Glorious and Majestic old Warships

USS Arizona



The Pennsylvania-class ships were significantly larger than their predecessors, the . Arizona had an of 608 feet (185.3 m), a of 97 feet (29.6 m) (at the ), and a of 29 feet 3 inches (8.9 m) at . This was 25 feet (7.6 m) longer than the older ships. She displaced 29,158 long tons (29,626 t) at and 31,917 long tons (32,429 t) at deep load, over 4,000 long tons (4,060 t) more than the older ships. The ship had a of 7.82 feet (2.4 m) at deep load.


The ship had four direct-drive sets, each of which drove a propeller 12 feet 1.5 inches (3.7 m) in diameter. They were powered by twelve . The turbines were designed to produce a total of 34,000 (25,000 kW), but only achieved 33,376 shp (24,888 kW) during Arizona 's , when she met her designed speed of 21 (39 km/h; 24 mph). However, she did manage to reach 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph) during a full-power trial in September 1924. She was designed to normally carry 1,548 long tons (1,573 t) of , but had a maximum capacity of 2,305 long tons (2,342 t). At full capacity, the ship could steam at a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) for an estimated 7,552 (13,990 km; 8,690 mi) with a clean bottom. She had four 300-kilowatt (402 hp) .


Arizona carried twelve 45- in triple . The turrets were numbered from I to IV from front to rear. The guns could not elevate independently and were limited to a maximum elevation of +15° which gave them a maximum range of 21,000 yards (19,000 m). The ship carried 100 shells for each gun. Defense against was provided by twenty-two 51-caliber mounted in individual in the sides of the ship's hull. Positioned as they were they proved vulnerable to sea spray and could not be worked in heavy seas. At an elevation of 15°, they had a maximum range of 14,050 yards (12,850 m). Each gun was provided with 230 rounds of ammunition. The ship mounted four 50-caliber for defense, although only two were fitted when completed. The other pair were added shortly afterward on top of Turret III. Arizona also mounted two 21-inch (533 mm) and carried 24 for them.


The Pennsylvania-class design continued the principle of armoring only the most important areas of the ship begun in the Nevada class. The of measured 13.5 inches (343 mm) thick and only covered the ship's machinery spaces and . It had a total height of 17 feet 6 inches (5.3 m), of which 8 feet 9.75 inches (2.7 m) was below the waterline; beginning 2 feet 4 inches (0.7 m) below the waterline, the belt tapered to its minimum thickness of 8 inches (203 mm). The transverse at each end of the ship ranged from 13 to 8 inches in thickness. The faces of the gun turrets were 18 inches (457 mm) thick while the sides were 9–10 inches (229–254 mm) thick and the turret roofs were protected by 5 inches (127 mm) of armor. The armor of the was 18 to 4.5 inches (457 to 114 mm) thick. The was protected by 16 inches (406 mm) of armor and had a roof eight inches thick.


The main armor deck was three plates thick with a total thickness of 3 inches (76 mm); over the steering gear the armor increased to 6.25 inches (159 mm) in two plates. Beneath it was the splinter deck that ranged from 1.5 to 2 inches (38 to 51 mm) in thickness. The boiler uptakes were protected by a conical that ranged from 9 to 15 inches (230 to 380 mm) in thickness. A three-inch was placed 9 feet 6 inches (2.9 m) inboard from the ship's side and the ship was provided with a complete . Testing in mid-1914 revealed that this system could withstand 300 pounds (140 kg) of .



Back to bottling my Grenache

call me crazy, this is what I think of when I read "majesty warships". the ships are crap, but they sure look cool!

Miragedriver said:

I don’t know if we can call this a majestic old warship, but it is an interesting footnote in history.

This is old news from 2009. A Polish ship ORP Arctowski, verified the location of the German Air Craft Carrier Graf Zeppelin after the carrier was discovered in June by workers of Petrobaltic group. This is a company exploring for gas fields in the Baltic.

The Graf Zeppelin, a ship of nearly 260 meters in length,it currently lies at a depth of 87 meters, but not a hazard to navigation, because its highest point is 60 m below the water surface. Now, a team of experts plans to rescue artifacts from the ship.

The Germans faced their own challenges and despite the fact that Graf Zeppelin was launched on 8 December 1938 she was never completed and never achieved an operational status. Part of the problem was the weakness of the Kreigsmarine in relation to the other services, especially Goering’s Luftwaffe which maintained control of all German aircraft design, construction and operation. The other major issue was the lack of experience the Germans had in carrier design or construction which resulted in a number of retrofits which lasted until 1943 when she was nearly complete. At that point in time Hitler now thoroughly disillusioned with the Kriegsmarine surface units suspended her construction. She was scuttled in April 1945 before she could be captured by the Soviets. The Soviet Union would study her and use her in ordnance testing to see what kind of damage a carrier might absorb. She sank following being hit by 24 bombs, projectiles and two torpedoes.

The incomplete Graf Zeppelin

The utilization of this vessel by the Axis Powers would probably not have altered the course of the war but would have been an interesting footnote to history had it become operational and participated in any action against Allied Carriers.



Back to bottling my Grenache

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Graf Zep. she was not really a battle ready carrier but more of a technology demonstration. It had an innovative compress air catapult and an engine oil warming system.

Would it had been useful in actual war? its hard to say; not needing to warmup engine oil for 8 aircraft only is not that much of a gain, nor the quick launch of 18 aircraft in 30 sec intervals that useful in a fleet engagement - at least not in the "classical" carrier warfare to be developed in WW2.

