So THAT'S where "Savannah" wound up!
When I went to Florida with a friend in 1975 you could see "Savannah" docked in Savannah from the highway, I think it was Route 17 since Route 95 wasn't completed through Georgia yet. It's been a while so I don't remember exactly, but "Savannah" itself was very recognizable. Looked in rough shape at the time.
I saw the Savannah docked on the west side of Manhattan when my father flew us over the city in his 1947 Aeronca. Around 1967 as I recall. I always wondered about it myself. Did it ever carry a paying cargo or was it a kind of "demonstrator?"
Someone a lot more familiar with "Savannah" would have to tell the story, it's been years since I've read anything about it, but if I remember correctly it did carry paying cargoes for a while but the nuclear powered cargo ship concept just didn't catch on, so the ship was quietly retired.
Too ahead of it's time maybe? Probably?
Photo of the Savannah under the Verrazano Bridgehttp://footage.framepool.com/shotimg/qf/791837879-sikorsky-s-62-ns-savannah-nuclear-ship-lower-new-york-bay.jpg
Sorry for the historical commercials.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Firelock76 Someone a lot more familiar with "Savannah" would have to tell the story, it's been years since I've read anything about it, but if I remember correctly it did carry paying cargoes for a while but the nuclear powered cargo ship concept just didn't catch on, so the ship was quietly retired. Too ahead of it's time maybe? Probably?
I read somewhere years ago that the ship didn't carry enough cargo to be successful as a cargo ship or enough passengers to be successful as a passenger liner, and there weren't any routes that had demand for passenger and freight hauling for it to be successful as a hybrid. Don't know if the author knew what he was talking about, but am just throwing it out there as a possible reason it wasn't successful. It was built not long before containers revolutionized ocean freight, which couldn't have helped.
When I was a young boy it docked in Savannah, GA and offered tours to the public. I went thru it, but must have been between the ages of 5 and 10, because I only have a couple of hazy memories of it.
I gotta tell you that as a railfan who is also an aviation enthusiast (I sit on the BoT of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome-70 machines from 1909-1941 and about 20 flyable–and I believe we are in the discussion somewhere) and a sailor (we grew up in my dad's daysailers on the Hudson) it tickles me that one of the longest running (since 2008!) threads on the Trains Forum is Historic Warbirds and now encompasses an esoteric ship! How elecletic are we?
Mike
Well Mike, you know what the late, great David P. Morgan said?
"Big things that move are a lot more interesting than big things that don't!"
Folks were talking about classic cars a bit earlier? Well, here's my dream car!
Primitive, but oh-so-cool!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16UnMSfvLzw
Firelock76Well, here's my dream car!
At least you won't be getting many speeding tickets.
_____________
"A stranger's just a friend you ain't met yet." --- Dave Gardner
SALfan Firelock76 Someone a lot more familiar with "Savannah" would have to tell the story, it's been years since I've read anything about it, but if I remember correctly it did carry paying cargoes for a while but the nuclear powered cargo ship concept just didn't catch on, so the ship was quietly retired. Too ahead of it's time maybe? Probably? I read somewhere years ago that the ship didn't carry enough cargo to be successful as a cargo ship or enough passengers to be successful as a passenger liner, and there weren't any routes that had demand for passenger and freight hauling for it to be successful as a hybrid. Don't know if the author knew what he was talking about, but am just throwing it out there as a possible reason it wasn't successful. It was built not long before containers revolutionized ocean freight, which couldn't have helped. When I was a young boy it docked in Savannah, GA and offered tours to the public. I went thru it, but must have been between the ages of 5 and 10, because I only have a couple of hazy memories of it.
OK! You all got my interest up! I had seen the N.S. Savanah a long time ago when it was moored in the Savanah River in South Carolina. I too, had wondered what became of this interesting experiment of the then-Cold War. So, as Paul Harvey would relate.."Here is the rest of that story".
lnked @ https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2017/07/aboard-the-ns-savannah-americas-first-and-last-nuclear-merchant-ship/
FTL:"...Savannah officially became a museum ship in South Carolina in 1981 as part of the state's Patriot's Point Naval and Maritime Museum. In the process, the state became a Nuclear Regulatory Commission co-licensee with MARAD. But in 1993, Savannah was turned back over to the Maritime Administration when she needed to be drydocked. "The museum said, 'Just don't bring it back,'" recounted Erhard Koehler, the ship's senior technical advisor and manager. "That was when I became involved."...
For the past 24 years, Koehler's life has been tethered to Savannah, first as a project engineer for MARAD and then as her chief caretaker for this past decade. Koehler is the man whose name is on the ship's license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. During his tenure, Savannah has been drydocked or moored up and down the Chesapeake, coming to rest at her current Baltimore home eight years ago.
Designated as a national landmark, Savannah continues to be preserved. But the ship is also still regulated by the NRC and awaiting congressional funding for full decommissioning. It's a step that the US government didn't really even think about back when Savannah was built..."
So now we know, at least more of the story!
