kato13
09-10-2008, 05:01 AM
rcaf_777 07-30-2008, 04:47 PM Here is some more ships for mini adventures
SS United States
She was built from 1950-1952 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry dock Company in Newport News, Virginia. Her keel was laid and her hull was constructed in a graving dock. The United States was built to exacting Navy specifications, which required that she be heavily compartmentalized and have separate engine rooms to enable her to survive should she be damaged in war.
Mindful that during World War II U.S. aircraft carriers, with wooden flight decks, tended to catch fire more readily than steel-decked British carriers, the designers of the United States did not use a single piece of wood in her framing, accessories or decorations. There were no wood interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal and spun glass fibre to ensure they were in full compliance with strict fireproof guidelines set by the U.S. Navy. Even the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were made of aluminium. The only wooden equipment used in the construction of the vessel was in the bilge keels and butcher blocks in the galleys. The grand piano in the ballroom was even made of a rare, fire-resistant species of wood
Embarking on her maiden voyage on 4 July 1952, the United States smashed the transatlantic speed record held by the Queen Mary for the previous 14 years by over 10 hours, making her maiden crossing from the Ambrose lightship at New York Harbour to Bishop Rock off Cornwall, UK in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes at an average speed of 35.59 knots (65.91 km/h). The liner also broke the westbound crossing record by returning to America in 3 days 12 hours and 12 minutes at an average speed of 34.51 knots (63.91 km/h), thereby obtaining both the eastbound and westbound Blue Ribbons. The United States maintained a 30 knot (56 km/h) crossing speed on the North Atlantic in a service career that lasted 17 years.
After going out of service in 1969, the United States has been passed between several companies. In 1978 the vessel was sold to private interests who hoped to revitalize the liner in a time share cruise ship format. Financing fell through and the ship was placed up for auction by MARAD. Soon a new consortium of owners became interested in revitalizing the ship and the vessel was towed to Europe to undergo asbestos removal. No viable agreements were reached and the United States was towed to her current dock in South Philadelphia. When the Twilight War broke out she was pressed back into service as began haul Cargo and troops, in 1995 she was sized by the French Navy for accidental entering French Waters.
Tonnage: 53,329 gross tones
Length: 990 ft
Height: 175 ft
Range: 10,000 NM
Passengers: 1928
Crew: 900 Officers and Crew
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner HRM Queen Elizabeth. She is the flagship of the line Built in Clydebank Scotland, she was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners prior to the construction of the QM2. Before she was refitted with a diesel power plant in 1986, she was also the last oil-fired passenger steamship to cross the Atlantic in scheduled liner service. During almost 40 years of service, the QE2 has traveled the world and now operates predominantly as a cruise ship, sailing out of Southampton, England.
The Queen Elizabeth 2's maiden voyage, from Southampton to New York City, commenced on May 2, 1969, taking 4 days, 16 hours and 35 minutes. However, Prince Charles was the first "civilian" passenger to board the ship, on her voyage from the shipyard in Clydebank to dry dock in Greenock. In 1970 she set a record in crossing the Atlantic in 3 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes, an average speed of 30.36 knots. The following year she participated in the rescue of some 500 passengers from the burning French Line ship Antilles.
On May 17, 1972, while travelling from New York to Southampton, she was the subject of a bomb threat. She was searched by her crew, and a bomb disposal team parachuted into the sea near the ship. No bomb was found, but the hoaxer was arrested by the FBI. The following year the QE2 undertook two chartered cruises through the Mediterranean to Israel in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the states founding. One kitchen on the ship was koshered for Passover, and many Jewish people celebrated Passover on the ship. Later, on July 16, 1974, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat revealed in a television interview that Libyan President Muammar al-Qaddafi had ordered an Egyptian submarine to torpedo the QE2 during the cruise. Sadat said he had personally countermanded the order.
In 1982, she took part in the Falklands War, carrying 3,000 troops and a 650 volunteer crew to the south Atlantic. She was refitted in Southampton in preparation for war service, including the installation of three helicopter pads. That same year she returned to the UK, being welcomed by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother on board the Royal Yacht Britannia, and underwent conversion back to passenger service, with her funnel being painted in the traditional Cunard orange-red with black stripes, but her hull painted an unconventional light charcoal grey. This colour proved hard to maintain, and so was reverted to traditional colours in 1983.
In August 1992, her hull was damaged when she ran aground off Cuttyhunk Island near Cape Cod, while returning from a five day cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia along the east coast of the United States and Canada. A combination of outdated charts and faster than normal speed led to the ship's hull scraping a rock on the ocean floor, the accident resulted in the ship being taken out of service while repairs were made in dry dock. In 1994 her last operation cruise was to Halifax carrying government officials and other persons fleeing the war in Europe on here way back to the UK she carried the last remaining UK and German Troops left in Canada and the US. She returned to Canada one last time, this time to North Sydney Harbour, to what the company though was nice quite harbour to sit out the war. She currently serves as the afloat headquarters for the remains on the Canadian Navy.
Tonnage: 70,327 gross tonnes
Length: 963 ft
Height: 171 ft 4 in
Range: 10,000 NM
Passengers: 1,756 passengers
Crew: 1,015 officers and crew
SS France
The ship was constructed to replace the line's other aging ships like the SS Ile de France and SS Liberté, which by the 1950s were considered old and outdated. Without these vessels, however, the French Line had no ability to compete against their rivals, most notably Cunard Line, which also had plans for constructing a new modern liner which was the Queen Elizabeth II. was the She was the French Line flagship from 1961 to 1974, combining regular transatlantic crossings - six days and nights - with occasional winter cruises, as well as two world circumnavigations. She sailed the North Atlantic run between Le Havre and New York for thirteen years. However, by the beginning of the 1970s jet travel was by far more popular than ship travel, and the costs of fuel were ever increasing. The France, which had always relied on subsidies from the French government, was forced to take advantage of these more and more.
