"Curator's Tour" on the Battleship Iowa, Part 2

From the Brig, we went down the passageway to see the Tailor Shop, with more artwork by Mr. Dehning

Pressing gear

Ironing table

I'm not sure what the covered item to the left of the ironing table is. It's about the same size and shape as the "Dress Form" my Mom used to use when she made dresses for my sister.

Perhaps a similar device used for pressing dress uniforms?


BIG Dry Cleaning Machine

Better picture of the door to the Tailor Shop. Mr. Dehning has cleverly included his artist's signature on the receipt!

And just down the passage a bit further, we went into the Ship's Laundry. A bit boring, except if you need your clothes cleaned!


More steam operated pressing tables.

I don't remember what this area was for. Perhaps folding the freshly laundered items, or maybe desks for admin work.

A bit further forward is the Ship's Library. It's just an empty area right now with book shelves, but we all crammed in to it, and as I was the last one in, I couldn't get a photo of anything recognizable as the Library, so I just took a pic of the door.
The gentleman in the picture is the current Chief Engineer on the Iowa.

We then came up for air out on to the Fantail.

And a better picture of one of the wood "plugs" sealing up the muzzle of a 16" Naval Rifle barrel.

Just above the "Battleship USS Iowa" plaque in the first outside  picture above you can see one of the antennas we use when we operate for our Amateur Radio events on the Iowa. It's a 14' tall "Trussed Monopole", and normally operates from 10 MHz to 30 MHz, but with my Elecraft autotuner, I've loaded it up just fine on 7 MHz.

Here's a better view of it.

And we also use the big "Disc-Cage" antenna on the bow of the ship. These were originally installed during the 1980's retrofit of the ship to be used with a type of HF Data System, of which I don't know very much. I suspect it was a type of encrypted Packet radio system, but it's not my area of expertise.


The Disc-Cage can operate from 3 to 30 MHz, depending on which feed point you use, and is an amazingly good antenna.
If we can you, then you'll definitely hear us!

Anyway....back below decks....


From the Ship's Laundry (it was very dark, poorly lit, and cramped, so I didn't take any pix inside) we went to the Enlisted Men's Galley.

I though this sign on one of the Deep Fry Machines was "interesting".

Some kind of big chopper/shredder.

Sign on entrance to the "Meat and Vegetable Prep Room".

 

More Crew Art, artist unknown.

More by Mr. Dehning.

The two stars at the bottom are for the first and second commissioning of the ship, in 1943, and 1951. The star at the top is for her final commissioning in 1984. The bird is NOT an eagle, but rather an "Iowa Hawk", bringing back the ship's commission and hull number.



Being a Radio Nerd, I just had to get this one.

Right before we went to the Enlisted Men's Mess, we saw what was left of this painting. It originally was an over-the-shoulder view of a Helmsman, with his hands on the wheel. You can barely make out the old wooden wheel at the bottom. I'm told that in the center was a rendering of Jesus Christ, with His hands on the Helmsman's shoulders, helping him to guide the ship.

Sometime after it was painted, and before the ship was decommissioned the last time, it was declared "Politically Incorrect", and either painted over, or scrubbed with something to deface it.

Mr. Dehning, who is still alive, has offered to come and repaint it.

God Bless Mr. Dehning!


And on to the Enlisted Men's Mess.

We have a "Two Spigot" version of this exact Milk Machine on the ship I work on. BTW....the Iowa consumed approximately 250 gallons of milk per day!

Off to one side of the Crew's Mess was this red painted door, so I walked over to see ehat it was.

It's a Damage Control Locker, and they're all throughout the ship. It's a compartment containing tools and materials relevant to the location of the ship needed to repair combat or other damage. The brass plate above this one says it's for "Pipe and Bar Stowage".

Some more Crew Art by Mr. Dehning in the Crew's Mess.

That's all for now. I'll post some more later today or tomorrow.

"Curator's Tour" on the Battleship Iowa, Part 1

I "only" took about 100 pix today, as I was more interested in listening to the Head Curator talk about the ship and her history.

It was a fascinating tour, and well worth the $100 cost. I'm not retired "yet", and have a few extra bucks that I felt was worth donating to the ship to help her along. If you live in the area, or are planning on traveling out here, check the Pacific Battleship Center website for information on upcoming "special" tours.

