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Quoted: Refurbing an old BB would be the dumbest use of naval funds. We can do anything we want if we throw money at it. We could even reactivate a BB by spending $30B refurbing and crewing it. We would be better off building a new yard, designing a new class of nuclear heavy cruisers, and building a few of them for the same money. And then we would have a new yard too. Or better yet, since we have urgent needs, instead take that $30B and build 5 more Burkes, 10 more Constellations, 2 more SSNs, and outfit all the Legend class ships with their "designed for but not with" sensor/weapons. View Quote Hard to disagree with this last bit. A handful of Burkes would be a lot more useful in a modern fight than an Iowa. Heck, 10 Fletchers were probably more useful than one Iowa in 1944. |
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View Quote Just watching those videos on the turrets shows that there is no one who really knows what was done to the various systems and subsystems to preserve them. What if Seaman Billy-Bob was told to follow the directions of the NAVSEA pubs on how to keep the turbine from spinning by locking out a certain mechanism. That pub was 78 pages long with 52 steps. Billy-Bob said fuck-it, no one is going to check my work, I'll just weld this hunk of metal to the gear housing and insert a bar rod into the bearing and call it a day. When the ship is recommissioned no-one knows about Billy-Bob's unauthorized preservation method and they fire up the engine and CLUNKity CLUNK CLUNK the reduction gear and bearing is done. |
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Three year if she is 100% sea worthy. Most of that time is going to be training. New ammunition will need to be made as well as new powder bags. Installation of new equipment, adding more and newer weapons and countermeasures. Crew will need to be proficient in the main guns as well as the handling of the ship and its unique features. You are going to need veterans from the time she was last underway. It’s going to take billions of dollars as well and replacement parts manufactured. It’s not about the weapons you bolt on to it. It’s about those nine 16” guns. Shore bombardment of the highest order and much more effective as a deterrent. Imagine parking that thing off Gaza and firing for 10 days straight. It would be a moonscape. Even the tunnels would be destroyed.
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How many BBs would we have underway if we skipped the LCS and Zumwalts?
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USS Missouri, Pearl Harbor TOUR |
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I wonder what the grand total of 16" shells ever fired by the Iowa fleet is.
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Quoted: Unlike the movie, months. Even if she was seaworthy, armed and provisioned, her crew needs a training period so they are proficient in their job. You just can't send a brand new battleship off to a fight with workmen on board. Oh wait, Prince of Wales and Bismarck. View Quote Also aircraft carriers that started out as a Yamato class battleship. It was still fitting out, but was already loaded with baka bombs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Shinano Big sonofabitch, almost 70,000 tons loaded. |
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Quoted: What are the Cliff's Notes on that one? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: If only Halsey had left Lee behind at Samar. It would have been GLORIOUS. What are the Cliff's Notes on that one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar The Japanese lured Halsey to the north with several carriers that had no real air groups. He took the bait, and there were some crossed wires as to where his battleships (TF-34 commanded by admiral "Ching" Lee) were to go. So, the battleships steamed north, leaving the escort carriers and their escorts to cover the landings. However, the Japanese snuck a force of battleships and cruisers, including the Yamato, in behind to attack the jeep carriers (which they thought were Halsey's main force). US losses: 2 escort carriers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer escort sunk 23 aircraft lost 4 escort carriers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2 destroyer escorts damaged 1,161 killed and missing[1] 913 wounded |
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Quoted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar The Japanese lured Halsey to the north with several carriers that had no real air groups. He took the bait, and there were some crossed wires as to where his battleships (TF-34 commanded by admiral "Ching" Lee) were to go. So, the battleships steamed north, leaving the escort carriers and their escorts to cover the landings. However, the Japanese snuck a force of battleships and cruisers, including the Yamato, in behind to attack the jeep carriers (which they thought were Halsey's main force). US losses: 2 escort carriers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer escort sunk 23 aircraft lost 4 escort carriers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2 destroyer escorts damaged 1,161 killed and missing[1] 913 wounded View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: If only Halsey had left Lee behind at Samar. It would have been GLORIOUS. What are the Cliff's Notes on that one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar The Japanese lured Halsey to the north with several carriers that had no real air groups. He took the bait, and there were some crossed wires as to where his battleships (TF-34 commanded by admiral "Ching" Lee) were to go. So, the battleships steamed north, leaving the escort carriers and their escorts to cover the landings. However, the Japanese snuck a force of battleships and cruisers, including the Yamato, in behind to attack the jeep carriers (which they thought were Halsey's main force). US losses: 2 escort carriers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer escort sunk 23 aircraft lost 4 escort carriers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2 destroyer escorts damaged 1,161 killed and missing[1] 913 wounded As a very Russian captain once said “Halsey acted stupidly.” Halsey acted stupidly mp4 |
