Naval Pictures IX - General Quarters, Battlestations!

[Colt Ward]

Hellbie, I'm shocked that picture was even allowed to be taken in 1943...  :o

There are a couple like this that are DoD based.  My guess is they were used for planning/briefing on the construction cues/needs.

[Daryk]

And eventually declassified, then...  8)

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

1943, Boston Navy Yard. A few highlights to point out here: The ship in the drydock at far left is USS Iowa, being looked at for damage after running aground. Nearby are the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill and the cruiser USS Baltimore. Further up in the image are a gaggle of destroyers- five Benson-class, one Fletcher (the darker colored one), and in amongst them is the French destroyer Le Fantasque, easily discernible because she's nearly a hundred feet longer than the Americans around her.

How did a French destroyer end up in Boston in '43?

[Liam's Ghost]

How did a French destroyer end up in Boston in '43?

The ship went over to Free France with French West Africa and was sent to the US for modernization.

[Giovanni Blasini]

That is the literal definition of awesome, Gio!  :o

Thanks!  After test-fitting the turrets and superstructure, I lightly sanded a couple error spots, took the hull and superstructure back out to the garage, and sprayed down the hull down in flat red again,and the superstructure in tan:



Once the red's dry, I can flip it over and spray the deck with the same tan.  Then I mask off the red section of the hull, and try to clean up the sides with more white paint, add the superstructure, then take care of the masks, the fresh air funnels, lifeboats, etc.  Trying to rig it with thread to represent the rigging sounds like an exercise in madness, so I'll probably skip that for now.

Last part will be figuring out what I want to do with the turrets.  They sit lightly on right now, allowing them to turn, but this isn't a Bandai HG Gundam model: the parts fit kind of sucks.  I'm tempted to see if I can find some round magnets just a hair smaller than the turret base, and use those to hold the turrets on so they can still be turned, rather than gluing them in place to keep them secure.

But, yeah, my own little Olympia's coming along nicely.  I confirmed the hull keeps out water before I painted it, and I might add a little clay or something to the bottom of the hull for ballast.  I don't intend to have it in the water, really, but if I'm building a full-hull ship model, the damn thing should float.  ;D

[chanman]

Okay, but can you also mock up what it would look like with Urbanmech torsos as the turrets?

[Giovanni Blasini]

Okay, but can you also mock up what it would look like with Urbanmech torsos as the turrets?

Maybe? With their hex bases, the new miniature should fit there.

Also, I’d love to find a way to be able to hot-swap the turrets to the single open 5”/51 mounts she carried during WW1, after they removed the 8”/35s:



That brings to kind an interesting question: when Olympia got preserved as a museum ship, the decision was made to return her to her Spanish-American War appearance, right down to building boilerplate replicas of her old 8”/35 twin turrets, since the originals were long scrapped.

When you have a situation like that, which is the more valid preservation?  Keeping a museum ship as close to her final commissioned configuration as possible, or keeping her as close to her a specific historical period as possible?

[Daryk]

That's a decision made by the respective museum.  It depends what they want to preserve.

[mikecj]

Its not like they're going to take the Olympia into battle against marauding aliens... that's why New Jersey is moored nearby to protect the tri-state region.  The Iowa's were specifically designed to combat alien menaces.

[Giovanni Blasini]

Y’now, chanman did ask if I was going to build it as Space Cruiser Olympia, I do have a crapton of Gundam booster pods around, and the Olympia is remarkably close to the same size and mass as a Bug-Eye class surveillance WarShip…

(And yes, I already have preliminary stats drawn up)

[chanman]

Maybe? With their hex bases, the new miniature should fit there.

Also, I’d love to find a way to be able to hot-swap the turrets to the single open 5”/51 mounts she carried during WW1, after they removed the 8”/35s:



That brings to kind an interesting question: when Olympia got preserved as a museum ship, the decision was made to return her to her Spanish-American War appearance, right down to building boilerplate replicas of her old 8”/35 twin turrets, since the originals were long scrapped.

When you have a situation like that, which is the more valid preservation?  Keeping a museum ship as close to her final commissioned configuration as possible, or keeping her as close to her a specific historical period as possible?

Build a modern 1:1 scale replica of it in each of the configurations you want for use as museums/museum ships.

Done with the old Beiyang Fleet pre-dreadnought Dingyuan back in 2003

[Middcore]

Build a modern 1:1 scale replica of it in each of the configurations you want for use as museums/museum ships.

Done with the old Beiyang Fleet pre-dreadnought Dingyuan back in 2003

A literal monument to defeat and incompetence.

[Dragon Cat]

The USNS Gordon and USNS Shugart named for "Black Hawk Down incident Medal of Honour heroes Gart Gordon and Randall Shugart

[CVB]

The Shughart and Gordon were originally the container ships Selandia and Jutlandia built in Denmark in the early 70s, before they were lengthened and later acquired and converted as Ro/Ro ships for the MSC around 1996. At 75,000hp and 30+ kn they were clearly designed before the oil crisis.

