On-topic derail: Battleships

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The actual armour layout, from a 1923 diagram:



Poor anti-torpedo protection (typical for designs at the time), but otherwise good.

Yep, the "before the mass" berthing areas, in the bow, were outside the armor.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

5 IKU's to anyone who can tell me why the X (no. 3) turret isn't in a firing position like the others.

It was manned by Frenchmen?

[Feck]

There's a lump of wood from HMS Warspite set up on a cliff at Prussia Cove in Cornwall. Walked past it on me hols a few weeks ago.

Prussia Cove? Isn't it time that was renamed to something more patriotic?

By coincidence, one of my brothers and his family spent a couple of days in that part of merry olde England a few weeks ago as well. I must ask them if they spotted any nobility out in the open.

Going back to this photo of Warspite:


5 IKU's to anyone who can tell me why the X (no. 3) turret isn't in a firing position like the others.

Was that picture taken After 16 September 1943 when she had been hit by German guided bombs and she could only use 6 of her guns ?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

The pix is from Normandy, so the chronology is correct.

[klr]

There's a lump of wood from HMS Warspite set up on a cliff at Prussia Cove in Cornwall. Walked past it on me hols a few weeks ago.

Prussia Cove? Isn't it time that was renamed to something more patriotic?

By coincidence, one of my brothers and his family spent a couple of days in that part of merry olde England a few weeks ago as well. I must ask them if they spotted any nobility out in the open.

Going back to this photo of Warspite:


5 IKU's to anyone who can tell me why the X (no. 3) turret isn't in a firing position like the others.

Was that picture taken After 16 September 1943 when she had been hit by German guided bombs and she could only use 6 of her guns ?

As stated, this was from the Normandy landings.

5 IKU's to anyone who can tell me why the X (no. 3) turret isn't in a firing position like the others.

It was manned by Frenchmen?

Incorrect, but a better answer somehow.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

5 IKU's to anyone who can tell me why the X (no. 3) turret isn't in a firing position like the others.

It was manned by Frenchmen?

Incorrect, but a better answer somehow.

That was actually a subtle hint that it was Normandy. The French forces had to be given a little extra encouragement considering they were very likely about to accidentally kill some of their countrymen in the coming barrage. I have the speech DeGaulle directed to them somewhere in these terabytes of files.

[drl2]

The destroyer USS Arthur Radford was sunk off the coast not far from my old summertime stomping grounds yesterday - it was decommissioned and will now be used to create the largest artificial reef in the Atlantic.

Video: http://www.wdel.com/story.php?id=36752

Images: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/2 ... d|mostview


Stripped and gutted it just doesn't look as impressive.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Artificial reefs are great! I did a study of them for Oceanography 101, and the time for fish to start investigating them averaged one hour. In one week there were permanent residents, on average. (Time was much shorter when there was no other handy shelter in the area.) All the "new" reefs were fishable within six months, that being an arbitrary time set to allow establishment.

[Tero]

Not a battleship but a destroyer. Why is there a Dalek, a huge one, standing on the deck?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_45_destroyer

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Not a battleship but a destroyer. Why is there a Dalek, a huge one, standing on the deck?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_45_destroyer

Um, the tower is for radar similar to the American Aegis systems. They don't rotate, they're "electronically aimed" and if you ask any more about that I'd have to kill you. The horizontal beams are probably the receivers for that radar system.

[Tero]

Ah, so the Dalek is not for walking off and invading.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

That shot reminds me of the cartoon: Admiral is standing on the pier with a huge aircraft carrier behind him. He's addressing the press. "Gentlemen, the ship behind me is invisible."