Armored Turrets on the Iowa Class Battleships

[@nmccw3245]

John’s deep dive into armor is fascinating. More with him please. 👍🏻

[@malcolmmoy]

Perhaps buy his book?

[@nmccw3245]

@@malcolmmoy - Perhaps, but having him on video next to the actual armor he’s explaining is infinitely better than words on paper.

[@grahamoverman7862]

Wonderfully good deep dive, use him as a presenter more!

[@thomaslewis8356]

Amazing job John, can't believe the amount of research you've done,

[@drubradley8821]

Look, I realize, America can and is still building some amazing super structures in the aspect of ocean going naval vessels... But, there is just something about these old school units, that I am always blown away at, wondering how in the heck those old school men pulled this off, not just once, but so many times for all sorts of the Navy's tools for battle.. Mainly, these battle ships... Planning on paper, with a slide rule, is mind blowing enough, but, once you start to see how interwoven (if that is a word?) and detailed, while considering redundancy times 3 to 4 measures deep to safe guard the ship, and weaving all of its wiring, hoses, plumbing, gears, levers, pulleys, holding tanks, conveyors, etc...etc.. etc... to the point that, when you first see such a machine in person, I can't even wrap my head around how those hard core men did it. Not a single cubic foot of space was wasted, everything fulfilled and backed up with a logical mindset of purpose, all for the end game, FIGHT, SURVIVE, COME HOME,,, repeat in need be... When I see such amazing pieces of equipment, that kept so many men alive, in some of the most harshest of conditions of weather, and war, (this might come out wrong) but, I love being an American. It is a very proud feeling. Again, I hope that comes out correct, and not meant to sound in any measures of disrespectful. Perhaps, maybe, I can say, learning about the history of the USA, never seems to fail to inspire me, leaving me desiring more info upon these amazing machines. Thank you for sharing so many of these videos. I like having the fire lite under my a$$ to get off my lazy butt, after watching any of these channels that showcases what my fellow hard core American's of the past have done, resulting in me, questioning myself, "What am I going to do today, and what ever it is gonna be, I want it to count." Dang I love this country.

[@1949rangerrick]

My dad was on the Colorado for the duration of WW2. He was a Chief Petty Officer in the engine room. After they fired on Okinawa for weeks, he went up on deck during a lull in the attack and he said there were many pock marks on the sides of the upper decks and even in the barrels of the big guns from Japanese shore artillery. The kamakazi pilots did the most damage, killing dozens of sailors. Thank God for the armor that kept below decks safe.

[@nickgriffin5835]

Have more of John on the channel! I love to hear his knowledge!

[@klsc8510]

YES!

[@asasial1977]

I’ve worked with thick metal Heavy equipment mining equipment, Even have a year of sea time. it still amazes me how thick the armor is.

[@williestyle35]

What still amazes me is the sheer overall size of the continuous armour sheets themselves! To think they face hardened such huge and thick sections of steel. It is a testament to the resources a country like America can muster in building Battleship New Jersey . ☺

[@PsRohrbaugh]

Not only is having a guest wonderful, but the camera work, audio, and editing are all the best they've been in a while. Great job!

[@SunnnyDay]

"If you ever want to build a Battleship"...This knowledge should never be lost !

[@steveanderson9290]

I was stunned by the size of the rangefinder assembly. I was picturing a small "doodad" bolted to the side of the turret, not that behemoth.

[@williestyle35]

( 3:26 ) holy smokers! They used *6 beads of welding* the attach the bracket plates between the walls and roof! I had not thought of this when we were shown the same joins in the steering gear area. Good information, thanks Ryan and John and all at Battleship New Jersey ! ☺

[@williestyle35]

It would help some if John referred to "class B armour" by its trade name "rolled homogenous armour". The thickness and hardening is finished by putting the armoured steel or alloy metal sheets through rollers.

[@Cletrac305]

There's also probably 3 to 5 beads under the 6 you can see for the root pass etc.

[@tnarggrant9711]

This dude wrote a book on turret armor. Bless him.

[@damkayaker]

Not just the turrets ... all the armor. I'm tempted to buy it.

[@SueBobChicVid]

This is an interesting mini-series. I never thought about the details of the armor junctions and how much engineering work went into the design. It makes me curious how the US techniques compared to Japan and Germany.

[@klsc8510]

I would add England.

[@EstOptimusNobis]

I would love to see an episode that explains the production process of armour plate at the steel mills. How they handled such heavy thickness, the heat treatment, rolling, what steel mill produced the plates for the Iowas, etc. That would be fascinating! ⚓⚒🔗

[@johndoe-so2ef]

I believe that Drach has a video on this subject.

