Historically important ships

bengalraider

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Historically important ships & naval battles

This is a thread for the information on ships(military and non-military) that have been unique in what they had been able to accomplish or what has been done to them, be it the largest battleship, the first Man-o-war, or even the ship that ferried the immigrants to the U.S(the mayflower).we can also discuss naval battles that have changed the course of history(eg Trafalgar & jutland).
I start with the shinano the largest aircraft carrier to be sunk by submarine attack alone.

Country Japan
Ship Class Shinano-class Aircraft Carrier
Builder Yokosuka Dockyard
Laid Down 4 May 1940
Launched 8 October 1944
Sunk 29 November 1944
Displacement 68059 tons standard; 71890 tons full
Length 872 feet
Beam 119 feet
Draft 32 feet
Machinery 12 Kanpon oil-fired boilers, geared steam turbines, 4 screws
Power Output 150000 SHP
Speed 27 knots
Range 7,200 nm at 16 knots
Crew 2400
Armament 16 5
Aircraft 50-120

Laid down as the third Yamato-class battleship, it was decided to complete her as a carrier after the ugly events at Midway. Given her size (72,000 tons full load, near the size of a 1950s-vintage U.S. Forrestal-class supercarrier) she would have carried a pretty minimal number of planes (up to 47). Because of her prodigious bunkerage and ordnance stowage space, it was intended that she operate as both a carrier and a replenishment vessel. Ironically, she was sunk by the U.S. submarine Archerfish under the command of Commander Enright before she ever launched a plane. Actually, it was even before she had a chance to launch a plane -- she was spotted by Archerfish merely a few miles outside of Yokosuka. After being hit by four out of the six torpedoes fired, she was the victim of faulty damage control with unfinished watertight compartmentation ("which begs the question, whose bright idea was it to leave harbor for another port for final fitting out, in 1944, with the Inland Sea crawling with U.S. subs, without all her watertight doors installed? Not a real swift move" as commented by Jonathan Parshall.) Seven hours later, the giant carrier sank, taking with her the first squadron of piloted-bombs that were being planned as the next kamikaze weapon.
 

bengalraider

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now for the ship that subnk the shinano

The submarine that sunk the largest ship to be sunk by submarine attack alone was the USS archerfish


Builder: Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine[1]
Laid down: 22 January 1943[1]
Launched: 28 May 1943[1]
Commissioned: 4 September 1943[1]
Decommissioned: 12 June 1946[1]
Recommissioned: 7 March 1952[1]
Decommissioned: 21 October 1955[1]
Recommissioned: 1 August 1957[1]
Decommissioned: 1 May 1968[1]
Struck: 1 May 1968[2]
Fate: Sunk as a target off California on 19 October 1968[2]
General characteristics
Class and type: Balao-class diesel-electric submarine[2]
Displacement: 1,526 tons (1,550 t) surfaced[2], 2,391 tons (2,429 t) submerged[2]
Length: 311 ft 9 in (95.0 m) [2]
Beam: 27 ft 3 in (8.3 m) [2]
Draft: 16 ft 10 in (5.1 m) maximum[2]
Propulsion:
4 × Fairbanks-Morse Model 38D8-⅛ 9-cylinder opposed piston diesel engines driving electrical generators[2][3]
2 × 126-cell Sargo batteries[4]
4 × high-speed Elliott electric motors with reduction gears [2]
two propellers [2]
5,400 shp (4.0 MW) surfaced[2]
2,740 shp (2.0 MW) submerged[2]
Speed: 20.25 kn (37.50 km/h) surfaced[4], 8.75 kn (16.20 km/h) submerged[4]
Range: 11,000 nmi (20,000 km) @ 10 kn (19 km/h) surfaced [4]
Endurance: 48 hours @ 2 kn (3.7 km/h) submerged[4], 75 days on patrol
Test depth: 400 ft (120 m)[4]
Complement: 10 officers, 70–71 enlisted[4]
Armament: 10 × 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes
(six forward, four aft)
24 torpedoes [4]
1 × 4-inch (102 mm) / 50 caliber deck gun [4]
four machine guns

Sinking the shinano
Archer-Fish left Hawaii on 30 October under the command of Commander Joseph F. Enright, visited Saipan on 9 November for quick voyage repairs, and departed two days later to carry out her next patrol, in which her primary mission was to provide lifeguard services for the first B-29 Superfortress strikes against Tokyo. On 28 November, she received word that no air raids would be launched that day. That evening, lookouts spotted what looked like a tanker leaving Tokyo Bay. It was later discovered that it was actually an aircraft carrier screened by three escorts.
Enright realized a surface attack would likely fail, so he ordered the carrier tracked from ahead. After six hours, the enemy carrier turned right back into Archer-Fish's path, and Archer-Fish was able to get into an attack position. Archer-Fish fired six torpedoes. Even as Archer-Fish began to descend to avoid a depth charge attack, Enright saw the carrier was already listing; he'd deliberately set the torpedoes to run shallow (10 ft (3.0 m)) in order to capsize it. Archer-Fish's crew was already picking up loud breaking-up noises from the target, which continued for 47 minutes.
The patrol ended at Guam on 15 December after 48 days on station. Initially, the Office of Naval Intelligence thought that Archer-Fish had sunk a cruiser. However, Enright had made sketches of the target, and Archer-Fish was given credit for sinking a carrier.
It was only later that the Americans learned the identity of Archer-Fish's quarry: Shinano, the third of the Yamato-class battleships. Shinano was converted into a 72,000-ton supercarrier after the Battle of Midway; to this day, she remains the largest warship to be sunk by a submarine. Four torpedoes struck the carrier between the anti-torpedo bulge and the waterline at approximately 0320. Although the ship initially continued under way, it lost power around 0600. Due to serious design flaws and crew inexperience, the crew was unable to contain the flooding and the carrier capsized just before 1100.[5] Archer-Fish received the Presidential Unit Citation, and Enright received the Navy Cross, for this action.
 

bengalraider

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The first battle between ironclads

