Inside the Conning Tower on USS Olympia

[@garywayne6083]

I've seen that conning tower a few times on my visits but I never had a clue the dome lifted! Thank you

[@Bellthorian]

A good video would be to compare and contrast the officers quarters. It is crazy how well officers of the Olympia lived. The carvings are amazing.

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

It's got the best officer country ever. But some of the enlisted berthing spaces had removable walls and you can imagine on nice cool nights going to sleep in a swinging hammock while the ship cruised thru the pitch dark nights. And the bakery was right next to some of those spaces, so you'd wake up to the smell of fresh baked bread.

[@tomsheridan989]

I've been thinking the same 3

[@SkeeterPondRC]

I absolutely love the wealth of knowledge Ryan shares with us

[@johnslaughter5475]

USS Ranger had 3 positions. The one on the Navigation Bridge where I qualified as helmsman. There was another on the O-3 level all the way forward. When you see the carriers that had portholes just under the flight deck, that's where Auxiliary Steering was. My 1st Division Officer's GQ station was in there. Then there was a 3rd Steering Aft that was near the rudders. I don't know exactly where it was located. When we had a failure in the steering on the Navigation Bridge, we would transfer steering to Steering Aft until the problem was fixed. BTW, I don't think a hand held compass would work in the Conning Tower. All of the metal would interfere with the compass. Binnacles have special magnets in them that are very carefully adjusted to compensate for the ship's magnetic field. This would be different for different points on the ship. You might want to do a video on the construction of binnacles.

[@mahbriggs]

You stole my thunder on how difficult it would be to use a compass surrounded by that much magnetic metal! While it is possible to correct for magnetic deviation, I doubt it would be possible in there!

[@SeanBZA]

@@mahbriggs Impossible when surrounded all directions in steel, which would make the field in the middle almost constant due to the existing magnetisation of the steel as cast. Only way you would have a compass in there is with the later invention of fluxgate compasses, where you have a remote sensing head that detects magnitude and direction of the earth's magnetic field, and uses that with a set of saturable magnetic cores, to generate a 3 phase alternating current that drives the remote indicator, which can be mounted anywhere, and in any orientation. No electronic parts at all aside from capacitors and special steel alloys that are well controlled, and lots of fine copper windings. You compensate it at the mounting position, using a lot of small weak bar magnets, that are turned in sequence to correct for the magnetic field caused by nearby steel. Thus you will have an entire ship running at full steam, but doing position keeping, while a person on the wooden jetty sits there, and signals to the ship the exact magnetic heading they are on, and then the magnets get turned to compensate that major heading. Then move the ship 90 degrees, station keep again and repeat, till you have gone around the circle 4 times, then another turn to verify. For a big ship might take a day or two to do, so that is why you always had at least one spare ready calibrated magnetic heads around, just as a quick fix if the one failed. They rarely fail though, as there is nothing moving, other than an oil bath, that floats the sensor level and provides damping. Your emergency compass on the bridge will have it's compensation adjusted at the same time, but that is not going to be as accurate as the main one, simply because of all the steel around it, and the current flows in wiring near it. Good enough to keep a course if you have no electric power, to get you away from trouble to fix the problem, but not good enough to navigate across an ocean with, and hit a specific harbour, without aid.

[@michaelallen1396]

I saw the New Jersey sitting across the river from Philadelphia where the Olympia sits in the SeaPort Museum. I toured the Olympia, amazing woodwork, such a beautiful stateroom on the end.

[@stevenmoore4612]

I actually visited the Olympia and New Jersey a few years ago when me and my grandma were on our east coast road trip. At our first stop in Boston we also stopped to tour the Massachusetts as well. Definitely a cool experience touring these ships!

[@wvalmostheaven9342]

envious.

[@radhazcat]

My ears perked up when you mentioned Gridley. I served on the USS Gridley CG-21 1979 to 1983. You may fire when ready Gridley.

[@keithrosenberg5486]

Good to see you across the river!

[@loboheeler]

I visited the USS Olympia a couple of times in the early 2000s, but the touring spaces were less then. You could only go on the open bridge where the small wood wheelhouse is, and was not aware of the conning tower below. No engine room access either. The integration of old school woodwork with the stark steel everywhere else is incredible. Love those 8" guns in the Admiral's and Captains cabins! Thanks!

[@vvogt4252]

Bridge 08 level. Secondary Con 03 level on the bow. Port and Starboard After steering. CV-62 USS Independence. Great Video, Thanks Ryan.

