. Good luck Smile [:)]

 

  • Member since
    May 2003
  • From: Greenville, NC
Posted by jtilley on Sunday, September 9, 2007 1:32 PM

I'd have to look it up to be sure, but if I remember correctly there were in fact three bridge configurations among the class during the war.  The Iowa was commissioned with an almost completely open bridge.  The New Jersey's was enclosed, but rounded on the front.  The Missouri and Wisconsin had the squared-off, enclosed bridge structures that we usually associate with the class.

All four eventually got modified, and wound up with extremely similar bridges.  I'm not sure when that happened in each case.  I'm pretty sure the Iowa got her new bridge before the war ended; it sticks in my mind that the New Jersey may have retained the enclosed, rounded configuration until sometime after the war.  I think all this is covered in Robert Sumrall's book, Iowa-Class Battleships.

They also differed, of course, in numerous details - anti-aircraft gun layouts, aircraft, etc.  And the Iowa had (and, I believe, still has) a special bathtub somewhere in her superstructure to accommodate FDR during his trip to the Casablanca Conference.

I believe the only kits that acknowledge the different bridge configurations are the excellent Tamiya 1/700 ones.  The Tamiya 1/700 Iowa has the open bridge and the Missouri has the squared-off, enclosed one.  I'm trying to remember the old 1/700 Fujimi kits; I think the Fujimi New Jersey just may have had the rounded bridge, but I'm not sure.

Hope that helps a little.  Good luck.

Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.

  • Member since
    November 2006
Posted by Grandpa1949 on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 11:12 PM

  You can build both the Missouri and the Wisconsin out of the Tamiya Missouri kit right out of the box. They were almost identical when completed. Missouri had the round SK2 radar on her fore mast. Wisconsin had the square SK radar on her fore mast and she also had a SG radar on the top of her main mast. That's the easy part. The other two ships will require more work.

   New Jersey and Iowa had rounded open bridges when built and you'll need a conversion kit for that or great scratch building skills.

 Several companies made them.  Tom's Model works made separate  conversion kits for each ship because the ships were slightly different . One was for a late 1943 New Jersey. The other was for a late 1943 Iowa but could be used for an early 1943 New Jersey. I don't think these are available now. I could not find they on his web site. I find his site hard to find things in.

The other company is Yankee Modelworks. They have an Iowa conversion kit listed in their catalog on the web site.

Trumpeter makes 1/350 OS2U Kingfishers that you can use for the Iowa and the New Jersey.

HTH 

Gordon

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan
Posted by bilbirk on Thursday, September 13, 2007 12:35 AM
Thumbs Up [tup]Thanks all. Thats a big help. I was curious because my local Hobby Lobby has several of the Tamiya Missouri ships and They will go on clearance soon. So I think I might scoop them up when they do.Smile [:)]
  • Member since
    March 2004
  • From: Spartanburg, SC
Posted by subfixer on Thursday, September 13, 2007 5:27 AM
The Wisconsin is slightly longer than the others in the class I believe, as she had her damaged bow replaced with the one intended for the uncompleted Kentucky.

I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan
Posted by bilbirk on Thursday, September 13, 2007 8:12 AM
Thats interesting. Was the Kentucky going to be a different class? Or just more of the same.
  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Mansfield, TX
Posted by EdGrune on Thursday, September 13, 2007 8:35 AM

See the USNHC page on the Iowas.

http://history.navy.mil/photos/usnshtp/bb/bb61cl.htm

The Illinois and Kentucky were under construction.  Construction was halted due to changing tactical environments.

The Kentucky was launched as an incomplete hulk to clear the drydock so that it could receive the Missouri to repair damages caused by her grounding in the Cheaspeake Bay in 1950

The bow of the unfinished Kentucky was replaced on the damaged Wisconsin in 1956.

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