Wow. I'm sorry, I didn't even see this post until today. You're making
me think a lot...makes my head hurt!
In article <ivd90bldc1l9ftobo772qs3p20i918mfhj@4ax.com>, |--Spike=-
<|--Spike=-@Home.Co.UK> wrote:
> >From what I heard, the guys who were on her were madder about the
> >Japanese wanting to buy her to make a museum or something out of her
> >than they were about them making a reef out of her. They got up a
> >petition and all, and I guess they won. I sure as h--l wouldn't want
> >the Japanese to have her.
> ===================================================
> Wow ! I Never heard about THAT !
> But... to Me... That Would have been a BIG Insult !
> ===================================================
================================================
I actually saw it online sometime after 2000. I didn't know about it
either, but I "signed" the petition they had there. I don't harbor any
animosity towards the Japanese, but that was a bit much.
================================================
>snip<
> >I haven't burned the one on carriers yet, but I noticed that it is
> >mostly during the war. The Big O was built in time to make the war,
> >but, oddly, wasn't commissioned until later.
> ===================================================
> I will be honest ! I need the 'built' and 'Commissioned' difference
> explained, why not build it and use it straight away !?
> ===================================================
================================================
This isn't easy as I didn't know that much about her when I was in, and
I had to look it up to find out why. She was "built" (that is her hull
was laid) in 1944. She was launched (the hull...then she sat in the
water to have the rest of her interior and superstructure built) in
1945, which meant she would miss the war even though she was the 17th
Essex class ship built. Construction went slowly, obviously, and in
1947 it was stopped to make changes to her design. (It all sounds
horribly expensive to me!) It was finally finished, sort of, and she
was "commissioned" in 1950. Commissioning is when she was actually put
into service. So, basically, it took 6 years to build her! From what I
read, she got her angle deck and catapults in 1956 or so. All I knew
was that it had been done before I came on in 1963. She also got her...
=================================================
> > She was a straight deck
> >Essex class until right before I went aboard when she got an angle deck
> >and a hurricane bow. We still had a wood insert deck, though, so we
> >couldn't handle the F-4s, they'd chew it up.
> >As in most things like that, there were good times and bad times. All
> >were "learning" experiences.
> >Wow! Really got windy that time.
> >Later...
> ===================================================
> I... sort of mostly get the above. Hurricane Bow ?
> ===================================================
==================================================
...hurricane bow, which I have always assumed is the way the Navy folks
refer to what we today call a "bulbous bow". On most modern ships,
you'll see a somewhat elongated round "bulb" at the bottom of the bow.
It's used as extra ballast (at least, that's what it was used for on
the last tanker I was on, for 15 years.) which gives you extra
stability in rough weather. I remember one time on the Oriskany when we
passed through the edge of a typhoon. I was at a meal and I swear, it
was the only time I remember the ship doing ANY rolling at all, and
this was very little. She was as stable as could be. She had to be...we
had to be able to launch at any moment...and, more importantly,
retrieve our planes in bad seas.
About that tanker I was on: she had a bulbous bow which turned out to
be a "toy" for some! It stuck out maybe 8 or 10 feet or so and you
could look down from the foredeck and see it if the water was clear. In
Hawii, it is very clear...and the most beautiful green you can
imagine!...and as we approached Waikiki, you could look down and watch
the porpoises as they came up from one side, leap out of the water and
over the bulb, then one from the other side would do the same going the
other way. I loved watching them, they really looked like they were
having fun. They would keep doing that for quite a while.
Your questions got me looking online, and I actually found a site that
has our "Cruise Books" scanned in. I saw people I haven't seen or even
thought about in years. Brought back some memories.
I hope I have everything in here right. I tried to reply as you had.
"First time for everything"...or so Roger Miller said.
Wow again! Really windy! Got to get back to DLing "Liberators" for
which I Thank You.
Later...
PeggLeg
====================================================
> >
> >PeggLeg
>
>
> *******************************************************
> * If The Earth Didn't Suck... We Would All Fall Off ! *
> *******************************************************
>
> |--Spike=-
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