Visiting on board Naval Ships.....

[Dreadnought]

Very soon I will be touring (two) carriers. 1 is a definate. The 2nd is "iffy" but I think it will still go. Also I plan on being aboard Wisconsin very very soon.

Adding the DDG Block/Flight II to the list is a new entry.

[RustyBattleship]

If you guys expect me to remember every Naval ship I've been on, you're out of your freakin minds.

To my recollection I have only "visited" four ships. In Milwaukee we walked through a Submarine and at the end of the war walked through an LST converted to a museum display ship. Here in California I did a walk through on the ancient Submarine USS Sawfish and visited a German Destroyer.

Well, during an open house at LBNSY about 1953 I visited the USS Wisconsin and that must have sealed my fate to be a ship builder/designer.

As for ships I've worked on:
AKAs
APAs
ASRs
AOs
AOEs
ARDs
ATFs
ATMs
BB's (all four Iowa's)
CAs
CAGs
CLs
CLGs
CVs
CVSs
CVAs
CVLs
DEs
DEGs
DDs
DDGs
DLs
DLGs
FFs
FFGs
LHAs
LHDs
LPAs
LPHs
LSTs
LCMs
MSOs
YDs
YOs
YLs

Handling and test equipment for:
Regulus Missiles
Polaris Missiles
Poseidon Missiles
Trident Missiles
Tartar Missiles
Terrier Missiles
Sea Sparrow Missiles
ASROCs
MK-46 Torpedoes
25mm Chain Guns (foundations)
20mm Vulcan/Phalanx "Gatling" guns.

Handling and test equipment for:
ADS-1
DSRV
Bathyscaphe Trieste
SEALAB II

That's enough. I think I'll go play with my model trains now.

[gunnut]

I once saw a Victory ship from the dock next to her...

[RAL's_pal?]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

If you guys expect me to remember every Naval ship I've been on, you're out of your freakin minds.

As for ships I've worked on:
AKAs
APAs
ASRs
AOs
AOEs
ARDs
ATFs
ATMs
BB's (all four Iowa's)
CAs
CAGs
CLs
CLGs
CVs
CVSs
CVAs
CVLs
DEs
DEGs
DDs
DDGs
DLs
DLGs
FFs
FFGs
LHAs
LHDs
LPAs
LPHs
LSTs
LCMs
MSOs
YDs
YOs
YLs

APL, AD, AS, ASR, LKA, YRBM, AE, LPD, LSD....... etc; etc; etc;

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by RAL's_pal?

APL, AD, AS, ASR, LKA, YRBM, AE, LPD, LSD....... etc; etc; etc;

So I missed a couple. At my age I'm allowed to be slightly forgetful. That's why I count on you to fill me in.

[RAL's_pal?]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

So I missed a couple. At my age I'm allowed to be slightly forgetful. That's why I count on you to fill me in.

Yeah, just send the check for Reminder Fee to the PO Box ASAP...

[Shamus]

I had a chance a couple of years back to tour the USS Alabama and the USS Drum down in Mobile,AL.The Alabama was very impressive,had a great time poking around it with my kids and taking pics of them in the 5" turrets and on the 40mm mounts.The kids were amazed at the size of the 16" shells on display and quite frankly so was I.The Drum was also impressive but in a different way.It is still amazing to me that a crew could live and fight in such confined spaces.I am no giant in height and I found myself ducking more often than not.It increased my respect for those submariners even more.Does anyone know how much damage was done to the museum site there by Katrina?

[ChrisF202]

Me:

- USS Intrepid (CV-11) which is now a floating museum in NYC. I went there about 8 years ago. Im not a big fan of airpower so it was ok but not that interesting. I think I might have actually been there twice, cant recall lol!

- USS Barry (DD-933) now a floating museum at the Washington DC Navy Yard. I LOVED it and I was so fascinated by the stories and details the guides told about the ship. I also have a great picture of me "manning" one of the ships .50 machine guns. At the same time I also visited the US Navy Museum (very briefly as we were in a bit of a hurry). The USMC Museum is in the same base but it was closed the morning we went. I would love to go back there though.

[Dreadnought]

Originally Posted by TopHatter

Lucky #%&@$!

Let's see...updating my list and finally a few active-duty ships!:

USS San Juan (SSN-751)
USS Hue City (CG-66)
In a perfect world I would have been able to tour a Flight IIA Burke, USS Roosevelt at the same time

USS Constitution (Technically active!)

USS Massachusetts (BB-59)
USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (DD-850)
USS Lionfish (SS-298)
PT-617
PT-796

And finally a couple of foreign warships.
ARC Tayrona (Columbian Navy Type 209/1200) On Active Duty
Hiddensee (Soviet-built Tarantul I class corvette)

And (again) in a perfect world, I would have tried to finagle a tour on HMS Ocean back when she was visiting Miami on her shakedown cruise some years back. Too bad I was with people who don't jones on that sort thing.
Got to see her up close though, she was a beaut!

There was also a Fleet Week in Fort Lauderdale last weekend with a wide cross-section of the USN visiting...was I able to go? Of course not!

