In the Gulf War’s Desert Storm operation, two of the venerable Iowa-class battleships, USS Missouri, BB-63, and USS Wisconsin, BB-64, made a final, remarkable return to combat—the last time U.S. battleships would see action. These ships, products of World War II that had been recommissioned in the 1980s under President Ronald Reagan’s naval expansion initiative, were able to prove their enduring utility for modern warfare.
The battleships’ recommissioning was a by-product of the Cold War arms race against the Soviet Union. The Missouri and the Wisconsin were two of many mothballed ships around the country that were re-activated to fulfill an ambitious plan by President Reagan to achieve a 600-ship navy. The vessels are not dusted off but are overhauled for significant modernization to equip these vessels with advanced weaponry suitable for contemporary conflicts.
Following August 1990’s invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, President George H.W. Bush ordered U.S. troops and naval forces to the Persian Gulf. The Missouri and the Wisconsin were two of the naval assets deployed. In January 1991, Missouri fired the first bombardment rounds of the war, Desert Storm, against an Iraqi command and control bunker near the Saudi border. This was the first time in almost four decades, since the Korean War, that Missouri had fired its guns in anger, back in 1953.
In February 1991, Wisconsin relieved the Missouri and fired its guns in anger for the first time since 1952. One of its 16-inch shells demolished an Iraqi artillery battery in southern Kuwait, showing a battleship’s firepower.
Though the Iowa-class battleships never posed any real threat to the warships of the U.S. Navy during Desert Storm, they did a great job. Their presence emphasized how versatile and relevant those historic ships were in conducting modern warfare. Effectively, both the Missouri and the Wisconsin, brought forth from almost another century, proved themselves worthy in a modern confrontation; thus cementing a proud record in the annals of the Navy.
Apart from their combat roles, these battleships have become floating museums to their glorious past and are preserved for future generations. Located in Battleship Cove, Fall River, Massachusetts, is another historic battleship named the USS Massachusetts. This Massachusetts, known to have fired both the first and the last 16-inch shells of World War II, has been considered the most unaltered battleship in the world and allows visitors a view into naval history.
The rebirth of the Iowa-class battleships during Desert Storm, coupled with their preservation as museums, underscored their lasting legacy as mighty warships. Their illustrious history and phenomenal revival within contemporary warfare make their stories very compelling to military scholars and historians alike.