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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

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, 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 27

Posted on March 27, 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, March 27

Here we see a one of the very last of hundreds of PT boats built during WWII for the Allied Navies. She is PT-658 and she is wearing her correct 1945-style Measure 31-20L Camouflage. Built in just five months in 1945, she was completed 30 July 1945 by Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA. During WWII there were the Elco boats, Huckings, Vosper and the Higgins boats, all similar designs. Some 620~ of all types were ordered and 199 of these were the 78-foot Higgins boats. While not all were finished, 99 of the 531 PT boats that served during World War II, were lost to various causes.

Higgins Boat under construction in New Orleans while a Coasty looks on to keep everyone honest

Comparison between the Elco and Higgins boats

Finished too late for the war she was to be assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron FORTY FIVE (PTRon 45), but this group was never stood up. If she had been, odds are she would have shipped out to the Pacific and would never have been seen again. You see after WWII the Navy sank, burned, gave away, or just left these boats to rot over there. The lifespan of a plywood boat rushed to completion wasn’t thought to be very long so the Navy wasn’t thrilled about wasting more money on these disposable craft.

The fate of most of the PT boats in WWII. More than 100 were burned in the Philippines alone

She was reclassified as “Small Boat, C105343″, 27 August 1946 and then as “Floating Equipment 3” two years later and kept around as a work boat on the West Coast. For a decade she helped support the DEW station on Santa Rosa Island and chased stray boats out of the Point Mugu missile test range. She was finally sold in 1958 by the Navy to a private owner who used her as the yacht Porpoise. In 1993 a group of PT-boat vets and interested parties found her on the West Coast and tried to save her.

PT-658 was stripped down and then built back up over the course of the past twenty years

This group called SAVE THE PT BOAT INC “was formed by a group of gray-haired ex-PT boaters to take custody of a historic relic, PT 658, a World-War II motor torpedo boat, and restore it to original operating condition, with full armament and three 1,850 horsepower Packard V-12 engines.” and it seems as if they are well within reach of that goal.

PT-658 is one of just 11 WWII-era PT boats left, and is one of the very few of these boats that are still any type of operational condition. In fact, she is the only 100% authentically restored U.S. Navy PT boat actually operational today. You can check her out in Portland, Oregon at the Swan Island Navy Operational Support Center Pier.

Specifications:

Displacement 56 t.
Length 78′
Beam 20′ 8″
Draft 5′ 3″
Speed 41 kts.
Complement 17
Armament: As a late war Higgins (PT625 class) the PT658 was, for her size, one of the most heavily armed vessels in the US Navy
She carried :

one 40mm Bofors M3 cannon aft,
one 37mm Oldsmobile M9 autocannon offset to port forward,
2 twin 0.50 cal Browning M2 Machine Guns amidships:
2 M4 20mm Oerlikon cannons;
4 Mk13 Aircraft Torpedoes: (600# warhead) 22.5 inch diameter, 13’ 6″ long, 33.5 knot speed, weight 2216#, range 6300yds (~3.5 miles) filled with 2800 psi air, grain alcohol and water to run a steam turbine turning gear operated counter rotating propellers.
2 M6 300# TNT depth charges: Manual depth setting and manual release
plus smallarms and a smoke generator.

Radar : US Navy “SO” Type Radar : This radar was fitted on PT Boats beginning in 1943 and was later replaced towards the end of the war with SJ. Both were 3000 MHz with 50kw pulse, surface search radars made by Raytheon. Approximate range was 25 Nautical Miles.

Propulsion: Three 4,500shp Packard W-14 M2500 gasoline engines, three 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, 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!

Warship Wednesday, March 13

Posted on March 13, 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, March 13

Here we see the retired ex-USS Alabama (BB-60) laying in Mobile Bay as a publicly operated museum ship when I toured her last year.

She was the last and some argue the luckiest of the four South Dakota-class battleships and, with the exception of the follow-on Iowa class ships, the most modern and best equipped US battlewagon ever to take the sea.