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Quoted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar The Japanese lured Halsey to the north with several carriers that had no real air groups. He took the bait, and there were some crossed wires as to where his battleships (TF-34 commanded by admiral "Ching" Lee) were to go. So, the battleships steamed north, leaving the escort carriers and their escorts to cover the landings. However, the Japanese snuck a force of battleships and cruisers, including the Yamato, in behind to attack the jeep carriers (which they thought were Halsey's main force). US losses: 2 escort carriers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer escort sunk 23 aircraft lost 4 escort carriers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2 destroyer escorts damaged 1,161 killed and missing[1] 913 wounded View Quote Hate to say it, even today, but that was a brilliant move by the IJN. |
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Quoted: Hate to say it, even today, but that was a brilliant move by the IJN. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar The Japanese lured Halsey to the north with several carriers that had no real air groups. He took the bait, and there were some crossed wires as to where his battleships (TF-34 commanded by admiral "Ching" Lee) were to go. So, the battleships steamed north, leaving the escort carriers and their escorts to cover the landings. However, the Japanese snuck a force of battleships and cruisers, including the Yamato, in behind to attack the jeep carriers (which they thought were Halsey's main force). US losses: 2 escort carriers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer escort sunk 23 aircraft lost 4 escort carriers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2 destroyer escorts damaged 1,161 killed and missing[1] 913 wounded Hate to say it, even today, but that was a brilliant move by the IJN. They still managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, thanks in large part to the giant brass balls for men like Earnest Evans. |
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Quoted: Zero. View Quote You shut your commie mouth. I'm sitting here dreaming of houthis shooting off drones and our glorious examples of industry annihilating entire hillsides with 16" freedom deliveries. A man can dream. |
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Glorious Freedom Delivery |
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Quoted: Hate to say it, even today, but that was a brilliant move by the IJN. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar The Japanese lured Halsey to the north with several carriers that had no real air groups. He took the bait, and there were some crossed wires as to where his battleships (TF-34 commanded by admiral "Ching" Lee) were to go. So, the battleships steamed north, leaving the escort carriers and their escorts to cover the landings. However, the Japanese snuck a force of battleships and cruisers, including the Yamato, in behind to attack the jeep carriers (which they thought were Halsey's main force). US losses: 2 escort carriers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer escort sunk 23 aircraft lost 4 escort carriers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2 destroyer escorts damaged 1,161 killed and missing[1] 913 wounded Hate to say it, even today, but that was a brilliant move by the IJN. Like most grand Japanese plans, it was massively over complicated, Two Battleship/Cruiser divisions, coming from two different directions, plus the decoy carrier force up north. |
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Quoted: I was an EOOW on a twin 1200psi superheated steam plant DDG. What is this "Lube up the boilers" thing? View Quote Yeah, Knox class frigate with a plant working pressure of 1,200 psi (8,300 kPa) and 1,000 °F (538 °C) superheat, with a high-pressure (supercharger) forced draught air supply system. The BBs 600 psi systems are a different animal but while likely simpler, still nothing to fool around with and getting a crew up to speed to operate it safely would be a pretty big effort. all the BTs are long gone. |
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US Battleship Fires Away in Desert Storm.flv |
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USS Wisconsin - The Battleship with a Temper |
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Quoted: I will be the bold one here. Without bureaucratic bullshit it would probably only take a few weeks. Lube up the boilers, get the fire control systems on line and personal trained. It's not rocket science. Find a armory that can make the powder bags and shells and let's go. View Quote Who's going to train the personnel? Who's going to get the boilers going and the systems online? There's nobody in service now who's ever used that equipment and knows how to run and maintain it. Anyone who was in while the last Iowa class was in commission was a brand-new Sailor back then, and is now contemplating retirement if their papers aren't already submitted. |
