Panning San Pedro: The USS Iowa

Panning San Pedro: The USS Iowa

San Pedro’s newest icon is “The Big Stick”—an 887-foot battleship, the USS Iowa (BB-61)—now docked at its new home, Berth 87, in the Main Channel off Harbor Blvd. The Iowa, was the lead ship for the last (and best) class of U.S. battleships. The Iowa Class battleships (see HG-IC; NHHC-IC) were the fastest ever built—on 01/01/1968 the USS New Jersey set a world speed record of 35.2 knots (65.2 km/h) (GWR). The Iowa will be a permanent living museum in San Pedro—the original home of the U.S Pacific Battle Fleet. [See the following for information on the past, present and future of the Iowa: HG-BB61; NHHC-BB61; NSO-BB61; USSI; W-USSI; HC-BB61]

The Iowa returned to San Pedro on 06/02/2012 after a 65-year absence. She operated out of in San Pedro Bay from October 1946 to January 1947 during West Coast training exercises and returned on 03/25/1947 for additional training duty (after serving as flagship for the 5^th Fleet in Tokyo Bay and before her overhaul at the Puget Sound Navy Yard in October 1947).

The Iowa arrived outside the bay on 05/30/2012 and anchored offshore for a bottom scrubbing (to remove potentially invasive species and contaminants) before entering the harbor at Angel’s Gate on 06/02/2012. The Iowa then docked for a week at Berths 51-52 off Miner Street in the outer harbor before the final 3.4 nautical mile journey to Berth 87 on 06/09/2012 (see Los Angeles Times, 06/09/2012; About.com, 06/12/2012; Press-Telegram, 05/30/2012; KTLA.com, 06/09/2012; NBC Southern California, 06/10/2012; Daily News, 06/09/2012; Daily Breeze, 06/02/2012). POLA blocked access to anywhere near the ship while it was in the outer harbor. Miner Street and the Cabrillo Way Marina parking lot were closed. Guards claimed they turned away up to 2,000 visitors an hour on the first morning.

From the public walkways of the marina the ship was just visible peeking through the new palm trees on Miner Street and between the masts of sailboats. The following panoramic images were taken at the Cabrillo Way Marina on the morning the USS Iowa arrived in San Pedro. Click on the images to see larger versions of them (control/right-click to see them in a separate tab).

USS Iowa and SS Lane Victory from Cabrillo Way Marina [Original is from 13 images and measures approximately 6.9 by 69.9 inches]

Warehouse 1, USS Iowa and Cabrillo Way Marina [10 images; 6.7x43.9”]

Warehouse 1 and USS Iowa from Cabrillo Way Marina [6 images; 7.1x28.9”]

The following panoramas were taken from Crescent Street and the walkway just above the new 22^nd Street Park on the morning of June 9, 2012 before the Iowa’s final passage down the Main Channel to Berth 87. The Iowa was barely visible on the horizon to the right of Warehouse 1 until I zoomed in on it with a telephoto lens.

 

22^nd Street Park and Outer Harbor from Crescent Street [10 images; 7.3x55”]

22^nd Street Park, Cabrillo marinas and Outer Harbor [5 images; 7x23.3”]

Warehouse 1, USS Iowa and marinas from above the 22^nd Street Park [4 images; 7.5x23.1”]

Warehouse 1 and USS Iowa from the 22^nd Street Park [6 images; 7.2x29.3”]

The USS Iowa from 22^nd Street Park [3 images; 7.6x18.9”]

The Iowa was even less visible from Cabrillo Beach where the early morning crowd of weekend windsurfers, stand up paddle surfers, and kayakers [Note: The first kayakers arrived in San Pedro from Russian America about 200 years ago to poach otter skins] were just entering the waters on both sides of the breakwater. The towers of the Iowa appeared landlocked between the SS Lane Victory and Warehouse 1.

The Outer Harbor and inner Cabrillo Beach [16 images; 7.8x88.2”]

SS Lane Victory, USS Iowa, Warehouse 1, dredger and Terminal Island from Cabrillo Beach [15 images; 7.5x104.8”]

SS Lane Victory, USS Iowa and Warehouse 1 from Cabrillo Beach [6 images; 7.6x28.4”]

The Iowa was more visible from the Cabrillo Marina [the former site of lower Fort MacArthur and the Navy landing area when the Pacific Battle Fleet was based in San Pedro] where yachters, sail boaters, and onlookers paused for a Kodak moment or just to gazed at her profile.

