page_title: USS Iowa (BB-61)
section_title: Shakedown and NATO exercises (1984–1989)
hierarchical_section_title: USS Iowa (BB-61) / Reactivation (1982–1990) / Shakedown and NATO exercises (1984–1989)
caption_attribution_description: English: Crewmen disengage a Pioneer I remotely-piloted vehicle (RPV) from a recovery net erected on the stern of the battleship USS IOWA (BB-61). The RPV, which carries a stabilized television camera and a laser designator, is being tested aboard the Iowa as a basic gunfire support system with over-the-horizon targeting and reconnaissance capabilities. The system may be operated out to a range of 110 miles from the battleship surface group and has an endurance of eight hours.
context_page_description: USS Iowa (BB-61) is a retired battleship, the lead ship of her class, and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named after the state of Iowa. Owing to the cancellation of the Montana-class battleships, Iowa is the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships and was the only ship of her class to have served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
  During World War II, she carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic to Mers El Kébir, Algeria, en route to a meeting of vital importance in 1943 in Tehran with Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Britain and Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union. When transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1944, Iowa shelled beachheads at Kwajalein and Eniwetok in advance of Allied amphibious landings and screened aircraft carriers operating in the Marshall Islands. She also served as the Third Fleet flagship, flying Admiral William F. Halsey's flag at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay.
  During the Korean War, Iowa was involved in raids on the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet."
context_section_description: From April to August 1984, Iowa underwent refresher training and naval gunfire support qualifications at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and the Puerto Rican Operating area. After a short period in her new home port of Norfolk, VA she spent the two periods of time during the rest of 1984 and early 1985 conduction "presence" operations shakedown in the area around Central America. During this time she transitted the Panama Canal to operate off the west coast of Central America while also conduction people-to-people humanitarian operations, including in El Salvador, Costa Rica and Honduras, before returning to the United States in April 1985 for a period of routine maintenance.
  In August 1985, Iowa joined 160 other ships for Exercise Ocean Safari, a NATO naval exercise aimed at testing NATO's ability to control sea lanes and maintain free passage of shipping. Owing to bad weather, Iowa and the other ships were forced to ride out rough seas, but Iowa made use of the time to practice hiding herself from enemy forces. While serving with the exercise force, Iowa crossed the Arctic Circle. In October, she took part in Baltic operations, and fired her phalanx guns, 5 in (127 mm) guns, and 16 in (406 mm) guns in the Baltic Sea on 17 October while operating with US and other allied ships. After these operations during which she visited LeHavre in France, Kiel in Germany, Copenhagen (where the current Crown Prince of Denmark visited the ship as a schoolboy) and Aarhus in Denmark, and Oslo in Norway where the King of Norway was entertained at lunch, she returned to the United States.
  Beginning on 17 March 1986, Iowa underwent her overdue InSurv inspection. The inspection, which Iowa ultimately failed, was conducted under the supervision of Rear Admiral John D. Bulkeley. Bulkeley found that the ship was unable to achieve her top speed of 33 kn (38 mph; 61 km/h) during a full-power engine run, and recommended to the Chief of Naval Operations and Lehman that Iowa be taken out of service immediately. Rejecting this advice, Lehman instead instructed the leaders of the Atlantic Fleet to ensure that Iowa's deficiencies were corrected.
  Afterward, Iowa returned to the waters around Central America and conducted drills and exercises while providing a military presence to friendly nations. On 4 July, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan boarded Iowa for the International Naval Review, which was held in the Hudson River. On 25 April, Captain Larry Ray Seaquist assumed command of the battleship and her crew during Naval Gunfire Support requalification off Vieques Island near Puerto Rico.
  On 17 August, Iowa set sail for the North Atlantic, and in September she participated in Exercise Northern Wedding by ferrying Marines ashore and assisting helicopter gunships. During the exercise Iowa fired her main guns at Cape Wrath range in Scotland in support of a simulated amphibious assault on 5–6 September, firing a total of 19 16-inch (406 mm) shells and 32 5-inch (127 mm) shells during a 10-hour period and operating in rough seas. During the live fire exercise, a small number of Iowa marines were put ashore to monitor the fall of shot and advise the battleship of gunnery corrections. Afterward, Iowa visited ports in England and Germany before returning to the United States in October.
  In December, the ship became the test bed for the Navy's RQ-2 Pioneer Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). The drone was designed to serve as an aerial spotter for the battleship's guns, thereby allowing the guns to be used against an enemy without the need for an airplane or helicopter spotter. Pioneer passed its tests and made its first deployment that same month aboard Iowa.
  From January–September 1987 Iowa operated in the waters in and around Central America and participated in several exercises until sailing for the Mediterranean Sea on 10 September to join the 6th Fleet based there. She remained in the Mediterranean until 22 October, when she was detached from the 6th Fleet and departed for operations in the North Sea. On 25 November, as part of Operation Earnest Will
caption: Crewmen recover an RQ-2 Pioneer unmanned aerial vehicle aboard Iowa.
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