The marine environment is a hostile one. Fouling and corrosion are constant threats, and while naval engineers have gotten very good at dealing with them, some of the techniques require that they can work on the exposed hull free of water. Initially, this was done by simply running the ship up on the beach and waiting for the tide to go out. Later, as the galley developed in the Mediterranean, facilities were built to help with this process, most notably specialized ship sheds where galleys could be hauled out on ramps and allowed to dry out under cover when not in use.

Iowa in drydock, 1984

But this only worked so long as ships were small enough to stand the stresses of being beached, and during the Hellenistic era, galleys began to grow, and the Greeks developed the first drydocks. The basic concept was simple enough: a big pit was dug next to the sea, with a door of some sort that could seal it off after a ship had been brought in. The water would then be pumped out, allowing it to be worked on in the dry. Information on ancient drydocks is fragmentary, as they were large and expensive, and like so much of the infrastructure of naval warfare in the Mediterranean appear to have died out after the Roman Empire unified the entire area. Read more...

It is time once again for our regular open thread. Talk about whatever you want, including culture war.

Reminder that we're a month out from the LA meetup. Feel free to come, even if you have never commented before and don't know that much about battleships. I know enough for both of us. There will be excellent company and delicious food. There are currently two spots one spot left in the AirBnB, so sign up quickly if you want to stay there.

Also exciting is the imminent release of RTW3, on May 18th. Lord Nelson isn't going to see me for at least the entire weekend.

Overhauls are my first review of Midway, LCS Part 1, LCS Part 3 and for 2022, Nuclear Strategy and The Germans Strike Back.

In 1914, Britain ruled the seas. Not only through the Royal Navy, but also through the fact that the Red Ensign and its derivatives flew over 43% of the world's merchant tonnage. This fleet was the lifeblood of not only the Empire, but also the British isles themselves, which imported two-thirds of their food. As a result, the threat to commerce had been uppermost in the minds of the Royal Navy for decades. France's extensive colonial empire and the Russian Far East provided ideal bases for raiding cruisers, and the British were forced to spend tremendous amounts of money on armored cruisers of their own.

The German East Asia squadron in Tsingtau

These were large, expensive ships and in an attempt to bring costs down, Jackie Fisher was appointed First Sea Lord, with a new scheme to solve the problem. He proposed a new type of ship, propelled by turbines and directed via radio from the Admiralty, which would synthesize all available information on the location of enemy commerce raiders. Read more...

While in Houston for the tour of Texas, Lord Nelson and I decided to pay a visit to the other warship museum in the area, Seawolf Park on the tip of Galveston Island. It's actually not far from the Gulf Copper shipyard, and we saw the masts of Texas as we drove to the park. But it's also fairly isolated, about 15 minutes from anywhere else in Galveston, which itself is about an hour from Houston.¹ Despite the name, the park doesn't have any USS Seawolf.² It does have a submarine, Cavalla, as well as the USS Stewart, one of two destroyer escorts on display in the country.

Cavalla and the sail of Tautog

Read more...

It's time once again for our regular open thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't culture war.

I'm going to designate this the occasional "tell bean what you'd like to read about" thread. As always, no promises, but I will take what is suggested under advisement.

Also, this is your reminder that signups for the LA meetup in June are still open.

Overhauls are Continuous At Sea Deterrent, Falklands Part 21, A Brief Overview of the Chinese Fleet and for 2022 Heligoland Bight and Nuclear Winter.

The battleship Texas was handed over to the State of Texas in 1948 (instead of going to Bikini like most of her contemporaries) and has been a museum ever since. Unfortunately, the state of the art in warship preservation back then wasn't particularly good, and she's been in bad shape for a long, long time. In 2019, the Texas State Legislature finally passed a $35 million funding round for the preservation of the ship, and turned her over to a nonprofit tasked with her long-term preservation. That would involve drydocking her to remove corroded structure, most notably the torpedo blisters added in 1925. Oh, and they run tours of the drydock for the sort of massive nerds who find that kind of thing interesting. So of course Lord Nelson and I decided to go to Galveston and see.

It was very cool. We showed up at the entrance to Gulf Copper, where some of the ship's company waited for us. After a safety briefing and the issue of hard hats, we were taken into the yard, where the drydock was tied up. Texas was far from my first battleship, but she was the first out of the water, and it was cool to see her entirely out of the water. She first went into dock back in August, so most of the structure has already been removed on both sides of the ship, and the majority of the new starboard blister is in place. But we still got a good overview of the work, and the chance to see a bit of the battleship that very few people get to see. Read more...

34 years ago today, while conducting gunnery exercises off the coast of Puerto Rico, Turret II exploded aboard Iowa. 47 members of her crew were killed. Every year, a memorial ceremony is held for them, and I was able to attend in 2019 and honor the men who died.