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Quoted: Yeah, Knox class frigate with a plant working pressure of 1,200 psi (8,300 kPa) and 1,000 °F (538 °C) superheat, with a high-pressure (supercharger) forced draught air supply system. The BBs 600 psi systems are a different animal but while likely simpler, still nothing to fool around with and getting a crew up to speed to operate it safely would be a pretty big effort. all the BTs are long gone. View Quote Old BT checking in. Still making steam today (power plant). BT MOS was eliminated in the early 90's and combined with MM. Bulk of the Steam powered ships were decommissioned in the 90's, we still have a few. The tech isn't that hard to relearn, but it would be a massive effort regardless. |
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Quoted: If only Halsey had left Lee behind at Samar. It would have been GLORIOUS. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I wonder what the grand total of 16" shells ever fired by the Iowa fleet is. If only Halsey had left Lee behind at Samar. It would have been GLORIOUS. Yep, that has to be the most interesting WW2 what if. |
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Quoted: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar The Japanese lured Halsey to the north with several carriers that had no real air groups. He took the bait, and there were some crossed wires as to where his battleships (TF-34 commanded by admiral "Ching" Lee) were to go. So, the battleships steamed north, leaving the escort carriers and their escorts to cover the landings. However, the Japanese snuck a force of battleships and cruisers, including the Yamato, in behind to attack the jeep carriers (which they thought were Halsey's main force). US losses: 2 escort carriers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer escort sunk 23 aircraft lost 4 escort carriers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2 destroyer escorts damaged 1,161 killed and missing[1] 913 wounded View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: If only Halsey had left Lee behind at Samar. It would have been GLORIOUS. What are the Cliff's Notes on that one? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_off_Samar The Japanese lured Halsey to the north with several carriers that had no real air groups. He took the bait, and there were some crossed wires as to where his battleships (TF-34 commanded by admiral "Ching" Lee) were to go. So, the battleships steamed north, leaving the escort carriers and their escorts to cover the landings. However, the Japanese snuck a force of battleships and cruisers, including the Yamato, in behind to attack the jeep carriers (which they thought were Halsey's main force). US losses: 2 escort carriers sunk 2 destroyers sunk 1 destroyer escort sunk 23 aircraft lost 4 escort carriers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2 destroyer escorts damaged 1,161 killed and missing[1] 913 wounded Now do the Japanese losses... 3 heavy cruisers sunk 11 aircraft lost 2 battleships damaged 3 heavy cruisers damaged 1 destroyer damaged 2,700+ killed and wounded The Japanese surprised and attacked a much weaker force and were forced to withdraw. There are a lot of videos out there talking about the battle and the heroics of several American ships. The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those? |
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Quoted: Yep, that has to be the most interesting WW2 what if. View Quote I think someone wargamed a hypothetical Battle of San Bernadino Strait using World of Warships. It assumed TF 34 would of consisted of Iowa and New Jersey, and 3 South Dakotas, 2 heavy cruisers and 6 light cruisers plus 20 or so destroyers. The USN won the their war game but it was a blood bath IIRC. Yamato and most of the japanese BBs were sunk. New Jersey was heavily damaged. The So Daks had varying amounts of damage., The CLs, Cleveland class IIRC, were savaged, and I think both CAs had serious damage. I thought the games assumption about the composition of TF 34 might have been inaccurate, but it was an interesting simulation. |
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Quoted: I think someone wargamed a hypothetical Battle of San Bernadino Strait using World of Warships. It assumed TF 34 would of consisted of Iowa and New Jersey, and 3 South Dakotas, 2 heavy cruisers and 6 light cruisers plus 20 or so destroyers. The USN won the their war game but it was a blood bath IIRC. Yamato and most of the japanese BBs were sunk. New Jersey was heavily damaged. The So Daks had varying amounts of damage., The CLs, Cleveland class IIRC, were savaged, and I think both CAs had serious damage. I thought the games assumption about the composition of TF 34 might have been inaccurate, but it was an interesting simulation. View Quote I think it was a table top game. I recall reading somewhere that the US fast battleships were at one point less than 4 hours from interception. But they decided airplanes made more sense. |
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We put men on the moon, we have a wooden sailing frigate still in commission, automate shit produce shells, make Mexico pay for it.
America. |
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Amen. 2 of them should have been kept operational to show the flag at least. Imagine one off Mogadishu during Black Hawk Down!
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Having crawled all over, and through, the Missouri on more than one occasion I too would LOVE to see a BB brought back to life. They are just amazing and awe inspiring machines. They are real live pieces of history you can walk on, touch, and romanticize over.