Designed with a standard displacement ‘not to exceed 35,000-tons’ to fit with the Washington and London Naval Treaties, the ship still sported a 12.2-inch armored belt, which increased to 16-18 inches at the conning tower, barbettes, and turret faces. Behind this armor was 7/8 inch (22 mm) thick STS plates behind the belt, which made the SoDak class immune to hits from super-heavy 16-inch shells at any distance further than 17,000-yards. Once fully outfitted during WWII, these ‘treaty battleships’ came in at over 44,519 tons (full load) and could still make 27-knots. The follow-up Iowa class had virtually the same armament (although they did use a more advanced 16-inch gun), and same armor but only real design improvement was a top speed of 33-knots. Other than that, the Alabama came to the table with the same thing as the Iowa.

Commissioned on 16 August 1942, just eight months after Pearl Harbor, she was rushed into service. However, with British strength sapped in the Atlantic, she spend her most of her first year at sea with the Royal Navy, trying to lure the SMS Tirpitz out to sea battle. It would have been an interesting match, with the Alabama having a larger suite of heavier guns (9×16-inch, 20x127mm vs the Tirpitz 8×15-inch, 12x150mm, 16x105mm guns) with slightly better armor protection over the German ship to boot. Whether US radar fire control or German radar fire control was better would have told the story of this great ‘could have been’.

German battleship Tirpitz in the Alta Fjord, Norway, during World War II. Her and Big Al never met…

With the Germans refusing to lose the Bismarck‘s sister ship, Alabama soon found herself shifted to the Pacific where she spent most of 1944-45 in the hectic job of screening fast carrier task forces with her massive AAA armament and radar. During the Marianas Turkey Shoot, it was Alabama that helped provide the early warning of incoming Japanese attack planes, her radar giving the ship, and thus the US fleet, the upper hand.

Winning 9 Battlestars for her combat operations, she was never the victim of noteworthy enemy action and never lost a man to either the Germans or Japanese. Her gunners were credited with shooting down no less than 22 attacking Japanese planes and her main battery of 16-inch guns fired an estimated 1,250-rounds in anger at enemy shore positions.

She was decommissioned in 1947 after serving just 52-months on active duty, 11 of them spent in post-war deactivation overhaul. In 1954 it was planned to reactivate the Alabama, remove at least one turret and much topside weight, re-engine her with more modern turbines, and give the leaner, meaner, ship a 31+ knot top speed to escort the new super carriers. However this proved a non-starter for budgetary reasons.

The Navy held on to the virtually new ship until she was stricken in 1962 just short of her 20th birthday. Her and her three sister ships, USS South Dakota, USS Indiana, and USS Massachusetts were ordered sold for scrap that year. Indiana went to the breakers who paid $418,387 for her, as did the SoDak. The Massachusetts was saved by a local effort from her namesake state and today sits in Fall River, MA.

Since 1964, the Alabama has silently protected Mobile Bay as a museum ship, her engines inactive, great props cut from their shafts, her 16-inch guns filled with concrete, her breechblocks removed.

Still, a mighty sight if ever there was one. If you are ever in Mobile, or Fall River where her twin sister lives, check it out.

Specs:
Displacement:    35,000 long tons standard as designed
Length:    680 ft (210 m)
Beam:    108.2 ft (33.0 m)
Draft:    36.2 ft (11.0 m)
Propulsion:    oil-fired steam turbines, 4 shafts
Speed:    27.5 kn (31.6 mph; 50.9 km/h)
Range:    15,000 nmi (17,000 mi; 28,000 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement:    1,793 officers and men
Sensors and processing systems:    radar
Armament:    9 × 16 in (410 mm)/45 cal Mark 6 guns maximum range of 36,900 yards (20.9mi)
20 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal guns
24 × Bofors 40 mm guns
22 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons (ever-increasing)
Aircraft carried:    OS2U Kingfisher scout planes

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, March 6

Posted on March 6, 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 6

Here we see the Gazelle class cruiser SMS Ariadne of Kaiser Wilhelm’s Imperial German Navy. The Ariadne and her nine ship class were built to scout for a growing battle fleet, and most importantly show the German flag around the world in ports both tropical and frozen.

Just over 344-feet long, smaller today that a typical frigate, they were powered by two triple-expansion engines that generated 8,000shp and gave the ship a 21.5-knot speed. Armed with ten 105mm naval guns and a pair of torpedo tubes, they were capable of sinking anything faster than them when designed and outrunning anything bigger. She was built at AG Weser, Bremen, and commissioned in 1901.

