The USS Iowa went through the first stage of re-decking on Thursday morning.
The World War II battleship originally had teak decks on top of the steel. According to Jonathan Williams, president and chief executive officer of Battleship IOWA Museum, the replacement of wood over the years was not satisfactory.
“The wood originally was teak in the 1940s and 1950s,” he explained to KNX News’ Pete Demetriou. “The Navy replaced it with Douglas fir in the 1980s, which corroded or rotted very quickly, and so by the time we got the ship, there was just rotted wood everywhere, and that's why we have plywood over it right now, and we knew we had to get to it to protect the steel.”
The old wood on the deck outside the captain’s quarters was replaced with new high-tech teak.
“It's pretty much a single pour down sealed coat,” Williams said. “It's almost like a solid sealed coat of it, but it looks like teak and it covers the entire steel and seals it up, and so nothing can get through it like they could in the wood.”
Want to get caught up on what's happening in SoCal every weekday afternoon? Click to follow The L.A. Local wherever you get podcasts.
The 4,600 square feet of deck cost about $750,000 to do, and donations are being sought to re-deck areas open to the elements to help preserve the IOWA for the next 80 years.
To donate, click here.
Follow KNX News 97.1 FM
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok
