Comments by "Gregory Wright" (@gregorywright4918) on "A ship that refused to die - USS Marblehead, her crew and a voyage around the world" video.

  1. (in a John Wayne voice): "Not hardly..."
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  2. Although serious, the damage was mostly topside. The torpedo hit the Raleigh took at Pearl would have sunk her had she not been moored with a lot of external help.
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  3. The two-engine Betty bombers were dropping 100kg bombs, or 220lbs. Her deck was only 1.5 inches. She was designed during WW1, when aircraft bombs were smaller and poorly aimed. These were dropped by the best of the IJN land-based naval air squadrons, which knew their stuff and flew over several times without dropping to see what the ships would do in response.
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  4. Page 84 of Friedman's US Cruisers mentions this - she was the only one to get the recommended centerline gun when the side guns were removed, the rest did not due to cost and weight issues (of other additions).
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  5. That looks like the USS Boise, a Brooklyn-class light cruiser.
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  6. No, it's the one in Massachusetts.
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  7. The story of the Houston did not come out till after the war when the few survivors returned.
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  8. Hopefully after the conclusion of the Nelson series...
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  9.  @carlcarlton764  Kinda makes you think of the Little Crappy Ship - "speed is life"...
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  10. Manila was the closest US Naval Station for repairs and resupply, but the Asiatic Squadron (or Fleet) spent most of it's time patrolling the China Coast, including up the large rivers.
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  11. In early '42 the Japanese were advancing through the South China Sea into the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch had few fighter bases, mostly concentrated in the south like Java. The Brits had some air cover over Singapore, but the US had been badly beaten over Luzon and retreated to southern Philippines. Allies were just learning about astonishing range of IJN Betties and Zeroes.
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  12. It had armor against destroyer guns, but was designed before aircraft were a real threat. Those were 100kg bombs dropped by naval aviation experts.
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  13. I have seen it in 1/700, but not larger. There is another Omaha class (Detroit?) in 1/350, perhaps it could be customized.
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  14. The Navy seemed to put as few of them as possible in the "front lines", using them instead for secondary duties.
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  15. TMI...
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  16. They had the same problem when they raised the ships from Pearl Harbor.
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  17. Did you check the book he references at the end, Where Away?
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  18.  @phaasch  Today that kind of stuff doesn't get made because it "glorifies war"...
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  19. There's something really satisfying to an engineer about a well-made ship and a crew that can jury-rig a fix (or multiple fixes) to battle damage to limp her home.
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  20. Have you seen Away All Boats?
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  21.  @ryanaegis3544  It is the story of a captain who is given command of an attack transport rather than a cruiser, trains his men hard, and has to deal with a kamikaze that almost sinks the ship. Rare look at loneliness of command, particularly in less glamorous "supporting" units.
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  22. I believe Norman Friedman's book on US Cruisers gives detail on fuel load and "projected" range, but that depends heavily on what speeds she makes. The Omaha class was designed for high speed (>30kts), and at that speed she will eat through her fuel very quickly. They actually had a higher "cruising" speed than others due to the design of the high speed turbines, so they were a little less efficient at cruising speeds that other ships preferred. As to refueling underway, that is also a "depending on speeds made" and also depending on what she was doing. Cruising across the Pacific would require planned stops or underway refueling, but cruising from port to port in the South Atlantic would usually not. Drach has addressed the light-off boilers question in several places, from his video on boilers to a few Drydocks. The basic issue is what state they are in to begin, since most ships keep at least one lit to provide steam for generators for the "house load" when in port. If she is tied to dock doing maintenance (with shore electrical supply) or in drydock, she will douse all boilers, but then she is hardly likely to get an emergency sortie order there. In general it takes several hours to get a cold boiler ready to provide steam, but a smaller ship like an Omaha may be able to get underway on a single boiler as the others are being lit off.
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  23.  @scottjackson5173  Spam - ignore.
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  24. The Enterprise did get close in April 1942 - she was escorting the Hornet with Doolittle's Raiders. I don't think the Marblehead had the range to make that trip, plus she was in the Asiatic Fleet. Once the lower torpedo tubes and casemate guns were removed they were supposed to be decent sea boats, I think at least one was sent to the Aleutians.
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