Ship Photo of the Day

[Griz882]

Watching the 1965 film "In Harm's Way"

In the movie, just after Pearl Harbor, Kirk Douglas as CDR Paul Eddington (who would never survive today's Navy with his treatment of nurses) gets to utter one of the best naval movie quotes ever..."Old Rock of Ages, we've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war!"

 

[Griz882]

Watching the 1965 film "In Harm's Way" (John Wayne's last black and white film). In the film, Captain Torrey (John Wayne) has command of a heavy cruiser at Pearl Harbor. The ship used for these scenes was the USS Saint Paul (CA-73), a Baltimore class heavy cruiser. Unlike some other cruisers which were later outfitted with missiles, the Saint Paul kept her all gun armament to the end.

The Saint Paul was commissioned in 1945, joining the fleet off Japan in July 1945. She also served in Korea and Vietnam.

Length: 673 ft, Beam: 71 ft, Displacement: 14,500 tons
4 boilers pushed 120,000 HP through 4 screws for 32+ knots
Main armament: 9 (3x3) 8"/55 cal cannons firing 335 lb shells out to 30,000 yards.
Secondaries: 12 (6x2) 5"/38 cal dual purpose, 48 (12x4) 40mm Bofors, 22 20mm Oerlikons
Armor: Belt: 4"-6", Deck: 2.5"
Commissioned: 17 Feb 1945, Decommissioned: 30 Apr 1971, Struck: 31 Jul 1978

View attachment 22146
The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Saint Paul (CA-73) underway in Massachusetts Bay, 15 March 1945

View attachment 22147
Saint Paul fires her 8-inch 55-caliber (203-mm) guns at Chinese troops threatening the evacuation of United Nations forces from Hungnam, North Korea, in December 1950

View attachment 22150
Three gun salvo from Turret Three of the USS Saint Paul while bombarding at Inchon, Korea, circa 21-31 January 1951. Note the projectles in flight in the upper left of the photo.

View attachment 22148
The destroyer USS Buck (DD-761), battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64), and Saint Paul steam in close formation during operations off the Korean coast in 1952.

View attachment 22151
USS Saint Paul (CA 73) near Wonsan, Korea, on 27 July 1953, just before signing of the truce at Panmunjon. A 12.7 cm (5 in) shell is fired from ship against North Korean shore batteries. This round is believed to have been the last fired on enemy positions by UN Naval units before the armistice.


View attachment 22149
On station in Vietnam (note the missing forward 5" turret)

Also alluded to in the movie is the USS Ward, DD-139. An old Wickes Class four-stack destroyer with WWI duty, she drew first blood on December 7 when she sank an IJN mini-sub trying to enter Pearl Harbor.



She was built at Mare Island Navy Yard.
Laid Down: 15 May 1918
Launched: 1 June 1918 (yes, she was completed in 14 days!)
Commissioned: 24 July 1918
Moth-Balled: 21 July 1921
Reactivated: 15 January 1941
Reclassified: "High Speed Transport" APD-16 16 February 1943
Sunk 7 December 1944 (Kamikaze attack)

Rediscovered: 5 December, 2017.

 

[Flash]

In the movie, just after Pearl Harbor, Kirk Douglas as CDR Paul Eddington (who would never survive today's Navy with his treatment of nurses) gets to utter one of the best naval movie quotes ever..."Old Rock of Ages, we've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war!"
View attachment 22153

The actual officer Douglas's character was likely loosely based on, who in real life wasn't as bad as the character, didn't do too well back then either. IIRC correctly he had a reputation for really hard drinking and running around with other officer's wives, one of which he later married. He was put out to pasture and had to retire while his peers made flag.

I did like the LBJ-based character too, very timely.

 

[jollygreen07]

Also alluded to in the movie is the USS Ward, DD-139. An old Wickes Class four-stack destroyer with WWI duty, she drew first blood on December 7 when she sank an IJN mini-sub trying to enter Pearl Harbor.

View attachment 22154

She was built at Mare Island Navy Yard.
Laid Down: 15 May 1918
Launched: 1 June 1918 (yes, she was completed in 14 days!)
Commissioned: 24 July 1918
Moth-Balled: 21 July 1921
Reactivated: 15 January 1941
Reclassified: "High Speed Transport" APD-16 16 February 1943
Sunk 7 December 1944 (Kamikaze attack)

Rediscovered: 5 December, 2017.

In one of those weird quirks of war, the man who commanded WARD during the attack at Pearl was the skipper of O’BRIEN (DD-725) when she was charged with scuttling WARD with main battery gunfire.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_W._Outerbridge

 

[Randy Daytona]

In the movie, just after Pearl Harbor, Kirk Douglas as CDR Paul Eddington (who would never survive today's Navy with his treatment of nurses) gets to utter one of the best naval movie quotes ever..."Old Rock of Ages, we've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war!"
View attachment 22153

Quite the all-star cast in the movie: John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, James Mitchum, Henry Fonda, Slim Pickens, etc. Was trying to remember where I saw the actress who played Eddington's wife - looked it up and she was in one of the original Star Trek episodes (By Any Other Name): Barbara Bouchet.

Back to naval vessels, good article in Proceedings about The USS Thresher.

https://www.usni.org/magazines/proc...edom-information-act-request-yielding-results

 

[Renegade One]

I did like the LBJ-based character too, very timely.

Which character was that?

 

[Flash]

Which character was that?

The character Neal Owyn seems to at least to be partially based on LBJ, especially given the year the movie was released and the lead actor's political leanings.

 

[Renegade One]

The character Neal Owyn seems to at least to be partially based on LBJ, especially given the year the movie was released and the lead actor's political leanings.

