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  • #46
    Originally posted by cyborg512 View Post
    I'm new to this board so I hope I got the link insert right. if not it's set as my home page on this board. Previewed the post, guess I got it right! :)
    That link is inaccessible and forwards to a document of some kind. Please post the URL again.
    “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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    • #47
      Any more news on this development?

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      • #48
        Originally posted by cyborg512 View Post
        I live in Iowa, so visiting the old girl is going to be a bit of a problem, let alone volunteering my time and labor to keeping her ship shape.
        Do you live in or near Riceville? Perhaps a member of the Welsh/Irish Swancutt clan?
        Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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        • #49
          Originally posted by tbm3fan View Post
          ...she is finally going to go somewhere where she be given the care she needs. Not many know but when Richard Pombo (ex-HR) sponsored the bill to bring the Iowa out to California there was this little clause in the bill. No one thought anything of it as it seemed Stockton wanted her (backed out), a San Francisco group wanted her ( an uphill battle in SF), and finally Vallejo (bankrupt). Although while the Mare Island location would have been nice especially with the dry docks there it would simply be to out of the way which is death for a ship museum. The Pombo restriction was that the ship HAD to stay in California to be a museum. Anywhere else would have needed a bill introduced to change that. I think it is great that San Pedro has stepped up to bring the ship down and for volunteers to get started on her exterior restoration. I'm sure that inside she won't have a mess like this...
          What are those pictures of?

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          • #50
            16" blanks

            Originally posted by RustyBattleship View Post
            If you're willing to pay for all the broken windows in San Pedro, Wilmington and Palos Verdes you can fire "blanks". But you still have to have something in front of the powder bags to build up pressure to go BOOM instead of FIZZLE. Probably a few bags of straw would do the trick.

            Actually, the North Carolina used to have a tremendous light show for night time entertainment using strobe lights and sound effects for the firing of the guns.

            When the Battleships were active, even during practice firing all personnel on the weather decks had to wear double ear protection (at least on Missouri). That would be ear plugs PLUS the large cup type ear protectors. I used the cup protectors but never put in ear plugs. I just turned off my hearing aids instead.
            When I studied welding with Ansel Hook there was demonstration about welding gas, he filled some toy balloons with oxygen and acetylene - first separately, not much to see when these were ignited - then he adjusted the torch to a neutral flame, snuffed it out and barely filled a ballon to about the size of a tennis ball. He advised us to put our hands over our ears - being a bunch of macho welders - many of them didn't -- he relit the torch and carefully touched off the balloon - while sort of hiding behind the bench. It felt like every peice of metal in the shop raised up a foot and crashed back down -- he had the over head doors open and people came running from across the street to see what the explosion was and how many people had been killed... (no one was really hurt - but my ears were ringing for the rest of the day):)). It had the same quality of sound that the 16" guns had -- like a giant metal door slamming - though nobody gets nearly as close to the muzzle of big guns when they fire as we were to the little balloon.

            My point is that a fair sized bag (maybe a kitchen garbage bag half full) of neutral mixture oxy-acelylene would make a great 16" blank -- it could probably be fired just like a regular charge with the 0.30 cal primer cartridge - it would be cheap - and there wouldn't be a wad to worry about starting fires with.
            Last edited by USSWisconsin; 04 Jul 10,, 03:53.
            sigpic"If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees.
            If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children."

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            • #51
              ^when BB55 had the light show, they had what appeared to be oxy/acetylene lines going to both the front turrets, which spit flames when they were simulating gunfire. The lines were identical to those you see on shop torches, just longer. They probably wheeled the tanks out there for the show, then back in storage.

              The effects got to where they were in bad condition and needed updating, and they just scrapped the show. Used to have bleachers on the grass off the port side, they're gone, too.

              They had a pretty big blast to simulate the torpedo hit she took. It was really a good show for the time.

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              • #52
                Originally posted by USSWisconsin View Post
                When I studied welding with Ansel Hook there was demonstration about welding gas, he filled some toy balloons with oxygen and acetylene - first separately, not much to see when these were ignited - then he adjusted the torch to a neutral flame, snuffed it out and barely filled a ballon to about the size of a tennis ball. He advised us to put our hands over our ears - being a bunch of macho welders - many of them didn't -- he relit the torch and carefully touched off the balloon - while sort of hiding behind the bench. It felt like every peice of metal in the shop raised up a foot and crashed back down -- he had the over head doors open and people came running from across the street to see what the explosion was and how many people had been killed... (no one was really hurt - but my ears were ringing for the rest of the day):)). It had the same quality of sound that the 16" guns had -- like a giant metal door slamming - though nobody gets nearly as close to the muzzle of big guns when they fire as we were to the little balloon.