Using the ship's versatile design to its full potential, the CGT began to send the France on more cruises during the winter, which was off-season for the Atlantic trade. The France's cruises were popular, and her first world cruise took place in 1972. Too large to traverse the Panama and Suez Canals, she was forced to sail around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. That same year, with the destruction of the Seawise University (former RMS Queen Elizabeth) by fire in Hong Kong, the France became the largest passenger ship in the world. Still, as the opening years of the decade progressed, the cruise market expanded, seeing the construction of smaller, purpose built cruise ships which could also fit through the Panama Canal.
Worse, in 1973 the Oil Crisis hit and the price of oil went from $35 US to $95 US per barrel. When the French government, then realized that keeping the France running would necessitate an addition ten million dollars a year, they opted instead to subsidies the then developing Concorde. Without this government money, the French Line could not operate, and with a press release issued in 1974 it was announced that the France would be withdrawn from service on October 25 of that year.
In 1979 the Ship was sold to the Norwegian Cruise Line, for $18 million, and was converted into the world's largest cruise ship for another 80 million The SS Norway was registered in Oslo, given the call sign LITA (literally meaning "small"), and was re-christened on April 14, 1980, as the first super liner employed in cruise service. On her maiden call to Oslo, senior steward Wesley Samuels of Jamaica, in the presence of King Olav V, hoisted the United Nations flag as a sign of the ship's international crew. The Norway remains the only ship given permission to fly the UN flag. As the SS Norway she was the flagship of the Norwegian Cruise Line from 1980 to approximately 1999. Her size, passenger capacity, and amenities revolutionized the cruise industry and started a building frenzy as competitors began to order bigger and larger ships. As cruise competition attempted to take some of Norway's brisk business, the Norway herself was upgraded several times in order to maintain her position as the "grand dame" of the Caribbean, including the addition of new decks to her superstructure. While many ship aficionados believe the new decks spoiled her original clean, classic lines, the new private veranda cabins on the added decks were instrumental in keeping Norway financially afloat during the later years of her operation, as these became a common feature throughout the cruise industry. Competition eventually overtook the Norway, and she even started taking a backseat to other ships in Norwegian Cruise Line's line up itself. No longer the "Ship amongst Ships", her owners severely cut back on her maintenance and upkeep. In spite of this, the cutbacks continued and problems mounted even as the ship continued to sail with full occupancy right up till the start of Twilight War.
As the war began war began to heat up the owners though she would called up as a troop ship, however since the aviation was quicker, she soon found herself at Anchor in Oslo. Her last voyage was to neutral France, she currently afloat in the Port of Le Harve.
Tonnage: 76,049 gross tonnes
Length: 1,035 ft
Height: 175 ft
Range: 10,000 NM
Passengers: 2,565 passengers
Crew: 875 officers and crew
HMY Britannia
HMY Britannia was built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire Scotland, being launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953 and commissioned on 11 January 1954. During her career as Royal Yacht, she conveyed the Queen, other members of the Royal Family, and various dignitaries on 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters. Prince Charles and Princess Diana took a honeymoon cruise aboard Britannia in 1981. She also evacuated over 1,000 refugees from the civil war in Aden in 1986. In addition, the ship was intended to serve as a mobile refuge for the British Royal Family in the event of nuclear warfare with the Soviet Union. Before the Twilight War she and Royal family sailed away to undisclosed location. When see returned she was converted into a hospital ship and sent to Middle East
Tonnage: 5769 gross tonnes
Length: 412 ft
Height: 133 ft
Range: 2400 nm
Passengers: 50
Crew: 19 officers and 217 Royal Yachtsmen
USS Potomac AG-25
The USS Potomac was originally built in 1934 by the Manitowoc Ship Building Company, Manitowoc as the United States Coast Guard Cutter Electra. She was converted to her new role and commissioned into the US Navy in 1936. In the following years, the USS Potomac was heavily used by President Roosevelt, for fishing trips and informal political meetings. In 1939 the United Kingdom’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth travelled with the Roosevelt’s aboard the USS Potomac to George Washington’s home at Mt Vernon.
On the August 3, 1941, President Roosevelt left Washington to board the USS Potomac at the submarine base at New London. The USS Potomac then sailed for Appogansett Bay where the President did some fishing and entertained guests including Crown Princess Märtha of Norway. Eventually the USS Potomac anchored in Menemsha Bight in Vineyard Sound, where the heavy cruiser USS Augusta already lay at anchor. In the early hours of the August 5, the USS Potomac came alongside the USS Augusta and the President and his party transferred to the warship. The USS Augusta then proceeded at high speed to Newfoundland for a clandestine meeting with Winston Churchill. During this meeting, Roosevelt and Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, agreeing the principles of the Allied partnership during World War II and setting the scene for the United Nations to plan the post-war peace.
In the meantime and for security purposes, the President's flag continued to be flown from the USS Potomac while she transited the Cape Cod Canal to New England waters. A Secret Serviceman, approximating the President in size and affecting his mannerisms when visible from a distance, played a starring role in the drama. Press releases issued daily from the USS Potomac led all who read them to believe that the President was really embarked in his yacht on a pleasure cruise. After the meetings, the USS Augusta returned the President to the USS Potomac on the August 14.
