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Warship Wednesday, May 22 The Mighty Miss

Posted on May 22, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, May 22

Mississippi as a brand new battleship in WWI complete with lattice masts and disruptive anti-U boat camouflage

Here we see the New Mexico class battleship USS Mississippi (BB-41) in about 1918. The Mighty Miss had a career much longer than most other WWI-era battleships and gave good service for over forty years.

Laid down just a few months after the start of WWI in Europe, she was commissioned 18 December 1917 some eight months after the entry of the US into the Great War. Built as a oil-fired ship (most other warships of the era were coal burners), her WWI career was spent largely in US waters, a fleet in being along the US East Coast should the High Seas Fleet of Kaiser Wilhelm ever make a sortie to New York. In 1931 she was overhauled and modernized, spending almost all of the time period from 1919-1941 in the Pacific.

(Notice the much lower masts and more streamlined look. She was one of the most modern battleships of WWI, but sadly was pushing obsolescence by 1940)

She would have been at Pearl Harbor more than likely alongside her sisters New Mexico and Idaho, but all three ships were sent to the Atlantic in June 1941 to help enforce the neutrality patrol against Nazi U-Boats. Once the Japanese struck in the Pacific however, Mississippi and her sisters were sent racing back to the Pacific. For the first several months of the war she protected convoys up and down the West Coast as California braced for invasion. In 1943 she helped protect the landings in the Aleutian Islands. After conducting shore bombardments in Peleiu, Makin Island, Kwajalein, and others, she found herself in the last Battleship vs Battleship action– the Battle of Suriago Strait. There, Mississippi herself fired the final salvo in history by a battleship against other warships– contributing to the sinking of Japanese battleship Yamashiro.

(Again with the camouflage. During WWII her armament of anti-aircraft guns steadily increased)

More shore bombardments in the Philippines and Okinawa took place before she witnessed the surrender of Japan in Tokyo Bay, winning a total of eight battle stars. In 1946, while most of the rest of the pre-1938 US battleships were laid up and/or scrapped, Mississippi was reclassified from BB-41 to AG-128 (auxiliary, gunnery training/guided missile ship) and spent the next decade as a platform for development of surface to air and surface to surface missiles. For this her rear turrets were removed to give a platform of missile launchers. Without her, the RIM-2 Terrier and Petrel missiles would never have been adopted.

Mississippi firing Terrier missiles in 1955. This hybrid missile/gun arrangement was a wet-dream for battleship advocates for the next fifty years. When the Iowa class were eventually recommissioned in the early 1980s, they were given 16 harpoon anti-ship missiles and 32 Tomahawk cruise missiles in place of a few of the 5-inch twin mounts, but never a large SAM complement as envisioned earlier.

Stricken in 1956, at the time she was the last pre-WWII battleship in active service with the US Navy. Of the 12 WWII era US dreadnoughts, only three of the Iowa class were on active duty when Mississippi was decommissioned. The other 9 much newer North Carolina, SoDak, Alaska, and Iowa-class battleships and battle cruisers all being laid up in red lead row as members of the mothball fleet. Within a few years all of these except the Iowas would be pulled from mothballs and sent either to live the rest of their lives as museum ships, or broken up.

Mississippi herself was scrapped without ceremony at the end of 1956, just shy of her 40th birthday. Today knick knacks of the ship sail beneath the sea with the modern Virgina-class submarine USS Mississippi, after being carried for a while by a large nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser of the same name while her bell and silver set are on display in her home state.
Specs
Displacement: 32,000 long tons (32,500 t)
Length:    624 ft (190 m)
Beam:    97.4 ft (29.7 m)
Draft:    30 ft (9.1 m)
Speed:    21 kn (24 mph; 39 km/h)
Complement: 55 officers, 1,026 enlisted
Armament:     (1917)
12 × 14 in (360 mm) guns,
14 × 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns
4 × 3 in (76 mm) guns, and
2 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:
Belt: 8–13.5 in (203–343 mm)
Barbettes: 13 in (330 mm)
Turret face: 18 in (457 mm)
Turret sides: 9–10 in (229–254 mm)
Turret top: 5 in (127 mm)
Turret rear 9 in (229 mm)
Conning tower: 11.5 in (292 mm)
Decks: 3.5 in (89 mm)

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, May 15 The First Night Carrier

Posted on May 15, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland 2 comments

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, May 15

Here we see the light carrier USS Independence (CV/CVL-22). Began as the light cruiser USS Amsterdam (CL-59) in 1940, she was converted while still at New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J to help fill the urgent and pressing need for fast carriers after Pearl Harbor. A 30/30 ship, she could make 30+ knots and carry 30+ aircraft while having legs long enough to cross the Pacific and operate on her own for a few weeks before she needed to find an oiler. While she was much smaller than a regular fleet carrier such as the Enterprise that could carry 80-90 aircraft, she could still put a few squadrons in the air.

In effect, she was good-enough.

Above you see a scale model of the USS Duluth (CL-87) compared to the USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24) both are directly related to the Indy. The Duluth is a Cleavland-class cruiser and is what the Indy was originally ordered to be. The Belleau Wood underwent to same conversion that Indy did. Notice the similarity in the hull. Both ships only differed above the 01 deck.

When Independence was commissioned on January 14th 1943, the only other carriers in the fleet of the original 8 that started WWII were the Enterprise and Saratoga who were fighting for their lives off the Solomons, and the small USS Ranger which was up to her ass in U-Boats in the Atlantic. The new USS Essex had commissioned just a couple of weeks earlier and was in shakedown. The old carrier Langley, converted to a seaplane tender, had been lost early in the war, the huge Lexington was sent to the bottom at the Battle of the Coral Sea, Yorktown lost at Midway, Wasp and Hornet (stricken literally the day before Independence was commissioned from the Naval List) lost in the Solomons.

In short, the Indy came just in time and she was put to hard work fast. Before the year was out she was conducting raids off Marcus Island, Rabaul, and the Gilberts– tying down Japanese forces needed elsewhere. It was in these raids that the Indy picked up a torpedo (one of a half-dozen fired at her) in her starboard quarter. As this was repaired, she received a new air-group, an additional catapult, and a new mission– that of a night carrier.

