Inside a ww2 battleship

Impressive machine of war.

[video=youtube;dW83U4bkC_k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW83U4bkC_k[/video]

 

Turned into a sad, pathetic joke by the presence of a rabid carnival barker...

 

They don't build warships like the Iowa today.

The Iowa's were probably the most powerful weapons platforms ever built.

They can put more tons of ordnance on target in one hour that an entire Nimitz class aircraft carrier air wing can in 24 hours.

After a nuke, the Iowa class BB was the most feared weapons platform in the world. And the Iowa's carried nukes.

 

That "carnival barker" will be Commander in Chief Trump this coming January, get use to it.

I know, I know, we haven't had a Commander in Chief for the past 7 years and 5 months but for America to become great again, America has to have a real competent Commander in Chief. That will be President Donald Trump.

 

You're so cute when you reject basic objective reality...

 

I liked that walkthrough, really allows to to see what goes on inside. Its remarkable that this is WW2 tech and yet still can be used today. I recognized a few areas from movies too.

One of these off shore of a hostile enemy would still be terrifying today.

- - - Updated - - -

I agree. Trump has spoken in the past about reactivating them-and even if for power projection-he just might do it.

Keeps our enemies on their toes and reassures our allies.

 

They still got computer tapes. Incredible.

I always wonder at how cramped these things are - and the Iowas were said to be comparatively quite roomy. A maze of steel. I like the message to a dead sailor left by his wife and kept by the crew, damn the regulations.

American warships used war-grade steel everywhere - a huge expense of money, but that did make them quite hard to sink indeed.

 

Yeah, the engine compartments were fascinating too. That dead sailor was scapegoated for the explosion-a damn shame.

Only thing missing in the video was a tour of the turrets, I would have loved to have seen that. The observation decks were cool.

 

Next best thing: (just ignore the synthetiser music)

[video=youtube;dVvEPTYrcXA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVvEPTYrcXA[/video]

 

Desert Storm was the last time U.S. battleships would fire their guns in combat, so they certainly are near and dear to my heart.

We were there to kick ass and chew bubblegum, and we're all out of bubblegum.

Here is a photo of the USS Wisconsin in action firing one of her 16" guns during the Gulf war.

 

Excellent photo showing the teak deck of an Iowa class BB. Under that teak deck is 6 inches of armor plating.

Most would be surprised what was the last U.S. Navy warship that had a teak deck.

It was the nuclear powered cruiser, the USS Long Beach CGN-9.

CLASS - LONG BEACH

Displacement 14,200 Tons, Dimensions, 721' 3" (oa) x 73' 3" x 31' (Max)

Armament 1 Talos 1 x 2, (52 Missiles) 2 Terrier 2x2, (120 Missiles) 2 x 5"/38,
ASROC (20 Missiles) 6 x12.75" TT.

Machinery, 80,000 SHP; 2 Westinghouse Reactors (C1W), G.E. Geared Turbines, 2 screws

Speed, 30+ Knots, Crew 1100.

http://militaryhistory.x10.mx/shippictures/uss long beach/uss long beach 02.jpg

 

Interesting transition of eras there-teak deck and nuclear powered.

 

What was the purpose of having warships with teak installed on top of their steel or armor decks ?

Now this is open to debate but most old squids who served on battleships and cruisers say;

1. A wooden deck covering lessens the effects of the ship's guns on the ship itself, it dampens the blast (overpressure) of the gun blast

2. Using teak is not prone to splintering.

3. Steel decks are very slippery when wet.

4. Naval tradition.

 

Fascinating. Teak is also occasionally used for military gun stocks.

 

It kept the ships cooler and eliminated potential problems with static electricity buildup that might pose a problem with the magazines ( theoretical). Decks subjected to salt water had a strong tendency for corrosion. The overpressure idea of the ships guns was also a potential factor, though some navies used other deck surfaces including oak.

 

Couple of years have passed and Trump still makes obama seem weak and lazy.

 

Were there air conditioners on these battleships?

Seems decent when you are in the south pacific or middle east.

Teak and oak are both hardwoods, though oak tends to be far heavier.

Don't see many oak gun stocks.

 

When I was attached to Battalion Landing Team 1/26 and BLT 2/26 we were aboard the Essex class aircraft carriers that were converted to LPH's USS Valley Forge and USS Princeton and the LPH USS Iwo Jima. I remember during the day time below deck it was hot and miserable with a couple thousand Marines in the birthing quarters with the racks four high. But at night when everyone were in their racks it was cold.

Air conditoning on the Iowas ? Here's what I found.

Below: A five inch gun turret. The
Marine Corps emblem painted on it is in
recognition of the fact that the turret
was manned by Wisky's Marine
detachment.

563 × 750

 

Fascinating. Did not know Marines manned those guns.

Would love to go out on this victory ship-they even have a mock aerial attack.

 

Pssssst . . . how does it feel to have been so very, very wrong?

 

The Marine ship detachments on battleships always manned one of the 5" gun batteries.

On cruisers they manned some of the 3" gun batteries.

During WW ll on aircraft carriers the Marines manned the Oerlikon 20 mm anti aircraft guns.


:Marines with 20 mm gun on USS Enterprise (CV-6) in 1943

 

Yup, quite wrong.

 

Would love to go plinking with one of those guns.

Both the allies and axis used them.

Some variants are still in use.









