Archive for the ‘Sea’ Category
Ex-Saipan begins journey to scrap yard
Tugs towed the amphibious assault ship formerly known as the Saipan out of its mothball berth in Philadelphia on Wednesday, beginning the ship’s final trip to sea — one that will end at the scrap yard.
The Saipan is scheduled to arrive mid-November in Brownsville, Texas, where workers at International Shipbreaking Ltd. will begin cutting the 28,000-ton ship apart.
USS Saipan (LHA 2, bottom) and USS John F Kennedy (CV 67) tied up in Philadelphia's Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility
Weapons effect testing was conducted on the Saipan after she was decommissioned.
Not at all what happened
USS Ramage (DDG 61) firing a 5-inch gun in 2008.
Destroyer accidentally fires on Polish port
Three 7.62 rounds from an M240 machine gun equals “fired on Polish port.”
The crew of the destroyer Ramage was doing “routine maintenance” to the ship in the port of Gdynia when a sailor inadvertently fired the burst from one of the warship’s M240 machine guns, the official said.
Thankfully, no one was hurt.
But if you think this headline is bad, check out this Russian headline:
US destroyer shells Polish shore
Rooskie journalism hasn’t lost a step.
Three landing craft air cushion vehicles assigned to Assault Craft Unit 4 approach the shore after launching from the multi-purpose amphibious assault ship USS Bataan during Bright Star 2009. The biennial, multinational exercise is conducted by U.S. Central Command and involves U.S., Egyptian and other coalition forces. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Kristopher Wilson
The LCAC on the right of the photo appears to be the one pictured earlier in Bright Star Abrams
The amphibious assault ship Pre-Commissioning Unit Makin Island conducts builder's trials in the Gulf of Mexico.
Makin Island is the final Wasp-class ship, but she incorporates a number of changes. The most significant is the switch to gas turbine engines and electric drive.
She was commissioned last weekend.
UPDATE: Video about the commissioning below.
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Royal Navy could be forced to build aircraft carrier which doesn’t carry planes
Prince of Wales may go from carrier to commando ship if budget cuts cancel F-35 buys.
It is too late for the Navy to cancel the contract, but the carrier may have to be downgraded to a commando ship, with only helicopters on board to carry troops.
The move would save about £8.2billion from the defence budget.
They’re thinking that when the only fixed-wing capable carrier is in for refit that they’ll borrow a carrier from France.
This seems crazy.
UPDATE: A British official has called this report “complete rubbish.”
Aircraft assigned to Carrier Air Wing 14 perform a diamond formation fly-by over the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) during a Tiger Cruise air power demonstration in the Pacific Ocean Oct. 18, 2009. For the Tiger Cruise, friends and family members of U.S. Sailors assigned to the ship embarked in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to sail to San Diego, Calif., for the ship’s homecoming ceremony. (DoD photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Torrey W. Lee, U.S. Navy/Released)
Typical carrier fly-over shot, but note the bulbous bow visible in the clear water:
USS Reagan's (CVN 76) Bulbous Bow
Battleship USS Wisconsin moored downtown Norfolk during Fleet Week Hampton Roads 2009. Wisconsin serves as a museum at the National Maritime Center - Nauticus. Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Santos Huante
Bayonne Naval Supply Depot, New Jersey
Bayonne Naval Supply Depot, New Jersey Photographed on 15 April 1953 with ships in reserve. The two large ships at right on the near side of the peninsula are Alaska (CB-1) and Guam (CB-2). The next two ships astern are North Carolina (BB-55) and Washington (BB-56). Further astern are (from outboard to inboard) Fargo (CL-106), Albemarle (AV-5) and Wakefield (AP-21). The carriers Enterprise (CV-6) and Franklin (CV-13) are at the far left. Also present are the escort carriers Card (CVE-11), Croatan (CVE-25), Mission Bay (CVE-59), and Guadalcanal (CVE-60) along with the cruisers Providence (CL-82), Little Rock (CL-92), Spokane (CLAA-120) and Fresno (CLAA-121). One of the two CLAAs is tied up outboard of the Alaskas. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
That’s quite a reserve fleet. In fact, toss in a few destroyers and you’ve got yourself a surface navy all right there. Just waiting for the cutting torch.
