Evening star., 1942-08-27
Iowa Launched;
Craft Is Biggest
u. 5. batt|eship
45, 5,000- on Vessel
Slides Down Ways
Ahead of Schedule
BY the Associated Press,


NEW YORK, Aug. 27.-The
45,000-to ton Iowa, the largest bat
tleship this Nation ever built,
slipped down the ways of the
Brooklyn Navy Yard today.
The mighty vessel was launched
months ahead OF schedule" and is
ready to fire faster and farther
than any other ship af1oat," said
Assistant Secretary of the Navy
Ralph A. Bard, who addressed the
assemblage at the launching in the
Brooklyn Navy Yard.
"One of her predecessors helped
blast the Spanish feet at Santiago
Bay" he said. Another was scrap
ped in 1928 in the name of peace
peace that existed only in the
minds and hopes of honorable men :"
Christened BY Mrs. Wallace.
The huge man-of war slipped into
the waters of the East River with
barely a ripple and fioated majesti-
cally under the Williamsburg Bridge.
Fourth battleship in United States
naval history to bear the name of
the Hawkeye State, the 88O-foot
monster of steel was launched at
exactly 1896 am. when Mrs. Ito
Browne Wallace. wife OF the Vice
President. smashed a bottle of
champagne on the ships PROV.
With water on her keel, the Iowa
nosed downstream restrained by
tugboats at her hull. Several more
months of work will be required on
her superstructure.
Rear Admiral E. J. Marquart,
commandant of the Brooklyn Navy
Yard, said that according to avail
able records the Iowa is the
heaviest ship ever launched"
In introducing Mrs. Wallace as the
ships sponsor, he said that 10000
persons were attending the cere-
monies in the yard and that an
additional 10000 were watching from
the Manhattan side of the river.
A tremendous roar went up as the
ship slipped into the water.
Secretary Of the Navy Knox, who
was unable to attend the ceremony,
sent q message which was read by
Admiral Marquart and said, in part:
This is a great moment, but the
truly triumphal moment will come
only when, fully gunned and fitted,
the Iowa joins the feet to fight for
freedom. Let nothing delay that mo-
ment. Hasten it with every spark OF
resourcefulness and every ounce of
energy"
Mrs. Wallace. who like her hus-
band is native Iowan, was dressed
in black silk poplin and wore or
chids. Just as she broke the bottle
of champagne on the ships prov,
she said:
II christen thee Iowa. May God
guard the Iowa and all who sail in
her"
First Of Class Of Six.
Standing beside Mrs. Wallace were
Mrs. James D. LeCron Of Washing
ton, matron of honor, and Miss Jean
B. Wallace, daughter Of the Vice
President, acting as maid of honor.
The new Iowa is the first OF six
vessels of the same class, including
the New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin,
Illinois and Kentucky: whiche are
now under construction at various
yards throughout the country.
Although many of the specifica-
tions OF the Iowa are military secrets,
the Navy revealed that her main
battery will consist of 16-inch guns.
Three Other Iowas In Navy.
The first ship to bear the name
Iowa was a post Civil War wooden
screw sloop, completed at New York
In 1867. The second Iowa was
launched at Philadelphia in 1896
and fired the first shot in the battle
of Santiago after assisting in the
blockade of that port.
In the First World War the seconG
Iowa served as training ship and
in 1928 was used as a target and
sunk by gun crews of the u. s. S
Mississippi of the West Coast.
Third to bear the name was q
dreadnaught under construction
when the Washington treaty limit
ing naval armament went into ef-
feet in 1923. causing construction tt
be discontinued.
The present Iowa was authorized
by Congress May Is, 1899, and the
keel was laid at the Brooklyn Navy
Yard June ~, 1910.