Random photo montage of enjoyment......

You beat me to it, shootER. Both Essex and Ticonderoga were CVS's later in life, meaning they had hydraulic catapults instead of the newer, more powerful steam catapults. This limited the type and size of aircraft that could be operated, thus their use as ASW assets. The Stoof(S2F) was the standard carrier ASW aircraft until the late 60's/early 70's, when they were replaced by the S3 Viking. Nowadays, all ASW is done by helicopters onboard carriers, not fixed wing assets.

Ah! Thanks.

These pics are cool as hell. I found some shots of various subs and other vessels being broken up at the Pounds Scrapyard in Plymouth, it's surprising and fascinating! Behold.







This is the Amphion class submarine HMS Artemis being broken up. He accidentally sank in 1971, and was sold for scrap that year. She survived in the scrapyard until the early 1990's!






3 Oberon class submarines. These were possibly the best postwar Diesel electric attack boats produced, in terms of silence and range. Very capable class of ships. There are a number of Oberon's preserved worldwide, they were very popular on the export market.


A wooden anchor! How fucking old is that?

This is a 4.5in DP turret off of a scrapped surface ship.










This is the jewel. This old boat is the USS S-29(SS-134), sold to Britain during WWII, and renamed HMS P-556. She was decommissioned in 1946, and taken to Pounds scrapyard. There she languished until her actual scrapping in 1987. She was the last pre-war American submarine in existence! Too bad she was never preserved, it would be fascinating to tour an old S-boat.

Fin!

Egyptian F-4 Phantom II's, circa 1985, via Life Magazine! I love me some Life magazine.











Enjoy!

The British are always broke, so they ditch their military equipment quicker than everyone else. After WWII, they were in a big hurry to get rid of their Battleships. One of these would have come in handy at the Falklands! Moar....


HMS Duke of York, of the King George V class, being broken up in 1957.


HMS Howe, also of the KGV class. She was scrapped in 1958, the last KGV class Battleship to go. She was also the newest unit in the class.


HMS Vanguard. She was the last Battleship built for Britain, and the last to be scrapped in 1960. Her 15in guns would have been useful later on.


HMS Warspite, HMS Queen ELizabeth and HMS Malaya(all of the Queen Elizabeth class), ready for scrapping in 1946.


HMS Renown, a WWI vintage Battlecruiser, ready for the torch, 1948.


The Royal Sovereign class Battleship Resolution, along with the Queen Elizabeth class HMS Valiant, 1947.


HMS Nelson, 1948.


The Royal Sovereign class Battleship HMS Revenge, 1948. She was broken up at the same time and place as HMS Nelson.

At least one of these ships should have been preserved for posterity, it's a shame none were.

I've always had a fascination with ships in Mothballs. Here's a selection from my local mothball fleet, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, both old and new.


A nice group of Knox class frigates, and the carrier USS Hornet, CVS-12 circa early 1990's.




From bottom to top; USS Independence, CV-62, USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63, USS Constellation, CV-64 and USS Ranger, CV-61.


From left to right; USS Hornet, CVS-12, USS Sperry, AS-12, USS Bennington, CVs-20, USS Bon Homme Richard, CVA-31 and USS Oriskany, CV-34, circa late 1980's


A number of older model Nuke submarines, circa late 1980's. Seawolf, Skate, Skipjack, Permit, George Washington and Ethan Allen class boats.


USS Chicago, CG-11 and USS Oklahoma City, CG-5.


USS Oklahoma City, CG-5, circa late 1980's.


USS Roanoke, CL-145 circa early 1970's.


USS Hornet, CVS-12 ans USS New Jersey, BB-62, circa early 1990's.


Another shot of Hornet, CVS-12.




USS Chicago, CG11 and USS Menhaden, SS-377. Menhaden, A Balao class GUPPY IIa conversion, had been decommissioned in 1971, stricken in 1973 and was stripped of engines and painted yellow for service with the Naval undersea warfare engineering station as an unmanned acoustic target capable of diving to moderate depths.

Fin!

Nevermind, fucking photobucket.

Didn't the British completely bitchslap the Argentine navy with, like, one fucking submarine and three or four torpedoes? Not trying to be a wiseass (okay...maybe a little,) but I don't think having a battleship or heavy cruiser on hand would've made too much of a difference.

I agree with you wholeheartedly, though, that at least one of them should've been preserved; even as a museum or somesuch.

I don't want to take anything away from HMS Conqueror, which executed a perfect textbook attack, but that's not the whole truth.

Conqueror sank one ship, a former US Navy Light Cruiser of WWII vintage. Two of the three torpedoes fired hit the Belgrano. The second was a one in a million shot. The torpedo penetrated the hull and entered the main machinery room before exploding. The Belgrano's electrical system died instantly. They had no power to run the pumps or fans as the ship filled with water and smoke. With her bow blown off (the first torpedo), no electricity, and without the aid of her two escorting destroyers, Damage Control was next to impossible.

