Heavy Metal

HMS Royal Oak leading a flotilla date unknown
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“USS Idaho (BB-42) fitting out at the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey, 10 March 1919
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Circa 1929-1931, USS Arizona (BB-39) undergoing modernization at Norfolk. The destroyer Cole (DD-155) is in the background.
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The German battleship Bismarck in Kiel (September 1940). This image offers a good view of its enormous 36-meter beam, then the widest battleship in the world. Only the Japanese battleships of the Yamato Class still under construction would be wider by a meter
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Spotted at a junkyard. first, i know nothing about forklifts (techically this probably aint a "forklift" -- more like a "loader with a fork vs. a scoop?).

apparently they were moving around full size SUVs (like the pewter Tahoe to the right), picked up from the front, with this thing. The lift fork reaches all the way to the rear axle of the SUV from the front apparently.

usable on gravel/dirt surfaces, those "tires" are non-inflatable, solid rubber (like fork lifts in factories), eyeballin' pic they look to be 2+ feet wide, 4+ feet diameter? i didnt see it in person .. but never seen one exactly like this to my memory. must be common though in salvage yards.

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The XB-19 in flight, 1941-1942. It was fitted with a defensive armament of five .50s, six .30s, and two 37mm cannon
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On January 14, 1991 in the Arabian Gulf, two sisters met for the first time in nearly 40 years - the USS Missouri (BB-63) and USS Wisconsin (BB-64). After serving in the Korean War together, they were subsequently separated and stationed on opposite sides of the country. Turmoil in the Persian Gulf roused them to action and gave them the rare opportunity to meet again.These photos show the Mighty Mo and Wisky taking on fuel from the supply ship USS Sacramento (AOE-1) at center. The bow of the Wisconsin was severely damaged in a collision May 6, 1956 and repaired using the bow of the incomplete Iowa-class battleship Kentucky. Two engines and two boilers from the Kentucky were used to build the Sacramento, and what remained of Kentucky was scrapped. All totalled, there are about 2 and one-third Iowa class battleships in these photos.
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That's cool!!!

Ooooo, think of the Action Movie that could be made!!! Terrorists take over Wisconsin and start firing 16" rounds into Norfolk!!! Would be better than "Under Siege!" :D
 
the Big Boy 4-8-8-4, a B-17 that I would not have wanted to be a pilot, co, or nose gunner on, and the USAF E-3 AWACS (the most beautiful airplane in the world!)

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Battleship USS Wisconsin towering over the streets of Norfolk, Virginia.
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President Trump once briefly mentioned reactivating one or more of the Iowas and they said he was nuts (of course). They said the same about President Reagan when he did it, but it was more than responding to the last gasp Soviet military expansion. The reasons were sound. After carrier air power made the idea of open ocean gunnery duels obsolete in WW2, most navies concentrated on submarines and small ships as missile launch platforms. Only a few countries could afford the cost of aircraft carriers. But as defenses against air attacks evolved, some questions were raised. It was pointed out that the majority of targets struck in Vietnam, were within range of the 16” gun. A pair of carriers could deliver around 450 tons of ordinance in 12 hours of launch and recovery. Nine 16” guns could deliver the same weight in under 20 minutes and without the high price paid in lost men and aircraft. Most naval vessels after WW2 were built with steel plate and aluminum and are vulnerable to anti-ship missiles like the Argentines used against the British in the Falkland Island War. The Iowas are armor plated, built to withstand the equivalent of their own gunfire and would not be seriously threatened. Then there’s the psychological effect. There’s a chapter in Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising, where Russian troops are in Iceland and can see one the Iowas offshore. They are horrified as they watch her fire a salvo in their direction.
 
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I have a soft spot for the New Jersey. Reactivated in Reagan's 600 ship program, we followed her around alot, although not home ported in same place we just ended up in the same ops often. Even at the end they were together.
4 Knox class frigates, mine is 1055 hull number. The New Jersey is closest to the pier, far side of USS Roark 1053.
Here is a later shot with the Knox (1052) and the Hepburn (1055)missing, gone off to thier final resting place, both sunk as targets in Pacific ocean.
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The New Jersey is now a museum ship in New Jersey.
 
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