[@davidhair8295]

I have been in several Gulf coast shipyards an can not imagine how they would have lifted a turret or even the plates used to build them. I have never seen any photos of the turrets being lifted or how they welded such thick plates together.

[@williamforbes5826]

More episodes with tech wizards would greatly be appreciated! These old ships and methods of construction are being lost to history if not documented while we can. Kudos to the 'deep dive' on armor. Many more, please!

[@Odin029]

I wasn't able to find my own Iowa class battleship on e-bay, so I'm clearing space (and my neighbors' houses) so I can build one of my own in my backyard. The guy at the metal shop told me that they'd make me some class A armor if I have a big enough order. I gave him a copy of the booklet of general plans. He said he'd get back to me at the beginning of next week... fingers crossed I can fit the cost in my budget.

[@skydiverclassc2031]

You might have some trouble with that, unless the guy at the metal shop knows how to convert feet and inches to curators and vice versa.

[@18robsmith]

Go for it 🙂

[@pauld6967]

While you are at it Odin, you should get a guy lined up to dig a canal from your backyard to the nearest large river or the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean or the Atlantic Ocean, as the case may be. Trust me, once it is done you are going to want to take it out for a spin on weekends and holiday vacations. So it is better to get the canal done ahead of time & not feel frustrated later!

[@unitrader403]

@@pauld6967 i think it would be cooler if it were put into a nearby lake with all inlets and outlets far to shallow for the ship, so people wonder how it got there and what its doinf in that lake :D

[@damkayaker]

@@unitrader403 I have daydreamed of how it would look floating in Round Valley.

[@rogerb3654]

I love the sound of the rain in the background throughout. Especially at 5:03. (you can also see the rain run-off through the entrance hatch that Ryan is standing over). 🌧🌧🌧

[@ZGryphon]

Until I figured out that it was raining outside, I was deeply confused. "Where is that sound of running water coming from? Ryan's not reacting to it, is it on the video on in the real world? Is my house flooding?" :)

[@dsloop3907]

@@ZGryphon Yeah, I had to mute the video and look also.

[@Maroonag1]

LOL. I was like why is there water running.

[@davelindgren5245]

This guy has forgotten more than I could ever possible learn about how the armor is designed. Really interesting!

[@fko1]

These ships are such engineering marvels

[@williestyle35]

Odd coincidence, it was raining here in Florida while I watched this video. Good work to Ryan and John!

[@degrewweheiser]

The Range-Finders would be an interesting Video!

[@charlesolson9019]

I am in awe of Mr. Miano's deep and thoroughgoing nerdery.

[@brodie61dogg23]

John is a treasure. You should try to interview more like him before they are gone.

[@BigAmp]

That welding is not overkill. It is absolutely correct and is how structural / pressure code welds are done to this day. Multiple passes (multiple beads). The US Navy got it right, big time.

[@hootinouts]

Agreed. I am a designer and also weld al home and built up welds are very common; especially in groove welds and on thick material.

[@mdtransmissionspecialties]

Ryan’s never welded a day in his life. You take him with a grain of salt with his opinion. That’s more like 60 beads not 6.

[@samuelbell2390]

​@@mdtransmissionspecialtiesIn all fairness he did specify 6 beads "at the top." Even saying that I'm not 100% sure if he understands how a fillet like that is actually structured lol. A part of me wants to visit the ship solely to examine the welds lol

[@robfromcanada5075]

B-pressure welder here. I agree, six visible passes isn't overkill. But I've never seen scallops on a pressure vessel

[@koriko88]

Ryan can't know everything but he does a good job of bringing on specialists like this and also doing interviews with people. I'm sure if there was someone willing to do it, he would be happy to bring in a welder just to talk about the welding job, and it could be an hour long video and everyone would watch it. I would watch it!

[@jonboger2292]

As a professional welder I find this fascinating.

[@AdmiralYeti8042]

Same, man. I’m looking at those scallops with abnormal interest.

[@williestyle35]

Man, can you imagine laying *6 beads* to join that scalloped cut plate to the armour? That is a heck of a lot of work.

[@donaldcarter1206]

I was working on the Iowa on top of one of the fwd turrets straightening the rod used to tie awning to. Some ensign was worried about me cutting a hole in the turret with the small torch i was using to heat and bend the round stock. I told him that if anything ever happened where we had to get into the turret there was no way we had a torch big enough to cut our way in. This wasn't too long before the explosion. I was only there 2 days so i did not really get to know the gun crews but it made me sad i might have met some of them.

