Artifact Gallery:
Battleship USS Iowa Museum Los Angeles collects relevant artifacts to help tell the story of the ship and the Surface Navy to a broad audience. Below you will find some of our accessioned artifacts in our collection. Not all items are on display and are monitored according to our collections management policy.
We accept new items in the collection on a case-by-case basis. Click here for more information.
Deck Chair for Officer's Stateroom 0502
Object/Artifact
Deck chair for officer's stateroom 0502 on the USS Iowa. This chair has a tubular aluminum frame and woven fabric vinyl webbing stitched in place. The webbing is colored different shades of tan and green in a tartan-style pattern. Stenciled across the back in black is "0502".
The Deed of Gift form states:
"Deck chair for officer's stateroom numbered 0502, originally purchased by the Iowa Officer's Mess for use by officers, on exterior decks, when off duty on weekends or at movies on the fantail in good weather."
NOTE: Stateroom 0502 was portside on the 05 level inside the forward fire control tower. This space, B-0504-C, is now the SPS-49 Equipment Room.
The fabric webbing looks new. The aluminum frame shows light cosmetic corrosion. The original fasteners, which may have been screws or rivets, have been replaced by new screws, nuts and washers. These are adequate to hold the pieces of the chair together in their proper positions, but do not give the chair the durability it originally would have had.
Given the style of the chair, and the fact that that 0502 was converted from a stateroom to an equipment room after the 1950s, it seems likely that this chair dates from the 1950s.
3000178
