Calling all Iowa-class (BB-61) fans

[BB62vet]

Cliffy B, Tom -

Yep, that's us!!! in the photo. Quit possibly the 51/52 hoods were removed prior to the photo (obviously!), but when, I can't say.

There was a problem with those mounts just after commissioning in which I believe the port mount actually shot into the superstructure and then mech. stops were installed in all 4 ships to prevent this from happening. I can't recall if it was the FC radar locked on a target and the mount crew not being in local control but that seems the case. I'll have to re-query my MSW gunner's mate friend and see if his memory serves any better this week. in re. the hoods.

The hoods, by the way, do clear the bridge wings but not with a lot of clearance to spare.

Hank

[Fliger747]

Some of the really small boys had army single 40 mm's installed which were pretty much manual and had no sophisticated interlocks, pipe rails were installed in the no fire arcs. My daughter used to be in avalanche control in Utah. The recoiless rifle they had was equipped with similar arc limiters to prevent accidental destruction of the lodge..... With evidence showing both installed and not installed, Hank can do no wrong!

Cheers: Tom

[Fliger747]

Cliffy:

Do you happen to have any photos of the roller chocks and their location? I might try to cobble up some of those when I return from Holiday Visiting.

Cheers. Tom

[Russ2146]

To get the locations of the Roller Chocks, go to http://www.hnsa.org/doc/plans/bb64.pdf and scroll down to Page 3 of the pdf. Also Page 7 for plan view. On page 3, the Roller Chocks are labeled as such. On page 7, the Roller Chocks are identified by a full circle at one end of the chock. I believe the locations of the chocks will be consistent throughout the class.

I will edit this post to add drawings from another computer. Between the above plans and the diagrams, you might be able to cobble up suitable facsimiles.

Note that this is a double roller chock. The plans above indicate single roller

If the top was not open, this shape/structure is appropriate given the era.

roller-chocks-open.jpg (7.97 KiB) Viewed 1732 times

[Fliger747]

Thanks Russ:

The ones you illustrate are quite similar to the ones we had on the boats I used to sail many eons ago. I am sure in all the Iowa class photos that are here (including mine) we have captured on in detail, somewhere. It was on the HNSA drawings that I first noticed them. Funny how one can be around the simple things like chocks and not really note them.

Cheers. Tom

[DBlack]

The bridge wings were extended aft a few feet during the Cold War reactivations. Is it possible the hoods cleared them originally, but had to be removed to accommodate the modernizations?

[Sauerteig]

I have the Tamiya's MIssouri 1/350. Looked it up on ebay, not a single listing (all they have are the 1991 variants). Not available on free time or sprue brothers. Is this OOP?

[BB62vet]

Is someone looking for a Tamiya 1:350 NEW JERSEY? or 1:350 MISSOURI?

Hank

[Haijun watcher]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it says on Navsource that New Jersey was the only one in the class that had a rounded bridge by around 1943-44 and that was what distinguished her other sisters like Iowa who kept a more "open" bridge but were later refit to have angular bridges.

While I realize that yard priorities and scheduling may have been an issue, why was she the only ship that had this distinct rounded bridge, while the others were directly converted to angular/square-faced ones?

[veliko_pile]

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but it says on Navsource that New Jersey was the only one in the class that had a rounded bridge by around 1943-44 and that was what distinguished her other sisters like Iowa who kept a more "open" bridge but were later refit to have angular bridges.

While I realize that yard priorities and scheduling may have been an issue, why was she the only ship that had this distinct rounded bridge, while the others were directly converted to angular/square-faced ones?

From what I remember , the New Jersey had the rounded bridge yes, but also the Iowa had a similar design with an open one: http://i.imgur.com/PVAlP.jpg

[Cliffy B]

From what I remember the bridges were like this during WWII:

BB-61: Rounded Open, Square Closed
BB-62: Rounded Open, Rounded Closed, Square Closed
BB-63: Square Closed
BB-64: Square Closed

[Fliger747]

Surprisingly, for such a large ship, the space on the square bridge is fairly small and would have been unusually cramped in the round version. What is needed is the room at the front, the lateral stringing out of navigation person ell along the sided is not overly effective. There was also a primary conn station on the 08 level, however as the BB63 grounding showed the physical distance from the primary navigation space behind the armored conning tower was not optimal for quick and precise communication.