The first full-time night Air Group was Air Group 41, established through the drive and persistence of Lt. Commander Turner F Caldwell. He commissioned VF(N)-79 in January 1944, training at NAAF Charlestown, Rhode Island. While at Charlestown Caldwell sold his idea of an ‘pure’ night air group to anyone who would listen. With the availability of the CVL Independence Caldwell got his wish. VF(N)-75 was dissolved and reformed as VF(N)-41, with an enlarged TBM contingent designated as VT(N)-41. Total size of the Air Group was 14 F6F-5N’s, 5 F6F-5’s and 12 TBM Avengers. Independence sailed for Eniwetok at the end of July 1944 to join Task Force 38. Air Group 41 finished it’s tour in January 1945. In that time it had claimed 46 kills, but lost ten of it’s 35 night fighter pilots in action, A further three were lost to operational causes – a tribute to the high training standards and skill of the group. The CVL Independence was the only light carrier to be completely equipped with a Night Air Group. Later in 1945 several large carriers and even a much smaller Jeep Carrier (CVE-108 Kula Gulf) went to Night Groups including Enterprise, Saratoga and Bon Homme Richard— but the Indy was the first.

By the end of the war she held 8 battlestars.

The Japanese couldn’t sink her, so the Navy decided to use her for testing. Since the USN had dozens of brand new fleet carriers of the Essex types, it didn’t need the old Indy anymore. Therefore, she was only 1/2 mile from ground zero on 1 July 1946 when the A-bomb went off in the Bikini Atoll tests. When she didn’t sink, they used her again for another A-bomb test three weeks later. Still afloat, she was only scuttled in 1951 off the coast of San Fransisco. Five of her remaining sisters pressed on and were used during the Cold War as transports, anti-submarine carriers, and as the first modern carriers that the French and Spanish navies had– one, the former USS Cabot, even tested the first Harriers at sea.

Indy is just to the right of the giant column of water that is much wider than she is long….

In the end you can say that the Indy had a hard life in her eight years above water to say the least.

Today, even after being under 3100-feet of seawater for 60 years, she is still on the job. You see ,she took down 70,000 sealed barrels of 1940s radioactive materiel with her which she is guarding in the forever night of the deep ocean and is forbidden to dive on using any means.

In a way, she is still a night carrier, with a very dangerous cargo.

Specs:
Displacement: 11,000 tons standard; 15,100 tons full load
Dimensions (wl): 600′ x 71′ 6″ x 26′ (max) / 182.9 x 21.8 x 7.9 (max) meters
Dimensions (max.): 622′ 6″ x 109′ 2″ / 189.7 x 33.3 meters
Armor: no side belt (2″ belt over fwd magazine); 2″ protective deck(s); 0.38″ bridge; 5″/3.75″ bhds; 5″ bhds, 2.25″ above, 0.75″ below steering gear
Power plant: 4 boilers (565 psi, 850°F); 4 geared turbines; 4 shafts; 100,000 shp (design)
Speed: 31.6 knots
Endurance (design): 12,500 nautical miles @ 15 knots
Armament: 2 single 5″/38 gun mounts (soon removed); 2 quad 40-mm/56-cal gun mounts (in place of 5″ mounts); 8 (soon 9) twin 40-mm/56-cal gun mounts; 16 single 20-mm/70-cal guns mounts
Aircraft: 30+
Aviation facilities: 2 centerline elevators; 1 hydraulic catapult
Crew: approx. 1,560

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday May 8- Baked Alaska

Posted on May 9, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland One comment

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, May 8

Here we see the lead ship of an odd class of warships, the USS Alaska (CB-1). This ship would have made an impressive World War One batttlecruiser, but she was designed some 20-years too late and was underutilized.

Designed in the late 1930s, she was authorized under the Fleet Expansion Act on 19 July 1940. These ships were never intended to be battleships, but instead just really big cruisers with 9x 12-inch guns (most heavy cruisers only had 8-inch guns) and a standard displacement of 29,000-tons. Her mission was to mix it up with such large overgrown cruisers as the German Deutschland-class pocket battleships, the twin 29,000 ton/9×11-inch gunned Scharnhorst class large cruisers, the 18,000-ton Admiral Hipper class and the huge 15,000-ton Japanese Mogami/Tone class. Her overall layout was similar to the South Dakota class battleships only smaller (or alternatively similar to a scaled-up Baltimore class heavy cruiser) using the same below-deck machinery as the Essex-class aircraft carriers

Laid down ten days after Pearl Harbor, where a number of battleships that were more heavily armored than this compromise cruiser design hit the bottom, no one really knew what to do with this ship. This delayed her commissioning until the last half of 1944, at which point all of the Mogami, Tone, Scharnhorst, and Deutschland class pocket battleships had been withdrawn or sunk.

Without a mission, Alaska found herself as a fast carrier escort where her 102 20/40/127mm AAA guns helped keep kamikazes at bay and her 12-inch main battery could be used on shore targets if needed.

She served in 1945 off Iwo and Okinawa then was placed in reserve status and decommissioned in February 1947 after less than three years service. Her sisterhip USS Guam was completed September 1944 and only served for 11 months in WWII while the follow-on ships Hawaii, Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Samoa were never finished (and indeed the last three were never even laid down). Hawaii was broken up on the ways when over 80% complete and her machinery was cannibalized and placed in storage for the Alaska and Guam.

In 1960, along with the six mothballed North Carolina and South Dakota class battleships, the Alaska and Guam were disposed of. Big gun ships in an age of missile armed boats seemingly obsolete. Both of these large cruisers were scrapped.