• Tung Thanh Adams - Fire Controlman 3rd class (FC3) Alexandria, VA
• Robert Wallace Backherms - Gunner's Mate 3rd class (GM3) Ravenna, OH
• Dwayne Collier Battle - Electrician's Mate, Fireman Apprentice (EMFA) Rocky Mount, NC
• Walter Scot Blakey - Gunner's Mate 3rd class (GM3) Eaton Rapids, MI
• Pete Edward Bopp - Gunner's Mate 3rd class (GM3) Levittown, NY
• Ramon Jarel Bradshaw - Seaman Recruit (SR) Tampa, FL
• Philip Edward Buch - Lieutenant, Junior Grade (LTjg) Las Cruces, NM
• Eric Ellis Casey - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Mt. Airy, NC
• John Peter Cramer - Gunners Mate 2nd class (GM2) Uniontown, PA
• Milton Francis Devaul Jr. - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Solvay, NY
• Leslie Allen Everhart Jr. - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Cary, NC
• Gary John Fisk - Boatswains Mate 2nd class (BM2) Oneida, NY
• Tyrone Dwayne Foley - Seaman (SN) Bullard, TX
• Robert James Gedeon III - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Lakewood, OH
• Brian Wayne Gendron - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Madera, CA
• John Leonard Goins - Seaman Recruit (SR) Columbus, OH
• David L. Hanson - Electricians Mate 3rd class (EM3) Perkins, SD
• Ernest Edward Hanyecz - Gunners Mate 1st class (GM1) Bordentown, NJ
• Clayton Michael Hartwig - Gunners Mate 2nd class (GM2) Cleveland, OH
• Michael William Helton - Legalman 1st class (LN1) Louisville, KY
• Scott Alan Holt - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Fort Meyers, FL
• Reginald L. Johnson Jr. - Seaman Recruit (SR) Warrensville Heights, OH
• Nathaniel Clifford Jones Jr. - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Buffalo, NY
• Brian Robert Jones - Seaman (SN) Kennesaw, GA
• Michael Shannon Justice - Seaman (SN) Matewan, WV
• Edward J. Kimble - Seaman (SN) Ft. Stockton, TX
• Richard E. Lawrence - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Springfield, OH
• Richard John Lewis - Fire Controlman, Seaman Apprentice (FCSA) Northville, MI
• Jose Luis Martinez Jr. - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Hidalgo, TX
• Todd Christopher McMullen - Boatswains Mate 3rd class (BM3) Manheim, PA
• Todd Edward Miller - Seaman Recruit (SR) Ligonier, PA
• Robert Kenneth Morrison - Legalman 1st class (LN1) Jacksonville, FL
• Otis Levance Moses - Seaman (SN) Bridgeport, CN
• Darin Andrew Ogden - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Shelbyville, IN
• Ricky Ronald Peterson - Seaman (SN) Houston, MN
• Mathew Ray Price - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Burnside, PA
• Harold Earl Romine Jr. - Seaman Recruit (SR) Brandenton, FL
• Geoffrey Scott Schelin - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GMG3) Costa Mesa, CA
• Heath Eugene Stillwagon - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Connellsville, PA
• Todd Thomas Tatham - Seaman Recruit (SR) Wolcott, NY
• Jack Ernest Thompson - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Greeneville, TN
• Stephen J. Welden - Gunners Mate 2nd class (GM2) Yukon, OK
• James Darrell White - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Norwalk, CA
• Rodney Maurice White - Seaman Recruit (SR) Louisville, KY
• Michael Robert Williams - Boatswains Mate 2nd class (BM2) South Shore, KY
• John Rodney Young - Seaman (SN) Rockhill, SC
• Reginald Owen Ziegler - Senior Chief Gunners Mate (GMCS) Port Gibson, NY

They came to the Navy as strangers. Served the Navy as shipmates and friends and left the Navy as brothers in eternity. - George H.W. Bush

For the finale of the Tucson DSL meetup, we headed south, to the Titan Missile Museum. This is exactly what it sounds like: a silo that held a Titan II missile from the early 60s to the early 80s, and which has been converted into a museum.

The missile from above³

First, some logistical details: the silo is only accessible on a guided tour, and slots are limited. Same-day availability may be limited, particularly on the weekends. You can still see the gift shop/small museum that has been added to the complex, and they'll sell you a $7 tour of the above-ground section of the museum, but this is absolutely worth the full tour, so book in advance. Read more...

It's time for our regular open thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't Culture War.

Not a whole lot new this time around. Reminder that the LA meetup is coming up, and you should come.

Overhauls are Early Dreadnoughts, WWII ASW - Sensors, my review of the Iowa, and for 2022, are ships delicious, Sea Sparrow and The FY 23 US Navy Budget.

I recently went to Tucson, and finally got a chance to see one of the best air museums in the country. I'd been trying to get to the Pima Air and Space Museum for several years, but various things had thwarted my efforts. Finally, the DSL meetup gave me the chance to see what is probably the best private air museum in the country, and with people to follow me around, too.

A look out over the airplane park at Pima⁴

Pima is right next to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, the place the US military has chosen to keep planes it is not using at the moment, which allows them to have a massive outside collection that most museums couldn't support. You will probably see the rows of planes gleaming in the sun as you drive in, and be struck by the scale of the place. The only air museum that I've been to that felt like this, with cool planes around every corner, was the Air Force Museum in Dayton. Of course, being a mostly-outside museum in Arizona does have its downsides. We were there in mid-March, so it wasn't terribly hot, but it's a lot of walking in dirt with little shade (except when very close to the bombers). If this is a priority destination for you, don't try to go in the summer. And whatever the time of year, make sure you have sunscreen, water, and a hat. Read more...