USS Iowa “Virtual Reward” Virtual Cache
USS Iowa “Virtual Reward”
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Both my Grandfather and my Dad served in the USS Navy. It is hard to believe that a landlocked state has one of the most acclaimed battleships, the USS Iowa. This Geocache is a tribute to all those who have and are still serving and protecting our country.
Start at N 41° 35.453' W 093° 36.286 and read the words high on the north side.
Next make your way to N 41° 35.485 W 093° 36.269 and follow what is on the sign. This is in a government building and all visitor rules do apply. ( do not bring any tools with you inside-you might not get them back ).
Now make your way to N 41° 35.468' W 93° 36.252'. Here you will find a model of the USS Iowa that has the answers to the following questions.
How many life rafts do you see? how many life preservers are there? and how many extra plane pontoons do you see. Add the totals togeather and then message the answer on what makes this number significant. Any answer in the logs will not be allowed and deleted.
Do take some extra time to look around, I always seem to find something I have overlooked the last time I visited.
Hours :
Monday –Friday -- 7am to 5pm
Saturday -- 9am to 4pm
Sunday -- closed
THE USS IOWA
Motto: “ Our Liberties We Prize, Our Rights We Will Maintain”
Ordered in July 1939, launched on 27 August 1942, USS Iowa (BB-61) is the lead ship of her class of battleship and the fourth in the United States Navy to be named after the state of Iowa. Owing to the cancellation of the Montana-class battleships, Iowa is the last lead ship of any class of United States battleships and was the only ship of her class to have served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
USS Iowa's main battery consisted of nine 16 in (406 mm )/50 caliber Mark 7 guns. Which could fire 2,700 lb (1,200 kg) armor-piercing shells 20 nmi (23 mi; 37 km). Her secondary battery consisted of twenty 5 in ( 130 mm )/38 cal guns in twin mounts, which could fire at targets up to 12 nmi (14 mi; 22 km) away. With the advent of air power and the need to gain and maintain ajr superiority came a need to protect the growing fleet of Allied aircraft carriers; to this end, Iowa was fitted with an array of Oerlikon 20 mm and Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns to defend Allied carriers from enemy airstrikes.
During World War II, she carried President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic to Algeria in 1943 to the Cairo and Tehran Conferences, she was outfitted with a bathtub for Roosevelt's convenience. Roosevelt, who had been paralyzed in 1921, would have been unable to make effective use of a shower facility.
USS Iowa fires a full broadside of nine 16-inch (410 mm)/50-caliber and six 5-inch (130 mm)/38 cal guns during a target exercise. Notice the shockwave.
When transferred to the Pacific Fleet in 1944, Iowa shelled beachheads at Kwajalein and Eniwetok in advance of Allied amphibious landings and screened aircraft carrier operating in the Marshall Islands.
USS Iowa ( nickname The Big Stick ) fires her guns off the coast of Koje on 17 October 1952.
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Iowa in the Pacific, Indiana can be seen in the distance
She also served as the Third Fleet flagship, During the Korean War, Iowa ( nick named The Gray Ghost ) was involved in raids on the North Korean coast, after which she was decommissioned into the United States Navy reserve fleets, better known as the "mothball fleet."
She was reactivated in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan and operated in both the Atlantic and Pacific Fleets to counter the recently expanded Soviet Navy. In April 1989, an explosion of undetermined origin wrecked her No. 2 gun turret, killing 47 sailors.
The Iowa was decommissioned for the last time in October 1990 after 19 total years of active service, and was initially stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1995. She was reinstated from 1999 to 2006 to comply with federal laws that required retention and maintenance of two Iowa-class battleships. In 2011 USS Iowa was donated to the Los Angeles–based non-profit Pacific Battleship Center and was permanently moved to Berth 87 at the Port of Los Angeles in 2012, where she was opened to the public as the USS Iowa Museum.
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
sources--Wikipedia, pacificbattleship, militaryfactory, and "TEAM RED NECK"
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
2aq sybbe