[@brucel399]

Very interesting concept of how they used the armor to protect the ship and crew. Great mention to Norm Abram in comparison with the shipbuilders. CHEERS from Colorado

[@theilluminatist4131]

Nice video Ryan! Thanks for having John Miano on as a guest lecturer... Very interesting episode...wow it was pouring that day!

[@kiereluurs1243]

That's really nerding out, with such a book. It also shows the enormous effort of building these ships.

[@MischeifMakerz]

Very knowledgeable guest, I bet his book is filled with so much more knowledge, but even just from this video I was quite impressed. I learned many things from this, thanks!

[@vitkriklan2633]

A wonderful presentation from John. He's not only knowledgable but also an outspoken presenter. And a beatiful kind of crazy. I mean, it takes a special kind of person to catalogue every armor plate on a BB. And I love it 😊.

[@aldenconsolver3428]

GREAT!~ A specialist in armor!! Going to find out how expensive that book is and start saving, it will have a place right next to my books on gun fire. Guns and gun laying., armor, boilers, turbines, damage control all part of the tale of these behemoths. Have you considered putting your battleship freaks to work on the New Jersey? Sure there are a lot of specialists required on a battleship but on any project like that you will need people to torch off frozen bolts and all of these things. I am handicapped but if I could walk right I would love to spend a couple days helping refit the big girl. I bet you could get a lot of people who would be glad and proud to spend a day working on New Jersey for nothing more than a hat that says USS New Jersey - CREW. I know I would. Ryan you are doing a first class job of the care, feeding and education of the battleships, keep up the good work.

[@unknown-ql1fk]

I love this stuff, the more obscure the better....and I know I'm not alone here

[@ut000bs]

I'll admit if you and John want to talk more about armor other places I wouldn't mind at all. 😉👍‍

[@jonh4301]

Very interesting - I would like to see the turret roof scarf joints some time.

[@mm3mm3]

At least we know Ryan is waterproof lol!

[@ericn7677]

Not only do I need the book but also a MUCH bigger backyard.

[@zxggwrt]

This collaboration is some of the best content I’ve seen!

[@Maine307]

History Channel did a huge show, many years ago, when they did that stuff, about the worlds larget foundry in the US, that poured the metal for the battleships.. the "pot" was bigger than a house and also had a huge hammer thing too.

[@tomallen6073]

Crazy the amount of work that went into one of those.

[@Srinathji_Das]

Huge thanks for standing in the rain so we can learn about this! ❤

[@dannyhonn973]

Ok, Ryan. Get a gunnery officer to compare NJ optics and range finders to Bismarck. Advantages and disadvantages. British too.

[@jonathanbaird8109]

I think it's really cool that people decide to become subject matter experts in such specific things like this.

[@supertest000]

one of my favorite recent videos. thanks Ryan and John!

[@JustSomeCanuck]

Great, now I want to see "This Old Battleship" with Norm Abrams!

[@tippo5341]

The depth of knowledge John has with this subject is just phenomenal, and it's not like these ships are without any armour...much 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 and it would be interesting to see more of this subject, as the armour of the day probably weighs more in total than many naval ships of today. I know this an old upload, but I'm slowly getting through them all, and one thing that amazes me in the comments, is the amount of those having served on New Jersey, or another of the IOWA's, or have had family that have....and whilst being from Australia obviously I haven't....but I'm glad to see that not only the ship when she's open, but all these video's are providing such a brilliant in depth history of ships that are firstly built in a bygone era, and yes whilst they've had updates and recommisionings, never haave they lost their base build forms, and are truly a beautiful class of ship hands down. Thank you Ryan, and John for this one, would be nice to be able to download John's knowledge for the generations to come, so they to can see what went into making these behemoths the beautiful beasts that they are!!!! Cheers from Sydney Aus!!!!!

[@cennsa140driver]

Great video on battleship armor. I have to wonder if the US could even muster the steel production needed to fight a war like WWII today? We could always rely on our off shore partners, right? Yeah, not really.