Battle of Hampton Roads

The Battle of Hampton Roads, often referred to as the Battle of Monitor and Merrimack (or Merrimac), was the most noted and arguably the most important naval battle of the American Civil War from the standpoint of the development of navies. It was fought over two days, March 8–9, 1862, in Hampton Roads, a roadstead in Virginia where the Elizabeth and Nansemond Rivers meet the James River just before it enters Chesapeake Bay. The battle was a part of the effort of the Confederacy to break the Union blockade, which had cut off Virginia's largest cities, Norfolk and Richmond, from international trade.[1]
The major significance of the battle is that it was the first meeting in combat of ironclad warships. The Confederate fleet consisted of the ironclad ram CSS Virginia (the USS Merrimack) and several supporting vessels. On the first day of battle, they were opposed by several conventional, wooden-hulled ships of the Union Navy. On that day, Virginia was able to destroy two ships of the Federal flotilla and threaten a third, USS Minnesota, which had run aground. The action was halted by darkness and falling tide, so Virginia retired to take care of her few wounded — which included her captain, Flag Officer Franklin Buchanan — and repair her minimal battle damage.[2]
Determined to complete the destruction of Minnesota, Catesby ap Roger Jones, acting as captain in Buchanan's absence, returned the ship to the fray the next morning, March 9. During the night, however, the ironclad USS Monitor had arrived and had taken a position to defend Minnesota. When Virginia approached, Monitor intercepted her. The two ironclads fought for about three hours, with neither being able to inflict significant damage on the other. The duel ended indecisively, Virginia returning to her home at the Gosport Navy Yard for repairs and strengthening, and Monitor to her station defending Minnesota. The ships did not fight again, and the blockade remained in place.[3]
The battle received worldwide attention, and it had immediate effects on all navies. The preeminent naval powers, Great Britain and France, halted further construction of wooden-hulled ships, and they were copied by all others. They produced a new type of warship, the monitor, based on the principle of the original. The use of a small number of very heavy guns, mounted so that they could fire in all directions, first demonstrated by Monitor, soon became standard in warships of all types. Shipbuilders also incorporated rams into the designs of warship hulls for the rest of the century.[4
 

bengalraider

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HMS victory- lord nelson's flagship


in 1884

today

HMS Victory is a first rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy, started in 1759 and launched in 1765, most famous as Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. She is the oldest naval ship still in commission, and now sits in dry dock in Portsmouth, England as a museum ship.

Name: HMS Victory
Ordered: 14 July 1758
Builder: Chatham Dockyard
Laid down: 23 July 1759
Launched: 7 May 1765
Commissioned: 1778
Honours and
awards:
Participated in:
First Battle of Ushant (1778)
Second Battle of Ushant (1781)
Battle of Cape St Vincent (1796)
Battle of Trafalgar (1805)
Status: Active, preserved at Portsmouth, England
50°48′06.52″N 1°06′34.5″WCoordinates: 50°48′06.52″N 1°06′34.5″W
General characteristics [1]
Class and type: 100-gun first rate ship of the line
Displacement: 3,500 tons (3,556 tonnes)
Tons burthen: 2142 tons (2176.4 tonnes)
Length:
186 ft (57 m) (gundeck),
227 ft 6 in (69.3 m)(overall)
Beam: 51 ft 10 in (15.8 m)
Draught: 28 ft 9 in (8.8 m)
Depth of hold: 21 ft 6 in (6.6 m)
Propulsion: Sails—6,510 sq yd (5440 m²)
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Speed: 8 to 9 knots (15 to 17 km/h) maximum
Complement: Approximately 850
Armament:
Trafalgar:
Gundeck: 30 × 2.75 ton long pattern Blomefield 32 pounders (15 kg)
Middle gundeck: 28 × 2.5 ton long 24 pounders (11 kg)
Upper gundeck: 30 × 1.7 ton short 12 pounders (5 kg)
Quarterdeck: 12 × 1.7 ton short 12 pounder (5 kg)
Forecastle: 2 × medium 12 pounder (5 kg), 2 × 68 pounder (31 kg) carronade
Marines armed with muskets
Armour: None, although oak hull thickness at waterline 2 ft (0.6 m)
Notes: Height from waterline to top of mainmast: 205 ft (62.5 m)
 

RAM

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USS Enterprise CV-6 The most battle-hardened ship of WWII


Nicknamed "Big E", was sixth aircraft carrier of the United States Navy and the seventh US Navy ship to bear that name. Launched October 3, 1936 at Newport News Shipbuilding. Commissioned 12 May 1938.

Class and type: Yorktown-class aircraft carrier
Displacement: As built:

19,800 tons standard
25,500 tons full load
From October 1943:

21,000 tons standard
32,060 tons full load

Length: As built:

770 feet (230 m) waterline
824 ft 9 in (251.4 m) overall
From July 1942:

827 ft 5 in overall length

Beam: As built:

83 ft 3 in (25.4 m)
109 ft 6 in (33.4 m) overall
From October 1942:

114 ft 5 in overall width
From October 1943:

95 ft 5 in waterline

Draft: 25 ft 11.5 in (7.91 m)
Propulsion: 9 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
4 × Parsons geared turbines
120,000 shp (90 MW)
4 × screws

Speed: 32.5 knots (37.4 mph; 60.2 km/h)
Range: 12,500 nautical miles (23,150 km; 14,380 mi) at 15 knots (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement: 2,217 officers and men (1941)
Sensors and
processing systems: CXAM-1 RADAR[1]
Armament: As built:

8 × single 5 in/38 cal guns
4 × quad 1.1 in/75 cal guns
24 × .50 caliber machine guns
From April 1942:

8 × 5 in/38 cal
4 × quad 1.1 in/75 cal
30 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannons
From mid-June 1942 to mid-July 1942:

8 × 5"/38 cal
5 × quad 1.1"/75 cal
32 × 20 mm Oerlikons
From mid-July 1942 to September 1942:

8 × 5 in/38 cal
5 × quad 1.1 in/75 cal
40 × 20 mm Oerlikons
From October 1942:

8 × 5 in/38 cal
4 × quad 40 mm Bofors guns
1 × quad 1.1 in/75 cal
44 × 20 mm Oerlikons(46 from 11/42)
From October 1943:

8 × 5 in/38 cal
40 × 40 mm Bofors (8×2, 6×4)
50 × 20 mm Oerlikon
From September 1945:

8 × 5 in/38 cal
54 × 40 mm Bofors (5×2, 11×4)
32 × 20 mm Oerlikons (16×2)

Armor: 2.5–4 in belt
60 lb protective decks
4 in bulkheads
4 in side and 2 in top round conning tower
4 in side over steering gear

Aircraft carried: 90 aircraft
Aviation facilities: 3 × elevators
2 × flight deck hydraulic catapults
1 × hangar deck hydraulic catapults




One of only three American carriers commissioned prior to World War II. She participated in nearly every major engagement of the war against Japan, including the Battle of Midway, the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands, various other air-sea actions during the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, as well as participating in the "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo.
Enterprise earned 20 battle stars, the most for any U.S. warship in World War II. She was the only ship outside of the British Royal Navy to earn the highest award of the British Admiralty Pennant. Her planes and guns claimed 911 enemy planes; her bombers sank 71 ships, and damaged or destroyed 192 more.