Very unusually for a high-powered autocannon, the Oerlikon and its derivatives feature blowback operation: the bolt is not locked to the breech of the gun at the moment of fire. In simple blowback guns, such as small-caliber semi-automatic pistols the gas pressure only has to overcome the static inertia of the bolt, plus the resistance of the bolt spring, (which in practical terms is negligible at this point in the cycle) in order to push both backwards and thus open the breech. For such small propellant charges this simple combination is enough to ensure that the projectile has left the muzzle and the gas pressure in the barrel is down to a safe level before the breech opens. In contrast 20mm cartridges are far too powerful, and autocannon barrels too long, for this basic system to be practical; so Advanced Primer Ignition (API) is used to augment the resistance of the bolt. In API blowback weapons the firing pin fires the cartridge while the bolt is still traveling forward so that the gas pressure has to overcome the forward momentum of the bolt as well, before it can push it to the rear. To facilitate this, the Oerlikon's chamber is longer than needed to contain the cartridge, and the end of the bolt, which is the same diameter as the case, actually enters this extended chamber behind the cartridge before it's fired. As a result, the forward force of the bolt and spring continue to act against the force of the propellant gases until the latter overcome the former and start pushing case, bolt and spring backwards—whereas if the bolt had stopped at the mouth of the chamber as in simple blowback guns this momentum would be neutralized. A second advantage of this unusual arrangement is that after firing the bolt and case have a short, but significant, distance to travel rearwards before the bolt-end re-emerges and the case in turn begins to leave the chamber—providing more time for gas pressure to drop to the necessary safe level. This system permits blowback to be used in far more powerful weapons than normal. Nevertheless, compared to guns with a locking mechanism a fairly heavy bolt must be employed; while to give this heavy bolt sufficient forward speed, a large spring is required (and Oerlikons, distinctively, have this component wrapped around their barrels.) These features will limit the rate of fire of such guns, unless other steps are taken—as in the final model of the Japanese 99 Mark 2.[3]

This unique chamber and bolt design necessitates the use of a characteristically shaped cartridge: the case has straight sides, very little neck, and a rebated rim. The straight sides allows the case to slide back and forward in the cylindrical chamber. The neck is not supported while this happens and therefore expands when the case is fired, and the rebated rim allows the face of the bolt, with its extractor claw hooked over the rim, to fit within the chamber. To ease the motion of the case, the ammunition needed to be greased, which was a drawback of the Oerlikon cannon. An alternative developed during World War II was the so-called fluted chamber, which had grooves that allowed gun gas to seep between the chamber wall and the case, taking over the role of the grease.[3]


Side view of the twin Oerlikon gun mount

Rear view of the twin Oerlikon gun mount

A twin Oerlikon gun mount from the Tribal-class destroyer HMCS Haida
Ammunition feed is typically by a 60-round drum magazine on the top of the gun. During sustained firing, the magazine must be frequently changed, reducing the effective rate of fire. Belt-fed versions of the gun were developed to overcome this limitation. A trigger in the right-hand grip controls fire. Used cartridges are ejected from below the breech.

Different nations and services operated a number of mounting types for the same basic gun. In a typical single-barrel naval version, it is free-swinging on a fixed pedestal mounting with a flat armored shield affording some protection for the crew. The cannon is aimed and fired by a gunner using, in its simplest form, a ring-and-bead sight. The gunner is attached to the weapon by a waist-belt and shoulder supports. For this reason, some mountings existed with a height-adjustment feature to compensate for different sized gunners. A "piece chief" designates targets and the feeder changes exhausted magazines.

During World War II, twin and quadruple Oerlikon mounts were developed, both for army and for navy use. The British Navy operated a hydraulically operated twin-gun mount. The US Navy operated a quad mount developed for PT boats, the Thunderbolt, which was manufactured by International Harvester. It was placed experimentally on the battleships Arkansas, Colorado, Maryland, West Virginia, Washington, Massachusetts, and training ship Wyoming.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oerlikon_20_mm_cannon

 

If you have $25,000 to $50,000 there's an Oerlikon 20 mm gun being auctioned off right now.

Looks like the U.S. Navy still have some 20 mm guns in service today.


20 mm Mark 16 Mod 5 mounted on a Mark 67

During the Vietnam War, the Navy acquired a fleet of small craft which were used to patrol the coastal waters and rivers of Vietnam. These boats had a need for larger automatic weapons than the 0.50" (12.7 mm) BMG. By the 1960s, the number of Oerlikons available was limited and spares were becoming difficult to find, so the Navy decided to adapt AN/M3 aircraft guns for shipboard use. These modified guns were then designated as Mark 16. Unlike the Oerlikon, the Mark 16 was belt-fed and fired a larger and more powerful round. There were two principal versions of the Mark 16 in service: Mod 4, which has an electrical trigger mechanism, and the Mod 5, which has a hand-operated stepped mechanical trigger.

Ammunition was linked and fed through a feed chute to the delinking feeder on top of the gun. Lubrication for the ammunition was provided by a pump that put a drop of semi-fluid lubricating oil (LSA) in the chamber each time the gun fired.

About 5,000 Mark 16 guns were delivered during the Vietnam War. In 1982 those guns and mountings still remaining in naval service were described as being unreliable and difficult to maintain and were subsequentially phased out in favor of the 25 mm chain gun. However, many Air Force M24 guns were cannibalized during the 1980s and 1990s to provide spare parts for the US Coast Guard which had continued to use the Mark 16...


Projectiles for these guns are very similar to those for the Oerlikon 20 mm guns of World War II fame. They differ by having a smaller explosive cavity at the rear of the projectile. This makes for a thicker wall around the base which better resists the crushing action created by the driving band as the projectile travels down the gun barrel...

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_20mm_mk16.php

 

That thing looks nasty.

LOVE this guys youtube show...