[@pauld6967]

I visited Olympia and New Jersey several years ago. At that time, no-one told me about the elevating top that the conning tower has, so thanks for the new information. I did however see where they have metal "foot prints" on the deck that you can stand in. These represent where it is believed Admiral Dewey stood when he gave that famous order. Starboard wing and, if memory serves, there was indeed a voice tube just forward and to the left of that historic spot.

[@quelin1]

I'm glad yall finally took the bridge over there and made some videos! I used to try and spy views of Olympia in your outside videos. I love that ship :)

[@31dknight]

Great video from the battleship.

[@tomscotttheolderone364]

Finally, BB35 beats New Jersey at something! Texas has 5 possible steering positions; steam or electric at navigation bridge, steam or electric in armored conning tower, wheel on the steam steering engine, and electric and manual in aft steering

[@ghost307]

That's only 4.

[@tomscotttheolderone364]

@@ghost307 Aww, cut me some slack! It's along walk between the electric tiller and wheels in aft steering!

[@dutchman7216]

Thank you believe it or not I was there back in December of 2019. And I love the view from The Bow of The Olympia to the New Jersey.

[@Jay5-0]

Thanks Ryan! Damn, you know a lot of stuff!

[@maartencautereels1206]

I visited the armored cruiser Aurora in St. Petersburg, Russia and this ship reminds me a lot of that. Awesome video. Glad to see you are paying attention to the other museam ships too. Very educational. What are the similarities between Olympia and Aurora?

[@mahbriggs]

Well, for one, they were both armored cruisers, and are close contemporaries in time! Okay! Just a wee bit of snark. While I am somewhat familiar with the Olympia, I visited it about 40 years ago, and have read a lot about it since, I really don't know much about the Aurora other than what Drachinifel and Wikipedia have said about it! I envy your visit to St. Petersburg and the Aurora! If you ever get the chance to go to Philadelphia, it is well worth the effort! Constitution hall and the USS Olympia are well worth the visit!

[@bigchungus2063]

“You may fire when you are ready Gridley” - Admiral Dewey

[@pauld6967]

Correct. It is a common mistake to have the words in the wrong order or to leave some out. Well done Trey.

[@MichaelJohnson-dt8tv]

@bigchungus2063- A minor but important point; Admiral Dewey wasn’t an Admiral. He actually held the rank of Commodore at the 1898 battle of Manila Bay. He was promoted to Admiral of the Navy in 1903. In 1899, the rank of Commodore was replaced with the O-7 level or Rear Admiral, but at the time of the battle, Dewey was still ranked Commodore. Again, just a minor point.

[@dalesql2969]

Glover had only two steering stations. One on the bridge and the other in the steering equipment room over the rudder. There were many backup methods for controlling the rudder. Dual electric hydraulic pumps, backup muscle powered hydraulic pump. dual hydraulic pistons. Huge wrenches to turn the nuts if the powered systems break. Mounted on the bulkhead is a giant tiller bar to attach to the rudder post, and a couple of chainfall winches to move the tiller.

[@JoshuaTootell]

My two ships only had two steering positions. The first one though did have a mechanical linkage that connected to the huge wooden wheel on the bridge all the way to act steering. Pretty amazing. The second used a repeater. Both ships could be electro hydraulically steered locally, hand cranked, or bared over with chains.

[@RobertStewart-i3m]

Speaking of commercial fishing before I served, Intrepid had 3. The bridge, the main house, the crow's nest. I loved having the watch from the nest..... During the day. Night I stood watch on the bridge and in storms Uncle Gary took the wheel in the cabin. I need got to take the watch at Red Head-- the 2nd most dangerous waters in Alaska and 5th most in the US. I was a teen, and this was before I went in the US Navy. I honestly don't recall how many were on the USS Forester, I think 3. An older Fleet Frigate. FF 1073.

[@ut000bs]

We got into the forward conn on the Saratoga's 03 level once chasing a wire. None of us ever mentioned the 6 cases of Budweiser in there the day after a beer day. 😁

[@Oodain]

in the 25 foot motorsailer i frequently use there is two, a hydraulic non powered wheel and a direct rudder lever in the back, even small boats benefit from multiple steering points.

[@c.a.mcdivitt9722]

The term you were looking for is "Power steering." :) Excellent video!

