Battleship Wisconsin Added to National Register of Historic Places
The Battleship Wisconsin has received the honor of being listed by the National Park Service in the National Register of Historic Places. There are approximately 2,400 resources in Virginia listed on the National Register, the nation's official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. Properties listed on the state and national registers include districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that are significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture.
Battleship Wisconsin, commissioned in April 1944, is an Iowa-class battleship and the largest class of surface combatants the United States ever built. Armed with massive 16-inch, 50-caliber three-gun turrets, the ship could travel at a maximum speed of 33 knots. Because of their fast speed and large numbers of anti-air batteries, Iowa-class battleships escorted and screened aircraft carriers from Japanese air strikes during World War II. The Wisconsin also saw service in the Korean War and the Persian Gulf War. Although they underwent extensive alterations during the 1980s, all four of the Iowa-class vessels remain as a testimony to American naval engineering prowess in the first half of the 20th century.
For an alphabetical listing of additional sites in Norfolk listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Place, visit http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Cities/register_Norfolk.htm. For more information on the state and national register programs, visit the DHR website at www.dhr.virginia.gov
