Wound or death? Incredible Resurrection of the Ships

54
“There is no ship anywhere”, - diver Joseph Carneck reported to the amazed commission. Moving to the touch in the clouded water, he freely passed into the interior of the semi-submerged battleship. Having found no signs of West Virginia, the diver turned back, writing off his incredible discovery to a mistake and loss of orientation under water.

Wound or death? Incredible Resurrection of the Ships




On the surface, they did not yet know what “V.” Virginia ”left side completely clean. Where the once most powerful of the American Pacific liqueurs was supposed to be fleet, there was a gaping void: Japanese torpedoes literally “gutted” the battleship.

The pilots of Nagumo reported nine torpedo hits. Americans, having examined the ruins of “V. Virginia ”, recorded seven with a careful reservation: in view of the extensiveness of the damage, it is difficult to establish the exact number of hits. Indeed, how to examine what is not? Thousands of tons of hull structures simply disappeared, dissipating in space under the influence of torpedo blasts.

The official picture of the destruction looked as follows.

Three hits fell below the armor belt. As a result, the battleship tilted and began to settle in the water. The next one or two torpedoes plunged into the belt already submerged under water, turning seven armor plates. Further blows fell on the upper part of the hull. The explosion of the next (or several) torpedoes happened between the second and upper decks of the battleship lying in shallow water - a phenomenon, frankly, unusual for sea battles.

One of the torpedoes passed through a hole formed by previous explosions and because of a fuse failure it was stuck inside the body of the battleship.

The seventh hit was in the rear part: the torpedo tore off the steering wheel feather, causing additional damage to the bottom of the hull.

Besides at least seven torpedoes, “V. Virginia ”took a portion of two large-caliber armor-piercing bombs (410-mm BB shells with welded stabilizers). With the hit of the first special ammunition, the searchlight and signal bridges of the battleship were destroyed, the fragments of an unexploded bomb reached the second deck.

The second hit the roof of the third tower of the main caliber. Like a giant scrap, a steel bar weighing 800 kg broke 100-mm armor plate and went inside, destroying the breech of the GK gun. Along the way, crushing the catapult with a seaplane mounted on the tower.

The Kingfish, a seaplane observing these events, also immediately exploded, filling the deck with burning petrol and the damaged GK tower.

But that was only the beginning. The fire center appeared to be a mere trifle against the background of a real cataclysm. A field of burning fuel oil was flowing to the place where the West Virginia was flooded. It flowed from the dead LC “Arizona”.



Over the ensuing 30 hours of indomitable fire, everything that could burn in the parts of the battleship remaining above the water was destroyed. And what could melt was melted into shapeless ingots. The metal structures of the superstructures were twisted and deformed under the influence of high temperature.

Once the storm and the personification of the power of the Pacific Fleet, USS West Virginia (BB-48) ceased to exist as a combat unit.

Sometimes as a reason for the resurrection of “V. Virginia ”called the shallow depth of the Pearl Bay, which made it possible to organize the recovery of the sunken ship. Who would raise “V. Virginia "from under the column of ocean water? However, the statement itself does not contain any messages for logical analysis. In the open sea, with the Japanese forces' attire (one squadron of torpedo bombs on each battleship), it would be impossible to inflict similar damage to an actively maneuvering ship with active air defense.

Yes, the rise of the remains “V. Virginia ”was produced in shallow water. But how justified were further efforts to restore the ship?

Evil tongues argue that the main reason for deciding whether to restore a battleship was that the decision was made by his former commander, Walter Anderson. By that time, with the rank of admiral, he served as head of the Commission for the Inspection of the Ship's Staff.

The nostalgic feelings of the former commander were combined with the obvious desire of the command to underestimate the losses suffered during the defeat of Pearl Harbor. Thus, the list of irretrievable losses among the LCs was reduced to a pair of units: “Arizona” (detonation of the ammunition with disastrous consequences) and overturned “Oklahoma”, which received nine torpedo hits over the entire height of the body in the area of ​​the bow superstructure. By the way, the condition of the damaged “V. Virginia was not much better than Oklahoma, which had a similar damage pattern. The “repair” timeframe, corresponding to the construction of a high-speed LC of a new generation, does not illustrate this.