[@asn413]

my dad served on a liberty ship that was converted into a radar picket ship. (AGR) i don't know what they had for steering stations. but i do know they had an an emergency rudder control. It involved a big wrench-like plate that fit on the shaft of the rudder, and then would be operated using steam winches on the deck.

[@tankman7711]

Very interesting! Thank you! Something about The Battle of Manilia Bay a lot of folks have forgotten or do not know about...Dewey was not in uniform when he commanded the battle, well...not complete uniform, his Admirals Cover had been jettisoned overboard (by accident) and he was wearing a Golf Cover instead! Seems the ships always jettisoned things that may contribute to fire (trash,unecessary items...etc) before going into battle (if they had time to jettison) and somehow..Admiral Dewey's Cover was jettissoned overboard with other possible flammable items! Somewhere..on the bottom...lay's remnants of Dewey/s Cover!

[@glennpowell3444]

Wow.I never realised the bridge was called that because it used to be such back in the day.Makes sense now thanks.

[@ghost307]

I found this a while back... Steam engines replaced sails on board ships, with sail paddles taking its place. They were steered via a rudder wheel. ... For this purpose, a walkaway was constructed on a raised platform, connecting the two paddles, serving as a literal 'bridge', earning the command centre its name.Jul 8, 2020

[@dennisfariello4852]

Let's see. LSDs, AD and FF each had two steering positions - pilot house / bridge (LSDs had open bridges with the helm below in the pilot house), and after steering. Interestingly, the tugs had six steering stations each. In the pilot house were the main helm and two electo-hydraulic joysticks, one on each side, to make three. There was a steering station on the back of the deckhouse for use when hooking up a stern tow. In the engine room where the steering motors (hydraulic) were, there were valves where you could control the rudder (but not precisely), and then you could steer via block and tackle on the stern.

[@johnmueller6456]

I served aboard the USS Apache, ATF67 (1970-1973) , an ocean-going tugboat, out of San Diego. She had one steering system, & a 5" gun.

[@davelewandoski4292]

Thanks Ryan, great video.

[@gittyupalice96]

Hey Ryan, I checked out your online store. You guys should add some vinyl stickers as well, would be a good way to gain income for the ship.. and It would look good on the back window of my truck! -Thanks

[@wazza33racer]

Clearly in Ryans case, the armored conning cover needs to be permanently raised at least 3 inches.

[@loualiberti4781]

Oh I can’t wait … this is a dream cross over !!!

[@spikedpsycho2383]

I like how up close the metal painted, looks like a piece of annealed clay. All in all, far cry from the precise steel, so shiny and silver of today

[@SeanBZA]

It is a casting, with a hundred years worth of paint on it. your modern castings look exactly the same, unless somebody took the time and cost to machine it, or spent the time and cost to smooth it off with body filler before painting it.

[@wfoj21]

Great video. Before you described see the seam I was thinking a Flip top. So I was staring wondering if any of the brass visible were sound Power phone jacks. Frigate I was on in the 80 I recall only 2 steering positions, after steering and main bridge steering. (and way too much time in after steering for sea and anchor)

[@Token_Civilian]

My 2 person kayak has only the one conning station. Although if the rudder is knocked out, sweep strokes can get er done for steering. 21' 8" long, 26" beam and up to a 0.4 ton displacement at deep load. :-)

[@ricksadler797]

Great video thank you 😊

[@jaysonlima9271]

I was submarines but on the Kentucky we had 2 places where you could steer (rudder control, and a choice of which hydraulic plant provided power to the rams) one in control, forward compartment upper level right under the sail, and back in shaft alley you could isolate the rudder ram and place it in local control, with what amounted to just a regular old hydraulic control block. You could also take control of the stern planes from shaft alley the same way, and if you needed to take local control of the fairwater planes you could do that from inside the bridge trunk (which intaled breaking the rig for dive by the way)

[@NomadShadow1]

I did not realize the origin of the word “bridge” as it refers to the command space of a ship until now.

[@ghost307]

Steam engines replaced sails on board ships, with sail paddles taking its place. They were steered via a rudder wheel. ... For this purpose, a walkaway was constructed on a raised platform, connecting the two paddles, serving as a literal 'bridge', earning the command centre its name.Jul 8, 2020

[@tapioisaac367]

I live near the USS Hornet CV-12, though I haven't toured below decks in their entirety both times I've visited her.

[@michaelallen1396]

Alameda Bay, I've been on her, got the deluxe tour with a docent. Original condition below decks.

[@longrider188]

Ha! I was just looking this up on the internet yesterday.

