Written by on May 30, 2012. Posted in On Location

Battleship USS Iowa to be available as period filming location in Los Angeles

Historic battleship the USS Iowa is to be a potential filming location in its new home in the Port of Los Angeles. The World War II ship is rich in history, having carried President Franklyn Roosevelt across the Atlantic in 1943 on the way to a summit with Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin.

The ship was finally decommissioned in 1990 and eventually donated to the non-profit Pacific Battleship Center in 2011. Production companies in California have welcomed the ship’s move to Los Angeles as the region lacks period location resources like the Iowa.

Todd Lindgren is with Film LA and the LA Times reports his comments: “This battleship will complement existing [Los Angeles filming] infrastructure and offer filmmakers a really unique local film asset.”

Damian Jones is a consultant with Pacific Battleship Center and spoke to the outlet: “We’ve been contacted by a number of shows that want to be able to film on the ship once it gets down here, so we think there is going to be great opportunity for filming – both for big-budget films and lower-budget films and TV shows.

We think there is going to be great opportunity for filming – both for big-budget films and lower-budget films and TV shows.

Damian Jones, Pacific Battleship Center

“We’ve been telling people we’d love to work with you, but our first job is to get the ship down here.”

Pacific Battleship Center has a ten-year lease for the Iowa with the Los Angeles City Council. The Iowa itself is nearly 900 feet long and weighs 58,000 tonnes. It served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres during World War II, before playing a role in the Korean War and escorting tankers in the Iran-Iraq war.