LC "Oklahoma", received similar damage


Four of the six battleships that were damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor were put into operation in the first half of 1942. However, the saga of the rise and restoration of "V. Virginia ”ranked more than two and a half years. The battleship lay on the bottom and stood at repair docks for most of the war, starting combat missions only in the fall of 1944.

History about two lives of the battleship “V. Virginia ”fits well with the legend of the incredible resurrection of the destroyers“ Cassin ”and“ Downes ”.

At the time of the Japanese attack, both ships were in the same dry dock, along with the LK “Pennsylvania”. The bomb that hit the Downs was echoed by a booming echo of the detonation of torpedo charges. The explosion of ammunition led to the ignition of fuel and a powerful fire engulfed the remains of the destroyer. The nearby destroyer “Cassin” was ripped off the kiloblocks with a shock wave - he fell on board and finally crushed Downes. Flames fused together the wreckage of destroyers.

In its initial report, the fleet inspection noted the complete destruction of Downes, with the possibility of using only selected metal structures. The state of “Cassina” was also evaluated skeptically.



But the Yankees are not used to giving up. Two years later, the repaired (!) Destroyers Cassin and Downs returned to the Navy, which had only the names and individual elements of the hull left of the former ships.

However, I liked the case with a diver who could not find the edges of the hole more ...

thinking

Generals tend to diminish their own losses and exaggerate the losses of the enemy. Simply put, they are not there. Prestige and public opinion is always more important than the real state of affairs. And if the losses among the personnel are obvious - no one has yet succeeded in resurrecting the killed person (the fact of death can only be kept secret), then in the case of military equipment, the situation sometimes assumes a completely absurd character.

The degree of damage to equipment is known only to those in charge who are not interested in disclosing facts that defame their honor and reputation as “successful” generals. In this case, the not fully told truth is still a big lie than just silence.

But back to the smoke of sea battles.

Among the most fierce examples is the rebirth of the battleship Mikasa. The hero of Tsushima, the flagship of Admiral Togo ingloriously died from the explosion of the stern cellar, just a week after the end of the Russian-Japanese war. Then began a multi-month operation to lift the ship, sunk in the harbor of Sasebo, followed by a two-year recovery repair. The degree of damage to the battleship during the detonation of the ammunition in the explanation does not need.

At first glance - a dubious operation to “save face”.

But the Japanese had their own, purely pragmatic explanation of this story. The land of the rising sun at that time did not yet possess the ability to build its own warships. At the same time, Japan had considerable experience in the field of ship repair. As of 1908, the year of the 12 armadillos six were British built. The other six are captured Russian ships recovered from a completely broken state (the Orel electronic well, which received 76 hits in the Tsushima battle). Armadillos looked a little better, shot by siege howitzers in the harbor of Port Arthur.



Therefore, from the point of view of the Japanese, the story of the rise and restoration of “Mikasa” was not an extraordinary event.

At the same time, from the point of view of world practice, bringing a heavily damaged ship to a combat-ready state while maintaining the same functionality and purpose is a rare coincidence.

The remains were removed from under the water. Sometimes in parts. The removed weapons and mechanisms were used for installation on other ships and coastal objects. Someone from the “wounded game” got under its own power or in tow to the nearest port, where, due to the obvious nature of the damage, it turned into a non-self-propelled battery, barracks, or blockade.

But no one ever had the audacity to build a new hull, to install some of the mechanisms from the predecessor dismantled to the metal, and to pretend that this is the same “repaired” ship. No one except the Americans.

The Yankees have always categorically refused to recognize the loss. According to American practice, the death of the ship from the actions of the enemy is recognized only directly at the time of the battle. If a burnt ruin (or at least part of it) crawls to the nearest port - that's all, the conversation is only about the “damaged” unit. It does not matter that already at the transition to the next atoll, it may collapse and sink due to irreversible damage to the power set.