Not quite. Elwood explained one part of your statement, I'll handle the other. Two factors come immediately to mind. First, think how easy it would have been for the British to bombard the Island with 8 15in or 10 14in guns pre landing, as opposed to the 4.5in guns that were available at the time. Not only the great increase in destructive power, but the psychological effect of heavy guns on ground troops. Second, the armor on either a King George V or Vanguard class Battleship would have been proof against the 500lb bombs and Exocet anti-ship missiles used by the Argentine Air Force. I doubt the money spent on keeping one of these ships in reserve like we did would have been prohibitive, especially considering all the money Britain saved by scrapping their carrier fleet in the 60's and 70's and rendering their fleet vulnerable to attack by a third rate regional South American power!

Took this over the weekend. Took the family to a sand sculpture contest and there was a near-drowning. For some reason they called in the Coast Guard.

I scanned these pictures the other day, this was a great trip I took back in 1999. I'll share.

This first batch were taken at the former Alameda Naval Station. The USS Hornet, CVS-12, is docked there as a museum. I recommend this ship to anyone in or going to the Bay Area.






These pics are from a few days later, when I went to the National Defense Reserve Fleet in Benicia, CA, and at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo.










And, finally, Downtown San Francisco.




Good times!

Here's some pictures from my last vacation to Charleston, SC. Please excuse the crappy camera phone. We took a day out to check out Patriot's Point, where the Yorktown (CV-10, Essex class) is based as a museum ship. She's got the Medal of Honor museum aboard. This was the 2nd Yorktown in the War, after the first famously was damaged in the battle of Coral Sea, and then fought and was sunk at Midway. This Yorktown did the name proud, raiding in the Gilberts and Marshalls, striking the Japanese fortress island of Truk and fighting in the Battle of the Phillipine Sea, the legendary 'Marianas Turkey Shoot.' She supported Lingayen during the retaking of the Phillipines, hit Formosa, was part of the air support at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. There her planes were part of the group that sank the legendary Yamato.

After the war she was converted to CVS-10, supported the Korean War earning 5 battle stars there (to go with her 10 and presidential citation in WWII). Her last mission was the recovery of Apollo 8. The Apollo 8 capsule was on board when we visited as part of the museum.




The Air Group tally list - note the YAMATO. One of three air groups on board.



The USS Laffey, 'the destroyer that would not die.' The building in the back is the resort we stayed in on the harbor. Very nice.

Got some very interesting things there - the USS Clagamore, the Cold War Submariner's monument, a Vietnam era helicopter base recreation. Got a great pic of my kid in front of a Vought F4U Corsair in the hangar deck of the Yorktown.
http://www.patriotspoint.org/

Good shots, Demi! I've always wanted to see the Yorktown, she's the worlds oldest carrier afloat. I've always been stumped as to why the Yorktown lacks so much topside equipment even now. The Lexington, Intrepid and Hornet all have most, if not all, of their final radar and weapons outfit installed currently. I'd love to see Clamagore as well, I love me some GUPPY III diesel boats!

A story for krieg, shot, written, and edited by a friend of mine.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local/north_bay&id=8652294

It's sad all the ships in the pics I took are swiftly being scrapped or sunk.

Time to switch it up a bit. Time for aircraft of badassness.


A collection of A-4F Skyhawks on the deck of the Essex class carrier Hancock, CV-19 in 1972. It's my opinion the A-4 is the most versatile, useful and upgradable aircraft ever created. Coming into service in 1956, constructed in progressively better forms until 1979, and not retired by the USN until 2003(1998 for the USMC), they're still in widespread service with a half dozen Air Forces to this day.


The superb Dassault Super Etendard being launched from the Carrier Foch. This is another favorite of mine, the French make excellent warplanes.


This German Luftwaffe F-4 Phantom II has a special tricolot paint job for the 50th anniversary of the types introduction. Big fucking plane!


The Saab J-29 Tunnan. You wouldn't think by looking at it, but this jet was a very effective fighter-bomber, serving well into the late 1970's.


The A-1 Skyraider, circa Koran War. Two of these aircraft, operating off the USS Intrepid, CVS-11, each downed a MiG-17 during the Vietnam War. Quite a feat for a 322mph radial powered attack bomber! This aircraft also had a very long service life, being introduced in 1946 and not finally withdrawn by the Gabonese AF until 1985.


This is a Luftwaffe F-104 Starfighter. I love the look of this aircraft, but General Johannes Steinhoff(176 kills) and Colonel Erich Hartmann(352 kills, the highest scoring ace ever) thought the aircraft was unsafe, and had poor handling characteristics for a fighter. I trust their judgement.