Prewar Service
Enterprise sailed south on a shakedown cruise which took her to Rio de Janeiro. After her return, she operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean until April of 1939, when she was ordered to the Pacific. Based first at San Diego and then at Pearl Harbor. Just before the attack on Pearl Harobr, Enterprise had just completed delivering VMF-211 to Wake Island on December 2, 1941 and was en route to Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor
Enterprise scout bombers arrived over Pearl Harbor during the attack and immediately went into action in defense of the naval base; six of them were shot down by the Japanese. The carrier assembled her remaining aircraft in a failed search for the Japanese striking force. Enterprise entered Pearl Harbor for fuel and supplies and sailed early the next morning to patrol against possible additional attacks on Hawaii. Enterprise aircraft sank the Japanese submarine I-70 in Hawaiian waters on December 10, 1941.

During the last two weeks of December 1941, Enterprise and her group move west of Hawaii to cover those islands while two other carrier groups made a belated attempt to relieve Wake Island. After a brief rest at Pearl Harbor, the Enterprise group sailed on January 11, 1942, to protect convoys reinforcing Samoa. On February 1, 1942, the task force attacked Kwajalein, Wotje, and Maloelap in the Marshall Islands, sinking three ships, damaging eight, and destroying numerous airplanes and ground facilities. Enterprise received only minor damage in the Japanese counterattack, as her force retired to Pearl Harbor.

During the next month Enterprise's force swept the central Pacific, attacking enemy installations on Wake and Marcus, then received minor alterations and repairs at Pearl Harbor. On 8 April 1942, she departed to rendezvous with USS Hornet and sail westward on her mission to launch 16 Army B-25 Mitchell bombers in the "Doolittle Raid" on Tokyo. While Enterprise fighters flew combat air patrol, the B-25s were launched on 18 April. The task force was detected and after launching the B-25s returns to Pearl Harbor on April 25.
Five days later, sent to the South Pacific. The Battle of the Coral Sea was over before Enterprise could reach her destination. Ordered back to Hawaii, the carrier entered Pearl Harbor on 26 May, and began intensive preparations to meet the expected Japanese thrust at Midway, in what became known as the Battle of Midway.

Battle of Midway
On the morning of June 4, 1942, four Japanese carriers launched attacks on Midway Island. Just three hours after the first bomb fell on Midway, planes from Hornet struck the enemy force, and 30 minutes later Enterprise and Yorktown aircraft joined in to sink the Japanese carriers.
On 28 May, the Enterprise sortied as the flagship of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, CTF-16, with orders "to hold Midway and inflict maximum damage on the enemy by strong attrition tactics." With Enterprise in TF 16 were Hornet, six cruisers, and 10 destroyers. On 30 May, TF 17, Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in Yorktown, with two cruisers, and six destroyers, sailed to support TF 16; as senior officer, Rear Admiral Fletcher became "Officer in Tactical Command".
Each side launched air attacks at the other during the day in one of history's most decisive battles. Though the forces were in contact until 7 June, by the end of the 4th, the outcome had been decided. Yorktown and Hammann were the only American ships sunk, but TFs 16 and 17 lost a total of 113 planes, 61 of them in combat, during the battle. Japanese losses were far more severe, consisting of four carriers, one cruiser, and 272 carrier aircraft. Enterprise aircraft bombed Soryo and Akagi. Enterprise came through undamaged and returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1942.

South Pacific Service
After a month of rest and overhaul, Enterprise sailed on July 15, 1942, for the South Pacific, where she joined TF 61 to support the amphibious landings in the Solomon Islands on 8 August. For the next two weeks, the carrier and her planes guarded seaborne communication lines southwest of the Solomons. On 24 August, a strong Japanese force was sighted some 200 miles north of Guadalcanal and TF 61 sent planes to the attack. In a battle of the Eastern Solomons, an enemy light carrier Ryūjō was sent to the bottom and the Japanese troops intended for Guadalcanal were forced back.

Enterprise suffered most heavily of the American ships; three direct hits and four near misses killed 74, wounded 95, and inflicted serious damage on the carrier. But well-trained damage control parties, and quick, hard work patched her up so that she was able to return to Hawaii under her own power.

Repaired at Pearl Harbor from 10 September, to 16 October 1942, Enterprise departed once more for the South Pacific, where with Hornet she formed TF 61. On 26 October, Enterprise scout planes located a Japanese carrier force and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands was underway. Enterprise aircraft struck carriers and cruisers during the struggle, while the "Big E" herself underwent intensive attack. Hit twice by bombs, Enterprise lost 44 killed and had 75 wounded.

