U.S. Warships: USS Manchester (LCS-14)-- Part 1

From the Paralyzed Veterans  of American June 2021 calendar.

USS MANCHESTER GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

BUILDER:  Austal USA, Mobile, Alabama

LAUNCHED:  May 13, 2016

HOMEPORT:  San Diego, California

DISPLACEMENT:   Approximately 3,104 tons full load

LENGTH:  418 feet

BEAM:  104 feet

CREW:  8 officers, 32 enlisted (two crews, a gold and a blue one)  and up to 35 mission crew.

ARMAMENT:  one Mk-110 57 mm gun, one SeaRam CIWS  (This last item is one powerful weapon.  I had to look it up and it said it was a complete combat weapon system that automatically detects, evaluates engages and performs kill assessment against ASM and high speed  aircraft threats.)

AIRCRAFT:  two MH-60 helicopters

--Cooter

A Look At Some of Hampton Roads' Most Famous Ships-- Part 4: The "Big E"

**  The United States' most-decorated aircraft carrier, the second of two Yorktown-class carriers completed at Newport News in the late 1930s. the USS Enterprise (CV-6).  It was longer and faster than the USS Ranger and called "The Big E," it earned 20 battle stars during World War II.

**  The Backbone of the Fleet, the first of the new longer, wider and more powerfully armed aircraft carriers, the USS Essex (CV-9) was completed at Newport News in July 1942.  It won 12 battle stars in 68 combat operations in the Pacific.  It and its 20 sister ships became the backbone of the U.S. Navy.

--CooterCraft

A Look at Some of Hampton Road's Most Famous Ships-- Part 3: The First Aircraft Carrier

Aircraft Carrier No. 1.  It was converted from a collier at Norfolk Naval Yard and became the USS Langley (CV-1).  It was anchored in the James River when a Vought biplane piloted by Lt. V.C. Griffin made the Navy's first-ever takeoff from a ship on October 17, 1922.

The first purpose-built aircraft carrier launched at Newport News in 1933, the USS Ranger (CV-4).  It was the first U.S. Navy ship designed from the keel up as an aircraft carrier.  Its island feature established the distinctive profile of all carriers that followed.

--DaCootShip

A Look at Some of Hampton Roads' Most Famous Ships-- Part 1: USS Chesapeake

From the January 10, 2014, Stars and Stripes by Mark St. John Erickson of the Hampton Roads Daily Press.  Like I said before, he sure gets the good articles to write.

Two of the most famous shipyards are located in Hampton Roads, Virginia, area: Norfolk Naval Shipyard which launched its first U.S. Navy warship in 1799 and the Newport News Shipbuilding which was founded in 1886.

In 1798, the USS Chesapeake, the fourth and smallest of the original "Super Frigates."  (The USS Constitution was one of them.)  The ship and country were greatly embarrassed when it was boarded by the HMS Shannon off of Cape Henry and the famous "Don't Give Up the Ship" quote came about because of it.

The CSS Virginia, built on the hull of the USS Merimack and fought the famous Battle of Hampton Roads against the USS Monitor.

--Cooter

Lots of World War I Wooden Ships

From the Oct. 21, 2013 shipbuilding site "Wooden Ships and Barges." While doing research on the Fulton Shipyard for my World War II blog, I came across this interesting sidenote for World War I. //// Toward the end of World War I, U.S. contracts were placed for over 1,000 wooden ships, tugs and barges, but many of the contracts were cancelled after the war ended. Only 589 were completed. //// Many of the ones finished were converted to barges and many others scrapped on the ways are burned. Many of the completed ones were sold for scrap but many were just abandoned to rot. //// Mallows Bay, on the Maryland bank of the Potomac River just downstream from Quantico, Virginia, has countless of these ships slowly rotting away. //// --Cooter

The Repairs of the Battleship USS North Carolina-- Part 2

From the June 10th WWAY TV.

The USS North Carolina has been sitting for decades in the Cape Fear River mud and is now in dire need of work on the hull. Plans until now had it being towed to Norfolk or Charleston for dry docking.

The ship's commander, Terry Bragg said, "If you take it away it would leave us with nothing but a big hole in the ground." They have come up with a way to keep the battleship in Wilmington and save $11 million. They now intend to build a cofferdam around the ship with work starting this fall and continuing for three years.

Bragg believes that if the North Carolina Shipyard could build all those Liberty Ships in Wilmington during World War II, they can restore the hull of one battleship.

Sounds Like a Win-Win Situation to Me. --Cooter

Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation

Last month, I wrote about the USS Gage being launched from the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation yards in Portland, Oregon. Sad to see that it met its fate in Brownsville, Texas, just this past month.

The Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation was one of several emergency shipyards established by the US government to provide the ships needed to carry our soldiers and munitions across the seas to battle the Axis.

Wikipedia led me to believe that 1000 Victory and Liberty ships were built at this place between 1941 and 1945, but I think that is a high number. The company closed down at the end of the war.

More to Come. --Cooter

Liberty Ship SS William D. Pender

In my Civil War Blog http://sawtheelephant.blogspot.com this date, I was writing about Confederate General W. D. Pender who was mortally wounded the second day at Gettysburg. July 7th. I found out that a Liberty Ship built by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington was named after him. Its engines, like the SS Calvin Coolidge, which I wrote about earlier this month, also came from the General Machinery Corporation of Hamilton, Ohio. The ship was scrapped in Baltimore in 1960. Just Another Liberty Ship. --Da Coot

The Wilmington Shipyard

The North Carolina Shipbuiding Co. (NCSC) built 243 ships from 1941 to 1946 for the World War II war effort. Ralph Scott has written a book on it "Wilmington Shipyard: Welding a Fleet for Victory In World War II" published in 2007.

He used personal correspondence, government records, company archives, and newspapers to develop the story. Covered in his book is site acquisition, ship production, demobilization, post war status, and especially interesting, the fate of ships they built.

Some interesting facts were that employees were granted short-term absence for tending crops and child care for working mothers. At one point, it was feared the bright lights from the shipyards at night would illuminate ships at sea, but it was determined that production was more important than the risks, so it continued.

Most have heard of the battles during the war, but equally important is the home front efforts that won through to final victory.

I'll Have to Give This a Read. --Cooter

Wilmington, NC in World War II

The Wilmington, NC, Star News reports that on Tuesday, Feb. 19th, author Wilbur D. Jones, Jr., will give a talk on the impact of WWII on southeastern North Carolina at 7 pm at the Southport Community Building.

Every branch of the armed forces had bases in the Wilmington area:

Army Air Force-- Wilmington Airport (Bluethenthal Field)
Army-- Camp Davis, Fort Fisher
Navy-- Fort Caswell
Coast Guard-- Fort Caswell and Wrightsville Beach
Marine Corps-- Camp Legeune

Also, the Wilmington area housed German POWs.

The Wilmington Shipyard launched 234 cargo ships  (N.C. Shipbuilding Co.)
The Port of Wilmington shipped and received large amounts of war materials.
The population of Wilmington doubled with the influx of military personnel, war workers, and their families.

Wilber D. Jones, Jr, has written 16 books.

Looks like am interesting talk. Wilmington also has a tour you can take of WWII sites.

Too Often, US WWII Sites are Overlooked. --Cooter