                My point is that a fair sized bag (maybe a kitchen garbage bag half full) of neutral mixture oxy-acelylene would make a great 16" blank -- it could probably be fired just like a regular charge with the 0.30 cal primer cartridge - it would be cheap - and there wouldn't be a wad to worry about starting fires with.
                Oxy-Acetylene "guns" have been around every welding shop in the world. Our welders used to stuff some paper in one end of a pipe, fill it with Oxy-Acetylene and touch it off.

                For display purposes LBNSY Pattern Shop built a large model of our first nuclear powered Cruiser USS Long Beach (CGN-9). They did an excellent job and it is mounted on a trailer for use in parades.

                Then President Kennedy visited the actual Cruiser and he was quite pleased with it except for one thing. He said "It really needs a couple of guns on it."

                So back to the yard it went and had a couple of 5" mounts installed.

                Our model also went back to the pattern shop to duplicate those mounts and the welding shop rigged up the guns to fire oxy-acetylene bangs every minute or so during the parade.

                The City of Long Beach now owns that model and have done quite a bit of restoration on it. Don't know if the guns still work or not. But she will be seen again November 6th during the North Long Beach Veterans Day Parade.
                Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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                • #53
                  Power of the Presidency

                  Amazing what the power of the United States office of the President can have on the outfitting of a U. S. Naval Warship.

                  President Kennedy visits the U.S.S. Long Island and makes a remark about his view on the ship needing a couple of 5-inch guns.

                  President Regan talked about battleship diplomacy and shazam ( the Iowa's) battlewagons hit the open seas.

                  Makes one consider what President Obama might say in the months ahead.
                  Attached Files

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                  • #54
                    Originally posted by blidgepump View Post

                    President Kennedy visits the U.S.S. Long Island and makes a remark about his view on the ship needing a couple of 5-inch guns.
                    Wrong coast...

                    Shortly before the shipyard closed they moved the model of the USS Long Beach from one part of building 303 to another. Someone wasn't thinking and they only opened the roll-up door high enough to get the truck in, and they ended up smashing the masts and part of the superstructure of the model. The guys in the Plastic Shop worked around the clock to get it ready for the next parade.

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                    • #55
                      Originally posted by Ytlas View Post
                      Wrong coast...

                      Shortly before the shipyard closed they moved the model of the USS Long Beach from one part of building 303 to another. Someone wasn't thinking and they only opened the roll-up door high enough to get the truck in, and they ended up smashing the masts and part of the superstructure of the model. The guys in the Plastic Shop worked around the clock to get it ready for the next parade.
                      Last Tuesday evening I was at the Veterans Day Parade committee meeting and our (outgoing) Councilman (Val Lerch) confirmed that the city of Long Beach now has full custody of that model and is kept in proper storage. Even then, they had a number of people doing more repairs on it.
                      Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.

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                      • #56
                        Ought to be a USS Long Island.....

                        My mind was filled with a telephone conversation with the Mrs. about picking her up at the airport before the fireworks started tonight in our small town. At least I got a T-shirt when she landed ( yes it says Long Island ). Thank goodness I'm old enough now to say I confuse myself easily and should not attempt two thoughts at once.

                        Had to laugh hard when Ytlas brought me back in to focus and cleared my brain, thank you !!

                        Happy Fourth of July to all that like Battleships. :)

                        P.S., got any pictures of the model of the U.S.S. Long Beach ??
                        Last edited by blidgepump; 05 Jul 10,, 05:35.

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                        • #57
                          Originally posted by shadow01 View Post
                          What are those pictures of?
                          Sorry, didn't see your question right away. Those shots are of the O8 Level aboard the USS Hornet before restoration...

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                          • #58
                            Originally posted by blidgepump View Post
                            Amazing what the power of the United States office of the President can have on the outfitting of a U. S. Naval Warship.

                            President Kennedy visits the U.S.S. Long Island and makes a remark about his view on the ship needing a couple of 5-inch guns.

                            President Regan talked about battleship diplomacy and shazam ( the Iowa's) battlewagons hit the open seas.

                            Makes one consider what President Obama might say in the months ahead.
                            The president should stop giving suggestions on how to design weapon systems. Roosevelt had a thing for "baby flattops" and we got a bunch of light carriers that had limited value.
                            "Only Nixon can go to China." -- Old Vulcan proverb.

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                            • #59
                              Originally posted by blidgepump View Post
                              ought to be a uss long island.....
                              [ATTACH]21600[/ATTACH]:))

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                              • #60
                                USS Long Island

                                Go Ytlas !

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