August 30th 1923 - USS Colorado (BB 45) is commissioned. Notable during her pre-World War II...31/8/2016 Battleship USS Iowa Museum originally shared:
August 30th, 1923 - USS Colorado (BB 45) is commissioned. Notable during her pre-World War II service, she helps in the search for missing aviator, Amelia Earhart, in 1937. During WWII, USS Colorado serves in the Pacific during World War II and is hit by kamikazes at Leyte in November 1944.
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HMS VANGUARD = 1953
HMS Vanguard was a British fast battleship built during World War II and commissioned after the war. She was the only ship of her class and was the biggest, fastest and last of the Royal Navy's battleships[2] and the final battleship to be launched in the world. Work on the ship's design commenced before the war because the Royal Navy anticipated being outnumbered by the combined German and Japanese battleships in the early 1940s. The British had enough 15-inch (380 mm) guns and turrets in storage to allow one ship of a modified Lion-class battleship design to be completed faster than the ships of that class that had already been laid down. Work on Vanguard was started and stopped several times during the war and even after construction had begun, her design was revised several times to reflect war experience. These stoppages and changes prevented her from being completed during the war. Vanguard's first task after completing her sea trial at the end of 1946 was, early the next year, to convey King George VI and his family on the first Royal Tour of South Africa by a reigning monarch.[3] While refitting after her return, she was selected for another Royal Tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1948. This was cancelled due to King George's declining health and Vanguard briefly became flagship of the Mediterranean Fleet in early 1949. After her return home in mid-1949, she became flagship of the Home Fleet Training Squadron. Throughout her career, the battleship usually served as the flagship of any unit to which she was assigned. During the early 1950s, Vanguard was involved in a number of training exercises with NATO forces. In 1953 she participated in Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Review. While she was refitting in 1955, the Admiralty announced that the ship was going to be put into reserve upon completion of the work. Vanguard was sold for scrap and was broken up beginning in 1960. http://ift.tt/2cpO3DJ via John Currin - Google+ Public Posts http://ift.tt/2bAGPqv
HMS VANGUARD
The ship's main armament consisted of eight 42-calibre BL 15-inch Mk I guns in four twin hydraulically powered gun turrets designated 'A', 'B', 'X' and 'Y' from bow to stern. When the turrets were modernised their maximum elevation was increased to +30°,[10] although the guns were loaded at +5°. They fired 1,938-pound (879 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,458 ft/s (749 m/s); this provided a maximum range of 33,550 yards (30,680 m).[18] These guns were also capable of firing the same projectiles while using supercharges which gave a maximum range of 37,870 yards (34,630 m). Their rate of fire was two rounds per minute.[18] Vanguard carried 100 shells per gun.[19] The 15-inch turrets had been designed when the customary practice was to place the magazine above the shell room, and it was not cost-effective to modify the ammunition hoists to accommodate the opposite arrangement adopted after the Battle of Jutland demonstrated the dangers of exposing the magazines to long-range gunfire. The ship was provided with a powder-handling room above the shell room to mimic the arrangement that turret's hoists were designed to handle, and another set of hoists moved the propellant charges from the magazines to the powder-handling room. The charges were stowed in cases to reduce their exposure to fire.[20] The secondary armament consisted of sixteen 50-calibre QF 5.25-inch Mk I* dual purpose guns in eight twin gun mounts.[19] They had a maximum depression of −5° and a maximum elevation of 70°. They fired an 80-pound (36 kg) high-explosive shell at a muzzle velocity of 2,672 ft/s (814 m/s). The improved 5.25 turrets on Vanguard were claimed to be fully automatic, with a power-rammed breech and automatic tracking and elevation under radar control enabling a rate of fire was about 18 rounds per minute.[21] At maximum elevation, the guns had a maximum range of 24,070 yards (22,010 m).[22] 391 rounds were provided for each gun.[19] Short-range air defence was provided by 73 Bofors 40 mm AA guns in a variety of mountings. Vanguard had ten sextuple-barrel power-operated mounts concentrated in the superstructure and stern, a twin-barrel mount on 'B' turret, and 11 power-operated single mounts on the upper deck and rear superstructure.[19] All mounts could depress to −10° and elevate to a maximum of +90°. The 40-millimetre (1.6 in) gun fired a 1.97-pound (0.89 kg) shell at a muzzle velocity of 2,890 ft/s (880 m/s) to a distance of 10,750 yards (9,830 m). The gun's rate of fire was approximately 120 rounds per minute.[23] Space was not available to stow the standard allowance of 1564 rounds per gun, and Vanguard only carried 1269 rounds per gun.[24] Two of the single guns on the quarterdeck were removed in 1949 and five others during a major refit in 1954. All of her multiple Bofors mounts were removed at this same time. http://ift.tt/2cpO3DJ via John Currin - Google+ Public Posts http://ift.tt/2cpPrGf
USS VESUVIUS 1891 - DYNAMITE GUN CRUISER
USS Vesuvius, the third ship of the United States Navy named for the Italian volcano, was a unique vessel in the Navy inventory which marked a departure from more conventional forms of main battery armament. She is considered a dynamite gun cruiser and was essentially an operational testbed for large dynamite guns. Vesuvius was laid down in September 1887 at Philadelphia by William Cramp and Sons Ships and Engine Building Company, subcontracted from the Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Company of New York City. She was launched on 28 April 1888 sponsored by Miss Eleanor Breckinridge and commissioned on 2 June 1890 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard with Lieutenant Seaton Schroeder in command. http://ift.tt/2bAIrR4 via John Currin - Google+ Public Posts http://ift.tt/2bAHXKM
USS VESUVIUS - DYNAMITE GUNS
USS Vesuvius, the third ship of the United States Navy named for the Italian volcano, was a unique vessel in the Navy inventory which marked a departure from more conventional forms of main battery armament. She is considered a dynamite gun cruiser and was essentially an operational testbed for large dynamite guns. Vesuvius was laid down in September 1887 at Philadelphia by William Cramp and Sons Ships and Engine Building Company, subcontracted from the Pneumatic Dynamite Gun Company of New York City. She was launched on 28 April 1888 sponsored by Miss Eleanor Breckinridge and commissioned on 2 June 1890 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard with Lieutenant Seaton Schroeder in command. via John Currin - Google+ Public Posts http://ift.tt/2cpPjH7 |
AuthorJohn Currin served 15 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy and has retained an interest in naval, marine, military and happenings around the world. Archives
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