Despite serious damage, she continued in action and took on board a large number of planes from Hornet when that carrier was sunk. Though the American losses of a carrier and a destroyer were more severe than the Japanese loss of one light cruiser, the battle gained priceless time to reinforce Guadalcanal against the next enemy onslaught. Enterprise was now the only functioning US carrier in the Pacific Theater. On the flight deck, the crew posted a sign: "Enterprise vs Japan".
Enterprise arrived at Nouméa on 30 October, for repairs, but a new Japanese thrust at the Solomons demanded her presence and she sailed on 11 November, repair crews from USS Vestal (AR-4) still working on board. On 13 November, aviators from Enterprise helped to dispatch the damaged battleship Hiei. When the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended on 15 November 1942, Enterprise had shared in sinking 16 ships and damaging eight more. The carrier returned to Nouméa on 16 November, to complete her repairs.
Sailing again on 4 December, Enterprise trained out of Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, until 28 January 1943, when she departed for the Solomons area. On 30 January, her fighters flew combat air patrol for a cruiser-destroyer group during the Battle of Rennell Island. Despite the destruction of a large majority of the attacking Japanese bombers by Enterprise planes, Chicago was sunk by aerial torpedoes.
Detached after the battle, the carrier arrived at Espiritu Santo on 1 February, and for the next three months operated out of that base, covering U.S. surface forces up to the Solomons. Enterprise then steamed to Pearl Harbor where, on 27 May 1943, Admiral Chester Nimitz presented the ship with the first Presidential Unit citation won by an aircraft carrier. On 20 July 1943, she entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for a much-needed overhaul.
While undergoing repairs in late 1942, Enterprise also received an extensive refit, which included an anti-torpedo blister that significantly improved her underwater protection.
Back in action waters by mid-November, Enterprise joined in providing close air support to the Marines landing on Makin Atoll, from 19 November to 21 November 1943. On the night of 26 November, the "Big E" introduced carrier-based night fighter operations in the Pacific when a three-plane team from the ship broke up a large group of land-based bombers attacking TG 50.2. After a heavy strike by aircraft of TF 50 against Kwajalein on 4 December, Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor five days later.
The carrier's next operation was with TF 58 in softening up the Marshall Islands and supporting the landings on Kwajalein, from 29 January to 3 February 1944. Then Enterprise sailed, still with TF 58, to strike the Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands, on 17 February. Again, the Enterprise made aviation history, when she launched the first night radar bombing attack from a U.S. carrier. The 12 torpedo bombers in this strike achieved excellent results, accounting for nearly one-third of the 200,000 tons of shipping destroyed by aircraft.
Detached from TF 58, Enterprise launched raids on Jaluit Atoll on 20 February, then steamed to Majuro and Espiritu Santo. Sailing 15 March, in TG 36.1, she provided air cover and close support for the landings on Emirau from March 19 - 25. The carrier rejoined TF 58 on 26 March, and for the next 12 days, joined in a series of strikes against the islands of Yap, Ulithi, Woleai, and Palau. After a week's rest and replenishment at Majuro, Enterprise sailed (14 April) to support landings at Hollandia in mid April 1944 and then hit Truk again (29 April–April 30).
On 6 June 1944, she and her companions of TG 58.3 sortied from Majuro to join the rest of TF 58 in attacking the Marianas Islands. Striking Saipan, Rota, and Guam between 11 June and 14 June, Enterprise pilots gave direct support to the landings on Saipan on 15 June, and covered the troops ashore for the next two days.
Aware of a major Japanese attempt to break up the invasion of Saipan, Admiral Spruance, now Commander 5th Fleet, positioned TF 58 to meet the threat.

to be contd..
 

RAM

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USS Enterprise CV-6 The most battle-hardened ship of WWII..contd


Battle of philipines

On 19 June 1944, the greatest carrier aircraft battle in history took place, the Battle of the Philippine Sea. For over eight hours, airmen of the United States and Imperial Japanese navies fought in the skies over TF 58 and the Marianas. By the end of the day, an American victory was apparent, and at the conclusion of the strikes against the Japanese fleet on 20 June, the triumph became complete. Six American ships were damaged, and 130 planes and a total of 76 pilots and aircrew lost. But with a major assist from U.S. submarines, three Japanese carriers (Hiyo, Sh?kaku and Taih?), were sunk, and 426 ship-based aircraft were destroyed. Japanese naval aviation never recovered from this blow.
The battle over, Enterprise and her companions continued to support the Saipan campaign through 5 July. She then sailed for Pearl Harbor and a month of rest and overhaul. Back in action waters on 24 August, the carrier sailed with TF 38 in that force's aerial assault on the Volcano and Bonin Islands from 31 August to 2 September, and Yap, Ulithi, and the Palaus from September 6 to September 8.

The Battle of leyte gulf

After operating west of the Palau Islands, the Enterprise joined other units of TF 38 on 7 October and set course to the north. From October 10 to October 20, her aviators flew over Okinawa, Formosa, and the Philippines, blasting enemy airfields, shore installations, and shipping in preparation for the assault on Leyte. After supporting the Leyte landings on 20 October, Enterprise headed for Ulithi to replenish, but the approach of the Japanese fleet on 23 October brought her racing back into action.
In the Battle of Leyte Gulf (23 October–26 October), Enterprise planes struck all three groups of enemy forces, battering battleships and destroyers before the action ended. The carrier remained on patrol east of Samar and Leyte until the end of October, then retired to Ulithi for supplies. During November, her aircraft struck targets in the Manila area, and the island of Yap. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1944.
Iwo Jima, Okinawa

Sailing 24 December for the Philippines, Enterprise carried on board an air group specially trained in night carrier operations. She joined TG 38.5 and swept the waters north of Luzon and of the China Sea during January of 1945, striking shore targets and shipping from Formosa to Indo-China. After a brief visit to Ulithi, the Enterprise joined TG 58.5 on 10 February 1945, and provided day and night combat air patrol for TF 58 as it struck Tokyo on February 16 and February 17.

She then supported the Marines in the Battle of Iwo Jima from the day of the landings, 10 February, until 9 March when she sailed for Ulithi. During one part of that period, Enterprise kept aircraft aloft continuously over Iwo Jima for 174 hours.
Departing Ulithi 15 March, the carrier continued her night work in raids against Ky?sh?, Honsh?, and shipping in the Inland Sea of Japan. Damaged lightly by an enemy bomb on 18 March, Enterprise entered Ulithi six days later for repairs.
Back in action on 5 April, she supported the Okinawa operation until again damaged (11 April), this time by a suicide plane, and forced back to Ulithi. Off Okinawa once more on 6 May, Enterprise flew patrols around the clock as the menace of the kamikaze increased
Kamikaze Damage

On 14 May 1945, kamikazie fighter piloted by Lt. Shunsuke Tomiyasu of the 306th Squadron, 721s Air Group crashed into the flight deck and left a gaping hole, forcing the carrier to leave the war zone. The hit destroyed her forward elevator, killing 14 and wounding 34 men. The ship's forward elevator was blown approximately 700' into the air from the force of the explosion six decks below. The carrier sailed for repairs at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving 7 June and where she was still moored on V-J Day, 15 August 1945
Post War
Restored to peak condition, Enterprise voyaged to Pearl Harbor returning to the States with some 1,100 servicemen due for discharge, then sailed on to New York, arriving 17 October 1945. Two weeks later, she proceeded to Boston for installation of additional berthing facilities, then began a series of Operation Magic Carpet voyages to Europe, bringing more than 10,000 veterans home in her final service to her country. During one trip to Europe, the ship was awarded a British Admiralty Pennant, the only ship not in the Royal Navy to receive this honor.
Enterprise entered the New York Naval Shipyard on 18 January 1946 for inactivation, and was decommissioned on 17 February 1947. Although there were several attempts at preserving the ship as a museum/memorial, the fund raising efforts failed to raise enough money to buy the vessel from the Navy and the "Big E" was sold on 1 July 1958 to the Lipsett Corporation of New York City for scrapping at Kearny, New Jersey. A promise was made to save the distinctive tripod mast for inclusion in the Naval Academy's new football stadium, but was never fulfilled (a memorial plaque was installed at the base of what is still called "Enterprise Tower"). Scrapping was complete as of May, 1960.
Memorials
In 1984, a permanent "Enterprise Exhibit" was dedicated at the National Museum of Naval Aviation to house artifacts, photos and other items of historical interest.
Other surviving Enterprise artifacts include: the ship's bell, which resides at the U.S. Naval Academy, where it is traditionally rung only after midshipmen victories over West Point; the sixteen foot, one-ton nameplate from the ship's stern, which sits near a Little League park in River Vale, New Jersey; and one of the anchors, which is on display at the Washington Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Various other artifacts and mementos (including one of her portholes) are also kept aboard the current USS Enterprise.

