Ship Photo of the Day

[Randy Daytona]

TCG Anadolu is amphibious assault ship / drone carrier of the Turkish Navy and was commissioned on 10 April 2023. Based on Spain’s Juan Carlos class with a ski jump, there are plans for a second ship.

The ship displaces 27,000 tons, has a length of 761 feet with a beam of 105 ft. Capable of 21 knots, the Andalolu can carry a combination of airplanes, helicopters and drones.







TCG Anadolu (L-400) of the Turkish Navy at the Sedef Shipyard in Istanbul.


The Baykar Bayraktar TB3 on the flight deck of TCG Anadoluanchored at the Seraglio Point on the Golden Horn in Istanbul.




Bell AH-1W Super Cobra and Sikorsky S-70B-28 Seahawkhelicopters on the deck of TCG Anadolu.

 

[Randy Daytona]

The last ship to be sunk in WW1 was HMS Ascot, 1 of the 32 Racecourse minesweepers of the Royal Navy. She was sunk by a torpedo from U-67 on 10 November 1918.

Interestingly, this class of ships did not have screws, but rather paddlewheels - an advantage in coastal or protected waters. The ship could have a shallower draft, had no propeller shafts below waterline and was extremely maneuverable (especially at low speeds) by varying the rotation rate of the left and right paddlewheels.

Length: 235 ft. Beam: Hull 29 ft, (58 ft at the paddles). Displacement: 810 tons resulting in 6 ft, 9 in of draft. Engines and paddlewheels were good for 15 knots.


HMS Ascot


Sister ship HMS Plumpton

 

[number9]

Not sure if this is in the spirit of this thread, but I chuckled when I saw it on Twitter:

 

[Randy Daytona]

Not a particular ship today, but rather a link to all of Drachinifel’s Drydock series: over 260 videos answering question after question on warship design and naval history- a great listen for your drive to and from work.

 

[Randy Daytona]

The French battleship (battlecruiser ?) Dunkerque was the lead ship (of 2) French battleships constructed in the 1930’s in response to the German pocket battleships. To save weight, the 13” main guns were all forward in two 4 gun turrets. The turrets had a partition in the middle that would prevent a single strike from knocking out all 4 guns, which is what happens when she was struck by a 15” shell from HMS Hood at the Battle of Mers-el-Kebir.

One of the interesting items was the arrangement of the secondary batteries: I have seen 20mm and 40mm grouped together in 4 gun and 6 gun mounts, likewise 6” and larger guns in turrets mounting 2, 3 or 4 guns - this is the only ship class that I have found that has the guns from roughly 3”/50 cal to 5”/54 cal size mounted in more than a dual turret. Dunkerque has three 4 gun 130mm (5.1”) dual purpose guns at the rear.

This arrangement would be repeated on a larger scale with the Richelieu class battleships that had two 4 gun 15” turrets forward and three 3 gun 6” turrets aft.





The French Modele 1932 130mm/45 (5.1in) in a quadruple turret. These were on battleships only.

 

[vxc961]

Thanks Randy! I’m always interested to learn about the French in WW2…it seems like it’s a pretty decent blind spot of mine, so I’ll be heading down the rabbit hole a bit now!

 

[Flash]

I have seen 20mm and 40mm grouped together in 4 gun and 6 gun mounts, likewise 6” and larger guns in turrets mounting 2, 3 or 4 guns - this is the only ship class that I have found that has the guns from roughly 3”/50 cal to 5”/54 cal size mounted in more than a dual turret. Dunkerque has three 4 gun 130mm (5.1”) dual purpose guns at the rear.

The Yamato and Musashi were built with 4 triple 155mm turrets, later reduced to 2 on the Yamato to install more AA guns. The rear and port side 155 turrets are visible in this pic.

 

[Griz882]

What’s interesting, when one looks over the last two pages or so of this thread, is the shift from armor, to torpedo belts, and on to AA defense. Were we to look at WWII cruisers under the same light we’d see the shift from gun cruisers to AA cruisers (like the Atlanta class) and on to fully equipped AA cruisers like the the Juneau class.

 

[jmcquate]

What’s interesting, when one looks over the last two pages or so of this thread, is the shift from armor, to torpedo belts, and on to AAA defense. Were we to look at WWII cruisers under the same light we’d see the shift from gun cruisers to AA cruisers (like the Atlanta class) and on to fully equipped AA cruisers like the the Juneau class.

Reflects how the threat changed from the IJN to land based aircraft (Kamikazes).

