At 'Em Arizona Fans!

[Timmy C]

Provider is no longer in the fleet - our AORs are Preserver and Protecteur. Preserver's on the East Cost, Protecteur on the west but out of service due to the May fire.

The RCN's presence at RIMPAC2014 in the Hawaii portion were HMCS Calgary and HMCS Victoria.

[marengtech]

DavidP: no, I was posted to the west coast in '96 when she was at the end of her refit then soon after she went to the east coast to serve out her final days.

[Andrew D BB39 Sec]

Nice photos of the Phoenix WWII memorial park!

I accompanied USS Arizona survivors Lauren Bruner and Don Stratton up there for the dedication last year. I remember the two of them looking at the Arizona barrel and remarking that it had obviously been sitting out in the weather a long, long time since despite the fresh paint its surface was really, really pitted.

Also that day was a third guy claiming to be a USS Arizona survivor, accompanied by his family with two young grandsons dressed up in WW2 style USN uniforms. The guy turned out to be a total fraud; very sad, he'd been lying to his family and everyone else most of his life. And he was such a nice guy. If he served honorably in the war, there's all the reason to be proud, no reason to try to work in something extra.

[Timmy C]

Important note about splinter shield orientation by Tracy White and Jeff Sharp: viewtopic.php?f=59&t=154513&view=unread#p638467

Be sure to read before fixing/attaching them on your model!

[Capt652]

I can't seem to get anywhere with the search function, so pardon my ignorance...

Is there a build thread on the 1:700 Dragon Premium edition Arizona?

I read the review already, and I'm ready to start this build.

Thanks

Timm

[biggles2]

About the metal shutters for the maindeck 6" batteries. Seeing as these were removable, just how thick, or heavy, were they? Did they provide any splinter or shrapnal protection at all, or just water protection? And how were they manhandled or installed in the confines of the battery positions?

[Tracy White]

They were fitted from the outside for water protection. As they were rigid, they did not allow the guns to train or elevate and would be removed before battle. I don't have the particulars as to how heavy they were and how the crew installed or removed them.

[biggles2]

Another Arizona question!! I'm building the Dragon 1/700. The included Dragon PE has the foremast antenna booms 4-sided (square in section). Tom's PE set has the booms 3-sided (triangle in section), unless one side is supposed to be open. I have two reference books, and did a Google search (I did my homework), but there are no close-ups which shows if the booms are 3- or 4-sided. Which is it?

[Tracy White]

Triangular - you can see it in this picture.

[Capt652]

About the metal shutters for the maindeck 6" batteries. Seeing as these were removable, just how thick, or heavy, were they? Did they provide any splinter or shrapnal protection at all, or just water protection? And how were they manhandled or installed in the confines of the battery positions?

From Stillwell's book the following will perhaps help with your question;

There is a picture on page 130 that shows one panel, hinged, with a half-round cutout for the gun barrel of the 5"/51 swung open and dogged against the bulkhead. It appears heavy steel, even heavier than the WT door next to it, with a black rubber gasket around it's perimeter. There are six dogs on the inside of the panel to secure when the panel is closed. The panels were fitted from the outside.

From page 194 the following; "The barrel of the guns stuck out through the horizontal slot, and the shutters were bolted around them. The shutters were sufficiently stout that they required three men to lift and bolt into place. They had rubber gaskets around the edges to form a watertight seal."

So it looks like just one panel was permanently mounted, don't know where the loose panels were stored.

Hope this helps

BTW, this book is an incredible record of the Arizona, well worth the purchase price.

Timm

[Chuck Bauer]

I agree, it is worth the price. You may also want to check with your county library system. If they don't have it, they may be able to order it in for you from another system. As long as you have a library card, it's FREE.

[biggles2]

Triangular - you can see it in this picture.

So the apex of the triangle is along the top? Hmmmm...I'm going to have to do some VERY careful removing and replacing!

[Jeff Sharp]

Need help identifying what this thing is on the Navigating Bridge that I have circled in green. Whatever it was, it was just inboard of the running lights.

[Tracy White]

It's a chair. Also visible in this photo as well as on the starboard side.

[Jeff Sharp]

It's a chair.

Interesting! Why have a chair there? Seems like an odd place to have one.

[Tracy White]

It doesn't show up on the BOGP, so I'm not sure what the official nomenclature is, but seeing as I've seen chairs on the bridges of other ships, I presume it was a fairly standard installation for the captain / officers to use when not in the pilot house.

[Mgunns]

Greetings folks:

I am starting to work on the 1/200 AZ. I started on the barges. I drilled out the portholes and am using the Eduard PE for the interior of the boats and the cradles. In the Stillwell book I noticed at least one of the barges seems to be painted "black" with light colored bumpers or fenders, not sure of the real name, on it and by the caption it would indicate an Admirals barge. The other boats seem to be painted the same color as the ship. The questions I have are thus: What color is the "Black" Barge?
1. Did AZ carry a "black" barge for Admiral Kidd?
2. What color were the decks? Were they the color of the AZ deck a light wood, or were they more of a stained mahogany look like a Chris Craft?
I plan on modeling the AZ in it's measure around January 1941 per the Stillwell book.
Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[U.S.S. ARIZONA]

Hello gentlemen, I will have a new thread pertaining to the big AZ in the general forum. I posted it, but since I am new it appears it must be reviewed prior to being visible. As a result I can't add all the follow-up images until that is done.

Looking forward to learning!

[MartinJQuinn]

Hello gentlemen, I will have a new thread pertaining to the big AZ in the general forum.

That thread can be found here. If the information is useful to the folks that are interested in the Arizona, I'll probably merge that thread into this one eventually.

[Capt652]

Finally, after several days of reading through the 80 some pages of this post I haven't seen this topic discussed. After the attack, what happened to the smokestack? I don't see any part of it in the after-attack pictures. There were preliminary thoughts that a Japanese bomb had gone down the stack that caused the catastrophic explosion. But I know I read that the stack grill showed no penetration. I'm not seeing any part of the stack in any of the photos. Any thoughts?

I have started the Dragon 1:700 premium edition and really enjoy reading all the interest in this iconic ship.

Timm