USS Iowa from the Cabrillo Marina [7 images; 7.5x36.4”]

Cabrillo Marina, Warehouse 1 and USS Iowa [6 images; 8x26”]

Warehouse 1 and the USS Iowa from the Cabrillo Marina [6 images; 10.3x26.4”]

Warehouse 1, USS Iowa and Watchorn Basin from the Cabrillo Marina [5 images; 7.6x23.4”]

The USS Iowa from the Cabrillo Marina [3 images; 7.2x19.8”]

After the morning’s June Gloom dissipated it became a classically beautiful San Pedro day—perfect for the welcoming parade down the Main Channel. The channel lookout next to Warehouse 1, where generations have watched ships enter and leave the harbor (a new mini pier was recently added as part of the waterfront redevelopment project), was filled hours before the parade but the new walkway and small park at the south end of Ports O’ Call (next to the Jankovich & Sons fuel station) was also a good viewing site. The area used to be filled with tourist shops as part of Whaler’s Wharf (where the New England style buildings were used as a filming location for decades, posing as Maine or Massachusetts for television and the movies).  The Iowa’s arrival was heralded by harbor patrol boats, fireboats spouting their traditional and popular display of water power (San Pedro’s original fanfare fountain was the old Fireboat No. 2 which is still on blocks in the parking lot between the Iowa’s new home and Fire Station 112, awaiting construction of its museum and the new downtown harbor), LA’s official tall ships (the Irving Johnson and Exy Johnson of the LA Maritime Institute), and the P-520—an 85-foot  restored WWII crash rescue boat (see also WB-LB). On both sides of the channel a constant flow of yachts, sailboats, and motorboats (including the harbor and Catalina cruises) watched the parade from the water while adding to the show for the landlocked.

Fireboat No. 2 heralding arrival of the USS Iowa [7 images; 8x29.1”]

P-520, tall ship and USS Iowa in Main Channel [2 images; 7.4x14.7]

Watching the USS Iowa parade down the Main Channel [6 images; 10.1x21.6”]

The USS Iowa from Ports O’ Call’s Whalers Wharf [2 images; 7.6x13.1”]

Final journey of the USS Iowa [5 images; 7.6x22.9]

Tall ship and USS Iowa in the Main Channel [2 images; 7.8x15.4”]

The USS Iowa traversed the length of the Main Channel, slipped under the Vincent Thomas Bridge, rotated in the Turning Basin, and then docked at Berth 87 (once used for giant RORO auto carriers from Japan and more recently as a spare cruise ship dock). From Knoll Hill the antennas and tips of the Iowa’s towers could be seen peaking above the trees and freeway signs as it moved down the channel until emerging and rotating within the gap between the bridge and the stacks of containers at China Shipping.

Port of Los Angeles and USS Iowa from Knoll Hill [11 images; 7x55.9”]

China Shipping, USS Iowa and Vincent Thomas Bridge [11 images; 9.7x38.2”]

The USS Iowa in the Turning Basin as seen from Knoll Hill [7 images; 7.4x38”]

China Shipping, USS Iowa and the Vincent Thomas Bridge [4 images; 7.7x19.1”]

The USS Iowa in the Turning Basin [2 images; 7.5x16.2”]

The following panoramas showing the USS Iowa in her new home at Berth 87 were taken from Harbor Blvd. and the Waterfront Promenade.  The Iowa and Crafted at the Port of Los Angeles (which opened on 06/29/2012) are now the newest additions to Angels Walk LA (the San Pedro walk starts under the shadow of the Vincent Thomas and ends at the Cabrillo Beach fishing pier) and southbound traffic on Harbor Blvd. now drops 10-20 mph as soon as the Iowa comes in view.

Approaching the USS Iowa from Harbor Blvd. [4 images; 6.9x22.1”]

The USS Iowa at Berth 87 from Harbor Blvd. [5 images; 7.1x29.9”]

The USS Iowa and the Ralph J. Scott from 3^rd Street and Harbor Blvd.  [15 images; 9.8x50.6”]

The Waterfront Promenade and the USS Iowa [11 images; 7x33.3”]

The USS Iowa from the promenade [6 images; 7.2x28.1”]

Berth 87 and the USS Iowa [2 images; 6.4x13.4”]

San Pedro’s newest icon, the USS Iowa [6 images; 6.9x16.4”]

Additional panoramic images of the USS Iowa from the above San Pedro locations are available in the following photo album on Picasa. The Iowa can also be viewed as part of the harbor “landscape” seen through the Fireboat No. 2 viewing windows at Fire Station 112.

