#naval engineering

[oldsport-69-420]

The French Richelieu class battleships are some of the only examples of a good quad turret. Other quads routinely suffered reliability issues, however the way the French got around this was actually quite ingenuitive. Instead of a turret with four independent elevation mechanisms, they put two dual turrets together, and since duals are incredibly reliable, it worked great.

[lindahall]

Donald McKay – Scientist of the Day

Donald McKay, a Canadian/American shipbuilder, died Sep. 20, 1880, at age 70. 

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[warsofasoiaf]

I recall your post on the Japanese battleship Yamato being a colossal waste and poor weapon. My question is this, why then is there such a huge hype and culture around the ship?

It's worth noting that at the time of construction, battleships were considered the prevailing naval doctrine of the day, so the construction of a battleship as opposed to an aircraft carrier was considered a proper use of shipbuilding resources. Anyway, the point of the Yamato was to engage multiple battleships, it was intended to form a cornerstone in naval line battle against United States Navy capital ships and anchor the IJN fighting line. Japan believed that they could not compete with the United States in number of ship hulls produced, so it sought to make up for them by making individual ships larger and stronger. On paper, it's not a bad idea, but as I mentioned before, there were a lot of practical difficulties in operation that led to it being a waste.

As far as culturally speaking, Japanese militarists saw the Yamato and Musashi as visible expressions of Japanese naval engineering capability and a declaration of intent to surpass the western naval powers of the time: the United Kingdom and the United States (the latter being more important as the USA was seen as the Pacific naval power to rival Japan). Afterward, Yamato was mythologized, memorialized, and romanticized, as part of Japan's reckoning (or lack thereof) with their Second World War past. The name Yamato has been used as a symbol of national pride, anti-Western ideology, the victory of honor over cowardly self-preservation as its doomed sailors do their duty to the last in defense of their homeland, or as a means of aggressive foreign policy depending on the person - it's no surprise that it finds a lot of purchase among hardline Japanese militarist and Second World War apologists and warcrime denialists/minimizers.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

[elvisomar]

Raye Jean Montague

(born approximately 1937) Naval engineer

Raye Jean Montague is credited with the rough draft of the first U.S. Naval ship design using a computer, which revolutionized naval ship design. She was given two months to complete the project; she finished her draft in 19 hours. She later became the first female Program Manager of Ships in the United States Navy. 

Number 187 in an ongoing series celebrating remarkable women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

[tomatopiehater]

Emotionally I am here

[bookloversofbath]

The Devil's Device: The Story of Robert Whitehead, Inventor of the Torpedo (Edwyn Gray)

The Devil’s Device: The Story of Robert Whitehead, Inventor of the Torpedo (Edwyn Gray)

The Devil’s Device: The Story of Robert Whitehead, Inventor of the Torpedo (Edwyn Gray) soon to be presented for sale on the terrific BookLovers of Bath web site!

Published: London: Seeley, Service & Co., 1975, Hardback in dust wrapper.

Contains: Black & white photographs; Tables; Appendices [3];

From the cover: Without the torpedo the submarine would still be a nautical toy of little military…

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[engineeringhistory]

Anna Bland, a burner, working on the SS George Washington Carver, April, 1943.

[engineeringhistory]

The first navigable submarine, constructed in 1620 by Cornelis Drebbel.