Movie: The Great War of Archimedes, Sinking of the World's Largest Battleship

Besides all that .  .  .   by the time we were hitting Okinawa, we were within bombing range of the island with our heavies. Now take a capitol ship; anchor it or run it aground. Is that not the perfect target for high-level bombers? The hulk would have been reduced to scrap in about fifteen minutes, even without hitting the magazines.

I'll start simple; not because I doubt anyone's intellect, but because it's a complex subject. There is the basic steam cycle; boilers produce steam; steam runs equipment; waste steam gets condensed; condensate goes back to the boilers. There, nice and simple. Now, the steam produced by the boilers runs propulsion machinery, power generators, and for low pressure applications; what we used to call 'hotel services'. In order to do all that, all waste stem comes back to the condensers and repeats the cycle, but for the condensers to work, they must have an adequate flow of seawater. The seawater is the condensing agent for cooling tubes and condensing the steam. The intakes for the condensers are usually on the bottom of the hull, and ships that are grounded have a restricted flow of seawater, thus condensers don't have adequate flow. In fact, they tend to get clogged with mud and debris, further decreasing effeciency. 

For those interested, I highly recommend finding a copy of the older Navy book;

Principles of Naval Engineering, prepared by the Bureau of Naval Personnel, NAVPERS 10788-B

It details all sorts of shipboard info, from hull and propulsion systems to auxiliary systems and equipment; how they work and the basics of their use.

Do the boilers require flow over the condensors to maintain a decent steam pressure?

The Japanese were getting a bit desperate by then.  I talked to a Okinawan guard I worked with who was forced into the Japanese military at gun point and posted on top of a hill with a gun crew.  Most Okinawans were not pure Japanese and were treated as low class people.  Even in the 80s they were still considered second class by the mainland.  Certain things were not allowed to be exported to Okinawa even then.  When the fleet arrived their Japanese officer needed to go to a meeting leaving his Okinawan gun crew alone.  He told me that when they figured enough time had gone by, they headed for their village, leaving their uniforms in the jungle but took the weapon's breach with them.  He and his family managed to survive until the Americans found them.

Why would a warship have a problem using its guns if they grounded?  Is it the sheer weight of the turrets and the pressures on the ship being different at sea?  I'm taking a guess here.

Missileman,

Since you are asking about the car, I assume you located and procured a copy of the film.

And, concurring with Bill, grounded ships usually have difficulty in operating their main plants, which would be required to maintain facilities as well as sufficient power for the crew required to still man the 'hulk'.

There's skepticism on that . The ship would have had a very hard time maintaining its power which in turn would have made it impossible for the turrets to traverse and the rifles elevate.

Bill

From what I heard the Yamato had disgraced itself early in the war and this was their chance to regain their honor by becomming a massive pillbox by beaching the ship on the south end of Okinawa. If it had made it things would have been much more difficult during the invasion considering the size of the island and range of its guns. 

Got a quick question- does anyone know what the staff car to two main charactors use is?  To me it seems to have similarities to a 30s Buick but seems bigger.  I am really not into prewar Japanese cars.

I read a pretty good book about the sinking of Yamato. It seemed to be a pretty calculated suicide mission.

Bill

I found it at Walmart, in the 'cheap movies' bin.

Where can one obtain this video?

Hey, Hoo Yah!

          I was just thinking. I am sure you know what an Archimedes Screw is, don't You? Did you know, besides Water pumping for Agriculture, It was even used minimally for propulsive machinery, The idea was tried about the time Ericson Got the idea for his IronClads as well. Before the Real propellor was developed. Now, if you look at studies of Cavitation on the edge of A ship's Screws you will of course see that same pattern.

         Archimedes was like Leonardo Da Vinci, quite an inventive fellow. Pity we couldn't know more of the people of that type back from Eygptian times or even Alexandria's Hey Day! I do sometimes fantasize that Gutzom Borhglum and some others weren't re-incarnated versions of those men! 

Hi, HYDS!

   Listen I just got pinged on that on my Daily Maritime Reports lists about that ! Sounds interesting. They thought it should be in every Maritime Historian's and Retiree's library!

Well, it's about the ship, but not about the ship. It is about math; it is a revelation on the conspiracy and politics of Japan before the war. All in all, a fastinating piece. Anyone into ship design will enjoy it. A concept altering view of pre-war Japan.

I bought a copy but the disc was bad.  It seems it was about a major conflict in Japanese Naval doctrine and someone was selected to quietly go around and find out if some rumors were true.  I did manage to see a very short clip where the person documenting things was threatened with a court-martial if he didn't turn over what he found.

I will have to try to get another disc.  I think youtube has some or all of it available.

Nope but it sounds interesting.

Bill