Calling all USS New York BB-34 and USS Texas BB-35 fans

[Iceman 29]

[Fliger747]

Pascal, thank you for the updates. I know you have been into her port a number of times. The old girl represents the Naval state of the art 100 years ago, once a terror of the seas.

Regards: Tom

[Lethal215]

[Iceman 29]

Great video! Tks

[Michael Smith]

I'm doing some research on the Texas (BB-35) for a model and am trying to nail down what she looked like on D-Day.
All of the plans I have been able to locate are after her final refit in October 1944 (see attached). What I really need is to nail down whether all the 40mm quads were in place by June 1944, and as much specifics (platform plans would be ideal) as I can get on the mainmast, which was completely reconfigured in the 10/44 refit.
Ideally both would be shown on the plans as they were after the 7/29/43 refit in Boston, but anything before 1944 would give me a better starting point for the mainmast platforms. Right now all I have is approximate elevation from drawings in several books.

[Michael Smith]

Correct - July 1944. I was thinking of a later yard period in October, but realized the plans aren't updated for that. Thanks for the navsource tip - it had a couple of photos I had not seen that nailed down the 40mm question. Now just looking for any plans for the mainmast pre-July 1943. I can approximate it, but would prefer to work from plans if I can.

[Iceman 29]

Close-up of the rudder of Texas in the early morning of September 1, 2022.

The rudder is at the right-hand helm. It has been stuck at this angle for years in the mud at San Jacinto. On numerous occasions the steering gear room has been flooded.

It would not be repaired, other areas need more attention, members of the association will still inspect it for a hypothetical final dismantling or repair

[Fliger747]

That would make the tow more difficult! These ships were fairly slow and somewhat rotund such that a single rudder was OK. Finer hull shapes, more power and speed made more rudder control a necessity. Lexington was an example of a somewhat unwieldy ship, all of the USN WWII Fleet carriers had single rudders. The fast battleships all had dual rudders whereas the Fletcher destroyers and Alaska had single rudders. Perhaps the judgment was that speed was more important than tactical radius. Iowa's, Fletchers and Alaska all had about the same tactical radius, about 800 plus yards. Fletchers, post war, in some instances had an extension added to the rudders as ASW became a larger function.

Thank you for the interesting photos! A hundred plus year old steel ship in a hostile environment has a tough life!

[Iceman 29]

I saved the pictures elsewhere because on Facebook they can disappear at any time.

https://www.facebook.com/BattleshipTexa ... ion/photos

The hull surface is not too bad seen from the outside, but it's the inside of the compartments, ballast tanks, crates and bunkers that must be preoccupying. This is often where the ships leave from. Especially the ballast tanks filled with sea water, especially half, or the top of the ceiling in contact with the air.

You can see that they have welded struts on the dock may be to prevent it from tipping over on the tins with its own weight.

The large dents along the hull are also a concern.

I hope it can be repaired after the health check.

The front is in the void for a good ten meters, the dock being too short, it does not help things, because it overloads the last tins on the front, and therefore cause efforts on this hull already in bad condition. The small dock added at the end is only useful for the workers to be able to work. There are risks of additional stresses and deformations, especially if they replace plates in this area.

[Dan K]

Great views, and thx for posting.

If there really is a great deal of stress on the suspended portion of the bow, I would think the anchors could be removed to alleviate some of that.

[Iceman 29]

Indeed.

Anchors and chains. But are the windlasses in good condition? The brakes at least.

We can see on the plans that this belt is made of "void spaces", these are empty compartments These are empty compartments, perhaps intended to protect the main hull by detonating torpedoes, for example, upstream from the hull.

The frames are perhaps corroded as well as the plates, the hydrostatic force may have sunk this compartmentalization, simple hypothesis.

[Iceman 29]

https://youtu.be/Sl8ZPyWGkrg

[Fliger747]

There were various theories abut anti torpedo belts being void to liquid loading. Later US Battleships used a several layer system with the other layer often being liquid loaded, a penetration would not result in a loss of buoyancy and would tend to slow down fragments which might penetrate additional layers. As time went on torpedoes became more powerful, especially the Japanese ones making successful protective belt design more problematical.

[raggs]

I think I answered my own question...

From the initial drydocking of Texas at the beginning of September, the bow looked to overhang the drydock.

From Icemans follow on pics, looks like they adapted a smaller lift section to the bow area to facilitate cleaning but with no
bocks to support the hull forward.

Thanks for the pics. Keep em coming!

Paul

[ArizonaBB39]

Based on one of their recent YouTube videos, it sounds like they have no plans to straighten the rudder as it was the last order given to the helm.

[Iceman 29]

Battleship Texas Team:

"Hey y�all, foam removal in the torpedo blisters and stern has been ongoing this week. Once foam removal is completed, the hot work starts as we remove the blister plating. There�s still a lot to do but we�re making progress!"

[Iceman 29]

https://youtu.be/1hY_VK04abg

[Fliger747]

A friend posted F-Book photos showing a tremendous amount of the shell plating removed, a major reconstruction but the way to do it! I am pleased that Texas takes this project seriously.

[Iceman 29]

Probably these ones, Tom;

Foam was removed from some flooded compartment probably. This allows to keep buoyancy, the light foam occupies the place of the water.

We can see that a probable hull thickness measurement campaign has started (chalk figure on the hull). This will allow to target the most vulnerable areas to be replaced.

[Fliger747]

Good photos of the Orlikon!