USS Iowa Escapes Scrapping

The battleship USS Iowa which is anchored at Suisun Bay in California will be spared from the scrap heap.

The U.S. Maritime Administration this week agreed to remove most of the decrepit collection of military vessels dating back to World War II.

The gray and rust-red ships, some with their hulls flaked with peeling paint, are anchored in rows in Suisun Bay, a shallow estuary between San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Studies by the administration have suggested the old warships have dumped more than 20 tons of copper, lead, zinc and other metals into the estuary, a critical habitat for a number of endangered species.

The USS Iowa won't become a museum or tourist attraction yet. The Defense Department plans to keep the battleship in storage in case the ship needs to be brought back into active service.