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Author Topic: Battleship Wisconsin  (Read 714 times)

Offline Halo

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Battleship Wisconsin
« on: September 12, 2003, 08:58:39 PM »
Saw the battleship Wisconsin in Norfolk, and that sweeping bow (of the four Iowa class battleships) has to be one of the most gorgeous designs in history, worthy of inclusion in any design museum.  

Exhibit info said that six Iowa class battleships were planned to counter the two Japanese 18-inch gun battleships (Yamato and M something) and to win any one-on-one engagement with any German battleship.  The U.S. stayed with 16-inch guns instead of 18-inch guns because of weight considerations.  

WWII ended before the last two were completed, but the bow of one (the Kentucky) was put on the Wisconsin in only 16 days after it hit a destroyer in fog.  

I'd insert a Wisconsin bow photo, but I've never understood how to post photos in this bulletin board.
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Offline GScholz

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« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2003, 10:24:24 AM »
Oh yes the Iowa class is a beauty for sure, but not from above though, looks too fat.

Another BB class I really love is the Bismarck class. Looks very sleek and fast. Very modern looking.





Doesn't look as fat from above either.
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Offline Halo

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« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2003, 05:08:31 PM »
Yes, Bismarck definitely a classic.  What are those dots along the bow and stern, surely not portholes?
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Offline GScholz

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« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2003, 01:35:25 AM »
Yes I believe they are. Luxury I'd say, but hey it's the Germans we're talikng about here ;)
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Offline GScholz

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« Reply #4 on: September 18, 2003, 01:41:01 AM »
One of my favorite Iowa shots. She still looks fat, but she's awesome non the less!

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Offline Halo

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Battleship Wisconsin
« Reply #5 on: September 20, 2003, 06:50:19 PM »
Indeed a great shot.  Looks like only the left gun of each turret is firing.  Was it possible for all nine 16s to salvo at once?  Seems like I heard somewhere that a full salvo would scoot the ship sideways.  

However, I would imagine firiing nine guns simultaneously would result in some sort of sibling shell degradation.  I think there was some discussion about how aircraft adjacent wing guns fire too.  Gotta look that up.  

Fat?  Dunno if I'd call the Iowas fat.  Anything following a sleek bow like that would look fat in comparison.  That bow almost looks as phallic as the hood on the first Mustang cars, allegedly a major reason for their initial appeal.
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Offline Swager

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« Reply #6 on: September 21, 2003, 08:49:13 PM »
One of the sleekest looking ships in the US Navy was the Brooklyn Class cruiser.  15  6-inch guns!!!!!


......or the Atlanta Class Anti-Aircraft Class Light Cruiser!
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Offline rshubert

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« Reply #7 on: September 25, 2003, 01:58:41 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Halo
Indeed a great shot.  Looks like only the left gun of each turret is firing.  Was it possible for all nine 16s to salvo at once?  Seems like I heard somewhere that a full salvo would scoot the ship sideways.  

However, I would imagine firiing nine guns simultaneously would result in some sort of sibling shell degradation.  I think there was some discussion about how aircraft adjacent wing guns fire too.  Gotta look that up.  

Fat?  Dunno if I'd call the Iowas fat.  Anything following a sleek bow like that would look fat in comparison.  That bow almost looks as phallic as the hood on the first Mustang cars, allegedly a major reason for their initial appeal.


Yes, they could fire all 9 at once, and yes it moved the ship sideways in the water when they did so.

Truly awesome firepower, and I wish we still had them or some successors in service.
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Offline DFunited

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« Reply #8 on: September 27, 2003, 11:00:04 AM »
Ive heard that if all nine guns were fired at once, that the ship could flip if the shots were fired at the exact same time, is that correct?
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Offline frank3

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« Reply #9 on: September 27, 2003, 11:27:49 AM »
That sure wouldn't surprise me :lol
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Offline DiabloTX

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« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2003, 12:16:32 AM »
No, its not true...a salvo is a part of battle and ships were designed to handle that situation.  The guns had massive recoil.



GScholz, the Iowa class looks fat?  The Bismarck's had a wider beam (so they wouldn't have as much draft) of 118.1' compared to the Iowa's 108.2'.  The bow of the Iowa class was called a "clipper bow"and was shaped to handle major storms at sea.  

If any battleship can be called handsome it would be the HMS Hood, although technically she was a battlecruiser and not a full battleship, even though she was longer than the Bismarck.
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Offline Furious

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« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2003, 04:02:29 AM »
Used to steam with the New Jersey BG quite abit in 84-85.  She was a fat cow.  Convenient though, as we could unrep from her.  Once saw her do a 9 gun salvo about 2nm of our stern.  Impressive.  The EW's onboard her said that she moves about 6 feet sideways from a 9 gun salvo, although that seems excessive in my mind.  The shots were aimed to land on the horizon and somehow the loading was such that the plumes were red, white and blue.
« Last Edit: October 08, 2003, 04:05:53 AM by Furious »
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Offline rshubert

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« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2003, 10:48:54 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Furious
Used to steam with the New Jersey BG quite abit in 84-85.  She was a fat cow.  Convenient though, as we could unrep from her.  Once saw her do a 9 gun salvo about 2nm of our stern.  Impressive.  The EW's onboard her said that she moves about 6 feet sideways from a 9 gun salvo, although that seems excessive in my mind.  The shots were aimed to land on the horizon and somehow the loading was such that the plumes were red, white and blue.


For spotting purposes, each gun had a different color dye in the bursting charge for the shells.  That way the directors could tell which guns made which splash when using optical aiming.  There was a whole science built around how many shells to fire under what circumstances to get hits in the minimum amount of ordnance expended.

I don't understand it all, but there were "up ladders", "down ladders", and other techniques to find the exact range to the target.
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Offline DiabloTX

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« Reply #13 on: October 08, 2003, 12:22:29 PM »
During Med cruise '88 we unrepped the Iowa a couple of times.  Have some great pics from the air det we had at the time.  For some reason, Iowa never wanted to conrep, only vertrep.  But I still wouldn't call her a fat cow, more long and lean with curves in all the right places...like Catherine Bell! ;)
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Offline scJazz

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« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2003, 12:01:55 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by DiabloTX
like Catherine Bell! ;)


Hottie from JAG right??? Funny how I never watch TV but some way that managed to stick in my head.:p
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