After President Roosevelt's death, the USS Potomac was decommissioned from the US Navy in 1945. She subsequently served with the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission and was used as a ferry boat between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In 1964 she was purchased by Elvis Presley. By 1980 she was involved in drug smuggling and was seized by the US Customs in San Francisco. She sat in dry dock in Sausalito until she was towed to Treasure Island, the proud vessel’s hull was pierced one night and she sank Refloated by the Navy two weeks later, she was sold to the Port of Oakland for just $15,000. The Port of Oakland then completely restored the boat just before the Nukes fell, she was then spirited away
Tonnage: 376 gross tonnes
Length: 165 ft
Height: 25 feet
Range: 3,000 NM
Passengers: 50
Crew: 7 officers, 68 men
USS Sequoia
The Sequoia started out as the Sequoia II, a private yacht built for $200,000 in 1925/1926 at a Camden, New Jersey shipyard. It was built for Richard Cadwalader of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who sold it to the president of the Sequoia Oil Company in Texas.
The Sequoia was purchased in 1931 by the United States Department of Commerce, for Prohibition patrol and decoy duties. Herbert Hoover, an avid angler, had decommissioned the presidential yacht the USS Mayflower in 1929 as an economy measure, and borrowed the Sequoia from the Commerce Department as an unofficial yacht during the last two years of his Presidency. In 1933, it was transferred to the Navy, serving officially as the presidential yacht for three years, until replaced by the Potomac. From 1936 through 1969 the Sequoia then became the yacht of the Secretary of the Navy. During this period the Sequoia was used by presidents and other high-ranking government officials. From 1969 through 1977 the yacht was dual-use for the Navy and Executive branch officials including the president.
At Jimmy Carter's direction, the U.S. government sold it at auction in 1977 for $270,000, as a symbolic cutback. The Sequoia had a number of owners over the next 25 years, due in part to the expenses associated with the maintenance of a wooden-hulled vessel. Some owners sought to offer it for charter; others were non-profit groups seeking to maintain it for historical or other reasons.
The Presidential Yacht Trust, a non-profit organization, acquired it in 1980 and sponsored an eight-month, 6,000-mile "comeback" tour, but this group went bankrupt three years later. The vessel lay derelict for nearly a decade until purchase in late 1990, it current whereabouts are unknown
Tonnage: 100 gross tonnes
Length: 104 ft
Height: 18 feet 2 inches
Range: 3,000 NM
Passengers: 45
Crew: 10 Officers and Crew
Her Danish Majesty's Yacht Dannebrog (A540)
Her Danish Majesty's Yacht Dannebrog (A540) was launched by Queen Alexandrine in Copenhagen in 1931 and was commissioned on 26 May 1932. The yacht now serves as the official and private residence for HM the Queen of Denmark, HRH the Prince Consort and members of the Royal Family when they are on official visits overseas and on summer cruises in Danish waters.
The "Dannedrog", was built in 1931 – 1932 at the Naval Dockyard in Copenhagen to replace the previous royal vessel, a paddle steamer also called Dannebrog from 1879. The yacht has dual functions: it is primarily the Royal Yacht during peacetime, second – it can become a hospital ship during emergency alerts or war.
The ship’s hull is a riveted steel construction on transverse frames. The ship has a clipper stem and an elliptic stern. Viewed from the side the ship may be divided into two sections. In front of the funnel there is space for accommodation for the crew, cargo and the engine. At the rear is the Royal Apartment, which could accommodate patients if it was ever to be used as a hospital. During visits to Danish and foreign ports the covered quarterdeck is used for receptions.
A major overhaul was carried out in 1980 to 1981 in order to extend the life of the yacht beyond the turn of the century. Her last know location as some where in the United Kingdom
Tonnage: 1238 gross tonnes
Length: 78.43m
Height: 23m
Range: 3600 N
Passengers: 6
Crew: 9 Officers and 43 men
********************
rcaf_777 07-30-2008, 04:48 PM And more
His/Her Norwegian Majesty's Yacht Norge
Royal Yacht Norge is the Royal Yacht of the King of Norway. The Royal Yacht Norge was the Norwegian people's gift to King Haakon VII in 1947. Norge is owned by the King but maintained and manned by the Royal Norwegian Navy. When Prince Carl of Denmark, a naval officer, agreed to be elected to the vacant throne of Norway in 1905, he was promised a royal yacht. Due to Norway's difficult economic situation after the dissolution of the union with Sweden, it never materialized.
During the two world wars the economy and other conditions never made it possible to acquire a yacht. After World War II a nation-wide appeal was made for funds to purchase a yacht for the respected and aging king who had become a truly national symbol. In July 1947 the British motor yacht Philante, built in 1937 by Camper & Nicolson in Southampton for Sir Thomas Sopwith and used for Atlantic duty as a convoy escort vessel during World War II, was bought by Norway in time for a model to be made for the king's 75th birthday. After refitting was finished in 1948, King Haakon was finally able to take over his royal yacht, which was renamed Norge.
King Olav took over Norge after his father in 1957, and a 10-year plan was adopted to upgrade the hull and technical equipment. The King followed the traditions introduced by King Haakon, using Norge on both official and private occasions. In 1985 during welding operations on board when Norge was docked for repair, a fire broke out with disastrous consequences, though fortunately the hull and engines survived. King Olav decided the ship was to be rebuilt, and a year later he was once more able to take over Norge, with a higher standard of safety and better technical equipment than before the fire.