Specs:

Displacement:

29,771 tons
34,253 tons (full load)
Length:    808 ft 6 in (246.43 m) overall
Beam:    91 ft 9.375 in (28.0 m)
Draft: 27 ft 1 in (8.26 m) (mean) 31 ft 9.25 in (9.68 m) (maximum)
Propulsion:    4-shaft General Electric steam turbines, double-reduction gearing, 8 Babcock & Wilcox boilers
150,000 shp (112 MW)
Speed:    31.4 knots (58.2 km/h; 36.1 mph) to 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range:    12,000 nautical miles (22,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:    1,517–1,799–2,251
Armament:

9 x 12″/50 caliber Mark 8 guns(3×3)
12 x 5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose guns[4] (6×2)
56 ×40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors (14×4)
34 × 20mm Oerlikon (34×1)
Armor:

Main side belt: 9″ gradually thinning to 5″
Armor deck: 3.8–4.0″
Weather (main) deck: 1.40″
Splinter (third) deck: 0.625″
Barbettes: 11–13
Turrets: 12.8″ face, 5″ roof, 5.25–6″ side and 5.25″ rear
Conning tower:10.6″ with 5″ roof
Aircraft carried: 4× OS2U Kingfisher or SC Seahawk

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Sunken USCGC Mohawk To Get Underwater Photo Gallery

Posted on May 8, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Past Warship Wednesday subject Mohawk will be getting a diver-viewable photo gallery installed.

“In May, Austrian photographer Andreas Franke plans to hang a series of photographs on Mohawk Veterans Memorial Reef, thus creating a temporary art exhibit only accessible to divers. Helping on the project will be the Lee County Division of Marine Sciences and Joe Weatherby, founder of Reefmakers LLC, a Key West-based company that specializes in sinking ships as artificial reefs.

On July 2, 2012, county scientists and Reefmakers scuttled the 165-foot World War II Coast Guard cutter Mohawk 30 miles off Redfish Pass.”

The News Press also has a great interactive graphic of the Mohawk herself.

Warship Wednesday, May 1 The Michigan Wolverine

Posted on May 1, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, May 1

Here we see the US Navy’s first iron warship, the gunboat USS Michigan as she appeared around 1905. In the image above, she was already sixty years young.

In 1841 Congress authorized the construction of a side-wheel steam man-of-war for use on the Upper Lakes, to match the British naval strength in those waters. This craft, launched in 1843 was the made using iron as a substitute since in the Lake Erie region at the time quality shipbuilding timber was at a premium.

In the 1860s, she carried a standard dark scheme until the 1890s when she was repainted white

From a 1940s USNI article:

“Practically nothing was known at that time in this country about designing an iron ship, or the technique of fabricating the unfamiliar material. Nor were other than the most primitive construction facilities available at Erie. As a result, the lines adopted for the Michigan were those of the sailing ship of the period, and the frame was designed to afford the requisite structural strength without recourse to the strength available in the hull plating, providing a hull so strong that, despite years of abuse, it is structurally sound today. [100 years later]

I-beams being unknown at the time, the ribs were made from T-bars, and the longitudinals were built-up box structures about 12 inches by 24 inches in cross-section. In all there were five longitudinals, the keel being the only one projecting beyond the skin of the ship. Three of the longitudinals ran the full length of the ship and two were beneath the machinery spaces. The hull plates were all shaped by hand, and the rivet holes were punched by the same means.

The hull material was wrought iron made by the charcoal process in Pittsburgh and carted to Erie. The purity of this material is attested by the fact that the metal is still in excellent condition…The original two-cylinder direct-acting condensing engine, which develops 170 horsepower, still remains in the ship. It has a bedplate that is a cast iron slab 22 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 2 inches thick which carries the two 36-inch by 8-feet cylinders. The engine is secured to 14-inch timbers that are inclined at an angle of 22 ½ degrees. Transporting the heavy bedplate 130 miles from Pittsburgh over the roads of that day must have presented a problem to the teamsters.”

When commissioned she was a steamer whose giant paddle-wheel turned enough to give her a speed of 8-knots with an auxiliary sail rig. Planned with twelve 32-pound carronades and two Paixham 8-inch pivot guns, she was to be the most heavily armed craft on the Great Lakes. This brought a protest from Great Britain and instead she was completed with a single (1) 18-pounder.

The Michigan steamed the Great Lakes for 68-years conducting patrols that included intercepting would be crooks, revolutionaries and assassins in the Timber Rebellion, the Beaver-Macinack War, Civil War draft riots in Detroit and Buffalo, the Fenian Raids, the Niagra Raids and the Philo Parsons Affair. She was up-armed during the Civil War with a 30-pounder Parrott rifle, five 20-pounder Parrott rifles, six 24-pounder smoothbores, and two 12-pounder boat howitzers– mainly due to the potential of British intervention in the Civil War, but she did not have to fire a shot in anger. After the war ended her armament was changed to 6 3-pounders, which were more than sufficient for her freshwater duties.

In 1905 the familiar ship was stripped of her name, the Michigan moniker going to a new battleship, and dubbed USS Wolverine (IX-31). In 1912 she stricken from the active Navy List and transferred (still armed) to the Pennsylvania Naval Militia. These naval reservists used her for another 11 years before her engineering plant, then more than 70-years old, gave out. She was kept by the City of Erie, PA as a floating museum and gathering place until her poor condition won over and by the 1940s she was a derelict, settled on the harbor bottom. In January, 1943, the ship was left nameless through transference of its name to an aircraft carrier.

In 1949 she was scrapped, her keel some 107 years old. Of that time she spent 68 years on active duty and another 11 as a reserve training ship. She was the only armed US Navy ship to regularly patrol the Great Lakes.

Today her foremast remains in Fairport Harbor, Ohio, made into a flagpole and erected in 1950. Her cutaway iron prow, showing impressive construction techniques, is at the Erie Maritime Museum and her anchor is on public display at a park

Specs:
Displacement:    685 tons
Length:    163 ft (50 m)
Beam:    27 ft (8.2 m)
Draft:    9 ft (2.7 m)
Propulsion:    2 × 330 ihp (250 kW) steam engines
Speed:    10.5 kn (12.1 mph; 19.4 km/h)
Capacity:    115 tons of coal
Complement:    88 officers and men
Armament:

As Michigan:
Original: 1 × 18-pounder
American Civil War: 1 × 30-pounder Parrott rifle, 5 × 20-pounder Parrott rifles, 6 × 24-pounder smoothbores, 2 × 12-pounder boat howitzers
As Wolverine: 6 × 3-pounders (47 mm (1.9 in)), 2 one-pounder rapid fire

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO) They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, April 24 Surcouf!

