Military Pictures & Info

[Peanut]

Bismark, only lived a few days before going to the bottom of the Atlantic.

 

[Peanut]

BB-60 USS Alabama. Last of the South Dakota class of fast battleships built in the 1930's. This looks like Bremerton WA to me.

 

[Peanut]

The next class of battleships was the Iowa class beginning with BB-61.

This is BB-63 USS Missouri The surrender of Japan and the end of ww2 on her decks.

Anyone ever wonder why was the ceremony done on the Missouri and not the big "E". A capitol ship more deserving than any other?

Pres Harry S. Truman born in Lamar, Missouri... Symbolism is everything to some.

Chester Nimitz

 

[rice paddy daddy]

The next class of battleships was the Iowa class beginning with BB-61.

This is BB-63 USS Missouri The surrender of Japan and the end of ww2 on her decks.

Anyone ever wonder why was the ceremony done on the Missouri and not the big "E". A capitol ship more deserving than any other?

Pres Harry S. Truman born in Lamar, Missouri... Symbolism is everything to some.

Chester Nimitz
View attachment 85867

Big shots, left to right. General MacArthur, Admiral Halsey, unknown, seated is Admiral Nimitz. I'm taking a WAG here, but the one i called "unknown" could be Admiral King, Chief of Naval Operations.

 

[rice paddy daddy]

View attachment 84549

Jim

"When were you in Vietnam?"
"Last night."

 

[Peanut]

Military Spouse Appreciation Day 2022

https://www.military.com/spouse/military-spouse-appreciation-day

 

[Peanut]

More chow! This one is more recent DD963, Spruance class destroyer, USS Spruance. I was on a Spruance class destroyer and recognized the galley in this pic. In fact, used to have a friend on "the Spruance", they tied up on the same pier we did in Norfolk.

 

[Peanut]

Old, ww2 galley pics

 

[Peanut]

Nightmare memory... Once in a great while we'd get a treat for breakfast on a destroyer. Eggs cooked to order, any style. The short order cook on my ship flunked out of ***** school so they made him a cook, a really bad one.

Not once in 3 years did I get my eggs over easy. He always busted the yolk!!! ALWAYS!!!

The last time I ordered on the ship over $1000 had been bet among the guys on whether or not he'd finally get my eggs right. He didn't, not even on my last "eggs to order" breakfast!!!!

(half the ships crew were aware of my luck with eggs over easy)

This guy looks brighter than our *****.

 

[Peanut]

 

[backlash]

We had eggs to order most mornings on my first cruise.
There was an E6 that cooked eggs. He liked doing it so he did it.
He would break 2 eggs with one hand and asks you how you wanted them.
Perfect every time.
Next cruise it was back to the same old Navy cooks and your eggs would turn out how they turned out.
We did eat pretty well on Carriers.

 

[Peanut]

First, I wish this guy well where ever he went in life, he's a vet. At the time I was really annoyed. Busted yokes for 3 years will **** anyone off! But to be fair he could do burgers pretty well. Decent guy to talk to but we rarely crossed paths, dif. depts.

Edit - can't doxx the guy so I deleted the pic... I found in a cruise book.

 

[kenv1950]

My Dads crew on the C47 ( Hes the guy in the middle)

 

[Peanut]

Did anyone else work on Harpoon missiles? They were surface to surface and air to surface missiles. They were pretty dumb, point and shoot, had it's own guidance system. It was designed primarily for hunting subs but shipping was fair game also. I was surprised it's still in use today. It's gotten smarter with age.

I was looking at an old photo, hadn't though of Harpoons in years. Once stationed aboard a destroyer I was sent to a class (yet another). Seems like it was at Dam Neck Naval Air station. Wasn't very long, couple of weeks maybe (don't quote me, attendened several schools at Dam Neck).

Anyway, I couldn't remember much about it. I did maintenance every month or so, only guy on the ship who was trained on it. I remember there was a control box with a cable I had to connect missiles to test them. I didn't like sitting at the bottom of a launch tube while testing one, that memory stands out.

 

[backlash]

We had a missile shoot drill on the USS Ranger. It took 3 tries over 2 days to get the missile to actually fire.
They did hit the target drone.
There was a new officer in charge of the missile department and a week later they did it again.
The missile fired the first time and hit the drone.
Those guys drilled and practiced constantly from then on.

 

[Neb]

Did anyone else work on Harpoon missiles? They were surface to surface and air to surface missiles. They were pretty dumb, point and shoot, had it's own guidance system. It was designed primarily for hunting subs but shipping was fair game also. I was surprised it's still in use today. It's gotten smarter with age.

I was looking at an old photo, hadn't though of Harpoons in years. Once stationed aboard a destroyer I was sent to a class (yet another). Seems like it was at Dam Neck Naval Air station. Wasn't very long, couple of weeks maybe (don't quote me, attendened several schools at Dam Neck).

