Naval Quiz

[blidgepump]

Emplain why .......

Explain why exterior hatches are " dogged down " ( i.e. closed and secured) when the 16-inch guns are fired on an Iowa Class BB?

[tbm3fan]

The blast of the propellant gases escaping from the barrel becomes a shock wave and will affect the structure of the ship by creating massive vibrations which can rip off numerous parts of the ship like deck plating, shear rivets, or rip a hatch from it's mountings.

[blidgepump]

Correct Answer ....

And a recital to back you up!
Your question.

[tbm3fan]

Let's see who paid attention to Dick

Name the ship that challenged the USS New Jersey one night off the coast of Vietnam?

[Albany Rifles]

The US Army!

http://www.war-stories.com/new-jerse...myers-1968.htm

I had heard this story in the 1990s by a talk from the command historian of the US Army Transportation School on the history of Army watercraft. Stuck with me.

[tbm3fan]

The US Army!

http://www.war-stories.com/new-jerse...myers-1968.htm

I had heard this story in the 1990s by a talk from the command historian of the US Army Transportation School on the history of Army watercraft. Stuck with me.

Dick mentioned there were several stories. However, in his book is a direct comment by the Captain of the New Jersey when asked and Dick highlighted it. Captain related that he got annoyed by the request on radio (twice) as it should have been obvious on the ship's radar who was approaching and it was not a North Vietnamese junk.

[Albany Rifles]

Dick mentioned there were several stories. However, in his book is a direct comment by the Captain of the New Jersey when asked and Dick highlighted it. Captain related that he got annoyed by the request on radio (twice) as it should have been obvious on the ship's radar who was approaching and it was not a North Vietnamese junk.

Interesting how each side had their own view of the story....what a shock!

I'm working on a question.

[tbm3fan]

That is true and what Dick said. Problem was all those stories were from people, many of whom, were not connected to the New Jersey. Of course the absolute best way to know was to contact the Captain who at the time was retired Adm. J. Edward Snyder. Dick heard it from a former crewman of the small ship in question. The stories go off track since everything was done in proper signaling techniques and code words. According to Adm. Snyder he never used the name of the ship in messages except in this one instance. The small ship was the USS Bronstein FF-1037 and so it seems everything is based off of that by everyone else.

I ran across this again several nights ago as my 9 year old son wants me to read him a book when he goes to sleep. I finished a book by John Muir and now I'm reading him Dick's book.

[Albany Rifles]

It is usual to think that the English Civil War was restricted to the British Isles and the home waters.

One naval battle occurred elsewhere. What was that battle?

[Battleship IOWA]

Battle of the Severn?

[Albany Rifles]

Correct!

Fascinating little fight.

I learned about it last year when I was in Pax River for School and visited ST Mary's on the weekend.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Severn

[Battleship IOWA]

Who knows what time it is?

[Albany Rifles]

Used to denote range to target to gun turrets.

[Battleship IOWA]

Used to denote range to target to gun turrets.

Correct!

Here is a better picture.

From NavWeaps:
"Concentration Dial or Range Clock - In many ship photographs taken between about 1916 and 1940, there are what appear to be large clocks on the front and rear superstructures or masts. These are actually devices to tell the other ships in the formation at what range that ship is firing at. Together with Declination Marks (see below), these mechanisms allowed the other ships in the formation, whose view of the target may be obscured by fog, gun smoke or funnel smoke, to have their guns at the proper elevation and bearing when their view becomes unobstructed. This greatly reduced the time needed before they were ready to fire. The introduction of radar and better ship-to-ship communication methods in the late 1930s eliminated the need for these devices and they were removed from most ships by the start of World War II or shortly thereafter. For the concentration dial shown here, the small hand represents the range in thousands of yards, with 0 = 10,000 yards and 9 = 19,000 yards. The big hand represents range in hundreds of yards."

[Battleship IOWA]

Declination Marks - Scales painted on a turret to indicate to other ships in the formation the direction in which the turret is pointing. See photograph of HMS Emperor of India at right. See "Concentration Dial" above.