Rule Brittania - UK building new supercarriers

Ah yes that image bring back some memories. Since I built a scale model of HMS Rodney many years ago.
Think I bought it for the triple cannons. :)

I also had plastic models of Tirpitz, Ark Royal and Hood. Also Prinz Eugen, though that model were not to scale to Tirpitz. :)
I still wanted to make one not quite true scene of the German and British fleets of WWII and tried to cut one u-boat model so only the top part did show over the water, cut myself badly (still have the scar in my long finger-hehe) and that caused me to give up on the project.
 
A few years ago I was driving down a street along the river in Philadelphia and almost shit my pants when I saw the SS United States tied up and rotting away.

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A real shame, she had some fine lines alot better then these horizontal hotels floating around now, sometimes "progress" sucks.

Dosen't take too long before they turn to crap, guess that's why there are a sh*t load of boatsmates working there asses off on any ship of the line.
 
A real shame, she had some fine lines alot better then these horizontal hotels floating around now, sometimes "progress" sucks.

Dosen't take too long before they turn to crap, guess that's why there are a sh*t load of boatsmates working there asses off on any ship of the line.

It's at least better than what happened to SS. America.

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Broke her tow-line on the way to being scrapped, ran aground on an island in the middle of nowhere, broke in half in the surf, and eventually disintegrated below the waves. I don't think there's much visible above the surf now.
 
Sad to see those floating palaces like that...These "Cruise Ships" nowadays are IMHO abombinations of what went before...
 
Yep, I vote Iowa class on the basis of superior fire control and experience of the crews at the time of Leyte Gulf. And the gnarly, pierced, turret-face armor from one of Shinano's unused turrets at the Washington Navy Yard.

The Shinano... would've been an awesome carrier had she not been torpedoed on her maiden cruise, trying to get to Kure. But this gets to the earlier point: Shinano's crew consisted mainly of untrained or undertrained personnel, and when the Archer-Fish's torpedoes hit, they weren't prepared to do proper damage control.

That and unfinished water-tight doors and bulkheads spelled her doom.
 
It's at least better than what happened to SS. America.

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Broke her tow-line on the way to being scrapped, ran aground on an island in the middle of nowhere, broke in half in the surf, and eventually disintegrated below the waves. I don't think there's much visible above the surf now.

The sea many times reclaims its ghosts.
 
The Shinano... would've been an awesome carrier had she not been torpedoed on her maiden cruise, trying to get to Kure. But this gets to the earlier point: Shinano's crew consisted mainly of untrained or undertrained personnel, and when the Archer-Fish's torpedoes hit, they weren't prepared to do proper damage control.

That and unfinished water-tight doors and bulkheads spelled her doom.

Yes, another waste of a fine ship by the panicky Japanese leadership.
 
A real shame, she had some fine lines alot better then these horizontal hotels floating around now, sometimes "progress" sucks.

Dosen't take too long before they turn to crap, guess that's why there are a sh*t load of boatsmates working there asses off on any ship of the line.

The thing is, she hasn't turned to crap. She is actually in astonishingly good shape. NCL bought her to return her to service, and did a full assessment of her condition. She is actually sound enough that she could return to service.

Lets keep in mind that the last time any paint was applied to her was 1969!



Sadly, she is gutted. In an attempt to raise money by a previous owner, everything that could be removed was sold off at auction. Then, in the early 90's, she was towed to Turkey to have her asbestos removed. While it was removed, this left her interior totally gutted. Down to the frames now.

IIRC, she has now spent more time sitting in Philadelphia harbour then she did in service. I made a pilgrimage to visit her in 1999. Looked shockingly similar to how she does now.

Encouragingly, she has been bought by a group that is raising money to restore her as a floating hotel. I wish them all the best!
 
NCL was also going to strip the original powerplant for something more "modern" - and probably completely inferior to her original, if rather odd, propulsion system. A big part of what makes the United States what she is, is that crazy high-speed engine setup.

It's amazing that America broke up as fast as she did, considering that the hull was considered to be in excellent shape before the accident.
 
NCL was also going to strip the original powerplant for something more "modern" - and probably completely inferior to her original, if rather odd, propulsion system. A big part of what makes the United States what she is, is that crazy high-speed engine setup.

It's amazing that America broke up as fast as she did, considering that the hull was considered to be in excellent shape before the accident.

Sadly, 240,000 hp is not really needed in a modern, slow speed, cruise ship.

America? No ship will last long when faced with those type of forces. Costa better be hoping that one good storm doesn't blow through the Tuscan coast anytime soon.

Bow was on the sand. Stern was afloat. No ship can survive that in heavy seas.

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I'd honestly rather see her as a static display than cruising with something modern hacked into her engine rooms.

I'm torn on that. While I would love to see her zooming along at 43 knots again, one of the reasons she left service so early was because of that monster powerplant. Even the queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth had only 160,000 hp. She had way too much power to ever be viable as just a commercial passenger ship. Only government subsidies would keep her operational.
Just the her hull design would still make her the fastest commercial ship afloat, with a more standard size powerplant. I sure would love to see those beautiful funnels soaring above the piers in the Hudson again.
 
Looking at the history of ocean liners, 17 years isn't a terribly short lifespan. There were very few that had the longevity of the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, QE2 or France/Norway.
 
Looking at the history of ocean liners, 17 years isn't a terribly short lifespan. There were very few that had the longevity of the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, QE2 or France/Norway.

But those were all ships of state, as was the United States. I can't think of another that lasted so little time, that was not lost, affected by war, etc. Only one that lasted less time was the France, and perhaps the lovely Italian twins, Michelangelo and Raffaello. All those ships were built in the 60's, WAY too late to liner service.

France/Norway was only made viable when he power plant was cut down. United States was considered by NCL when they were looking for old liners, but France seemed a more viable candidate for conversion.

United States was apparently immaculate until the end.
 
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Speaking of the Michelangelo and Raffaello, have there ever been ships that were much more beautiful than these? Sad that they ended their day as rusted out accommodation ships in Iran. Both are now gone.

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Looks like they went to town with some Bondo on it :)

Those Italian liners are beautiful. I had completely forgotten about them.
 
Looks like they went to town with some Bondo on it :)

Those Italian liners are beautiful. I had completely forgotten about them.

Beautiful, but likely the least successful large ships ever made. I don't think they made a dime of money in their entire service lives.
 
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