Posted on April 24, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland 4 comments

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 period and will profile a different ship each week. – Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Here we see one of the most peculiar types of ships– the cruiser submarine. These big gun submersibles were seen as the most logical extension of the commerce raider after World War One. During the Great War, gun-armed auxiliary cruisers with long ranges circled the globe. These ships, like the Mowe and the Wolf, took dozens of prizes while submarines on all sides took hundreds– but had short legs. So, after 1919, the thinking was that you could take a large submarine with an extended cruising range, add a few large guns and some extra equipment, and bingo: the cruiser submarine. This particular example is the French Surcouf.

Named after Robert Surcouf, the Napoleonic French pirate (err….make that privateer, let’s be PC here!), this huge sub was built to be a swashbuckler. The namesake privateer and his brother Nicolas between 1789 and 1808 captured over 40 British and Portuguese prizes while flying the French flag alongside his own banner. Napoleon even offered him a Captain’s rank in the French Navy and command of a pair of new frigates, but Surcouf couldn’t take the pay cut.

Statue of Surcouf in Saint-Malo by Alfred Caravanniez, built in 1903. Swashbuckler complete with cutlass...

The Statue of Surcouf in Saint-Malo by Alfred Caravanniez was erected in 1903. Swashbuckler complete with cutlass…

In one notable action, Surcouf, in command of the privateer Hasard (4×6-pdrs, 26 men) engaged and captured the larger and much more powerful East Indiaman Triton (26 12-pdr guns, 150 men) after a 45-minute hand-to-hand engagement that went cabin-to-cabin and deck-to deck.

January 29, 1796: The Corsair Cartier, 4 cannons and 19 men commanded by the famous Surcouf, at age 16, on the approach of the British East Indian Triton, 150 men, 26 cannons, in the Indian Ocean. Painting by Leon Tremisot

“You French fight for money, while we British fight for honor,” a captured English officer reportedly once told the French privateer.

“Sir, a man fights for what he lacks most,” Surcouf retorted.

The submarine that carried the name of this often-forgotten sea dog was ordered in December 1927, after the Washington Naval Treaty placed a limit on cruisers. Skirting the treaty by adding cruiser-sized guns to a submarine, the London Naval Treaty of 1931 limited both the overall displacement of and the size of guns carried by submarines moving forward, making Surcouf the only submarine of her class.

The British were so impressed with Surcouf that the big cruiser submarine was the front piece of the 1931 edition of Jane’s Fighting Ships

French submarine Surcouf

Over 361 feet long and 4400 tons when at a full load submerged, she carried an impressive armament of 12 torpedo tubes and two 8-inch (203mm) naval guns.

A side view of the 8-inch guns on the submarine. Note the muzzle tampinions.

The guns, 203mm/50 Modèle 1924 weapons just like the kind mounted on the Duquesne and Suffren classes of heavy cruisers as the main battery, were among the largest ever placed aboard a submarine. (The top prize goes to the three WWI-era British Royal Navy M Class submarines fitted with a deck-mounted 30.48-cm (12-in) gun taken from battleship stores. These subs were all out of service by 1932). On Surcouf, two guns were mounted in a sealed turret ahead of the conning tower.

Surcouf dock

Fitted with mechanically actuated tampions to allow quick diving, these guns could open fire 2.5 minutes after surfacing and fire approximately 3 rounds per minute. The maximum elevation of 30 degrees limited the maximum range to 21 nmi/39 km with a 270-pound shell. Of course, only 60 rounds were carried for these great guns (hey, it’s a submarine!) but these 8-inchers were pretty amazing.

The rear of the conning tower held the cutest little seaplane. This is similar to the Dry Deck Shelter (DDS) used by the US Navy since 1982 at least in overall concept anyway.

To help spot the guns a small 2500-pound Besson MB.411 seaplane, specifically made just for the sub, was carried. This plane could putter at around 100 knots for two hours, allowing its pilot and onboard observer to correct the artillery of the sub.

Her Besson MB.411 floatplane with wings folded for storage. Looks like a tight fit

Her Besson MB.411 floatplane with wings removed for storage. Looks like a tight fit

French submarine Surcouf in Casablanca, Marocco, 1938 note embarked floatplane

For seizing prizes at sea during commerce raiding missions, the Surcouf had space for 60 prisoners and held a 15-foot motor whaleboat in a sealed well deck.

Compared to other submarines of her day, where the standing room was almost unheard of unless the submariner was 5′ 2″, Surcouf is massive on the inside.

While not specified, it’s conceivable that the large submarine with extra space could have been used for commando-type missions.

French cruiser submarine Surcouf in 1939

The French boat is almost a dead ringer in size to the USS Argonaut, the submarine used to carry 120 of Carlson’s Marine Raiders to hit Makin Island in 1942.

Sailors man the 6 inch53 deck gun aboard USS Argonaut SS-166 (formerly the V-4) during her shakedown cruise off Provincetown, MA on June 21, 1928

As pointed out this image is of the submarine depicted in the fictional Japanese 2005 film “Lorelei: The Witch of the Pacific Ocean”. The featured ship is a sub, design inspired by Surcouf by definitely not identical. Thanks, Eric!

Alas, for all her potential, this huge and well-armed submersible never had a combat career. Commissioned in May 1934 on the eve of WWII, she suffered from mechanical issues. She narrowly escaped capture in France in 1940 by limping away to England where she became part of General de Gaulle’s tiny Free French Navy.

Her only service was in escorting an occasional Atlantic Convoy and in seizing (liberating?) the Vichy French colony of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon in 1941 without a shot. During this operation, Surcouf served as flagship for ADM Muselier and his three small gunboats, which combined were less than half the warship that the submarine was.

