Australian Beauties II

[warspite1]

...and to put right a glaring omission from your pictures It's the best looking US BB of all:

USS South Dakota

The South Dakota-class was the last USN BB to be built under treaty constraints. With the Iowas, the gloves were well and truly off....

SoDak.jpg (72.99 KiB) Viewed 1627 times

So much smaller than the Iowas, meaning those 16-inchers are crammed into a smaller space. Just makes these ships so mean and purposeful looking.

[Curtis Lemay]

But then, the Washington Naval Treaty (1923) limited BB construction. Only pocket BBs could be made.

warspite1

Thank-you for the pictures. But I would like to provide some clarification on the above comment.

Yes, BB construction was limited, but to suggest that the WNT and its successors meant only "pocket" battleships could be built, is incorrect. The Washington Treaty allowed for 16-inch guns. The 35,000 tons and 14-inch guns envisaged under the Second London Naval Treaty (pre-escalator clause) could not be described as "pocket" battleships by any measure. The North Carolinas, even had they been built as planned, would have been powerful battleships. The South Dakotas were built with the 35,000 tons restriction, but with 16-inch guns following the invocation of the escalator clause.

I am assuming you are getting the word "pocket" from the name coined by the British to describe the Deutschland-class. If so, the Germans were not party to the WNT. The construction of German naval vessels was limited by the Treaty of Versailles - which limited German ships nominally to 10,000 tons at that time.

Regardless of that, my point was that BBs, post the USS West Virginia, were constrained, either by treaty or by being superceded by CVs. That's why, to illustrate where the State-of-the-Art was at in the 30's and 40's, I had to use plans instead of real BBs.

[Bo Rearguard]

The Alaska class. Everyone's favorite naval design enigma. Was it a battleship? Was it a cruiser? Was it even necessary?

[warspite1]

But then, the Washington Naval Treaty (1923) limited BB construction. Only pocket BBs could be made.

warspite1

Thank-you for the pictures. But I would like to provide some clarification on the above comment.

Yes, BB construction was limited, but to suggest that the WNT and its successors meant only "pocket" battleships could be built, is incorrect. The Washington Treaty allowed for 16-inch guns. The 35,000 tons and 14-inch guns envisaged under the Second London Naval Treaty (pre-escalator clause) could not be described as "pocket" battleships by any measure. The North Carolinas, even had they been built as planned, would have been powerful battleships. The South Dakotas were built with the 35,000 tons restriction, but with 16-inch guns following the invocation of the escalator clause.

I am assuming you are getting the word "pocket" from the name coined by the British to describe the Deutschland-class. If so, the Germans were not party to the WNT. The construction of German naval vessels was limited by the Treaty of Versailles - which limited German ships nominally to 10,000 tons at that time.

Regardless of that, my point was that BBs, post the USS West Virginia, were constrained....

warspite1

Sure, but all the same I don’t think it hurts to get the facts right.

[warspite1]

The Alaska class. Everyone's favorite naval design enigma. Was it a battleship? Was it a cruiser? Was it even necessary?

warspite1

I’ve heard it said that these ships were just the logical development of the cruiser type vessels - and what would have ended up happening in the 1930’s had cruisers not been limited to 10,000 tons. Navies would always try and build bigger and more powerful to counter their perceived enemies..... Ultimately they were a waste of effort but who knew that when building began just after Pearl?

[warspite1]

USS South Dakota may have been the best looking USN BB, but I think its time for a picture of the best looking BB of them all (FACT ).

Here Is HMS Warspite entering Grand Harbour, Malta. I visited Malta for the first time last year and took a picture of the entrance to the harbour where the Grand Old Lady once sailed - hasn't changed much.

[warspite1]

The monument to the fallen during the siege of Malta in WWII

[Bo Rearguard]

HMS Warspite certainly traveled widely. Undergoing repairs at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington State at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She had stopped at Pearl Harbor on her way to Bremerton. The local sailors were impressed that rum was served aboard.