A totally sweet Libyan MiG-25 Foxbat. This was my favorite fighter when I was a kid. Fast, good looking, and of dubious worth in modern combat.

Fin!

A former manager of our marketing dept was a Blue Angel during the Scooter years. He once told me a drive dangerously. A Blue Angel told me I drive dangerously.

I missed that war in history class!

Halalala!!!1!

Someone hand krieg a tissue and step back, because he may spooge himself to death if he hasn't already seen this site.

Looks like it's photos of anything Vickers ever made.

As you might have noticed, I enjoy pics of ships being blown up. On a variation of that theme, I present: scuttled ships!




These pictures are of the German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper, after her bombing and subsequent scuttling in dock at Kiel at the end of WWII. She was one of the few German ships of any large size to be salvaged and not taken back to Russia.

This is the German Light Cruiser Koln after being sunk at the quay in 1945 by aircraft. Her guns were used to try to stem the tide of the Soviet advance until her scuttling.

The Guppy II submarine ARA Santa Fe, ex-USS Catfish after being scuttled following an assault by Royal Navy helicopters at the Falkland Islands in 1982. She was eventually raised and scuttled again in deep water by the English.

The Australian Indefatigable class battlecruiser HMAS Australia being ceremonially scuttled after falling victim to the Washington Naval disarmament treaty post WWI. Many Australians saw this ship as a symbol of their nationhood, and her scuttling is still lamented by people to this day as unnecessary.

I built a couple of models of the Hipper when I was a kid.

They both met more noble ends and are at the bottom of a stock tank, victims of me and my trusty Daisy Red Ryder range model air rifle.

MOAR!!1!


This is the former German Pre-Dreadnought Battleship Schleswig-Holstein, after being raised and towed to Tallinn by the Soviets. They never throw anythng away.

A very interesting picture of the former British Battleship Centurion after being scuttled to form part of the D-Day artificial harbor, or "Mullberry". This ship began life as a King George V class battleship in 1913, and was disarmed for duty as a remote controlled target ship. She carried out this duty until her scuttling in 1944.

The French Battleship Courbet after her scuttling in the "Mullberry" harbor. The Germans actually bombarded and attacked this ship with midget subs.

The SMS Hindenburg during salvage operations following her scuttling(along with the rest of the interned German battlefleet) in 1919. She was not raised until 1928. This was the best Battlecruiser fielded by anyone during the First World War, closer to a Fast Battleship than anything else.

Wait a few years for the new history books to be published...you may be in it!

I might check this out for the CGI alone:

[wyt="Japanese biopic about Yamamoto"]jefoskxAt9A#![/wyt]

This is a great little pictorial, although badly mislabeled. "Battleship" is not a word that describes all warships, it's a specific type of warship. No matter, enjoy......

http://www.angryboar.com/index.php/abandoned-russian-battleship-22-pics/

The Liner Queen Elizabeth, after burning from Stem to Stern in Hong Kong Harbor, 1972.



Liberty Ships, C-1 freighters and a couple of old Owasco class Coast Guard cutters awaiting the torch in the late 1970's.


The Colossus clas aircraft carrier Minas Gerais, ex-HMS Vengeance being scrapped on the beach at Alang, in India circa 2004. She was commissioned in 1945, and served continuously until 2001. I was truly upset to find out this ship wasn't preserved, despite strenuous efforts.

USS Fargo, Cl-106, just prior to her scrapping in 1971.

One of the last Victory Ships to be towed away for scrap from the National Defense Reserve Fleet anchorage in Suisun Bay, Ca, 2010. There used to be many of these ships, now they're all gone!



This is the Midway class carrier USS Franklin Delano Roosevelt, CV-42, being scrapped in 1978. She was the least modern of the three Midway class ships, and the first to be scrapped.

The Sverige class coastal battleship Drottning Victoria, being scrapped in 1959. Commissioned in 1921, she was armed with 4 11in Bofors guns in 2 turrets fore and aft.

The French Battleship Paris, after her escape to Britain following the defeat of France, 1940. There she would stay, until the endo of the war when she was towed to france and scrapped in 1955.

USS Baltimore, CA-68, being scrapped in Portland, Or in 1972.

The Gearing class Fram I Destroyer USS Bausell DD-845 as a target in 1982.

The Russian carrier Kiev, rotting at the dock following the collapse of the soviet union. She was eventually sold to China for use as a theme park, along with her sister, the Minsk.

This is the French T-53 class Destroyer Forbin, in it's original gun form, laid up at Toulon, France in the early 1980's.

Some wrecked freighters in the late 70's.

Fin!

krieg likes ship boneyards, I like these.

Many, many more photos at this link.

^Dude, send me a link! Are those T-64's?