The Navy plans to destroy the remaining Iowa-class historical documentation: You can help prevent that.

[Rob Doe]

Have you ever wondered what happened to the original ink battleship plans for USS Pennsylvania through the Iowa-class?  Not the blueprints, but original drawings from which the blueprints were made.

 

They were supposed to go NARA but, instead, the Navy tossed them into  dumpster between 2001-2008.

 

There is one remaining set of plans for the Iowa-class battleships (unfortunately blueprints). It is sitting on board USS Charleston at PNY along with all the remaining spare parts for the ships.

 

USS Charleston is scheduled to be scrapped.

 

The museums would love to get their hands on this trove. But NAVSEA will not give them access and is hellbent on having this historical material go to the firey furnace. The museums cannot press the issue because they depend on NAVSEA to allow them to do strip trips. The Naval History Command appears to have no interest.

 

"How can I help?"

 

Glad you asked.  You can do a FOIA request for this material. Your request is especially powerful if you are a part of the media (ie publish a periodical).

 

Go to 

 

https://www.securerelease.us (government website)

 

and register. Then use that site to make your FOIA request. It is easy to do.

 

Specify that you want copies of all the Iowa-class documentation on board USS Charleston that is currently at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

 

Ask for a few waiver and specify some small amount that you'd be willing to pay.

 

If we can get enough requests it will raise the visibility of this issue and will raise its importantance if it comes to legal action. The author of the recent Iowa-class book series is a lawyer who does FOIA litigation. He told me that if there were some community outcry with serious action, he'd do the case. If 100 people are requesting these records, a court may grant an injunction blocking the ship going to scrapping untl they are removed. If one or two do it, there is no chance.