In early 1938, the US Navy started researching ways to design new battleships that could keep up with America's own aircraft carriers and outclass the much-feared high-speed Japanese battleships.

Consequently, naval architects from the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair came up with several solutions, and the result was the impressive Iowa-class battleship, the last kind of American battleship and the last of its type in service around the world.

While initial plans called for six vessels, only four were completed: Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, and New Jersey.

The latter, nicknamed Big J, was commissioned in 1943, and during the ceremony, Captain Carl F. Holden predicted the battleship would be a: [QUOTE] "Lovely lady who will have her angry moments."

The captain was right, as the 887-foot 60,000-ton Big J saw more combat in World War 2 than any other Iowa-class battleship, and the 1940s were only the beginning of a long, record-breaking, and highly-decorated service career…

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