Some Battleship Stuff

A while back I posted some info about the missile attack on one of the battleships during the Gulf War – and I was going to post about some of the upgrade that were being proposed for what to do with the beasts.

After a BUNCH of looking the most “concrete” plan I found info on was the basing of aircraft on the stern of the ship after removal of the number 3 turret – actually a very interesting proposal –

First up is from National Interest dot ORG – click Here to go there and read the full article

From the article:

The four battlewagons were swiftly retired after the end of the Cold War because the manpower-intensive vessels each required a crew of nearly two thousand. That made them early victims of the post-Cold War drawdown as the defense budget was sharply reduced. Today, all four serve as memorials or floating museums. Retirement put an end to future upgrades, which might have included the boldest of them all.

In the November, 1980 issue of the United States Naval Institute Proceedings, Captain Charles Myers, USN (retired) proposed reactivating the battleships with significant modifications to the aft section.The proposal envisioned deleting the number three turret near the stern and the three sixteen-inch guns housed in it.

In place of the number three turret would be an extraordinary set of armaments. A V-shaped, ramped flight deck would be installed, with the base of the V on the ship’s stern. Each leg of the V would extend forward, so that planes taking off would fly past the stacks and ship’s bridge. Two elevators would bring Boeing AV-8B Harrier II jump-jets up from a new hangar to the flight deck. It was envisioned such a conversion could support up to twelve Harriers.

In addition the plans called for replacing the five inch guns with 155 millimeter howitzer mounts as well as up to 320 ( yes that’s right – 320 ) vertical launch tubes – OH MY !!

And this from Naval History dot ORG – click here to go there . . .

This page gives you a little more detail of the proposal as conceived by Martin Marietta

And one more article from Task and Purpose dot Com – click HERE to go there . . .

is basically a rehash of the first article . . .

Over the years on various forums there was MUCH discussion about what to do with the battleships – one of the wildest discussions involved removal of all three turrets and just about all of the superstructure – mounting a nuclear reactor and a steam turbine/generator set for power generation and mounting a pair of lasers similar to what was utilized on the Boeing project the YAL-1 Airborne Laser as well as somewhere north of 2 thousand Vertical Launch Cells – I believe some of those folks did much more than just inhale back in the day – does anybody else still remember Mustang BBS software – Along Time Ago . . . and most proposals never made it past the “what if” phase – but what everybody forgets is the IOWA Class battleships were designed to do ONE job with DEADLY efficiency – seek out – engage – and sink other battleships – and when there were no more battleships . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

SAGE – Semi-Automatic Ground Environment : Part One

SAGE was almost an unbelievable application of technology in the late 1950’s – science fiction became reality – to understand how truly groundbreaking SAGE was we need to take a little time to to understand what was being utilized prior to it.Pretty much state of the art prior to SAGE . . .

File:Battle of Britain operations room.JPG

The British utilized radar well against the German Air Force during the Battle of Britain – the issues was the I/O process – the information from the radar had to go to the decision makers – then be presented in a format that could be visualized – the “IN” part of our I/O process – 5 minutes BEST time for the information – heading change – split in formation – numbers of aircraft etc. to be laid out at his feet – literally – you stood on a “balcony” of sorts and looked down on the plotting as pieces were shuffled around on it!!

Then a decision is made then it has to be passed out to the various commands – the “OUT” part of our I/O process – and another 5 minute minimum – cycle time – “I/O” – one cycle every ten minutes. Now that’s not quite as bad as it sounds – for a number of reasons – you pretty much know where they are coming from – you just need to fine tune that information and present it to the decision maker(s) – Britain is not the largest country – but the point was to see where they are headed then stack fighters in front of them – and it worked. For a really neat read go HERE : History of the Battle of Britain – a neat site from the RAF Museum – and you should crawl through their MAIN SITE as well – worth the time – and if you wish to go tripping with “Alice” – you can go down the rabbit hole Radar in World War 2 Wiki page HERE . . . have fun and I’ll see you when you get back – LMAO!!

