Aircraft Carriers...

[MasterBlaster]

These were the front runners...

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[FireFighterZero]

Geeze, thats gotta give you goose bumps eh Butch?

Hell of a thing. Cant help but feel proud watching that.

My buddy talks about switching to surface to finish out from time to time. There must be nothing like it.

 

[MasterBlaster]

You would not believe how cool flight ops are, especially at night. The crazy thing was how much I hated it at the time... I was a maroon!

 

[Altissimus]

...went to see the Grateful Dead in Norfolk when the Nimitz was in port (home after trying to get American hostages out of Iran). Really at the dock not anchored in the harbor , drove it's length in our VW staring at it and feeling tiny.

 

[MasterBlaster]

You should see the inside. It takes weeks to figure out where shit is!

 

[Altissimus]

I assume she was in the video somewhere ...

 

[MasterBlaster]

It looks like every carrier was in it!

 

[Altissimus]

Permanently dockside , Manhattan off 12th Ave. Now a museum is I think the Intrepid . Seems small compared. Prob WWII , driven by never stopped in. Aircraft on deck.

 

[Altissimus]

Yep googled the Nimitz , over a thousand foot long.... HUGE

 

[MasterBlaster]

The Enterprise was longer.

(pic isn't Enterprise)

 

[woodworkingboy]

From the days of wooden flight decks, the Jap Hiryu on fire from attack planes from the Yorktown and Enterprise, before disappearing beneath the waves. At the Battlle of Midway, a turning point in WW2.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I can't imagine a wooden flight deck!

 

[stig]

You would not believe how cool flight ops are, especially at night. The crazy thing was how much I hated it at the time... I was a maroon!

Many of us were, when young.
I bet lots of people here wopuld love to go back and re-do stuff because they didn't appreciate it enough at the time.
Me for sure.

Huge as they are, carriers have been dwarfed by container transport ships.
Biggest one happens to be Danish.
Of course they had to name it after a complete a-hole. Like naming a ship after John D. Rockefeller the first. http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mærsk_Mc-Kinney_Møller_(skib)

And then there is even an oil tanker that makes it seem small: https://www.google.dk/search?q=mærs...H434CYCQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#imgrc=0zBHpHJeSRWu3M

 

[Cut4fun]

Dad retired Navy AOC 58-79. Aircraft carriers and plank owner of the Eisenhower.

I remember the Kitty Hawk, Saratoga and others. I remember taking father son day cruises etc on Ike and Nimitz.

 

[stig]

Must have been something, seeing those as a kid.

 

[Cut4fun]

I think I have a pic in the late 70's at N.N. standing in front of Ike. Clothes stand out for sure.

 

[stig]

Yup, we sure dressed special, back then.

 

[FireFighterZero]

I always admired the crew of the Yorktown. The fire fighting and damage controll was so good that the Japanese hit her again thinking she was a different carrier.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Container ships are cool, but they couldn't punch their way outta paper bag.

 

[Altissimus]

A friend here who owned a Roadhouse served aboard the Forestal. Bread recipe at his place was from the Navy (freakin delicous). Speaking of fire control , they had an epic below deck catastrophe.

 

[MasterBlaster]

All sailors are trained extensively in firefighting.

I mean, just think about it...

 

[FireFighterZero]

Yep, my buddy who is a nuke on the Helena says that everyone is a firefighter first. Everyone. From cook to Captain. Besides a main shaft leak, the next worse thing to happen on a sub is fire. Any vessel.

 

[MasterBlaster]

There's nowhere to run... you have to stand your ground.

 

[sotc]

The Enterprise was longer.

(pic isn't Enterprise)

Amazing picture, I bet everyone was standing on the starboard walls!

 

[Altissimus]

Yep , definetly making a big turn.... I forget how fire started on the Forestal , explosion in the magazine. Took DAYS not hours to fight. Men were killed and ship was heavily damaged. Worst case scenario when armements intended for use against the enemy are on fire below decks.