Scuttlebutt: Official Podcast of the National Museum of the Surface Navy

Battleship IOWA is proud to be a safe haven for veterans as well as a resource and connection to programs dedicated to their well-being. Today, we're highlighting a truly special one: Warrior Sailing We chatted with Warrior Sailing director Ben Poucher to find out all about this life-changing program that gets wounded and injured veterans back into life by teaching basic sailing concepts.  Us...

The second half of our conversation with Dave Way (Battleship IOWA historian and curator) and Jim Kurrasch centers on "Artifact Number 1" - which is the ship itself. When you have a ship that has served during three different eras, what ethos do you choose when deciding how to preserve it? How do you keep it relevant and interesting to future generations? Find out what we did in the begi...

Battleship IOWA is home to thousands of artifacts.  From the ship herself to a chair from NAGATO - the last Japanese battleship, from physical objects to digital images, all of these artifacts must be cataloged and stored. Dave Way is the ship's historian and curator, and ten-year volunteer Jim Kurrasch is his "hands and feet." These two are the core of the team that minds our colle...

Battleship IOWA volunteers Dave Badgett and Kent Coble are retired fire chiefs - Dave finished his career as an assistant chief in charge of training with LA City Fire Department, Kent as a battalion/division chief for Santa Monica Fire Department. Dave was also a task force leader for LA City Fire's FEMA Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team. On 9/11/01 he got the call to deploy even before th...

VJ Alcomindras is a battleship kid. He's been working on Iowa Class BBs since he was 16. He started as the youngest tour guide ever hired (at that point) by our sister ship, USS Missouri, joined Battleship IOWA in 2015, and was recently promoted to Guest Services Manager. In this podcast we get to know him - from growing up on Oahu to college in California - and learn how he's turned a p...

Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach lies on the Southern California coast between Long Beach and Huntington Beach. Dating back to 1944, this 5,000 acre complex features 230 buildings, 128 ammunition depots, a wharf for loading and off-loading ships, a 900 acre salt marsh wildlife refuge, and all sorts of things that go 'boom!' In this podcast we get an insider's glimpse into the only f...

With the 210th anniversary of the infamous battle between the US Navy's venerable grande dame, USS CONSTITUTION, and HMS GUERRIERE coming up on August 19, we thought it would be fun to have a conversation with Dr. Carl Herzog , public historian for USS CONSTITUTION Museum .  We chatted about everything from bottom copper and cathodic protection to what constitutes "original" in ship...

In the final installment of our series from our 10th anniversary panel, our team discusses how the state of Iowa came through with some critical funding just in time, how our transition to become the National Museum of the Surface Navy came about, and takes a few questions from the audience. Questions? Comments? Email podcast@labattleship.com Once again, we apologize for the quality of the audio....

Joe Sienkiewicz, the chief of NOAA's Ocean Applications Branch, has quietly helped us behind the scenes to keep track of swells and storm surge that could affect Battleship IOWA as she sits tied to the dock in one of the world's busiest harbors. Now he joins the podcast to discuss how though it may seem like the ship is safely and permanently in port, weather can still play a significant...

We're back with Part II of our ten year retrospective panel, and this section is a lot of fun. CEO Jonathan Williams, COO Mike Getscher, and CIO David Canfield told stories from the ghost fleet - "Mike walks," David's fire stick, finding keys lost since 1987, and more - and Volunteer Manager Sue Schmidt talks about the gestation of our volunteer program, which is still the life...

July 2022 marks ten years since Battleship IOWA opened to the public as a museum in the Port of Los Angeles. We've come a long way in a decade, and we thought it would be fun to take a look back at where we started. CEO Jonathan Williams, COO Mike Getscher, CIO David Canfield, and Volunteer Manager Sue Schmidt sat down together for a panel discussion during our celebration of the anniversary....

This week's guest is Dale A. Jenkins , author of the soon-to-be-released book Diplomats And Admirals. With a background in foreign relations, this former "tin can" sailor has taken a fascinating look into the complicated relationships and poor advice that shaped United States involvement in World War II during the year between the Pearl Harbor attack and the Battle of Midway. This e...

