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  • BB Joy rides?

    This is going to sound mad....

    Would it be feasible to turn one of the Iowa's (Iowa in particular) into a an operational museum?

    I wonder what costs would be involved in keeping the ship in moving? In other words taking people for joy rides.

    Be one hell of a way for people to experience the ship in all its glory instead of tied up to a pier.

  • #2
    A cool idea, but i imagine epicly expensive. Towing it around would probably be more feasible, but nowhere near as fun. Tickets for tours of the USS New Jersey are approaching $20, which is, IMO, already closing in on too expensive. It would probably take a minimum of a few hundred guys to safely man a battleship under its own power, all of whom must be trained and paid. If you want the guns to be operational (and who wouldnt!), thats another few hundred guys. It probably costs a few million dollars a day to keep a battleship even minimally operational. Maybe, just maybe, you could justify doing it once a year, but I dont know where you would get a crew.

    My idea, which i think is a bit more workable, would be to bring one turret of the BB online, and fire it on the forth of july, new years, etc. Blanks only of course! I would give anything to see (and hear) those guns fire.

    Also, for Rusty Battleship or anyone else here who knows, I've read that one of the reasons the Jersey was made a museum so early was that her "training mechanisms had been welded down." What exactly does that mean. Can her turrets still turn?
    Last edited by eocoolj; 06 Aug 08,, 13:38.

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    • #3
      It would probably cost about the same amount of money as a ride into outer-space (seriously); as eocoolj pointed out, it would take hundreds of people, at minimum, to safely man the critical systems on the ship. Even in it's later years, the Iowa had a complement of 1,800 officers & enlisted; during WWII & Korea, it had 2,700 men on-board. So you'd have to pay all those people (unless they're all volunteers), and you'd have to pay for the fuel oil and (indirectly) the maintenance on the beast. Not a small amount . . . .

      BTW, this maybe should be in the BB section, but I found a fairly concise website about BB's and which one is the "best":

      Battleship Comparison
      "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

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      • #4
        Originally posted by Gun Boat View Post
        Would it be feasible to turn one of the Iowa's (Iowa in particular) into a an operational museum?
        Feasible? Not a chance, IMO.

        On the other hand, you can go for a 'ride' on I believe 2 operational Victory ships.
        “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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        • #5
          Originally posted by eocoolj View Post
          Tickets for tours of the USS New Jersey are approaching $20, which is, IMO, already closing in on too expensive.
          Wow, wonder why so much? Tickets for the North Carolina are only $12 for adults and $6.00 for kids.

          In May you can watch Movies on the fantail on Friday nights for a dollar.
          Tour not included.

          And they have one of the best 4th of July shows on the east coast:)

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          • #6
            when uss intrepid was towed for renovation to nj (10 miles away at most), they were selling tickets for a ride to ship yard, and back to nyc by a helicopter, price ...i hope you sitting down,...$100.000, a piece, i kid you not. don,t know if anyone actually bought them, but i wont be surprised if they were sold out.
            "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" B. Franklin

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            • #7
              How about selling tickets to tour cRusty's garage and look at his BB and LBNSY memorabilia and have him regale everyone with the "stories."

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              • #8
                You can get into the USS Alabama for free with military ID

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
                  Wow, wonder why so much? Tickets for the North Carolina are only $12 for adults and $6.00 for kids.

                  In May you can watch Movies on the fantail on Friday nights for a dollar.
                  Tour not included.

                  And they have one of the best 4th of July shows on the east coast:)
                  We used to go down to Wilmington all the time when I was stationed at Bragg, back in the eighties. It was awesome. I loved NC, always felt right at home there. I really liked visiting BB-55 as well and Wrights beach. I have got to get back there some day.:)

                  Why not turn the Iowa into a working cruise ship. People pay to go to dude ranches, cattle drives and pay to drive race cars and go on rocketship rides. Why not get the Navy experience, without the commitment to your country of course.
                  Last edited by Blue; 07 Aug 08,, 04:09.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by RAL's_pal? View Post
                    How about selling tickets to tour cRusty's garage and look at his BB and LBNSY memorabilia and have him regale everyone with the "stories."
                    Now THAT's an IDEA.
                    Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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                    • #11
                      When I was on the Iowa, the rumor was that the fuel system leaked a lot and repairs were going to cost a fortune. Even if not true, maintenance on the ships engines and fuel for them would cost a fortune, especially in this day and time with Gas at 4 bucks a gallon.

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by omon View Post
                        when uss intrepid was towed for renovation to nj (10 miles away at most), they were selling tickets for a ride to ship yard, and back to nyc by a helicopter, price ...i hope you sitting down,...$100.000, a piece, i kid you not. don,t know if anyone actually bought them, but i wont be surprised if they were sold out.


                        In New York, thats not all that much. A decent lunch there cost 25 bucks. :)

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                        • #13
                          Dam.

                          So keeping one of these puppies in 'running' condition is just too expensive?

                          What would the yearly cost be? In the millions?

                          Even with just crew to run the engines? No weapons, command and control etc?

                          Would be brilliant for future genrations to see one of these things on the high seas. They represent such a big part of western history.

                          The only hope is they get recommissioned i spose, and that is looking less and less likely with each passing day...

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Johnny W View Post
                            In New York, thats not all that much. A decent lunch there cost 25 bucks. :)
                            idk man, i live in new york and one hundred thousands, is still a lot of money.
                            "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" B. Franklin

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