Random photo montage of enjoyment......

A slight change of pace..........Video's!
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[YT=Battleship HMS Barham torpedoed by U-boat, then destroyed by magazine explosion 1941]6V8O_7olz7I[/YT]

I found these drawings of American Aircraft Carrier classes, taken from a Russian publication, a while back. I'll share.

This is USS Saratoga, CV-3 in her late war fit. She was converted to a carrier on the stocks from an incomplete battlecruiser, and expended as a target for the Bikini nuclear experiments in 1946 after a very busy and brutal war. The Saratoga and her sister Lexington CV-2 were the largest carriers in the fleet during the war(although the Essex class carried more aircraft)


The USS Ranger CV-4. Generally considered a failure because of low speed and poor handling characteristics. She was limited in size and scope by the washington naval treaty of 1923, and had a relatively uneventful war(participating operationally in Operation Torch and Operation Leader only). Scrapped in 1947.

The USS Enterprise CV-6. The most decorated ship to serve in WWII, she was very unfortunately was broken up for scrap in 1959 after a losing fight to get her outfited as a museum(even Admiral Halsey couldn't save her). This class formed the basis for the next class of carrier, the very successful Essex class.

USS Essex, CV-9. This shows her appearance in late WWII. 24 of these ships were built, and formed the backbone of US Navy carrier operations well into the early 1970's. None of this class was lost during the war, a testament to their excellent design and construction(and the quality of damage control parties!)

This is the light carrier USS Independence, CVL-22. This class of 9 ships were converted from incomplete Cleveland class light cruisers, and were successful at filling the gap until enough Essex class carriers could be commissioned. Only one of the class, Princeton CVL-23 was lost during the war, and one, Cabot CVL-28 served the Spanish navy until 1989. She was transferred back to the US, where a completely inept preservation effort failed and she was scrapped in 2000. A terrible loss to maritime history.

USS Oriskany, CV-34. This modification of the Essex class carrier, known as "SCB-125", makes for the most attractive carrier ever, in my opinion! Oriskany herself was the last Essex to leave frontline service in 1976(Lexington CV-16 lasted until 1991 as a training carrier), and was sunk as a reef in 2006.

USS Midway, CV-41. This is her early in her career, before major modernization.

Midway after her SCB-101.66 modernization. this allowed her to serve into the early 1990's(she could have served into the 2000's if the Cold War hadn't ended). Of the three ships of the class, Midway served the longest, being decommissioned in 1992 and stricken in 1997(Sisters Franklin Roosevelt and Coral Sea were disposed of in 1977 and 1990 respectively).

our first Super carriers, the Forrestal class. These ships served into the mid 1990's, and all 4 still exist(Forrestal, Saratoga and Ranger are on Museum Hold, and Independence is scheduled to be scrapped after bein g heavily cannibalized to support active carriers).

USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63. The next evolution in carrier design, using the Forrestal class as a template. This class lasted into the early 2000's, except for the USS America CV-66, who didn't undergo a SLEP modernization and was in terrible shape when she decommissioned in 1996.

USS Enterprise CVN-65, as she appeared before her modernization in the early 1980's. She is currently the oldest active ship in the US Navy, being commissioned in 1961. Efforts are currently underway to decommission this ship earlier than projected(2014), and I've heard she's in pretty bad material condition.

And finally, USS Nimitz CVN-67. This is the most current US carrier class.

Fin!

I'm an Ex-Army guy. I know nothing of these photos of which you post


Still cool though

It returns......Now that I have a break from school! This installment is dedicated to coastal defense guns. Fascinating stuff!

This is an 11in Krupp gun at the Oscarsborg Fortress, Norway. This gun, installed in 1893, and one other mount fired 2 shots into the German heavy cruiser Blucher as she entered the Drobak Narrows during the invasion of Norway in 1940 at a range of 1 mile. The first shot landed in front of the fore mast, creating a fire amidships. The second round struck below the 8in A turret forward, dismounting the turret and blowing huge chunks of the ship into the Fjord. After being blanketed with fire from 5.9in and 57mm mounts, Blucher was struck by underwater torpedo tubes firing Whitehead torpedoes made in Austria-Hungary......in 1901. Blucher still to this day rests on the bottom of the Drobak Narrows.

