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  • #31
    Originally posted by BB61Vet View Post
    Rusty, I'd voulenteer to hold that sledgehammer for him any day and it'd be my honor to do it, not only because that means I'd be on the Lady for her trip, but also because of him, what he did, and who he represents.

    (I saw that episode of Mythbusters too, it was cool). Bowling balls eh? Hrm. That'd be an issue involving many hours of loading the damned things. Why not blow in sand and vac it out when it's time to raise her again? Might take a little time, but it'd sure save on the man-hours when a machine can put the sand in and remove it with minimal supervision?
    I've thought of sand also. Especially the fact that the Iowa class BB's actually have a SAND LOCKER up forward by the Paint Locker. The sand was not just for ballast but for fire fighting. Normally the DC gangs would use the fire hoses. But in WW II incendiary bombs (that looked like road flares) were also used by both sides. The bombs used Thermite for their fire-starting. But Thermite burns so hot, it evaporates the water as soon as it hits. Therefore sand was available to smother the burning Thermite.

    This was also instructed for all Civil Defense personnel (Air Raid Wardens, etc.) with brocures showing how to smother a Thermite bomb on a roof top. So all flat-roofed buildings in America had buckets of Sand and several shovels stowed in special weather-proof storage shacks built on top of the building.

    To load inert 16-inch shells while she is still in Benicia would require bringing out barges full of them (as I witnessed and inspected during a load-out on New Jersey in Seal Beach NWS). Also, correct me if I'm wrong, we would have to activate at least two shell hoists in the forward turrets to run them up into their stowage racks.

    We do plan to do that, but preferably from pierside which would be a good show for visitors also.
    CALLING ALL GUNNERS MATES. We will need your experience in loading Battleship ammo in at least directing the younger and healthier volunteers and/or workers to do it the right way and the SAFE way.

    So far, the simplest way I can think of at the moment is to bring a water barge out with FRESH water and pump it into the forward ballast tanks.

    By the way, another VIP I have on my list is Corporal Frank Grubb USMC. He was serving on the Iowa while she was in Tokyo Harbor along with the Missouri, New Jersey and North Carolina for the Japanese surrender.
    Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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    • #32
      Behind the scenes and exposed

      Mr. L my very best wishes for a successful project with the Iowa.
      I think you are really going to like this opportunity.

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      • #33
        Sand locker is precisely what made me think of sugar sand for the ballast. Freshwater in the tanks isn't a bad idea, but is it cost-effective?

        You have a truly good VIP list from the two I've seen so far. Do me a favor and thank that shipbuilder for being part of the team that built the ship that saved my life; the ship I'm proudest to have served aboard and sailed aboard.

        Here's a neat one for ya - whilst tiger-teaming the annular spaces off broadway behind E-div storeroom there was found a lounge of sorts, left over from the days Iowa was being built. Inside we found one recliner in very ratty condition, and several Life magazines and old newspapers dated late 1942. There were also a few old bottles and such in that space as well. All got float tested since they weren't really in salvagable condition - mildewed magazines and newspapers don't do well in museums, the recliner was in really bad shape, and the bottles were cracked and broken. This was found about the same time that the original ship's bell was found up in the Osomethingorother voids (it went to the state of Iowa along with the wardroom silver sets).

        Keep your eyes open in those back voids and you'll find a lot of Kilroy was here's courtesy of Rosie the Riveter and her colleagues. It was things like that which made serving aboard her a VERY cool thing indeed.
        sigpic

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        • #34
          Just get a couple hundred volunteers to be human ballast and pack them forward. :)

          Once the ship is free, they can worry about how to get off....

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          • #35
            To load inert 16-inch shells while she is still in Benicia would require bringing out barges full of them (as I witnessed and inspected during a load-out on New Jersey in Seal Beach NWS). Also, correct me if I'm wrong, we would have to activate at least two shell hoists in the forward turrets to run them up into their stowage racks.

