DATE: Saturday, November 8, 1997            TAG: 9711080342

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JON GLASS AND JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITERS 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  265 lines

A CROWN JEWEL FOR NORFOLK? THE NAVY FLOATS AN IDEA THAT WOULD BERTH THE FAMED BATTLESHIP WISCONSIN DOWNTOWN, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.

The battleship Wisconsin, among the planet's mightiest-ever warships and an emblem of American naval muscle for more than half a century, may find a new home on the Elizabeth River waterfront.

The Navy's top brass has approached City Hall about berthing the Iowa-class battlewagon downtown, most likely at Nauticus, officials with the service and the city confirmed this week.

Terms of the arrangement call for the Navy to retain ownership of the enormous vessel, which stretches nearly three football fields in length and boasts nine 16-inch guns, the largest ever borne by an American warship.

The service would pay all of the costs associated with moving, mooring and maintaining the Wisconsin, currently docked at Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth and off limits to the public.

``A whole new waterfront district could be born,'' Mayor Paul D. Fraim said of the plan. ``Can you imagine with all its flags flying and the banners, and at night, all its lights? It'd be something.''

Navy officials said they were short of space at the shipyard, and saw a solution in parking the mothballed battleship in Norfolk, home to the world's largest Navy base.

``Battleships have been sailing from Hampton Roads since the birth of our Navy,'' said Rear Adm. R. Timothy Ziemer, commander of Norfolk Naval Base and considered the Navy's ``mayor'' in the region.

``Given that rich tradition and the strong ties we've always enjoyed with the city of Norfolk, it is most appropriate for the Navy to moor a battleship at a location where everyone can experience a part of our heritage.''

While it's not a done deal - the Navy, for instance, would have to find an estimated $3.5 million to $5 million to dredge and prepare a berthing site - officials said the plan has moved up the Navy's chain of command with favorable reviews. Adm. J. Paul Reason, commander-in-chief of the Norfolk-headquartered Atlantic Fleet, has led the charge, officials said.

Officials couldn't say when they'd know whether the deal would take. Navy spokesmen said they'd like to move the ship from the shipyard pier within six months to a year.

Landing such a powerful Navy icon as the Wisconsin, city officials said, would be a major coup for downtown Norfolk and for Nauticus, the city-owned maritime center vexed by identity and attendance problems since opening in June 1994.

Fraim said the Wisconsin, homeported in Norfolk for much of its active life, could be the crowning touch to the rebirth of downtown, where the coming $300 million MacArthur Center mall promises to become a shopping mecca.

``The ship's guns would be trained down Plume Street,'' Fraim said. ``The scale of it would be dramatic.''

Under the plan, Navy officials said, the public would be allowed to tour the ship's teak deck for free.

``This would not be a museum ship,'' one naval officer pointed out. The ship's inner hull and passageways would remain sealed to the outside air and under the protection of dehumidifiers to prevent rust.

But officials expect that the chance to walk on a battleship would draw hundreds of thousands of people a year and serve as a tremendous source of regional civic pride in this Navy port.

Although the Wisconsin's crown of radar masts and antennas has been removed, giving the giant warship a smoother, less-impressive profile, the Navy promised to restore it if it is moved to Norfolk.

Commissioned in April 1944, the Wisconsin saw action in the Pacific during World War II with its sisters - the Iowa, Missouri and New Jersey. The four were the largest dreadnoughts built by the United States. Their guns, the largest ever on American ships, could lob shells the weight of Volkswagen beetles - 2,700 pounds - at targets 23 miles away.

The ship has fired those guns in two conflicts since, during the Korean conflict in the early 1950s and the Persian Gulf War in 1991. During the latter tangle, the battleship was refitted with deadly Tomahawk missiles that helped subdue the forces of Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

``They're just massive ships, and you can't help but feel overwhelmed by the history they've been involved in,'' Andrews said.

