Battleship Iowa makes dramatic exit under Golden Gate Bridge

The battleship Iowa made a dramatic passage under the Golden Gate Bridge on Saturday on its way to San Pedro.

Thousands of spectators watched as the historic ship went through the bay.

"Everything has gone beautifully," said spokesman Bob Rogers of the Pacific Battleship Center, a nonprofit organization that will operate an interactive naval museum onboard the battleship Iowa at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, to the Associated Press. "The Phoenix was spraying water in every direction. She took her right out the Gate."

The Iowa's permanent home will be Berth 87 in Los Angeles when it opens as a museum in July.

The ship originally was supposed to leave San Francisco on May 20, but bad weather delayed the departure, according to a statement from Crowley Maritime Corp. The company is using a 7,200 horsepower tugboat called the Warrior to tow the ship during its four-day journey down the coast, according to Crowley

The Iowa carried President Franklin Roosevelt across the Atlantic to the 1943 Tehran conference and fought in the Marshall Islands during World War II.

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