dsk wrote:
Fliger747 wrote:
There were various plans as to ultimate upgrades for these ships, but due to war priorities and availability some were not carried out, even ships of the same classes began to diverge in their outfit. What could have been done, what had been planned and what was accomplished varied. Grazke and Dulin for instance have some discussions on these issues. For hull work Drydock availability was critical.
Interesting ships!
Notice that generally-speaking the less damaged a ship was the less upgrading was done. The Pennsylvania was the least-damaged of the bunch, and ended up receiving minimal upgrades. The California was sunk, and ended up being completely rebuilt into a fat version of the South Dakota. The Tennessee was an exception, receiving relatively minor damage yet being completely rebuilt like the California. No doubt the fact that she was a relatively new vessel factored into the decision to completely upgrade her inside and out. The poor Pennsylvania by comparison never seemed to get enough respect and wasn't even upgraded to the degree that the Nevada was.
Had the Arizona been able to be raised and repaired she likely would have received a much more substantial rebuild than the Pennsylvania did, since she would have needed more to begin with. But then again for that to have even been possible it would've required a much less fatal hit than the one that tore her entire front half apart, meaning she would have had to have received less damage and thus possibly not need as much rebuilding in the first place. As it was, even if they could've raised her the likelihood that she would've been considered worth repairing is small. The "what-ifs" are endless.
I suspect that something else that factored into the lightly-damaged Tennessee eventually getting the full CA/WV-style rebuild is that she hadn't yet gotten her previously-scheduled refit. Maryland had already gotten hers, and Colorado was in the middle of it, but the other three of the Big Five were waiting their turns at the time of the attack, all still with their original un-bulged hulls. With the war on and a completely new modernization scheme developed for the CA and WV, I guess they figured that rather than just take TN up to the pre-war refit that she still needed anyway they'd go for the newer full monty.
Now, as for why Pennsy wasn't modernized even as far as the Nevada... probably as stated above. Pennsylvania was ready to go on patrol right away, and just kept at it (aside from relatively quick AA upgrades, then her big - but not really revolutionary - refit with the 5" twins). Nevada was going to be out for a while to get major hull damage repaired, so might as well do some more significant superstructure work at the same time.
Come to think of it, aside from the yet-to-be-installed CXAM-1 set and 1.1" quads & accompanying directors, was anything else specifically on the slate for Arizona before she was sunk? (Perhaps shields for the 5"/25s?)
- Seaan F.