Ozzy, Sharon Osbourne Tour Battleship Missouri

Navy NewsStand ^ | 3/12/2004 | Journalist 1st Class Daniel J. Calderon, Commander, Navy Region Hawaii Public Affairs

[BykrBayb]

031023-N-7683J-043 Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (Oct. 23, 2003) -- President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush arrive with Commander U. S. Pacific Command, Adm. Thomas B. Fargo, aboard the retired battleship Missouri (BB 63) to meet with veterans and service members during a visit to Pearl Harbor. President Bush stopped in Hawaii on his way back from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Singapore, and Bali where he discussed security and the continued fight against terrorism. Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation, or APEC, is the premier forum for facilitating economic growth, cooperation, trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region. The president also laid a wreath and met with Pearl Harbor survivors aboard the Arizona Memorial. U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate 2nd Class Jason L. Jacobowitz. (RELEASED)

[Flyer]

Ozzy ping!

[My Dog Likes Me]

Great article. Thanks.

[woofer]

Last year when I was in Houston, I visited the Battleship Texas. From a guy brought up by an Army Dad in the Midwest, it was a truly wonderful tour. I'd urge anyone to visit any museum, memorial and display like the USS Missouri, USS Texas or the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH. It's amazing how much insight you can get from the volunteer tour guides.

BTW, if you do visit one of the Warship Memorial/Museum, ask for and take what they call the "Hardhat Tour" after it's closed. It cost extra, but they'll take you to any part of the ship you want to go to, even the areas closed to the public. On the Texas, I spoke to all the tour guides the afternoon I visited and told of the lore of I-T-E Circuit Breakers being the only type allowed on armed vessels before WWII. This turned into a somewhat heated debate. Since none of the three tour guides had been Electrians Mates during their stints in the Navy, We all went to see if this were true. The USS Texas had its keel laid in 1912 and was commissioned in 1914, I believe. The main Electrical Board, housed in the forward-most compartment, directly above the forward fuel (diesel, you could smell it) compartment, had breakers and control devices mounted to a 3 inch thick panel of slate secured to the deck and braced to the hull. Mounted there were single pole breakers with nameplates bearing the manufacturer's name and equipment data:

J B Cutter Electric
Philadelphia Penna
Type L Circuit Breaker
50 Amps 250 Volts

Emlazoned across the live front frame were the trademark used since 1906 by Cutter:
I-T-E Circuit Breaker.

All brass and wrought iron. Phenolic, Bakelite and Slate being the insulation. It wasn't until the late twenties that steel frames began being used to make switchboards, and not until the late thirties that the slate back of the breakers were replaced by molded phenolic pieces set in steel frames became general practice. Alas, the company is no more, with Siemens owning the trademark since 1980. But I have the manuals on some of the breakers types and would just love to refurbish the entire board on the Texas. These breakers were made in the era when, in addition to overload protection built into them, they also included 'reverse current' protection also. What a thrill for me, as the earliest model of breaker I had seen and worked on before was made in 1925 and was still in service in Minneapolis. 1928 models still in service at the Bagnel Dam in Missouri are the next oldest, but these were replaced with new in 1996.

By the way, the old lore was wrong. There were Westinghouse breakers all over the ship.

[uncitizen]

Very cool!

[uncitizen]

Does anybody know what the Osbournes politics are?

[LisaMalia]

I know that he and Sharon were guest at a dinner given for President Bush. "The Osbornes" is one of my guilty pleasures, once in awhile, and I caught that episode. Anyway, they both seemed to be thrilled to be going, and President Bush acknowledged Ozzy during the dinner.

[uncitizen]

Oh that's right. I saw that episode too. Guess the Osbournes made a nice contribution then.

[shekkian]

Did Ozzy pee on the deck?

[hosepipe]

Saw a bumper sticker the other day:
"God make me the person my dog thinks I am"...
LoL... cute, eh!.

[Denver Ditdat]

Great story! Thanks for posting it.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Thank you so much for posting this. Ozzy has given me and my kids much enjoyment through his music, and now his tv show. I've always had a suspicion that he and Sharon are conservatives ;-)

[Spruce]

Big Mo BUMP!

[Spruce]

[satchmodog9]

I would like to see Big Mo go out with the fleet once in a while and play catch with those 18 inchers on someones shores once in a while. Nothing says surrender like a battleship off your coast. Anyone know if any of the sister ships are still around.

[freedumb2003]

Does anybody know what the Osbournes politics are?

I think he is voting the straight Martian ticket.

[ServesURight]

Ozzy is pond scum. Had this been a rap artist, everybody on FR would be dissing him.

[nutmeg]

ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my infrequent ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.

[Poohbah]

I heard a story that the engineering department of the USS New Mexico tried to get the switchboard register lights to spell out "EAT AT JOES" during their cruise home after WW2. (Apparently didn't work, but they tried. Ship had an amazing electric plant--machinery was turboelectric.)