CURRENT
STATUS OF USS IOWA
As of 3/30/2006
This report is intended to provide the latest
status of the USS Iowa (BB-61) and plans for her future. This
information is current as of March 30, 2006.
Battleship Iowa continues to be moored at the
Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, Benecia, California. She has, however,
been made available for Donation as a Museum/Memorial. A summary
of the wording in the Federal Register (Vol 71, Number 60, pages
15707-15710) follows:
“Summary: The Department of the Navy hereby
gives notice of the availability for donation as a museum/memorial
the battleship ex-IOWA (BB-61), located at the Suisun Bay Reserve
Fleet, Benecia, CA. The availability of this battleship for
donation is in compliance with Public Law 109-163, the FY 06
National Defense Authorization Act, and under the authority of 10
U.S.C. 7306. The Secretary of the Navy requires as a condition of
transfer, that the donee locate ex-IOWA within the State of
California.
The transfer of ships for donation under 10
U.S.C. 7306 shall be made at no cost to the United States
Government. The donee will be required to maintain the ship as a
static display in a condition that is satisfactory to the
Secretary of the Navy. Prospective donees must submit a letter of
intent to the Navy Inactive Ship Program Office within 45 days of
this Federal Register notice. Upon receipt of the letter of
intent, the Navy will contact the prospective donees to ensure a
full understanding of the application requirements.
Qualified organizations in the state of
California wishing to apply for ex-Iowa must submit a complete
application to the Navy within six months of this notice,
comprised of a business/financial plan, a technical plan (includes
towing plan, mooring plan, maintenance plan, and environmental
plan), a curatorial/museum plan, and a community support plan
(includes information concerning support from the community and
benefit to the Navy).
Evaluation of the applications will be
performed by the Navy to ensure the applications are compliant
with the minimum acceptable application criteria and requirements.
In the event of multiple compliant applications for the same
battleship, the Navy will perform a comparative evaluation of the
applications to determine the best-qualified applicant.”
Dated March 23, 2006
Filed March 28, 2006
President’s Comments:
The document filed for the Federal Register
includes much more detailed information about how the application
process, including details about items that must be addressed in
the application. I have included those portions of the document
which I believe are of most interest to our members/readers. As
other information becomes available I will get it to you via
e-mail, newsletter, or website entry. Visit the website frequently
for the most up-to-date information we can acquire.
Jerry Gneckow
President, Veterans Association of the USS Iowa
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