A quick visit to the USS Missouri in dry dock, early January 2010. This is just video of the aft end, the screws, rudders, keel. You can really get a size perspective with the people walking around underneath.
Dry Dock is a special thing, brings back old shipyard memories, I haven't worked on a BB but plenty others, A ship in the yards has army of specialists crawling over, under and thru pulling hose, cable, sandblasting, cutting, chipping and painting until she's ready Thanks for the Post
My HS Algebra teacher was Rear Admiral Robert C Brodie. He was Captain of the Mighty MO in 1953, the year I was born. He earned the Navy Cross for taking a destroyer -the USS Dallas- up a river in France, discharging a special ops team, retrieving them and leaving with no damage or casualties.
I was a Marine Inspector for IMF Bremerton,WA. The New Jersey and Missouri were part of the mothball fleet there and to take a tour on these ladies was a trip back into the glory days of the Navy. Bright work polished, systems identified by paint color and the bilges were immaculate. These warriors will most likely never fire their 16" 50 cal in anger again. Having said that they are a treasure to be taken care of. Missouri's history compels us to maintain her as flagship, Wisconsin (BB-64) has the most gun wear and was used in Korea shore bombardment. Iowa (BB-61) was used in the Mid-East wars and New Jersey (BB-62) has the most war record, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Beirut, Desert Shield/Storm and a bunch of minor scraps as well. Proud warriors all. As mention about Texas and Olympia some one should start really pushing for funding these aging museum pieces same for the New Jersey Museum. I know money is tight but with careful planning it can be done.
Out of all the Iowa Class battleships Wisconsin has the lowest amount of nautical mile wear. As far as BB-64 having the most gun wear?? What do you mean?? Are you talking about the rifling, jacket, tube, yoke ring, hoop etc?? I can personally tell you her armaments had plenty of life left after her return from the PG. FYI.....ALL IOWA CLASS BATTLESHIPS SERVED IN THE KOREAN WAR. Not just Wisconsin. New Jersey was in the Persian Gulf but she was not a part of Desert Storm. Only BB-63 and BB-64 have that honor.
I got to go on the Mighty MO in the '70's when I was a kid living in Poulsbo! I will and have never forgot ! Also got to be with Her again a couple years ago when on Vacation in Hawaii!
Thanks for posting this video. Having grown up in Missouri, and having heard about the fascinating exploits of our namesake battleship, I really appreciate seeing the rear underside of the hull after its refurbishing. Those props are awesome, both mind-bendingly huge as well as truly beautiful in form. May our ship inspire generations with its qualities.
"Paper thin armor for today's standard" You should get your facts right... This ship has anything from 11 to 18 inches of armor... Today's modern warships have very little to NO armor at all... And about it being slow... Not slow at all, those old battleships can reach (and mantain) speeds in excess of 30 knots which is exactly the same as modern destroyer ships...
30 - 34 knots. Yes they were designed as fast battleships to keep up with the carriers at speed. what is more, these battleships can be configured for almost any kind of weaponry that exsists. The big thing is cost. They are expensive to run. And they are seen as old and obselite. They all are actually low mileage ships as they only saw limited use during their fifty or so years of service.
Part of the museum contract is that the Iowa and Missouri have to be ready for service in 6 months. So yea, they are good enough to be put back in service.
its Iowa and Wisky, not Mo, plus that whole standby requirement was shut down in 2006. Yes, they are still kept in top condition (sorta, if you dont mind the peeling paint, rusting T&E mechanisms in the guns, and mildew and mold forming on exterior glass and the teak decaying)
The right hand gun barrel from Turret #2 when Japan signed the surrender is on display in NorCal. Its up on top a hill at Battery Townsley on the coast North of the Golden Gate Bridge. There were a pair of 16 inch shore batteries there protecting the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. Gun barrel #386 is on display up there.
It's awesome seeing the amount of work engineer's and trades took to preserve the heritage of this ship truly one of kind. If possible you should ensure this ship is fully operational under her own power. Bring the past back to life and allow future Americans to feel the accomplishments of what americas about god bless and good work everyone.
They are all beautiful ladies and need to be kept up. I am happy to see the USS MISSOURI in drydock and see the restoration work on her. I may never get to see her but my father served on her. I feel that these are the most beautiful battleships that were ever built. I would have liked to have seen the USS PENNSYLVANIA restored instead of being used as a target ship. She was the only sister to the USS ARIZONA. I am happy to see these mighty ships in our possession. Long may they wave the flag of the United States.
