It is 70 years since USS Wisconsin underwent a major overhaul at the New York Naval Shipyard to allow her to serve in the Korean Theatre. Wisconsin was recommissioned on 3 March 1951 and arrived on the ‘Korean bomb line’ on 3 December that year. Her participation in the Korean War resulted in the awarding of one of her six battle stars. The other five were awarded for her World War II service. She also received other awards for her participation in Operation Desert Storm.
Wisconsin was an Iowa class battleship built at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was launched on 7 December 1943, two years, to the day, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During her long naval service, served during World War II as well as the Korean War and, after a modernisation programme, she took part in Operation Desert Storm and Desert Shield. In September 1991 was decommissioned, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register, and on 17 March 2006 she became a museum ship.
