Posted on 05/30/2012 12:18:00 PM PDT by moonshot925
SAN PEDRO, Calif. (KABC) -- The historic USS Iowa battleship arrived off the coast of San Pedro Wednesday morning, marking an exciting event.
Crews were cleaning the vessel as it pulled into San Pedro. The ship will stay on the coast for a few days before docking at its permanent home. The ship is expected to open to the public July 7.
(Excerpt) Read more at abclocal.go.com ...
But the fact is, the BBs were build much stronger than today's DDGs and they could take a lot of punishment. What Reagan did to the four BBs in the 1980s was very smart. Not only did he get strong combatants for that day (this was pre-VLS days and so 32 Tomahawks on one platform was a large number, not to mention 16 harpoons) and he also scared the Russians.
Later reports (after the fall) showed that the Soviets were worried about the modernized Iowa class. With their Tomahawks and Harpoons, and their heavy armor they were going to be a serious threat to the Soviet surface fleet and the Russians knew what kind of punishment those vessels could take.
So, by act of Congress they are held in some readiness, just in case. I doubt they will ever go to sea again as commissioned vessels. But they were good to have around...and no Tomahawk or other missile, short of one of our air dropped Daisy Cutters or later varieites of the big bombs could do as much conventional damage as that 16", 2000 lbs of HE. Our guided missile warheads are very small by comparison.
Anyhow, It was not muy intent to indicate that they are modern vessels and they are certainly expensive to operate because of all of their old machinary, engines, etc.
The new Zumwalt Class DDGs are meant to replace their fire support misison with their two 155mm Naval Guns which can fire the new Long Range munitions 70-80 miles and GPS accurate...and fast enough to equate to two or three batteries of land based 155mm Howitzers. They will be the new, modern Battleships, if you will, but also carrying 80 VLS tubess for anything from SM IV anit-air missiles to Tomoahawks, to the new Tactical Tomahawks, to VLASROC, etc.
“The battleship is obsolete. The only thing battleships are good for today is naval fire support. That can be done by guided missiles destroyers which are much less expensive to operate.”
I disagree. The battleships sported an armored belt that would be most handy in the age of suicide bombers. The blast that nearly sunk the USS Cole would have only scorched the paint on the Iowa.
And the best anti-missile technology extant is useless against an incoming 16” shell.
The battleship in an updated form would still be a formidable weapons platform. But it’s the money that dictates the thin-skinned destroyers the USN is relying on anymore. As more and more of our cruisers head for decommissioning the USN will soon be a destroyer navy and if Obama has his way they’l only have four aircraft carriers to protect.
Launching some robust and tough battlewagons wouldn’t be a bad idea.
3 for each hole
3 for each hole
To bad it can’t shell New Mexico
Checked it out, I saw that.
There were to be 890 feet long at the waterline. 121 feet wide.
The Montana was to be BB-67, followed by the Ohio, the Maine, the New Hampshire and the Louisiana.
Hehehe...there are scale models of them to place on the vessels...but these don’t operate and go BOOM! LOL!
Thanks for posting that. Had a great time watching the rest of the films as well.
Oh boy, I will make a special trip just to see that! Used to live in that area. I toured the USS New Jersey in Long Beach in Feb. 1983. Saw the Missouri at Pearl Harbor a few years ago.
I agree with you about Reagan. He refitted the Iowa class with 32 Tomahawks, 16 harpoons and 4 CIWS as a response to the Soviet Kirov class battlecruisers. The AMAZING thing about the Zumwalt is its integrated power system. It can divide 78 MW between between propulsion and power to the ship’s electronic systems. The Burke destroyers can only produce 7.5 MW of power.
Yep...same amazing power availability to the new Ford Class. That’s why things like the EMALS systems will work and why those class vessels may eventually sport Laser CIWS and Rail Gun tachnology.
We’ll see.
Rail gun technology will be a real game changer.
I love that pic... that’s some sound and fury right there.
I’m glad that most of the rest of this thread has not sunk to our level. Heh heh heh!
I held the door for this Asian guy and he said “Sank you.”
...so I punched him in the face. Can’t believe he brought up Pearl Harbor like that.
It makes me wonder, why are the British Queen Elizabeth class carriers not going to be nuclear powered? Too save money? In the long term, this will be a mistake.
Obama cannot clear the House for what he would otherwise do (thank God for 2010)...but what he is doing is bad enough.
So, yes, to save money and to avoid the tough decisions required to revamp their military to where it ought to be.
They want to keep the jobs or they would not be building them at all. As it is, the first will operate for almost 4 years woithout and air wing, and then receive it while the second comes out without an air wing for 2-3 years until the F-35 orders catch up. Sad.
Thanks for the link, and several hours of education.
You seem very convinced.
The only thing battleships are good for today is naval fire support.
So... you can accurately predict the style, type, and location of the next 'war' the US will be involved in ?
What are tomorrow's lottery number winners for my state?
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