The first-rank handsome men, the battle core of the fleet, the aircraft carriers Enterprise, Franklin, Saratoga, Banker Hill, under the influence of Japanese attacks turned into floating weapons and / or were used as targets. No matter what else they were no longer valid. They did not even try to recover.

The enemy cleanly “struck” four attack aircraft carriers for you - if you please, add them to the list of irretrievable losses. Why in the official list of losses from kamikaze only sunk destroyers? However, all this is a matter of bygone years.

And what about the fleet in the nuclear missile era?

Port! Hard A-Port! Full Astern!

(“Left aboard! Full back!”) But it was already too late. The corner flight deck “John F. Kennedy” cut off the superstructure to the cruiser “Belknap”.

The sharp edges of the Belknapa metalwork dug into the aircraft carrier hanging from above, destroying the premises below the corner deck, from which JP-5 jet fuel flowed. Two of the three petrol stations located at that location were under pressure at the estimated fuel delivery rate of 4000 liters per minute.

At Belknap, the left half of the bridge was blown down, both masts and pipes. Fuel from an aircraft carrier spilled directly into broken chimneys, which led to a strong fire in the boiler rooms. The cruiser was immediately de-energized and engulfed in fire, all automatic fire extinguishing agents were put out of action. The superstructure elements made of light aluminum alloys melted and fell inside the case. the antenna devices have been destroyed, communication and management weapons, Completely burnt out the combat information center.





A few minutes after the collision, the aft boiler room was destroyed by an explosion. Another explosion thundered in the central part of the cruiser - the 76-mm universal guns detonated ammunition.

The Ricketts destroyer who came to the rescue crashed into the side of the damaged Belknap, causing additional damage.

The situation was complicated by the dark time of day and the inability to use helicopters due to the danger of exploding projectiles.

At the cost of the selfless actions of the crew and all the ships of the combat group, the fire on the Belknap was localized two and a half hours after the collision with the aircraft carrier. Individual foci were extinguished by the next morning.

This incident took place in November 1975 of the year, in the operational zone of the Sixth Fleet. Despite extremely grave damage, the cruiser was towed and delivered to the United States.



From the point of view of the realities of the post-war fleet, the bulk of the cost of high-ranking warships falls on weapons control assets. The reasons for this are the uniqueness and small-scale production, exacerbated by military corruption and inadequately high cost of skilled labor in the developed countries of the world (unlike civilian computers, radar antenna arrays are not assembled at a Malaysian factory by the hands of adolescents).

Given this circumstance, the cruiser Belknap was completely destroyed and was no longer valuable to the fleet.

All that remains of the ship: a crumpled box of the hull, with turned into a shapeless charred mass of systems and mechanisms.

Evil tongues say that the only reason for the recovery of the cruiser was the desire of the admirals to conceal the loss at any cost in the light of the events of that time. Literally during the year of the Belknapa crash on the roadstead of Sevastopol, the large “Brave” anti-submarine ship was killed by fire. As is known, such catastrophes can occur only among Soviet sailors. Americans do not lose ships without a fight.

To complement some interesting facts from the story. Bureaucratic procedures and work to restore the cruiser lasted for five years. Reconstruction of “Belknap” took longer in time than its construction at the beginning of the 60s!

By the time of re-entry into service (1980), Belknap was largely represented by an already outdated ship. First generation missile cruiser, one of the firstborn of the new era, with many compromises in its design. The re-construction of the Belknap began simultaneously with the ambitious program to create Aegis Cruisers, much more powerful and sophisticated ships of the new generation. The order for the headquarters “Ticonderoga” was issued in 1978, followed by another two dozen of the same type.