I was very honored to go aboard the Winston Churchill DDG-81 This weekend. The security was to say "extreme" and with certain events happening I can't blame the USN for such tight security. Everywhere you looked they were armed to the teeth including three german shepards and three patrol boats standing by along with all the armed sailors on deck and standing by the .50 cals mounted on the decks. Myself and two armed customs officers were taken aboard by a senior chief and coxswain's mate. We were the first aboard very early. We were allowed to see only certain areas of the ship since they were in what the chief called an "unbuttoned state" meaning many spaces not meant for civilian eyes were open and being cleaned and maintained under extremely tight security for the visitors and family members that would be arriving that afternoon.

I was only allowed to take pics of the ship from pier-side as the ship was "unbuttoned" however the chief allowed us access to CEC,(My jaw dropped at the site of such modern technology and user friendly systems in the CEC ).Officers Ward (Which is modeled after an old english pub complete with tounge and grooved wall coverings,bar and furnature.) Adorning the walls of this room were numerous pics of Truman and Churchill together at various times and places. Also pics of some of Englands oldest ship yards in their hayday..places like Portsmouth,Camill Lard, Clydebank etc. Its was like being in an old english pub in the 1940's. Pretty dam cool to see some of the creature comforts aboard some of the navies lates and greatest. We walked along the decks with the chief and viewed the VLS tubes and Flight II Helo ops stations, New versions of CIWS systems on the stern section and the 5"/62 mounted on the bow along with a few engineering spaces.

I would like very much to thank the two gentlemen that showed me around and spent the time answering any questions I had within certain parameters. and the crew as they rapidly moved about attending their duties and stations. The mixture of male and females and cultures aboard reflect how advanced the USN has become in crew selections for these warships and is certainly a feather in their cap.

The crew onboard were extremely professional and very adimant about their jobs and the way they go about them...QUICKLY AND PROFESSIONALLY. A large combination of youth and experienced officers onboard that ship and you could tell they were just as excited about doing their jobs as I was to have been there.

Needless to say this was the most cleanest of all the USN ships I have ever been on thus far. A happy ship and crew indeed and it shows.

To the officers and crew aboard the Churchill I wish to thank you for allowing me to walk aboard you little "slice of home". Your cleanliness,order and professionalism are certainly to be commended. Your knowledge of the job at hand is inspiring and the commitment you put forth in service to our country deeply appreciated and applauded!

"Fair winds and following seas Churchill" and again THANKY YOU for the visit!

I will post a few pier side pics tommorow.

[Dreadnought]

Updated list:

CV
JFK (CV-67) Philadelphia 1990's mothballed
Forrestal (CV-59) Philadelphia 1990's mothballed
Saratoga (CV-60) Philadelphia 1990's mothballed
Shangri La (CV-38) Philadelphia 197- 1980 mothballed
America (CV-66) Philadelphia 1990's mothballed

BB
Iowa (BB-61) Philadelphia 1978 Mothballed
New Jersey (BB-62) Philadelphia / New Jersey 1967 mothballed (first time ) Weekly basis now
Wisconsin (BB-64) Philadelphia 1978 Mothballed

DD
Fiske DD-842 Philadelphia mothballed 1979
Johnston DD-821 Philadelphia mothballed 1979

DDG
Winston Churchill DDG-81 Arleigh Burk class Flight IIa- Philadelphia 2007

CA
Des Moines (CA-134) August 2006 Philadelphia mothballed

ACR
Olympia (CA-15) 1978 Philadelphia on display

Liberty Ship
USS John W Brown "Brownie" August 2005 Philadelphia on display

Sail
CA Thayer 1998 San Francisco
Kalmar Nykel 2002 Delaware

Subs
Becuna (SS-319) Philadelphia on display 1981

[Shipwreck]

Originally Posted by Dreadnought

Des Moines (CA-132) August 2006 Philadelphia mothballed

CA-132 was USS Macon.

USS Des Moines was CA-134.

[RustyBattleship]

Ooops. I forgot one. A captured Iranian gunboat. When found adrift in the Persian Gulf the crew was dead. We took off the anti-aircraft gun and mounted a .50 caliber M2 on instead.

It was brought into the shipyard for major repair. It was all fiberglass powered by twin Volvo-Pinta inboard/outboards. I had to reinforce the engine foundations and the transom that the shafts went through. Also had to repair a lot of fiberglass.

The boat was built in Sweden but the quality was for export models only as it wasn't even symetrical in half breadth between port and starboard (about 1 1/2 inch off).

[Dreadnought]

Originally Posted by Shipwreck

CA-132 was USS Macon.

USS Des Moines was CA-134.

Noted

[TopHatter]

Originally Posted by Shamus

I had a chance a couple of years back to tour the USS Alabama...Does anyone know how much damage was done to the museum site there by Katrina?

A lot.

The ship itself was listing around 8 degrees but I don't think it was serious. A concrete gangway was rent in two

The aircraft pavilion was - I think - a total loss. Lot of unique and rare aircraft in there, including an A-12 Blackbird, YF-17 Cobra, and an OS2U Kingfisher to name a few.

The park itself has been open for quite some time now but I can't get any current information on the pavilion or if any aircraft were total losses. (I've heard 3 at the most, but that could be incorrect.)

This link will show pictures taken after Katrina passed.

U.S.S. Alabama

[Shamus]

Thanks for the link TH.Wow,I just showed the pics from the link to my daughter and we were both amazed at the damage done to the aircraft pavillion.It was under repair when we were there from the previous hurricane that had hit,but the planes were all in pretty good shape.I have photos of my kids in front of most of them and would post a couple to you but I am still trying to figure out how to do this.It is a shame they took so much damage,a lot of interesting history there.