This is a conversation I’ve had a number of times over the years, but this article is a great read about just how far behind the United States Japan was in industrial capability. I thought the gap was really huge, but I was wrong.
It was, in fact really, really huge. Or maybe even huger:
To an outside culture, particularly a militaristic one such as Japan’s, America certainly might have appeared to be ’soft’ and unprepared for a major war. Further, Japan’s successes in fighting far larger opponents (Russia in the early 1900’s, and China in the 1930’s) and the fact that Japan’s own economy was practically ’superheating’ (mostly as the result of unhealthy levels of military spending — 28% of national income in 1937) probably filled the Japanese with a misplaced sense of economic and military superiority over their large overseas foe. However, a dispassionate observer would also note a few important facts. America, even in the midst of seemingly interminable economic doldrums, still had:
- Nearly twice the population of Japan.
- Seventeen time’s Japan’s national income.
- Five times more steel production.
- Seven times more coal production.
- Eighty (80) times the automobile production.
Furthermore, America had some hidden advantages that didn’t show up directly in production figures. For one, U.S. factories were, on average, more modern and automated than those in Europe or in Japan. Additionally, American managerial practice at that time was the best in the world. Taken in combination, the per capita productivity of the American worker was the highest in the world. Furthermore, the United States was more than willing to utilize American women in the war effort: a tremendous advantage for us, and a concept which the Axis Powers seem not to have grasped until very late in the conflict. The net effect of all these factors meant that even in the depths of the Depression, American war-making potential was still around seven times larger than Japan’s, and had the ’slack’ been taken out in 1939, it was closer to nine or ten times as great!
Of particular interest is the discussion of how much difference a loss at Midway would have made in the long run.
Moonlight illuminates the forecastle aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Cole as Sailors prepare for an early morning replenishment-at-sea. Cole is participating in Exercise Joint Warrior 09-2, a United Kingdom-led, multinational and multiwarfare exercise designed to improve interoperability between allied navies as well as to prepare for a role in combined operations during upcoming deployments. Photo by Seaman Matthew Bookwalter
UPDATE: Another shot of the Cole taking a shot below:
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USS Missouri heading to shipyard for makeover
The 65-year-old ship is in good shape, but it still needs to go to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for repairs because rust is protruding from peeling paint in areas and the teak wood deck is warped and bent in others.
The ship’s exterior is due to be sanded down and repainted in a $15 million overhaul paid for by memorial reserve funds and a Department of Defense grant.
“Rust never sleeps as they say,” said Michael Carr, the memorial’s president. “It’s a big job. It has to be done.”
Meanwhile, self-guided iPod tours of Missouri are now available.
On Monday, two cannons, once part of the mighty USS Pennsylvania battleship, finally pointed skyward near the entrance to the Pennsylvania Military Museum.
The historic 14-inch barrels had been on pallets since arriving by truck May 20 from the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va. For 64 years, the guns rested in a scrapyard until the museum, once the Navy agreed to loan them, raised more than $40,000 to bring them to Boalsburg.
The guns been removed in 1945 when new ones were installed on the ship.
Japanese battleship Ise from 1945 ONI drawing:
Drawing of Japanese battleship Ise as seen in US Office of Naval Intelligence publication ONI-222-J dated Jun 1945
After the loss of six carriers at the Battle of Midway in June, 1942, Ise had her two rear 14″ turrets removed and a flight hanger installed as seen in this drawing. Aircraft could be launched but not directly recovered, though the plans called for float planes as part of her force which could be brought back aboard after water landings.
No combat flight ops were ever conducted by the Ise and she was sunk in 1945.
