"This is kinda easy... What was the first battleship with turbo electric propulsion?" What is the primary reason that Turbo Electric Drive was adopted?
I believe it was for damage control and ship-handling. Kinda like our electric motors, you can reverse them very easily. And in battle, if the port-side generators get taken out, you don't lose the port-side props. You simply redirect power from the starboard generators and keep on sailing.
An additional reason for trying it was for improved compartmentalization. Instead of having four 2-3 story-tall engine rooms and at least the same number of boiler rooms (large spaces means large volumes that can flood when damaged), designers could build several small spaces with turbo-electric generators, completely seperate from the equally small rooms where the direct-drive electric motors were built around the prop shafts. It also saved huge amounts of space in the hull, in that you didn't need to run the shafts forward 1/3 the length of the ship to reach the inboard engine rooms. Instead, they could be powered pretty much at the point they entered the hull.
The OTHER Jeff L. got most of the reasons, but one of the biggest is that during WW2 most of American heavy industry had their dance card filled up and we needed a easy and FAST way of making high output marine plants. We could build electric motors and generators in many states and didn't need special factories to do so. But large gear reduction assemblies and triple stage turbines are harder to make than Electric motors and generators. Your up "the OTHER Jeff L"
Here's a fun one: Many of us navy-nuts know that the USS Texas is the only Dreadnought-era capital ship still afloat. When was the the last other dreadnought scrapped, and what ship was it?
West Virginia B-48 On 24 August 1959, she was sold for scrapping to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corp. of New York City.
TCG Yavuz, formerly SMS Goeben a Moltke class battlecruiser, decomissioned in 1954, was scrapped in 1973. Ron Hunt
We have a winner! SMS Goeben, a WW1 Imperial German Navy Battlecruiser, was the flagship of the Turkish navy until the 1950's. In 1971 Turkey tried to sell her back to (West) Germany, but they declined and she was sold for scrapping. She was scrapped 1973-1976. I find it fascinating that she outlived 3 different Governments (Imperial Germany, Weimar Republic, Nazi Germany) and had a chance of survived until the reunification of Germany in 1990. Pic of Yavuz in 1946. Nice job! You're up Ron.
Alright here goes: By what method did the USS Texas bombard targets 3000 yards outside her effective main battery range? Not in the Wikipedia article. Ron Hunt
Oh, oh! Did she flood some watertight compartments to develop an intentional list, elevating her guns further?
2 degrees extra elevation achieved by flooding the starboard torpedo blister on Jun 15, 1944. This was to cover the advance of the Army beyond the normal range of the guns. I knew that one by heart... leave it to a Texan! I have visited that ship no less than 5 times in my life. I have some good books on it too. Good job Kotori! Das Butts
Correct. I don't think this would have worked for most other ships though. The Texas did not have the turret upgrade that increased the max elevation on her guns from the pre-jutland standard of 15 degrees to 30 degrees, but her fire control equipment had been upgraded to match other ships which had the modified turrets, which gave her good fire tables with ranges in excess of her normal range of 23,500 yards (13 miles). The starboard trim tanks were flooded to induce a 2 degree list (according to the ship log, a documentary I watched said 3 degrees) and increase the maximum elevation of the main battery. She used this to help break up German troop concentrations about 14 miles inland that were preparing a counterattack. They thought they were out of range. Bonus question: Which direction was she sailing? Your turn. Ron Hunt
If she flooded her starboard tanks, then the enemy was on the port (left) side. Since the engagement was in Normandy (coastline runs approx East-West), that means her bow was pointed West.
Even older than the Yavus, and still around today: this ship fought in the Russo-Japanese War and survived the greatest decisive naval battle in modern history. When WWII rolled around, she donated her guns (temporarily) to the defense of her home port against the Germans. So here's the question. What important event did this ship start during WWI?
I'll give somone else a chance... I just went Kotori if you hadn't turned me on to that particular battle and a ship of particular interest to you then I wouldn't know this one for sure. Das Butts