            Rusty, You will not require the actual gun loading hoist. What you will need though, is an electric hoist (3,000lb or better) to transfer them vertically down the armored hatches under the Turret overhang. The arms for this hoist are located atop the turret itself on the Port side. From there they go down to the second platform level. You will need a (the) trolley located below to pick them up in a horizontal position and transfer them under the hatch in the projectile flat. You will then require an electric whip hoist which hauls them (in vertical position) up to the projectile flat for stowage. They have to be man handled (unless you have the parbuckling gear energized) from there and secured by chain to the bulkhead. You can easily figure out the very same procedure for Turret 2 who's armored hatch is located on the main deck same as Turrets 1 & 3 Port side except it has the additional shell deck so you may need a longer cable length.

            I will email you the Nav Ord Manual that describes the procedure in detail.
            Last edited by Dreadnought; 08 Sep 11,, 22:12.
            Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

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            • #36
              Originally posted by Dreadnought View Post
              To load inert 16-inch shells while she is still in Benicia would require bringing out barges full of them (as I witnessed and inspected during a load-out on New Jersey in Seal Beach NWS). Also, correct me if I'm wrong, we would have to activate at least two shell hoists in the forward turrets to run them up into their stowage racks.

              Rusty, You will not require the actual gun loading hoist. What you will need though, is an electric hoist (3,000lb or better) to transfer them vertically down the armored hatches under the Turret overhang. The arms for this hoist are located atop the turret itself on the Port side. From there they go down to the second platform level. You will need a (the) trolley located below to pick them up in a horizontal position and transfer them under the hatch in the projectile flat. You will then require an electric whip hoist which hauls them (in vertical position) up to the projectile flat for stowage. They have to be man handled (unless you have the parbuckling gear energized) from there and secured by chain to the bulkhead. You can easily figure out the very same procedure for Turret 2 who's armored hatch is located on the main deck same as Turrets 1 & 3 Port side.

              I will email you the Nav Ord Manual that describes the procedure in detail.
              Good Lord, I don't know what I'd do without you. I did find a Tech Manual on ammo handling aboard the Iowa, but I didn't have time to even thumb through it to see if it covered the turrets.

              So I will be waiting for you email upload. From that I can make enough copies to go around and we can gather up the hoists, practice with some logs or beer barrels to make sure we have the routine down pat so the loading can be done efficiently and SAFELY.
              Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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              • #37
                Rusty, if you need a couple of old GMG chiefs to assist as well, have Trish send a holler out on Facebook to the Iowa Vets group. I'm VERY certain you'll get more help than you truly need.
                sigpic

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                • #38
                  made sticky for the time being.

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                  • #39
                    Originally posted by BB61Vet View Post
                    Rusty, if you need a couple of old GMG chiefs to assist as well, have Trish send a holler out on Facebook to the Iowa Vets group. I'm VERY certain you'll get more help than you truly need.


                    I'm also on your Facebook forum. My avatar is of me standing in front of Turret I of the New Jersey coming back from gunnery trials. That's why one of my postings says that anybody who wants to help restore the ship -- the line forms behind me.

                    I was the hull, structural, habitability and armor Configuration Manager at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard that was the planning yard for reactivating the Iowa class Battleships. I've been aboard all four, underneath three of them in dry dock and to sea on two of them during gunnery and speed trials. All of the people listed under my group in our table of organization are former LBNSY employees who reactivated the New Jersey and Missouri at the shipyard and several from the engineering group were also with me on the east coast inspecting the Iowa and Wisconsin.

                    As I pointed out in a couple of meetings with city groups, we are not some hobbyists who have read a book on Battleships.

                    WE ARE THE PROFESSIONALS.
                    Attached Files
                    Last edited by RustyBattleship; 09 Sep 11,, 05:09. Reason: Forgot to italicize IOWA, NEW JERSEY, MISSOURI & WISCONSIN
                    Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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                    • #40
                      Rusty, if you want any help/advice on documenting it video-wise let me know.
                      In the realm of spirit, seek clarity; in the material world, seek utility.

                      Leibniz

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                      • #41
                        Rusty I never doubted for a minute you know what you're doing. You'd asked for loading manuals though and who better to help in that aspect than a GM who's done it? That's why I suggested. Sorry if any misunderstanding took place.
                        sigpic

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                        • #42
                          This one released from US Navy readings....