The question is also, that she did not have meaningful aircraft that can take full advantage of those systems, e.g. lets say small size torpedo bomber that can carry two torpedos and take off with the catapult instead of the typical 1 which would help with the smaller number of aircraft.

shen said:

call me crazy, this is what I think of when I read "majesty warships". the ships are crap, but they sure look cool!

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I won't call the Fuso and the Yamashiro crap, they are fine ships which give a good account of themselves. A pre-jutland design, both ship took tremendous punishment before sinking. They were too slow for the pacific war, while the only notable engagement they took part in is the Surigao straits where they were sunk, we have to remember that they were dodging PT boats and destroyers torpedo runs and air attacks the few days prior and only Yamashiro made it to the amrerican BB line; and by that time, the torpedo hit had her damage control flood the 5th and 6th magazine taking our her rear two turrets.

She had a good crew, not many ships can operate after taking two torpedos and maintain 18 knots; she took ~20 large caliber hits and numerous smaller caliber hits and a total of 4-5 torpedo prior to sinking. She didn't hit much, but it is understandable with no radar, and when the ship is ablaze.

For ships of their age, pre WW1 battleships, they had a very good showing in ww2.

The following is a GREAT picture of the US Navy battleships, USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) and USS Colorado (BB-45) leading a group of cruisers (Louisville, Portland, and Columbia) into Lingayen Gulf of the Philippines in January 1945.

These were a couple of older US Battleships that survived the war and were used for shore bombardment and anti-aircraft protection through the war.


Pennsylvania (sister ship to the USS Arizona) was in dry dock at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1041. She was damaged, but not heavily, and sailed away from Pearl Harbor on December 20th.

Pennsylvania was commissioned in 1916 and decommissioned in 1946 after 30 years service

Colorado was commissioned in 1923 and decommissioned in 1947 after 24 years service.

Both served the entire war in the Pacific.

Lezt said:

I won't call the Fuso and the Yamashiro crap, they are fine ships which give a good account of themselves. A pre-jutland design, both ship took tremendous punishment before sinking. They were too slow for the pacific war, while the only notable engagement they took part in is the Surigao straits where they were sunk, we have to remember that they were dodging PT boats and destroyers torpedo runs and air attacks the few days prior and only Yamashiro made it to the amrerican BB line; and by that time, the torpedo hit had her damage control flood the 5th and 6th magazine taking our her rear two turrets.

She had a good crew, not many ships can operate after taking two torpedos and maintain 18 knots; she took ~20 large caliber hits and numerous smaller caliber hits and a total of 4-5 torpedo prior to sinking. She didn't hit much, but it is understandable with no radar, and when the ship is ablaze.

For ships of their age, pre WW1 battleships, they had a very good showing in ww2.

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ok, crap may be overstating it. I agree they were fine ships when they were first commissioned in 1915. They were pretty much useless by the time of Pacific war during WW2. Fuso sank quickly from one or two torpedo hits. Was that due to the unrefined fuel oil or the poor underwater protection of battleships of their era?

To be honest, I find predreadnaughts to be very characteristic ships, stunning and very nationalistic.

Rusian Gromoboi

French Massena


The french Surcouf is definitly one of the more interesting ones:

shen said:

ok, crap may be overstating it. I agree they were fine ships when they were first commissioned in 1915. They were pretty much useless by the time of Pacific war during WW2. Fuso sank quickly from one or two torpedo hits. Was that due to the unrefined fuel oil or the poor underwater protection of battleships of their era?

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No one really knows, as the Japanese fleet was annihilated and there were very litle to no survivors. Even Japanese sources claimed that Fuso was engaging the American BB line and Yamashiro was blown into two; being sisterships of the same class, the actual history is confusing.

Mogami reported 2 torpedo hits on Fuso's star port side, Melvin launched a spread of 9 torpedos 3:01 am and reported 2 hits at 3.09 am, when she was disabled/ flooded her star port machine room, meaning Fuso was left behind Mogami and Yamashiro . US radar reported that Fuso kept going on her port machinery for a while. Fuso supposingly blew up at 3.45 am, Mind you, her two halves didn't sink until 5.35 am by gunfire for the bow section, and 6.40 for the stren, with the DD Asagumo taking on survivors and being torpedoed by PT 323. i.e. most or the rescued crew of the fuso was killed in the second sinking.

What we could say is, structurally there were sound ships, they did not have fatal design flaws like the italian battleships or british battlecrusiers, but had outdated fire control, and served in a war way past their prime. Had Fuso's crew been able to flood the magazine, it is likely that they would survive as one piece to be sunk in the morning by american gun fire.

Here is a better read than my narrative:

Lezt said:

Graf Zep. she was not really a battle ready carrier but more of a technology demonstration. It had an innovative compress air catapult and an engine oil warming system.

Would it had been useful in actual war? its hard to say; not needing to warmup engine oil for 8 aircraft only is not that much of a gain, nor the quick launch of 18 aircraft in 30 sec intervals that useful in a fleet engagement - at least not in the "classical" carrier warfare to be developed in WW2.

The question is also, that she did not have meaningful aircraft that can take full advantage of those systems, e.g. lets say small size torpedo bomber that can carry two torpedos and take off with the catapult instead of the typical 1 which would help with the smaller number of aircraft.

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If the carrier were completed and employed early in the war, they might have provided an insight on what an aircraft carrier can do even if the design of Graf Zep technology was not that great

Equation said:

So sad to see it goes into the scrap.

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Well, that's a lot of steel. I'd rather see it dies like this than sinking into the ocean.