If the deal is sealed, the 887-foot-long ship most likely would be berthed along the north side of the Nauticus Pier, in an area known as the north basin, near the Taiwanese Pavilion. That way other ships, including cruise liners, could continue to tie up for short stays at the International Pier, which stretches into the river to the southwest of Nauticus.

The chief obstacle, Andrews said, is that the Navy has not determined where it might find the money. Officials would not confirm for the record what it would cost to move and secure the ship at Nauticus.

``There are a lot of questions and options yet to be worked and discussed,'' said one Navy official, who noted that $3.5 million to $5 million is a preliminary estimate and subject to change.

Placing the ship alongside the Nauticus Pier's north side would require significant dredging: The river is 15 to 18 feet deep there, and it would have to be deepened to 30 feet to accommodate the battleship's 28-foot draft. Mooring piles would have to be built for the vessel.

A less-expensive option, costing about $3.5 million, would be to moor the ship at the International Pier. That pier is sturdy enough to dock an Aegis cruiser or destroyer, but not a ship the size of the Wisconsin. At least two large concrete mooring piles would have to be constructed, at the bow and the the stern, to firmly hold the big vessel in place.

The advantage to that option is that it would not require much dredging.

The project faces other unknowns: whether the Navy can win permission to dredge; whether the relocated ship would pose a hazard to navigation on the Elizabeth; whether the move might be derailed by officials in other cities who would like to have a battleship.

Navy officials said preliminary discussions with the Coast Guard indicate the dredging could be approved and that the ship would not interfere with river traffic.

And because the Navy would not be giving away the ship to Norfolk - just using downtown as a convenient berth - officials hope there won't be a political fight over it.

The ship, decommissioned in 1991, would be one of two battleships that must be maintained so it could be mobilized in a national emergency, Andrews said. The Navy spends about $200,000 a year on the Wisconsin's upkeep.

Also unplumbed are the feelings of Norfolk residents, particularly those in neighboring condominiums whose river views would be transfigured by the presence of the towering ship.

Fraim said he hopes the city can convince residents of the rare opportunity to land a battleship. Some city officials began lobbying to obtain the battleship Iowa two years ago, but that plan failed to win broad support in and outside of City Hall because taxpayers would have borne the heavy expense of moving the ship from Philadelphia and mooring it, as well as maintaining it.

The equation has shifted dramatically with the Wisconsin proposal, since the Navy has agreed to pay those costs, officials said.

The battleship has been moored in Portsmouth since October 1996, when it was towed to the naval shipyard from Philadelphia. The battleship Iowa and decommissioned aircraft carriers America and Saratoga remain in the Pennsylvania city. The naval shipyard there has closed, however, and Philadelphia officials want its pier space for commercial development.

The Navy has decided to tow the Philadelphia ships to Newport, R.I., where it still owns a pier large enough to support them. If the Norfolk plan falls through, the Wisconsin will wind up there, as well.

To date, the City Council has not formally discussed the Navy's Wisconsin proposal, Fraim said.

Fraim said the only expense to the city might be the cost to construct an access ramp to the ship, possibly building it so that people could walk out of Nauticus onto the ship's deck. That expense would be minimal, he said.

Even so, Fraim said he's still nervous about potential pitfalls the city or the Navy hasn't considered.

``It'll fit there, it's doable, and I think that's where the Navy wants it,'' Fraim said. ``What I don't know are the things that concern me.'' MEMO: [For a related story, see page A10 of THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT for this

date.] ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

U.S. NAVY

DETAILS OF THE PROPOSAL

GRAPHIC

The proposal

The Navy has offered to berth the battleship Wisconsin in

downtown Norfolk, most likely on the waterfront at Boush and Plume

streets, alongside Nauticus.

The angles

The city is interested because the ship could be a huge tourist

draw. The Navy needs to move the ship from its current berth in

Portsmouth because it needs the pier space there.

