I didn't see this elsewhere in the thread so...................
In the late summer of 1941 (August?), a LIFE photographer took a series of photos aboard what I think is a Brooklyn class ship, with another sister in the background. I believe one of these is Boise. Both appear to be in Measure 1.
Can anybody actually ID the ships, and which ship is which?
The Brooklyn class can be divided into two groups, three if you include the two St Louis class ships. The first 4 were built with the open topped MK-33 AA directors, while the second group of 3 had the fully enclosed type. Both cruisers in the Life series had the fully enclosed type. That limits them to being Phoenix, Boise, or Honolulu. Beyond that, it is difficult to distinguish among them in pre-war (pre-modification) photos. You will need deck logs to see who was there at the time.
BTW, by the end of the war, 3 of the ships with open topped directors had them replaced by the fully enclosed types. The fourth (Savannah) was upgraded to MK-37 directors, as was the Honolulu.
Hi Dan,
Peter Stackpole was indeed aboard USS Boise in Aug. '41. Boise was the 2nd ship of CRUDIV 9 at the time. There are a couple of other photos in this series that shows that other cruiser in question. In all the photos, this other cruiser is sailing ahead of Boise. That indicates to me that the cruiser in question is USS Honolulu.
Guba wrote:The second photo also raises a question. What is laying on the deck near the edge? Is it a degaussing cable? I have never seen anything like it.
That is exactly what it is. This is considered the "permanent" placement of the deguassing gear by the Navy. Any ship showing the degaussing gear along the outside of the hull was considered "temporary" gear until the "permanent" gear could be installed along the deck edge like this.
The photo of "Honolulu" steaming ahead is interesting as it caught the moment of launch of her SOC Seaplane and you can see the smoke puff for the powder charge of the catapult.
Ok, I have another Boise question. The February, 2022 issue of Naval History Magazine has a great article on the Battle of Balikpapan. Boise was tasked as flagship for the force that attacked the Japanese transports there until she ran aground on a reef in the run-up to battle.
In mentioning Boise, the article states that she was the only radar-equipped ship in that region. Is that true? If so, then what type radar? I was under the impression that all the CXAM and CXAM-1 units were otherwise accounted for.
"Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday." John Wayne
Dan K wrote:Ok, I have another Boise question. The February, 2022 issue of Naval History Magazine has a great article on the Battle of Balikpapan. Boise was tasked as flagship for the force that attacked the Japanese transports there until she ran aground on a reef in the run-up to battle.
In mentioning Boise, the article states that she was the only radar-equipped ship in that region. Is that true? If so, then what type radar? I was under the impression that all the CXAM and CXAM-1 units were otherwise accounted for.
This photo https://www.navsource.org/archives/04/047/0404704.jpg from November 1941 shows one of the "tall" FC (MK-3) sets on Boise's forward MK-34 director. No air search set is visible in the photo. So she was radar equipped, just not with either air or surface search sets.
A quick question: were USS Nashville and USS Honolulu identical sisters by 1944? I'd like to use the Niko USS Nashville kit to build USS Honolulu in 1944 or so, and it looks like there would be few if any changes needed to do so.
Am I correct, or were there subtle differences between the two ships in 1944?
In mid 1944, they were similar, but not totally identical. Aside from the inevitable minute differences, the most significant and visible differences were in the searchlight config (and other between-the-stacks features), main masts (very different) and Honolulu had caps on both stacks where Nashville had no caps.
By the end of 1945, Honolulu was closer to Savannah than any of her other sisters. Honolulu was rebuilt after being torpedoed off the Philippines in late 1944.
Hi, maccrage
How did your 1942 Nashville with the Shapeways Brooklyn superstructure (16OCT2021) turn out?
Who can I contact regarding the Brooklyn superstructure?
R/David
This is a bit of a long shot, but I have in mind a project to build the aft section of a Brooklyn/St. Louis CL where the hangar cover would open by motor.
I have found a picture taken at the aft end of the hangar deck looking forward, but I'm wondering if anyone else has found any kind of pictures of the insides, or a general plan illustrating the general layout that I could use to fill in some of the blanks.
Thanks in advance,
Bruce
OSC USN-Ret
Currently on the building ways:
1/144 USS Stevens DD-479
1/144 USS Cook Inlet AVP-36
1/144 USS Walke DD-416
1/144 USS Preble DDG-46