M/V Selandia:


Here is an interesting website of a crewmember of Jutlandia from the 70s, including many pictures of the engine room and the civilian accommodation.

[Wrangler]

I do find it amazing that 1:1 scale replica of the Dingyuan  was built.  Given this fading memory of things naval with some of the young crowd,  I would be personally thrilled have such  unique museum piece of a pre-dreadnought near by.

[marauder648]

USS Tennessee some time in 43 following her massive reconstruction and rebuild after taking heavy damage at Pearl. You can see her massive beam here.

As a certain Shapeshifting Lord of Evil would say.

EXTRA THICC!!!

[Wrangler]

Future of UK Marines?  I'm not sure, but Jump Infantry maybe come a thing.

The link to vid on Tumblr.

[Ruger]

USS Tennessee some time in 43 following her massive reconstruction and rebuild after taking heavy damage at Pearl. You can see her massive beam here.

As a certain Shapeshifting Lord of Evil would say.

EXTRA THICC!!!

I’ve always loved that shot of her.

Ruger

[Dave Talley]

I LIKE BIG BOATS AND I CANNOT LIE!

[glitterboy2098]

Future of UK Marines?  I'm not sure, but Jump Infantry maybe come a thing.

The link to vid on Tumblr.

i doubt it. while it might be an interesting idea, there honestly isn't a lot of practicality to using those instead of regular boats. especially if the enemy is hostile and ready to shoot back. (in the words of schlock mercenary: "what do you call a flying soldier? Skeet")

plus those "ironman" jet systems take a huge toll on the body and leave the user pretty worn out after even a short flight. plus they get in the way of things like carrying a rifle.

my guess is that they're just using cheap commercially available hardware to test the idea of jetpack boarding actions, and if they decide it is a capability they want they'll probably pursue one of the backpack variety of jet systems or have a custom one developed. normally i'd say we won;t see them do it.. but through the study of history i've learned that modern military forces are very prone to investing large amounts of money into "flashy but largely useless" stuff like this in the hopes of forcing a square combat hardware peg into a round tactical hole.

[DOC_Agren]

Future of UK Marines?  I'm not sure, but Jump Infantry maybe come a thing.

Skeet shooting for anyone on defending ship..  not like u are going to sneak up on them  and Not sure u can return fire if u were being shot at until u land.  Unless you rig up a "remote" gun to cover you..
I'm not even sure this would offer any good advantage for a coast guard rescue operation

[Colt Ward]

That brings to kind an interesting question: when Olympia got preserved as a museum ship, the decision was made to return her to her Spanish-American War appearance, right down to building boilerplate replicas of her old 8”/35 twin turrets, since the originals were long scrapped.

When you have a situation like that, which is the more valid preservation?  Keeping a museum ship as close to her final commissioned configuration as possible, or keeping her as close to her a specific historical period as possible?

IMO?  Which is the most unique . . . we have other, IIRC, WWI era build ships (BB-35 comes to mind) and so which is more unique- a ship that was second class in WWI and upgraded to compete or a Spanish-American era warship similar to the one that sparked the war?

For my mind, hands down, the Spanish American War survivor would be more interesting.

[Nightlord01]

IMO?  Which is the most unique . . . we have other, IIRC, WWI era build ships (BB-35 comes to mind) and so which is more unique- a ship that was second class in WWI and upgraded to compete or a Spanish-American era warship similar to the one that sparked the war?

For my mind, hands down, the Spanish American War survivor would be more interesting.

This is my sentiment. A museum isn't an archive, it's a display from a historical perspective. If the Spanish-American war is more interesting for visitors than the period after, it only makes sense to use that perspective. If the Olympia is being preserved as a Spanish-American war exhibit, then she should be displayed as a true representation of that period.

[worktroll]

The last patrol ... USS Kittyhawk, sold to scrappers for 1 US cent, heads for the breakers yard.

[Wrangler]

So much for making a museum out of her.

[Ruger]

So much for making a museum out of her.

And possibly any more of our actual carriers due to being nukes.

Ruger

[Wrangler]

Originally when they decommed her, the JFK Center in Boston wanted her for a museum addition, since their on the harbor.  However, they lost bid to someone in Florida.   I guess that didn't go anywhere for a while.  She doesn't look like she in good shape now.  Sad.

[Dragon Cat]

I'm a little surprised they aren't using it as a target

I know it's a diesel powered carrier and not a nuke one but I'm sure you'd learn more about it in a Sink-Ex than the value of 1 cent

Then again it could cost too much to prepare it for such a drill and potentially give others ideas on how to get rid of a live one.

[CVB]

Then again it could cost too much to prepare it for such a drill and potentially give others ideas on how to get rid of a live one.

That, and the Navy might not have learnt that much more than they already did from the experiments on ex USS America in 2005.

[I am Belch II]

Too bad the Kitty Hawk couldn't be saved!