In last night's episode they told how the Big E went into overhaul at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in 1943 and, among other enhancements, had a defensive torpedo blister attached below the waterline. I wonder why the Navy didn't think of incorporating these earlier, even back in the 1930's when these ships were being built?
When Yorktown class aircraft carriers were designed in 1930s, the waterline armor belt and tank system outboard of the machinery spaces was judged adequate to protect against the torpedoes then available. A more extensive system (e.g., blistering) or widening the hull would require expenditure of weight, meaning less aircraft capacity, magazine stowage, etc within the design displacement. War experience showed how vulnerable this class of ship was to underwater damage. Yorktown and Hornet were lost as a result of torpedo hits crippling the engineering plant. Enterprise was the only surviving ship of the class, but she was only available for major overhaul after the great carrier battles of 1942. She simply could not be spared earlier. A more detailed explanation of this class's design and the effects of war experience may be found in Norman Friedman's US Aircraft Carriers design history.
shareSounds like you really know your carrier history. Thanks!
Speaking of carriers and torpedo damage, you might be interested in the story of the Shinano, Japan's largest carrier of WWII, a huge ship (built from the hull of what originally was supposed to be another Yamato-class battleship) that was such a top secret project, that it was never even officially photographed. It was sunk 29Nov44 by torpedos from a U.S. submarine patrolling in waters near its home port.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_aircraft_carrier_Shinano
FYI, I have seen 1 photo of Shinano which is included in the book "Axis battleships of World War II" published by US Naval Institute. The photo is not high-resolution and was taken by a high-altitude B-29 recon plane, but you can get some idea of size of ship. Coincidentally, Yamato-class ships were also more vulnerable to torpedo damage than designers expected due to faulty design of the joint between upper and lower armor belts. Both Yamato and Musashi experienced significant flooding from single torpedo hits from US submarines when the joint failed and water flooded compartments inboard of the armor.
shareTrue about the flawed torpedo belt - the aforementioned Wiki article on Shinano makes reference to that very weakness in the torpedo belt as a major cause of her demise.
Idle curiosity, but I wonder, if the Shinano or other great ships of the IJN had survived the war, would the USN have requisitioned them for use in the American fleet? Probably not.... probably would've used them for target practice. lol
I concur. Technology wise the USN was ahead of IJN. The Yamato class was huge but the still-born US Montana class would have been superior. Look what happened to the IJN I-400 class submarines--inspected, then sunk.
shareAnti-Torpedo Bulges also known as Blisters were retrofitted to the old BattleShips prior to WWII. During the war it was necessary to do so to many ships including AirCraft Carriers and Cruisers. In addition to improving underwater protection they restored bouyence. Additions to Anti-Aircraft Weapons, Crew, Radar and Supplies required Bulging to restore freeboard and stability.
share