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USS Arizona


javelina

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First voyage, after her commissioning.

 

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😞 

 

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MSI MAG Z790 Carbon, i9-13900k, NH-D15 cooler, 64 GB CL40 6000mhz RAM, MSI RTX4090, Yamaha 5.1 A/V Receiver, 4x 2TB Samsung 980 Pro NVMe, 1x 2TB Samsung 870 EVO SSD, Win 11 Pro, TM Warthog, Virpil WarBRD, MFG Crosswinds, 43" Samsung 4K TV, 21.5 Acer VT touchscreen, TrackIR, Varjo Aero, Wheel Stand Pro Super Warthog, Phanteks Enthoo Pro2 Full Tower Case, Seasonic GX-1200 ATX3 PSU, PointCTRL, Buttkicker 2, K-51 Helicopter Collective Control

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  • 1 month later...

She has an inredibly low bow. In heavy swell, she must have been a submarine. I understand the idea of having no rake on the bow to keep the boat level in swell, but even on a cruise ship I‘ve experienced swell (and weather) that went almost up to the corresponding height of the top of A turret… I would assume they have good pumps installed.

The Germans had some nose surgery on some their battleships to make them sea worthy as commerce raiders.

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Her bow wasn’t lower than any other US BB of her time. I’ve not read they were particularly wet vessels, but I have seen pics of her shipping lots of water in heavy seas. That third pic is of her stern, and it looks really low at that angle. Although I’ve seen pics/vids of Iowa’s that had their fantails nearly flush with the sea when sailing balls-out. 

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17 hours ago, JFM said:

Her bow wasn’t lower than any other US BB of her time. I’ve not read they were particularly wet vessels, but I have seen pics of her shipping lots of water in heavy seas. That third pic is of her stern, and it looks really low at that angle. Although I’ve seen pics/vids of Iowa’s that had their fantails nearly flush with the sea when sailing balls-out. 

Interesting. I am just comparing to the Scharnhorst. That one had a rather similar bow to the Arizona initially:

Scharnhorst1.jpg

But that bow was replaced by the "Atlantic Bow" in 1939 to give some more margin for swell:

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A notable change: not only the height, but also the rake.

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And yet even with that Atlantic bow design (a definite improvement over the older design), both the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were considered 'wet' ships. As was the Hood and the King George V class of battleships

Easily one of the very best designed sea going vessels were the 'County' Class cruiser of the Royal Navy. You just can't beat 'freeboard' for comfort and ship handling.

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The lovechild of a battleship and a yacht:

image.thumb.jpeg.87c26e90df46cbbb763927e5b9fba0fd.jpeg

These cruisers are fine ships indeed.

Given current trends in ship design, it seems I‘m not the only one with reservations about greenwater over the bow. Regradless of how much margin in buoyancy the ship might have.

Edited by ZachariasX
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First, probably already ragingly obvious, but I'm not an expert in this area and glad to be wrong, because that's how we learn. 😃 But I don't think Arizona was regarded as an inherently "wet" vessel, and I don't recall comments to that effect as I've read about, for instance, British Royal Sovereigns. (I'm looking for some, though, and will post any here.) Although, over time her (AZ) secondary battery was raised because they were too wet, but it seems that was a function of them being too low in the first place (just saw in a book: "...[they] had proved to be wet in heavy seas and were too low to allow accurate and effective firing"]). Scharnhorst had bow upgrades as mentioned and considerably more sheer but that vessel still seems to have had a lower freeboard than Arizona, but that might be an illusion caused by Scharnhorst's longer forecastle--Scharnhorst was some 170 feet longer overall than Arizona. But there's no doubt over decades that freeboard, sheer, and bulbous bows increased in size. 

Arizona
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Arizona after modernization. Note raised casemates (mostly obstructed by sailors in this view).
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Scharnhorst

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Japanese carrier Ryujo, infamous for her too-low freeboard. Even after reconstruction, it was still too low. 

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  • 2 months later...

Lou Conter, the last surviving crewman from the USS Arizona, died yesterday (April 1st, 2024). (Source)
Always sad to see a living piece of history go. May he RIP. 🫡

He actually became a naval aviator during the war and flew a Catalina with the Black Cats. (Source)

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