Ship Photo of the Day

[brownshoe]

Every veteran deserves a flag at their funeral, She has earned it.

Damned right! Sad to see her go. I worked her deck late 60's. Damn... I'm getting old.

 

[Gatordev]

After 21 years, I still don't know what a "dracone" is, other than an underwater condom. But somehow I don't think that's right.

 

[Renegade One]

I read somewhere - not sure if it was true - that Super-Dreadnought was coined when the main turrets became super-firing. If anyone could confirm or deny, that would be appreciated.

Wikipedia sez: Within five years of the commissioning of Dreadnought, a new generation of more powerful "super-dreadnoughts" was being built. The first super-dreadnoughts are generally considered to be the British Orion class. What made them 'super' was the unprecedented 2,000-ton jump in displacement, the introduction of the heavier 13.5-inch (343 mm) gun, and the placement of all the main armament on the centreline. In the four years between Dreadnought and Orion, displacement had increased by 25%, and weight of broadside (the weight of ammunition that can be fired in one salvo) had doubled.

 

[Max the Mad Russian]

Counterpart to the famous American PT boats, the German E-Boat. Biggest difference seems to be the use of diesels which gave a much greater range.

Seaworthness too. That wooden hull was extremely rigid and able to serve as stable torpedo platform in rough seas. Aside of it, a torpedo director was almost equal to a submarine Der Torpedokommandogeraet, electromech version of USN Torpedo Data Computer.

 

[Randy Daytona]

USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)

Caught in a typhoon on her way back to Yokosuka.

 

[Max the Mad Russian]

Nice ship. I've been always amazed by the bow bridle catchers of USN carriers - like a manta ray or two tusks of a battle elefant. Interesting which Div had ran them, V-2? How many launches the bridle could endure? Honestly, I still don't fully understand how these catchers worked - was bridle attached to a shuttle by some rope?

 

[Malo83]

Speaking of the Shitty Kitty,
http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...tired-carrier-uss-kitty-hawk-out-of-mothballs

 

[hscs]

USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)

Caught in a typhoon on her way back to Yokosuka.

I know this may be hard to believe but that helo on spot 2 had some serious tron and corrosion issues for a while.

 

[nittany03]

I know this may be hard to believe but that helo on spot 2 had some serious tron and corrosion issues for a while.

Wonder what it was doing spotted that far forward anyway.

 

[hscs]

Wonder what it was doing spotted that far forward anyway.

Not sure - Handler's revenge maybe.

 

[Randy Daytona]

The "Gearing" class destroyer, the first of which was ready in mid 1945. An improved "Sumner" class, it was 14 feet longer than the Sumner which allowed more fuel, important in the Pacific. Incidentally, it carried a heavy torpedo armament of 10 torpedo tubes, although some tubes were removed later for more a/a guns. Ships of the class served a long time, the last being retired from US Navy service in 1983. Ships transferred to foreign navies lasted considerably longer, the last of which was retired from the Mexican Navy in 2014.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gearing-class_destroyer

USS Gearing, 1960

Before and after FRAM I rebuild.

The Gearing-class destroyer Ernest G Small after losing her bow to a mine and subsequent heavy seas off Korea 1951

 

[Randy Daytona]

The "Des Moines" class (3) heavy cruiser - probably the ultimate heavy cruiser due to its very fast firing 8" main guns. 716' length, 76' beam, just about 21,000 tons. The last one, USS Newport News CA-148, was decommissioned in 1975. The USS Salem CA-149 is a museum ship in Quincy.

Derived from the Baltimore-class heavy cruisers, they were larger, had an improved machinery layout, and carried a new design of auto-loading, rapid-fire 8"/55 gun (the Mk16).[3][4][5] The improved Mk16 guns of the main battery were the first auto-loading 8" guns fielded by the US Navy, and allowed a much higher rate of fire than earlier designs, capable of sustaining 12 shots per minute per barrel,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Des_Moines-class_cruiser

The Newport News participated in the Battle of Haiphong Harbor, Aug 1972. Nothing says "We own the seas" like a heavy cruiser pulling up just outside the harbor and cutting loose with everything it has got...

http://www.uss-newport-news.com/hist/operation_lions_den.pdf

USS Des Moines at sea, 1948.

 

[Randy Daytona]

With the recent mishap of the USS Fitzgerald, I remembered the worst US Navy ship collision in history, the Gleaves class destroyer USS Hobson (DD-464) being sunk by the USS Wasp (CV-18 - picking up the unenviable name as the Can Opener afterwards) just after midnight on 26 April, 1952. There is a memorial to her back in Charleston. 176 of the 237 members of her crew were lost as the Hobson sank in 4 minutes (miraculously, 1 Hobson crewmember literally jumped onto the Wasp and never touched water.) The damage was so severe that the Wasp sailed at 4 knots astern back to the Brooklyn Navy Yard - but the bow was fixed in 10 days (ten days) due to the need for the ship in the fleet and use of the bow from the Hornet which was in drydock.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Hobson_(DD-464)
https://hubpages.com/education/USS-Wasp-USS-Hobson-Collision-Worst-Peacetime-Naval-Disaster
https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/wasp-ix.html

 

[Randy Daytona]

USS Cyclops (AC-4), one of the four Proteus class colliers. Its unexplained disappearance - in the Bermuda Triangle - in March 1918 is the largest single loss of life in US Navy history barring combat. 306 perished.

Interesting that two of the other three ships of the class were lost at sea in unexplained circumstances: USS Proteus in November 1941 in the Bermuda Triangle and USS Nereus in December, 1941 in - you guessed it - the Bermuda Triangle.

The last ship of the class, USS Jupiter, was converted in 1920-1922 to our first aircraft carrier, USS Langley, commanded by Commander Kenneth Whiting (for whom Whiting Field is named after.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Cyclops_(AC-4)

 

[Hair Warrior]

After 21 years, I still don't know what a "dracone" is, other than an underwater condom. But somehow I don't think that's right.

A dracone is a large, rubberized inflatable filled with water or jet fuel that is slung alongside a ship to prevent it from having intercourse with other ships and creating new baby ships. Some think Congress mandated its use due to sequestration but others suspect that BUPERS invented them to adjust for SWO manpower shortages. Either way, we're going to have to abolish them if we want a 350 ship navy.