PSNSY Warspite.jpg (181.08 KiB) Viewed 1452 times

[Platoonist]

HMS Warspite certainly traveled widely. Undergoing repairs at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Washington State at the time of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. She had stopped at Pearl Harbor on her way to Bremerton. The local sailors were impressed that rum was served aboard.

Those ancient ferry boats alongside Warspite being repurposed as floating machine shops/accommodations are a hoot.

[Orm]

Those ancient ferry boats alongside Warspite being repurposed as floating machine shops/accommodations are a hoot.

You said it.

[BBfanboy]

The Alaska class. Everyone's favorite naval design enigma. Was it a battleship? Was it a cruiser? Was it even necessary?

The Alaska class were started because IJN secrecy around construction of the Yamato class accounted for the steel going to shipyards as a 35000 ton BB and a 27000 ton BC (total 62000 tons, nearly equal to the 63,000 ton Yamato). When it became known that all that steel went into single BBs, the war was on and IJN CAs were kicking butt, so the CB Alaska had a new role = cruiser killer. Then the close in battles of the Guadalcanal campaign ended and in the wide central Pacific it was aircraft that dominated. The Alaskas were completed as fast AA escorts for the carrier fleet and occasional bombardment duty.

Same secondary armament as a Baltimore class cruiser but with more deck space AA guns could be more dispersed and probably carried more 40mms too. I think them quite handsome.

[BBfanboy]

USS South Dakota may have been the best looking USN BB, but I think its time for a picture of the best looking BB of them all (FACT ).

Here Is HMS Warspite entering Grand Harbour, Malta. I visited Malta for the first time last year and took a picture of the entrance to the harbour where the Grand Old Lady once sailed - hasn't changed much.

What class of BB is that in the second picture?

[BBfanboy]

A couple of suggestions for good lookers -

CLAA Dido - 10X 5.25" guns, 6 (2X3) TT. It's the long barrels on those guns that seem elegant.

[BBfanboy]

Candidate number 2 - the P-61 Black Widow. A little hunchbacked with that rotatable turret (4X 50 Cal MGs) on top and 4X 20mm fixed cannons below the fuselage, but the long radome offsets it somewhat. I actually like the boom tail.

northrop-p61-black-widow.jpg (125.56 KiB) Viewed 1198 times

PS - I think the glassed in area at the back of the fuselage is for watching sunrises at the end of their shift...

[Rebel Yell]

Such a gorgeous plane.

[warspite1]

USS South Dakota may have been the best looking USN BB, but I think its time for a picture of the best looking BB of them all (FACT ).

Here Is HMS Warspite entering Grand Harbour, Malta. I visited Malta for the first time last year and took a picture of the entrance to the harbour where the Grand Old Lady once sailed - hasn't changed much.

What class of BB is that in the second picture?

warspite1

This is the largest ship we have in the Royal Navy and makes up 25% of our fleet.....

[warspite1]

A couple of suggestions for good lookers -

CLAA Dido - 10X 5.25" guns, 6 (2X3) TT. It's the long barrels on those guns that seem elegant.

warspite1

I'll second that emotion (as Japan's David Sylvian once warbled)

[warspite1]

Candidate number 2 - the P-61 Black Widow. A little hunchbacked with that rotatable turret (4X 50 Cal MGs) on top and 4X 20mm fixed cannons below the fuselage, but the long radome offsets it somewhat. I actually like the boom tail.

northrop-p61-black-widow.jpg

PS - I think the glassed in area at the back of the fuselage is for watching sunrises at the end of their shift...

warspite1

Had to make this in an Airfix kit when i was younger - so full of character. Sadly my model making attempts did not live up to expectations....

[Curtis Lemay]

It's June, 1945. Just when you thought you could finally handle the P-51:

[Aurelian]

Hornet 1942

hornet 2.jpg (130.89 KiB) Viewed 874 times