The Big E earned 20 of a total of 22 battle stars awarded in the Pacific theatre of operations. A red star - - indicates operations where Enterprise was damaged by air attack.

Pearl Harbor
Anti-Submarine Action, Class B Assessment (December 7-10, 1941)
Pacific Raids
Marshall-Gilbert Islands (February 1, 1942)
Wake Island (February 24, 1942)
Marcus Island (March 4, 1942)
Battle of Midway (June 4-6, 1942)
Battle of Guadalcanal
Invasion by USMC 1st Division (August 7-9, 1942)
Capture and Defense of Guadalcanal (August 10-25, 1942)
Battle of the Eastern Solomons (August 24, 1942)
Battle of Santa Cruz (October 26, 1942)
Naval Battle of Guadalcanal (November 13-15, 1942)
Battle of Rennell Island (January 29-30, 1943)
Gilbert Islands Operations
Invasion of Makin Island (November 19 - December 4, 1943)
Marshall Islands Operations
Invasion of Kwajalein (January 28 - February 8, 1944)
Maloelap/Taroa Raid
Asiatic-Pacific Raids
Truk Islands (February 16-17, 1944) Palau, Yap, Ulithi, Woleai (March 30 - April 1, 1944) Truk Islands (April 29 - May 1, 1944)
Hollandia (New Guinea) Operations (April 21-24, 1944)
Invasion (April 22, 1944)
Mariana Islands Operations
Capture and Occupation of Saipan (June 11-24, 1944)
Mariana Turkey Shoot (June 19, 1944)
First Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 20, 1944)
"The night they turned on the lights" (June 20, 1944)
Western Pacific Operations
Raids on Bonin Islands, Chichi Jima (August 31 - September 2, 1944)
Raid on Caroline Islands, Yap (September 6, 1944)
Raid on Palau Islands (September 10-16, 1944)
Invasion and Capture of Peleliu (September 16, 1944)
Raid on Okinawa (October 10, 1944)
Raid on Formosa (October 12, 1944)
Raid on Manila (October 15-18, 1944
Invasion of Leyte Island/3rd Fleet Operations
Luzon Attacks (October 15 and 17-19, 1944)
Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 24-26, 1944)
Luzon Operations
Invasion of Luzon (January 6-7, 1945)
Formosa Raids (January 3, 4, 9, 15, 1945)
South China Sea Attacks (January 12-16, 1945)
Night Carrier Group 90/5th Fleet Raids
Tokyo and Honshu Raids (February 15-16, 1945)
Assault and Occupation of Iwo Jima (February 23 - March 12, 1945)
Okinawa Operations
Pre-Invasion Raids on Kyushu (March 18-20, 1945)
Invasion and Capture of Okinawa (April 7 - May 15, 1945)
Kyushu and Shikoku Raids (May 11-16, 1945)




For REFRNCS/photos

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Enterprise_(CV-6)

Enterprise CV-6 - Noumea

Main Where's George? Forum - Where's George?/Where's Willy? Discussion
 

bengalraider

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Napoleon!The first steam battleship




The Napoléon was a 90-gun ship of the line of the French Navy, and the very first purpose-built steam battleship in the world [1]. She is also considered the first true steam battleship, and the first screw battleship ever [2]. Launched in 1850, she was the lead ship of a class of 9 battleships, all considered as very successful and built over a period of 10 years. This class of ship was designed by the famous naval designer Dupuy de Lôme.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Napoléon_(1850)

Namesake: Napoléon I of France
Ordered: 14 July 1847
Builder: Toulon
Laid down: 7 February 1848
Launched: 16 May 1850
Commissioned: 1 May 1852
Struck: 6 November 1876
General characteristics
Class and type: Napoléon class ship of the line
Displacement: 5,120 tonnes
Length: 77.8 m
Beam: 17 m
Draught: 8.4 m
Propulsion: Sail and 2-cyl Indret geared, 960 nhp (574 ihp)
Speed: 12.1 knots
Endurance:
3 months worth of food
9daysworthofcoalatfull-speed
Boats and landing
craft carried:
chaloupe : 12 x 375 x 1.30 mètres
grandcanot:10.5x2.8x0.98
canotduCdt:10.50x2.45x0.80
canotdeserviceNR1:10.50x2.50x0.82
canot-major:15.50x2.50x0.82
youyouNR1:5.30x1.60x0.60
youyouNR2:5.30x1.64x0.62
canotdeserviceNR2:9x2.24x0.82
2baleinières:8.5x1.68x0.62
Complement: 910 men
Armament:
90 guns
(32–30 pdr,4–22 cm)
(26–30 pdr,4–22 cm)
(14–16 cm)
Armour: Timber (8cm)
 

bengalraider

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The first ironclad

The French Navy's La Gloire ("Glory") was the first ocean-going ironclad battleship in history.
She was developed following the Crimean War, in response to new developments in naval gun technology, especially the Paixhans guns and rifled guns, which used explosive shells with increased destructive power against wooden ships, and followed the development of the ironclad floating batteries built by the British and French for the bombardment of Russian forts during the Crimean War. She was designed by the French naval architect Dupuy de Lôme, and was launched at the arsenal of Mourillon, Toulon, on 24 November 1859. Two sister-ships were built.
A 5,630-ton broadside battleship cut down by one deck in order to save weight, she used massive iron plates sheathed over a wooden hull structure. Her 12cm-thick protection plates, backed with 43cm of timber, resisted the experimental firing of the strongest guns of the time (the French 50-pounder and the British 68-pounder) at full charge, at a distance of 20 metres.
Despite these qualities, the ship proved quite hard on the crew as any opening had been forbidden, in order to avoid piercing the protection plate: ventilation was poor, and oil lamps had to be used for light.
La Gloire initiated the obsolescence of traditional non-armoured wooden ships-of-the-line, and all major navies had no choice but to build ironclads of their own. The word had it that Gloire fighting against conventional ships of the time would be comparable to "a wolf wreaking havoc amongst sheep." However La Gloire was soon herself rendered obsolete by the launching in 1860 of the British HMS Warrior, the world's first iron hulled warship. La Gloire was near Cherbourg during the historic American Civil War defeat of the Confederate commerce raider CSS Alabama by the USS Kearsarge on 19 June 1864 off the same harbour.
In 1879, La Gloire was de-listed from the French fleet registry and scrapped in 1883. Her sister ships had been scrapped years earlier due to their poor construction.


