USS Wisconsin

The USS Wisconsin is a Iowa Class battleship built during the Second World War. It served in the pacific theater fighting the Japanese. Following the second world war it also served in teh Korea conflict. Providing artillery support for American and United Nations forces fighting on the peninsula or shelling the opposing North Korean forces. Decommissioned following the Korean war it was recommissioned during Reagans build up in 1986. The battleship had reached its peak of power right before the second world war. With the advent of the aircraft as the dominant force in naval warfare, the battleship was relegated to a secondary role. The days of big surface fleets shooting it out were over. Land based and naval based aircraft could sink a battleship before the battleship could get in range to even fire off a shot.

The USS Wisconsin and her sister ships were the most powerful battleships built by the United States of America. Their sixteen inch guns could launch a shell weighing 2,400 pounds over 23 miles away very very accurately especially with the advent of computers. When firing a full broadside the radio and other such equipment would be temporarily disabled by the shock and power of the guns firing.

USS Wisconsin firing a full broadside

Sailor standing next to 16'' shell