Trumpeter Ship Models 1/700 USS Wisconsin BB64 Battleship 1991 Kit

BB-64 Wisconsin was laid down in the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 25 January 1941, as the fourth ship of Iowa-class battleships. The Iowa-class was planned with a view to rival the super battleships (Yamato-class-to-be) planned by Japan, which withdrew from Washington and London Treaty in 1936. its design represented that the class was 45,000 tons (the very limit to the London Treaty), nine 16in/50cal guns in three batteries, and the speed of 33 knots. The speed was decided under precautions against the Japanese Kongo-class high-speed battleships, which boasted of 30 knots. To fulfill the conditions, its engine compartment for a high-power engine needed to be a large on However, the width of warships of the US, which faced two oceans, had to be 33m at the widest in order to pass through the Panama canal. Inevitably, its length at the waterline was very long 262m. Although the US Navy at that time was capable of manufacturing 18 inch guns, it was impossible to mount them on a ship under 33m-wide. And the fact that the Yamato-class had 18 inch guns had been unknown to the US until the end of WWII. Wisconsin entered service in April 1944 as a part of the 3rd fleet. With her sister ship New Jersey the experienced battles such as landing operations of Mindoro Island and Okinawa. After the war the Iowa-class ships returned home and served as the training ships for new officers. When the Korean War occurred in 1950, the four ships, which had been in mothballs except Missouri, were back to the battle. In May 1956 she collided with DD-510 Eaton and damaged her bow, exchanging it with that of uncompleted Kentucky, the 6th Iowa-class. In 1980 Reagan administration ordered the revival of Iowa-class battleships under the project of defense buildup of US naval force. Wisconsin was equipped with eight launchers of Tomahawk, 4 quadruple launchers of Harpoon, 20mmCLWS, and a Helicopter deck while removing 12.7cm guns. When the Gulf War occurred she and Missouri were deployed to Persian Gulf. They made gunfire and launched Tomahawks to Iraqi troops. In September 1991 she was again in reserve duty and is now moored at Norfolk Navy Yard.