At 'Em Arizona Fans!

[Jeff Sharp]

Knocked out a bucket list item this week. Very moving moment for me.

[Jim Azelton]

Great pics and congrats on your visit, Jeff. Your paravane rigging is spot-on BTW. Standby for some new research info...


Jim

[Jim Azelton]

For the sake of conversation, what are the areas of most interest regarding Arizona? For me, it has been the fwd and aft 1.1 guns and directors as well as the area around the "break" in the deck and the bridge area. What say you?

[Jeff Sharp]

I enjoy all of it!
Here are a couple of views from that film showing the crew enjoying ice cream on the port side quarter deck just aft of the 1.1 gun tub( or maybe forward of the starboard side tub). These views confirm her tub base was square.

[Jeff Sharp]

A couple of comments.

I believe the support for the 1.1" director platform should be a pole (thinner than what you have) as per what was installed on Pennsylvania in January of 1943. Item 5 in this picture shows what looks to me to be a 9-12" pipe.

Tracy,
I'm still not convinced that the pole was as thin as the one on Pennsylvania. Take a look at this pic which suggest it was much thicker.

But of course I've been known to be wrong before! This is after all a VERY grainy view of it.

[Jim Azelton]

Hi Jeff,

Great close-up on the gun tub. I have been curious about that, if it was Arizona or the cruiser in the next part of the film. I assumed it to be AZ, but when it comes to assumptions, I have a bad habit of emphasizing the first the letters of that word! LOL. Seriously though, if the consensus on that portion of the film shown in the screen grab is that it is AZ, then I'm of the opinion that the lower-angle view of the square based gun tubs (I think on TN?) would be accurate for AZ. Thoughts?

I don't recall seeing the particular view shown in your last post regarding the director platform. Is it a screen grab or other?

Thanks.

Jim

[JollyRoger61]

On another AZ subject, I'm guessing the wood decks for the 350th Hobby Boss kit won't quite work on the Mini Hobby? Close but no banana? What's out there that I can find?

[Jon C Ryckert]

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the Hobby Boss and Mini Hobby kits are the same.

[JollyRoger61]

Okay, wasn't sure, thanks!

[Jon C Ryckert]

I have a question that I believe has never been asked. I always believed the Arizona carried three anchors just from looking at plans, photos and models. Now we know one is at Hawaii and one is in the state of Arizona. Can anyone tell me where the third is? Buried in the muck at the bottom of the harbor? Just curious.

[Jon C Ryckert]

Okay, wasn't sure, thanks!

No problem, just don't shoot me if I am wrong.

[Tracy White]

She only carried two at the time of the attack - one was landed to save weight.

[Jon C Ryckert]

She only carried two at the time of the attack - one was landed to save weight.

I wonder what ever happened to it.

[Tracy White]

I know that her #2 turret guns eventually wound up on Nevada after D-Day (Normandy) and that was determined from records at the National Archives. It might be possible to determine what was done with her anchor there but I haven't come across any documentation that suggests they were serialized the way individual gun barrels were. Most likely when removed it was put into spares / storage but I can't recall if it was removed at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard (most likely) or Pearl Harbor. Records for PSNS are near me at the Seattle Branch but there was nothing for Arizona other than a roster of officers. Didn't think to look for Anchors specifically but I'll see if there's anything there the next time I go. It's hard for me to get time off during the week to do it but I've had an itch for a while....

[Jeff Sharp]

Hi Jon, good to see your name again! It's been awhile. If the anchor was removed, it must have happened at Pearl because she left Puget Sound with three anchor chains on her deck.
Remember when we were trying to figure out if she had 2 or 3 degaussing cables? I now believe it was 3 bundled together. 2 on the bottom and 1 on top of them. Check out this drawing showing how the cables fork out on the stern.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... f_4%29.png

[Jon C Ryckert]

Hi Jeff. I haven't gone any where just lurking and following other ships. Sorry, but I could not get your above link to work. I get a small black box with an 'X' in it. Not sure if the problem is on my end or not. In regards to the anchors, I believe it would have been taken off at Pearl. In the picture taken on Oct 13, 1941 at Pearl, it appears that there are still two on the port side. Not sure about the starboard side. Is it possible that the anchors were carried only on the portside? If there still is a starboard anchor onboard on Oct 13, could the anchor have been landed while making repairs after the collision with Oklahoma?

[Tracy White]

Let me change my statement of an anchor removed to "apocryphal" at this point then. I am pretty sure I read that somewhere but can't find anything online to support it and am away from my references.

[Jeff Sharp]

Hi Jeff. I haven't gone any where just lurking and following other ships. Sorry, but I could not get your above link to work. I get a small black box with an 'X' in it. Not sure if the problem is on my end or not.

Here is a cropped view of the stern.


Also, perhaps this is a clue that she only had two anchors. The aft most hawse on the port side is listed as having a Steel plate over it.

[JollyRoger61]

Hi Jeff. I haven't gone any where just lurking and following other ships. Sorry, but I could not get your above link to work. I get a small black box with an 'X' in it. Not sure if the problem is on my end or not. In regards to the anchors, I believe it would have been taken off at Pearl. In the picture taken on Oct 13, 1941 at Pearl, it appears that there are still two on the port side. Not sure about the starboard side. Is it possible that the anchors were carried only on the portside? If there still is a starboard anchor onboard on Oct 13, could the anchor have been landed while making repairs after the collision with Oklahoma?

Which is the Oct 13 photo? I know of the November one, but that's from the starboard bow.

[Jeff Sharp]

I think Jon means this one. I lightened it a great deal to try to see the anchor detail.


Here is also the Aug. '41 shot lightened as well.