Visited the Mighty Mo�

M3, man did you bring up a wash of memories; not mine, but stories that my grandfather told me when I was a kid. He was part of the first aviation attachment on the Ranger and maybe the Mo. I remember him talking about it, but I'm not sure he served on the Mo. I still have all of his orders, so I'll look it up. He served his time on the battleships before the war, and was called back when the war started. He had been with Eastern Airlines in the interim, and so was put in charge of transport in south america for the duration of the war.

It's nice to know that some still remember and appreciate what these men gave for their country...and your knowlege is impressive.

Cool pics. I think alot of people forget to remember. Then again some just don't want to remember.

That's true there where tons of signs but no one took them seriously or all of the piece's weren't put together because the navy had there info, the army had there intel and so on and they all thought the other branches of the services where idiots compared to them AKA EGO's got in the way of communication and cooperation. Thankfully the military has fixed that problem now.

81nautique wrote: 79nautique wrote: AKA EGO's got in the way of communication and cooperation. Thankfully the military has fixed that problem now. I'm reading a book right now called Halsey's Typhon, it's about one of the largest losses the pacific fleet took in WWII and it was not at the hands of the enemy but due to a typhon the fleet sailed into, largly due to Egos and lack of communication. Great trip Joel, US history facinates me I'm trying to get back to reading on a regular basis, usually a few hours every morning.

The USS Wisconsin (sister ship to the Mighty Mo) was caught up in a Typhoon that capsized several vessels. The Wisconsin was unscathed. Here's a blurb from Wikipedia on the incident:

On 18 December 1944 the ships of Task Force 38 unexpectedly found themselves in a fight for their lives when Typhoon Cobra overtook the force� seven fleet and six light carriers, eight battleships, 15 cruisers, and about 50 destroyers� during their attempt to refuel at sea. At the time the ships were operating about 300 miles (500 km) east of Luzon in the Philippine Sea.[7] The carriers had just completed three days of heavy raids against Japanese airfields, suppressing enemy aircraft during the American amphibious operations against Mindoro in the Philippines. The task force rendezvoused with Captain Jasper T. Acuff and his fueling group 17 December with the intention of refueling all ships in the task force and replacing lost aircraft.[8] Although the sea had been growing rougher all day, the nearby cyclonic disturbance gave relatively little warning of its approach. On 18 December, the small but violent typhoon overtook the Task Force while many of the ships were attempting to refuel. Many of the ships were caught near the center of the storm and buffeted by extreme seas and hurricane force winds. Three destroyers, Hull (DD-350), Monaghan (DD-354), and Spence (DD-512), capsized and sank with nearly all hands, while a cruiser, five aircraft carriers, and three destroyers suffered serious damage.[7] Approximately 790 officers and men were lost or killed, with another 80 injured. Fires occurred in three carriers when planes broke loose in their hangars and some 146 planes on various ships were lost or damaged beyond economical repair by fires, impact damage, or by being swept overboard.[8] Wisconsin reported two injured sailors as a result of the typhoon,[9] but otherwise proved her seaworthiness as she escaped the storm unscathed.[2][8]

JOel, That's exactly the incident I'm reading about right now. They really had no advanced warning for storms like they do today, it's amazing but they were still sailing much like explorers centuries before them.

The real shame is those 3 destroyers were refitted with torpedoes and anti aircraft guns topdeck becasue of the Kamikazee threats and were sailing almost 500 tons over their design weight which inevitably made them prone to capsizing. They were able to right themselves from a roll of 78 degrees but were eventually overcome.

I've had the opportunity to explore the Battleship Massachuesetts mored in Fall River, Ma along with a sub the lionfish. Our New England crew will be familiar with them.

Have a safe trip home.

Joel,

Great and timely trip for you. Must have really been something to see, especially right now. Alan is right about us knowing the Massachusetts at Fall River MA. Even spent the night on it with the boy scouts, and toured the sub he mentioned. My son took a crash course in radio room operations the night we spent on the Massachusetts. I thought that would be good for him since his grandfather (my dad) was a radio operator on a destroyer tender in the Pacific in WWII. Chris is right, they are some pretty big guns. I forget the exact number, of miles, but the range on those things was ridiculous. They could hit a target on shore from a good number of miles out at sea.

also, you'll see the number 285 behind me in the pic with my daughter. That 285 is the number of 2700 lb. shells that that one turret fired in the Persian Gulf in 1991.

all of the old vets that were on these ships are passing on, i would talk for hours with my grandfather, he was in the Phillipines, he never once spoke in a derogatory way and was very proud he served, the things he seen and experienced and i think everyone in those times had the same attitude and because of them we are still a free speaking country and still the most powerful country in the world. an example of the other side is a guy in North Korea was put in front of 150,000 people in a stadium and was executed (firing squad) for making international phone calls...dont that suck

Incredible pics. Thanks for sharing. We were in Kona (big island) 3 years ago. We didn't go to any of the other islands, and I've regretted it since.

Rob

Tim, I'll bet that was cool.I remember seeing him on the History channel.I also read about a survivor of one of the overturned ships.Like an overturned glass the water would stay out but as soon as they started cutting the hull the water would start to rise and they had to work fast.Like 9 11 alot of hero's on those sad days.
Joel,thanks for posting those pic's,someday hope to see it myself.