In this regard, the long and expensive epic with the restoration of “Belknap” lost all practical sense. But the persons in charge obviously had their own thoughts on this.
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  1. +16
    25 September 2018 06: 31
    A good article is an interesting topic. I especially liked the phrase about the unreasonably high salaries of skilled workers. Indeed, I will not even write the salary of the welder per hour that the military shipyards in San Diego offer. The whole city is "covered" with job offers. However, the most important thing is that the production capabilities of American shipyards are difficult to overestimate. The staff is trained and qualified, the equipment is the most advanced. They can easily afford anything in terms of repairs. And there is money for everything. It would be nice to organize the process, and ours will learn, if only it will benefit.
    1. +7
      25 September 2018 07: 21
      Aha - "hung up". The United States is not a big bulletin board like "Avito" or "HH" —there to work — only through the exchange, or by sending your CV to a "competition", directly to a company that publishes open vacancies on its website. San Diego is "hung" with advertisements not for work, but for training in shipbuilding specialties with subsequent, like, "guaranteed" employment (which, in fact, is far from a "fact" wink ). Well, and about the salary, in the USA: everyone is very jealous of their "career" and salary, no one agrees to reduce their "rank" and salary, they prefer to quit, if only there is no display in the CV that he worked with demotion and salary. If it is not possible to find a similar position anywhere else, then they choose a change in the type of activity, something that intersects with the previous job, or in general, something new.
      1. +2
        26 September 2018 08: 35
        Quote: Monster_Fat
        work - only through the exchange, or by sending your CV to the "competition"

        Why then? There is an electronic exchange like our HH https://www.indeed.com/jobs?l=San+Diego,+CA&rbl=San+Diego,+CA&jlid=15daff915f69f903 but vacancies at Bath Iron Works are simply not there.
        Quote: tracer
        I will not write the salary of the welder per hour, which is offered by the military shipyards in San Diego.

        Of course you won't, because you just don't know, "Canadian American" you are ours.
  2. +22
    25 September 2018 06: 45
    The article is definitely a plus. There’s nothing to argue with laughing
    1. +16
      25 September 2018 07: 22
      By the way, yes. A rare case when Kaptsov does not hurt his eyes.
      Although, all the same, the restoration of "Mikasa" I would not reduce purely to selfish interests. At that time, she already managed to become a symbol of the Japanese imperial fleet. And symbols should not be cut into metal.
      And our "Varyag" was restored by the Japanese not only out of a desire to get another cruiser.
      1. +3
        25 September 2018 09: 34
        Quote: Kuroneko
        A rare case when Kaptsov does not hurt his eyes.

        How to say, the author clearly keeps his level.
        From welded stabilizers to 410mm shells to completely unnecessary discussions about the salaries of Malay teenagers and the inner world of American admirals.

        Another question is that this time it is refraining from fighting science fiction and braces under Valentin Pikul. Well, that’s good.
        1. +2
          25 September 2018 15: 03
          Quote: Cherry Nine
          From welded stabilizers to 410mm projectiles

          Well ... it’s good that at least the type of shells is indicated correctly. And then after all, I met in the role of the progenitors of 800-kg BB bombs and 356 mm BBS, and even 381 mm, it is not known how they ended up with the Japanese. smile
          1. +5
            25 September 2018 15: 29
            Quote: Alexey RA
            even 381-mm, it is not known how it turned out to be among the Japanese.

            So this is elementary. We take the 410-mm shell and file ... laughing drinks
            1. -1
              26 September 2018 22: 58
              Quote: Andrey from Chelyabinsk
              We take a 410-mm shell and file

              I think it's better to stay away from such people with such shells and files ... winked
              1. +2
                27 September 2018 10: 54
                Quote: Antares
                I think it's better to stay away from such people with such shells and files ...

                Seriously, in real life the Japanese, when converting a 1000-kg 410-mm AP projectile into an 800-kg bomb, just sharpened and squandered its body - to remove the "extra" metal, which was needed only for the projectile to withstand the pressure in the channel barrel and overload when fired.