                          Battleship Iowa to become museum in California

                          By Gidget Fuentes - Staff writer
                          Posted : Tuesday Sep 6, 2011 18:00:44 EDT

                          SAN DIEGO — The historic battleship Iowa will live out its next chapter at a new permanent home in Southern California.

                          The Navy announced Tuesday that it will donate the ship to the Pacific Battleship Center, a nonprofit group that plans to berth the Iowa at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro for use as a floating museum.

                          In making the decision, Navy Secretary Ray Mabus picked the Los Angeles site over a competing application from the Historic Ships Memorial at Pacific Square, a group based in Vallejo near Iowa’s current home with the mothballed fleet in Suisun Bay.

                          “I am pleased this historic battleship will serve as a tribute to the sailors, who contributed to her storied legacy,” Mabus said in the announcement issued by Naval Sea Systems Command. “I am confident that the Iowa will be proudly displayed in the Port of Los Angeles as a symbol of her distinctive place in our nation’s history.”

                          The Navy will transfer the Iowa, nicknamed the “Big Stick,” to the Pacific Battleship Center after the completion of reviews required through the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act. The center will establish the 887-foot-long Iowa as a “living” museum at Berth 87 in San Pedro, with tours, displays and educational programs open to the public, according to the group.

                          Iowa, commissioned in 1943, was decommissioned in 1990, a year after an explosion in its No. 2 16-inch gun turret killed 47 sailors. It is the last of four Iowa-class battleships to be donated. The others are New Jersey, in Camden, N.J.; Missouri, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Wisconsin, in Norfolk, Va.
                          Last edited by Dreadnought; 09 Sep 11,, 16:30.
                          Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

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                          • #43
                            Well done, Rusty. Do you have a mailing list of supporters to canvass for donations and send out news? If so, how does one get on it?
                            To be Truly ignorant, Man requires an Education - Plato

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                            • #44
                              Today is the day of the annual LBNSY picnic where Rusty has his displays and I'm sure there will be discussions of the Iowa. The guy who helps Rusty unload his displays is on vacation so Rusty should be looking for help this morning....

                              There was also thunder, some lightning and a fair amount of rain this morning. As I type this, the thunder has returned and it's getting dark again.


                              ...Sun came out and it warmed up. Nice day after all and even got my flower beds watered this morning.
                              Last edited by Ytlas; 11 Sep 11,, 00:22.

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                              • #45
                                Originally posted by Ytlas View Post
                                Today is the day of the annual LBNSY picnic where Rusty has his displays and I'm sure there will be discussions of the Iowa. The guy who helps Rusty unload his displays is on vacation so Rusty should be looking for help this morning....

                                There was also thunder, some lightning and a fair amount of rain this morning. As I type this, the thunder has returned and it's getting dark again.


                                ...Sun came out and it warmed up. Nice day after all and even got my flower beds watered this morning.
                                Yeah, the picnic got underway a little late because of the surprise thunder showers. Don who normally helps me load up the displays is back east at a ship reunion. But Art (one of our committee members) came over yesterday and loaded them up for me.

                                But because of the doubtful weather we only put 3 out plus the book listing shipyard workers who have died since the closure of the yard.

                                I was also dragging because my wife had a bad fall yesterday and thought she broke her ankle. Just a really bad sprain thankfully. But she fell again at home when the crutches slipped out from under her. Being a stubborn Hungarian she didn't want me to help her get up. Finally she conceded and my adrenilin kicked in and I picked her up off the floor.

                                But my muscles are paying for it today.

                                The big thing is at least a hundred former shipyard workers asked me when they can go aboard and start restoring the ship. These are the people who personally reactivated New Jersey & Missouri as well as some engineering staff that also worked on Iowa and Wisconsin.

                                Though LONG BEACH NAVAL SHIPYARD may no longer physically exist, that showing of hands today said that at least in our hearts it is still ALIVE AND KICKING.
                                Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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