Naval Interest

[Nick]

Lets see if you Navy Buffs have any idea on this beauty !!

Photo taken recently so is still about

[Firefly]

I think she's American, one of the four Iowa class Battleships i think. This means she will be either Iowa, Missouri, New Jersey, or Wisconsin. Probably not Missouri because she's at Pearl Harbour and it doesn't look hot enough!

[Craig]

She is big. Didn't the Americans re commision a battleship in the 80s I seem to remember it firing into Beirut?

[Firefly]

All four ships i mentioned were re-commissioned during the Reagan era in the 80's. The cost was astronomical. Can't remember which one fired into Beirut though.

None remain in service, they were de-commissioned a few years ago. The Yanks have 8 Battleships preserved as memorials to their history, and the brave men who served on them.

The British have preserved, suprise suprise, NONE. Obviously far more important things to spend money on. Then again who cares, all these ships did was preserve our freedom and save us from invasion................. flame

[Firefly]

Just been studying some photgraphs and i think the ship may actually be North Carolina? Tell us soon Mr Chairman......... :ph34r:

[John]

You lot clearly know nothing! Anyone can clearly see that it is HMS Belfast... I can just see Ken Livingstone 's office in the background....

I'm going for USS Misssouri. :blink:

[Nick]

Firefly Spot on ! What gave it away ? You sir are a true anorak.

Battleship BB55 USS North Carolina as of Sept 2003.

A truly enormous ship that although a little primitive by today?s standard had many more home comforts than afforded to equivalent RN ships of the time. This included in true US style a Soda fountain and ice cream parlour !!

Here is a short history of her taken from the official memorial website.

"When the keel of NORTH CAROLINA was laid in October of 1937, she was the first battleship to be constructed in sixteen years. She became the first of ten fast battleships to join the fleet in World War II. NORTH CAROLINA (BB 55) and her sister ship, WASHINGTON (BB 56), comprised the NORTH CAROLINA Class. Following them were the SOUTH DAKOTA Class ? SOUTH DAKOTA (BB 57), INDIANA (BB 58), MASSACHUSETTS (BB 59), and ALABAMA (BB 60) ? and the IOWA Class - IOWA (BB 61), NEW JERSEY (BB 62), MISSOURI (BB 63), and WISCONSIN (BB 64).

At the time of her commissioning on 9 April 1941, she was considered the world?s greatest sea weapon. Armed with nine 16-inch/45 caliber guns in three turrets and twenty 5-inch/38 caliber guns in ten twin mounts, NORTH CAROLINA proved a formidable weapons platform. Her wartime complement consisted of 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men, including about 100 Marines.

During World War II, NORTH CAROLINA participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operations and earned 15 battle stars. In the Battle of the Eastern Solomon?s Islands in August of 1942, the Battleship?s anti-aircraft barrage helped save the carrier ENTERPRISE, thereby establishing the primary role of the fast battleship as protector of aircraft carriers. One of her Kingfisher pilots performed heroically during the strike on Truk when he rescued ten downed Navy aviators on 30 April 1944. In all, NORTH CAROLINA carried out nine shore bombardments, sank an enemy troopship, destroyed at least 24 enemy aircraft, and assisted in shooting down many more. Her anti-aircraft guns helped to halt or frustrate scores of attacks on aircraft carriers. She steamed over 300,000 miles. Although Japanese radio announcements claimed six times that NORTH CAROLINA had been sunk, she survived many close calls and near misses - such as the Japanese torpedo which slammed into the Battleship?s hull on 15 September 1942. A quick response on the part of the crew allowed the mighty Ship to keep up with the fleet. By war?s end, the Ship lost ten men in action and had 67 wounded.

After serving as a training vessel for midshipmen, NORTH CAROLINA was decommissioned 27 June 1947 and placed in the Inactive Reserve Fleet in Bayonne, New Jersey, for the next 14 years until the 1958 announcement of her impending scrapping led to a statewide campaign by citizens of North Carolina to save the ship from the scrappers torches and bring her back to her home state. The Save Our Ship (SOS) campaign was successful and the Battleship arrived in her current berth on 2 October 1961 and was dedicated as the State's memorial to its World War II veterans on 29 April 1962.


Vital Statistics
Hull Number: BB 55
Keel Laid: October 27, 1937
Launched: June 13, 1940
Commissioned: April 9, 1941
Decommissioned: June 27, 1947
Length: 728 feet 5/8 inches long
Extreme Beam: 108 feet 3 7/8 inches wide
Mean Draught: 31 feet 7 inches normal, 35 feet 6 inches maximum
Displacement: 36,600 tons standard, 44,800 tons full load
Complement: 2,339 (144 officers and 2,195 enlisted)
Speed: 28 knots
Armament: 9 16-inch/45 caliber guns
20 5-inch/38 caliber guns
60 40mm/56 caliber guns
48 20mm/70 caliber guns "

[Firefly]

Firefly Spot on ! What gave it away ? You sir are a true anorak.

What can i say? Two things gave it away. Upon closer inspection it was the anti-aircraft guns on top of the turret, and the shape of the bit of funnel visible in the photo that gave it away. These meant she couldn't be an Iowa-class ship. I really must get out more..........

[John]

What ships are still left underwater at Pearl Harbour?