 

bengalraider

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HMS Warrior


HMS Warrior was the first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship, built for the Royal Navy in response to the first ironclad warship, the French La Gloire, launched a year earlier.
When completed in October 1861, Warrior was by far the largest, fastest, most heavily-armed and most heavily-armoured warship the world had ever seen. She was almost twice the size of La Gloire and thoroughly outclassed the French ship in speed, armour, and gunnery.
Warrior did not introduce any radical new technology, but for the first time combined steam engines, rifled breech-loading guns, iron construction, iron armour, and propeller drive all in one ship, and built to unprecedented scale.
Her construction started intense competition between guns and armour that lasted until air power made battleships obsolete in the Second World War. This race caused her to quickly become obsolete, and she was withdrawn as a fighting unit in May 1883. Listed as part of the National Historic Fleet, Core Collection, she is now a museum ship in Portsmouth, United Kingdom.

Name: HMS Warrior
Ordered: 11 May 1859
Builder: Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd
Cost: £170,000
Laid down: 25 May 1859
Launched: 29 December 1860
Commissioned: 1 August 1861
Status: Museum ship
General characteristics
Displacement: 9,210 long tons (9,358 t)
Length: 418 feet (127 m)
Beam: 58 ft (17.7 m)
Draught: 27 ft (8.2 m)
Propulsion: Penn Jet-Condensing, horizontal-trunk, single expansion steam engine
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Speed: 13 knots (24.1 km/h) (sail); 14.5 kn (26.9 km/h) (steam) 17.5 kn (32.4 km/h) (combined)
Complement: 705 officers and men
Armament:
26 muzzle-loading 68-pounder guns
10 RBL 7 inch Armstrong guns
4 RBL 40 pounder Armstrong guns
 

bengalraider

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RMS lusitania

RMS Lusitania was an ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland, torpedoed by a German U-boat on 7 May 1915. The ship sank in 18 minutes, eight miles (15 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale, Ireland, killing 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard. The sinking turned public opinion in many countries against Germany, and was instrumental in bringing the United States into World War I.[4] It is considered the second most famous civilian passenger liner disaster, after the sinking of the RMS Titanic.[5]

September 13, 1907: Lusitania arriving in New York on her maiden voyage

Name: RMS Lusitania
Owner: Cunard Line
Port of registry: Liverpool, United Kingdom
Route: Liverpool-New York
Builder: John Brown & Co. Ltd, Clydebank, Scotland
Yard number: 367
Laid down: 16 June 1904
Launched: 7 June 1906[1]
Christened: Mary, Lady Inverclyde[2]
Maiden voyage: 7 September 1907
In service: 1907–1915
Out of service: N/A
Fate: Torpedoed by German U-boat U-20 on Friday 7 May 1915. Wreck lies approximately 7 miles (11 km) off the Old Head of Kinsale Lighthouse in 300 feet (91 m) of water.
Status: Sunk
General characteristics
Tonnage: 31,550 gross register tons (GRT)
Displacement: 44,060 Long Tons
Length: 787 ft (239.88 m)[3]
Beam: 87 ft (26.52 m)
Draft: 33.6 feet
Installed power: 25 Scotch boilers. Four direct-acting Parsons steam turbines producing 76,000 hp (57 MW).
Propulsion: Four triple blade propellers. (Quadruple blade propellers installed in 1909).
Speed: 25 knots (46.3 km/h / 28.8 mph) Top speed (single day's run): 26.7 knots (49.4 km/h / 30.7 mph) (March, 1914)
Capacity: 552 first class, 460 second class, 1,186 third class. 2,198 total
Crew: 850
 

bengalraider

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USS Missouri (BB-63)

USS Missouri (BB-63) ("Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo") is a United States Navy Iowa-class battleship, and was the fourth ship of the U.S. Navy to be named in honor of the U.S. state of Missouri. Missouri was the last battleship built by the United States, and was the site of the surrender of the Empire of Japan which ended World War II.


General Douglas MacArthur signs as Supreme Allied Commander during formal surrender ceremonies on the USS MISSOURI in Tokyo Bay. Behind General MacArthur are Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright and Lieutenant General A. E. Percival.

October 21, 1950 photo shows the Missouri (BB-63) bombarding Communist positions off Chong Jin, Korea. She is only about forty miles from the Soviet border, so all hands are at General Quarters. Official U.S. Navy Photograph USNHC # 80-G-K-12603, now in the collections of the U.S. National Archives. Photo K-12603, from combatindex.com.

Ordered: 12 June 1940
Builder: Brooklyn Navy Yard
Laid down: 6 January 1941
Launched: 29 January 1944
Commissioned: 11 June 1944
Decommissioned: 31 March 1992 (final)
Struck: 12 January 1995
Nickname: "Mighty Mo" or "Big Mo"
Honors and
awards: 11 battle stars
Fate: Museum ship
Notes: Final battleship to be completed by the United States
General characteristics (1943)
Class and type: Iowa-class battleship
Displacement: 45,000 tons
Length: 887.2 ft (270.4 m)
Beam: 108.2 ft (33.0 m)
Draft: 28.9 ft (8.8 m)
Speed: 33 kn (38 mph; 61 km/h)
Complement: 2,700 officers and men
Armament: 9 × 16 in (410 mm)/50 cal Mark 7 guns
20 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal Mark 12 guns
80 × 40 mm/56 cal anti-aircraft guns
49 × 20 mm/70 cal anti-aircraft cannons
Armor: Belt: 12.1 in (310 mm)
Bulkheads: 11.3 in (290 mm)
Barbettes: 11.6 to 17.3 in (290 to 440 mm)
Turrets: 19.7 in (500 mm)
Decks: 7.5 in (190 mm)
General characteristics (1984)
Complement: 1,851 officers and men
Sensors and
processing systems: AN/SPS-49 Air Search Radar
AN/SPS-67 Surface Search Radar
AN/SPQ-9 Surface Search / Gun Fire Control Radar
Electronic warfare
and decoys: AN/SLQ-32
AN/SLQ-25 Nixie Decoy System
8 × Mark 36 SRBOC Super Rapid Bloom Rocket Launchers
Armament: 9 × 16 in (410 mm)/50 cal Mark 7 guns
12 × 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal Mark 12 guns
32 × BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles
16 × RGM-84 Harpoon Anti-Ship missiles
4 × 20 mm/76 cal Phalanx CIWS
 

K Factor

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How did this fail to make the list yet? Perhaps (debatably) the most ship that revolutionized modern naval warfare.