Today was the first time the "Curator's Tour" (actually called "Inside The Iowa") was offered, and judging by the response of the public, I'm sure they keep offering it, and possibly expand it some, or maybe have two different ones.

The tour was scheduled to start at 1100, but since everybody on the list arrived early, we started a few minutes before 1100.

Some of the guides were people I "kinda-sorta" knew from my minor role on the ship, and a couple were people I'd heard of but never met. They were all great, as 99.999% of the guides are, and it was a nice chance to get to know the ones I'd only either heard of, or had met briefly in passing.

We started in the CPO Lounge area, and then went into the CPO Mess and Galley.

The above pics are some "Crew Art" done by Mr. Blair Dehning, and extremely talented man.

Here's some more "crew art" illustrating how nice it would be to have a porthole view, even though you're below the water line.

The CPO Mess and Galley areas. The gentleman in the picture is Dave Way, Curator of the Battleship Iowa, and a very knowledgeable guy.

The red light just to the right of him is NOT a "Battle Light" or "Emergency Light". It's on at night so you don't destroy your night vision if you're on duty, and wanted some "Mid Rats" before you went outside.

Numerous hatches on the ship have an almost "airlock" look to them, where you enter a room that's painted entirely black, and lit with red lighting, that you stay in a few minutes before you go out on deck at night. The rooms also have the doors positioned such that even if you had both doors open, NO inside "white light" could spill out into the night, and give away the ship's position.

Dave gave us the story behind the CPO's insignia of the Fouled Anchor.
The U stands for Unity in all we do.
The S stands for Service to our ship and shipmates, God, and Country.
The N stands for Navigation as we navigate our way through life on the right course

The anchor chain represents the days of our lives, each forged uniquely, strong, yet flexible.


On to the Enlisted Men's Barber Shop.

 

And as a reminder of how things used to be in the Navy, and ashtray built into the arm of one of the chairs!

On to the Brig......

Solitary Confinement Cell.

The Head in the Brig.

ALL of the toilets, and most of the sinks, on the Iowa are covered with plywood to "remind" you that they are NOT currently functional. We have L.A. City water run to the ship, but the sewer connections haven't been "approved" yet, so no functional heads on the ship. Once the sewer connection gets hooked up (it's there, just not "approved"), all the plumbing on the ship will get flushed out, tested, and recertified for use. The Iowa is planning on having an "Overnight Stay" package available, and all the little details like getting the toilets working have to be finished before the package can be offered.

I don't know if the general public will be able to get this package. At this time, I know it's planned for the Boy Scouts, Sea Scouts, Young Marines, and other organizations of the nature.

I don't think too many of the general public would enjoy overnight racking on the ship, but you never know!

I don't want this post to get too big, so that's all I have for today.

More tomorrow!

"Honeydew" Day

Well, so far I've fixed three broken hinges on doors, crushed two weeks worth of aluminum cans, and cleaned up the dining room table and living room coffe table.

Two of the bad hinges were simple "remove and replace" jobs, but the one on the door to Radio Central had stripped out holes in the door frame for the bottom hinge.

Don't ask how it happened......

I had to drill out the existing holes, cut some snug-fitting hardwood dowels, and glue them in with some Gorilla Glue.

After the glue cures overnight I'll mount up the new hinge, drill some pilot holes in the dowel plugs I glued in, and presto....new hinge!

And I had a HUGE stack of books and magazines on the dining room table to sort out/toss/save, and the coffee table was stacked up with all the packing material from the GoPro Hero3+ camera and accessories I bought last week.

Yep, I bought a GoPro so I can document some of the things I do, like Field Day, which is coming up next weekend.

I'm taking a special "Behind The Scenes" tour on some of the off-limits areas of the Iowa tomorrow, but I'm going to take my Nikon with me for that.

And yep, I *will* post the pix I take tomorrow!

"Sing, Sing, Sing", with Mickey Mouse??

Found this while looking for Gene Krupa videos.

It's......uhhhh......different.

140 Years of Gold and Silver in TEN Minutes!

Really explains how we got into the mess we're in.

H/T to my buddy Steve.

Happy Father's Day!

To all my fellow Dads out there!