This is a twin 5.9in mount in Rødvig, Denmark. This particular turret used to be mounted on the German Battlecruiser Gneisenau, and served as part of her secondary armament. Gniesenau herself was crippled in an airstrike and had her armament removed and placed around Scandinavia and The Netherlands as coastal defense platforms. These turrets weren't particularly successful aboard ship, as they weren't dual purpose(meaning they could only engage surface targets, and not aircraft).

This is a 5.5in gun removed from the Battlecruiser Hood during a refit pre-war, on the Faroe Islands. This, and 2 others on Ascension Island, are the largest remaining relics of the Hood, Destroyed in battle by the German Battleship Bismark and the Heavy Cruiser Prinz Eugen in 1941.

This is very interesting to me. This is one of the 4 main battery 12in turrets from the Russian Battleship Poltava, damaged beyond repair by a fire in 1919. This particular mount saw a good amount of action at Sevastopol during the German Invasion, and was reported to be in service all the way into the 1990's!

Another 12in Poltava Turret, just so you get the flavor....

Definitely someplace I'd like to see in the Philippines(right after I dive on the Armored Cruiser Rochester), Fort Drum. Known as "the concrete battleship", she defended Manila Bay until the American forces surrendered in 1942. The thing was effectively destroyed by the US after stiff Japanese resistance within the structure. I'd be very happy if someone decided to salvage and restore those 14in turrets!

This is the 11in C(Aft) turret formerly belonging to the Battlecruiser Gniesenau at Austratt Fort, Trondheim, Norway. This turret helped sink the British Aircraft Carrier Glorious and the Destroyers Acasta and Ardent in the North Sea, 1940. This turret was also in service well into the late 20th century!

And finally, the monstrous "Admiralty Pier Gun", aka "Dover Turret". This beast is an armored turret built in 1882, and mounts 2 RML 16in 80 ton rifled muzzle loading guns. Considered obsolete by 1902, this thing seems to have been sealed up and forgotten until somewhat recently, when it was discovered that the guns were still in place.

Here's a view of the guns themselves. Big fuckers!
There you have it.

Although I posted these in Scorponoks photo thread, I'd like to post them here with a more detailed explanation of what's in the photos! Way back in 1994, I took a trip to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wa. After 2 previous trips without bringing a camera, I remedied that with this one.

First(in "direction the tour boat was travelling" order), we have the nuclear powered Cruiser USS California, CGN-36. At the time this picture was snapped, she only had 5 more years left of active service. With the end of the Cold War, the Nuclear Cruiser force was phased out(as were all non-vertical launch system equipped cruisers, nuclear or not), 8 ships in all with the youngest only 18 years old at the time of decommissioning.

This is the USS Proteus, IX-518, and the 250 ton capacity Hammerhead Crane, built in 1933. The Proteus has undergone a conversion from a SSBN specialist Submarine Tender built in 1944, to an unpowered barracks hulk. At this time she was housing the crew of USS Nimitz(CVN-68) during a drydocking. Proteus would eventually be scrapped in Brownsville, TX in 2007.

Here we have the USS Nimitz, CVN-68, fresh out of drydock. Big fucker.

This was always my favorite ship to see when I'd go on these trips, the Essex class USS Oriskany, CV-34. She was incomplete by the end of WWII, and was completed in 1950 as the modified "SCB-27A" prototype. After a 26 year long career, she was decommissioned in 1976 and stored at PSNS in reserve. In the early 1980's, there were various plans put forth to recommission Oriskany and her sister, Bon Homme Richard(CVA-31) to support the new Iowa class battleship surface action groups. Unfortunately, since the only aircraft the ships were capable of operating no longer existed in significant numbers, and the ships themselves had been cannibalized to a degree to support their still commissioned sister Lexington(CV/CVS/AVT-16), the plans came to nothing. She was stricken from the naval list in 1989, and sunk as an artificial reef off the coast of Florida in 2005.

Another shot of Oriskany. This would be the last time I'd see her here, the last of 4 Essex class carriers that had inhabited the yard since 1970(Oriskany, Bon Homme Richard CVA-31, Hornet CVS-12 and Bennington CVS-20).

Miscellaneous support ships. From left to right; a Wichita class replenishment fleet tanker(in reserve), a single Suribachi class ammunition ship, and the not yet commissioned USS Rainier(AOE-7).