                The ballistic (1) and armor-piercing (2) tips, as well as leading belts (6), were dismantled at the shell. The cylindrical part of the projectile, which did not affect armor penetration, was turned on a cone (5) to reduce the weight of the bomb to the B5N acceptable for the Nakajima carrier-based strike aircraft. The internal cavity (4) was increased, which also reduced the weight, significantly increased the explosive charge, and in addition, an aluminum damper (3) was installed there, following the model of new Japanese armor-piercing shells, which reduces shock loads on the explosive charge. A new screw bottom (7) was also made for two fuses (8) of an aircraft type and with a protrusion for attaching the stabilizer block. Plus, the stabilizer block itself (9), which was probably the simplest in this whole conversion. The result was a completely independent new ammunition, for which the original artillery shell served as nothing more than a blank with suitable dimensions and strength characteristics.
                © midnike
  3. +6
    25 September 2018 07: 39
    If with the Japanese "Mikasa" it is clear: there are no ships of their own construction, and so the ship was restored and reeled on "how to build". The Americans, on the other hand, have similar problems with the head: if with "Virginia" one can somehow explain the repair of "Belknap" .... they thought the fifth point.
    We have a "sea" of budget sawflies, but compared to: "Belknap" .... Thunder burst out at me if on this restoration, construction, no one made money for themselves
    1. +2
      25 September 2018 08: 11
      Quote: vladcub
      If with the Japanese "Mikasa" it is clear: there are no ships of their own construction, and so the ship was restored and reeled on "how to build".

      I don’t think this is true - they laid Satsuma-type battleships during the RYA, and two Tsukuba-type ballistic missiles laid at the same time differed little from the battleships. It is unlikely that the Japanese could reel something, restoring "Mikasa"
      1. +3
        25 September 2018 08: 30
        this battleship was dear to them as a memory of tsushima, and the admiral who commanded them and the entire squadron of the Japs were considered a saint, the battleship was rebuilt from a Chilean brother, and still they have a museum ship
    2. +5
      25 September 2018 20: 26
      I watched an interview with Mi-6 helicopter pilots who evacuated an American Chinook shot down in Afghanistan. To our question "why take such trash from the mountains?" the Americans replied like "Congress will not give money for the construction of a new helicopter, but the repair is going on under a different article and therefore there will be money, no matter how much"
      1. 0
        26 September 2018 15: 48
        An extremely interesting explanation. We must not forget that for Americans, money is not as important as the bureaucracy.
        1. +1
          28 September 2018 15: 34
          You might think that we have something different. Managers are the same everywhere.
      2. 0
        26 September 2018 20: 54
        Mi-6 is rather weak for this. The Mi-26 worked, and even that greatly facilitated both the load and the tow truck.
        1. 0
          27 September 2018 18: 34
          Probably. It has long been, I don’t remember the details.
    3. +1
      2 October 2018 16: 24
      We, too, something similar happened, although the motivation was different, and the scale .... Although the scale may have been comparable, because I just do not own all the information.
      I mean the return after the Second World War of equipment received from the allies under Lend-Lease. As well as those ships that Great Britain gave us on account of the division of the Italian fleet. In one of the issues of "Gangut" there was a long article about how our sailors received ships in Britain, about their service in the Northern Fleet, and how they were returned back. Let me remind you that we were talking about ships built during WWI and immediately after it, i.e. about outright old stuff. The article mainly talked about the Royal Sovereign / Arkhangelsk aircraft, but the British gave us a whole squadron.
      It struck me that before returning in 1949, part of the parts was restored on the ships (re-made), which were not on them during the transfer from the British, but which were on the drawings. Those. on ships carried out partial restoration repairs. But the British, after returning the ships to them, simply allowed them to be scrapped and remelted.
      The British and Americans did the same with all the equipment returned to them in the framework of Lend-Lease.
  4. +1
    25 September 2018 07: 45
    And for Belknap and did not hear such a fact, Thanks for the article.
    1. +6
      25 September 2018 07: 55
      There is such an interesting book - "Accidents and disasters of ships" (search on the Internet) - there are many "interesting" and instructive.
  5. +20
    25 September 2018 07: 59
    Now I remembered a magnificent historical joke from the British (with all their shortcomings, their sense of humor is excellent).
    Among many others, they had two minesweepers "Zulus" and "Nubiyets" (EMNIP, a conversion from civilian ships, or a project based on them, I do not remember), but the point is that they were of the same type. Both were badly damaged by mines - one was torn off the nose, the second - the stern. The British did not restore the ships, but simply connected the surviving bow of one with the stern of the other. The resulting ship was named "Jagged" laughing
    1. +15
      25 September 2018 08: 07
      And I liked Istria with Ripals and Rinaun. Due to endless repairs, the nicknames Rebild and Ripair received from the sailors
      1. +8
        25 September 2018 08: 15
        Quote: Santa Fe
        Due to endless repairs, nicknamed Rebild and Ripair from sailors