The royal yacht Norge is owned by HM The King. A Royal Decree of 1947 provides that the ship shall be manned, operated and maintained by the Defence Forces. Norge has a gross tonnage of 1628 and a maximum cruising speed of 16 knots, and is 264 ft long. In summer the complement of officers and crew is 54. The season begins when the King embarks in May and ends when he disembarks in late September. The winter is used for maintenance. Not seen since the invasion of Norway
Tonnage: 1628 gross tonnes
Length: 80.6 M
Height:
Speed: 16 knots
Range: 3,000 MN
Passengers: 6
Complement: 54 Officers and Men
USS Williamsburg (AGC 69)
Built in 1930 as the yacht Aras, she was acquired as a gunboat in 1941. During WWII she served mostly as a command/headquarters, transport and VIP ship. Late in the war she started conversion to an amphibious command ship, but the war soon ended and she instead became the new presidential yacht, replacing Potomac. The yacht was decommissioned in 1953 per the orders of President Eisenhower. Laid up from 1953 to 1962, she then served the National Science Foundation until damaged in a dry docking accident in 1968. She was subsequently sold to become a hotel/museum in New Jersey, but she was instead laid up. In 1993 she was sent to Genoa, Italy for conversion to a luxury cruise ship. However, these plans were never realized, the former yacht was faced with imminent scrapping, but an urgent appeal to the Italian government saved her, temporarily at least. She is currently in bad shape and is docked at La Spezia Italy
Tonnage: 1.8 Gross Tones
Length: 243 ft
Height: 36 ft
Speed 13.5 kts
Range:
Complement: 8 officers, 130 men and 26 stewards
SS Rotterdam
The Rotterdam V, known as "The Grande Dame", is one of the most famous post-war ocean liners. With a career spanning forty years, she was also one of the most successful passenger vessels of all time. Originally she was conceived as running mate to the popular Nieuw Amsterdam of 1938, but work was put on hold at the outbreak of war in Europe. When economic conditions once again became favourable for completion of the new ship in early 1954, the beginning of the end of ocean liners as basic transport was visible on the horizon. The designers took this in mind and created a groundbreaking vessel, a two-class, horizontally divided ship with movable partitions and a unique double staircase allowing for easy conversion to cruising. Rotterdam's machinery was shifted aft, to the now-traditional two-thirds aft position, and in lieu of a funnel twin uptake pipes were fitted. To provide balance, a large deckhouse was built atop the superstructure in the midships position of a typical funnel. While very controversial at the time, Rotterdam's appearance became groundbreaking, and her unique design features can be found on cruise ships to this day today. After retiring from transatlantic service in 1969, the ten year old Rotterdam got a small refit for permanent cruising and began her new life as a full-time cruise ship. By the 1980s a routine of winters in the Caribbean and summers in Alaska was settled into, with the occasional world cruise. She was last seen in the Bahamas
Tonnage: 38,650 gross tons
Length: 228.0 m (748 ft)
Height: 49.8 m (163.5 ft)
Speed 21.5 Knots
Range:
Complement: 1,456 passengers
Crew: 776 officers and crew
********************
JHart 08-07-2008, 06:40 AM Mindful that during World War II U.S. aircraft carriers, with wooden flight decks, tended to catch fire more readily than steel-decked British carriers, the designers of the United States did not use a single piece of wood in her framing, accessories or decorations. There were no wood interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal and spun glass fibre to ensure they were in full compliance with strict fireproof guidelines set by the U.S. Navy. Even the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were made of aluminium. The only wooden equipment used in the construction of the vessel was in the bilge keels and butcher blocks in the galleys. The grand piano in the ballroom was even made of a rare, fire-resistant species of wood
I just saw a special about the United States on PBS. It was actually the designer himself that had an aversion to fire, having heard of stories of other ships catching fire and burning. This was according to his daughter.
********************
newyorkronin 08-07-2008, 10:17 AM From Famous American Naval Officers by Charles Lee Lewis (1971)
"During the years 1903-1904, Sims championed, with Lieutenant Homer C. Poundstone, an all-big-gun ship. The latter made the plans and sketches and Sims did the promoting; but the navy chiefs vetoed it again and again. The two officers called their ship the U.S.S. Scared-o'Nothing, and it is a significant fact that, two years afterwards, the British Admiralty called its first all-big-gun ship Dreadnaught. Sims began to be listened to then; and the Michigan and the South Carolina, which has been authorized to be built in the old way, finally were launched as our first dreadnaughts."
Armada de Chile Puerto Williams, Chile, 2013
Radio operator: Attention attention to the West-bound vessel transiting 12 kilometers South-east of the Beagle Channel Zone. By Presidential Emergency Order 18, the Republic of Chile is no longer a party to the UNCLOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea) and you are in violation of territorial waters. Identify yourself or we will be forced to defend ourselves!
*Static. Warning is repeated ten times. Frigate Admirante Cochrane (formerly HMS Norfolk), goes to battle stations and takes Harpoons, Stingray torpedoes and Sea Wolf SAMs off safety.
*Twenty minutes later.
Radar operator: Contact now 5 kilometers. Entering visual range now.
*Captain raises binoculars: Visual contact. Warship. American. No markings. Wait....IMSF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags) flagline says...
*Captain quickly puts down binoculars: Just let it sail by.
All Chilean Navy vessels: WTF?!?!
Captain: Stand down. Don't provoke it. Just ignore it, just wait until it goes away.
Admiral: What the hell is going on? Who the hell is passing through our waters?
Captain: It's the U.S.S. What Da F**k You Lookin' At. That new warship out of New York City shipyards.
US vessel on radio: This is the USS What Da...
Captain: Nothing. Nothing. Just leave us alone. We don't want any trouble.
********************
deadplayer 08-07-2008, 12:22 PM Good job!
********************
SS United States
She was built from 1950-1952 at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry dock Company in Newport News, Virginia. Her keel was laid and her hull was constructed in a graving dock. The United States was built to exacting Navy specifications, which required that she be heavily compartmentalized and have separate engine rooms to enable her to survive should she be damaged in war.
