Calling all Iowa-class (BB-61) fans

[Fliger747]

What I am mostly concerned with is the raised area. Stuck mostly with the period when Missouri was non skid all the way fwd to the fueling mast, since I am almost out of the veneer that I had planked the rest of the deck with. Wonder why the wooden deck kept coming back, much like a slowly receding tide. I suppose the Battelship guys liked it as they were the the only ones that had it!

Cheers: tom

[Fliger747]

Finally found some photos that were detailed enough to show the helicopter deck and the ramps that led down to the base 01 decking. Photos are of Missouri being towed into Pearl on her next to last vayage.

Thanks for alerting me to this!

Tom

[Luky]

Modern ships use a poured on vinyl that is very very tough rubber like substance.

It helps to keep men from slipping on wet wood, and if you drop
something it does not make a metallic sound.

Wood bolted to steel is a nightmare corrosion problem.

[Fliger747]

Onboard Missouri at Pearl, there was an info board illustrating how the teak was bolted to the underlying steel deck. Wish i had photographed this! I did see on one of the websites advertising the memorial, some new decking being installed and it appeared there might have been some barrier installed between. That some corrosion does occur is apparent from a photo I posted earlier of a steel deck stripped on the stbd 04 level prior to re planking.

Not sure why Battleships and crusiers had teak decks except for tradition? Must be some other reason. Possibly the wood would absorb splinters rather than richoshet them as much as steel. Splinters were a major danger for topside personel. USN Carriers of the WWII Korea era used wooden decks for ease of repair. Even a major hole could be repaired, at least temporally with great rapidity.

Cheers. T

[Luky]

Finally found some photos that were detailed enough to show the helicopter deck and the ramps that led down to the base 01 decking. Photos are of Missouri being towed into Pearl on her next to last vayage.

Thanks for alerting me to this!

Tom

I wish you could post a link or one of those photos.

[Luky]

I started the build of my 1:191(57 inches LOA) scale USS Missouri (modern version) today.
The hull is bread and butter style with pine and a 1/4 inch thick deck with poplar wood.
After this gluing up process I will mark out the station lines.
I had to take it outdoors in the freezing weather to use a sawzall and 6 inch grinder on it.
I made a hell of a mess . still more to go.

[Fliger747]

Exciting start of a big project!

Photo of Missouri bing towed into Pearl for a second to last resting place, you can delineate the raised helicopter platform and how the fwd end ramps down.

www.navsource.org/archives/01/01631i.jpg wish the full size photo was available.

Stillwell: USS Missouri, p 313. Shows the gooped deck and tiedowns abaft turret 3.

Garzke and Dulin: US Battleships:p 287, ariel of Wisconsin

Summerall: Iowa Class Battleships. P 98: shows really well the ramping down of the helicopter deck.

Hope this helps a bit.

Tom

[Fliger747]

Try this one, shows the helicopter deck perfectly as the ship is leaving drydock for Ford Island.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/016350d.jpg

[Fliger747]

Interesting, appears that the boot top was repainted 7-8 ft lower as the ship is "light".

T

[Luky]

Exciting start of a big project!

Photo of Missouri bing towed into Pearl for a second to last resting place, you can delineate the raised helicopter platform and how the fwd end ramps down.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/01631i.jpg wish the full size photo was available.

Stillwell: USS Missouri, p 313. Shows the gooped deck and tiedowns abaft turret 3.

Garzke and Dulin: US Battleships:p 287, ariel of Wisconsin

Summerall: Iowa Class Battleships. P 98: shows really well the ramping down of the helicopter deck.

Hope this helps a bit.



Tom

Thanks for that info Fliger 747.
I wonder how much that is raised?? Anyone in Hawaii that could tell us?? LOL

[veliko_pile]

Exciting start of a big project!

Photo of Missouri bing towed into Pearl for a second to last resting place, you can delineate the raised helicopter platform and how the fwd end ramps down.

http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/01631i.jpg wish the full size photo was available.

Stillwell: USS Missouri, p 313. Shows the gooped deck and tiedowns abaft turret 3.

Garzke and Dulin: US Battleships:p 287, ariel of Wisconsin

Summerall: Iowa Class Battleships. P 98: shows really well the ramping down of the helicopter deck.

Hope this helps a bit.



Tom

Thanks for that info Fliger 747.
I wonder how much that is raised?? Anyone in Hawaii that could tell us?? LOL

In the Floating Drydock book, it says that the hatch nearby the raised helo deck is 72''*72'' and in 7'' in height. So that would make that hatch around 18cm. From the photo you can see that the whole helo deck have a raised lip. The lip is a couple of cm higher then the hatch, so the lip would be around cca. 25cm, and the helo deck is a couple of cm less then the lip, let's say about the same height of the hatch cca 20cm.

That's all in theory, but I think it's good enough information for a 1/350 ship, take the hatch dimension of the model kit and make a styrene lip just 1-2mm more higher and the rest of the helipad a little less. I think that should work.

[Fliger747]

The place where the height of the helo deck is most obvious is from the fantail, where it rises two steps, along the sides it rises bove the scuppers just enough that it is a comfortable height for several sailors to be sitting on it. So about the height of two steps or a chair. When i was there that area was roped off.

Tom

[Luky]

The place where the height of the helo deck is most obvious is from the fantail, where it rises two steps, along the sides it rises bove the scuppers just enough that it is a comfortable height for several sailors to be sitting on it. So about the height of two steps or a chair. When i was there that area was roped off.

Tom

That raised lip around the helo deck is probably in case of a fuel spill.

[Fliger747]

Possibly, though such lips are usual shipboard to direct water toward the scuppers and drains. Here is a really bad photo captured from an online video of the ship being moved from drydock to Ford Island and her current location. Shows line handlers and the ramps.

Luky, is yours going to be a full hull or waterline?

Cheers: Tom

[Fliger747]

Mo fotos of Mo

[Fliger747]

Even Mo of Mo

[Fliger747]

That wasn't the intention to post the photo twice....

Here is another one: Tom

[grim reaper]

Here is a pic I took in 2006 on board the USS Iowa. hope this shot helps. Chad

[Fliger747]

Thanks, that helps a lot!

Tom

[Timmy C]

With that photo, you can even replicate the correct amount and arrangement of tie-down points!