The Forrestal class super carrier USS Ranger(CV-61), a new at the time arrival, having only been out of commission for a few months. She is currently slated to become a museum ship, if anyone can pony up the bucks.

The USS Midway(CV-41), surrounded by a great deal of recently decommissioned Knox(FF-1052) class frigates. Midway went on to become a fine museum ship in San Diego, and the Knox's wen to to either friendly navies(Turkey, Taiwan, Greece...) or are riding the bottom of the ocean.

And last, but certainly not least, the USS New Jersey(BB-62) and USS Missouri(BB-63). We fought hard to keep Missouri in Bremerton, but Pearl Harbor got her instead. Don't they have enough shit already?
New Jersey herself went to Camden, NJ, in 1999.

Done and done!

Well, when the guns were new, muzzle loading guns were still top of the line!
Check this out:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:RML_16_inch_gun_Clowes_Vol_VII.jpegShip mounted style!

You know what's wrong with modern aircraft carriers? No conveyor belt.

Ok, so I've been busy lately, but now I've returned to this thread!

I fix the cars people wreck for a living. Gods help me, I do love it so. Here is a taste.....

This is what happens to your Rav4 when you get rear-ended. It's ok. You cut, I fix!


This one is after I've removed the bumber cover, spare tire and moldings off the door. You can see the bent bumper support on the left.....


Turns out the door/hatch was bent! Off you go! Tail lights too!


Once the bumper support was removed, there was damage underneath! That panel can be removed when you drill out the spot welds, and remove the seam sealer.......like so!


So, a brand new panel is welded into place where the old used to be. I love me some welding!



The new hatch arrived, so it has been installed. Stay tuned, more to come!

Alright, now for the competion of the previous post! I kind of forgot to take more pics while I was putting the damn thing back together, and it left before I had the chance to take pictures of it fully finished.........


As you can see, the bumper cover and hatch have been painted and reinstalled, the badges put back on, and the cladding on the hatch put back on. After this, I reinstalled the spare tire and it's cover, and away it went! I do this 3 or 4 times a day, with more cars torn apart than that! It's rewarding!

Now, since I'm not one to have a post in this thread with one solitary picture, let's move on, shall we? I think I'll go with another intallment of "ship scrapping and wrecks"! Away!


This is the famous British Battleship Warspite, Impaled on the rocks of Prussia Cove, 1946. After a long, hard service that saw action in both World Wars, she was unceremoniously stripped and towed to the scrapper. Warspite had other plans, however. She parted her tow line and ran aground here. Eventually, she was raised and moved to another bay, where she was scrapped in situ. I wish the British weren't so broke all the time, their precious maritime history has and continues to slip away.


These are the Nuclear powered attack Submarines USS Skate SSN-578, and the USS Sargo SSN-583 in drydock at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton wa. The year is 1994, and both boats are being prepared to be broken up for scrap. Their Reactor vessels will be packaged and shipped by rail to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Richland, Wa to be buried along with all the other reactors from all the Nuke powered ships we've scrapped. These were the first full class of Nuclear powered submarines in the US fleet, the Skate class. Conventional hulled boats with nuclear hearts. The next class, the Skipjack class, incorporated the novel "Albacore" hull, making them round and much more hydrodynamic.


It took me a second to figure out what this was, but it's a Project 641 diesel electric attack submarine, NATO reporting name "Foxtrot". She's been beached, and has rolled onto her side! Russian ports are littered with shit like this. You can plainly see the torpedo tubes, active and passive sonar arrays in the bow. There are only a couple of active boats of this class left, out of 74 completed. The Ukraine and India are the only current operators, with the Indian boats being phased out due to age and the Ukranian boat being non-operational(but still technically in commission)


This is the former Fleet Oiler USS Taluga, AO-62, being towed in San Francisco Bay to her ultimate fate, scrapping in Brownsville, Tx. She was decomissioned sometime in the 1980's, and stored in the National Defence Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay, Ca. In June of 2010, she was drydocked for cleaning and removal of toxic chemicals, and towed to ESCO Marine Salvage in TX. The ball is really rolling with the old ship scrapping now, the reserve fleets are emptying fast!


