Model Boat Mayhem

Mess Deck: General Section => Full Scale Ships => Topic started by: MCAT on November 19, 2007, 11:45:59 am

Title: HAD TO GET THE SCALE RIGHT ON THIS ONE
Post by: MCAT on November 19, 2007, 11:45:59 am

ONLY JUST  ???

Title: Re: HAD TO GET THE SCALE RIGHT ON THIS ONE
Post by: tigertiger on November 19, 2007, 12:17:47 pm

Reminds me of the story I heard about the SS Great Britain, don't know if it is true.

When they returned her to Bristol she would not fit into the dock she was originally built in.
Apparently she had been clad with timber at some time after her launch and she was now too wide.

Title: Re: HAD TO GET THE SCALE RIGHT ON THIS ONE
Post by: meechingman on November 19, 2007, 03:47:59 pm

Weren't they actually designed so that they could fit through the locks on the Panama Canal - albeit only just - if needed?

Title: Re: HAD TO GET THE SCALE RIGHT ON THIS ONE
Post by: Colin Bishop on November 19, 2007, 05:30:14 pm

Quote

Weren't they actually designed so that they could fit through the locks on the Panama Canal - albeit only just - if needed?

Yes, the Iowa class were intended for Pacific operations but until the building of the supercarriers the USN liked to be able to switch ships between the Pacific and Atlantic if necessary without having to go the long way round.

Title: Re: HAD TO GET THE SCALE RIGHT ON THIS ONE
Post by: Bryan Young on November 19, 2007, 06:02:53 pm

There is a rather interesting aside to this subject. If you are driving a (say) 30,000 ton ship into a dead-end then 30,000 tons of water have to be ejected. The ship has to use a lot of power to "squeeze" the water out. The same applies when putting a ship into a dry-dock. In the Panama Canal they have lengths of anchor cable across the water to act as an emergency brake. The "squirt" of the water at the back end of the ship entering the lock is really impressive.