WWII hand-powered lathe from Liberty Ship - photo

[Dr Stan]

Probably the original shop. Virtually identical to the ones on the Coral Sea & the Alabama. When you're out in the middle of "the pond" it's a little difficult to get deliveries from McMaster.

One may note the dead center in the rack of tools behind the head of the lathe.

[Dr Stan]

Ron in this picture also from the John W Brown liberty ship machine shop on the left side you can see a Bridgeport mill it looks to be a J head
Attachment 19918
the Lathe is Southbend
Attachment 19919

In all likely hood the Bridgeport is a later addition. WWII destroyers and the like had a lathe with a milling attachment rather than a stand alone mill.

[Seedtick]

Lathe on the USS Missouri, a Virginia-class attack submarine Iowa-class battleship. Fullsize 4,000px wide pic: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...e_fullsize.jpg .






Anyone know about the effect of sea motion on machining? Is it minimized in such a large sub? Worse above the water surface?

Check out the drill chuck in tail stock of that behemoth of a lathe. Someone had a sense of humor.
Greg

[Toolmaker51]

Check out the drill chuck in tail stock of that behemoth of a lathe. Greg

Agreed, not even a #14N Jacobs. But in reference to scale, note arm of the radial drill and tilting work table in the foreground. Or the face plate resting near the far end of the lathe. Whether USS Enterprise, a FFG, or a repair ship, even experienced hands are surprised by the range of machine tools and tooling that Machinery Repairmen have access to. It got even better in the yards.
Having referenced it before, I wish I could share pages of the auction catalog from Long Beach Naval Shipyard, CA. I knew that location like back of my hand, still amazes me nearly 20 years later.

[Frank S]

If you will notice there are more than 1 face plates 1 is hiding behind the steady rest and is much smaller in diameter probably just small enough to be used without having to pull the gap bridge and judging by the size of the drill bit it looks to be about 3 1/2 inches or more with a MT 5 or 6 shank
I have a 2 3/4 " that has the shank turned down from MT 5 to MT 4 it looks huge in my index but that thing is a lot bigger than mine.

[mklotz]

I really wish the Navy had not abandoned the ship naming conventions of WWII - states for battleships, cities for cruisers, fish for submarines, etc.. I'm particularly annoyed by the practice of naming carriers for presidents. IMO, we've never had a president who deserves to have any ship named for him. [I wouldn't mind naming barges after a few of them but that's my limit.]

The Missouri (BB63) is a particularly historic ship and its name should remain singular. The same for all the other Iowa class battleships.

The Iowa (BB61) is now permanently moored as a museum ship here in LA harbor. Unfortunately, when I toured it a few years ago, neither the machine shop or the engine room were open to the public.

It's interesting to me that all the Iowa class ships have been preserved as museums rather than being broken up. Can it be that the Navy thinks there may yet arise more situations where an offshore heavy artillery platform could be useful?

[Toolmaker51]

I really wish the Navy had not abandoned the ship naming conventions of WWII - states for battleships, cities for cruisers, fish for submarines, etc.. I'm particularly annoyed by the practice of naming carriers for presidents. IMO, we've never had a president who deserves to have any ship named for him. [I wouldn't mind naming barges after a few of them but that's my limit.]

The Missouri (BB63) is a particularly historic ship and its name should remain singular. The same for all the other Iowa class battleships.

The Iowa (BB61) is now permanently moored as a museum ship here in LA harbor. Unfortunately, when I toured it a few years ago, neither the machine shop or the engine room were open to the public.

It's interesting to me that all the Iowa class ships have been preserved as museums rather than being broken up. Can it be that the Navy thinks there may yet arise more situations where an offshore heavy artillery platform could be useful?

Some naming conventions have historical significance. However it s time to be on the road for work and a simultaneous interview enroute....so I'll continue when stationary.

[Dr Stan]

It's interesting to me that all the Iowa class ships have been preserved as museums rather than being broken up. Can it be that the Navy thinks there may yet arise more situations where an offshore heavy artillery platform could be useful?

I certainly hope not. In any case so many nations have missiles capable of taking out large ships such as carriers & battleships at a distance they are obsolete.

[mklotz]

I certainly hope not. In any case so many nations have missiles capable of taking out large ships such as carriers & battleships at a distance they are obsolete.

The Missouri was used to shell targets and launch missiles as recently as 1991 in occupied Kuwait. Anti-missile defenses become continually more sophisticated and the most recent improvements are always kept secret. Who can say where and how the next small-scale conflict will evolve?

As to the obsolete nature of carriers, I'm sure the Navy will be disappointed to learn that they spent $13 billion on the USS Gerald Ford for no good reason.

[Frank S]

I certainly hope not. In any case so many nations have missiles capable of taking out large ships such as carriers & battleships at a distance they are obsolete.

That may well be but I can think of several instances in 4 wars where members of my family were sure proud to have them sitting off shore lobbing their munitions and in the last mission their tomahawks My father in WWII & Korea 3 of my uncles in WWII, my eldest first cousin at Con Thien in March of 69 and his nephew in Kuwait in 91 Heck I would have felt more secure on a couple of short incursions in 72 & 73 had the New Jersey been on station myself
While it is true that a vessel, any vessel for that matter is a sitting duck in the water when it comes to cruse missiles or Ariel bombardment their presents represents a seance of security for ground troops especially when refitted with updated technologies.
However now it is almost possible for any tech savy teenager to create a rudimentary form of Target identification and acquisition tracking device rendering just about anything moving slower than a pleasure yacht in high winds subject to being locked on