Anyway, I couldn't remember much about it. I did maintenance every month or so, only guy on the ship who was trained on it. I remember there was a control box with a cable I had to connect missiles to test them. I didn't like sitting at the bottom of a launch tube while testing one, that memory stands out.

View attachment 90926View attachment 90927View attachment 90928

I spent almost a year at Dam Neck for my C school. Middle of a swamp down wind of a pig farm.

Ben

 

[Neb]

We had a missile shoot drill on the USS Ranger. It took 3 tries over 2 days to get the missile to actually fire.
They did hit the target drone.
There was a new officer in charge of the missile department and a week later they did it again.
The missile fired the first time and hit the drone.
Those guys drilled and practiced constantly from then on.

Our trials for Sea Sparrow we loaded up 3 telemetry birds. First bird was a kill. Second destroyed the drone. They called off the third missile to save drones.

Earned a Battle E ... for an ammunition oilier.

Ben

 

[Peanut]

I don't remember smelling the pig farm. It's must have been gone by the time I was there, '86 the first time.

Another occasion... I was also made the damage control petty officer for my division. I was an FC.... fire control, as in controlling weapon systems.

So I was sent to Dam Neck and trained on ventilation and fire suppression systems for ammo and missile magazines. Great! Now I'm supposed to put out fires in a metal room filled with explosives! The word "expendable" came to mind.

But I did get to spend another month at Dam Neck for that school! But later I went through hell in Gitmo with that training. A couple months at Guantanamo Bay Cuba, a tourist mecca... Not! There was nothing to do on base but drink beer and chase land crabs in the mine fields.

To be fair, they did have stables and horses. A buddy and I went riding every chance we got, 2 or 3 times a week we'd go for a 10mile ride. The riding trails were clearly marked because mine fields were everywhere, always a concern at Gitmo.

 

[Wingnut]

Fire suppression? Did you work with Halon systems?

I'll never forget the training we had for Halon systems: the instructor told us that if we sealed a compartment and hit the Halon switch, any man left in that compartment was a dead man.

I always wondered if a hand near a hatch could open that hatch and escape... I know super-heated steam will kill everybody in a compartment, pronto, like breathing fire while instantly being steamed to death, but Halon?

 

[Peanut]

Yes, I was trained on Halon systems.

 

[Bacpacker]

Did anyone else work on Harpoon missiles? They were surface to surface and air to surface missiles. They were pretty dumb, point and shoot, had it's own guidance system. It was designed primarily for hunting subs but shipping was fair game also. I was surprised it's still in use today. It's gotten smarter with age.

I was looking at an old photo, hadn't though of Harpoons in years. Once stationed aboard a destroyer I was sent to a class (yet another). Seems like it was at Dam Neck Naval Air station. Wasn't very long, couple of weeks maybe (don't quote me, attendened several schools at Dam Neck).

Anyway, I couldn't remember much about it. I did maintenance every month or so, only guy on the ship who was trained on it. I remember there was a control box with a cable I had to connect missiles to test them. I didn't like sitting at the bottom of a launch tube while testing one, that memory stands out.

View attachment 90926View attachment 90927View attachment 90928

Cool Pics. Best I recall the Harpoon's were one bad a$$ weapons system. Maybe similar to the French Exocet

 

[Peanut]

I spent almost a year at Dam Neck for my C school. Middle of a swamp down wind of a pig farm.

Ben

I was at Mare Island CA for C school (a Tas Hole) (mk23 target acquisition system). The first thing handed to me on my destroyer was a stack of manuals for the Sea Sparrow missile system... which TAS was designed to work closely with. I've stood lots of watches in CIC sitting at the Sparrow console. I had to qualify on phalanx also but was sent to school for Harpoon. My dept, combat systems, pushed cross training big time. They wanted everyone trained on multiple systems.

It's a lot of work, like having 2 full time jobs. It took me a year to qualify on Sparrow. Working on an operational system is the best way to learn though, at least it was for me.

Cool Pics. Best I recall the Harpoon's were one bad a$$ weapons system. Maybe similar to the French Exocet

Exactly like the Exocet, Nato had to have a response to a russian "accident" that revealed the need for a ship to ship, over the horizon missile that could take out a frigate or destroyer. The Brits had their version also, don't recall the name.

The US produced the Harpoon (almost over night). By the time it got to the fleet parts of the "Cruise Missile" system were in very early testing. The cruise missile is the really smart "bad boy", came out in '85.

The Harpoon was simple and cheap, not "smart" but it didn't have to be. Send a dozen down range and the enemy will kill themselves trying to get out of the way. One hit could take out a destroyer.

 

[Bacpacker]

I recall the Argentines taking out some British ships with the Exception during the Falklands war. What was that early or mid 80s?

 

[Neb]

I was at Mare Island CA for C school (a Tas Hole) (mk23 target acquisition system). The first thing handed to me on my destroyer was a stack of manuals for the Sea Sparrow missile system... which TAS was designed to work closely with. I've stood lots of watches in CIC sitting at the Sparrow console. I had to qualify on phalanx also but was sent to school for Harpoon. My dept, combat systems, pushed cross training big time. They wanted everyone trained on multiple systems.

