r/Ships

Source: mk_timelapse (IG)

This is IMO one of the most haunting pieces of film from WWII, a kamikaze flies straight towards and then explodes on a US aircraft carrier while a cameraman on board films. I can't even imagine being a member of the crew and only being able to watch as the plane got closer and closer.

EDIT: Upon further research I discovered this was that USS Ticonderoga (in some places the footage has been misidentified as the Franklin): https://youtu.be/McEjJfENUm8?is=wWkrC6fQQVlop9X9

source: MK timelapse GmbH

“USS Silversides Dry Dock Update:

The aft flood valve in main ballast tank “2D” was stamped as a valve for the USS Trigger, which was a sister submarine built adjacent to the USS Silversides. The valve has been removed and saved to be shown on display at the museum after the dry dock project is completed.

Pictures show the USS Trigger flood valve partially open, the valve marked “SAVE” for preservation and future display, the flood valve after removal as it is prepared for a museum exhibit, and components of the flood valve actuation mechanism associated with the removed valve. These images document the discovery, removal, and preservation of this unique artifact that links USS Silversides to her sister submarine, USS Trigger.”

Nuclear power??

Ten years ago this week, I boarded a plane in San Francisco, vacationed for a bit in Japan, and eventually made my way to a container ship in the port of Hong Kong. The CMA-CGM Gemini then faithfully returned me home, passing under the Golden Gate Bridge nineteen days later, 40 years to the hour since I was born. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever done, and I’d enjoy telling yall more about it if you’re curious.

Here’s a short video I made along the way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qidGAcEIkb8

I just got back from celebrating my 50th with a dozen of my closest friends. It was so much fun, but a very different trip. On my voyage from HKHKG to USOAK, there were 24 people total: 23 crew members and me. I picked that route specifically because I wanted to be alone. If I could do it again, I swear to god in a heartbeat I would. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss the clarity of mind I had on that trip. The pandemic recalibrated a lot of things though, and global shipping was one of them. All of the major carriers that used to take civilian passengers no longer do.

I always feel weird talking about this trip in a positive light, when I know so many seamen are on the water out of necessity. The U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln is obviously in the news a lot these days. But in addition to military personnel, there are over one million merchant marines currently underway. The messman on my ship frequently had tours of 9 months. His father is a seaman as well. Due to mismatched schedules, it had been two years since they even had the possibility of seeing each other in person. So, yeah, I get it. My entire perspective was/is colored by the knowledge that I would be in my own bed, with my stable salary and my friends and family and walks in the park and favorite restaurants and everything else when my short excursion was over.

And yet, as much as I can visualize myself in different lives, I think for one of them, I would like to be an officer on a container ship. The days I spent on the bridge of that vessel staring out onto a vast world of nothing and everything were cathartic. I miss them so much.

Saw this on the movie hitman's bodyguard or it's sequel so I could not find the deck plans or design drawings