 

[Randy Daytona]

Thanks Randy! I’m always interested to learn about the French in WW2…it seems like it’s a pretty decent blind spot of mine, so I’ll be heading down the rabbit hole a bit now!

The French built the first 2 Richelieu battleships, Richelieu and Jean Bart. As they saw the Germans completing the 2 Bismarcks, the French ordered 2 more Richelieus, Clemenceau and Gascogne. Interesting how the designs were changed for the last 2 that were never built.


Richelieu and Jean Bart


Clemenceau



Gascogne

What’s interesting, when one looks over the last two pages or so of this thread, is the shift from armor, to torpedo belts, and on to AA defense. Were we to look at WWII cruisers under the same light we’d see the shift from gun cruisers to AA cruisers (like the Atlanta class) and on to fully equipped AA cruisers like the the Juneau class.

One of the problems of US battleship design (in my opinion) was the inefficient layout of the massive AA batteries which did not have the centerline 5”/38 cal secondaries that US cruisers had. There were proposals (the King / Nimitz design) for Illinois and Kentucky that might have happened had they been completed.

One of the other proposals was to remove the 450 ton conning tower - which was roughly the weight of the triple automatic 8” gun turret on the Des Moines. Finding somewhere, anywhere, to add that on an Iowa would have been fantastic: able to decimate destroyers and cruisers while also being to destroy the upper works (and sensors) of opposing dreadnoughts out to 30,000 yards.






King / Nimitz version of an Iowa class

I do have to mention one of the anti-aircraft versions proposed for Illinois and Kentucky had the 16” turrets replaced by quad 8” turrets and a massive increase of dual 5”/54 secondaries which had a 50% increase in range over the 5”/38’s

 

[ChuckMK23]

I read of the Constellation class Frigate production underway in @mad dog 's home state of Wisconsin.

I would be interested in hearing people smarter than me explain the difference between Destroyer and Frigate. What Sets the two apart and why even use two different terms for ships smaller than a cruiser?

 

[Griz882]

I read of the Constellation class Frigate production underway in @mad dog 's home state of Wisconsin.

I would be interested in hearing people smarter than me explain the difference between Destroyer and Frigate. What Sets the two apart and why even use two different terms for ships smaller than a cruiser?

In modern terms, almost nothing. The technical answer is that frigates are typically used as escort vessels (like the old DE of WWII) to protect sea lines of communication but more recently as an auxiliary component of a strike group. On the other hand destroyers are generally integrated into carrier battle groups as the air defense component or utilized to provide territorial air and missile defense. Assuming a war with China lasts more than a month or two, frigates would likely return to their old role of merchant convoy escort carrying a strong ASW and capable AMW suite.

 

[Llarry]

A minor chapter in the story of USN aircraft carriers is the operations of two side paddlewheel-powered carrier conversions with coal-fired propulsion systems on the Great Lakes during WW2. USS Sable and USS Wolverine operated training aircraft (SNJs with tailhooks), TDN drones and a variety of fleet aircraft (at least F4F/FM and TBF)

 

[Griz882]

A minor chapter in the story of USN aircraft carriers is the operations of two side paddlewheel-powered carrier conversions with coal-fired propulsion systems on the Great Lakes during WW2. USS Sable and USS Wolverine operated training aircraft (SNJs with tailhooks), TDN drones and a variety of fleet aircraft (at least F4F/FM and TBF) View attachment 38095View attachment 38096View attachment 38097

There are also more than 100 USN aircraft at the bottom of Lake Michigan! According to the Naval Historical Center…”Through ship’s logs and Aircraft Accident Cards we know that of the aircraft listed as lost were 41 TBM/TBF Avengers, one F4U Corsair, 38 SBD Dauntless, four F6F Hellcats, 17 SNJ Texans, two SB2U Vindicators, 37 FM/F4F Wildcats and three experimental drones known as TDNs.”

I think several of these have been recovered and repaired by the Kalamazoo Air Museum.

 

[GroundPounder]

There are also more than 100 USN aircraft at the bottom of Lake Michigan! According to the Naval Historical Center…”Through ship’s logs and Aircraft Accident Cards we know that of the aircraft listed as lost were 41 TBM/TBF Avengers, one F4U Corsair, 38 SBD Dauntless, four F6F Hellcats, 17 SNJ Texans, two SB2U Vindicators, 37 FM/F4F Wildcats and three experimental drones known as TDNs.”

I think several of these have been recovered and repaired by the Kalamazoo Air Museum.

Cold,
fresh water is not too hard on the things that end up that deep.