So . . . where were we?? – We had radar that was continually improving but the I/O side of the equation was not keeping pace – and not a lot of pressure until the democrats communists popped their first nuke on August 29, 1949 – then everybody basically went into ” OH SHIT! OH MOTHER! OH DEAR! ” mode. Full. Blown.

It is one thing to track inbound air traffic from a general area that is moving at 225 knots when you have little to no civilian traffic in the mix – when you add the size of the North American continent and the large number of civilian aircraft that took to the skies following the end of WW2 AND then enter the jet age – it simply overwhelms the “manual” system – just the amount of information that needs to be processed precludes doing it manually . SAGE took the information from many sources and provided that information up and down the process chain . The airlines entered flight information into SAGE – meteorological information was factored into the mix – what ADC base with what fighter/interceptor groups were on alert – if the contact was far enough “off the beaten path” – either geographically or time wise – really quite a laundry list – the decision maker had all that information available in a format that could be understood and a decision made and action taken almost immediately .

As fast as I can hack this stuff out I will give you a general overview of SAGE and the “Ultimate Interceptor” – the F-106 – and yes I know that this stuff is out “there” but do you really want to spend the next 27 months sorting through it and trying to make some kind of sense out of it ?? And speaking of the “Ultimate Interceptor” – here is a pic of a Cali ANG F-106 firing a Genie air to air missile – and yes they could be fitted with nuclear war heads – having one of those go off in your face could ruin your day !!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

What Happens When Ammo Burns?

The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI), the standards-setting organization for the industry, has provided this video to fire departments nationwide to help firefighters better address the realities of fires in which sporting ammunition is present.

Burning ammunition is not an issue regardless of what snowflakes “feel” – although I have had people try to tell me stored ammunition is dangerous – I patiently explain to them the only things dangerous around here is fucking communists and their dupes !

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

All Federal Gun Laws Are Unconstitutional

Probably the best 25 minutes you will spend this lifetime . . . And by extension – ALL gun laws are violations of the constitution – “repugnant” to the constitution .

She actually gets “it” – YOUR rights come from GOD the Creator and the constitution prohibits government – ALL government from infringing upon your rights – ALL of them – going to date myself here – I sometimes feel like I am living in a Firesign Theater skit – if you are curious click HERE .

Pay attention – there may be a pop quiz on this later . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

“Elevator Hacking”

From the description . . .

Throughout the history of hacker culture, elevators have played a key role. From the mystique of students at MIT taking late-night rides upon car tops (don’t do that, please!) to the work of modern pen testers who use elevators to bypass building security systems (it’s easier than you think!) these devices are often misunderstood and their full range of features and abilities go unexplored. This talk will be an in-depth explanation of how elevators work… allowing for greater understanding, system optimizing, and the subversion of security in many facilities. Those who attend will learn why an elevator is virtually no different than an unlocked staircase as far as building security is concerned!

Basically two hours of elevator “stuff” – I actually look for this weirdness and post it for YOU!!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Cowboy Up!!

Dug out The “cowboy” pistols and had a hoot . . .

The top one is a Uberti 1873 Cattleman – SHOWN HERE – CLICK TO READ ! . . .

Numbers 2 through 5 ( top to bottom ) –

Uberti chambered in 32-20

Uberti Bisley chambered in 45 Colt

Cimarron originally chambered in 44 Special

ASM chambered in 32-20

The weather was somewhat cooperative and we got out to the chicken ranch and ran the snot out of these and several others . . .

I will get a review up for each of these over the next week or two – the neat part about “replica” firearms is you can hold and shoot “history” in a firearm in new – safe – and working condition and you don’t have to drop 10 – 20 thousand doing it ! And remember – EVERY single round you fire out of that ‘vintage” or “original” Colt or Smith diminishes the value of that collectible . . .

Get your Happy Ass out and Practice – Ok ? – Thanx

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!