Italian Aircraft Carrier and Aircraft

[BuShips]

The most notable current example of concrete use in a carrier is RFA Argus which has (IIRC) several thousand tonnes of concrete under her flight deck. However, that is there to increase the height of her centre of gravity and thus make her motions suitable for flying training (without the concrete she'd be too stable!). I have also worked on frigates with enormous amounts of concrete used to fill in voids in their bows (one of the ships I looked after rammed another and caused her some pretty serious damage whilst suffering nothing more than a slight bend in her stem. There was someting like 50 tonnes of concrete in her bows but it didn't appear on the ships drawings and no-one knew anything about it being put there!). We also use something called "ballastcrete" in place of solid ballast on some ships.

Less than an hour's driving time from where I live is a graveyard of Liberty Ship bows. I didn't know this until last year and found it on the net. Many Liberty and Victory ships were built in the Vancouver/Portland area builder's yards during WW2 (besides the 50 Casablanca CVEs) and they used the same yards to scrap many of them after the war. The only thing they couldn't recover for scrapping was the bows as they were filled with concrete. So, they just dumped these in a spot and then mostly buried them up. They are still there and I will make an attempt to do a visit this year. Shame on me if I don't as it is so close. Let me see if I can find a link or two to post here (after small passage of time... ahh)-

http://www.oakgrovedesigns.net/homepage/libships/

Of over 2,700 Liberty ships completed only two survive in their original configuration and are working memorials. The S.S. (remember not "USS") Jeremiah O'Brien is based in San Fransisco and the John W. Brown in Boston.

For those with broadband, here is a link to a ten minute movie on the S.S. Jeremiah O'brien-

http://www.bowkera.com/jeremiah_obrien.htm

Quoted from a plaque in the park:

We honor the contributions made to our nations commerce, and our victory in the second world war. We remember the Ships, the workers who built them well, and the crews who served upon them dutifully.

Don't get confused with the various references to "Portland". At lot of Liberty ships were built in both Portlands (in the USA), Portland Maine and Portland Oregon. 236 Libertys and 30 Ocean class (built for Britain) were constructed at South Portland Maine. Vancouver, Washington (Kaiser shipyards) built 10 and Oregon Shipbuilding in Portland, Oregon built 322. Remember that over 2,700 were built, so these weren't the only shipyards they were built at. All I can say is that with over 2,700 ships that must have been a lot of concrete! :shock:

 

[BuShips]

As a footnote in history, the whole idea of mass-building general purpose cargo ships was to build ships faster than the axis could sink them :shock: :!: . No bull, this was a real strategy and makes you think about how dedicated the allies were. The following is a quote from a site about the S.S. Jeremiah O'brien-

The strategy of building ships faster than they can be sunk would prove to be an effective concept. An equally valid counter-objective is to sink them faster than they can be built, and that was precisely the strategy of the German Navy. In May 1942 German Admiral Dönitz said, "The total tonnage the enemy can build will be about 8.2 million tons in 1942, and about 10.4 million tons in 1943. This would mean that we would have to sink approximately 700,000 tons per month in order to offset new construction; only what is in excess of this amount would constitute a decrease in enemy tonnage. However, we are already sinking these 700,000 tons per month now." His mistake was in underestimating the shipbuilding capacity of American yards.

 

[Fitzwalrus]

Excellent link, BuShips! I'm also ashamed to have to admit I didn't know that was there after living in Portland for 12 years, and it's only about a 15 minute drive for me....

I had a chance to go on the Jerry O'Brien when she was here for the Rose Festival a few years ago. A fascinating experience, more so because many of the crew are guys who served on her or other Liberty's during the war, and helped restore her as well. I heartily reccommend that anyone in or visiting San Francisco make a visit to see her, or if she makes another "tour" to a location you can get to.

(They parked the Missouri at Astoria for a few weeks before towing her to Hawaii for the memorial: you can bet I (and most of Portland, judging by the cars) went to see that! )

 

[BuShips]

Excellent link, BuShips! I'm also ashamed to have to admit I didn't know that was there after living in Portland for 12 years, and it's only about a 15 minute drive for me....

I had a chance to go on the Jerry O'Brien when she was here for the Rose Festival a few years ago. A fascinating experience, more so because many of the crew are guys who served on her or other Liberty's during the war, and helped restore her as well. I heartily reccommend that anyone in or visiting San Francisco make a visit to see her, or if she makes another "tour" to a location you can get to.

(They parked the Missouri at Astoria for a few weeks before towing her to Hawaii for the memorial: you can bet I (and most of Portland, judging by the cars) went to see that! )

I've visited the New Jersey twice, once in Portland and once when it stopped at my local port. I visited the Missouri about three times before it was taken out of mothballs while it sat up at the reserve fleet in Bremerton many years back. I still need to make a visit back to the museum at Bremerton. When last I visited they didn't have the Turner Joy there (of Gulf of Tonkin fame). It's now berthed there as a permanent part of the museum. You probably know of the "pieces" of the old USS Oregon at waterfront park in Portland, but I'll bet you didn't know a Chinese restaurant in Longview, Washington has a brass porthole from the Oregon, back from when the ship was "scrapped" at Kalama, Washington in WW2. God what a waste of naval heretage when your stupid Govenor (at that time) offered up the ship after the attack at Pearl Harbor. The Navy Dept. said "Thanks buddy!!" and then proceeded to only partly dismantle the ship and use the hulk as an explosives barge (hang those bastards, I say!). What an inglorious end for "McKinley's Bulldog" .

Oh, and if the gaming club you visit is Western Oregon Wargamers, say "hi" for me to James Kyler, will you? I go by "Darell" when off-forum, heh.