HMS Dreadnought

The HMS Dreadnought was a battleship of the British Royal Navy that revolutionised naval power when she entered service in 1906. Dreadnought represented such a marked advance in naval technology that her name came to be associated with an entire generation of battleships, the "dreadnoughts", as well as the class of ships named after her, while the generation of ships she made obsolete became known as "pre-dreadnoughts". She was the sixth ship serving under that name in the Royal Navy.

Dreadnought was the first battleship of her era to have a uniform main battery, rather than having a few large guns complemented by a heavy secondary battery of somewhat smaller guns. She was also the first capital ship to be powered by steam turbines, making her the fastest battleship in the world at the time of her completion.

Her launch helped spark a major naval arms race as navies around the world rushed to match her, particularly the Kaiserliche Marine (German Navy) in the build-up to the World War I.

More reading @
HMS Dreadnought (1906) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Great photos of her @
British Navy Ships--HMS Dreadnought (1906-1922)
 

bengalraider

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The largest vessel ever(civilian)



The Knock Nevis is a massive ship, currently used as a floating storage and offloading unit (FSO). Owned by the Norwegian company Fred Olsen Production,[1] she was previously a supertanker and still holds the record as the longest ship ever built.
When plying the sea, the vessel had a fully laden draft of 24.6 m (81 ft), rendering it unable to navigate the English Channel, the Suez Canal or the Panama Canal when its load was up to capacity.[6] As a tanker she was known as the Seawise Giant, Happy Giant, and Jahre Viking.






Name: Knock Nevis
Owner: First Olsen Tankers Pte. Ltd.[2]
In service: 2004[3]
Career (Norway)
Name:
1991–2004 Jahre Viking[4]
1989–1991 Happy Giant[4]
1979–1989 Seawise Giant[4]
Owner: Loki Stream AS[2]
In service: 1979[3]
Out of service: 2004[3]
General characteristics
Tonnage: 260,941 GT[1]
214,793 NT[1]
Length: 458.45 m (1,504.10 ft)[5]
Beam: 68.8 m (225.72 ft)[5]
Draft: 29.8 m (97.77 ft)[5]
Capacity: 564,650 DWT[1]
 

F-14

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HMS Hindostan

HMS Hindostan (variously Hindustan) was a 50-gun Fourth Rate two-decker ship of the line of the Royal Navy. Originally a teak-built East Indiaman named Admiral Rainier, she was bought into Royal Navy service in May 1804. Perhaps her best known voyage was her trip to Australia in 1809 when she and Dromedary brought Governor Lachlan Macquarie to replace Governor William Bligh after the Rum Rebellion.

Hudson, Bacon & Co. built Admiral Rainier in Calcutta and launched her in 1799. She originally carried 52 guns. In 1800, she made one round trip to England under Captain William Lay, who was also her captain on her second, incomplete trip. She arrived in England for a second time in September 1803. On 30 May 1804 the Admiralty purchased her from the East India Company and renamed her Hindostan. An earlier Hindostan had just been lost in April in a fire at sea but with almost no loss of life.

Horn'able East India Company service

Name: Admiral Rainier
Builder: Hudson, Bacon & Co., Calcutta
Launched: 1799
Fate: Sold to the Royal Navy in 1804

Royal Navy Service

Name: HMS Hindostan
Acquired: 30 May 1804
Renamed: Renamed Dolphin, 1819
Renamed Justitia 1831
Fate: Sold out of service 1855

Class and type: Fourth-rate; Storeship or troopship from 1807
Tons burthen: 1,249 long tons (1,269 t)
Length: 160 feet (49 m)
Beam: 42 feet (13 m)
Propulsion: Sails
Sail plan: Full rigged ship
Armament: 52 guns

Lower Deck 26 18-poundeers
Upper Deck 26 24-pounder carronades
Reduced to 20 24-pounder carronades and two 9-pounder guns in 1811

 

bengalraider

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Hms conqeror


HMS Conqueror ("Conks") was a Churchill-class nuclear-powered fleet submarine that served in the Royal Navy from 1971 to 1990. She was built by Cammell Laird in Birkenhead. As of 2009, she is the only nuclear-powered submarine to have engaged an enemy ship with torpedoes, sinking the cruiser ARA General Belgrano with two mark 8 torpedoes. She is one of only two submarines which have sunk a warship since World War II, the other being the Pakistani Navy's PNS Hangor.


Laid down: 5 December 1967
Launched: 18 August 1969
Commissioned: 9 November 1971
Decommissioned: 2 August 1990
Nickname: "Conks"[1]
Honours and
awards: Falkland Islands, 1982[2]
General characteristics
Displacement: 4,900 tonnes (submerged)
Length: 86.9 m
Beam: 10.1 m
Draught: 8.2 m
Propulsion: One Rolls-Royce PWR nuclear reactor, one shaft
Speed: 28 knots (submerged)
Range: Limited only by food stored on board
Complement: 103
Armament: 6 x 533 mm tubes capable of firing:
Mark 8 torpedoes
Tigerfish torpedoes
RN Sub Harpoon Missiles
 

bengalraider

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The Only Nazi Aircraft Carrier


In no naval action of World War 2 will you find a German aircraft carrier taking part. All the major navies in the war used them extensively, except for Nazi Germany. There were lots of German U-Boats, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, but no flattops. However, the Nazis had plans to build a total of four carriers and almost finished one of them.

Her name was the KMS Graf Zeppelin and though launched in December 1938 she was never over 80% completed. Construction delays, lack of aircraft, and bitter disputes between Air Marshall Herman Goering and the Navy insured that the ship was doomed to become scrap metal.


