Ship Photo of the Day

[Randy Daytona]

SS John Burke was a Liberty ship launched on 15 Dec 1942. She was loaded with munitions headed for Leyte when on 28 Dec 1944 she was attacked by multiple kamikazes.

Length: 422 ft, 10 in, Beam: 52 ft Displacement: 14,474 tons
Powerplant: 2 triple expansion steam engines, generated 2,500 SHP to a single propeller giving 11 knots.

 

[Randy Daytona]

USS Nevada BB-36 (named after the 36th state) was a technological breakthrough for the US Navy - the first of the line of “Standard” battleships designed to all operate within the same parameters.

Nevada was the first US battleship to have: 1) triple gun turrets. 2) oil in place of coal. 3). all or nothing armor and 4) geared steam turbines.

Commissioned on 11 March 1916, she supported convoys in WW1. Famously, she was the only battleship to get underway during Pearl Harbor. As the Commanding Officer was ashore, the Officer of the Deck Ensign Joe Taussig get the Nevada moving. The Nevada served in both the Pacific and Atlantic providing gunfire support to include both Normandy and Iwo Jima. She was used as an atomic bomb target after the war, surviving the nuclear strike and then sunk as a target afterwards.

Length: 583 ft, Beam 95 ft, Displacement: 30,500 tons

Main armament: 10 (2x3, 2x2) 14”/45 caliber firing 1,500 lb shells to 23,000 yards (elevation limited)

Secondaries: 16 (8x2) 5”/38 caliber, multiple Bofors 40 mm and Oerkilon 20 mm

Main armor belt: 13.5 in, Deck: 5 in

Propulsion: 12 boilers fed 2 steam turbines for 26,500 SHP to 2 screws for 20.5 knots.


Nevada (right) and Oklahoma(left) steaming in the Atlantic in the 1920s


Nevada underway off the Atlantic coast of the United States on 17 September 1944


Nevada (BB-36) headed down channel after being intensely attacked by Japanese dive bombers.


Forward 14"/45 guns of Nevada (BB-36) fire on positions ashore, during the landings on "Utah" Beach, 6 June 1944.


A view from roughly 600 feet in altitude over the Caribbean Sea the day after departing the Panama Canal on her way to join the Atlantic Fleet, probably around 0930 on 14 July 1943, when Nevada (BB-36)reported a PBM patrolling around the formation of ships around Nevada .

 

[Randy Daytona]

USS Alabama (SSBN-731) is the 6th of the Ohio class of ballistic missile submarines. All of the Ohio class submarines are named after states with the exception of the USS Henry M. Jackson (SSBN-730) - (sidenote - what is the logic of the Navy's ship naming procedures today ???) Hard to believe these boats have been around since the late 1970's - Alabama was commissioned on 25 May 1985. Featured in the movie "Crimson Tide".

Length: 560 ft, Beam: 42 ft, Displacement (submerged):19,000 tons
Powerplant: 1 S8G nuclear reactor
Armament: Trident II ballistic missiles, Mark 48 torpedoes

View attachment 30375

The nuclear-powered strategic missile submarine Alabama (SSBN-731), left, and the nuclear-powered attack submarine San Francisco (SSN-711) are moored together at a pier in front of the guided missile cruiser Chosin (CG-65) during the change of command ceremony for the commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet on 1 February 1991.

View attachment 30377

The USS ALABAMA (SSBN 731) passes Cabrillo National Monument as it heads for the Naval Submarine Base Point Loma, California.

2 time Academy Award winner Gene Hackman, who played the skipper in the movie Crimson Tide, lied about his age and joined the Marines at 16, serving 4 1/2 years a field radio operator stationed in China. (actor Harvey Keitel did the same, joining the Marines at age 16)

View attachment 30379

Wanted to repost this upon hearing the passing of the legendary actor, and former Marine, Gene Hackman.

 

[Randy Daytona]

USS William D. Porter DD-579 was a Fletcher class destroyer that nearly changed the course of the war by accidentally launching a live torpedo directly at the battleship USS Iowa - while the Iowa had President Franklin Delano Roosevelt aboard headed to the Cairo and Tehran conferences in late 1943.