Largely obsolete by the time WWI erupted in 1914, the cruiser was placed in patrol work. At the Battle of Heligoland Bight, she found herself facing the five battlecruisers of Admiral Beatty’s force which included the Lion, Queen Mary, Princess Royal, Invincible, and New Zealand. Outgunned to an immense degree, she turned to starboard and attempted to flee. She was hit several times by the British guns, and one hit the forward boiler room. The coal bunker caught fire and five boilers were disabled; her speed fell to 15 knots. Two battlecruisers, HMS Lion and Princess Royal closed in until they were firing their 13.5-inch guns at a distance of 3,000 m (9,800 ft), the point-blank range for guns of that caliber. Ariadne returned fire as best she could but to no effect.

With fires raging forward and aft, Ariadne had her forward magazine flooded so the fires would not reach the propellant charges.

At 14:15, the British ceased fire and allowed Ariadne to limp away. The surviving crew that was able to escape the ship assembled on the forecastle and prepared to abandon the ship. The cruiser Danzig arrived shortly before 15:00 and began to pick up survivors, and Stralsund joined the rescue effort shortly thereafter.

At 16:25, Ariadne capsized, though she remained afloat for some time before she finally sank. In all, nine officers, including her commander, and fifty enlisted men were rescued. Her crew escaped from the flames and stood on the forecastle, singing “Deutschland Über Alles” as they awaited rescue. The rescue effort was hampered by frequent explosions of ammunition stored on Ariadne’s deck, which prevented boats from getting too close to the wrecked cruiser.

Most of her sisters outlived her, if only just for a few years. Some were sunk during the war, others scrapped just after or given away as reparations. One, SMS Amazone, lived until 1954 as a barracks ship in Bremen until she too went under the torch.

Today the Ariadne is a popular wreck site and is still inspirational to those who breathe salt air.

Specs:
Displacement:    3,017 tonnes (2,969 long tons)
Length:    105.1 m (344.8 ft) overall
Beam:    12.2 m (40.0 ft)
Draft:    4.93 m (16.2 ft)
Installed power:    8,000 ihp (6,000 kW)
Propulsion:    2 shafts, 2 Triple-expansion steam engines
Speed:    21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph)
Range:    3,560 nmi (6,590 km; 4,100 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:    14 officers
243 enlisted men
Armament:
10 × 10.5 cm SK L/40 guns
2 × 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:    Deck: 20 to 25 mm (0.79 to 0.98 in)

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, Febuary 27

Posted on February 27, 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, February 27

Here we see the Nelson class battleship HMS Rodney (pennant number 29) of His Majesty’s Royal Navy in 1942. The Rodney and her sister ship Nelson were one of the more unique in modern dreadnought designs. They were constructed with all of their main guns placed well forward. This isn’t for tactical reasons, but more because of compromises put into effect after the 1922 Washington Naval Treaties, which limited new battleships to 35,000-tons.

To keep inside this arbitrary figure, the Nelsons were built kind of like the 1971 Coupe DeVille– all hood and no trunk.

This kept the magazines streamlined over a smaller armored belt. Also the Nelsons were built with a small power plant to save weight. It generated just 45,000 shp, or about the same amount of power as a Oliver Hazard Perry class FFG today. This kept the 38,000-ton (whoops, sorry about that weight gain!) warship down to just 23-ish knots at best top speed. Never the less, with nine 16-inch Mk I guns and 12-14inches of steel armor belt over the good parts, the Nelson’s were the best and brightest ships afloat from 1927 when she was commissioned until the HMS King George V and USS North Carolina were built in 1940/41.

During WWII it was Rodney who dealt the massive German battleship SMS Bismarck most of the damage that sent that leviathan to the deep. In the surface action of 27 May 1941, Rodney fired an amazing 340 16″ shells and 716 smaller six inchers at Hitler’s favorite new bath toy. She also ripped off a dozen torpedoes at the Kreigmarine’s finest with no less than one striking her– possibly one of the only times in history a battleship torpedoed another.

Following that she spent the rest of the war with Force H in Malta, and escorting convoys across the Atlantic before dropping it like it was hot on German shore positions on Normandy Beach at D-Day.

And the Navy goes on (World War II) Invasion of Sicily poster British RN Rodney Nelson

“And the Navy goes on” (World War II) Invasion of Sicily poster, showing the fleet spearheaded by Rodney or Nelson

She finished the war as a cripple, with her machinery too worn for fleet operations. Even unable to leave port she was still the flagship of the Home Fleet in Scapa Flow. A broken and battered veteran, she was quietly scrapped in 1948.

