Favorite ship classes

[will_marx 0]

Another one of my favorite ship classes...

 

 

The Battleship

 

Ooooo! Not just any battleship, but the Iowa-class. The fastest, heaviest armed and only battleships to survive WW II. Only the Yamato and Musashi had larger guns (18.1 in), but insufficient fuel or anti-aircraft artillery support. Heck, we were designing and building destroyers and cruisers with the specific role of floating flak batteries, not to mention the Midway, Essex, Independence class carriers, loaded to the gunwales with fighters, torpedo planes, dive bombers, etc. And please note, you can actually see the ship moving sideways to port from the broadside. Just look near the waterline on the starboard side.

 

The Iowas were also the only battleships to see service in Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, and the Persian Gulf. Honestly, I think it was a mistake for the US Navy to retire their last big gun warships, and rely almost entirely on carriers, guided missile frigates, destroyers, cruisers, attack, cruise missile (Ohio-class SSGNs) and ballistic missile submarines to show the flag. After all there's nothing that terrorizes the natives better than a big gray battlewagon steaming off the 12-mile limit with 9 16" rifles trained at the coast.

 

A buddy of mine was in Lebanon in the early 80's, as part of our peacekeeping operation there. His position was under fire by OPFOR artillery, when a request was sent in for counterbattery fire. He said "The very air sounded like it was tearing" as a round went overhead. He also said, he was thinking "What the hell did they get?". When he looked at the battery that had them pinned down, explode in a ball of flame, he knew it was friendly counterbattery, and looking out over the Med, he saw the New Jersey steaming out from a cloud of smoke.

 

What a warship.

[Greg Nirvana 0]

That was quite the riveting tale, no sarcasm intended. So the New Jersey was Iowa-class?

[miles_obrien 0]

Does any of you think that the olympic class was modeled after the daedealus?

 

<< Can't Spell, sorry. >>

[Pneuma 0]

Akira and Intrepid for me

[Joe Wilson 0]

The sovereign and defiant class kick butt every day of the week and twice on sunday.

[eagle 0]

Prometheus, Sovvy, Galaxy class, and not necissarily in that order :)

[will_marx 0]

Still a traditionalist at heart--> Constitution-class and the Enterprise-refit.

[Arch Angel 0]

:: Nods:: Sorry forgot to mention the U.S.S. Enterprise...NCC-1701, And later .. :)