Mindful that during World War II U.S. aircraft carriers, with wooden flight decks, tended to catch fire more readily than steel-decked British carriers, the designers of the United States did not use a single piece of wood in her framing, accessories or decorations. There were no wood interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal and spun glass fibre to ensure they were in full compliance with strict fireproof guidelines set by the U.S. Navy. Even the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were made of aluminium. The only wooden equipment used in the construction of the vessel was in the bilge keels and butcher blocks in the galleys. The grand piano in the ballroom was even made of a rare, fire-resistant species of wood
Embarking on her maiden voyage on 4 July 1952, the United States smashed the transatlantic speed record held by the Queen Mary for the previous 14 years by over 10 hours, making her maiden crossing from the Ambrose lightship at New York Harbour to Bishop Rock off Cornwall, UK in 3 days, 10 hours, 40 minutes at an average speed of 35.59 knots (65.91 km/h). The liner also broke the westbound crossing record by returning to America in 3 days 12 hours and 12 minutes at an average speed of 34.51 knots (63.91 km/h), thereby obtaining both the eastbound and westbound Blue Ribbons. The United States maintained a 30 knot (56 km/h) crossing speed on the North Atlantic in a service career that lasted 17 years.
After going out of service in 1969, the United States has been passed between several companies. In 1978 the vessel was sold to private interests who hoped to revitalize the liner in a time share cruise ship format. Financing fell through and the ship was placed up for auction by MARAD. Soon a new consortium of owners became interested in revitalizing the ship and the vessel was towed to Europe to undergo asbestos removal. No viable agreements were reached and the United States was towed to her current dock in South Philadelphia. When the Twilight War broke out she was pressed back into service as began haul Cargo and troops, in 1995 she was sized by the French Navy for accidental entering French Waters.
Tonnage: 53,329 gross tones
Length: 990 ft
Height: 175 ft
Range: 10,000 NM
Passengers: 1928
Crew: 900 Officers and Crew
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2
RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) is a Cunard Line ocean liner named after the earlier Cunard liner HRM Queen Elizabeth. She is the flagship of the line Built in Clydebank Scotland, she was considered the last of the great transatlantic ocean liners prior to the construction of the QM2. Before she was refitted with a diesel power plant in 1986, she was also the last oil-fired passenger steamship to cross the Atlantic in scheduled liner service. During almost 40 years of service, the QE2 has traveled the world and now operates predominantly as a cruise ship, sailing out of Southampton, England.
The Queen Elizabeth 2's maiden voyage, from Southampton to New York City, commenced on May 2, 1969, taking 4 days, 16 hours and 35 minutes. However, Prince Charles was the first "civilian" passenger to board the ship, on her voyage from the shipyard in Clydebank to dry dock in Greenock. In 1970 she set a record in crossing the Atlantic in 3 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes, an average speed of 30.36 knots. The following year she participated in the rescue of some 500 passengers from the burning French Line ship Antilles.
On May 17, 1972, while travelling from New York to Southampton, she was the subject of a bomb threat. She was searched by her crew, and a bomb disposal team parachuted into the sea near the ship. No bomb was found, but the hoaxer was arrested by the FBI. The following year the QE2 undertook two chartered cruises through the Mediterranean to Israel in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the states founding. One kitchen on the ship was koshered for Passover, and many Jewish people celebrated Passover on the ship. Later, on July 16, 1974, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat revealed in a television interview that Libyan President Muammar al-Qaddafi had ordered an Egyptian submarine to torpedo the QE2 during the cruise. Sadat said he had personally countermanded the order.
In 1982, she took part in the Falklands War, carrying 3,000 troops and a 650 volunteer crew to the south Atlantic. She was refitted in Southampton in preparation for war service, including the installation of three helicopter pads. That same year she returned to the UK, being welcomed by Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother on board the Royal Yacht Britannia, and underwent conversion back to passenger service, with her funnel being painted in the traditional Cunard orange-red with black stripes, but her hull painted an unconventional light charcoal grey. This colour proved hard to maintain, and so was reverted to traditional colours in 1983.
In August 1992, her hull was damaged when she ran aground off Cuttyhunk Island near Cape Cod, while returning from a five day cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia along the east coast of the United States and Canada. A combination of outdated charts and faster than normal speed led to the ship's hull scraping a rock on the ocean floor, the accident resulted in the ship being taken out of service while repairs were made in dry dock. In 1994 her last operation cruise was to Halifax carrying government officials and other persons fleeing the war in Europe on here way back to the UK she carried the last remaining UK and German Troops left in Canada and the US. She returned to Canada one last time, this time to North Sydney Harbour, to what the company though was nice quite harbour to sit out the war. She currently serves as the afloat headquarters for the remains on the Canadian Navy.
Tonnage: 70,327 gross tonnes
Length: 963 ft
Height: 171 ft 4 in
Range: 10,000 NM
Passengers: 1,756 passengers
Crew: 1,015 officers and crew
SS France
The ship was constructed to replace the line's other aging ships like the SS Ile de France and SS Liberté, which by the 1950s were considered old and outdated. Without these vessels, however, the French Line had no ability to compete against their rivals, most notably Cunard Line, which also had plans for constructing a new modern liner which was the Queen Elizabeth II. was the She was the French Line flagship from 1961 to 1974, combining regular transatlantic crossings - six days and nights - with occasional winter cruises, as well as two world circumnavigations. She sailed the North Atlantic run between Le Havre and New York for thirteen years. However, by the beginning of the 1970s jet travel was by far more popular than ship travel, and the costs of fuel were ever increasing. The France, which had always relied on subsidies from the French government, was forced to take advantage of these more and more.
