Military Machines Thread (No 56k)
 

as just one little picture on HAMFIST's thread of the USS Missouri created a huge discussion, I figure its about time we had a military machines thread

Be it ships, submarines, tanks, armoured vehicles past or present


Here's some of my pictures of the USS Missouri from when I went to Pearl Harbour back in may last year

A little bit of background info on the Iowa-Class battleships.
there were originally 6 of them ordered by the USN in 1939 to escort carriers. they only completed 4 of them. the 6 ships were the Iowa, New jersey, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois. Illinois and Kentucky were never completed due to the end of WWII. both were parted out and later sold for scrap.

They are oil burning and despite the fact that fully laiden they are 58,000 tonnes, they can manage 33 knots in the water.

all 4 of the Iowa class ships still exist in various locations around the US.

USS Missouri is special as it was the Ship where the treaty with Japan was signed thus ending WWII, It has seen service in every major conflict from WWII to Desert Storm and was only struck off the USN register in 1998 then moved to Pearl Harbour. She sits facing the USS Arizona "watching over the souls of the lost men".

here are some of my pictures from the when I saw it. If you go to Hawaii, be sure to do the "battle stations tour" of the ship as it is very much worth it and takes you to places normal people don't get to see.

https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...adside_USN.jpg

Here is Missouri watching over the 1200+ souls lost when the Arizona was bombed
https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...brules/bow.jpg

here is a shot of the forward facing 16 inch guns. each gun weighs 119 and half tonnes and can fire a 16 inch projectile weighing 1250 kgs over 35 miles
https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...es/fronton.jpg

here is a shot from inside the turret, this is the breach of one of the 16 inch guns. when it fired, the gun would recoil 46 inches, and 4 men would be in the breach compartment at the time with nothing to protect their hearing but maybe some cotton balls
https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...les/breach.jpg

this is the trigger for one of the guns. they could be fired from the turret or independently from fire control near the aft of the ship
https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...es/trigger.jpg

here's my old man with one of the 16 inch projectiles. it weighs 1250kgs and is trown up to 35 miles from the guns
https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...ules/shell.jpg

here is the bridge citadel which houses all of the ships vital control systems such as steering and throttles, it can withstand a hit from a 16 inch projectile and still protect the crew
https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...les/bridge.jpg

this is broadway deep within the ship, the yellow beam runs the full length of the ship and means that shells can be transfered from the fore to aft or vice versa or any other items can be manouvered to the machine shop as well.
https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...s/broadway.jpg

and this is the spot where WWII ended
https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...les/treaty.jpg

oh this thread will be one to watch...

in a way its a pity technology has rendered battleships like the iowa class obsolete, a modern missile cruiser will pack a far bigger, much more accurate punch, but you cant beat the sheer intimidation factor of those big deck guns.

the missouri originally was just a floating gun platform, to protect it self during WWII from kamikazee attack it was covered in 5 inch guns and 40mm bofors anti aircraft guns, it looked like a hedgehog, Missouri was inactive for many years after vietnam until President Reagan had them all reactivated and modernised. most of the 5 inch guns and all of the anti aircraft guns were removed and this halved the crew compliment as a result. she was fitted with tomohawk nuclear cruise missiles, harpoon anti-ship missiles and 4 Phalanx 20mm radar guided gattling guns.

It still amazes me that some bloke designed this ship without a computer or any form of cad drawings and that 70 years after it was designed, its still here.

most modern destroyers have 1 5 inch gun on the front and rely soley on missiles for protection and bombardment.

I use to be in the army i was lucky enough to spent 3 week a board the USS kittyhawk a cpl of years ago, we were doin a combined exercise were the australian snipers got to swap with the americans and experience the others life n routine, it is an unreal ship, i spent hours on deak watchin the jets land and take ok.

i dont have any pics of it as they were on my laptop and it **** itself, i do how ever have 2 pics of my deployent to East Timor, the 1st pic is of me out side of wat usto be from memory an indonisan military base on the far east side of the island.

i know there not of machinery but i thout sum ppl might like them, if ppl feel they are out of place for this thread i will remove them

https://i1015.photobucket.com/albums.../timor3013.jpg

https://i1015.photobucket.com/albums...0/SV401569.jpg

here is a pic ofof australias new m1a1 abram main battle tank, unlike the american version which is powerd by a jet engine, ours is powerd by the good ol diesel moter

https://i1015.photobucket.com/albums...t2000/tank.jpg

As impressive as the Iowa class ships are they can't hold a candle to the Yamato class of ships. 70 000 odd tonnes, 18inch main battery and some serious aa guns. I'm currently building a 1/350 of the Musashi.
https://i269.photobucket.com/albums/...al_Service.jpg


Also have various scale models of the Scharnhorst, Bismarck, Missouri and the USS Nimitz ready to start.