Having said that, I can see absolutely no real benefit to doing it. The expertise required to run a ship like that is almost entirely gone from the face of the planet. It would be a years long task to just to bring one back to life, let alone make it a reliable weapons system. The cost would be astronomical and there are far more capable platforms out there doing the job even as I type this. However, having one reactivated and using it as a show of force around the globe would be fucking EPIC!!!! |
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Quoted: As a very Russian captain once said “Halsey acted stupidly.” View Quote Stupid because he abandoned his duty to protect the landings, yes. Stupid because he went after the carriers, no. Yes, the carriers had less than a dozen planes total between them, but Halsey didn't know that. He assumed, as he really had to, that those carriers were still effective and the last of Japan's carrier fleet and went to kill them. The stupidity was in the Japanese attack force mistaking escort carriers for fleet carriers, and destroyer escorts for cruisers. The only reason that any of Taffy 3 and it's escorts survived at all was that the Japanese were shooting armor piercing shells at ships that were so lightly built they didn't set off the shell's explosives. The shells punched clean holes all the way through the ships; and that was the only damage done. If the Japanese battleships and cruisers had been shooting their high explosive shells all of Taffy 3 would have been easily and very quickly sunk with the first hit. Even with Taffy 3's heroics the Japanese fleet should have advanced on the landings and sunk a lot of the supply and infantry transports and shelled the island to help their own infantry forces trying to defend the against the U.S. landings. The amazing thing about WWII is that Japan's navy had at least three critical battles where they turned and ran instead of doing the job they were sent to do. The war would have lasted much longer and been much more bloody if Japan had been willing to finish the invasions after battles of the Coral Sea and Midway and carried through with the attack at Leyte Gulf. |
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Inside A Rotating 16 Inch Gun Turret
Inside A Rotating 16 Inch Gun Turret |
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Quoted: Having crawled all over, and through, the Missouri on more than one occasion I too would LOVE to see a BB brought back to life. They are just amazing and awe inspiring machines. They are real live pieces of history you can walk on, touch, and romanticize over. Having said that, I can see absolutely no real benefit to doing it. The expertise required to run a ship like that is almost entirely gone from the face of the planet. It would be a years long task to just to bring one back to life, let alone make it a reliable weapons system. The cost would be astronomical and there are far more capable platforms out there doing the job even as I type this. However, having one reactivated and using it as a show of force around the globe would be fucking EPIC!!!! View Quote Guys in this and the other thread have basically said they and their friends could have the boilers lit in a couple weeks. The knowledge is not gone. They sailed in the 80’s |
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Quoted: Bismarck had a hand-picked crew, in addition to a Prize crew aboard, before Rheinübung breakout. No idea what you’re talking about, in regards to workmen; the 2,200 or so crew aboard were among the most senior and experienced surface sailors the Kreigsmarine had. View Quote Pretty sure he was referring to Prince of Wales, she was still working up when she sortied to intercept Bismarck. Denmark Strait was not a shining moment for the RN. |
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Quoted: Because the British have a bit of a history with forensic science. They do like to get the details right even if it makes them look foolish. Whatever it was that fired that shot there's no getting around the fact that HMS Hood shouldn't have gone down that fast and hard. Lessons learned. View Quote Why not? Magazine detonations tend to send ships down pretty much instantly. While I personally agree with the golden BB theory about her sinking, Hood’s armor wasn’t that great, the need to update it had been known for decades. |
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Quoted: What are the Cliff's Notes on that one? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: If only Halsey had left Lee behind at Samar. It would have been GLORIOUS. What are the Cliff's Notes on that one? Drachinefel (sp?) on YouTube has a great alternate history video about if the battle fleets had met off Samar. Definitely worth a watch. ETA: found it The Battle of Samar (Alternate History) - Bring on the Battleships! @arbob @buckstrucks |
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Firing Mount 56 on Battleship Iowa - My Way July 4th Special: The Battleship USS Iowa "firing" One of its 5-inch guns. |
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Turning Turret III After 30+ Years |
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Were the two bow main batteries ever fired dead ahead, or almost always to the side?
Could they fire over the shoulder? |
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How they got turret 3 on USS IOWA to turn.
HOW....How did we Turn Turret 3 onboard USS IOWA? |
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Quoted: How many BBs would we have underway if we skipped the LCS and Zumwalts? View Quote The BB being reactivated is pure wet dream fantasy. The cost of crews alone is a deal killer. One Ford carrier is more bang for the buck than all the BBs put together. It could put more ordinance further down range, more accurately than a BB too. The Navy has wasted enough taxpayer money as it is on the LCS program only to end up with a handful of overpriced minesweepers. |
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Quoted: The BB being reactivated is pure wet dream fantasy. The cost of crews alone is a deal killer. One Ford carrier is more bang for the buck than all the BBs put together. It could put more ordinance further down range, more accurately than a BB too. The Navy has wasted enough taxpayer money as it is on the LCS program only to end up with a handful of overpriced minesweepers. View Quote What exactly was the mission requirement of the littoral class ships? To hunt down surf fishing ISIS operators? I don't know why we felt the need to float heavy hitters in the shallows. |
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