Free French Naval Forces submarine Surcouf in Halifax Harbour (closest to depot ship) in 1941. Here, Royal Navy Depot Ship HMS FORTH with the Free French submarine SURCOUF and two other Royal Navy submarines rest in Halifax Harbour. Original Kodachrome via Library and Archives Canada

From World at War :

“Christmas Eve, 1941

     The predawn blackness over the frigid waters of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence is broken by the flash of signal lamps, “Execute the mission ordered.”. A Free French task force slips past the undefended entrance to the harbor of Saint Pierre. A lookout reports no signs of life on shore. His Captain replies, “They sleep and dream of us for Christmas.”. The mail boat to Miquelon approaches and is ordered to turn about and follow alongside. It complies. A fishing dory emerges from the mist and passes the flotilla unmolested. The corvettes near the snow-covered coal wharf. A solitary figure, an ancient Breton fisherman, spies the Cross of Lorraine and races down the Quai de Ronciere. The click-clack of the old man’s sabots on the icy pavement and his bilingual curses, “Petain, le sacre bleu cochon, le old goat!” can be heard across the whole of the island. Sailors on the first of the ships to brush the dock toss him the bowline. As he secures it to the bollard the man exclaims again, “Vive de Gaulle, at last, I can say it. Vive de Gaulle!”.

     Free French sailors and marines in full battle dress race from their ships. By now a crowd of bleary-eyed Saint Pierrais has gathered to cheer them on with shouts of Vive de Gaulle!, Vive Muselier! Homemade banners, Tricolors emblazoned with Croix de Lorraine, flutter in the chill North Atlantic breeze. The assault force, intent on seizing the town’s key administrative centers; the town hall, post office, telegraph station, and radio transmitter, seems oblivious to their welcome. They meet no resistance. The island’s 11 gendarmes surrender their Vichy-supplied machine guns and offer to assist in rounding up the usual suspects. Not a shot is fired nor a drop of blood spilled.

     The operation is over in half an hour.”

When the Japanese came into the war, it was thought that Surcouf could live up to her name sinking Nippon Maru’s in the Pacific but she disappeared en route.

It is thought she was sunk on or about February 18. 1942 after a collision near Panama. Her wreck is thought to lie more than 3,000 feet deep and has never been found. She was announced lost on April 18, 1942, and stricken from the French Naval List the next year.

The plaque to the submarine’s honor at Cherbourg, her original WWII home port. It lists the names of the 130 officers and men whose fate to this day lies somewhere on this lost warship.

The French Navy, of course, still has a great love of Surcouf.

Specs

Displacement:    3,250 long tons (3,300 t) (surfaced)
4,304 long tons (4,373 t) (submerged)
2,880 long tons (2,930 t) (dead)
Length: 361 ft
Beam: 29 ft 6 in
Draft: 23 ft 9 in
Installed power:    7,600 hp (5,700 kW) (surfaced)
3,400 hp (2,500 kW) (submerged)
Propulsion:    2 × Sulzer diesel engines (surfaced)
2 × electric motors (submerged)
2 × screws
Speed:    18.5 knots (surfaced)
10 kn (submerged)
Range:    Surfaced:
10,000 nmi at 10 kn
6,800 nmi at 13.5 kn
Submerged:
70 nmi at 4.5 kn
59 nmi at 5 kn
Endurance:    90 days
Test depth: 260 ft
Boats & landing craft carried:    1 × motorboat in watertight deck well
Capacity:    280 long tons (280 t)
Complement:    8 officers and 110 men
Armament:    2 × 203 mm (8 in) guns (1×2)
2 × 37 mm (1.46 in) anti-aircraft guns (2×1)
4 × 13.2 mm (0.52 in) anti-aircraft machine guns (2×2)
8 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedo tubes (14 torpedoes)
4 × 400 mm (16 in) torpedo tubes (8 torpedoes)
Aircraft carried:    1 × Besson MB.411 floatplane

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, April 17, Bring your Red Cap

Posted on April 17, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland 3 comments

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, April 17

Here we see that most ignored class of naval warship, the humble minesweeper. This particular one had more of a history that others. With a war coming in 1941, the US Navy designed and ordered built a huge class of auxiliary minesweepers to help keep the harbors, coasts, and sea lanes clear from those infernal devices. Dubbed the YMS-1 (Yard Mine Sweeper) class, they were simple 136-foot long boats with twin GM disels, sweep gear, and a 3″ gun for those special moments. A 32-man crew of bluejackets would man the rails. In all some 481 of these boats would be ordered from 1941-45 from 35 different yacht makers around the country. Eighty YMS minesweepers were ordered from US yards for transfer under lend-lease to the UK as the BYMS-class minesweeper, and one of these is the subject of this article.

The simple wooden hulled ship was ordered in 1941 from Ballard Marine Railway Co., Inc., Seattle, WA. Commissioned as HM J-826 in February 1943, she served in the Royal Navy. Renamed HM BYMS-2026 in 1944, she finished the war in the Med before being decommissioned in 1946 and laid up at Malta. Struck from the Royal Navy Register 10 June 1947, she was returned to U.S. custody 1 August 1947. The US Navy disarmed her and removed her sweeping and communication gear then sold her to a British businessman the same year. I mean Uncle Sam already had hundreds of these wooden boats, why bring back another one?

Her sistership, USS YMS-328, one of the few YMS ships still around was bought after the war by a fellow named John Wayne who is considered to be something of a classic actor or sorts. Rechristened the Wild Goose, she still plies the California coastline.

The businessman named her Calypso and after use as a ferry in the Malta area, leased her to a former French Naval officer named Jacques-Yves Cousteau for one British pound per year in 1950. Over the next 47 years Cousteau made several improvements to the minesweeper including changing the accommodations to include 27 in Captain’s Quarters, Six Staterooms & Crew Quarters, adding Photo & Science Labs, an underwater observation chamber, a small helicopter landing pad (on a 136 foot ship!), a Yumbo 3-ton hydraulic crane, and waterscooter and minisub storage holds.

Calypso

After decades of wandering the world’s oceans in Cousteau’s real life aquatic, Calypso was sunk in a January 1996 accident in Singapore where she lay on the harbor floor for 8 days before being raised and salvaged. Sadly she has not sailed under her own power since then.

Jacques Cousteau speaking about life on Calypso, the search for on Atlantis and cognac in a great Blank-on-Blank 1978 interview by Roy Leonard on WGN Radio, from the Roy Leonard Audio Archive.

