Engineering vs Manufacturing; battleships ww2

[AJMD429]

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Big Screwup…!

https://youtu.be/8rrXs9vPfE8?si=k5ZYAd_EusV_QKvi

It would’ve been interesting to be at that meeting when they realize they were off a few feet…

[gamekeeper]

xfho3.jpg

[jeepnik]

Literally down the street sits the USS Iowa. It is a marvel of marine engineering. Especially when you consider how fast it went from concept to finished vessel.

But it was also far from perfect. It was modified several times to correct initial design flaws and to update it to newer technology as it came on line.

The class was designed primarily for ship to ship engagements. Yet by the time it was designed the airplane had proven itself as the future of anti-ship weaponry.

It’s secondary use was shore bombardment. It was primarily used in this capacity.

A tertiary use was, and possibly its most important role was as an antiaircraft platform to protect the new darling of naval warfare, the aircraft carrier.

[TraderVic]

Never got to see the USS Iowa over in the Tonkin Gulf (Vietnam) while it was over there. It was retired from service before I got over there myself.
While in Subic Bay, Phillipines, I was driving a guy from my ship up to the hospital and passed by a yard area where a bunch of large "telephone poles" were stored on blocks. The old chief gunners mate riding along commented that those were extra gun barrels for the Iowa.

[Ray]

When I was mustered with uncle ronnie's yacht club doing a stretch of hard time (2 yrs. 2 mo. 11 days) on a floating prison referred to as a tin can (knox class) we knew of the momo-63 which had just come back to life in the pacific fleet and the iowa-61 which had been back for a few years. The closest I got to the iowa was in 1987 when she was taking fuel from the rfa grey rover's port side whilst we were fueling on the starboard.

The iowas as a class were thick hulled and resistant to all kinds of stuff that would destroy a tin can. They used to say that the missles that sunk the sheffield and nearly sank the stark would have just required a couple of deck apes being suspended over the side to repaint on the momo or iowa !

Folk are amazed at the water tight integrity of the class of frigates that superseded the previous 10** hull numbers.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qzn5L-82G ... F0ZQ%3D%3D

Looks impressive until you realize that all fuel had been removed for environmental concerns. The many fuel tanks were located all over the ship below the water line. Either of the minor first strikes shown in the video could have resulted in chain reaction explosions and intense conflagration. She may have stayed afloat as long but would have had to be quickly abandoned.

The survival of the stark was nothing short of a divine miracle combined with the ardent exertions of the repair parties. If the missiles had struck 10 to 15 feet lower then ????

[TraderVic]

Ray,
I had to look up a Knox Class "can" and realized you were on a DE (destroyer escort), or that's how they were classified while I was in.
Regards, Vic

[Ray]

Ray,
I had to look up a Knox Class "can" and realized you were on a DE (destroyer escort), or that's how they were classified while I was in.
Regards, Vic

They made some upgrades(?) in 1975 and changed the designations to impress and awe ivan......he weren't too bothered by it. At least we could refuel underway at near full speed. They had problems with that. The towed v.d.s (fish) sonar array was good for nothing but snagging the sail of a sub lurking underneath. The roomy v.d.s. space, as big as the mess deck was partitioned into non water tight spaces after that system was abandoned. On the "silly willy" that allowed an overflow berthing space, master at arms shack, HT/DC shipfitting shop, electrical safety shack, and boiler tech. valve & gauge shop just below the fantail and above the after steering and small arms locker. When the ciws/phalanx just above gave a hundred round burst it really gave you a start if you were working (or larking) in R div. underneath.

[Griff]

I spent just under 2 years on a converted Forrest-Sherman class Destroyer, removing 2 5" gun mounts and installing the Tartar missile system in their place, making it a Guided Missile Destroyer, or DDG. I arrived Jan 2, 1972 and left on Dec 5, 1973, making 2 WestPacs aboard. The Newport News was a Heavy Cruiser and during 1972 I saw her a couple of times. She could stand off the coast several miles farther than we and bombard inland targets farther than we could only 1-2 miles off the coast.

She survived the planned sinking by Air Force B-52s as a target ship, finally settling to her final home off HI, being boarded by Navy EOD experts and having her keel broken.

[Ray]

Griff, read this.....

https://influenceofhistory.blogspot.com ... nfire.html

The last paragraph mentions my ship some two and a half years before I came aboard. The new york times article said "the mighty fine ten fifty nine as her crew affectionately describes her fired a twenty one round salvo and the guns of beruit fell silent."

Big difference between the two accounts......three shots versus twenty one. Knowing just how often we had catastrophic failure of various systems, I'd say the smaller number was closer to the truth. We once got struck by our own practice torpedo after it went into widening circle search mode. We were in "quiet ship" conditions for a.s.w. drills. That fish made quite a bang when it rammed us what with everything else silent. It took AD-44 and mayport s.i.m.a. a couple of weeks to fix that leak.

[AJMD429]

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Thanks for sharing that, Ray.

Wow what a photo…



…talk about muzzle blast…!!!