The cost

Preliminary estimates run from $3.5 million to $5 million for

dredging at the site and moving and securing the ship.

The schedule

The Navy would like to see the ship moved in six months to a

year.

The hurdles

Besides meeting the price tag, backers presumably would have to

win approval from the Coast Guard, environmental officials and the

City Council, among others.

USS WISCONSIN: VETERAN OF 3 WARS

WORLD WAR II: The Wisconsin, commissioned in 1944, is one of the

four largest dreadnoughts built by the United States. At right, the

ship slides into the water at the Philadelphia shipyard Dec. 6,

1943.

KOREAN WAR:

A damage control officer inspects shell damage caused when the

Wisconsin was hit by enemy fire during the Korean War.

File photos

PERSIAN GULF WAR: A cruise missile lights up the night sky as it is

fired from the Wisconsin during the gulf war in January 1991.

TIMELINE

July 6, 1939

Congress authorizes construction of a second pair of Iowa-class

battleships, Missouri and Wisconsin.

April 16, 1944

Commissioned for World War II service.

Feb. 19, 1945

In support of landings at Iwo Jima, the ship sees its first

combat.

Jan. 18, 1946

The ship returns from war to Hampton Roads.

January 1948

Wisconsin joins the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. That summer, it is

placed out of commission.

March 3, 1951

Recommissioned for service off Korea. The ship leaves in October

for the Pacific.

Dec. 3-6, 1951

Supporting the 1st Marine Division, Wisconsin destroys a tank,

two gun emplacements, a building, enemy bunkers, artillery positions

and troop concentrations.

May 13, 1956

Enters Norfolk Naval Shipyard for repairs to its bow, which is

replaced with a 68-foot section of the never-finished battleship

Kentucky.

March 8, 1958

The ship is decommisioned at Bayonne, N.J., leaving America

without an active battleship for the first time since 1895. It is

later towed to Philadelphia.

Oct. 22, 1988

Recommissioned at Pascagoula, Miss., as part of the Reagan

administration's military buildup, and sent to Norfolk.

Jan. 19, 1991

Wisconsin leads the Navy's surface attack on Iraq with the

first-ever use of cruise missiles in battle. It also fires its

16-inch guns 319 times.

Sept. 30, 1991

Decomissioned in Norfolk a third time and ordered towed to

Philadelphia.

Oct. 17, 1996

The ship returns to Hampton Roads, where it enters Norfolk Naval

Shipyard in Portsmouth.

WHERE ARE THE SISTER SHIPS?

Commissioned in 1943 and 1944, the four Iowa-class battleships

were the largest ever built by the U.S. Navy. They all have since

been decommissioned.

The Iowa, built in New York Navy Yard and commissioned in

February 1943, is now berthed in Philadelphia Navy Yard. Its fate is

uncertain.

The New Jersey, built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and

commissioned in May 1943, is now in a Navy mothball fleet in

Bremerton, Wash. The Navy has tapped the New Jersey to serve as the

Wisconsin's West Coast counterpart on inactive status. It could be

recommissioned in time of national emergency.

The Missouri, built in the New York Navy Yard and commissioned in

June 1944, is perhaps the most famous of the four: The treaty ending

World War II was signed on its deck. The ship is docked in

Bremerton, but it is scheduled to be towed to Honolulu, Hawaii, in

April 1998 to become a permanent memorial.

INFOLINE

Question: Do you favor the Navy's proposal to berth the

battleship Wisconsin on Norfolk's downtown waterfront? Dial INFOLINE

at 640-5555. Press 2001 for yes. Press 2002 for no.

If you served on the battleship Wisconsin, The Virginian-Pilot

would like to hear from you. Dial INFOLINE at 640-5555 and press

WISC (9472). Please leave your name and telephone number.

SPECIFICATIONS OF THE USS WISCONSIN

The Virginian-Pilot

GRAPHIC

[For a copy of the graphic, see microfilm for this date.]

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