        There was such a thing :))) However, nicknames were a common thing for them - to remember "Vakante" and "Occupado", and the fleet called "Nelsons" ugly sisters - ugly sisters.
        1. +1
          25 September 2018 21: 02
          Well, the notorious "Furies" was nicknamed Spurious, which means "fake"
    2. +4
      25 September 2018 08: 31
      We had something similar when the stern of the unfinished cruiser Frunze was welded to the damaged Molotov cruiser.
      1. +8
        25 September 2018 12: 42
        Quote: kvs207
        We had something similar when the stern of the unfinished cruiser Frunze was welded to the damaged Molotov cruiser.

        It's right. But we didn’t get the resulting ship Frulotov :)
        1. +2
          25 September 2018 14: 40
          Quote: Andrey from Chelyabinsk
          But we didn’t get the resulting ship Frulotov :)

          For such a sense of humor, there was too unlikely a probability of years that way ten firewood in the taiga to chop.
      2. +10
        25 September 2018 15: 11
        Quote: kvs207
        We had something similar when the stern of the unfinished cruiser Frunze was welded to the damaged Molotov cruiser.

        We also had our own "Zubien" - EM "Orfodarsky": smile
        During the 1929 maneuvers, the Volodarsky destroyer collided with the Voikov destroyer (formerly Lieutenant Ilyin). The bow end of "Volodarsky" was almost completely destroyed. Of course, Voikov also suffered. At the time of the collision, three people were killed and 17 were injured. The bow of the Volodarsky was replaced with a bow cut off from the Orpheus, which was in the ship's cemetery. The naval witches immediately assigned the nickname "Orfodarsky" to Volodarsky.
    3. +3
      25 September 2018 21: 11
      This is not true. The Zulu and Nubian were British destroyers of the Tribal class. Indeed, one of the two was blinded. Well, not minesweepers, especially from civilians ............
  6. -2
    25 September 2018 08: 26
    it’s obvious that large surface ships are big problems and lack of benefit from them, and the sagging of large surface ships is even more obvious
  7. +11
    25 September 2018 08: 49
    Excellent article.
    Anyway, Kaptsov is not enough at least to revitalize the site laughing
  8. +9
    25 September 2018 09: 12
    Oleg, bravo! Breaks in your work clearly benefit you. Great article, interesting topic, peppy presentation. I hope to continue in the same vein.
  9. 0
    25 September 2018 14: 57
    and I don’t give a damn about what the Yankees put into losses, what’s not, the world knows the truth
  10. +4
    25 September 2018 17: 12
    On the surface, they did not know that in this place “V. Virginia ”completely missing the left side. Where there was once the most powerful of the American liquors of the Pacific Fleet, there was a gaping void: the Japanese torpedoes literally gutted the battleship.

    EMNIP, "ViVi" was simply out of luck - it found itself in the path of a group of Japanese torpedo bombers, whose target was to be aircraft carriers. The crews of these vehicles were strictly forbidden to attack any targets, except AB: under the belly of their "keits" torpedoes with a shallow depth of travel hung (it was believed that for an AB attack it was necessary to set a stroke depth of 2-3 meters, but the LK had to be PTZ). But AB was still not in the harbor - and the "anti-aircraft" group seemed to have lost their nerves - it mixed the formation with the "anti-linkor" group and rushed to spend torpedoes on the "battleship row". Since such waste was not included in the initial plan, no target allocation was made in advance. And most of the torpedoes of the "anti-aircraft" group went to the "ViVi".
  11. +5
    25 September 2018 18: 27
    Quote: Andrey from Chelyabinsk
    Now I remembered a magnificent historical joke from the British (with all their shortcomings, their sense of humor is excellent).
    Among many others, they had two minesweepers "Zulus" and "Nubiyets" (EMNIP, a conversion from civilian ships, or a project based on them, I do not remember), but the point is that they were of the same type. Both were badly damaged by mines - one was torn off the nose, the second - the stern. The British did not restore the ships, but simply connected the surviving bow of one with the stern of the other. The resulting ship was named "Jagged" laughing

