OT: Speachless

[NigelKentarus]

It's a boat boom, it's used when a ship is at anchor, usually for an extended period. The boat boom is swung out and secured in place. The ship's boats (ours was a motor whale boat) would then be able to tie up to the lines hanging down and the boats crew would climb up and down the bos'n ladders. That way you wouldn't have to keep bringing the ship's boats aboard after each use. They could remain in the water until needed. We use to use them in liberty ports to ferry the crew back and forth, etc.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Pagoda masts are the epitome of cool [8D]

[Yaab]

Is IJN BB Fuso overloaded in the diorama with the subs? She looks as if she were sinking.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Yaab

Is IJN BB Fuso overloaded in the diorama with the subs? She looks as if she were sinking.

That may be accurate. From the time they were designed in the 1920s a lot of weight was added in AA guns, aircraft equipment like catapults and hangars and of course that enormous pagoda superstructure. I recall reading that many IJN ships were poor sea boats because of low freeboard and heavy tophamper.

[dr.hal]

One has only to look at pictures of HMS Hood from 1919 and then to 1939 and see that additions deepened draft.

[Yaab]

Actually, the pagodas had to have rather cramped stairways, didn't they?

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: dr.hal

One has only to look at pictures of HMS Hood from 1919 and then to 1939 and see that additions deepened draft.

Many BBs removed single purpose secondary armament as weight compensation for everything added in wartime, such as AA guns. Not sure if Hood got to that point before she was sunk.

[dr.hal]

ORIGINAL: Zorch

ORIGINAL: dr.hal

One has only to look at pictures of HMS Hood from 1919 and then to 1939 and see that additions deepened draft.

Many BBs removed single purpose secondary armament as weight compensation for everything added in wartime, such as AA guns. Not sure if Hood got to that point before she was sunk.

Yes Hood had her 5.5 inch secondary battery fully removed in 1940. However additional armor and anti-torpedo bulges along with AA guns added to her displacement (alone with restoration of a number of armor bulkheads) all of which added a few thousand tons which made her aft decks VERY wet in any weather. She was LONG overdue for a major engine and armor refit (1941?) but as we all know, she never lived that long. As designed she was supposed to reach 32 knots, however due to lessons learned at Jutland her displacement was increased even BEFORE she was launched which slowed her (engines were NOT redesigned). By the time she was hit by Bismark it was suggested that she could only do a little over 26 knots but records seem to be conflicting. Certainly she could not reach 30 knots.

[fcooke]

ok - see not reaching 32, but only 26 seems a bit much.....

[dr.hal]

ORIGINAL: fcooke

ok - see not reaching 32, but only 26 seems a bit much.....

I'll look into it, but I did read that her last trials she went to 26.4.... but like most things I could be wrong. Yet, like my own time in the navy, in trials you try to do things under "perfect" conditions so if 26.4 was tops for her on trials, then it might be less under "normal" conditions but slightly more under wartime conditions (27.5?)! Clearly she was in engine room trouble... the moment she got underway until she docked it's my understanding the crew was on "water hours" and for those readers that didn't serve on ships of World War 2 style (let alone World War 1) it means that your fresh water condensers only put out enough potable water to feed the boilers and to drink.... NOT to wash. Hood's steam system was in bad shape mainly due to lack of yard time to put it right (and steam pressure equates in large part to HP which directly impacts speed, along with other factors such as the condition of the hull bottom, etc.). The war came a few years early for Hood, as her "extensive" overhaul was postponed and postponed until the battle with the Bismark but it beyond reach.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: dr.hal

ORIGINAL: fcooke

ok - see not reaching 32, but only 26 seems a bit much.....

I'll look into it, but I did read that her last trials she went to 26.4.... but like most things I could be wrong. Yet, like my own time in the navy, in trials you try to do things under "perfect" conditions so if 26.4 was tops for her on trials, then it might be less under "normal" conditions but slightly more under wartime conditions (27.5?)! Clearly she was in engine room trouble... the moment she got underway until she docked it's my understanding the crew was on "water hours" and for those readers that didn't serve on ships of World War 2 style (let alone World War 1) it means that your fresh water condensers only put out enough potable water to feed the boilers and to drink.... NOT to wash. Hood's steam system was in bad shape mainly due to lack of yard time to put it right (and steam pressure equates in large part to HP which directly impacts speed, along with other factors such as the condition of the hull bottom, etc.). The war came a few years early for Hood, as her "extensive" overhaul was postponed and postponed until the battle with the Bismark but it beyond reach.

I really question why the Hood was used in the neutrality patrol off Spain in 1936-39 when heavy cruisers were enough to ride herd on the German pocket battleships. My guess is that there was no money for Hood's overhaul at that time.

[Zorch]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: dr.hal

ORIGINAL: fcooke

ok - see not reaching 32, but only 26 seems a bit much.....

I'll look into it, but I did read that her last trials she went to 26.4.... but like most things I could be wrong. Yet, like my own time in the navy, in trials you try to do things under "perfect" conditions so if 26.4 was tops for her on trials, then it might be less under "normal" conditions but slightly more under wartime conditions (27.5?)! Clearly she was in engine room trouble... the moment she got underway until she docked it's my understanding the crew was on "water hours" and for those readers that didn't serve on ships of World War 2 style (let alone World War 1) it means that your fresh water condensers only put out enough potable water to feed the boilers and to drink.... NOT to wash. Hood's steam system was in bad shape mainly due to lack of yard time to put it right (and steam pressure equates in large part to HP which directly impacts speed, along with other factors such as the condition of the hull bottom, etc.). The war came a few years early for Hood, as her "extensive" overhaul was postponed and postponed until the battle with the Bismark but it beyond reach.

I really question why the Hood was used in the neutrality patrol off Spain in 1936-39 when heavy cruisers were enough to ride herd on the German pocket battleships. My guess is that there was no money for Hood's overhaul at that time.

Also, there may not have been any open dry docks big enough for Hood, given that the first 2 KGV class were under way and that Warspite and Queen Elizabeth (and maybe Renown?) were being reconstructed.

[dr.hal]

Gunboat diplomacy is a concept built around symbolism and the Hood was "the pride of the Royal Navy". In other words the biggest, baddest gunboat the RN had....