Well, I don't really see it, any more than the character Jere Torrey being based on JFK, but whatever.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Saw this on the National Interest and thought it was interesting. The 11th vessel of the Sōryū-class, the Ōryū , will be the first Japanese submarine with lithium batteries. The X-shaped tail section is also interesting.

Length: 276 ft, Beam: 30 ft, Displacement: 2,900 tons surfaced, 4,200 tons submerged.
13 knots surfaced, 20 knots submerged
6 torpedo tubes

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/japans-submarine-force-has-secret-weapon-can-win-wars-62512

 

[Randy Daytona]

The USS Detroit (CL-8) was an Omaha class light cruiser. She was one of only two ships present at both Pearl Harbor and Tokyo Bay for the surrender (the other being the USS West Virginia). Being quite old, she served in Alaska and South America during WW2, only arriving with the main fleets in 1945.

Length: 555 ft, Beam: 55 ft, Displacement: 9,500 tons
4 turbines producing 90,000 HP fed 4 screws and gave 35 knots.
Main Armament (1945) 4 (2x2) 6"/53 caliber guns in turrets, 4 more 6"/53 caliber guns in casemounts. 2 triple 21" torpedo tubes.
AA Armament (1945) 8 3"/50 caliber, 5 twin 40 mm Bofors, 12 single 20 mm Oerkilons.
Armor: Belt: 3", Deck: 1.5"-4"
Commissioned: 31 July 1923, Decommissioned: 11 January 1946, Struck: 21 January 1946

 

[Randy Daytona]

USS Tennessee (BB-43). The first US battleship to incorporate lessons from Jutland, she was commissioned to late to see service in WW1. She and her sister ship California were the last 14" gunned battleships of the US Navy - worth noting that after Jutland the maximum elevation of the main guns was increased to 30 deg (from 15 deg), significantly increasing maximum range.

Lightly damaged at Pearl Harbor (she was inboard of the USS West Virginia and did not take any torpedoes), she sailed with the Maryland and Pennsylvania on 20 December 1941 to the West Coast for refitting. At the time, there were not enough tankers for both the old battlewagons as well as the carriers and other ships in the Pacific so those ships were somewhat later getting over to the fight. Would be interesting to consider how those 3 heavies could have influenced the Battle for Guadalcanal. The Tennessee was part of the battle line that crossed the Japanese fleet in the Surigao Strait, she also was present at Tarawa, Iwo Jima and Okinawa.

Length: 624 ft, Beam: 97 ft, Displacement: 33,190 tons at full load
8 boilers produced 26,800 HP, through 4 shafts giving 21 knots (for comparison, the Iowas produced 212,000 HP for 33 knots)
Armament (1945): 12 (4x3) 14"/50 caliber Mark 11's firing 1,500 shells to 36,800 yards
16 (8x2) 5"/38 caliber dual purpose, 10 quad 40mm Bofors and 43 single 20 mm Oerkilons
Armor: Belt: 8-13.5", Deck: 3.5" Turret Face: 18"
Commissioned: 03 June 1920 Decommissioned: 14 February 1947 Struck: 01 March 1959



May 1943 photo of the Tennessee (BB-43) as rebuilt and on post refit trials. Not a flattering shot for a lady with a wide beam, but it readily shows the "new" hull design that was also applied to the California (BB-44) and West Virginia (BB-48).




Tennessee and the destroyer Zellars after both vessels had been hit by kamikazes on 12 April 1945


Tennessee's (BB-43) bell on display at the Military Museum in Nashville.

 

[Randy Daytona]

Just happened to see this - thought it quite impressive show of naval strength.

The Iowa (BB-61) leads its battle group into Augusta Bay, Sicily. The aircraft carrier Coral Sea (CV-43) and its battle group are at left; the aircraft carrier Saratoga (CV-60) and its battle group are at right, 17 October 1987.

 

[Jim123]

A BBBG and a CVBG!

Even just pictures like that were great for recruiting.

 

[Griz882]

A whole lot of legacy stuff packed into that image, and a lot more than just ships.

There are Corsairs, Intruders, Tomcats, Sea Kings, Sea Sprites, Prowlers, Signalmen, Storekeeper's, Gunner's Mates (the rate still exist, but the really big guns are gone), Boiler Technicians, Torpedomen, and a bunch of long gone rates, equipment, and even tactics.

 

[Randy Daytona]

HMS Montrose (F236) is one of the 13 Type 23 Duke class frigates. It is in the news for being the first Royal Navy warship recently sent over for tanker escort in the Persian Gulf.

Length: 436 ft, Beam 52', Displacement: 4,900 tons
4 diesels and 2 gas turbines combine for 7,500 NM of range and 28+ knots of speed
Armament: 32 cell Sea Wolf anti-aircraft missile system, 2x4 Harpoon anti-ship missiles, 2x12.75" anti-submarine torpedoes
1x4.5" Mark 8 main gun, 2x30mm, 2 mini-guns, 1 helicopter with an enclosed hangar
Commissioned: 02 June 1994

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...608f9d0c2d3_story.html?utm_term=.839629250361

Article out yesterday concerning the Royal Navy's surface fleet, not counting the Queen Elizabeth and the soon to follow Prince of Wales.
https://news.usni.org/2019/08/01/ir...yal-navy-to-its-limits-as-new-pm-takes-charge

Since the Falklands conflict in 1982 the number of warships in RN service (excluding coastal patrol vessels) has shrunk by 75 percent. Real defense spending in the U.K. has fallen to 1.8 per cent of GDP. Just nine frigates and destroyers are currently available for operational service, with 10 laid up or in refit.