In Today’s Update…

Click the links to jump right to each section:

• • Hull Preservation – TEXAS Style
  • A Centennial On IOWA
  • LA Fleet Week Preview
  • Scuttlebutt Episode 205

THE STATE OF TEXAS

As you may or may not be aware, our friends over at Battleship TEXAS are in the midst of an enormous effort to rebuild and restore some fairly severe deterioration of their one-hundred-plus-year-old ship’s hull.

They’re doing phenomenal work, as you can see in these photos taken by IOWA’s IT manager, Troy Vail, who recently went to visit and experience TEXAS in drydock.

If you want to see this incredible project for yourself, we encourage you to keep an eye on their website for available drydock tour dates. 

TEXAS’ keel

IT manager Troy Vail, who is 6’2″, next to TEXAS’ rudder

TEXAS (BB-35) was donated and became a museum ship in 1948. At that time she was thirty-six years old. She did not benefit from cathodic protection – the system that impresses a low electrical current onto the hull to arrest corrosion – until the 1980s.

With IOWA we are extremely fortunate: our ship had (and still has) cathodic protection AND was in the safekeeping of the Navy until we acquired her in late 2011.

That care gives us a big-time advantage in the ongoing preservation of this great ship – but we can’t rest easy. Already we see wear at the one place our cathodic anodes can’t protect: our wind and water line.

And with the prohibitive cost – upwards of $30 million – of a potential haul-out for IOWA, combined with the extreme challenge of finding an available drydock that could hold her, we need to do all we can for her preservation right where she is.

That’s where you come in. Your donation allows us to move forward with the work that needs to be done.

Click the button below to contribute today and help keep this icon of history alive for future generations.

A CENTENNIAL ABOARD IOWA

Bravo Zulu To Marathon Petroleum

Marathon Petroleum Corporation has been and continues to be an incredible supporter of Battleship IOWA Museum and the National Museum of the Surface Navy. With focuses on our education and veterans programs, they consistently help make it possible for this ship to continue to serve her community.

On Saturday, April 1, they came aboard to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the opening of their Los Angeles refinery. Our deck was full of families and friends enjoying the first stunning sunny day of spring. We even fired Mount 56 to put a loud exclamation point on the day’s festivities.

To cap off the day, they once again gave generously, leaving us a check for $150,000.

Congratulations, Marathon, and thanks so much for all you do!

Want to join Marathon in supporting education and veterans programs at Battleship IOWA? Click the button below and earmark your donation using the optional “write a note” field during the checkout process.

ARE YOU READY FOR LA FLEET WEEK?

Mark those calendars! We’re only about a month and a half away from LA Fleet Week 2023.

With ship visits, food trucks, daily entertainment, sports and cooking competitions, booths, displays, kids’ activities, aircraft fly-overs, and much, much more, LA Fleet Week is THE place to be over Memorial Day weekend.

LA Fleet Week basics:

• Event takes place over Memorial Day weekend – May 26-29, 2023
• Daily hours: 10 AM – 6 PM
• Cost? Free
• Reservations? None – all aspects of LA Fleet Week are on a first come, first served basis
• Divided event footprint:
  • The expo, which features all static displays, food venues, entertainment stage, and more is adjacent to Battleship IOWA at 250 S. Harbor Blvd, San Pedro
  • Active Navy ships will be docked in the Outer Harbor and accessible only via buses that will depart and return to the expo 
• Ship tours lines will open at 10 AM and close at 3 PM

For more information, please visit the LA Fleet Week website. 

SCUTTLEBUTT PODCAST | Commander Jenna Van Zeyl: From Astronaut Dreams To Surface Navy Command

We have the pleasure of bringing you a delightful interview we did with Commander Jenna Van Zeyl, commanding officer of the Gold Crew of USS SAVANNAH (LCS-28).

From astronaut dreams to surface navy command, this Chicagoland native and Naval Academy graduate shares her fascinating path to her present role, some poignant observations about women in leadership roles, and the challenges involved in balancing motherhood with an officer’s role in the world’s most powerful navy.

Find it here or wherever you get your podcasts:

• Spotify
• Apple
• Google
• Amazon
• Buzzsprout

Or head over to YouTube for the video version.