Specs:

Displacement:    33,730 long tons (34,270 t) standard
37,430 long tons (38,030 t) standard (full load)
Length:    710 ft 2 in (216.5 m) overall
Beam:    106 ft (32.3 m)
Draught:    31 ft (9.44880000 m)
Installed power:    45,000 shp (34,000 kW)
8 Admiralty 3-drum oil-fired boilers
Propulsion:    2 shafts
2 Brown-Curtis geared turbine sets
Speed:    23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range:    14,500 nmi (26,900 km; 16,700 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:    1,314 (1,361 as flagship)
Armament:    3 × 3 – 16-inch Mk I guns
6 × 2 – 6-inch Mk XXII guns
6 × 1 – QF 4.7-inch Mk VIII anti-aircraft guns
8 × 1 – 2-pounder anti-aircraft guns
2 × 1 – 24.5-inch (620 mm) torpedo tubes
Armour:    Belt: 13–14 in (330–356 mm)
Deck: 4.375–6.375 in (111–162 mm)
Barbettes: 12–15 in (305–381 mm)
Gun turrets: 9–16 in (229–406 mm)
Conning tower: 10–14 in (254–356 mm)
Bulkheads: 4–12 in (102–305 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!

Warship Wednesday, February 20 2013

Posted on February 20, 2013 by laststandonzombieisland 8 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, February 20, 2013

Here we see the Second Battleship Squadron of the Imperial Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet with the ice and snow-clad Russian battleship Slava (Russian: Слава “Glory“) at anchor forefront in Helsinki during WWI. The Slava was one of the most famous and unlikely of Russian warships.

The last commissioned of a class of five Borodino-class battleships, her four sister ships: Borodino, Imperator Alexander III, Knyaz Suvorov, and Oryol, were all either sunk or captured at the Battle of Tsushima, 27 May 1905 during the Russo-Japanese War. Slava herself would more than likely have shared the same fate if it wasn’t for the fact that she was still under construction until October of that year.

The Slava at anchor off an unanmed inlet on the Finnish coast (Finalnd was part of Tsarist Russia at the time) guarding the Tsar and his yacht while the monarch, his family, and his suite relax ashore

The Slava at anchor off an unnamed inlet on the Finnish coast (Finland was part of Tsarist Russia at the time) guarding the Tsar and his yacht while the monarch, his family, and his suite relax ashore

As the largest and best-equipped battleship left in the Tsar’s Baltic Fleet until the Gangut class dreadnoughts were built, the Slava became a default flagship for the decade of service before WWI. During the war, she was the head of the Second Battleship Squadron (the Ganguts were the First) of three other pre-dreadnoughts. Slava, with just a pair of gunboats as escorts, sailed into the Gulf of Riga in 1915 to challenge the Germans there.

She exchanged fire first with the German pre-dreadnoughts Elsass and Braunschweig, then the Nassau and Posen a week later. Slava flooded her side compartments to give herself a 3° list which increased her maximum range to about 18,000 yards. For two years, Slava slugged it out with German ships and engaged the Kaisers troops onshore. Finally in 1917 the large modern dreadnoughts König and Kronprinz sailed into the Gulf and exchanged heavy fire with the old obsolete Slava in what became known as the Battle of Moon Sound.

After the Battle of Moon Sound

Her 12-inch magazine exploded just after her crew scuttled her and the Russians fired six torpedoes into her hull for good measure. Her remains were salvaged in 1935.

In the end, her four sisters were sunk before she was born, but she successfully fought off four German battleships of the same vintage on her home territory before the Kaiser had to send a pair of his most modern sluggers to overwhelm her.

Glory indeed.

