Battleships: Iowa Class; USS Missouri

[Pelican]

USS NEW JERSEY

The photos show a rusty, but still-intact HC Mk. 13 artillery shell, fired some time during New Jersey’s brief Vietnam war reactivation. Built during World War II, New Jersey and her three sister ships, Iowa, Missouri, and Wisconsin, were mothballed at war’s end.

The U.S. Navy reactivated New Jersey during the Korean War to provide seagoing fire support, deactivated it again, and then reactivated it yet again to provide fire support during the Vietnam War.

Full story at:
https://www.popularmechanics.com/milita ... kKkb1jkHQw

[Brian James]

Iowa Class Battleship,Museum Ship USS New Jersey.

[Pelican]

Part Battleship, Part Carrier: The Lost History of the "Battlecarrier"


Some of the U.S. Navy's ideas to transform World War II battleships would have produced incomparably strong yet strange ships.

Here's What You Need to Know: The U.S. Navy came to the conclusion that is was better to have battleships concentrate on firing massive artillery shells at the enemy rather than taking on multiple operational roles.

Nearly 900 feet long and displacing close to 60,000 tons, the battlewagons could fire a nine-gun broadside sending 18 tons of steel and explosives hurtling towards their targets.

The battleships were modernized to include cruise missiles, ship-killing missiles, and Phalanx point-defense guns. Returned to the fleet, the ships saw action off the coasts of Lebanon and Iraq. At the end of the Cold War, the battleships were retired again. All were slated to become museums.

Few knew, however, that returning the battleships to service in the ’80s had been only part of the plan. The second, more ambitious phase was a radical redesign of the massive warships that would have combined the attributes of battleships and aircraft carriers.

Continues at:
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboo ... ier-178754

[Brian James]

An original colour image of a Vought OS2U Kingfisher being embarked on Battleship USS Missouri in 1944.

[Pelican]

FROM: Haze Grey History

USS New Jersey (BB-62) on the stocks prior to launching at Philadelphia Navy Yard, 7 Dec 1942. Though much work is yet to be done to her upperworks, her conning tower, stack casings, and aft director tower are all already built (mostly masked here by the conning tower and the elements of the forward superstructure), and six 5”/38 twin mounts have already been installed, three to starboard, though they are covered in canvas as they still lack their gunhouse shields. The remaining guns, gunhouses, turrets, and fittings would be installed at a fitting out berth - launching ships incomplete allowed for the freeing of valuable building slipways, while also getting a ship into the water while as light as possible. At over 47,000 tons, getting even an incomplete Iowa to slide into the water required literally tons of petroleum wax and lime soap grease slathered on the ways 3-4 inches thick. Note the anchors are in position for a quick drop, and are supplemented by additional anchors amidships; these were intended to arrest the ships’ momentum once she was sufficiently in the water. She would be commissioned six months later, and would leave the yard for the first time in July 1943.

[designeraccd]

The "BEST" of the best (noooooooo bias here.... ), WISCONSIN's launch in 1943...........DFO

[Pelican]

FROM: Battleship Cove

3 April 1945 with USS Massachusetts BB-59

Operating Southeast of SAKISHIMA GUNTO. Dawn alert from 0521 to 0621. At dawn carriers launched strikes against Japanese aircraft and facilities on SAKISHIMA GUNTO. All ships were maneuvered to
conform to movements of carriers during flight operations.

Task Group Commander directed the Group to set condition I at
1228. All hands manned air attack stations at 1230. , no enemy aircraft closed the formation. Secured from Air Attack at 1311.

At 1727 doubled the watch in the antiaircraft battery. At 1733
manned air attack stations. Firing observed on starboard quarter at
1915. No enemy plane came within gunfire range of the Task Group; secured from air attack at 2005.

The Task Group is retiring toward OKINAWA JIMA, which is tomorrow's target.

[Brian James]

USS Missouri pictured at New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn in July 1944.

[Brian James]

USS Wisconsin pictured in floating drydock AFDB-1 at Guam on April 5th 1952.

[Brian James]

USS Missouri performs a gunnery demonstration while on her Dependents Day cruise off San Clemente Island on August 24th 1988.