They cant. If you want to see the hull, just watch the video. Having a drydocked ship open to the public is a HUGE liability issue. The ship, all 57 thousand tons of her is resting on blocks. Young kids could easily slip by security and crawl underneath
The clearance between the keel (bottom of the ship) and the drydock floor is usually something around 10 feet. No one really needs to "crawl." It's a weird feeling walking under all that steel and look UP into an engine room or whatever other space they needed to open her up to get into.
It's a shame too (but a very expensive undertaking), considering that there is only one "Royal Navy" in service. That's a testament to their global impact over the centuries. Now where's that Rum ration at?! 😅👍
She looks great! Good job by the yard on the hull's bottom. They were the stallions of the seas in their day and the lines below show nothing but speed in her DNA. Fantastic piece of nautical architecture.
At 50yrs old I have never been to an Ocean from near Chicago... Never then seen any bigs ships,, EVER. It is a dream to actually see giant ships someday. Even a cruise or cargo container ship. I really have no idea how big they can be ☮️
It's got to be the sexiest ship ever made it looks gorgeous with that shaped Hull. I bet if checks were made even 31 yrs later, if you had a boatload of fuel it would power up and possibly even do a world tour... Now that would be something very special indeed.
She needs to be back in the fleet. We paid too much to have a museum made out of her. Especially when she is more than battle effective Especially now in the age of aluminum ships.
Good to see my house is being taken care of: 6th Division 87/90 The last time she was in Dry-Dock was in Long Beach, that was a chore. I'm surprised they went to this expense for what is a nonessential vessel which isn't being utilized. I think they still utilize Old Ironsides as a training vessel and for events, be realy cool to see Mo utilized in the same manner... aweful expensive though.
The navy did not dry dock this ship. The museum that owns the ship dry docked it, and they are obligated to do so to keep the ships hull in a safe and presentable condition
@@Texassince1836 Yeah... if I understand the process correctly, such vessels are "donated" with numerous conditions and clauses that must be adhered to, which fall under Historic Preservation. This is one of the reasons why numerous vessels are not docked at Naval Bases when utilized for tourism. My ship, because of her historrical significance, is one of the few exceptions.
I'd love to set foot on an Iowa one day. I was able to crawl all over, in, and through the USS Texas on a hard hat tour and even she is huge. The last WWI dreadnought still in existence. But when you compare her size to the Iowa class she looks like light cruiser. (Iowa class is roughly 300 feet longer!!)
You think Texas is small compared to Iowa, take a look at IJN Mikasa, the infamous Japanese battleship preserved in Yokosuka Japan, and the last Pre-Dreadnought battleship.
01:00 "310 keel blocks, specially made for the Iowa Class* Battleship* hull..." as they are "specially made" for all ships that are destined for dry dock.
I don't care that the Battleships aren't really all that useful in today's Naval combat picture...I still want to see them still in service even if only in a ceremonial capacity.
Decided to watch this clip as it connects to my next historical fiction read "Manhattan Beach.." Always love to see the old black + whites, that man's voice (the commentator) that I think I recognize from the 1950s TV when I was a toddler + to see the mighty sizes of the Naval ships.
@krichards816 When the Missouri's sister, the New Jersey (BB-62), was reactivated for Vietnam and again for the cold war in the 1980's, it took a little over a year to get her in fighting shape again. I'm not sure how long it would take now though. :/
How do they line up a ship that size so it rests exactly on the keel blocks? It looks like they only have about 2 feet to either side of keels. How do they paint the very bottom of the keels?
Next time in the yard, they move the blocks to an adjacent position which exposes those parts that were covered last time. There is a detailed record kept of the position of each block in each drydocking.
@@mastermariner7813 as a museum they are not dry docked often enough to do that. You flood the dry dock, move the ship a few feet, drain the drydock, and paint the unpainted areas.
she needs to be in a dry dock permanently, sooner or later she is going to meet the same fate as the Battleship Texas. all the Iowas should be preserved in a dry dock
@@Texassince1836 - At Pearl Harbor next to the Arizona that's still leaking oil? Well they did a fine job painting it. I don't reckon I'll ever be able to visit this one though. If I can get to the Ohio that will be 3/4.
@@damkayaker Arizona leaks about 9 quarts of fuel oil a day, and will eventually run out of fuel oil to leak. From what I understand a small quantity of fuel oil on the surface is less-bad for fish and wildlife than copper in the water is.
