Naval History Forums

For a small town boy in Indiana Hornblower was a bit of a challenge, but I plunged through all those nautical crises he managed. Nearly wore out two librarians chasing information not available in a library serving a town of ~7,000 Hoosier hicks.

Tugs when available. Otherwise you could drop an anchor at angle to yours and pull that way until you had to shift it to continue with an advantage. CI can expand that if it's too terse. (I'm in drydock right now myself, heart probs.) https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kedge#:~:text=kedged%3...

The sails got wet during weather at sea. They got wet when it rained in port. Either way "hanging them out to dry" was just that. Properly made and treated canvas wouldn't rot just because it got wet.

The forward guns didn't fire straight forward because the teak* decks would be damaged or just disappear.

* when they were installed.

I read Hornblower when I was in junior high. Nearly killed two librarians as they sought reference materials.

Oh, and the boats were often stowed on the centerline, made for better trim of the ship.

That pics works. I get the error I saw from imgur sometimes.
"Life is hard, then you DIE!"

Link not working.

And I think you mean "struck", not "stroke".

You don't run it out. You try to avoid hitting your own ship.

It's a human powered motor.

When I did my last deployment with USS Peleliu (LHA-5) we had a main engine shaft spring bearing burn out.* My team spent forty-some hours removing the old bearing and mounting and aligning the new one. Our shaft was locked and trailing. The stbd screw was doing some heavy turns and we kept up with ...

Trailing a screw doesn't create that much drag, except maybe in the CO's mind. Personally I'd rather have it ready to get us out of trouble if push came to shove. A lot of this kerfuffle is the result of "unknown territory terror". We didn't know what was important and what was just silly.

I agree that the jury is out on freewheeling. Too many other factors at play there.

Hi! Yes, it causes drag. Even today modern salilboats have collapsables propellers. And I am 99% sure the one in Warrior was not freewheeling, as that would need some type of disegengament from the crankshaft. That could be as simple as a clutch. Pull a lever to disengage. Some aircraft carriers ha...

Hi! Yes, it causes drag. Even today modern salilboats have collapsables propellers. And I am 99% sure the one in Warrior was not freewheeling, as that would need some type of disegengament from the crankshaft. That could be as simple as a clutch. Pull a lever to disengage. Some aircraft carriers ha...

Did they really believe the drag from a freewheeling prop was significant enough to warrant this nautical oddity or were they forced to do this to please someone in the Admiralty or Parliament?