It's a lot of work, like having 2 full time jobs. It took me a year to qualify on Sparrow. Working on an operational system is the best way to learn though, at least it was for me.



Exactly like the Exocet, Nato had to have a response to a russian "accident" that revealed the need for a ship to ship, over the horizon missile that could take out a frigate or destroyer. The Brits had their version also, don't recall the name.

The US produced the Harpoon (almost over night). By the time it got to the fleet parts of the "Cruise Missile" system were in very early testing. The cruise missile is the really smart "bad boy", came out in '85.

The Harpoon was simple and cheap, not "smart" but it didn't have to be. Send a dozen down range and the enemy will kill themselves trying to get out of the way. One hit could take out a destroyer.

I worked a project to test Tomahawk missiles. When we were being evaluated for the job I was the lead architect and was questioned about my qualifications. I mention Sea Sparrow and they responded "Sea chicken! We want you on the project!"

To test the Tomahawks there were over 5000 variables signals parameters from the fusing system missile guidance and simulated GPS satellite etc. Changes to the interfaces specifications were made almost weekly and it was my job to review all of them and advise the developers on how to handle the changes.

That work gave me a chance to dig into all of the dirty little details of all of the subsystems and features. Two of which were...

1
Tomahawks use GPS for navigating which is common knowledge but what surprised me was they have "way points" to control the flight path. They could be launched from a ship in the Atlantic and navigate to the Straights of Gibraltar pass through, avoid Italian air space, then find the target. They also used GPS for precision timing. All of those explosions that was part of "Shock and Awe" in gulf war 1 started out on different planes, ships and subs but all showed up in Baghdad at the same time.

2
The test system was intended for more than Tomahawks. There was a robot loaded artillery system in development capable of putting multiple rounds down range in a short period of time. It was called MRSI pronounced Mercy. It was capable of launching multiple rounds and by adjusting the trajectory so they all git the target at the same time. Mercy was anything but.

Ben

 

[Neb]

I worked a project to test Tomahawk missiles. When we were being evaluated for the job I was the lead architect and was questioned about my qualifications. I mention Sea Sparrow and they responded "Sea chicken! We want you on the project!"

To test the Tomahawks there were over 5000 variables signals parameters from the fusing system missile guidance and simulated GPS satellite etc. Changes to the interfaces specifications were made almost weekly and it was my job to review all of them and advise the developers on how to handle the changes.

That work gave me a chance to dig into all of the dirty little details of all of the subsystems and features. Two of which were...

1
Tomahawks use GPS for navigating which is common knowledge but what surprised me was they have "way points" to control the flight path. They could be launched from a ship in the Atlantic and navigate to the Straights of Gibraltar pass through, avoid Italian air space, then find the target. They also used GPS for precision timing. All of those explosions that was part of "Shock and Awe" in gulf war 1 started out on different planes, ships and subs but all showed up in Baghdad at the same time.

2
The test system was intended for more than Tomahawks. There was a robot loaded artillery system in development capable of putting multiple rounds down range in a short period of time. It was called MRSI pronounced Mercy. It was capable of launching multiple rounds and by adjusting the trajectory so they all git the target at the same time. Mercy was anything but.

Ben

I got ahead of myself

MRSI = multiple rounds simultaneous impact.



See here

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/MRSI_animation_SMIL.svg
Ben

 

[Peanut]

Ran across this yesterday... September 30, 1954 the USS Nautilus (SSN-571) is commissioned. First nuclear powered submarine. I think this was her first visit to NYC.

 

[Peanut]

 

[backlash]

I have been deployed at Christmas. It sucked.

 

[Peanut]

Me too, I was in Izmir turkey on Christmas eve. We anchored in the harbor but there were plenty of water taxis. Lots of us went ashore. The only indication of christmas in this islamic country was a card board santa at a used car lot.

That evening a wicked winter storm blew in. Boats quit running to the ship and it started snowing. Well crap, now I’m stranded. A buddy and I found a hotel. Out front were several of the guys from the ship. They were broke and drunk, not one could afford a room.

So my friend and I split a suite, two bedrooms and sofa/bed. We took the bedrooms but at least I got a roof for my shipmates.

I crashed right away or tried to. I got to listen to 7 drunk sailors try to sing “Silent Night”. Of course no one knew all the words. Depressing to say the least.

But I got a pick-me-up the next morning when water taxi service resumed.

A group of elementary school kids in Huntsville Alabama had picked our ship from a list of deployed units. They wrote us letters wishing us a merry christmas. There were hundreds of them. Of course my buds made sure there was a few extra for me.

I made my Christmas. I actually wrote back to every kid whose letter I opened.

 

[backlash]

The Russians picked Christmas day to fly over the taskforce so we had to launch the alert aircraft to intercept them.
They did it every time a taskforce left the states headed west. Usually between Hawaii and the PI.
The chow line was 5 hours long but the food was very good.