[@lettersandnumbers81]

love your videos. Just a tip: dont put a silence that long at the start of the video i thought my sound was broken and almost clicked away to try and fix it which the algorithm wouldnt like

[@KPen3750]

Gotta say, that into threw me for a loop I was like "wait, where is the Hi I'm Ryan Szimanski??"

[@axelrajr]

Constellation had the navigation bridge and down at the rudder. she still had an aux bridge space in the bow, never got a chance to see in there. Truman, i knew of the navigation bridge and at steering, but i am not sure if there was another space. it would be easy to do though, she had the first fully computerized steering station.

[@roycrowe1510]

Most modern ships have two, the bridge and after steering. One ship I was on had an Auxillary con on the 02 level aft, there was a binnacle and a sound powered phone connection to after steering but no wheel or engine order Telegraph.

[@marksayers3721]

On ac Garcia class fast frigate or destroyer escort you had the wheel in the Pilot house or bridge and Aft steering

[@fire304]

Ryan, love it when you bring us other ships, especially when comparing technology through the ages! Its 1946, previously unknown secret German death ray technology is uncovered by both sides of the iron curtain that render all forms of airborne attack (missiles and planes) impossible forcing the navies of the day to revert back to battleships. Assuming that the death ray does not penetrate metal, how do battleships continue to evolve?

[@claudekeith7840]

This is why I loved warship

[@thos.bennett567]

2 one on the bridge and one in the aft steering. DD990, DDG996, DDG8. and CG65.

[@adamdubin1276]

Two, it was an ASV so she had a shore steering position (a wireless controller) and she could be preprogramed with a route.

[@jacktyler2880]

Served on a WWII-era fleet oiler that had three, and a mid-50s minesweeper that had two... Steering stations, to be clear.

[@jenwright2577]

The engine room on the olimpia is so steampunk!

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

Well, steam at least. If someone put it under control of a Raspberry Pi, THEN it would be steampunk.

[@markcantemail8018]

Great Video Ryan , thank You . we have a Trophy Cannon from the Unprotected Cruiser Castilla in Our Park from the Battle of Manila Bay . It is a Krupp 15cm s k L /35 Naval Rifle of 1890 . The Other 2 are on the State House Lawn at Montpelier . That was a Wicked Battle . Did they stop for Breakfast and then resume the Shooting

[@patrickkasper2776]

My ship SS. John W. Brown “Brownie” has 4 steering positions.

[@Adui13]

I'm pretty sure my first ship only had two. The bridge and after steering. But she was a rather modern (at the time) Spruance class destroyer. Long Beach (CGN-9), my second ship, may have had 3 steering positions, but I don't really know.

[@rickypalacios1554]

U.S.S Texas has a similar system in after steering position

[@skydiverclassc2031]

The Olympia has four steering positions, but my Tacoma has only one. Fortunately its power assisted. :)

[@dcviper985]

2 steering positions, pilot house and after steering.

[@leighrate]

Magnetic compasses do not point to True North. They point towards Magnetic North. The difference between the two is called The Magnetic Variation. This can be considerable. If you do not know the difference between the two, then you have to determine it. In order to determine the difference between the two, the simplest method is to use the noon positioning check to determine true south or north & calculate the difference between it and your compass .

[@ghost307]

The mnemonic for that is: True Virgins Make Dull Companions And Wives.

[@jeffzaun1841]

I served on Ike, TR and Saratoga. I knew only one place where they steered the boat. Were there backups? I hope so, but how would I know where? I was in the airwing. Nice video:)

[@eliasthienpont6330]

I was also in the air wing. One aux con was just below the flight deck, above the fo'c'sle . You can see the round hatches, usually closed just below the flight deck. The other was in the bowels of the ship somewhere aft. I presume now that there was also something down near the engine rooms.

[@slytlygufy]

The LAST place you want to be in a battle is a ship's conning tower. They may stop a shell from entering, but the force of the hit would kill anyone inside it.

[@nicjansen230]

How many steering positions do I have on my Laser class sailboat? Depends on how you count, but I'd say 3 :P The default position is where you're supposed to steer from, using what's called the joystick. I can also sit leasurely steering directly from the helm. Finally, I can steer without touching the rudder by leaning side to side from any position, so I like to walk past the mast onto the bow and just sit there In case you're interested, because of where the wind pushes in the sail and where the water meets the hull, you can steer by leaning on a sailboat. Lean one way and it'll steer the other way; lean left and you'll make a right turn, lean right and you'll make a left turn. This way of steering creates a lot less friction than using the rudder, so we try not to use the rudder if possible to keep the highest possible speed

[@badbedbugz]

You said “lean left and you’ll make a right turn, lean right and you’ll make a right turn”. So how do you turn left?