Using the ship's versatile design to its full potential, the CGT began to send the France on more cruises during the winter, which was off-season for the Atlantic trade. The France's cruises were popular, and her first world cruise took place in 1972. Too large to traverse the Panama and Suez Canals, she was forced to sail around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope. That same year, with the destruction of the Seawise University (former RMS Queen Elizabeth) by fire in Hong Kong, the France became the largest passenger ship in the world. Still, as the opening years of the decade progressed, the cruise market expanded, seeing the construction of smaller, purpose built cruise ships which could also fit through the Panama Canal.
Worse, in 1973 the Oil Crisis hit and the price of oil went from $35 US to $95 US per barrel. When the French government, then realized that keeping the France running would necessitate an addition ten million dollars a year, they opted instead to subsidies the then developing Concorde. Without this government money, the French Line could not operate, and with a press release issued in 1974 it was announced that the France would be withdrawn from service on October 25 of that year.
In 1979 the Ship was sold to the Norwegian Cruise Line, for $18 million, and was converted into the world's largest cruise ship for another 80 million The SS Norway was registered in Oslo, given the call sign LITA (literally meaning "small"), and was re-christened on April 14, 1980, as the first super liner employed in cruise service. On her maiden call to Oslo, senior steward Wesley Samuels of Jamaica, in the presence of King Olav V, hoisted the United Nations flag as a sign of the ship's international crew. The Norway remains the only ship given permission to fly the UN flag. As the SS Norway she was the flagship of the Norwegian Cruise Line from 1980 to approximately 1999. Her size, passenger capacity, and amenities revolutionized the cruise industry and started a building frenzy as competitors began to order bigger and larger ships. As cruise competition attempted to take some of Norway's brisk business, the Norway herself was upgraded several times in order to maintain her position as the "grand dame" of the Caribbean, including the addition of new decks to her superstructure. While many ship aficionados believe the new decks spoiled her original clean, classic lines, the new private veranda cabins on the added decks were instrumental in keeping Norway financially afloat during the later years of her operation, as these became a common feature throughout the cruise industry. Competition eventually overtook the Norway, and she even started taking a backseat to other ships in Norwegian Cruise Line's line up itself. No longer the "Ship amongst Ships", her owners severely cut back on her maintenance and upkeep. In spite of this, the cutbacks continued and problems mounted even as the ship continued to sail with full occupancy right up till the start of Twilight War.
As the war began war began to heat up the owners though she would called up as a troop ship, however since the aviation was quicker, she soon found herself at Anchor in Oslo. Her last voyage was to neutral France, she currently afloat in the Port of Le Harve.
Tonnage: 76,049 gross tonnes
Length: 1,035 ft
Height: 175 ft
Range: 10,000 NM
Passengers: 2,565 passengers
Crew: 875 officers and crew
HMY Britannia
HMY Britannia was built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire Scotland, being launched by Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953 and commissioned on 11 January 1954. During her career as Royal Yacht, she conveyed the Queen, other members of the Royal Family, and various dignitaries on 696 foreign visits and 272 visits in British waters. Prince Charles and Princess Diana took a honeymoon cruise aboard Britannia in 1981. She also evacuated over 1,000 refugees from the civil war in Aden in 1986. In addition, the ship was intended to serve as a mobile refuge for the British Royal Family in the event of nuclear warfare with the Soviet Union. Before the Twilight War she and Royal family sailed away to undisclosed location. When see returned she was converted into a hospital ship and sent to Middle East
Tonnage: 5769 gross tonnes
Length: 412 ft
Height: 133 ft
Range: 2400 nm
Passengers: 50
Crew: 19 officers and 217 Royal Yachtsmen
USS Potomac AG-25
The USS Potomac was originally built in 1934 by the Manitowoc Ship Building Company, Manitowoc as the United States Coast Guard Cutter Electra. She was converted to her new role and commissioned into the US Navy in 1936. In the following years, the USS Potomac was heavily used by President Roosevelt, for fishing trips and informal political meetings. In 1939 the United Kingdom’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth travelled with the Roosevelt’s aboard the USS Potomac to George Washington’s home at Mt Vernon.
On the August 3, 1941, President Roosevelt left Washington to board the USS Potomac at the submarine base at New London. The USS Potomac then sailed for Appogansett Bay where the President did some fishing and entertained guests including Crown Princess Märtha of Norway. Eventually the USS Potomac anchored in Menemsha Bight in Vineyard Sound, where the heavy cruiser USS Augusta already lay at anchor. In the early hours of the August 5, the USS Potomac came alongside the USS Augusta and the President and his party transferred to the warship. The USS Augusta then proceeded at high speed to Newfoundland for a clandestine meeting with Winston Churchill. During this meeting, Roosevelt and Churchill signed the Atlantic Charter, agreeing the principles of the Allied partnership during World War II and setting the scene for the United Nations to plan the post-war peace.
In the meantime and for security purposes, the President's flag continued to be flown from the USS Potomac while she transited the Cape Cod Canal to New England waters. A Secret Serviceman, approximating the President in size and affecting his mannerisms when visible from a distance, played a starring role in the drama. Press releases issued daily from the USS Potomac led all who read them to believe that the President was really embarked in his yacht on a pleasure cruise. After the meetings, the USS Augusta returned the President to the USS Potomac on the August 14.