The William D. Porter’s deck log is succinct: “1436 Torpedo accidentally fired from #2 mount while torpedo battery was exercising at drills. Investigation being held. . . . 1503 Iowa resumed firing AA practice.” The Iowa recorded receiving notice of the torpedo at 1438 and made an emergency turn to port at full speed, 28 knots. Two minutes later, observers on board “felt [a] slight concussion” because of a “deep depth charge or torpedo exploding in the near vicinity of this ship.” The Iowa’s high-speed wake had detonated the torpedo at a distance that reports put at between 100 and 1,000 yards.
The William D Porter was sunk in 1945 by a kamikaze near miss.
At 0815 on 10 June 1945, while on radar picket duty off Okinawa, the destroyer was attacked by a lone, obsolete Val dive bomber. Although shot down close aboard by the destroyer’s gunners, the plane continued underwater until beneath the ship, where its bomb load exploded. Lifted from the water, the ship crashed down in flames. The crew fought for three hours to save her but to no avail. The supposed hard-luck ship went down with a bit of luck: Every man on board survived.


USS William D. Porter (DD-579), in Massacre Bay, Attu, Aleutian Islands, with other destroyers, 9 June 1944.


Damaged William D. Porter listing heavily. Landing Craft Support ships LCS(L)(3)-86 and LCS(L)(3)-122 (behind) are assisting.


USS William D. Porter (DD-579) as completed by Consolidated Steel Corp., Orange, TX. WILLIAM D. PORTER was completed with three twin 40-mm mounts and eleven 20-mm guns.


USS William D. Porter (DD-579) as modified by Charleston Navy Yard to the five twin 40-mm mounts and seven 20-mm guns configuration on September 24 1943.

 

[Randy Daytona]

The most hated vessel in World of Warships is IJN Shimakaze, as this greyhound of a destroyer could knock out not just a battleship but wreck an entire battleline. The lead ship of a class of super destroyers, she was destined to be an only child as the remainder of the class of 16 was never built. Courtesy of a new, high pressure steam plant, she made a blistering 40.9 knots on trials. The armament was staggering as well: 3 quintuple 24” heavyweight Long Lance torpedo launches mounted on the centerline and able to shoot left or right.

Length: 424 ft. 10 in, Beam: 36 ft 9 in, Displacement: 3,350 tons at full load.

Powerplant: 3 boilers generated 79,000 SHP to 2 screws gor 40.9 knots

Main armament: 15 (3x5) 24” Type 93 Long Lance Torpedoes

6 (3x2) 127mm cannons, multiple 25 mm AA

Commissioned: 10 May 1943, Sunk: 11 Nov 1944.


Shimakaze on sea trials at Miyazu Bay, 5 May 1943


Shimakazemaneuvering during her final battle, battle of Ormoc Bay, November 11th 1944

 

[Randy Daytona]

I had a model of this ship back in the day: USS Boston CAG-1. A Baltimore class heavy cruiser, it was the first ship to go in for an overhaul and emerge with Terrier class AA missiles (some of which had 1 kiloton nuclear warheads - wonder what the airburst on that would be?). The aft triple 8” gun turret and the dual 5” gun turrets were replaced by 2 twin launchers.

Friendly fire incident of 1968:
On the night of 16 June 1968, the USS Boston and HMAS Hobart were struck by missiles from a US Air Force F-4 Phantom jet which mistook the ships for low flying enemy helicopters near the DMZ. The Boston sustained light damage on the port side. The missile struck the ship's 6" thick armor belt above the waterline. Two sailors were killed and seven wounded aboard the Hobart, which was struck by three missiles. The Boston came alongside the Hobart, but they declined any assistance. Ironically, one of the missile fragments found on the deck of the Boston indicated it was manufactured in Waltham, Massachusetts, which is located 11 miles north of the city of Boston. On 1 August 1968, the US Command in Saigon confirmed that erroneous radar and poor coordination among the Services caused the incident.