This photo is fascinating. Taken in the 1980's, there are at least 7 Project 613 Whiskey class medium range patrol submarines being scrapped here......in Britain! There are at least two different marks of Whiskey here, judging from the dimensions of the hulls. I wasn't aware the English were scrapping Russian boats while the Cold War was still raging!


THis is the Japanese Heavy Cruiser Aoba, after being repeatedly bombed by US Carrier Planes, 1945. She was one of the very few major surface combatants to "survive" the war(she is technically above water....), the others being 2 heavy cruisers(both crippled and non-operational), 2 light cruisers(fully operational, but no fuel), 4 Battleships(one floating, the others not so much), and 4 Carriers(no gas, no planes, no pilots!). I think we should have salvaged at least one of these ships, and taken it home as a war trophy.

Fin!

Aren't these great?

The color yellow-winged Devastators are fantastic! I don't think I've ever seen color pics from the pre-war period!

The Devastator is a great looking aircraft, and these are the best pics I've ever seen of them! Very vivid!

Chrome yellow was apparently the Arctic Red of the 30s and early 40s.

Looks like that's not bare metal - they were painted silver.

Hey Krieg ..., not sure if you would know the answer to this or not, but it's a question about boats and you seem to know quite a bit about them ...

The seven year old, after watching Titanic (you know the one with Leo and Kate) has become obsessed with ships that have sunk. He's watched every you tube out there about ships - not just the ones that have sunk, but those are the ones he pays most attention to.

One of the you tube videos is about the Aquitania. The you tube showed it sinking, but doesn't say how. So we googled it, and everything else on the internet says it was retired.

So, was it retired or sunk?

RMS Aquitania was retired in 1950 and scrapped at Gareloch, Scotland. She was the last of the 4 funneled passenger liners, and the longest serving liner(36 years) until the Queen Elizabeth II passed her recently(39 years). She was also the only major passenger liner to serve in both World Wars.

http://youtu.be/-xMZ5ioAsnA

These are some pictures I've taken while living in Seattle. What a town!

MOAR!!!1!

This is a montage of pics having to do with the Battleships that participated in the Bikini Nuclear experiments in 1946. These pics are very clear, I'm quite impressed.

USS New York, BB-34. These were taken after the explosions, while she was being studied at Pearl Harbor.

USS Nevada, BB-36. Before and after pics.



USS Arkansas, BB-33. The oldest front line battleship we fielded during WWII, she would not survive the underwater "Baker" test after this picture was taken.
USS Pennsylvania, BB-38. She leaked all the way to Bikini, thanks to an expertly placed Japanese aerial torpedo strike at Okinawa, 1945.
IJN Nagato. At one time the most powerful battleship in the world, she was the only surviving Japanese battleship at the time of surrender. The journey from Japan to Bikini Atoll was apparently unpleasant, with only 180 men to run her and the ship being in an extreme state of disrepair. She, too, failed to survive the nuclear explosions.


Fin!

USS Texas, BB35 is currently sitting in the water near Houston, Texas. That is her sister ship, the New York, clearly labelled as such on the stern.

Texas had an extensive "makeover" more than 20 years ago, but time and hurricanes have apparently done some damage during that time and she could use another. Given the times, though, I doubt that it'll happen any time soon.

Lay off me, I'm drunk! Damn.

Spent some time today at a Naval Air Station in deep South Texas where they train about half the carrier pilots for the Navy. Went okay, but the coolest part was, that on the "parade grounds" (not exactly, but I don't know what else to call them) they had four 5"/25 caliber guns and mounts. Too cool for school. Those are the kind of guns that made up the secondary battery on many of the battleships sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor. They were also put on some fleet subs during the war, too. Of course I didn't have a still camera with me. I tried to look for data plates and foundry marks, but the former were missing and the guns had so many layers of paint on them that the latter were nowhere to be seen.

Anyway, the CO of the base had this huge photo behind his desk showing his EA-6B making an approach to the Abraham Lincoln (shot through the windscreen) and it made me think of this photo I saw linked to elsewhere (since LIFE wants to sell you that photo, you can't copy the direct link to it ). It's an F4F-3 making a stern takeoff from Enterprise in 1941. Apparently such operations weren't unusual with the early CVs.

They could also recover aircraft over the bow.



This appears to be an Avenger about to touch down on the Essex-class Yorktown (note the position of the wake).