Recently staff from USS Hornet stopped by for a visit. COO Laura Fies and Marketing & Outreach Manager Russell Moore were kind enough to sit down for a fun chat about the challenges we share and the innovations we make to keep our vessels relevant for years to come. * * * * Want to ❤️ Support the ship? https://www.pacificbattleship.com/donate/donate-online ⚓ Come aboard for a tour? https://ww...

Executive assistant and podcast producer Marann Fengler has had a unique journey. First figure skating, then sailing square riggers, and now she's found a home working on Battleship IOWA. What was that progression like? She tells us in this week's episode. * * * * Want to ❤️ Support the ship? https://www.pacificbattleship.com/donate/donate-online ⚓ Come aboard for a tour? https://www.pa...

There is no shortage of stand-out characters around Battleship IOWA, and for this episode we rounded up one of the most larger-than-life:  Vice President of Government Affairs for UPS and Battleship IOWA board member Bruce D.D. MacRae . We talked to Bruce about how he got involved with the ship, his role in the recent presidential visit, and more... but mostly we laughed a lot, which seems to happ...

Since early January we've been fortunate to have Kristen Burns-Agria with us. She's active Navy and a participant in SkillBridge - an internship program from the Department of Defense, designed to help service members transition from the military to civilian worlds. In this week's episode Kristen talks about her experience both with SkillBridge and with Battleship IOWA. * * * * Want...

We managed to sneak two podcast recording sessions in during #LAFleetWeek. Here's the second. Meet US Marine Corps captain Tyler O'Connor . Tyler and his crew brought in the star of our mini-airshow: the mighty MV-22 Osprey. Quite the spectacle to watch an aircraft that doesn't look like it should even be able to fly land and take off from our parking lot. In this episode Tyler disc...

This episode finds our team sleep-deprived, sun-burned, and hours away from the finish of LA Fleet Week 2022. Despite the lack of coherence, they managed to coordinate a visit with Brian O'Rourke. Since 2017, as media relations officer for Navy Region Southwest, Brian has been heavily involved in the planning of LA Fleet Week from the Navy side of the equation. Get more of the behind-the-scen...

We're back with more of a look at what goes on behind the scenes with LA Fleet Week. From ordering beverages for 50,000 to the logistics of wrangling ships, entertainers, and displays to coordinating receptions, meetings, and events to handling the whirlwind of crazy, last-minute changes to golf cart shenanigans, this celebration of our nation's sea services and military in general is a...

Jenny Sova joined our team in 2017 as director of planning for LA Fleet Week. Currently, she's Battleship IOWA's chief of staff.  We dragged this wonderful, fun  lady away from her crazy-busy schedule to chat about what it's like to stage an event as large as LA Fleet Week. Warning: we're a few weeks from the start of this first major public event since Covid, and we've hi...

Battleship IOWA's crew is full of unique individuals who've come together to create a rather extraordinary team. That team is full of interesting characters... like our electrician, George Musulin. He's been around for years, and we'd like to put in a pithy description of him, but really you just have to experience him. * * * * Want to ❤️ Support the ship? https://www.pacificba...

If you've been following this podcast, you know that April 19 is an important date for our organization. It is our time to celebrate the lives of 47 sailors lost on that day in 1989. For the last two years, Covid forced us to hold the ceremony as a mainly virtual event. This year we were happy to be able to open it to in-person attendance again. Crew members who survived that day in '89...

The museum ship industry was saddened recently to see heartbreaking images of the Fletcher-class destroyer USS THE SULLIVANS (DD-537) with a starboard list so significant, her decks were awash almost to the ship's centerline.  No armchair quarterbacking here. For this episode we assembled a panel of professional mariners to discuss the challenges of maintaining the hulls of these legacy vesse...

On April 19, 1989 at 9:55 AM local time, the center gun on USS Iowa 's Turret II suffered an open breech explosion (technically a deflagration). 47 sailors working within the turret perished. Vice President and Chief Information Officer David Canfield was a nineteen-year-old 3rd class engineman serving aboard Iowa that day. In this episode we talk about his experiences then, his ongoing heali...

Welcome to the official podcast for the National Museum of the Surface Navy ! Our first episode will introduce you to our regular panelists and set the stage for conversations to come.  President & CEO Jonathan Williams Vice President & COO Mike Getscher Vice President & CIO David Canfield Development Manager Kyle Aube Executive Assistant Marann Fengler  * * * * Want to ❤️ Support the...