Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

Sorry if I sounded on edge there, but I was. You would be SHOCKED to know how many so-called "experts" there are out there that have never even SEEN a ship. I base this on a model ship and hobby show I went to a few days after New Jersey deployed. A friend of mine (who also worked for me at the shipyard as a draftsman) was in charge of one of the tables selling fiberglass hulls he makes (of everything from U-Boats to Nimitz class carriers). At a table nearby was a modified Revell model of the New Jersey. The base model for it was done by Loren Perry in my friend's shop with both us dropping a hint or two to Loren as to what she really would look like.

Some loudmouthed "expert" (I think he was a judge also), was criticizing the model as not having the canted ski-jump flight deck that he claimed was installed. Of course he was basing his expertise on a photo he saw of a highly modified Sterling model made of balsa wood and cardboard. The last I saw of that model it was gathering dust at the dark end of a damp hallway in the Pentagon.

Naturally, my friend and I had to say something like, "That's interesting. We were the structural designers on the ship and when we saw her last week that flight deck hadn't been built yet." So much for THAT judge.

As for the boilers, they are, in fact, Babcock and Wilcox boilers. It is true you do not HAVE to run all 8 at the same time or at full pressure at the same time. This is technically true of any multi-boilered ship. But by necessity the Iowas had all 8 boilers on hot iron all the time except when tied up to a pier. Even in a slow cruise speed you have to run at least four to keep either the outboard propellers (numbers 1 & 4) turning or the inboard propellers (numbers 2 & 3) for proper rudder control. The exception is when a private shipyard reactivated one of the Iowas and screwed up the boilers so bad she barely limped back home on one screw.

But even under harbor exit, ALL 8 boilers are on hot iron and ready to go at any time. They have to be to provide the steam for the turbine powered generators and the heating systems throughout the ship. A lot of the electrical drain from the turbo-generators was for the seven new 125 ton air conditioning plants we put in them (plus a lot of deck mounted fan coil units). More electrical drain was for all the new Gee-Whiz black boxes, radar, radio, code machines, and closed circuit TV. We had to take over an entire berthing compartment just for the new radio comm space on main deck. We had to take over the Admiral's quarters on 02 level just for the new Combat Engagement Center and Spook Room. (I had to design the armor for all those spaces). Then there were the power requirements for the new missile installations and their support equipment. As every proposed Shipalt was reviewed, the first question asked was whether or not we had enough electrical reserve power to operate the new equipment. Of course, we did but to make sure we had all 8 boilers up and running with the forward and aft Emergency Diesel Generator rooms manned and ready to hit the ignition switch.

In one case we had a problem with getting enough Low Pressure air to operate some air hoists above 05 level. The hoists were for missile reloading. Then one of our piping techs (Danny Rios) had and astounding idea. We used the Medium Pressure air compressor and orificed it down to LP. The MP compressor was ONLY used to clear the smoke out of the barrels of the 16-inch guns when they fired. It was very doubtful that we would be firing those guns during a Tomahawk or Harpoon loadout, so it was the ideal solution as opposed to installing another LP air compressor higher up on the ship and providing electrical power to it.

However, with Battleships (as well as the older Aircraft Carriers) running with all boilers on hot iron had become almost SOP. The Nukies are something else I guess and I never got too involved with them except for some mast modifications.

Even on a one day family day cruise the New Jersey turned all four shafts. I know because I wound up as a ship's guide and took my family and friends down into the engine rooms to show them the shafts turning. However, I think she did cut down to only two shafts for the gun firing demonstrations.

The ONLY time I felt Missouri sort of lagging along was when we were coming in from a sea trial. Normally only the inboard or outboard screws were engaged but this time ONLY the port screws were used. And even then I think only one of them. The reason was that as we were approaching the Long Beach Breakwater, a pod of California Gray Whales was exiting along our Starboard side. So Captain Kais shut down the starboard screws so as not to drag one of the baby whales into it (the 18-foot diameter propeller wouldn't be damaged but the whale would be in very sorry shape). Steerage was pretty hard for the rudders so approach to the harbor was real slow. However, it gave a good chance for us to stand along the Starboard rails and look DOWN onto the whales that couldn't have been more than 30 feet from the ship.

So there. Yes, I have calmed down a bit after Allstate quickly replaced the broken window on my truck. And I'm back on my Coreg as well. I had forgotten to take it the other day.