Firelock, Thanks for that- Do you know where that was filmed? Looks like a lot of fun was being had.
sampfFF- Thanks for that also, I always wondered about what happened to the Savannah.
MikeFF- Does the aerodrome still have that Matchless-engined Morgan 3-wheeler? I love those!
'light, I think from looking at the other videos from the same place that Renault was filmed at a tank/ military vehicle exhibition in Belgium.
I looked at the video of the King Tiger tank as well. You know, that thing's almost 75 years old, and a present day M1A1 Abrams would make short work of it, but you know, that King Tiger is still one terrifying-looking tank! I can't imagine what a GI in the Ardennes thought when he saw one of those things bearing down on him.
Maybe I don't want to know.
I did some reading on "Savannah," and found out the nuclear reactor is still in there, although de-fueled and inert. Maybe that's why the NRC is still involved with it.
I was at the Patton Armor Museum many years ago when it still was at Ft Knox. I was comparing the Abrams with the Tiger, and physically the Tiger was much more imposing. It was about 2 feet taller. The deck of the M1 came to chest level while the Tiger was almost to the top of my head (I'm 5'7").
Backshop I was at the Patton Armor Museum many years ago when it still was at Ft Knox. I was comparing the Abrams with the Tiger, and physically the Tiger was much more imposing. It was about 2 feet taller. The deck of the M1 came to chest level while the Tiger was almost to the top of my head (I'm 5'7").
Which would be two feet more target to shoot at...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
Yes, 54Light15, the Morgan is still in the collection, but not currently operable. We did just acquire as "Depot" Model T that is extremely original and in good shape.
I'd love to buy that Morgan but I doubt I could afford it. It was the first one I ever saw.
I've just got to pop a video of that "Koenigs-Tiger" for everyone, and as an added attraction it's being followed by a little brother, who's pretty scary in his own right!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQI0loSxOKA
The only thing missing is some background music, like "Panzerlied."
I can supply that too, the best arrangement of it I've ever heard, and from a very surprising source!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzQZfO-Bc_Y
tree68 Which would be two feet more target to shoot at...
Fascinating stuff, Firelock! There's one of those tank destroyers in the tank museum at Camp Borden near Barrie, Ontario. I was amazed at how small it was. The star of the collection for me was a T-34 and that was pretty small too. I recall that song from the film "The Battle of the Bulge" from when I was a kid.
'Light, there was a T-34 on outdoor display at The Basic School in Quantico Va when I was there in 1975. Captured during the Korean War you could see where the shot hit that knocked it out, a small hole in the front glacis plate about the size of a quarter with cracks radiating out from it. That may not sound like much but remember, the main purpose of an anti-tank shell isn't to kill the tank, it's to kill the crew.
It was wide open, and let me tell you if you think it's small on the outside you should try the inside! I'm a six-footer and I had a hard time moving around in there. Interestingly, the turret rotating and main gun elevation cranks still worked, so I was able to rotate the turret and raise and depress the gun, but it did take some effort to do so.
The tank's now on display in the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, although I very much doubt they let anyone inside it now to play like I did.
The 2 most effective ways to destroy or knock out a tank kill the crew or destroy the gun. Destroying the ammunition carried does both .
BOB WITHORNJust call in an A-10 and poof, tank gone!
Had the opportunity to watch the Hawg Smoke competition a few years ago. From the vantage point of the range building, within a few hundred yards of the targets. Very impressive.
Firelock76The only thing missing is some background music, like "Panzerlied."
Here are the words that go with this 'tank song'. With a translation (provided by Armin Deutsch):
Easy to make adjustments to make this song right for other armor corps!
Good Lord. I feel sick. 95% of my family was murdered by this Racist War, which they kept up right to the end long after the military war was hopeless. That is what was important to them.
BOB WITHORN Just call in an A-10 and poof, tank gone!
Just call in an A-10 and poof, tank gone!
OvermodOvermod wrote the following post 14 hours ago: Firelock76 The only thing missing is some background music, like "Panzerlied." Here are the words that go with this 'tank song'.
Panzerlied is closely associated with the 3rd Reich, as it was written in 1933. It and other songs were removed from the current German Army (Bundeswehr) songbook in 2017. It is still used by Italy and France, however. Perhaps some of the older, traditional tunes are a better choice. https://youtu.be/HFEwH_a4Ark
Tree,
You know what it is when you hear it. God son is an A-10 pilot.
BOB WITHORN Tree, You know what it is when you hear it. God son is an A-10 pilot.
For sure. What I found particularly interesting was that you could see/hear four different "events" when they fired the Gatling gun.
1. Puffs of smoke from the gun
2. Sonic "booms" of the rounds passing us
3. Rounds hitting the target
4. Sound of the gun itself firing.
For the bombing portion, they were using dummy "flash/bang" bombs. We wouldn't have been watching from where we were if they were using the real deal.
That is the order:
He says that when you fire the gun the recoil makes the plane feel like you stomped on the brakes.
He's on I think his 8th? deployment over somewhere.
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