Hitler had promised the German Navy (The Kriegsmarine) carriers as early as 1935, and the keel was laid for the Graf Zepplin on December 26, 1936. The Graf Zeppelin was 920 feet long and weighed 19,250 tons. Her top speed was to be 33.8 knots. Her crew complement was 1,760 and she was to hangar forty aircraft. By comparison the large American Essex class carriers of WWII could carry 80 to 100 aircraft. The Germans got as far as partly installing the catapults when the ship was then turned into a floating warehouse for u-boat parts.

Hitler’s attitude vacillated on the project and it never had his full backing. It also had a major detractor in Goering, who was resentful of any incursion on his authority as head of the country’s air power. Goering had been ordered by Hitler to develop aircraft for the ship. His response was to offer redesigned versions of the then-obsolete JU-87 Stuka dive bomber and older versions of the Messerschmitt 109 fighter. Both planes were land-based aircraft never intended to meet the rough requirements for carrier operations. Even after modifications they were hopelessly inferior to Allied types. To insure further delay in the carrier’s completion, Goering informed Hitler that these planes would not be ready until the end of 1944. Goering’s tactics worked and the Graf Zeppelin’s construction was halted in 1943.

By the time work stopped on the ship, the Germany Navy had a submariner as its top naval officer– Admiral Karl Donitz– and all ship construction was turned over to building new U-Boats. The Graf Zeppelin stayed at her moorings in Stettin for the rest of the war never to see action.

As the end of the war in Europe neared, the Graf Zeppelin was scuttled in shallow water off Stettin (now Szczecin in Poland) on April 25, 1945 just before the Red Army captured the city. But she wasn’t quite ready for the scrap yard yet. According to recently found material in Russian archives, the ship was refloated by the Russians and towed to Leningrad filled with captured booty and military parts for use in the Soviet Union. After unloading her cargo she was named “PO-101″ (Floating Base Number 101) by the Soviets. The new owners had hoped to repair and refit the ship as a new carrier but this proved to be impractical so the Graf Zeppelin had one more task to fulfill.

On August 16, 1947 she was towed out to sea and used for target practice by Soviet ships and aircraft. Aerial bombs were placed in her hangers, flight deck and smoke stack. Planes and ships then shot shells and dropped bombs on her to demonstrate how to sink a carrier, presumably American. After twenty-four hits the Graf Zeppelin stayed afloat and had to be finished off by torpedoes.

Details on how the Nazis planned to use the carrier in action have been lost to obscurity. The Germans had none of the experience that the American, British and Japanese navies had gained in the years between the wars. While the Graf Zeppelin had some advanced features she displayed her designers’ lack of knowledge about carriers. The heavy surface armament was of little use and accounted for too much weight; the anti-aircraft armament was heavy but badly sited, all on the starboard side. The radius of action was low for a fleet carrier intended to operate with the capital ships on the Atlantic shipping routes.

Had she been commissioned she would have provided a considerable commerce-raiding capability. The carrier could have provided effective support for capital ships and cruisers with air cover, and would have increased their potential for destruction considerably. Such support operations could have changed the outcome of sea battles like the sinking of the Battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz had the Graf Zeppelin been present.

The Germans have never sailed an aircraft carrier since.
 

bengalraider

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Long Beach class cruiser

The Long Beach class cruiser is a single-ship class (sole member, USS Long Beach (CGN-9), ex-CGN-160, ex-CLGN-160) of the United States Navy. The class is noted as the world's first nuclear-powered surface combatant, and the last cruiser built in the US Navy to a cruiser design; all subsequent cruiser classes were built on scaled-up destroyer hulls, or, in the case of the Albany class, converted from already existent cruisers.
During the design phase, the only ship of the Long Beach class was initially classified as CLGN-160, then reclassified CGN-160 on 6 December 1956. The keel of the USS Long Beach was laid by Bethlehem Steel on 2 December 1957 at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. On 1 July 1958 she received her third and final classification, this time as CGN-9. The ship was launched on 14 July 1959 and commissioned on 9 September 1961. The Long Beach class under overhaul from 6 October 1980 until 26 March 1983. She was both decommissioned and stricken on 1 May 1995.

Name: Long Beach
Namesake: Long Beach, California
Ordered: 15 October 1956
Builder: Bethlehem Steel Co., Fore River Shipyard, Quincy, Massachusetts
Laid down: 2 December 1957
Launched: 14 July 1959
Acquired: 1 September 1961
Commissioned: 9 September 1961
Decommissioned: 1 May 1995
(deactivated 2 July 1994)
Reclassified: as CGN-9 1 July 1958
Struck: 1 May 1995
Fate: Stricken, to be disposed of by recycling, 1 May 1995
General characteristics
Displacement: 15,540 tons
Length: 721 ft 3 in (219.84 m)
Beam: 71 ft 6 in (21.79 m)
Draft: 30 ft 7 in (9.32 m)
Propulsion: 2 C1W nuclear reactors; 2 General Electric turbines; 80,000 shp; 2 propellers
Speed: 30 knots (56 km/h)
Range: Nuclear
Complement: 1160 officers and men
Sensors and
processing systems: 1 AN/SPS-10 surface search radar[1]
AN/SPS-12 search radar[1]
AN/SPS-32 bearing and range radar[1]
AN/SPS-33 target tracking radar[1]
AN/SPS-48 3D air search radar
AN/SPS-49 2D air search radar
2 AN/SPG-49 Talos fire control radar[1][2]
4 AN/SPG-55 Terrier fire control radar[1][2]
AN/SQS-23 SONAR[1]
Electronic warfare
and decoys: AN/SLQ-32
Armament: 2 twin Terrier guided missile launchers
1 twin Talos guided missile launcher
1 8-tube ASROC launcher
2 × 5 in/38 (2 × 1)
2 × 12.75 in torpedo tubes (2 × 2)
Harpoon missile
BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile ABL
Aircraft carried: None; landing pad for one helicopter
Motto: "Strike Hard, Strike Home"




Operation "Sea Orbit" — On July 31, 1964, USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) (bottom), USS Long Beach (CGN-9) (center) and USS Bainbridge (DLGN-25) (top) formed "Task Force One", the first nuclear-powered Task Force, and were sent on a 30,565-mile, 65-day voyage around the world, reminiscent of that of the 16 battleships of the "Great White Fleet" in 1907-09. Accomplished without a single refueling or replenishment, Operation "Sea Orbit" demonstrated the capability of nuclear-powered surface ships to operate in remote areas at high speeds without logistic support.
 

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