I'm goofing off today working on the Supra. I'd painted the rear "sunshade" a month ago, but the paint I used (VHT Satin Black urethane) looked terrible. I don't know if I got a bad can (it happens) or if the paint just isn't suitable for this application. It's meant for refinishing mag wheels, and is really tough paint, but just doesn't lay down nice on large, flat surfaces.

SO.....I just finished sanding it all back off, and primed it again. I'm not sure if I'll try and spray can it myself again, or take it to the body shop down the street where my wife had some touch up work done to her car last year.

*IF* I decide to take it the body shop, then I'll also take my outside mirror housings, and the front bumper, which are also supposed to be Toyota "Tuxedo Black" gloss.

Might as well have them do the final prep and paint on several things, as it would save some cost over having things done one at a time.

As soon as I finish cleaning up things a bit, and my son gets his rear over here, I'm going to pull the seats out of the car so we can get my new carpet installed......maybe.....

The Crew Appreciation Dinner on the Iowa last night was great! A local place did the catering, and we had pulled pork, shredded beef, cole slaw, and some of the best backed beans I've ever had!

It's Official, I'm Retiring In August!

Just filled out the online forms, printed it all, and I'm in the system for starting my benefits in September.

Still not sure when I'm going to tell them at work.......

BUT, considering all the shit they've pulled on all of us, I think I'll be nice and give them two weeks notice......

Gonna See "The Gunny" On Saturday!

R. Lee Ermey will be at the Major Surplus and Survival store tomorrow for their yearly Blow-Out Sale.

I'll be there in the morning helping a bit with the booth for the Iowa, and hopefully I'll be able to get him to autograph his book I bought some months ago.

It's a pretty good book, and one I wished was available years ago when I was younger. He has a lot of good advice in it, and I'm sure I would have taken much of it.

The only "guide" I had way back then was a copy of "The Blujacket's Manual" my Dad gave me.

While that book was pretty good, I felt it just didn't apply to me (hey, I was a young pup!), but I read it anyway, and still have it.

The last time I met Gunny was at "Old Fort MacArthur Days", and I was 100% impressed with the man.

He's a real gentleman in person, and even my girlfriend at the time thought he was pretty cool.

Ever Had That "Terminally Burned Out" Feeling?

Well, I'm there with the one radio club I've been a member of since 1995.

I've been on the board for the last six years.

I've been the Field Day chair for the last six years.

I've been running the weekly net for the last four years.

I'm the President (again....) this year.

And my dear sweet wife assembles, edits, and publishes the club newsletter.

Most of the members are good people, but like most clubs we have a few flakes.

The problem is that nobody wants to help do things with club activities.

Out of the 40 some members, it's the same four to six people who make everything happen, and I'm tired of "fighting above my weight" doing so many things.

Oh, sure, the members have "ideas", and "suggestions", but they want somebody else to do all the work, and when their ideas and suggestions don't happen, they get upset about it.

When you point out that they could do the job, they immediately fall back back on the old "Oh, but I don't know how to do that" excuse.

I told everybody back in January that I would NOT be the Field Day chair this year, and nobody stepped forward to pick up the ball.

As a result, we'll only have two stations operating this year, where we normally have four or five.

And know what?

I don't care.

Amateur Radio is a HOBBY to me, and when your hobbies stop being fun, that's bad.

Besides, I'll be retiring very soon, and I have other interests and activities I want to pursue, along with doing a bunch of things around the house.

It's 100% different with the association we have on the Iowa, where everybody pitches in, and pulls more than their own weight.

And I don't mind bending over backwards one bit on the Iowa......

'Nam Era Music Medley

Stumbled across this on Da Tube while looking for something else.

While I might question some of the imagery used (M1 Abrams?). on the whole it's pretty damn good, and if you're "my age" +/- a few years, you'll definitely 'get it'.

June 6th, 1944 AND 1942

Most everybody knows June 6th 1944 was D-Day, but how many remember that June 6th 1942 was The Battle of Midway?

I've always been interested in the campaign in the pacific since that's where my Dad was (with the SeaBees) during WWII.

Midway was a significant battle, with four of the six carriers used for the Pearl Harbor attack, along with a heavy cruiser, being sunk.

The carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and the Hiryu were sunk, along with the heavy cruiser Mikuma.

It was the first major defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy since 1863, and most historians recognize it as the turning point in the Pacific Theater.