Specs:
Displacement:    14,415 long tons (14,646 t) normally
15,275 long tons (15,520 t) full load
Length:    397 ft 3 in (121.1 m)
Beam:    76 ft 1 in (23.2 m)
Draft:    29 ft 2 in (8.9 m)
Installed power:    15,800 ihp (11,800 kW)
Propulsion:    2 shafts, 2 vertical triple-expansion steam engines
20 water-tube boilers
Speed:    17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Range:    2,590 nautical miles (4,800 km; 2,980 mi) at a speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement:    846
Armament:    2 × 2 – 12-inch (305 mm) guns
6 × 2 – 6-inch (152 mm) guns
20 × 1 – 75-millimeter (3.0 in) guns
4 × 1 – 47-millimeter (1.9 in) saluting guns
4 × 1 – 15-inch (381 mm) torpedo tubes
Armor:    Krupp armor
Waterline belt: 145–194 mm (5.7–7.6 in)
Deck: 25.4–51 mm (1–2 in)
Turrets: 254 mm (10.0 in)
Barbettes: 178–229 mm (7–9 in)
Conning tower: 203 mm (8.0 in)

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, Febuary 13

Posted on February 13, 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, February 13

This week we are taking a brief look at US K-Class Blimps and their occasional teaming with Escort Carriers during and just after WWII.

On December 6, 1938 a prototype Goodyear blimp was sent to the US Navy’s lighter than air division for testing. This prototype proved so succesful that in October 1940 they ordered six more for use in escort and patrol work offshore. When the US entered WWII, this soon turned into a total of 134 of these 251-foot long helium nonrigid airships delivered by 1955.

The blimps were the P-3 Orion of their day and most of the equipment you are used to on these sub-busters were present on these airships. They were equipped with the ASG-type radar, that had a detection range of 90 mi (140 km), sonobuoys, and magnetic anomaly detection (MAD) equipment. The K-ships carried four Mk-47 depth bombs, two in a bomb bay and two externally, and were equipped with a .50 in (12.7 mm) Browning machine gun in the forward part of the control car. An aircrew of 10 normally operated the K-ships, consisting of a command pilot, two co-pilots, a navigator/pilot, airship rigger, an ordnanceman, two mechanics, and two radiomen.

The U.S. Navy airship K-69 launches from the deck of the escort carrier USS Mindoro (CVE 120), April 26, 1950

After 1942 these airships increasingly started to patrol in concert with small converted merchant hulled ships, dubbed escort carriers. These roughly 10,000-ton ships carried about two dozen aircraft and, while not fast enough for operations with the fleet, they were perfect for escorting merchant convoys. By pairing up blimps and small carriers, the blimps could be on constant search while the carrier kept depth-charge armed aircraft on alert to chase after sightings. The blimps were the eyes and the carrier planes the lightning of the gods called from above.

Here we see an unidentified K-class blimp approaching an equally unidentified escort carrier stern off the US East Coast in October 1944.

…and the landing.

It’s unknown how many of these touch-and-gos happened, and if the Navy ever tried to refuel or rearm blimps from the decks of these jeep carriers, but its a possibility. More than a hundred ‘Jeep carriers’ were made during the war but by the late 1950s both the blimps and these hardy little flattops were discarded, replaced by new super carriers and converted Essex class fast carriers. It is known that both during the War and in the 1950s that navy blimps did in fact refuel from large fleet carriers at sea. In 1942 the Doolittle Raid probably wouldn’t have happened if Navy patrol blimp L-6 hadn’t delivered 2 boxes of navigators domes for B-25 to the Hornet while she was several hundred miles offshore.

In a future naval war with a littoral heavily contested by submarines, its possible that this concept could be dusted off once more. There are still blimps, the US still has the world’s largest supply of helium, and merchant ships could readily be converted with decking to carry expeditionary detachments of SH-60 helicopters for local ASW missions.

Stranger things have happened.

By the way, if you know the blimp/carrier involved in the 1944 pictures, let me know. Thanks!

(Specs of the K-class blimp)
Crew: 9-10
Length: 251 ft 8 in (76.73 m)
Diameter: 57 ft 10 in (17.63 m)
Volume: 425,000 ft3 (12,043 m3)
Useful lift: 7,770 lb (3,524 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-1340-AN-2 radials, 425 hp (317 kW) each
Maximum speed: 78 mph (125 km/h)
Cruise speed: 58 mph (93 km/h)
Range: 2,205 miles (3,537 km)
Endurance: 38 hours 12 min
Armament

1 × .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun
4 × 350 lb (160 kg) Mark 47 depth charges

Specs of the Casablanca-class escort carrier (one of the most common in US service)