    Actually not minesweepers, but Tribal type destroyers. Examples of similar recovery from our fleet are the destroyer Storozhevoy pr. 7u, rebuilt with welding of the bow of the destroyer pr. 30 with a two-gun nose stop, and the cruiser Molotov with a welded tip from the cruiser Frunze pr. 68.
    1. +1
      25 September 2018 19: 20
      Quote: Potter
      In fact, not minesweepers, but Tribal type destroyers

      Yes, for sure, memory fails, alas.
      1. 0
        25 September 2018 19: 54
        Quote: Andrey from Chelyabinsk
        Yes, for sure, memory fails, alas.

        Andrei Nikolaevich, my friend, just 43 .... belay what
  12. +2
    25 September 2018 18: 43
    Well, yes, the article is a plus. Although the author is Kaptsov, Oleg managed to describe quite normally what he wanted. It is read quite interestingly. There are a couple of small jambs, but show me the perfect woman lol
    1. +10
      25 September 2018 19: 21
      Quote: Rurikovich
      but show me the perfect woman

      90-60-90 blonde, dumb, owner of a liquor store? laughing
      1. +2
        25 September 2018 19: 52
        Quote: Andrey from Chelyabinsk
        90-60-90 blonde, dumb, owner of a liquor store?

        good drinks If so .... winked
        But reality is much more mundane recourse :
        if with money and agrees everything, then terrible;
        if 90-60-90, then not dumb and do not come without money;
        if the owner of the business is 90-60-90, then she needs to be knee-deep ...
        if dumb and beautiful, then without vodka ...
        Everywhere a catch laughing
        Because in life it remains only to dream about the ideal (that is why dreams are sweet), then on VO you will hardly see Oleg's article without the word "battleship" wink bully hi
  13. +5
    25 September 2018 19: 49
    Staty, an example of such a restoration "for the sake of prestige" is project 30BV. The destroyers of Project 30bis Merciless and Solid, which were leased from Egypt, were returned to the USSR completely killed and with claims of poor condition upon receipt. Adm. Gorshkov personally ordered to carry out the refurbishment "So as with a needle", which was done in the shortest possible time at Sevmorzavdod approx. 1980
  14. +1
    26 September 2018 01: 03
    "Four of the six battleships damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor were commissioned in the first half of 1942" /////
    -----
    The amazing recovery speed of 4 heavily damaged huge ships.
    And after all, they managed to avenge themselves: in 1944 they took part in naval battles with the Japanese and wrote down the sunken Japanese ships.
    1. +2
      26 September 2018 01: 22
      They were not badly damaged.
    2. 0
      26 September 2018 21: 11
      Of the 8 battleships located in Pearl Harbor, 2 died and were not restored. 3 was seriously damaged, of which 1 went into operation after repair by the summer of 1943 and 2 during 1944. 3 battleships were slightly damaged (2-3 fatal bombs were not fatal for them), went into operation after repair with a simultaneous strengthening of anti-aircraft weapons in the spring of 1942. The author is a little beguiled.
      1. 0
        27 September 2018 00: 57
        The author is not lured
        Four of the six battleships that were damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor were put into operation in the first half of 1942.