Jacques-Yves Cousteau died on 25 June 1997 and for the past 16 years the Calypso has been in turns neglected and then restored, then neglected again while legal battles over which group owned the ship ensued. Currently it is owned by the Equipe Cousteau Association who is raising money for a restoration and conversion to a museum ship.

The impossible missions are the only ones which succeed. – Jacques Cousteau

original plans, YMS class sweepers

Specs:
Displacement 270 t.
Length 136′
Beam 24′ 6″
Draft 8′
Speed 15 kts.
Complement 32
Armament: One 3″/50 dual purpose gun mount, two 20mm mounts and two depth charge projectors (removed in 1947) (Post 1950- Spearguns and swagger)
Propulsion: (as designed) Two 800bhp General Motors 8-268A diesel engines, Snow and Knobstedt single reduction gear, two shafts.

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, April 10 The Last Swedish Parsnip!

Posted on April 10, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland 2 comments

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week. – Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Here we see the Swedish Pansarskepp HSvMS Gustav V as she looked in broadside in the 1940s. Pansarskepps ( literally “armored ships” ) was a peculiar design that was popular in the Baltic from about 1900-45. These short, shallow-draft ships could hug the coastline and hide from larger capital ships while carrying big enough guns to be able to brutally bring the pain to any landing ship escorted by a shallow draft light cruiser or destroyer approaching from offshore. Sweden had kept out of wars since Napoleon was around, but she was still very wary of not only Russian and German but British designs on the Baltic. With her neutrality only as good as the ships that could protect it, the country built a series of 15 coastal defense vessels or Pansarskepps from 1888-1918.

And no, they are not commonly referred to as ‘parsnips.’

Here’s a brief rundown:

Svea-class coastal defense ship 3000-3300 tons, 14 kts, 2 x 254mm (10 in) m/85 or m/89 guns
HMS Svea
HMS Thule
HMS Gota

Oden-class coastal defense ship 3445 tons, 17kts, 2 x 254 mm (10 in) m/94
HMS Oden (launched1897)
HMS Niord (1899)
HMS Thor (1898)

Dristigheten-class coastal defense ship
HMS Dristigheten (1900) -3445 t, 16.5kts 2 x 210 mm (8.2 in) m/98

Äran-class coastal defense ship 3,650 tons, 17kts, 2 x 210 mm (8.2 in) m/98
HMS Äran (August 1901) – Stricken 1947
HMS Wasa (September 1901)
HMS Tapperheten (November 1901) – BU 1952
HMS Manligheten (December 1903)
HMS Oscar II (1905) –

Sverige-class coastal defense ship 7,633 tons full load, 23kts, 4x 283 mm (11.1 inch 45 cal.) 8x 152 mm (6 inch 50 cal.)
HMS Sverige (ordered 1912, comm May 1915)
HMS Drottning Victoria (September 1917)
HMS Gustav V (January 1918)

Gustav V in her WWII camo. It was a green Baltic battleship with a white ‘coast guard’ style racing stripe so that Swedish coastal artillery kept the friendly fire to a minimum.

The Gustav V, as you can see, was the last of the baker’s dozen of these craft to come off the line in Sweden and by all rights, the most advanced of the design. Laid down at Kockums, Malmö (the same company that makes Sweden’s AIP Subs today) on 12/1914, just four months after the outbreak of WWI.

She was launched on 31/1/1918 and finally commissioned in January 1922. She was quite a bit longer than her 1912-designed sister ship and class leader Sverige. This fact, coupled with minor changes to the ship’s armament and major ones to her engineering made Gustav V was the crown jewel of the Swedish fleet from 1922 through 1957.

Note the pre-WWI style of ornate stern work. The US and other Western navies did away with this around 1909 but the Gustav V, completed in 1922, still retained this classic styling from a more civilized era

She served in WWII and helped keep Sweden neutral even with the large Kriegsmarine and Soviet Navies coming within a very close range on occasion. The Weimar Germany-era Deutschland class was a series of three Panzerschiffe (“armored ships”), better known as Pocket Battleships, which were based in part from lessons learned by the Swedes with the Gustav.

Swedish coastal defense battleship HSwMS Gustav V, using extensive camouflage, a serious tactic used to great extent by the Swedes, especially for air defense

When compared, the 14500-ton SMS Graf Spee carried six 11-inch and 8x 5.9-inch guns to the 7700-ton Gustav V’s four 11-inch and 8x 5.9-inch guns. The Swedish ship had much heavier armor but the German ship was built to run five knots faster and make round-the-world cruises, something the Swedes had no use for. As a final proof-of-point, the Gustav could float and fight in 20-feet of water whereas the German pocket battleships needed 24 (and a Soviet Gangut class battleship required 30).

The Gus in profile 1930s

So the Swedes had a group of tiny battleships, about the size of a frigate in today’s navies, for almost forty years. The 1938 edition of Jane’s Fighting Ships even lists the Swedish Pansarskepps of the Sverige class as battleships.

Built on hulls that were only about the size of today's frigates, the Gustav carried an armarment larger than any gun armed cruiser. It included four large 11-inch guns and 8 smaller 5.9-inchers.

Built on hulls that were only about the size of today’s frigates, the Gustav carried an armament larger than any gun-armed cruiser. It included four large 11-inch guns and 8 smaller 5.9-inchers.

Well, Gustav lived a quiet life and in 1957 at age 35 was tied up to the pier for the last time– the Soviets had decommissioned the last of their WWI-era Gangut class battleships the year before. Her two sister ships, Sverige and Drottning Victoria were laid up in 1947 and their parts had been used to help Gustav V stay operational for another decade.

But her story was not over. Gustav’s 8x 152 mm (6 inch 50 cal.) Bofors QF guns were removed and mounted around Sweden for use as Coastal Artillery should the Soviets (or Germans, or Norwegians, or British, or whoever feel froggy) and were only retired in the 1980s. The disarmed ship herself was still used as a training hulk and pierside until 1970 when she was scrapped.

The end of the Pansarskepp era.