[@nicjansen230]

@@badbedbugz My bad, made an edit: "lean left and you'll make a right turn, lean right and you'll make a left turn"

[@charletonzimmerman4205]

"Three", main Bridge, above flight deck, 2nd , battle bridge forward of main catapults, & a "Trick" wheel aft Hydraulic steering, to be used by "Electrician Mate", from sound powered phones. To take direction,

[@burroaks7]

super friggen awesome

[@johnmurphy3152]

Fore and Aft?

[@paulfollo9470]

👍

[@ZGryphon]

It's like a giant version of the commander's hatch on a Panther tank, complete with what Chieftain calls the "eyebrow defilade" position. :)

[@danielmkubacki]

I love the USS Olympia.

[@rileywilliams9385]

I’ll be there soon to help you

[@markwilliams2620]

Steering via 1 handed Evinrude.

[@georgesmith8113]

👍👍👍👊😎

[@deadendfriends1975]

So a curator high and about four wide ?

[@bellevue260]

When was TBE last time a US ship was boarded by an enemy?

[@johndavis4249]

4 steering positions because my ship WAS USS New Jersey.😉

[@dmitrymolotov6428]

I find it kind of interesting that naval ships had a version of power steering before cars did lol

[@Dragineez774]

USS Holland (AS-32) had only two. But as an auxiliary ship, battle redundancy wasn't a big consideration.

[@alansalacain2193]

My bike only has a single steering position. It is just forward of seat.

[@29outlaw]

So if that was a flagship, where was the Admiral during that battle, and why wasn't he in an armored compartment?

[@victorboucher675]

My Catalina 22 had a tiller ...

[@thos.bennett567]

2 positions Bridge and after steering

[@AndrewTubbiolo]

Isnt that the ship where Gov Tarkin said "You may fire when ready." before Olympia shelled the planet of Alderon during the Rebellion of Episode 4?

[@vincestubbs4446]

Magnetic compasses point to magnetic north, not true north.

[@MrGoofwu]

USS Georgia SSBN 729 two

[@uppishcub1617]

I have a canoe, it doesn't have steering positions

[@That_Weird_Gamer]

Hi I like the channel.

[@TheBlackob]

I mean, I get the questions at the end are for community interaction, but "how many X did your ship have?" - I live so far inland, I have never seen a ship IRL, never mind served on one.

[@jamesbulldogmiller]

A handheld compass wouldn’t be much good behind the steel armor plate

[@matthewtanner1982]

I'm sure that in reality you know that magnetic compasses point to magnet north.

[@jimtownsend7899]

I was going to comment on that, i.e., a magnetic compass won't point to true North.

[@tobyw9573]

Magnetic compass should not work encased in steel conning tower.

[@kenteschendorf3045]

Blackmore knight

[@OmegaReaver]

We have two formal positions for steering my ship: the bridge and Main Engineering. However, given the fly-by-wire nature of the controls and prevalence of wireless devices on a _Sovereign_ class vessel, it's possible to conn the ship from any compartment on any deck, using nothing more than a standard-issue PADD. The information available while doing so, however, is simplified to what can be displayed on said PADD, as well as suffering a degree of input lag due to not having access to the dedicated ODN hardlines (one of the reasons we still use centralized controls). While older vessels DID have an auxiliary control room, most notably pre-refit _Constitution_ class ships, they were deleted in subsequent designs due advances in the aforementioned wireless technologies. Today, the only vessels that would have a dedicated secondary control center would be ones capable of separated flight modes as a standard feature, such as the _Galaxy_ and _Prometheus_ classes.

[@merlinwizard1000]

4th

[@IvorMektin1701]

Don't get heatstroke in there!

[@johnserrano9689]

I believe Jesus himself was born the same year construction was started on Olympia....

[@gowdsake7103]

My ships were newer but they had 2 steering positions with an emergency usually hydraulic man power with up to 12 men over the rudder

[@JoshuaTootell]

My two ships only had two steering positions. The first one though did have a mechanical linkage that connected to the huge wooden wheel on the bridge all the way to act steering. Pretty amazing. The second used a repeater. Both ships could be electro hydraulically steered locally, hand cranked, or bared over with chains.