Random photo montage of enjoyment......

All boats in!

Some more curiosities I found.....




This is the Battleship USS Delaware, BB 28 being scrapped in 1924. She was being scrapped in accordance with the Washington Naval Treaty, even though she was only 13 years old. Technology had advanced quickly enough that this ship was no longer even close to cutting edge.


This is the Light Cruiser Chunking, formerly the HMS Aurora, upon transfer in late 1948. After WWII, Aurora was transferred to Nationalist China. in 1949, the ship defected to the Communists, was sunk by Nationalist aircraft and was salvaged. Her fighting days were over, as she spent the rest of her career as an accommodation hulk. She was thought to have been broken up by the mid fifties.


I've been thinking about jetliners I never got to fly in. This is the one I would really like to ride in, the Boeing 707. You didn't see these much in commercial service past the early 1980's.

Another classic, the Douglas DC-8. I've seen these fly in and out of Boeing Field/King County Airport, but only as cargo planes.

If I wanted to fly in a real 707, I'd have to go to Iran. Saha Airlines operates two 707's that were actually military refueling aircraft retrofitted to carry people. I wonder if all the seats match.

Do all the seats match? I think all the milk-crates are the same brand, if that's any consolation!

If this doesn't bring Marso back, nothing will.

P-3 loaded for Bear (literally, with Sidewinders on the rails).

Badass pic! I think those are Harpoon missiles, though. Sidewinders have fins on the front and back of the missile casing(leaving the mid section clean), and are an air-to-air weapon(something a bit outside the scope of what the Orion does!).

Look on the outside hard points.

I don't know if it was ever standard practice, but they did tests with Orions and Sidewinders to see if they could give the P-3s some self-defense capability (Apaches have also mounted Sidewinders for the same reason).

There isn't any level of aviation enthusiasm that would get me to fly on an Iranian airline.

You're right, I didn't even notice the practice Sidewinders outboard of the Harpoon. The little green thing looks like a Mk 80 bomb. I'm curious about this P-3 upgrade program, even as the P-8 Poseidon is about to roll out. Hedging their bets?

[wyt="By your command."]taW3XsZiN2I[/wyt]

I'm picturing the Blue Angels flying UCAVs, with the pilots all sitting in fucking remote vans in the parking lot.

I hate modern technology.

I recently went to Bremerton with my Lady and my Boy. He're's the proof....



My little mans first Ferry ride!



USS Turner Joy, DD-951. Forrest Sherman class, built in 1959.



An interesting Tug and an elderly Cabin Cruiser.

USS Independence, CV-62.

USS Kitty Hawk, CV-63.


The bows of USS Constellation, CV-64, and USS Ranger, CV-61.





The sail of USS Parche, SSN-683. She did a lot of spying on the Russkies in the Sea of Okhotsk.

The Crane. I was a little bummed out that all my favorite ships were gone. Even the old Long Beach(CGN-9) was in the drydock being broken up for scrap. Oh, time passage!

I added 3 more books to ye olde shelf today. Jane's Fighting Ships, 1972/73, Jane's Fighting Ship's, 1986/87 and Battleships of the World, 1905 to 1970 by Siegfried Breyer. Priceless.

Friend of mine works for Jane's. She does all their international conference appearances.

So you've got a...Jane's...addiction?

Hey-O!

This is the former HMAS Hobart and HMNZS Black Prince scrapping in Osaka, Japan 1962.

HMAS Hobart on the way to Osaka for breaking up. She began a comprehensive refit and update in 1953/55, but after 1 million AU had been spent, the refit was cancelled. Too bad, she was a fine looking ship!

The French Battleship Richelieu under tow for la Spezia, Italy for scrapping, 1968.

The end of HMS Worchester. She was the former HMS Frederick William, an 86 gun ship of the line converted to training duties.

The Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. This is the ex-USS Triton SSN 586, ex-USS Long Beach CGN 9, and a gaggle of Los Angeles and Permit class attack subs.

The Battlecruiser Strassbourg on the bottom of Toulon harbor after being scuttled.

The last British battleship, HMS Vanguard, about to be scrapped, 1961.

This is a former German Navy corvette, abandoned in a backwater by the Russians. This pic dates from the late 1970's

Fin!

I just picked up 'To Sail No More', by Mike Critchley and Steve Bush. I am in fucking heaven!

The USS California, BB-44, being mothballed in 1947.

A salvaged 16in turret from the Japanese Battleship Mutsu, 1971ish. The Mutsu was a Nagato class Battleship completed in 1921. At the time of her completion, she was the fastest(26 knots) and the most powerful(8 16.1 in main guns)in the world. In 1943, she suffered an explosion while at anchor in Hashirajima bay that destroyed the forward part of the ship, resulting in her sinking. The most likely culprit was the cordite powder for the main guns combusting(not the first time that had happened). A major salvage operation was undertaken in the early 1970's, resulting in the recovery of over 800 sailors remains. Most of the ship was scrapped, but some remain on display in Japan.

Another pic of USS Delaware being broken up in 1924.

USS Utah, BB-31, undergoing a major refit in 1927 at the Boston Navy Yard.

The USS Utah picture is very interesting. Most of the background has subsequently been landfilled, which caused some confusion to me when I first looked at the pic. The area with the island is now the airport. There is no view from the navy yard today that doesn't have city as backdrop, but back in the 20s, the inner harbor was much more open than it is today. See this image to get a sense of how much that water filled in subsequent to the photograph's era:

MOAR!!

I've been enjoying American Pre-Dreadnought Battleships. I also included some pics of the sinking of old battleships in the early 20's to test whether aircraft bombs could sink battleships. Turns out, they could.

I actually thought the Basket Mast was very unique, and cool looking as the technology progressed. how do you feel about these?

Ridin' mighty low there in that last shot, ain't they?

WRT old naval ships still in service I heard that the Russian navy still has an old mine clearing ship officially on active duty which was originally part of the Csar's Imperial Navy.

Edit: Here we go. http://www.strategypage.com/htmw/htmoral/20091221.aspx

It's a salvage ship not a mine sweeper.

The Kommuna! Gotta love that.

CHeck these out, shootER!

My dad used to have a civilian pickup version of that truck in the first picture. It had been hopped up with dual carburators and side pipes at some point. Sounded like a fucking bomber on the highway.

I found a cache of great photos of the French fleet scuttled at Toulon, and a couple of the Japanese Battleship Hyuga on the bottom after the war. Enjoy!

NEW BOARD!!!


A former Gleaves class destroyer awaiting scrapping after her sevice with Italy, the mid 1970's

This is the British Aircraft Carrier HMS Furious, after a Stateside refit in 1942. This ship was originally completed as a "Light Battlecruiser" in 1917, and converted to a carrier progressively throughout the interwar period. She was decommissioned in 1944, and scrapped in Scotland in 1948.

The Gearing class destroyers USS William M Wood, DD-715, and the USS Hawkins, DD-873, at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, 1980. DD-715 was decommissioned in 1976, and sunk as a target in 1983, while DD-873 was decommissioned in 1979, and sold to Taiwan in 1983.

Two Project 667B Murena(Delta I) class laid up in the early 2000's.

This is the last Project 611 Zulu class diesel submarine left in the world, the B-80, in den Helder, the Netherlands.