[Guest IMHF]

Firefly Spot on ! What gave it away ? You sir are a true anorak.

Battleship BB55 USS North Carolina as of Sept 2003.

A truly enormous ship that although a little primitive by today's standard had many more home comforts than afforded to equivalent RN ships of the time. This included in true US style a Soda fountain and ice cream parlour !!

Here is a short history of her taken from the official memorial website.

"When the keel of NORTH CAROLINA was laid in October of 1937, she was the first battleship to be constructed in sixteen years. She became the first of ten fast battleships to join the fleet in World War II. NORTH CAROLINA (BB 55) and her sister ship, WASHINGTON (BB 56), comprised the NORTH CAROLINA Class. Following them were the SOUTH DAKOTA Class ? SOUTH DAKOTA (BB 57), INDIANA (BB 58), MASSACHUSETTS (BB 59), and ALABAMA (BB 60) ? and the IOWA Class - IOWA (BB 61), NEW JERSEY (BB 62), MISSOURI (BB 63), and WISCONSIN (BB 64).

At the time of her commissioning on 9 April 1941, she was considered the world's greatest sea weapon. Armed with nine 16-inch/45 caliber guns in three turrets and twenty 5-inch/38 caliber guns in ten twin mounts, NORTH CAROLINA proved a formidable weapons platform. Her wartime complement consisted of 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men, including about 100 Marines.

During World War II, NORTH CAROLINA participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operations and earned 15 battle stars. In the Battle of the Eastern Solomon's Islands in August of 1942, the Battleship's anti-aircraft barrage helped save the carrier ENTERPRISE, thereby establishing the primary role of the fast battleship as protector of aircraft carriers. One of her Kingfisher pilots performed heroically during the strike on Truk when he rescued ten downed Navy aviators on 30 April 1944. In all, NORTH CAROLINA carried out nine shore bombardments, sank an enemy troopship, destroyed at least 24 enemy aircraft, and assisted in shooting down many more. Her anti-aircraft guns helped to halt or frustrate scores of attacks on aircraft carriers. She steamed over 300,000 miles. Although Japanese radio announcements claimed six times that NORTH CAROLINA had been sunk, she survived many close calls and near misses - such as the Japanese torpedo which slammed into the Battleship's hull on 15 September 1942. A quick response on the part of the crew allowed the mighty Ship to keep up with the fleet. By war's end, the Ship lost ten men in action and had 67 wounded.

After serving as a training vessel for midshipmen, NORTH CAROLINA was decommissioned 27 June 1947 and placed in the Inactive Reserve Fleet in Bayonne, New Jersey, for the next 14 years until the 1958 announcement of her impending scrapping led to a statewide campaign by citizens of North Carolina to save the ship from the scrappers torches and bring her back to her home state. The Save Our Ship (SOS) campaign was successful and the Battleship arrived in her current berth on 2 October 1961 and was dedicated as the State's memorial to its World War II veterans on 29 April 1962.

Vital Statistics

Hull Number: BB 55

Keel Laid: October 27, 1937

Launched: June 13, 1940

Commissioned: April 9, 1941

Decommissioned: June 27, 1947

Length: 728 feet 5/8 inches long

Extreme Beam: 108 feet 3 7/8 inches wide

Mean Draught: 31 feet 7 inches normal, 35 feet 6 inches maximum

Displacement: 36,600 tons standard, 44,800 tons full load

Complement: 2,339 (144 officers and 2,195 enlisted)

Speed: 28 knots

Armament: 9 16-inch/45 caliber guns

20 5-inch/38 caliber guns

60 40mm/56 caliber guns

48 20mm/70 caliber guns "

Awesome information to know about this beautiful warship..

Thank you

Lorenzo

Edited October 5, 2008 by IMHF

[Guest IMHF]

I heard that they made a ship out of the steel from the World Trade center is this true??

Lorenzo

[paddywhack]

there using 24 tons and its called the USS New York!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_New_York_(LPD-21)

Edited October 7, 2008 by paddywhack

[Greg Collins]

Going back to post #3 in this thread: the USS New Jersey BB-62 was in Beirut in 1983. A total of 288 16" rounds were fired. I was on the crew of the New Jersey and rode her from recommissioning to Beirut. She continues to be the most decorated ship in the Navy.

The successful (ahead of schedule and under budget) recommissioning of the New Jersey prompted the recommissioning of her three other sisters, recommissioned in this order: USS Iowa BB-61, USS Missouri BB-63 and the USS Wisconsin BB-64. All are now decommissioned with three- the New Jersey (Camden Yard), the Missouri (Pearl Harbor) and the Wisconsin (Norfolk)- kept in a "ready" state as museums. I'm unsure about the status of the Iowa. If you'll remember, there was an accident which blew the magazine on one of the forward turrets killing 48 sailors back in the '90's. The initial story was some weird concoction involving some contrived homosexual affair... all crap... turns out it was old and bad powder- probably WW II vintage (refer back to the "under budget").

All politics and the Reagan bureaucracy aside, she was a magnificent ship; beautiful lines, sat nicely in the water and incredibly fast considering her 48,000 ton displacement. We walked away from our escorts when we had to get somewhere quickly. I was fortunate to have served aboard her.