        It's about lk
        Tennessee
        Pennsylvania
        Maryland
        Nevada

        California returned to service in January 1944
        California Heavy - In July 1944

        Oklahoma and Arizona - irrecoverable losses
        1. The comment was deleted.
        2. +1
          27 September 2018 11: 32
          If in detail with dates, then:
          Quote: Santa Fe
          Tennessee

          Repair completed February 26, 1942. Apparently, the Yankees were in a hurry to push the LC out of repair - because already in August 1942 it was again docked for modernization (until May 1943)
          Quote: Santa Fe
          Pennsylvania

          Repair completed March 30, 1942. And then the Yankees were in a hurry - in October 1942, LK was again docked for modernization (until February 1943)
          Quote: Santa Fe
          Maryland

          Repair completed February 26, 1942.
          Quote: Santa Fe
          Nevada

          Repair combined with modernization was completed in October 1942. That is, in the second half of 1942.

          By the way, they write that the departure of the old Pacific LK to modernization exactly at the height of the campaign on the Gudalkanal was due to the fact that the fleet simply did not have enough tankers to supply all the forces operating in the Solomon Islands. And the Yankees decided combine useful with useful - remove excess ships, which it was still impossible to supply, and upgrade them for future battles.
  15. 0
    26 September 2018 10: 34
    “In the open sea, with the Japanese forces, (one squadron of torpedo bombers per battleship), it would be impossible to inflict such damage on an actively maneuvering ship with active air defense.”

    And what does the author say about the death of LK “The Prince of Wales” and LKr “Ripals” on December 10, 1941 in the open sea. Both actively maneuvered and supported each other air defense?
    1. 0
      27 September 2018 01: 53
      And how did one squadron manage?
  16. 0
    26 September 2018 14: 02
    An interesting article, especially about the Belknap accident, not only our sailors suffered accidents, the staff members are also slovens. Although I'm not a great specialist in naval affairs, there is a question:both ships were in the same dry dock along with Pennsylvania. The aerial bomb that fell into the Downs echoed with a booming echo of the detonation of torpedo charges. An ammunition explosion led to fuel ignition and a powerful fire engulfing the remains of the destroyer(with). Do ships become unarmed and unloaded from fuel on the dock? request And one more small remark:Thunderstorm and the personification of the power of the Pacific Fleet, USS West Virginia (BB-48) ... The name of the ship translates as "West Virginia", which corresponds to the name of the state, therefore the use of the name in the article: the rise of the remains of “V. Virginia ” (c) does not correspond to the name of the LC, but otherwise, as they say, "accept the assurances of the utmost respect" hi
    1. +2
      26 September 2018 18: 48
      Quote: Captain45
      Do ships become unarmed and unloaded from fuel on the dock?

      Believe it or not, the EMs were docked with ammunition and fuel. Moreover, on Downes, judging by the official Damage Report, there were torpedoes in the torpedo tubes.
      The torpedo warheads in the starboard tube of the Downes were set off and blew out the main deck and starboard side of the vessel in that area. This caused some damage to boilers and engines. A serious oil fire followed the explosion and caused extensive damage to the hull of both vessels. Fragments and explosions have caused over 200 holes in the hull of the Cassin and probably well over 400 in the hull of the Downes.
      © Damage report USS Cassin, USS Downes Enclosure C to CINCPAC action report Serial 0479 February 15, 1942

      On the "Pennsylvania" stationed in the same dock, on the morning of December 7, 1941, air defense calculations were even organized, according to the announced level of combat readiness in the base: EMNIP, a quarter of the ZPU had full calculations, the rest of the ZPU and medium-caliber anti-aircraft artillery were on board the LK.
      On EM, the situation was much worse: their guns did not have locks that were handed over for modernization. There were only ZPUs that were quickly raised from the guns, set in place, equipped with calculations - and opened fire.
  17. -1
    29 September 2018 13: 07
    The Black Sea Fleet will be the first large fleet of the Russian Federation that does not have its own rank I surface ship. ... in fact, there is nothing in the Baltic. The 956th destroyers there have long been dead ... like everywhere else ... and long live Putin !!!
  18. 0
    30 September 2018 17: 35
    "The tank remains on the balance sheet as long as the serial number plate is kept."
  19. 0
    30 November 2018 20: 47
    PD-50 must be raised.

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