Okay, THAT, I've never even heard of! Wow!

This installment is dedicated to the Peruvian Light Cruiser Almirante Grau, formerly the Dutch De Ruyter. She is currently the only all gun cruiser left in active service on the planet, and therefore the most interesting warship in service anywhere. Laid down in 1939, but not completed until 1953, De Ruyter was sold to Peru in 1973 and renamed Almirante Grau. She has been steadily upgraded since her purchase, being equipped with 8 Otomat mk II SSM launchers, OTOBreda 40mm L70 DARDO AA guns, and modern Dutch electronics and sensors. She is still a deployable vessel, and quite impressive!













These crusers are also South American, from Chile. All are former American Brooklyn class light cruisers(Nashville and Brooklyn), and the former Swedish cruiser Göta Lejon. These ships served between 1951 and 1992(Göta Lejon 1970-1984). Note the fascinating cammo paint jobs!








These are the Argentine cruisers General Belgrano and 9 de Julio, formerly USS Boise and Phoenix. 9 de Julio was decommissioned in 1978, and General Belgrano was torpedoed by HMS Conqueror on 2 May, 1982, with the loss of 323 crew.

This is the former USS St. Louis, later the Brazilian cruiser Tamandare. She served Brazil from 1951 to 1976.
Fin!

This is the British Battleship HMS Revenge in 1948, arriving at the scrap yard. England was in such a hurry to scrap ships that should have been memorials. A pity. Her sister ship, HMS Royal Oak, lies on the bottom of Scapa Flow after having been torpedoed by U47, under the command of Kptlt Gunther Prien, in 1939.


This is the Swedish "Pansarkepp" Coast Defence Battleship Sverige being scrapped in 1958. Sweden had three of this class of small battleships, armed with 4 11 inch guns.


This is the German Light Cruiser Koln, on the bottom of Wilhelmshaven harbor after a bombing raid. She was scrapped in situ in 1946.


This is HMS Howe being scrapped in Scotland in 1958. She, like her sisters in the King George V Class, had very little actual service under their belts, all being decommissioned within 5 years of the end of WWII. These were not the best battleships fielded in WWII, they were comparatively slow(28 knots), underarmed(14 inch main guns when 15/16 inch was becoming the standard), and turrets that were complicated and prone to breakdowns and stoppages(Prince of Wales vs. Bismarck and Duke of York vs Scharnhorst vividly illustrates this). The hull full of portholes and scuttles in front of the Howe is the HMS Montclare, a former 1922 vintage Passenger Liner commissioned into Royal Navy service as a Submarine Depot Ship, decommissioned in 1954 and scrapped alongside Howe.


The Majestic Class HMCS Bonaventure being towed to Taiwan for scrapping in 1971. She had been given an extensive refit in 1968, but the decision had been made soon after it was completed to eliminate the Carrier force, and she was decommissioned in 1970.


This is the Formidable class Pre-Dreadnought Battleship HMS London, just prior to scrapping in 1922. She was commissioned in 1902, and was considered obsolete upon the completion of HMS Dreadnought. She served in WWI as a battleship, and later a mine layer. Like most all Pre-Dreadnought battleships around the world, she was disposed of soon after the ending of hostilities.


HMS Tiger being towed to her final destination in 1986, the last British Cruiser. Started in 1941, launched in 1945 but not completed until 1959, she was converted into a helicopter cruiser in 1972. She decommissioned in 1978, and was scrapped in 1986. Her sister ship, HMS Blake, was decommissioned in 1979, making her the last cruiser in commission; however, she was broken up in 1982...

...like so.

Also, I'm quite gratified to see that someone has given my thread 5 stars, and it's been viewed over 26,000 times. Thanks, folks!

An Okinawan fishing boat!

(Photo taken by my father with a Kodak Speed Graphic, while flying a P-47N twenty feet over the water with his knees)

My father's P-47D "Big Squaw" being hoisted aboard an escort carrier at Pearl. The 318th FG's three squadrons were transported by jeep carrier to Saipan, where they were catapult-launched right into the middle of the invasion. They supported the ground forces and landed on the island's just-captured airstrip under fire.

Note that Dad didn't fly this particular plane for that event, but was assigned it later, after he got his first P-47 shot to pieces.