a WW2 Ship jig

[Guest62110524]

Been studying this Kaiser Shipyard pic for awhile, fascinating Notice how they have used timbers to "jig up"" laid the rolled plates on, where they went from here I have no idea, but they built this 10,000 tonner in 10 days
So unorthodox

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[hoytedow]

Necessity is the mother of invention.

[troy2000]

Necessity is the mother of invention.

And boy, were those ships a necessity. If it was a 10,000 tonner, it was a Liberty ship. The US built close to 3,000 of them during WWII.

I just looked at a Wikipedia article. It says the average time for building one dropped from 230 days at the beginning to 42 days (as they got the hang of prefabricating pieces and assembling them, I assume).

When I started following links, Wikipedia also had this bit about SS Stephen Hopkins, a Liberty ship who was the first US ship to sink a German surface warship:

She completed her first cargo run, but never made it home. On September 27, 1942, en route from Cape Town to Dutch Guiana, she encountered the German commerce raider Stier (German for 'bull') and her tender the Tannenfels. Because of fog, the ships were only two miles (3 km) apart when they sighted each other.

Ordered to stop, the Stephen Hopkins refused to surrender, and the Stier opened fire. Although greatly outgunned, the crew of the Hopkins fought back, replacing the crew of the ship's lone 4 inch (102 mm) gun with volunteers as they fell. The fight was fierce and short, and by its end both ships were wrecks.

The Stephen Hopkins sank at 10:00. The Stier, too heavily damaged to continue its voyage, was scuttled by its crew less than two hours later. Most of the crew of the Hopkins died, including captain Paul Buck. The survivors drifted on a lifeboat for a month before reaching shore in Brazil.

From the Wikipedia article on Stier:

Closing in foggy conditions the 2 ships sighted each other around 0852 at a distance of 4,000 yards. Gerlach sent his men to action stations; the master of the Stephen Hopkins was suspicious of the unidentified vessel and did the same. The Stephen Hopkins had a small defensive armament (1 × 4 inch gun astern, and several machine guns), but when firing commenced, around 0855, she put up a spirited defence. She scored several hits on Stier, damaging her engines and steering gear. However, overwhelmed by fire from Stier, the Hopkins drifted away; by 10 am she had sunk. Forty-two of her crew were killed in the action, and three more died later; the 16 survivors finally reached Brazil 31 days later.

Meanwhile Stier had been fatally damaged; unable to make headway, and not responding to the helm, Gerlach made the decision to abandon ship and scuttle her. She sank at 11.40 am.

I salute captain and crew. Who knows how many other ships they saved, by fighting back instead of surrendering?

[hoytedow]

A good story about a great crew. Thanks.

[Guest62110524]

yes thanks troy
The book I have, said it (10) was a record
Also said Kaiser was a very fair and good employer, I like that

[TeddyDiver]

What's the book(s?) with those great pictures? :D

[hoytedow]

Titanic? Old fashioned, circa early 1900's anyway.

[jehardiman]

Been studying this Kaiser Shipyard pic for awhile, fascinating Notice how they have used timbers to "jig up"" laid the rolled plates on, where they went from here I have no idea, but they built this 10,000 tonner in 10 days
So unorthodox

The temporary shoring is holding the shell plating in place while it is joined up, looks like by welding as most Libertys were done that way by mid war. This is probabily taken from the stern, and in the background they are getting the double bottom floors and plate keel in. Once the double bottom is in all the shoring will taken out as the waybeds and poppets are placed. Common enough construction in the days before block outfitting in the platen shop because it is all downhand welding, though they are way ahead of the floors when this picture was taken.

[jehardiman]

Here is a photo of a Liberty 24 hours into building at Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond CA. Notice the shell and double bottom sequence. The stern tube and horn are a casting and droped into place as a module with thier surrounding structure. There was a lot of pre-fab decks and houses, but not modular construction as we now think of it.

http://www.sanpedro.com/Kaiser_Richmond/images/kaiser_page_21_1st_day_750.jpg

Go here for a photo sequence of construction: http://www.sanpedro.com/Kaiser_Richmond/kaiser-richmond_21.htm

[Guest62110524]

Here is a photo of a Liberty 24 hours into building at Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond CA. Notice the shell and double bottom sequence. The stern tube and horn are a casting and droped into place as a module with thier surrounding structure. There was a lot of pre-fab decks and houses, but not modular construction as we now think of it.

http://www.sanpedro.com/Kaiser_Richmond/images/kaiser_page_21_1st_day_750.jpg

Go here for a photo sequence of construction: http://www.sanpedro.com/Kaiser_Richmond/kaiser-richmond_21.htm

wow, sorry Jerd I know not your name, but cheers for that, it is totally beyond comprehension
Did you know , that Kaiser, had never built ships and Libertys were his first
Perhaps he bought no fixed ideas, and he and team approached it with a different , free from tradition view?
There is some nice work forwards
What we tend to forget is that it's all been done before I have seen rivetted ship --Krasir icebreaker in St Pete Ru, the plate lines so fair it leaves one staggered--mind you she was Brit built and still sound as a bell nearly 100 years on

[Guest62110524]

anyone interested in ship and sea would love the story of Krasin, built Newcastle UK 1916 the most powerful breaker so far 10000 shp triple screw
she was sunk by Brits in Niva river Ru during the Bolshevik revolution raised and given back to Soviets in 1927, she rescued Italian team to N pole, and was in the cold war as radio boat I loved her history The Russian gave me a private tour TEAK over steel decks one inch thick
i was on board, in St P Ru

[apex1]

The KRASIN was originally built as "Svyatogor" at "W.G. Armstrong, Whitworth" Newcastle to a design of the Russian Admiral Makarow with German engines and boilers by "Ottensener Eisenwerke".
She was not sunk but confiscated by the British Navy in 1919 but given back 2 years later due to the intervention of the "Commissioner Leonid B. Krasin" then 1927 renamed "Krasin".
She rescued not only the Nobile expedition but a few days before the German passenger ship Monte Cervantes, which was leak near Spitzbergen, too.

The English Wiki is wrong there in several cases.

During the 80ies and early 90ies I had the pleasure to be on board several times (and even command her once), when she was still in service. We invited her to visit Hamburg in 1991, which was a great event.

[Guest62110524]

she was scuttled in the Niva, and raised again

History and service

The icebreaker was built by Armstrong Whitworth in Newcastle upon Tyne under the supervision of Yevgeny Zamyatin.[1] The vessel was launched as the Svyatogor on 3 August 1916 and completed in February 1917.[1] Up to the beginning of the 1950s she remained the most powerful icebreaker in the world.[3]

During the allied intervention against the Bolsheviks in Northern Russia (1918-19) she was scuttled by the Royal Navy. They raised her for use in the White Sea and later brought her to Scapa Flow for minesweeping.
and I did not find this in Wiki abt scuttling I was told this when given a personal tour, the ship was closed at the time