page_title: USS Iowa (BB-61)
section_title: Korean War (1951–52)
hierarchical_section_title: USS Iowa (BB-61) / Korean War (1951–52)
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) fires a 406 mm (16 inch) shell toward a North Korean target, in mid-1952.
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: In 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, prompting the United Nations to authorize military intervention. President Harry S. Truman ordered US forces stationed in Japan to transfer to South Korea. Truman also sent US based troops, tanks, fighter and bomber aircraft, and a strong naval force to the area to support South Korea. As part of the naval mobilization, Iowa was reactivated on 14 July 1951, and formally recommissioned on 25 August, with Captain William R. Smedberg, III, in command. Iowa sailed for Korean waters in March 1952. On 1 April she relieved her sister ship USS Wisconsin and became the flagship of Vice Admiral Robert P. Briscoe, Commander of the Seventh Fleet. In her first combat operation of the Korean War, Iowa fired her main guns near Wonsan–Sŏngjin on 8 April 1952, with the goal of striking North Korean supply lines. In the company of other naval vessels Iowa again engaged North Korean forces the following day, this time against enemy troop concentrations, supply areas, and suspected gun positions in and around Suwon Dan and Kojo. In support of South Korea's I Corps, Iowa shelled enemy positions on 13 April, killing 100 enemy soldiers, destroying six gun emplacements, and wrecking a division headquarters. The next day she entered Wonsan Harbor and shelled warehouses, observation posts and railroad marshaling yards before moving out to rejoin the UN flotilla aiding ground forces around Kosong. On 20 April, in her first combat action above the 38th parallel, Iowa shelled railroad lines at Tanchon, where four railroad tunnels were destroyed, before sailing to Chindong and Kosong for a two-day bombardment of North Korean positions.
  On 25 May Iowa, following her sister ship Missouri's example, arrived in the waters off Chongjin, a North Korean industrial center approximately 48 nmi (55 mi; 89 km) from the Russian border. Upon arrival, Iowa proceeded to shell the industrial and rail transportation centers in Chongjin, after which she moved south to aid the US X Corps. En route to US positions, Iowa again bombarded Sŏngjin, destroying several railroad tunnels and bridges in the area. On 28 May, Iowa rejoined the main body of the US fleet supporting the X Corps, heavily shelling several islands in Wonsan Harbor.
  Throughout June, Iowa trained her guns on targets at Mayang-do, Tanchon, Chongjin, Chodo–Sokcho and the ports of Hŭngnam and Wonsan in support of the UN and South Korean forces. On 9 June, a helicopter from Iowa rescued a downed pilot from the carrier USS Princeton. At the time, Princeton was operating with TF 77, and with other carriers in the task force who were involved in a bombing campaign against North Korean supply lines, troop concentrations, and infrastructure; additionally, the carriers were flying close air support missions for ground forces fighting against the North Korean forces. In July, Iowa received a new skipper, Captain Joshua W. Cooper, who assumed command of the battleship for the remainder of her Korean War tour.
  On 20 August, Iowa took aboard nine wounded men from the destroyer USS Thompson after Thompson was hit by a Chinese artillery battery while shelling enemy positions at Sŏngjin. At the time, Iowa was operating 16 mi (26 km) south of Sŏngjin, and after receiving the wounded destroyer crewmen, Iowa covered Thompson as she retreated into safer waters.
  On 23 September, General Mark W. Clark, the Commander-In-Chief of United Nations Forces in Korea, came aboard Iowa. Clark observed Iowa in action as her guns shelled the Wonsan area for a third time, accounting for the destruction of a major enemy ammunition dump. On 25 September, Iowa fired her guns at an enemy railroad and 30-car train. The following month, Iowa was part of the force involved in Operation Decoy, a feint to draw enemy troops into Kojo and bring them within striking distance of the battleships' big guns. During the operation, Iowa provided anti-aircraft support to USS Mount McKinley, an amphibious force command ship.
  In October 1952 Iowa was serving as flagship for the Commander, Seventh Fleet, and she engaged 
caption: USS Iowa fires a 16 in (406mm) shell towards a North Korean target in 1952.
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