Displacement:    7,800 tons
10,902 tons full load
Length:    512.3 ft (156.1 m) overall
Beam:    65.2 ft (19.9 m)
Extreme width: 108.1 ft (32.9 m)
Draft:    22.5 ft (6.9 m)
Propulsion:    Two (2) five-cylinder reciprocating Skinner Uniflow steam engines
Four (4) × 285 psi (1,970 kPa) boilers, 2 shafts, 9,000 shp (6,700 kW)
Speed:    20 knots (37 km/h)
Range:    10,240nm at 15 knots
Complement:    Ship’s Company: 860 officers and men
Embarked Squadron: 50 to 56 officers and men
Total Complement: 910 to 916 officers and men.
Armament:

1 × 5 inch/38 caliber gun
16 × 40 mm Bofors guns (8×2)
20 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannons

Aircraft carried: 28

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, February 6

Posted on February 6, 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, February 6

Here you see is the mighty new battleship USS Connecticut (BB-18) with ‘a bone in her teeth’ charging forward at absolute full speed of 18+ knots on acceptance trials in 1906. A century ago she was the best and most intensely beautiful warship in the US Navy. She was such an important ship that a crowd of some 30,000 civilians as well as most of the entire active battle fleet of the Atlantic Squadron was present for the event. As a 15,000-ton ship with 11-inches of armor belt and carrying 4 12-inch guns, she was a hoss.

Of course the commissioning of the all big gun HMS Dreadnought the same year, with her 10 12-inch guns, 21-knot top speed, and upto 12-inches of armor in a 21,000-ton package, the Connecticut was already obsolete.

The Great White Fleet was impressive during the day…..

….And even more so at night. And Connecticut was there for every mile.

Nevertheless the brand new ship became the flagship of an impressive American fleet of 16 battleships in 1907. Dubbed the Great White Fleet, this impressive armada sailed 46,729 nmi around the world in 15 months. They made twenty port calls on six continents and flexed US Naval power to the world while Teddy Roosevelt smiled for the cameras. On each of those port calls, Connecticut led the fleet in, and then led the fleet away.

After 1909, the ornate bow shields, scrollwork, and white paint was removed and a sleek haze gray warship was left in its place

She remained a flagship for most of her service with the Navy. Painted haze gray in 1909, she intervened with quiet force in Mexican waters and then carried Smedly Butler and 400 marines to the US occupation of Haiti in 1915. During WWI, outclassed by the newer battleships, she staid inshore in protected waters and was used as a training ship carrying the flag of Admiral Herbert O. Dunn of the Fifth Battleship Division.

After the war, by then considered just a large cruiser, she was used for training until scrapped in 1923 to comply with the Washington Naval Treaty at the ripe old age of 19 years old.

Specs
Displacement:    16,000 long tons (16,300 t)
Length:    456 ft 4 in (139.09 m)
Beam:    76 ft 10 in (23.42 m)
Draft:    24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Propulsion:

12 × 250 psi (1,700 kPa)[6] Babcock & Wilcox boilers;
8 Ship Service generators, reciprocating, at 100 kW each

Speed: 18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Complement: 827 officers and men
Armament:

4 × 12 in (305 mm)/40 or 45 cal guns (2 × 2)
8 × 8 in (203 mm)/45 cal guns (4 × 2)
12 × 7 in (178 mm)/45 cal guns
20 × 3 in (76.2 mm)/50 cal guns
12 × 3-pdr guns
6 × 1-pdr automatic guns
2 × 1-pdr semiautomatic guns
2 × .30 in (7.6 mm) machine guns
4 × 21 in (533 mm) submerged torpedo tubes

Armor:

Belt: 11 to 9 in (279 to 229 mm), tapering to 7 in (178 mm), 5 in (127 mm) and 4 in (102 mm) at bow and stern
Lower casemate: 9 in (229 mm)[
Upper casemate: 7 in (178 mm), with 1.5 to 2.5 in (38 to 63 mm) transverse splinter bulkheads between 7 in (178 mm) guns
Bulkheads: 6 in (152 mm)
Barbettes: 10 in (254 mm)
Turrets: 11 in (279 mm)/2.5 in (64 mm)/9 in (229 mm) in for 12 in (305 mm) guns, 6.5 in (165 mm)/2 in (51 mm)/6 in (152 mm) for 8 in (203 mm) guns
7 in (178 mm) around 7 in (178 mm) guns, 2 in (51 mm) around 3 in (76 mm) guns
Conning tower: 9 in (229 mm)/2 in (51 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

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