A few of her guns still remain emplaced around Sweden to this day. While its 1900s tech, these EMP-immune guns could ruin the paint job of Soviet ships well into the 1980s if needed. The Swedes no longer use these guns, but still have their breech-blocks (just in case)

In fact, when Gustav was scrapped, she was arguably the only battleship still ‘in service.’ At the time the US Iowa-class battleships were all in mothballs and had been since the 50s. The British Vanguard was scrapped in 1960 and the Turkish battle-cruiser Yavuz (formerly the Kaiser’s Goeben, launched in 1911) had been struck in 1954 by the Turks and her hulk scrapped in 1973 after an offer to sell her back to Germany was refused.

Guess the Swedes had the last laugh on that one.

Specs:
Displacement: 7,239 tonnes standard, 7,755 tonnes full load (some sources list 7633 as FL)
Length: 396.6 ft (120.9 m)
Beam: 18.6 m (61 ft)
Draught: 6.7 m (22.0 ft)

Armour

Belt: 200/150–60 mm (7.9/5.9-2.4 in)
Turret: 8 in. Front, 4 in. Sides, 4 3/8 in Rear
Conning Tower: 175/100–60 mm (6.9 in)
Deck: 1 5/8 in.
Redoubt: 4 in.
Barbettes: 6 in.
Small Turrets: 5 in. Front, 3 in. Sides

Machinery

2 shafts; Westinghouse Geared Turbines (Manufactured by Motala Company) in Gustaf V 22,000 SHP; originally with 12 Yarrow-type coal-fired boilers with (originally) 761-tons bunkerage of coal. The provided a nominal range of 3300-miles. This was seen as plenty for the Baltic region of operations. In the 1930s half of the ships, 12 boilers were replaced by 2 oil-burning Penhöet type boiler. This upgrade slightly increased speed and allowed the ship to use both oil and coal for strategic reasons to operate on alternative fuel if the Swedish oil supply was ever cut off). Fuel stowage was 360ts of coal and 273ts of oil after this.

Armament

4x 283 mm (11.1 inch 45 cal.) Bofors guns (2 twin turrets), load in 17 seconds, rated as cramped, dividing partition between guns. These guns could fire a 672.4 lbs. (305 kg) Arrow Nose Shell to 31,700 yards (29,000 m), capable of penetrating 13.5-inches of armor at 6500-yards. These four guns could fire a total of a dozen rounds every minute at targets up to 29-km away.
8x 152 mm (6 inch 50 cal.) Bofors QF guns (1 twin turret superfiring over the forward 11-inch battery, and 6 single turrets, 3 on each beam)
4x 75 mm Bofors AA cannons mounted forward of the rear 11-inch battery
2x 57 mm short-barreled Bofors cannons (6 pdr.)
9x 6,5 mm MG
2x 457 mm (18 in) TT

Armament after modernization (late 1930´ts to WW-II)

The underwater torpedo tubes were removed and the underwater torpedo room was converted into an artillery central plotting room to serve the installation of modern range meters and fire control equipment for heavy, secondary, and AA-gunnery.

All small gunnery and 2x152mm (6 inch 50 cal. ) were removed and replaced with modern Bofors 75mm, 40mm, and 20mm Anti-aircraft gunnery. (2 x 2 – 25mm/58, 4 x 1 – 25mm/58; + 1 x 2 – 40mm/56cal M32, 2 x 2 – 20mm/66cal M40, 4 x 1 – 20mm/66cal M40

The range of the 281 mm (11 inch) main-artillery was upgraded by new ‘Arrow Point’ ammunition. An upgrade at the time to the guns that would have enabled them to fire to 35-degrees elevation (from the 1912-era 25-degrees) which would have added some 10,000-m to their range, was canceled.

Complement 450 after reconstruction

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization

(INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, April 3

Posted on April 3, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland 3 comments

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, April 3

Today we see the last of the US Navy’s WWII Essex-class fleet carriers to commission, USS Oriskany (CV/CVA-34). The Big O, a ‘long-hull’ ship stretched by more than thirty feet, was the 24th Essex commissioned with eight of her sister-ships never completed.

The Essex class was the USS Nimitz of its day, the most powerful and modern aircraft carrier in the world. Ordered August 1942 during the epic sea battles around Guadalcanal Oriskany was not finally completed and commissioned until 25 September 1950. This was because the end of WWII in 1945 brought a near halt to her construction and then a drastic change to her configuration. She earned two battle-stars in Korea, her aircraft pounding North Korean and Chinese ‘volunteer’ positions to gruel.

Oriskany with F4U Corsairs aboard off Korea in 1952. I challenge you to find a more beautiful warplane of the 1950s!

Oriskany, built as the most modern Essex class in the fleet, was the last angled-deck conversion, received a unique SCB-125A refit which upgraded her to 27C standard, and included steam catapults and an aluminum flight deck in 1959.

With Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard, January 1968. Just count all of those A4s and Vigilantes! You can see the difference between the angled flight deck here when compared to her 1940s style strait deck seen in the 1955 image scrolling up.

Oriskany deployed to Vietnam six times in the 1960s and 70s, usually with Carrier Air Wing 16 aboard, winning an additional five battle-stars. Between 10 May and 6 December 1965 alone, she carried out over 12,000 combat sorties (60 per day) and delivered nearly 10,000 tons of ordnance against enemy forces.

The following ships are visible (bottom to top): USS Wiltsie (DD-716), USS Tappahannock (AO-43), USS Oriskany (CVA-34), USS Mars (AFS-1), and USS Perkins (DD-877). The Oriskany, with assigned Carrier Air Wing 19 (CVW-19), was deployed to Vietnam from 16 April to 17 November 1969.

Her 1960s era air wing consisted of two fighter squadrons of F-8J Crusaders, three attack squadrons of A-4E Skyhawks, 4 E-1 AEW Tracers, 4 EKA-3B Skywarriors, and 4 RF-8G photo Crusaders. Not bad for a carrier designed to fly F4F Wildcats.

A-7B of VA-215 standing by on catapult of USS Oriskany (CV-34) in 1976.

In 1970, the three A-4 squadrons were replaced by two squadrons of A-7A Corsair IIs and the Oriskany became the first carrier in the fleet to use the E2 Hawkeye. The F-4 Phantom II and A-6 Intruder were considered too heavy to operate from the Essex-class, and the ships’ jet-blast deflectors were not liquid cooled, a requirement for operating jets like the Phantom which launched using after burner.

