Gray Ladies

An aerial view of the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard looking west/northwest on 30 October 1995. The shipyard closed on 30 September 1995, but the Navy Intermediate Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) continued to store decommissioned and mothballed ships. Vessels visible, left to right: the battleships USS Iowa (BB-61), and USS Wisconsin (BB-64) at the DD wharf; naval auxiliaries USS Sylvania (AFS-2), USS Milwaukee (AOR-2) and USS Savannah (AOR-4) at pier 5; the aircraft carriers USS Forrestal (CV-59) and USS Saratoga (CV-60); at pier 4; the amphibious assault ships USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) and USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) at pier 2. In the back pool is the heavy cruiser USS Des Moines (CA-134) and numerous destroyers and frigates. (Source)

One of drjim's comments yesterday brought back some old memories, so I had to go digging, then (of course) had to write a post about it. Now that opening photo is one of the things I discovered while wandering the Internet. In that photo are USS Forrestal (CV-59), USS Saratoga (CV-60), and USS Iowa (BB-61). Yes, there are other ships in that photo (including ScottTheBadger's Big Badger Boat, USS Wisconsin (BB-64)).

Now the three ships I mentioned were, for a time, tied up at Pier 2 at Naval Station Newport, where I first saw them in August of 1999.

Big Mamie (USS Massachusetts (BB-59)) on the way to the Boston Drydock in 1998. She is passing the USS Iowa (BB-61),
USS Forrestal (CV-59) and USS Saratoga (CV-60) at Pier two Newport, Naval Station, RI.
(Source)

One evening shortly after our arrival here in Little Rhody, we decided to go exploring our new surroundings. I'd been retired from the Air Force for a few months and had finally found a job to my liking. (As I'm still there over nineteen years later I guess I made a good choice!) We were staying in one of the very few Howard Johnson's motor inns still remaining. (Didn't have a restaurant of that name, there was an Applebee's instead.)

So we piled into the family car and headed out onto Aquidneck Island. Which the locals simply call "The Island" and which is officially Rhode Island. I think we've covered this before but I'll tell you again, Little Rhody is officially "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations," Rhode Island is "The Island," where I work, everything else is Providence Plantations, including the part where I live, but yes, I digress.

We drove past the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, which sits atop a ridge, headed towards Narragansett Bay (the other side of The Island is washed by the Sakonnet River, which is a tidal strait and not really a fresh water river, it's as salty as the Bay). As we crested the ridge, there before us lay the Bay, and  two aircraft carriers and a battleship, shown above, and again below.

There they are again, looks like the tugs were pushing USS Iowa into the nest. So this might have been the 24th of September, 1998. (She left on 8 March 2001.)
(Source)

Another view after USS Iowa had departed to become a museum ship in California (where drjim was instrumental in making repairs to her radios).

Most of the buildings in the foreground belong to NUWC, Pier 2 is where the carriers are tied up. The pier to the right was where I had the opportunity to tour USS Oscar Austin (DDG-79) and USS McFaul (DDG-74), the latter twice. The second time was when The Nuke was her Anti-Submarine Warfare Officer (ASWO). Some of the crew began referring to me as "ASWO's Dad" during the week USS McFaul was in town. I spent the better part of five days aboard her escorting tours for my work colleagues. Which kind of gives you an idea what I do these days to make a living. (Source)

USS Iowa left, as I mentioned, to become a museum ship, USS Forrestal and USS Saratoga left to meet a different fate, both to be scrapped at Brownsville, Texas, a sad fate for any warship. Some folks around here wanted one of them to remain and become a museum ship, possibly across the Bay at Quonset Point. The cost to move one of them, do the necessary repairs to turn her into a museum, and keep her maintained would have been prohibitive, no group could come up with that sort of cash. So off the two ships went.

It was sad when USS Iowa was towed away, but at least she would remain afloat. Sadder still when USS Forrestal and USS Saratoga headed down Narragansett Bay, under the Newport Bridge and out to sea for the very last time.

The end of an era...

Pier 2 sits empty now, but I remember the days when I drove by that pier and could see two aircraft carriers and a battleship.

Now we have no active battleships, and I wonder why.