Panning San Pedro: SS Lane Victory

Panning San Pedro: SS Lane Victory (and Miner Street)

“Panning San Pedro” is MySanPedro’s series of panoramic images celebrating the sights of San Pedro. Click on any image to view a larger version.

SS Lane Victory at Berth 94

SS Lane Victory and the Disney Wonder

Looking southward down the Main Channel from Berth 94

The SS Lane Victory (home page) has moved from Berth 94 under the bridge (between the World Cruise Center and the Catalina Express terminal) on the Main Channel to Berth 46 in the Outer Harbor at the south end of Miner Fill (between the East and West Channels), just south of the new Cabrillo Way Marina. The grand reopening at the new temporary location is on Saturday, February 18, 2012.  After 9 months she will move to Berth 50 on the East Channel—though her permanent new berthing is still undetermined (PoLA, 02/03/2012; Littlejohn, 02/06/2012).

Miner Street looking northwest toward San Pedro Hill

 Miner Street looking southwest toward the SS Lane Victory

Miner Street looking southeast across the East Channel to Warehouse One

The conversion of Miner Street (Harbor Blvd. changes to Miner Street at 22^nd Street) from a narrow potholed 2-lane service road to a 4-6 lane scenic boulevard with a wide greenbelt meridian lined with palm trees is completed. On the west side a public walkway lines the new Cabrillo Way Marina in Watchorn Basin from 22^nd Street all the way down the West Channel to the new boat launch and Fire Station 110 (housing Fire Boat 5) and connects to the sidewalk leading to the Berth 46 parking lot and back to Miner Street.  The new sidewalk on the east side of Miner Street now has an open view of the East Channel, Angel’s Gate and the Outer Harbor.

New southern section of Cabrillo Way Marina, looking across the West Channel

East Channel, looking north

Opening of the East Channel with view of City Dock 1 and Warehouse One on the Huntington Fill

Opening of the East Channel looking eastward from the Miner Fill

Opening of the East Channel looking southward

Veer to the right at the south end of Miner Street to go to Berth 46 and the SS Lane Victory. The run-down un-redeveloped area where it is docked will eventually be the home of a new deep water terminal for the latest giant cruise ships. To the right of the parking lot is the old San Pedro Boat Works at Berth 44 which was founded in 1932 as the H-10 Water Taxi Company to construct small maneuverable launches designed to avoid police boats during prohibition and ferry passengers to the gambling ships anchored offshore and became renowned in the 1960s for servicing racing boats (HBER).

Access road and entrance to Berth 46

The Berth 46 parking lot entrance

SS Lane Victory at Berth 46

The SS Lane Victory is owned and operated by the United States Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II (USMMVWWII) as a maritime museum and memorial honoring the achievements and sacrifices of the Merchant Marine sailors and Navy Armed Guardsmen—while also starring in numerous movies, television shows, and commercials and serving as a training ship for the Navy Sea Cadets, US Coast Guard, and other military and law enforcement agencies.  

SS Lane Victory and the John M. Olguin

Looking eastward from the Cabrillo Beach Boat Ramp

Berth 46 is the same place where the USS Abraham Lincoln was docked for Navy Week in July 2011. The following panoramas will give you an idea of their relative scale.

SS Lane Victory from inner Cabrillo Beach

USS Abraham Lincoln from inner Cabrillo Beach

SS Lane Victory from the Cabrillo Beach breakwater (halfway to the fishing pier)

USS Abraham Lincoln from about the same location

The SS Lane Victory was built in the San Pedro shipyard of the California Shipbuilding Corporation (Cal-Ship) on Terminal Island. She was launched on 05/31/1945, delivered military cargo in 3 wars (WWII, Korea and Vietnam), and was the last operational Victory ship when she was sent to the Suisan Bay reserve fleet on 04/29/1970. Nineteen years later (on 06/07/1989) the ship was officially transferred to the USMMVWWII and towed back home to the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. Today, she is the only “Victory Ship” which is still fully operational and licensed for deep sea voyaging (Cox, 2008). When moved to Berth 50 on the east side of Miner Fill, the SS Lane Victory will have a spectacular view of the sunrise over the original home anchorage of the Pacific Battle Fleet and of ships entering and leaving the harbor.

Outer Harbor at dawn as seen from the east side of Miner Fill

Sunrise over Angel’s Gate looking east from Berth 50