After President Roosevelt's death, the USS Potomac was decommissioned from the US Navy in 1945. She subsequently served with the Maryland Tidewater Fisheries Commission and was used as a ferry boat between Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. In 1964 she was purchased by Elvis Presley. By 1980 she was involved in drug smuggling and was seized by the US Customs in San Francisco. She sat in dry dock in Sausalito until she was towed to Treasure Island, the proud vessel’s hull was pierced one night and she sank Refloated by the Navy two weeks later, she was sold to the Port of Oakland for just $15,000. The Port of Oakland then completely restored the boat just before the Nukes fell, she was then spirited away
Tonnage: 376 gross tonnes
Length: 165 ft
Height: 25 feet
Range: 3,000 NM
Passengers: 50
Crew: 7 officers, 68 men
USS Sequoia
The Sequoia started out as the Sequoia II, a private yacht built for $200,000 in 1925/1926 at a Camden, New Jersey shipyard. It was built for Richard Cadwalader of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who sold it to the president of the Sequoia Oil Company in Texas.
The Sequoia was purchased in 1931 by the United States Department of Commerce, for Prohibition patrol and decoy duties. Herbert Hoover, an avid angler, had decommissioned the presidential yacht the USS Mayflower in 1929 as an economy measure, and borrowed the Sequoia from the Commerce Department as an unofficial yacht during the last two years of his Presidency. In 1933, it was transferred to the Navy, serving officially as the presidential yacht for three years, until replaced by the Potomac. From 1936 through 1969 the Sequoia then became the yacht of the Secretary of the Navy. During this period the Sequoia was used by presidents and other high-ranking government officials. From 1969 through 1977 the yacht was dual-use for the Navy and Executive branch officials including the president.
At Jimmy Carter's direction, the U.S. government sold it at auction in 1977 for $270,000, as a symbolic cutback. The Sequoia had a number of owners over the next 25 years, due in part to the expenses associated with the maintenance of a wooden-hulled vessel. Some owners sought to offer it for charter; others were non-profit groups seeking to maintain it for historical or other reasons.
The Presidential Yacht Trust, a non-profit organization, acquired it in 1980 and sponsored an eight-month, 6,000-mile "comeback" tour, but this group went bankrupt three years later. The vessel lay derelict for nearly a decade until purchase in late 1990, it current whereabouts are unknown
Tonnage: 100 gross tonnes
Length: 104 ft
Height: 18 feet 2 inches
Range: 3,000 NM
Passengers: 45
Crew: 10 Officers and Crew
Her Danish Majesty's Yacht Dannebrog (A540)
Her Danish Majesty's Yacht Dannebrog (A540) was launched by Queen Alexandrine in Copenhagen in 1931 and was commissioned on 26 May 1932. The yacht now serves as the official and private residence for HM the Queen of Denmark, HRH the Prince Consort and members of the Royal Family when they are on official visits overseas and on summer cruises in Danish waters.
The "Dannedrog", was built in 1931 – 1932 at the Naval Dockyard in Copenhagen to replace the previous royal vessel, a paddle steamer also called Dannebrog from 1879. The yacht has dual functions: it is primarily the Royal Yacht during peacetime, second – it can become a hospital ship during emergency alerts or war.
The ship’s hull is a riveted steel construction on transverse frames. The ship has a clipper stem and an elliptic stern. Viewed from the side the ship may be divided into two sections. In front of the funnel there is space for accommodation for the crew, cargo and the engine. At the rear is the Royal Apartment, which could accommodate patients if it was ever to be used as a hospital. During visits to Danish and foreign ports the covered quarterdeck is used for receptions.
A major overhaul was carried out in 1980 to 1981 in order to extend the life of the yacht beyond the turn of the century. Her last know location as some where in the United Kingdom
Tonnage: 1238 gross tonnes
Length: 78.43m
Height: 23m
Range: 3600 N
Passengers: 6
Crew: 9 Officers and 43 men
********************
rcaf_777 07-30-2008, 04:48 PM And more
His/Her Norwegian Majesty's Yacht Norge
Royal Yacht Norge is the Royal Yacht of the King of Norway. The Royal Yacht Norge was the Norwegian people's gift to King Haakon VII in 1947. Norge is owned by the King but maintained and manned by the Royal Norwegian Navy. When Prince Carl of Denmark, a naval officer, agreed to be elected to the vacant throne of Norway in 1905, he was promised a royal yacht. Due to Norway's difficult economic situation after the dissolution of the union with Sweden, it never materialized.
During the two world wars the economy and other conditions never made it possible to acquire a yacht. After World War II a nation-wide appeal was made for funds to purchase a yacht for the respected and aging king who had become a truly national symbol. In July 1947 the British motor yacht Philante, built in 1937 by Camper & Nicolson in Southampton for Sir Thomas Sopwith and used for Atlantic duty as a convoy escort vessel during World War II, was bought by Norway in time for a model to be made for the king's 75th birthday. After refitting was finished in 1948, King Haakon was finally able to take over his royal yacht, which was renamed Norge.
King Olav took over Norge after his father in 1957, and a 10-year plan was adopted to upgrade the hull and technical equipment. The King followed the traditions introduced by King Haakon, using Norge on both official and private occasions. In 1985 during welding operations on board when Norge was docked for repair, a fire broke out with disastrous consequences, though fortunately the hull and engines survived. King Olav decided the ship was to be rebuilt, and a year later he was once more able to take over Norge, with a higher standard of safety and better technical equipment than before the fire.