@@Texassince1836 - Hi there, I'm not trying to be argumentative just throwing ideas out. Do you think perhaps the reason for not using bottom paint containing copper has anything to do with the newer, crappier, aluminum hulled naval ships? This West Marine website states some marinas forbid its use. I think it has more to do with dissimilar metals than environmental concerns. coppercoatusa.com/
@@damkayaker Copper is bad for the Fishes gills. As a side note the State of California is regulating the use of Copper in automotive brake pads for this same reason, because brake dust washes into lakes and oceans with the rain.
Done?! Okay, go park that beautiful monster off the coast of N. Korea and get some gunnery practice in. Take Wisconsin and New Jersey with you. Let us know when you need resupply. Have fun!!
I was on the Mighty Mo during desert storm. She was alwasy the first ship orderd in. Those big guns firing shells 20 plus miles the size of a VW, all laser guided to. all the tomahawks and sams we had, CIWS systems, you name the weapon we had it. She could have litterly taken out a small country on her own. The power plants can still be fired up if needed. And Last time i was on her she looked ready to get UW then just need the radar systems, coms, and weapons reinstalled and shes ready to go
Super jealous!! I had orders to her, which was epic because Id been on her as a kid in Bremerton just before her reactivation!! But orders changed due to crewing up and heading over prior to Desert Storm... Ended up on an AFS instead...😞😠
Gawd, that's a big ship. In spite of all its improblabilities, I loved watching that grand old lady strutting her stuff in the movie "Battleship." I also loved the real battleship sailors...""What the hell, you just gonna stand there staring at me?" My absolute favorite, though, was the bald guy toward the end, when he slammed the lever home and announced, "She's armed" As if to say, "Goddamn, I miss doing this. Let's blow some shit up!"
that actually looks like a pretty short draft, compared to other BB's I can see why it could sustain 33 knots, and get up even faster when pushed to the limit.
The New Jersey holds the title of the fastest battleship ever made, granted this was before all the heavy modernization was added and after they removed all the obsolete AA weapons so it was the perfect situation for a top speed run. They’re pretty quick pieces of engineering these iowas, shame they’re not still used.
foreman d not even the biggest one ever built,the Japanese has the Yamato and the Germans with the Bismarck,the German had plans for an even bigger ship and we had plans for the Wisconsin’s class battle ships
To [slugmaster64] who said, "I challenge you to come up with just ONE viable use for a battleship in today's world. and do me a favor and try to be intelligent with your answer." Nautical museum. Also, as a rival to Russia's Kirov class cruisers.
is there any reason why the ship still has her screws?most ships that are as old as the Missouri here usually get their screws removed as soon as they're being commissioned as museums normally.
The navy, read congress, still wants them ready to be used for shore bombardment, they are decommissioned but they can be up and in operation within six months or less. This why the Iowas still go into dry dock like in this video while all the other museums ships don't besides the USS Constitution, who is still in commission despite being launched in 1780. To keep them ready.
+eric zaiz No they can't she's been stricken from the navy registry just like her sister ships. In other words they don't belong to the US navy anymore. They will never see active duty again.
Eyeah it's like the fifth time the USN has done that and look what happened, they got reactivate. Just because the Navy stricken a ship does not mean it can't be recommission, why else do you think the navy footed the bill to do what happened in this video. Especially since they haven't done for ANY of the other museum ships. It literally against the law, look up the naval gunfire support act I believe it called, both Missouri and Wisconsin are on the list to be reactive need be. Are they going to be? Probably not since they are pushing eighty, but they can if for some reason they are needed.
eric zaiz Once they are removed from the Navy registry it's over. They weren't removed from the navy registry before this last deactivation, they were decommissioned from active service and put in our mothball fleet. All four ships now belong to the locations they are at and designate for historical preservation. Just like the other WWII ships that are display throughout the country.
A pleasure to hear nautical vocabulary used in this clip, i.e. yard bird. Most documentaries are marred by inaccurate terminology, something as simple as calling the bow/cutwater the front. How many know that the Engineering Department is responsible for the underwater hull, not the Deck Department? Thanks.
The Missouri is very valuable today. It is in the spot where Japan attacked, and hosted their unconditional surrender. If you will notice, today, the United States never intends to win any of their conflicts. This ship is a fitting memorial for each and every life lost because of Japan in WW2.