I hope this thread gets going.
"Big Mo" is a beautiful thing hey.There was to be another class after the "Iowa's" but it got shid canned.
They were to combat the Super battleships Yamato and Musashi.
A Supercarrier is a beautiful big thing as well.
I used to collect Militaria when i was a kid,and i found a VC in the grounds of our house in Cairns.
I didn't know what it was at the time,but the local 2nd hand dealer did and traded me for something of much less value.
Poor XF i used to do 1/72 RC stuff I built a HMAS Yarra.
Going to buy a 1/6 RC M4A3 Sherman tank very soon as well.

Should be a good thread this one.

I'm not involved in the military at all but my job does take me through a lot of Army and RAAF bases and you do see some very interesting things. One of the bases that I do a lot of work at has a number of the Abrams tanks stored there when they undergo repair and they are an awesome bit of gear when you take the time to look at them.

I love the super carriers as well, its a little sad that they don't fly the F-14 Tomcats anymore, I have a big soft spot for that aircraft. one of my favourite movies was about the Nimitz, The Final Countdown where the Nimitz is on patrol off Hawaii, encounters a weird time storm and is sent back to December 6th 1941 and is faced with taking on the entire Japanese fleet before the attack at Pearl Harbour.

https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...USS_Nimitz.jpg

https://i445.photobucket.com/albums/...0countdown.jpg

one of the greatest scenes in aviation happens in that movie where 2 F-14A's take on a pair of A6M Zeros, they just don't make movies like that anymore sadly, no special effects just pilot skill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkOsXNF_ZoM

I hope this thread gets going as much as the aviation thread does,

That tank pic is awesome, can't immagine our Abrams being nearly as fast as the american variant though if its diesel powered

This is one of my favourite movies also, i love the presidents caption "i hope there on our side" or something along those lines lol

Awsome pic's people, keep them comming, this is very interesting.

One of my favorite military vehicles is the Unimog.
For those that dont know or have never seen them in action, youtube/google Unimog and have a look.

https://www.noorloos.nl/unimog/280608/1280.jpg


Anything military that is full offroad capable is also of interest.

Excellent shots, I think the base your out the front of was used by Kopassus and was originally a Japanese Kempi Tei barracks.

Nice shot of the Abrhams.

awesome pics and info, keep em coming,

my missus is becoming a driver in the army, im pretty sure the unimog has 18 gears in fwd and reverse

I have a big soft spot for German tanks of ww2 they really were the best made. German engineers really are the best. Panzer 5(panther) and Both the tiger tanks. Its quite amazing that during the lets call it 6 years of ww2 so many tanks were updated and released in such a short amount of time. Takes like ten years to design and make a car today but they were designing tanks,planes, equipment in months. No better way to test equipment then in the heat of ccombat. During the Vietnam war I often got to ride
in the bell Huey which are very cool. My grandson is in the sas and he loves the Blackhawks but I will always have a soft spot for the Huey and the f111

And what is 56k? I have never heard of it and my military knowledge is very very good.

dialup speeds

56K is the baud rate of old dial modems that would struggle to open HI res pictures these days!

56K wouldnt open a paper bag

So he is saying no slow Internet? Because they wouldent download those pictures?

its just a warning to those people in on the internet still in the dark ages :D or if like me, you get keep getting shaped each month and get stuck at dial up speeds for a couple of days. :D

glavas for a guy that seems to think they know everything you have just proved you dont lol

keep the pics happening guys i love this sort of thing

Jason

The Australian Abrams still use a turbine engine, just that it has been modified to run on diesel.

With regard to the Missouri, it was mothballed in the 1950's and didn't see active service again until Regan's 600 ship navy plan. The only battlewagon of the Iowa class that was active during the Vietnam years was USS New Jersey.

This one is probably one of my faves of the Iowa class:

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2670/016224z.jpg

when it comes to military i do know almost everything. well im sorry i dont know about internet speeds. im 64 years old!!!!!!!!!!!

No introduction needed really....but no other aircraft comes even close for in service history. Over 50 years on the airframes is a pretty good milestone...and they arent even finished yet.


http://www.racephotography.com.au/forumpics/a168.jpg

https://img51.imageshack.us/img51/55...0803ac130a.jpg

https://img225.imageshack.us/img225/5282/ac1p.jpg

One of the ships I served on while in the Navy , HMAS TOBRUK.
I got a full tour of Missouri when berthed in front of it in Pearl Harbour in 1988 while serving on HMAS Parramatta.

Predator/Reaper drones.

Amazing but seriously scary pieces of tech.

https://img547.imageshack.us/img547/...ngmissile4.jpg

https://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g...8/elephant.jpg

German Elephant tank. Only a few were made. Biggest tank of WWII by far, simply massive, but that proved its downfall as it was slow and the turret was fixed, making it inaccurate.

The one in the pic is the only surviving one left, featured on the Tank Overhaul show on Foxtel. Now resides in the US Army's museum. It was immobilized in battle in Italy I think.

theres the face of future air warfare imo...

if its not already.