[@christiantroy3034]

That was excellent, can’t wait for the next segment

[@ypaulbrown]

Speaking as a Weldor, the reason for the multi-bead weld is you can only manipulate so much molten metal at one time..... especially in the overhead position.....as far as it being over kill, the weld needs to be the same thickness of the base metal..... when 2 plates are welded together, they are beveled to a 30 to 37.5 degree bevel or a 60 to 75 degree included angle so there is full penetration.... for a 1in plate, it take 21 weld passes to fill that gap...hope this explains a little about why there are so many weld passes..... One other note, when plates come together at an angle, as shown 6:00. the weld is called a Fillet Weld, as in Fill it Up.....they are welded to be about 3/4 the thickness of the base material at the throat of the weld [45 degrees of the triangle intersection] So by using those scalloped angle plates , they are saving an incredible amount of labor, time and material, and also not introducing stress into the joint from the shrinkage of the weld metal.....the weld metal for that material would have a pounds per square inch strength of over 70,000 lbs..... and welding in the overhead position would be much harder to have a weld with no defects....as smaller rods are needed for welding overhead....and less material is put into the weld with smaller rods.... you mentioned the cast armor plate, is it cast, or rolled plate.....rolled being much stronger...... something not thought of many times , is that weld material is actually cast metal.... as you are putting molten metal into the joint and it is melting the adjacent base metal to make up a joint of cast material.....it is called fusion welding so when someone says cast metal is not strong......they can be mistaken, as the weld metal is always [or supposed to be] stronger than the base material......the weak part of the weld is in the base material in the area adjacent to the weld called the 'heat affected zone' HAZ.... where cooling rate and inter granular changes shift the different alloys in the material around..... I hope this helps... cheers from an old weldor in Florida, Paul

[@FuriousMess]

a real treat this was, thank-you all.

[@gak2173]

Did other nations weld scalloped patterns for additional strength, if they welded at all? Love the author/volunteer guest. I'll take a look at his book.

[@jamieknight326]

I’d happily spend an afternoon chatting to John down the pub. What a fascinating knowledgable man :)

[@FINNIUSORION]

a scarf joint is where you cut two mirrored angles, one into each piece you intend to join and when you join the pieced your two angles join together to match the shape of your piece. maybe that's a bad explanation lol. it's like putting two triangles together to make a square. that's a scarf joint

[@mayfieldcourt]

Fascinating - it is a privilege to learn from experts - thank you!

[@SignatureGala]

Great segment. Please bring more experts on the channel

[@donchaput8278]

I'm glad the drydocking is happening soon, that turret is leaking like crazy!

[@ivanskirchak4935]

This guy is very intelligent. Would definitely add the book to my collection. Only a few countries Germany and US could Produce STS.

[@clockmonkey]

Staggers me what I don't know sometimes.

[@johngallus1735]

Great video

[@johngartner4731]

Bring this guy back!! What a wealth of information!!!!!

[@Gunrunner4532]

I just bought this man’s book, can’t wait to get it.

[@sparkplug1018]

I’d love to hear him talk about the deck armor scheme. As well as the citadel itself. Also curious about the up armored radio room, is there more he can add to the previous video?

[@scrapperstacker8629]

Wow what a great informative video.

[@shaider1982]

As someone who has tapped holes (usually M3x0.5, close to 4-40 for imperial system enjoyers) on small aluminum plates for prototype parts, those equipment used to do the same job but for really large holes and heat-treated steel armor plates.

[@Aramis419]

I love John’s enthusiasm and passion! Nothing against you, Ryan - you run the ship!

[@bobuncle8704]

Great in depth episode

[@hootinouts]

I've always wondered how they joined the armor plate and now I know. This is so incredibly fascinating.

[@DefiantSix]

Another reason for the scalloped backing plates/angles being used for joining the armor plates is that the scalloping prevents the harder, more brittle metal of the heat affected zone surrounding the weld from fracturing, because the weld isn't in a single linear direction.

[@jamesdavis5096]

10:13 So what makes these metals so special you give us a background of the metallurgy of these armors

[@Ganiscol]

I would love to learn about the R&D&T of class A armor. They eventually must have at some point shot something big at a plate at different angles to see if it performs as expected. There would unlikely be footage of that, but maybe photos and certainly data. 😊

[@1ytcommenter]

I love how your audio in the videos has improved!

[@jamesdavis5096]

Now we need a miniseries about mechanical connections of armor or steel in general like woodworking. Can we get a bob Vila type of character to come in and explain all these different types of joints Or norm Abrams for that matter let’s make this as a smash hit that’s good TV programming there

[@steveskouson9620]

(Bob) "Norm, what is that tool?" (Norm) "Bob, we in the trades, call it a screwdriver." Bob wasn't the sharpest chisel hanging on the wall! steve

[@danrathernought1236]

Bob was a dull bastard. File.@@steveskouson9620

[@Lost-In-Blank]

I love gritty technical details like this !

[@andrewpizzino2514]

Gotta check his book out

[@MyKnifeJourney]

That book is awesome

[@frankcherry3810]

I have been in the North Carolinas open turrets. It’s quite imposing.

[@LegalVideoMan]

This was very informative and I always wondered why the outside of the armor looked so rough and sloppy and now I understand. Keep up the good work on this good channel

[@henrycarlson7514]

So Wise , Thank You . More please

[@chriswatts2096]

Thank you both, I enjoyed the learning lesson.

