This is a group of photos from the National Archives and John McCrea’s personal collection showing the ship during the early days of WW II.

(The wife of U.S. Vice President Henry A. Wallace, an Iowa resident, prepares to christen Iowa at the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn, NY on August 27, 1942.)

(Iowa slides down the launch way.)

(Tugs control Iowa after her hull enters the water.)

(Iowa is commissioned at the New York Navy Yard on February 22, 1943.  The ceremonies took place on the ship’s quarterdeck under the 16″ guns of turret 3, the stern turret.)

(Iowa‘s bow displays the ship’s hull number “61”)

(A view of Iowa‘s superstructure.)

(Iowa‘s bow viewed from the sky patrol post. The 16″ guns of turrets 1 and 2 are visible.)

(A photo of an officer leading calisthenics on the quarterdeck while the ship’s band practices immediately below him. At the stern there are 2 OS2U float planes mounted on catapults that were used for observation purposes.)

(This photo taken from an aircraft carrier shows Iowa at Majuro in 1944. Majuro was a forward operating base where ships rested and re-provisioned between operations.)