Movement and Display of the USS Iowa Battleship Barrel at Cape Henry/Fort Story

The Veteran's Association of USS Iowa and the Coast Defense Study Group, in partnership with U.S. Navy Region Mid-Atlantic, arranged the movement and display of the historic USS Iowa 16-inch battleship barrel at JEB Little Creek-Fort Story beside the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse. The nearly 7-foot, 120-ton barrel was transported from St. Juliens Creek Annex in Chesapeake, Virginia, with a layover in Portsmouth for treatment and coating of the barrel and cradle, while concrete foundations were built at Cape Henry and stanchions for two 16-inch projectiles were fabricated. After several years of planning, USS Iowa Battleship Barrel #270L moved on May 22, 2023, by special heavy-duty trailer and prime mover through Chesapeake, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach from the Marine Specialty Painting facility in Portsmouth to its display site, where the barrel and cradle were placed on the foundations by a special heavy-lift gantry crane. Two 16-inch Mark 9 target projectiles are also displayed there. Placing the barrel at Fort Story saved it from being scrapped and honors USS Iowa veterans who served during World War II, the Korean War, and the Cold War, as well as U.S. Navy veterans who served on ships homeported in the Hampton Roads area, and it also recognizes the U.S. Army's role in coastal defenses at Fort Story during World War II, where similar 16-inch barrels were emplaced as close as 400 yards from this site.

Virginia Beach, Virginia · United States