[@rafalotreba6824]

That's the knowledge👍

[@squiblift2019]

Good video. You guys didn't even let the bad weather stop you.

[@pauldegregorio6432]

Excellent!

[@twilightroach4274]

Absolutely fantastic interview/review, please thank John for his superb expertise, knowledge and explanation of the armour and how it’s used. Totally enthralled by this kind of episode 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@tracyo868]

Since he mentioned a scarf joint and different sizes of the armor, how did the mill, or in the instance the hole for the 40mm, the yard, CUT through the armor? I would think by torch it would ruin the heat treated face, so how did they do it? Or just molded that way (including hole and different sizes) by the mill?

[@target844]

There are materials a lot harder than steel armor like tungsten carbide. So you can drill and cut into it. The faced hardened part of the steel armor had a hardness like tool steel. Tungsten was one of the resources that Germany did not have enough of during WWII. It was used in some ammunition and to process steel in the industry. The quite quickly had to stop using it in ammunition

[@crazyguy32100]

Cement between the armor and backing plate is similar to techniques used today. Servicable surfaces in crushers, such as the bowl and mantle in a cone crusher, have epoxy poured between the sacrificial liner and the solid steel body. The purpose is the same, fill in irregularities and spread impact over a bigger area, though a 41cm Japanese shell probaby has more impact than squishing a rock.

[@bluerebel01]

Thank you for sharing, I find it quite fascinating.

[@SethBondArtist]

Fantastic interview! Thanks John.

[@eddieb1323]

John, thank you for sharing some of your knowledge !! And thanks to you all of you for enduring the rain to make this informative production possible !!

[@mrkeiths48]

It is obvious that a lot of thought went into the technology to assemble the armor protecting the battleship. As weapon technology has progressed, one has to wonder how the old armor placements will fare against a hypersonic projectile.

[@mbterabytesjc2036]

Today, small, cheap, and powerful is the way to go. Can I interest anyone in a ew round of PT boats with a large standoff tender?

[@williestyle35]

The U S Navy is a bit... overbuilt, to actually order something like a new or modernized ''PT Boat". For whatever reasons frigates mostly fill that kind of Navy role now. Offensive and anti air missile technology is too vital on ships now to use something smaller than a Coast Guard "cutter" (or "corvette") type ship, that would carry torpedoes as its main weapons system. And "drone ships" will gradually take over most of the mission from long range "stand off" torpedoes (as Ukraine is demonstrating now). ☺

[@jackmarknagington3254]

John must have so many y hours and years in to these ships studying them I bet its amazing picking his brain about the armour and many other things as well great video as always hope we see more with John on the channel

[@nyturfntrees6740]

Ryan still knows more!! And he can explain perfectly!!

[@colinakgeek]

That was really cool! Would love to hear about how they tested the various classes of armor.

[@ramtuff06]

Thats a must have book for the library! Its really unique to battleships with their armor as important as their guns and speed, well maybe not if your a a fan of jackie fisher's speed is armor experiments 🤨 it seems the iowas have both

[@Kami-sama.isekai]

So interesting!!! Hope we get to see more about him in future videos

[@greghelms4458]

Awesome channel. Awesome history

[@calebdoner]

Fascinating! This was super cool

[@StylinandProfilinBBsandBBQ]

Wow! Great knowledge. Gotta get this book!

[@danielmarshall4587]

Cheers to you both for this vid.

[@joeythedime1838]

Is there a giant screw driver that's used to attach those side vents to the armor face? Crazy size slotted bolts!

[@williestyle35]

Bolts are not driven with a "screwdriver". They are fastened down with something like a socket wrench or an "impact wrench".

[@joeythedime1838]

@@williestyle35 Check out the slotted heads on the bolts at the 7:44 mark in the video.

[@oconnorsean12]

Awesome episode!!!

[@jimkillen1065]

Interested information. I worked a a power plant or several really for a utility company.. A lot of welding along with other things . Like firing boilers ect ....i was told a lot of things were made in ww2 . ..Thats the way you weld in heavy plate is laying in passes of i assume 7018 or what the military uses ..The boiler might use 80 or 90 .. i remember seeing a welding machine i think was called a torpedo.. my brother had one and i think i used one at first power plant i worked at on boiler tube repairs... i was told that welder was made back then

[@wfoj2]

At about 5 minutes I though I was hearing water dripping. Then at 7 minutes they show me the source - Mother nature. I bet if just one or 2 door/ hatches were closed would not have heard or suspected.