USS Iowa comes back to life for its final voyage
- Thread starter soundboy
- Start date
Here is a bit of trivia for you. Look real close at the bow section of the Wisconsin BB-64. In 1956 the Wisconsin collided with USS Eaton DDE-510. The Fletcher class destroyer was nearly cut in half by the bow of the Wisconsin. The Bow section of the Wisconsin was replaced by the bow section from the 75% completed USS Kentucky BB-66 because of this the beam of the Wisconsin is about 10 feet longer then it's sister ships. Oh and one more thing the engines from the Kentucky (212,000 SHP total) where saved and used in the AOE-1 Sacramento the first fast combat support ship. Check out the photo below this door is 17 inches thick and leads into the Citadel of the New Jersey the most protected part of any Battle Ship.
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TerryO
Super Member
I don't know how old you are, but the USS Missouri was docked in Bremerton for many years.
Maybe Philly can give the USS Olympia to us. After all, it was named after our State's Capitol.
:thmbsp:
Did you know the Iowa was going to go to San Fransisco but the beautiful people of the City objected because it was too militaristic.
Actually, Kentucky's powerplant was split in half, and one half went to each of the first two Sacramento-class support ships. The never-installed engine systems from Illinois were pulled out of storage when the decision was made in the early 60s to build AOE-3 and AOE-4.
I've read the Olympia is falling apart and is in dire need of restoration.
You guys up there have a pair of 10" disappearing rifles at Fort Casey anyway, the largest surviving disappearing rifles in The United States.
Though Fort DeSoto in Tampa still has some of the 12" breech loading mortars.
I took this photo of a 6" disapperaing rifle at Fort Pickens at Pensacola
CarlV
Lunatic Member
CarlV
Lunatic Member
In the east bay we have the USS Hornet complete with space capsule and overnight accomodations.
http://www.uss-hornet.org/groups/overnightfamily/
And The Red Oak Victory
http://www.ssredoakvictory.com/index.htm
Carl
And oh by the way neat bay areaWW2 site
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wwiibayarea/index.htm
http://www.uss-hornet.org/groups/overnightfamily/
And The Red Oak Victory
http://www.ssredoakvictory.com/index.htm
Carl
And oh by the way neat bay areaWW2 site
http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/wwiibayarea/index.htm
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CarlV
Lunatic Member
Forgot the USS Potomac which is literally across the street kitty corner from Yoshi's Jazz Club Restaurant at Jack London Square.
http://usspotomac.org/index.php
Carl
http://usspotomac.org/index.php
Carl
sheltie dave
Addicted Member
Man, I'm jealeous. I served six years in the Navy, and all I ever saw was about fifty feet of any surface target...through a periscope.
In one fleet exercise, we "sank" the Enterprise six times. The fleet always rescinded our confirmed action. The seventh time, we sank the Big E using a dummy torpedo. High tailed it outta there at flank, right at the thermocline, every boat in the fleet pinging active.
Nowadays, the only time I go all ahead flank is running after a tube amp, coffee in hand.
In one fleet exercise, we "sank" the Enterprise six times. The fleet always rescinded our confirmed action. The seventh time, we sank the Big E using a dummy torpedo. High tailed it outta there at flank, right at the thermocline, every boat in the fleet pinging active.
Nowadays, the only time I go all ahead flank is running after a tube amp, coffee in hand.
TerryO
Super Member
I've read the Olympia is falling apart and is in dire need of restoration.
You guys up there have a pair of 10" disappearing rifles at Fort Casey anyway, the largest surviving disappearing rifles in The United States.
Tom,
We've been holding the line against those Canadians for a long time and big guns are a necessity.
Every Washington State Patriot still smarts from the outcome of the Pig War!
Fifty-four Forty or fight!
For those who are not up on their Military History:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_War
Best Regards,
TerryO
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I've read that ships of that era need to be dry-docked for hull inspection and repair every 20 years. Olympia has been in the water continuously since 1945! On the positive side, I have heard that one group trying to preserve part of a historic shipyard wants to permanently dry-dock her. It'd be a shame to not have her floating anymore, but IMO it's far better to have her in the air where people can visit and learn more about that era than under the waves as a home for fish.
TerryO
Super Member
I agree about saving the ships.
Here's a poem that a relative (on my Mom's side) wrote awhile back:
Ay, tear her tattered ensign down!
Long has it waved on high,
And many an eye has danced to see
That banner in the sky;
Beneath it rung the battle shout,
And burst the cannon's roar;--
The meteor of the ocean air
Shall sweep the clouds no more.
Her deck, once red with heroes' blood,
Where knelt the vanquished foe,
When winds were hurrying o'er the flood,
And waves were white below,
No more shall feel the victor's tread,
Or know the conquered knee;--
The harpies of the shore shall pluck
The eagle of the sea!
Oh, better that her shattered hulk
Should sink beneath the wave;
Her thunders shook the mighty deep,
And there should be her grave;
Nail to the mast her holy flag,
Set every threadbare sail,
And give her to the god of storms,
The lightning and the gale!
Now there's a case for gun envy. I heard we had some rail mounted 20"s out here in Californie for coastal defense back in the day. They were probably turned into DeSotos or refridgerators afterwards. We should've parked 'em at railroad museum!
Just north of the entrance to San Francisco bay are a pair of casemates (bunkers) that during WW II held 16" guns. The guns are long gone but the casemates are still there.
The largest rifled coastal guns the US had were 16". Some were mounted in casemates and some at Panama, Hawaii and New York on open platforms for 360 degree fire.
The army used 14" rail guns for coast defense in Delaware and New Jersey.
The largest bore smoothbore, black powder American coastal guns were 20" Rodman guns.
15" Rodmans at Fort Foote on the Potomac
I agree but having a U boat in the neighborhood is uber cool. Like this one docked in Chicago.
It would appear my elderly neighbor had a problem gun envy in his claim of 20 inchers on a railway car. Fourteens were the biggest. He would regale us with stories of hearing them practice fire from a railway spur nearby and watching the out going shells rapidly disappear overhead, heading out past Catalina Island.The White's Point area here in L.A. has a nice collection of installations from that bygone era that are open to the public. I wouldn't mind a U Boat though.
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The Dahlgren looks similar but has a more pronounced coke bottle shape. The Dahlgren was developed by a sailor and as far as I know was used only as a naval gun. USS Monitor had a pair of 11" Dahlgrens and 15" Dahlgrens were often used in later monitors.
The Rodman was developed by the Army and what made it special was that after casting it was cooled from the inside out making for a much stronger gun; cast iron guns were prone to brittleness and bursting and Rodmans were very strong and reliable.
Parrot guns were rifled cast iron cannons that had a reinforcing band shrunk over the breech, even so they were prone to bursting, especially so given the higher pressures inside a rifled gun compared to a smoothbore. The development of reliable steel cannon by Krupp made possible the use of smokeless powder in cannon and improved range and power.
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TerryO
Super Member
I agree but having a U boat in the neighborhood is uber cool. Like this one docked in Chicago.
The White's Point area here in L.A. has a nice collection of installations from that bygone era that are open to the public. I wouldn't mind a U Boat though.
Here's the perfect accessory to go with that Submarine. Am I the only kid here that wanted to be Capt. Nemo?
http://gizmodo.com/5914920/norways-selling-a-super-villain-starter-set-for-175-million/gallery/1
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Before you piss off your neighbors be sure they dont have Lancasters and Tall Boy bombs,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallboy_bomb