Pearl Harbor and Facts About the Battleship Iowa by Ryan Karim
On December 7, 1941 the Empire of Japan had attacked the US naval base of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The Americans were caught in a total surprise attack. The reason why they attacked Pearl Harbor, was that the Japanese had no natural resources like rubber or oil, but mainly oil. Japan did find an island where there’s a lot of oil. But to get to that island, they would have to pass the Philippines, a US territory.
The US was a major threat to the Japanese, and the USA was always holding dagger on Japan’s throat with its navy. Japan’s naval superiority was no match for the US navy. So on December 7,1941, the Japanese sent a carrier task force of 6 frontline heavy aircraft carriers and 400 aircraft. The goal was to sink 1 battleship, damage aircraft carriers immobolized the fleet for 6 months.
Then on December 7,1941 black smoke filled the air the Japanese had attacked pearl harbor. Swiftly the Japanese took out the airfields. They sunk 2 battleships but there were no carriers in the Harbor. Battleship USS Pennsylvania the flagship of the Pacific fleet no bombers went for her. Most of the battleships were salvaged. One bomber dropped its bomb, and went through the USS Arizona’s deck and landed on the gunpowder room. 977 sailors lost their lives that morning.
Facts About the Battleship USS Iowa
The battleship USS Iowa is the last class of battleships in the US Navy. Only four ships of this class were made. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US needed new battleships. All the other battleships were no match for the Japanese, so America needed a new class of battleships.
First the Americans built the North Carolina class of battleships. The ships were good, but didn’t have enough anti-aircraft (AA) fire and didn’t have enough armor. So the Americans built the Iowa with more AA guns and more armor.
More About battleship USS Iowa
Total Displacement 57,540 tons
length 887 feet inches 6
Beam 108 feet 3 inches
Draft 36 feet 1 inch
Primary Armament 3 x 3 Mark 7 guns
Primary Armament caliber 16 inches
Primary Armament 406 millimeter
Primary Armament range 24 miles
Dual purpose artillery 10 x 2 Mark 12 gun
Dual purpose artillery caliber 5 inches
Anti Aircraft Armament 19 x 4 Bofors
52 Autocannons Mark 2 3 4