The royal yacht Norge is owned by HM The King. A Royal Decree of 1947 provides that the ship shall be manned, operated and maintained by the Defence Forces. Norge has a gross tonnage of 1628 and a maximum cruising speed of 16 knots, and is 264 ft long. In summer the complement of officers and crew is 54. The season begins when the King embarks in May and ends when he disembarks in late September. The winter is used for maintenance. Not seen since the invasion of Norway
Tonnage: 1628 gross tonnes
Length: 80.6 M
Height:
Speed: 16 knots
Range: 3,000 MN
Passengers: 6
Complement: 54 Officers and Men
USS Williamsburg (AGC 69)
Built in 1930 as the yacht Aras, she was acquired as a gunboat in 1941. During WWII she served mostly as a command/headquarters, transport and VIP ship. Late in the war she started conversion to an amphibious command ship, but the war soon ended and she instead became the new presidential yacht, replacing Potomac. The yacht was decommissioned in 1953 per the orders of President Eisenhower. Laid up from 1953 to 1962, she then served the National Science Foundation until damaged in a dry docking accident in 1968. She was subsequently sold to become a hotel/museum in New Jersey, but she was instead laid up. In 1993 she was sent to Genoa, Italy for conversion to a luxury cruise ship. However, these plans were never realized, the former yacht was faced with imminent scrapping, but an urgent appeal to the Italian government saved her, temporarily at least. She is currently in bad shape and is docked at La Spezia Italy
Tonnage: 1.8 Gross Tones
Length: 243 ft
Height: 36 ft
Speed 13.5 kts
Range:
Complement: 8 officers, 130 men and 26 stewards
SS Rotterdam
The Rotterdam V, known as "The Grande Dame", is one of the most famous post-war ocean liners. With a career spanning forty years, she was also one of the most successful passenger vessels of all time. Originally she was conceived as running mate to the popular Nieuw Amsterdam of 1938, but work was put on hold at the outbreak of war in Europe. When economic conditions once again became favourable for completion of the new ship in early 1954, the beginning of the end of ocean liners as basic transport was visible on the horizon. The designers took this in mind and created a groundbreaking vessel, a two-class, horizontally divided ship with movable partitions and a unique double staircase allowing for easy conversion to cruising. Rotterdam's machinery was shifted aft, to the now-traditional two-thirds aft position, and in lieu of a funnel twin uptake pipes were fitted. To provide balance, a large deckhouse was built atop the superstructure in the midships position of a typical funnel. While very controversial at the time, Rotterdam's appearance became groundbreaking, and her unique design features can be found on cruise ships to this day today. After retiring from transatlantic service in 1969, the ten year old Rotterdam got a small refit for permanent cruising and began her new life as a full-time cruise ship. By the 1980s a routine of winters in the Caribbean and summers in Alaska was settled into, with the occasional world cruise. She was last seen in the Bahamas
Tonnage: 38,650 gross tons
Length: 228.0 m (748 ft)
Height: 49.8 m (163.5 ft)
Speed 21.5 Knots
Range:
Complement: 1,456 passengers
Crew: 776 officers and crew
********************
JHart 08-07-2008, 06:40 AM Mindful that during World War II U.S. aircraft carriers, with wooden flight decks, tended to catch fire more readily than steel-decked British carriers, the designers of the United States did not use a single piece of wood in her framing, accessories or decorations. There were no wood interior surfaces. Fittings, including all furniture and fabrics, were custom made in glass, metal and spun glass fibre to ensure they were in full compliance with strict fireproof guidelines set by the U.S. Navy. Even the clothes hangers in the luxury cabins were made of aluminium. The only wooden equipment used in the construction of the vessel was in the bilge keels and butcher blocks in the galleys. The grand piano in the ballroom was even made of a rare, fire-resistant species of wood
I just saw a special about the United States on PBS. It was actually the designer himself that had an aversion to fire, having heard of stories of other ships catching fire and burning. This was according to his daughter.
********************
newyorkronin 08-07-2008, 10:17 AM From Famous American Naval Officers by Charles Lee Lewis (1971)
"During the years 1903-1904, Sims championed, with Lieutenant Homer C. Poundstone, an all-big-gun ship. The latter made the plans and sketches and Sims did the promoting; but the navy chiefs vetoed it again and again. The two officers called their ship the U.S.S. Scared-o'Nothing, and it is a significant fact that, two years afterwards, the British Admiralty called its first all-big-gun ship Dreadnaught. Sims began to be listened to then; and the Michigan and the South Carolina, which has been authorized to be built in the old way, finally were launched as our first dreadnaughts."
Armada de Chile Puerto Williams, Chile, 2013
Radio operator: Attention attention to the West-bound vessel transiting 12 kilometers South-east of the Beagle Channel Zone. By Presidential Emergency Order 18, the Republic of Chile is no longer a party to the UNCLOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Convention_on_the_Law_of_the_Sea) and you are in violation of territorial waters. Identify yourself or we will be forced to defend ourselves!
*Static. Warning is repeated ten times. Frigate Admirante Cochrane (formerly HMS Norfolk), goes to battle stations and takes Harpoons, Stingray torpedoes and Sea Wolf SAMs off safety.
*Twenty minutes later.
Radar operator: Contact now 5 kilometers. Entering visual range now.
*Captain raises binoculars: Visual contact. Warship. American. No markings. Wait....IMSF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_maritime_signal_flags) flagline says...
*Captain quickly puts down binoculars: Just let it sail by.
All Chilean Navy vessels: WTF?!?!
Captain: Stand down. Don't provoke it. Just ignore it, just wait until it goes away.
Admiral: What the hell is going on? Who the hell is passing through our waters?
Captain: It's the U.S.S. What Da F**k You Lookin' At. That new warship out of New York City shipyards.
US vessel on radio: This is the USS What Da...
Captain: Nothing. Nothing. Just leave us alone. We don't want any trouble.
********************
deadplayer 08-07-2008, 12:22 PM Good job!
********************