The rest of her class being retired in the early 1970s, she was the last Essex-type ship used in regular fleet service as an attack carrier. Her final Western Pacific deployment was from 16 September 1975 – 3 March 1976.

An overhead view of a crowd gathered on the pier at Naval Air Station (NAS) Alameda, California, as the carrier Oriskany (CVA 34) returns from her 15th and final Western Pacific cruise March 3 1976.

The only one of her sisters to outlive her in Navy service, Lexington, had been designated a non-deployable training carrier (AVT-16) in 1969 and spent the last 22 years of her life qualifying nuggets on T-2s out of Pensacola.

Oriskany was decommissioned 30 September 1976 and laid up by the Carter administration, she spent a quiet 13 years in rusty mothballs. Her condition was so bad in fact that when Regan’s Secretary of the Navy John Lehman, architect of the ‘600-ship Navy’ visited the ship in the early 1980s with an eye to recommission her was shocked at her appearance. She was coated with thick rust and had not only grass but small trees growing on her deck. Nonetheless she still was kept as an emergency mobilization asset on the Naval List until the Cold War ended in 1989 then she was removed. Sold for scrap in 1995 she was repossessed by the Navy two years later when her breaker defaulted.

With a 40,000-ton unusable aircraft carrier on their hands, the Navy decided to sink her as a reef.

(Oriskany‘s burial at sea)
Based on EPA’s approval, after a public comment period, the ship was towed to Pensacola, FL in March 2006 for final preparations for sinking under a Navy contract. A team of Navy personnel accomplished the sinking of the ship on 17 May 2006, supported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Escambia County Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Pensacola Police Department, and several sheriff departments of Escambia County and surrounding counties. A Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal team from Panama City, FL detonated C-4 explosive charges of approximately 500 lb (230 kg) net explosive weight, strategically placed on 22 sea connection pipes in various machinery spaces. 37 minutes after detonation, the ship sank stern first in 210 ft (64 m) of water in the Gulf of Mexico, 24-miles south of Pensacola– the cradle of US Naval Aviation.

Today she is one of the most popular dive destinations in the Gulf.

Specs, as built 1950

Displacement:    As built:
30,800 tons (over 40,000 later in life)
Length:    As built:
904 ft (276 m) overall
Beam:    As built:
129 ft (39 m) overall
Draft:    As built:
30 ft 6 in (9.30 m) maximum
Propulsion:    As designed:
8 × boilers 565 psi (3,900 kPa) 850 °F (450 °C)
4 × Westinghouse geared steam turbines
4 × shafts
150,000 shp (110 MW)
Speed:    33 knots (61 km/h)
Range:    20,000 nautical miles (37,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Complement:    As built:
2,600 officers and enlisted
Armor:    As built:
2.5 to 4 inch (60 to 100 mm) belt
1.5 inch (40 mm) hangar and protectice decks
4 inch (100 mm) bulkheads
1.5 inch (40 mm) STS top and sides of pilot house
2.5 inch (60 mm) top of steering gear
Aircraft carried:    As built:
90–100 aircraft
1 × deck-edge elevator
2 × centerline elevators

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday, March 20

Posted on March 20, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland One comment

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take out every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week.

– Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, March 20

Here we see a depiction of the USS Spuyten Duyvil, one of the first torpedo boats (minelayers?) in the US Navy. Designed by Samuel M. Pook a Boston-based American naval architect who had earlier designed the City-class ironclads ( USS Cairo, Carondelet, Cincinnati, Louisville, Mound City, Pittsburg, etc) for the Union Navy, the boat was originally called the Stromboli (yes, like the delicious stuffed macaroni product). You have to admit, it kind of looks like one.

Mmmmm, philly steak stromboli

The 84-foot long Duyvil was powered by a simple steam engine turning a single screw that propelled the ship to a stunning 5-knots (not a misprint, that’s a five). Since the craft was so slow, it was given an impressive armor plate that ran as thick as 12-inches of railroad iron plates. As such, it was an ironclad torpedo boat– of sorts. The ship was equipped with ballast tanks like a modern-day submarine that could be filled with water to drop already low-freeboard vessel two feet lower in the water to where her decks were almost awash. The armament of the ship consisted of two submerged ‘torpedo tubes’ which released semi-buoyant obstruction shells that were filled with anywhere from 70-400 pounds of blackpowder. To deploy these unpowered torpedoes, actually more correctly known today as naval mines, they were pushed through the hawsepipe tubes under the target, would rise to the hull of the intended victim while trailing a short length of cord. This cord was back on the Duyvil and an enterprising volunteer (the navy’s first Torpedomen!) would engage it, triggering a percussion cap inside the mine.

The Duyvil at high draft. She could be filled with water to ride much lower in the water. As such she was one of the first semi-submersible warships

The Duyvil didn’t make it to the fleet until the end of 1864 and only served for about nine months. During this time and directly after the war she was used on the James River to blow up Rebel obstructions. She never did manage to engage a Confederate naval vessel. As a curious twist of fate, her designer’s earlier effort, the USS Cairo, was the first ship in history to be sunk by a modern naval mine– at the hands of Confederates.

Out of service by 1866 the Yankees held on to her until 1880 when she was sold. As such she outlived her inventor by two years. Still, she was one of the first US navy torpedo boats, a class which led to development of what we call destroyers today.

Specs
Displacement:    207 long tons (210 t)
Length:    84 ft 2 in (25.65 m)
Beam:    20 ft 8 in (6.30 m)
Draft:    7 ft 6 in (2.29 m)
Propulsion:    Screw steamer
Speed:    5 knots (9.3 km/h; 5.8 mph)
Complement:    23 officers and enlisted
Armament:    remotely exploded naval mines (primitive)
Armor:    Pilothouse: 12 in (300 mm)
Hull: 5 in (130 mm)
Deck: 3 in (76 mm)

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO)

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval lore http://www.warship.org/naval.htm

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

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laststandonzombieisland

Weapons, Wars, Preparation and Security from a recovering gun nut turned bad writer

Category Archives: warship wednesday

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