Posted on 05/30/2012 12:18:00 PM PDT by moonshot925
SAN PEDRO, Calif. (KABC) -- The historic USS Iowa battleship arrived off the coast of San Pedro Wednesday morning, marking an exciting event.
Crews were cleaning the vessel as it pulled into San Pedro. The ship will stay on the coast for a few days before docking at its permanent home. The ship is expected to open to the public July 7.
(Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...
Dont’ know if you’ve seen this. Thought you might enjoy.
United States “Never-Were” Designs
http://wolfsshipyard.mystarship.com/Misc/NeverWeres/united.htm
“You seem very convinced”
WW2 saw the death knell of battleships and the dominant force in naval warfare. Time and again, from Pearl Harbor to Mers-el-Kebir, to Taranto to the sinking of the HMS Repulse on the high seas, to the bitter end of the Japanese Battleship Yamato, air power was shown to be the dominant force in naval warfare. Billy Mitchell had been dead right. Against concerted air attack, and lacking air cover of its own, battleships were sitting ducks.
LOL! What kept you?
Not so sure it can’t those guns have one hell of a reach!
One of the awesome things to see on the Missouri is a clear 3D plastic model of the 16” gun ammo handling mechanisms. The darn things go almost down to the keel through several decks. You usually only see the guns sitting there, with no clue as to how the shells get fed up there.
Suppose I wonder about just how much “readiness” these ships have. The Missouri has engines removed, and the gun elevation mechanisms gone. One of the tricks the crew turning it into a museum had was elevating them from an embarrassing droop to the deck.
I am from Keokuk. Did you play with Logan?
I believe the Congressional legislation (Section 1011 of the National Defense Authorization Act for 1996) only stated that two had to be kept in a state of readiness, even if used as museums. The two picked were the New Jersey and Wisonsin I believe.
I believe that the legislation included that the Navy retain whatever logistical support necessary to keep the two battleships available for service if necessary, including technical manuals, repair and replacement parts, ordinance availability, etc.
Whether that is occurring under the Obama administration, I cannot say. It would be difficult to retain the personnel and their training to man the vessels if they were ever needed, particualry as time goes on and they sit there open to the public.
Wow. Thanks very much.
Every time a battle ship story presents itself in FR, I get to learn something.
We were to board in Astoria OR for a 100-mile trip, but Greenpeace loons dangled from the bridge to Washington state as the ship attempted to cross under.
Either FR or YouTube won't allow the bridge incident video to be linked here.
It was incredible the number of people and cars at vantage points along the way - including the hordes that pulled over to the shoulder where I-5 s/b semi-skirts the river at several locations.
This was a historic trip. IIRC it was the largest ship to transit the Columbia River, and its last port call before being put out to pasture.
Astoria, OR was also the last port of call May 23, 1998 for USS MISSOURI on being towed to Hawaii from Bremerton so she could sit in fresh water to kill and drop the saltwater barnacles, etc that had grown on her hull. Open house was conducted for thousands during the few days she was there.
Picture the Montana class battleships with nuclear power plants and those would’ve been some butt-kicking battleships!
Every time I get on FR, I get to learn something. The biggest thing I have learned is how little I really know.
So... if a battleship were part of a modern Aegis Group and equipped with the latest weaponry and targeting equipment, what would happen?
I am jappy the New Jersey is being kept up, at least in some form. Special memories of her, firing over our heads in Quang Tri at night. Apparently they were knocking down the bunkers at Camp Carroll to deny use to the NVA. No way to describe the sound of 16” shells going overhead. Much like being close to a high speed train.
jappy=happy of course. fingers getting real dyslexic.
They hadn't yet put a formal program together, so they just gave out self-guided maps and let you go below on your own. The upper decks were still closed.
-PJ
But, that is past now and the new Zumwalt DDGs will sufice...but we should build 8-12 of them instead of just three.
There is simply no place for the battleship. Amphibious assaults have evolved away from massed shore bombardments of WW2 era. Besides, with the speed our forces are capable of moving today, they would be quickly out of the range of battleships parked 1 or 2 miles off shore. The Zumwalt class destroyers will fill the NFS gap. They have 2 6.1” guns that have 50 meter CEP accuracy, range of 59 nautical miles and can fire 10 rounds a minute. The Iowa class 16” guns had a maximum effective range of 23 nautical miles.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.