Beautiful design

[bob q]

My favorite WWII ship design are the Alaska's .

[Bob Womack]

Is that Mare Island?

It is Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA. In the pic she lies in the big aircraft carrier drydock of the period, number four, that sits at an angle from the others to the left (North) in the pic. The Jordan Bridge is in the Background. I've got a relative who works there. I have visited and have been down in the pump wells of DD4.*



Wisconsin lives down the road from me as well at Waterside in Norfolk, where her bow protrudes like a cutlass blade. Her nickname is "Whisky." She got that name after a 1956 collision with the destroyer Eaton extensively damaged her bow.



Luckily, the last of the Iowa-class battleships, USS Kentucky, languished nearby in Newport News Shipyard. Her contract was cancelled mid-build and they were trying to figure out what to do with her. The Navy had a portion of her bow removed and transported across the bay to Norfolk Naval Shipyard where it was joined with the Wisconsin.



As a result, she ended up one foot longer than the rest of the Iowa Class. Navy wags immediately labeled the hybrid the Wis-Ky, and that devolved to Whiskey, Wisky, or Whisky. It actually became her call sign.


Bob

* My relative came in for the Superbowl and we looked at the picture. He says it is DD4, and he should know!

[Riter]

Concur that Regia Marina had very handsome ships. Their modernisation of their WW I dreadnoughts and their later battleships (Vittorio Veneto, etc.) were all very handsome.

[Frank46]

I was at the Philadelphia Naval base waiting for my separation papers from active duty. In the drydock was the USS New Jersey, which was undergoing an overhaul as she was going to be recommissioned for duty during the Vietnam War. They wouldn't let us go below decks as sections had been removed to do work on the main engines and boilers. We were allowed to walk on the main deck and naturally went to the 16" naval rifles. 3 barrels in each turret. Total of 3 turrets 9 rifles in all. Never will forget that day. Frank

[CINDERS]

Glad to see someone using the right terminology for the 16" weapons on the battleship, so many ppl call them cannons.

[Aragorn243]

I slept overnight on the New Jersey as part of a youth trip my wife and I were leading. They served breakfast in one of the mess kitchens. One of the chaperones got a concussion from hitting their head while going through one of the watertight doors.

[CINDERS]

I went through the USS Bowfin in 1990 I stand 193cm and one would say it was a little cramped how they endured it in the Pig Boats beats me though they did have an ice cream machine I gather but boy what a plumbers nightmare.......

[RCS]

I went though the German WW2 sub U-505 a few times, very small inside