Changed because it was much better arrangement.

Cheers. T

[Sauerteig]

Is someone looking for a Tamiya 1:350 NEW JERSEY? or 1:350 MISSOURI?

Hank

I am not looking for the tamiya missouiri, I just have it in my stash, and noticed it seems to be oop.

[Haijun watcher]

BB-62: Rounded Open, Rounded Closed, Square Closed

So essentially, there isn't a kit out there of the New Jersey when she had a rounded closed bridge from the time she was the flagship of Admiral Halsey during the Battle of Leyte Gulf?

Looking on our site's review of Fujimi's 1/700 USS New Jersey kit, it appears this kit was from when she already had her square closed bridge fitted.

I hope this Fujimi kit isn't the closest one could get to the October 1944 New Jersey in 1/700? So close yet so far...

For others reading this thread who still aren't sure what I'm talking about, here is a NAVSOURCE site pic of New Jersey's bridge in October 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She didn't have the square, closed bridge that is more popularly known till later.

[Cliffy B]

The Tamiya 1/700 Iowa is molded with a round open bridge and I want to say Fujimi makes a similar kit. None that I know depict New Jersey with her enclosed round bridge. If that's what you want then scratch building is the answer. From what I've seen it wouldn't be that hard either. Just get a good set of drawings of the open round bridge and the square enclosed and use whatever kit parts you have as the starting point. Using the Iowa kit would probably be the best starting point as you'd only have to add the O5 deck and the window framing.

If you need some reference materials let me know and I'll dig through my drawings and photos in my library.

[SeanF]

So essentially, there isn't a kit out there of the New Jersey when she had a rounded closed bridge from the time she was the flagship of Admiral Halsey during the Battle of Leyte Gulf?

Looking on our site's review of Fujimi's 1/700 USS New Jersey kit, it appears this kit was from when she already had her square closed bridge fitted.

I hope this Fujimi kit isn't the closest one could get to the October 1944 New Jersey in 1/700? So close yet so far...

For others reading this thread who still aren't sure what I'm talking about, here is a NAVSOURCE site pic of New Jersey's bridge in October 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She didn't have the square, closed bridge that is more popularly known till later.

The Fujimi New Jersey is somewhat a hybrid between late-WWII and post-Korean War fit. Note that the kit features a large mainmast structure behind funnel 2, with legs going straight down to the deck. The mainmast was enlarged considerably in her 1945 refit, but the vertical legs only appear around around 1955-56. However, the kit still has you install the catapults, which had long since been removed (I think during her 1950 reactivation). So, you could modify the mast structure and go for 1945-48 fit, modify the mast and delete the cats for Korean War fit, or keep the mast and delete the cats (plus some AA modifications) for 1955-1957 fit. For her more typical WWII fits, start with the Tamiya Iowa kit.

- Sean F.

[veliko_pile]

Guys...any photos of the 02 level???

I'm starting detailing it but I don't have any clue on what's behind the 5'' mount (n.1 and 2) and on the rest of that level. Also any photos of the 01 level would be great, I need only details on the superstructure, doors, wiring, tubes, windows etc.

I mean this zones:



Thanks!

[Cliffy B]

I can get some for you next week from BB-64 if you'd like.

[Fliger747]

Earlier in this series, maybe 10 pages back or so I posted a lot of photos of BB63. I am slowly building a scratch 1:192 modern Missouri and took hundreds of photos of the bulkheads while visiting the ship. The bulkheads in this area mostly decorated with a few wt doors, portholes, drain pipes and hydrants, hoses and associated fire fighting gear.

Will take a look and see what I have about.

Tom

[William Smallshaw]

Photographs on page 67 of this forum address some of your questions. The circular spaces around the 5 inch mounts have portals for the officer's berthing spaces.

Bill