Iowa hull life. How much left?

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

Even though he's not part of the *WAB expert panel*

You are such a snotty little smartass, it cracks me up!

Thanks for the missile/5-inch battery info.

[Shipwreck]

Originally Posted by TopHatter

You are such a snotty little smartass, it cracks me up!

Thanks for those words of love.

Originally Posted by TopHatter

Thanks for the missile/5-inch battery info.

Someone made your dream come true (well at least in 1/350 ) :



more pics here :
http://br.armorama.com/modules.php?o...icle&artid=385

Those $100-millions-apiece spotting planes on the fantail are so cool...

[TopHatter]

RustyBattleship asked me to post this for him:

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

Sorry about the late reply. I started it earlier today but my wife fell and broke her leg. REALLY broke it. I just got back from the hospital and it's after midnight. They have to set and pin the bones tomorrow.

The Harpoons would have remained in the same places. Possibly only two 5-inch mounts might be removed but only to provide space for something else.

For Shipwreck: The ORIGINAL JJMA arrangement AND structural drawings are 30 inches above my head. JJMA was cleaning out their back room and I offered to be their trash can.

Other drawings you are probably refering to I personally drew myself for the USNFSA on 11 X 17 paper using Corel Draw.

As for 5"/54 mounts, while Configuration Manager for the structural and armor portions of the ships (1980'S), I was tasked to come up with a way of widening out a turn in a couple of the 5"/38 powder hoists to take the longer 5"/54 cannisters. As the hoist trunks are 3/4" thick STS it was merely a matter adding 1/2" thick plating to the outside of the plate, then machine out 1/2" on the inside. Or just machine out the 1/2" since that portion of the trunks were below the 1 1/2" thick STS Main Deck plating.

The idea NAVSEA had then was to use manually loaded 5"/54 mounts. They were already proven mounts as singles aboard Aircraft Carriers so making twins out of them would not have been a big deal. As a matter of fact, though I had not seen them, I was told by NAVORD that the plans already existed in how to build them as they were considered for the Montana class and the rebuild of the Jean Bart.

[RAL's_pal?]

cRusty...really sorry to hear about Julia's recent accident. It sounds like your family needs a reserved parking place near the emergency door of the hospital. So, does this mean the latest Iowa trip is down the toilet?

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by RAL's_pal?

cRusty...really sorry to hear about Julia's recent accident. It sounds like your family needs a reserved parking place near the emergency door of the hospital. So, does this mean the latest Iowa trip is down the toilet?

I'll still be sending my team up there (including one person who was the Propulsion systems Project Manager in NAVSEA). Whether I go or not depends upon whether Julia will have to remain in rehab or we can get home care for her.

You see, she cannot use crutches as she just had surgery done on her elbow last week re-attaching the tendons to the bone. So she cannot put any weight on that arm for several weeks yet.

I'll keep you posted by email.

[TopHatter]

Dick,
My thoughts are with you and your wife.

[Shipwreck]

Originally Posted by TopHatter

RustyBattleship asked me to post this for him:

Dick,

I am truely sorry to hear about your wife. I seem to recall she's had similar problems a few years back, so I hope it's nothing serious and she'll recover pretty soon.

Copies of the JJMA drawings were circulated within the Navy and the Corps shortly before the WIP got axed.

The arrangement raised quite a few objections when submitted, but the abandonment of any more expenditures on battleships after the decision to deactivate USS Iowa and USS New Jersey didn't really allow for subsequent iterations.

I'd be pleased to discuss some of these objections with you, since the originals in your possession might have more details than the copies I have.

Meanwhile, I'd have a few comments on some of the information you posted on the 5"/54 :


1. The replacement of the existing 5"/38 with 5"/54 was a recurring theme throughout the 1980s. As you stated, analysis showed that the modification of both the projectile hoists and powder hoists to accommodate the new ammunition was not much of a problem.


2. As far as I remember, the options considered at the time for the replacement of the existing 5"/38 Mark-28 Mod.2 twin mounts were either the 5"/54 Mark-42 single mount or the 5"/54 Mark-45 single mount. Though less than ideal, the Mark-42 option received attention because of the number of mounts available at short notice after the decommissioning of quite a few Forrest Sherman DDs in the early 1980s.


3. I don't recall any twin 5"/54 option being seriously considered at the time, though this may well have been one of these ideas that briefly floated in the air at some point. In any case, I don't quite see how it could have been a reasonable option :

a. merely replacing the 5"/38 Mark-12 guns with 5"/54 guns was not feasible within the existing gunhouse.

b. the 5"/54 Mark-41 twin mounts planned for the Montanas were similar to the 5"/54 Mark-39 single mounts used on the Midways which proved relatively unsuccessful in service (hence the development of the aforementioned Mark-42 single mount).

c. the late 5"/54 Mark-66 twin mount never made it to the prototype stage.


4. Is the rebuild of Jean Bart you are referring to one of the two schemes the French submitted in 1943 ? As far as I know, both schemes used 5"/38 Mark-12 guns (scheme #1 with 15 twin mounts and scheme #2 with 17 twin mounts).

After WW2, the French developped their own 5"/54 twin mount (Model 1948) for their destroyers and cruisers, but did not use it for Jean Bart which was eventually fitted with 3.9" guns (Model 1945, 12 twin mounts).

I am not aware of any French project including the 5"/54 Mark-41 twin mount, and I was wondering whether you had come across any document suggesting the French envisioned using this mount on their Jean Bart (or any other ship) post-war.

Any information you would have on this specific subject would be greatly appreciated.

Take care.

[gunnut]

Rusty, I wish your wife a speedy recovery. I broke my hand last year and it sucked.

[gunnut]

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

Those $100-millions-apiece spotting planes on the fantail are so cool...

Um...isn't that a bad place to put those delicate planes? And why do we need Ospreys, 3 of them, on a battleship?

[Stan]

hey rusty sorry about your mrs.

just a question though you say iowas would have been active till 2010 is kept in service, given their time out of service how long would the USN be able to use them if they were re activated

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by STAN

hey rusty sorry about your mrs.

just a question though you say iowas would have been active till 2010 is kept in service, given their time out of service how long would the USN be able to use them if they were re activated

Depends upon which ships based upon the actual hulls I have inspected in dry dock. A couple of them only 10 more years. The other two 15 years at least.

Don't want to name them as I have no time to go into detail descriptions of why.

Sorry.

[RustyBattleship]

For Shipwreck:
Normally I would enjoy going over your points and counterpoints one by one. But please forgive me, I just do not have the time or mental state to do so. I've got a stack of medical bills to analyze and see if my wife paid anything on them before last week's elbow surgery. Then I have to try to figure out what we are being billed for and how much Blue Shield has paid.

To counter-paraphrase Doctor "Bones" McCoy of Star Trek, "I'm an engineer, not a Doctor or Accountant".

[Archer]

Best of luckk RB, and I hope Mrs RB gets better with minimum pain & discomfort.

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by gunnut

Um...isn't that a bad place to put those delicate planes? And why do we need Ospreys, 3 of them, on a battleship?

Allow me to quote Patsy from Monty Python And The Holy Grail:

"It's only a model"

[Dreadnought]

Originally Posted by TopHatter

Allow me to quote Patsy from Monty Python And The Holy Grail:

"It's only a model "

Modify and sit three Apache's on that fantail