On a full power run, 22 October 1943.


Port quarter view while underway, date and location unknown. (after 1952)


Very nice view of the two Terrier missile launchers on USS Boston (CAG 1), taken July, 1957, Norfolk Navy Base.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

disregarded the survivors and Red Cross flags, and began multiple attack runs. The next day, the same B-24 attacked U-506 which was carrying 191 survivors.

Sad chapter, one I wasn't aware of until now, and will be reading more.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

It is sad, but watching that thing slowly rust and list into the pier year after year was heartbreaking. If I had millions to donate to preserving a ship the USS Olympia would top my list (but I’d move it out of Philly).

I hated driving by her, moldering away, with memories of being on board and then watching her and my Grandmother sail from a NYC pier enroute to the Caribbean.

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

former Marine

Glad you reminded us Randy. However, not former, but Marine! Once a Marine, always a Marine.
The sounds of Eternal Father are heard, remembering this loss.

 

[Randy Daytona]

USS Long Beach CGN-9 was the first nuclear powered surface combatant. Commissioned on 9 September 1961, she stayed in service until 1 May 1995. The 15,500 ton cruiser was 721 ft, 3 in long with a beam of 71 ft, 6 in. She was also the last cruiser design, all future cruisers used scaled up destroyer designs.

During the Vietnam War, USS Long Beach, known as “Alcoa” due to her extensive use of aluminum, shot down MIG’s several times at ranges in excess of 60 miles.


USS Long Beach on 9 May 1973


RIM-8 Talosmissile launcher on USS Long Beach,July 1961


USS Long Beachc.1989


RIM-2 Terriermissile launch from USS Long Beach, October 1961


USS Enterprise (CVAN 65) underway in formation with USS Long Beach (CGN 9), center, and USS Bainbridge (DLGN 25), at top, probably in the Mediterranean Sea in June-July 1964. Members of Enterprise's crew are in a flight deck formation spelling out Albert Einstein's equation for nuclear energy. Planes on her flight deck include 9 A-5, 22 A-4; 10 F-4; 14 F-8 and 2 E-1 types. Those aft are parked in an arrowhead arrangement. The photograph was released for publication on 30 July 1964, upon the commencement of Operation "Sea Orbit", the circumnavigation of the World by Task Force One, made up of the Navy's first three nuclear-powered surface ships.

​

 

[PhrogPhlyer]

 

[Randy Daytona]

HMS Caroline, Pennant #87, is a C class light cruiser and the last surviving ship that fought at Jutland in 1916. Commissioned in 1914, she stayed in service for almost a century, finally being decommissioned in 2011. She is now a museum in Belfast.

HMS Caroline | National Museum of the Royal Navy

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www.nmrn.org.uk

Caroline in 1917


Stern view of Caroline at night

 

[Flash]

USS Long Beach CGN-9 was the first nuclear powered surface combatant. Commissioned on 9 September 1961, she stayed in service until 1 May 1995. The 15,500 ton cruiser was 721 ft, 3 in long with a beam of 71 ft, 6 in. She was also the last cruiser design, all future cruisers used scaled up destroyer designs.

View attachment 42022
USS Long Beachc.1989

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Fun, and useless, 'fact' of the day...she apparently had a semi-permanent 2 to 3 degree port list for much of her career. A SWO to pilot transition in my first squadron who did his first tour on her mention it and I've seen it in a few articles on her as well.

 

[Flash]

HMS Caroline, Pennant #87, is a C class light cruiser and the last surviving ship that fought at Jutland in 1916. Commissioned in 1914, she stayed in service for almost a century, finally being decommissioned in 2011. She is now a museum in Belfast.

View attachment 42033

Last pic is of the HMS Belfast in London, not the HMS Caroline...in Belfast.

 

[Max Q]

USS Arlington (AGMR-2)
1965-1970

Was the USS Saipan (CVL 48) before conversion. My gramps served as the suppo off Yankee Station.