Subject: SMML VOL 1884 Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 23:16:52 +1000 SMML is proudly sponsored by SANDLE http://sandlehobbies.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS INDEX 1: Re: The USS New Jersey and USS Missouri 2: HMS Eclipse 3: Re: Strange submarines 4: A Day at Sea 5: IJN FIREBOAT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD INDEX 1: For Sale ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- MODELLERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: louellet@uism.bu.edu Subject: Re: The USS New Jersey and USS Missouri Of the 4 Iowa class battleships, only WISCONSIN and IOWA are retained by the US Navy. According to the US Navy's Naval Vessel Register, USS New Jersey was stricken on 01/04/1999, and listed as disposed as of July 20, 2000. The disposal status is 'donated as museum and memorial.' See: http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/BB62.htm The USS Missouri was stricken on 01/12/1995 and donated as a museum as of 05/04/1998. See: http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/BB63.htm When a vessel is stricken and disposed, it is no longer considered part of the reserve fleet. The Navy does reserve the right to remove parts if they are needed for other ships. I think the last time they did that was during the Gulf War. The USS Wisconsin is 'Inactive, reinstated in the Naval Vessel Register, in reserve, out of Commission' See: http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/BB64.htm The USS Iowa is listed in the same status as the Wisconsin, but it is supposedly the parts hulk for the Wisconsin, if the Wisconsin is ever reactivated. The damaged #2 turret was never repaired, so only 6 of the 9 16 inch rifles are functional. See: http://www.nvr.navy.mil/nvrships/details/BB61.htm According to people in the know at usenet group sci.military.naval, The US Navy has removed the last 2 battleships from reserve in the past, but the US Congress keeps reinstating them as a condition of approving the Navy's budget. Of course they allocate $0 for maintaining the ships. The Navy decided to 'store' the Wisconsin at the Norfolk Virginia waterfront next to an existing museum. They also moved the Iowa all the way to the other side of the country, near San Francisco, as part of some sort of redistribution of inactive ships. It is of course, only a coincidence that the leading candidate for preserving the Iowa as a museum is a San Francisco based organization! The US Navy does not want the battleships and has not for some time. The current modern ships are understaffed, so bringing a relic out of retirement that requires a crew second only to an aircraft carrier, ... yep, that makes a whole lot of sense! Larry Ouellette Volunteer, USS Salem (CA 139) United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum Quincy, Massachusetts, USA http://www.uss-salem.org/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) From: 1250man@attbi.com Subject: HMS Eclipse Dear Mr. Taylor, Saw your item on ECLIPSE, and tried to e-mail you directly, but it came back as "undeliverable." It is interesting that you have been researching this particular ship. I have an oil painting of her entitled "H.M.S. ECLIPSE homeward bound 1904" which depicts the ship leaving Chinese waters (there is a junk clearly visible in the painting). The ship is painted gray and flies a very long commissioning pennant from the foretop. The painting is typical Chinese School, and was obviously done contemporaneously. No boot topping is visible, but Chinese School paintings are often a bit primitive and so the absence of this in the painting is not conclusive. I have had this painting for at least 15 years, and while I am well familiar with the practice of the RN and others to paint China Station ships in white/buff etc. it never occurred to me to ask why ECLIPSE is painted gray in the painting. Paul Jacobs ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) From: "Michael London" Subject: Re: Strange submarines John Lambert's note in Vol 1883 adds another strange submarine to the list: This was indeed a very large submarine built as an experiment for the RN in 1923-25. Not quite as large as the later French Surcouf she certainly eclipsed both the K and M Classes in size. She was armed with 6-21in TT and 4-5.2in intended to engage enemy destroyers. Bedevilled with constant machinery problems she was laid up in December 1933 and broken up in 1937. I recall that the Dinky Toy warship set included her along with Nelson, Rodney, Effingham, Broke, Amazon and, from their French factory, Dunkerque. There were others in the set and perhaps someone might be able to add to the list and also tell me what scale was used (smaller than 1:1200 for sure). Michael London ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) From: "Arjun Sarup" Subject: A Day at Sea Hi, Just thought I'd relate a day at sea on the INS Ranvijay, a Kashin II class destroyer, accompanied by the INS Delhi. First of all was the pleasure of being aboard a destroyer... wow! This was followed by the Delhi drawing alongside and the two ships doing a jackstay. The Ranvijay had her RBU-6000 ASW mortars swivel, her SSM doors open, and best of all, two SAMs pop up very rapidly on her forward launcher. I got a pretty good view of all of this, since I was standing just under the bridge in the open. The RBU-6000s were fired, which required staying inside the ship. The flame factor was anticipated, since I've seen news clips before, but the noise was not, you actually have to be standing 15 feet away behind a steel wall to experience it. A few illumination flares were fired and a LMG opened up. Standing next to one without ear defenders is bad, but what was awesome for noise was to hear the ship's gatlings open up. All three helos, i.e. Delhi's Seaking & Chetak and Ranvijay's Kamov were flown off, dunked, did a practice SAR, and I was about 20 feet from the Kamov as she recovered. All in all, quite a day! Anyone been out to sea recently? Best wishes, Arjun Sarup Mauritius http://pages.intnet.mu/warbirds/warships/index2.htm ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) From: Larryoc2@aol.com Subject: IJN FIREBOAT Ahoy to all hands. This is my first SMML input/question. I'm considering a 1/700 IJN pierside diorama and want to include a fireboat (AKA a tug to fight fires). I'd appreciate any recommendations with regard to paint scheme and the H20 cannons. Seems like I didn't pay attention to that sort of thing while overseas with the Seabees, and making port visits while onbd USS NIMITZ (CVN 68) and USS PEARL HARBOR (LSD 52). I've just moved to the Cleveland, OH area and would also like to know if there is a place to find the schedule or locations of the next model shows INCONUS. BTW, I've enjoyed all the discussions in this forum, and am currently working on my two IJN fleets. The one I "built" (and packed away) before spending 24 years in the USN, and the one that consists of ships that are still in their original boxes. Standing by Larry O'Connor ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADERS, ANNOUNCEMENTS & NOTICEBOARD ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) From: annobon4@aol.com Subject: For Sale W-5 USS Belleau Wood CVL-24 Skywave 1/700 scale :$15.00 plus $3.50 for shipping and handling. The kit is complete still sealed in plastic with instructions and decals. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Check out the SMML site for the List Rules, Backissues, Member's models & reference pictures at: http://smmlonline.com Check out the APMA site for an index of ship articles in the Reference section at: http://apma.org.au/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Volume