Hypothetical: The Navy drafted you in WWII.

[Rain Man]

I found a database of major American WWII ships the other day and pulled it into Excel. Then I found information on crew sizes. Now I have a simple simulator.

So if you were drafted into the Navy in World War II and were assigned to a large ship (e.g., submarine, destroyer, cruiser, or larger), I can now randomly assign you to a ship. Report in this thread to get your assignment.

I'll tell you your ship, and then it's up to you to look it up and see where it went and what happened to it. If the ship took casualties, let me know how many were killed and wounded and I'll do a random draw to see if you would have survived.


As for me, I would have been one of 700 sailors aboard:

Juneau** Atlanta-class Light Cruiser**

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(CL-52)

That's not really a good thing. I hung out with a nice set of five brothers from Iowa, the Sullivans, but we saw some bad things.

We launched early in 1942 and did some early runs in the Atlantic and Caribbean before heading to the Pacific Theater. Right out of the gate in the Pacific we had to rescue sailors from an aircraft carrier that sank from a sub attack, and then we headed to Guadalcanal.

Our task force fought off four attacks from the Japanese, one of which took down another aircraft carrier.

Then another big Japanese group attacked, and we took a torpedo. We headed off toward Vanuatu for repairs, running with two other damaged ships, when we were attacked again by a Japanese sub. We took another torpedo which blew the ship to smithereens and we sank in 20 seconds.

The other two ships assumed there were no survivors and took off running. In actuality, 100 of the crew survived the sinking, but only about 10 survived the next eight days until rescue aircraft found them.

Based on a random dice roll, I went down with the ship, so my naval career ended late in 1942. I hope America won.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

You get a big ship with big guns, named after a big state.

Nevada** Nevada-class Battleship**

Amazing. I had a great run with the old girl:

USS Nevada (BB-36), the second United States Navy ship to be named after the 36th state, was the lead ship of the two Nevada-class battleships; her sister ship was Oklahoma. Launched in 1914, the Nevada was a leap forward in dreadnought technology; four of her new features would be included on almost every subsequent US battleship: triple gun turrets,^[c] oil in place of coal for fuel, geared steam turbines for greater range, and the "all or nothing" armor principle. These features made Nevada the first US Navy "super-dreadnought".
Nevada served in both World Wars: during the last few months of World War I, Nevada was based in Bantry Bay, Ireland, to protect the supply convoys that were sailing to and from Great Britain. In World War II, she was one of the battleships trapped when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She was the only battleship to get underway during the attack, making the ship "the only bright spot in an otherwise dismal and depressing morning" for the United States.^[13] Still, she was hit by one torpedo and at least six bombs while steaming away from Battleship Row, forcing her to be beached. Subsequently salvaged and modernized at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Nevada served as a convoy escort in the Atlantic and as a fire-support ship in four amphibious assaults: the Normandy Landings and the invasions of Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa.
At the end of World War II, the Navy decided that Nevada was too old to be retained, so they assigned her to be a target ship in the atomic experiments that were going to be conducted at Bikini Atoll in July 1946 (Operation Crossroads). After being hit by the blast from the first atomic bomb, Able, she was still afloat but heavily damaged and radioactive. She was decommissioned on 29 August 1946 and sunk during naval gunfire practice on 31 July 1948.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Monterey** Independence-class Light Carrier**

You got one of the storm ships. Take your dramamine.

Though enemy planes had been unable to damage Monterey, she did not complete her first full year of service unscathed. In December, she steamed into the path of howling Typhoon Cobra, with winds over 100 knots. At the height of the storm, which lasted 2 days, several planes tore loose from their cables, causing several fires on the hangar deck. During the storm future US President Gerald Ford, who served on board the ship, was almost swept overboard. Ford, serving as General Quarters Officer of the Deck, was ordered to go below to assess the raging fire. He did so safely, and reported his findings back to the ship’s commanding officer, Captain Stuart Ingersoll. The ship’s crew was able to contain the fire, and the ship got underway again.

Monterey departed Japanese waters on 7 September, having embarked troops at Tokyo, and steamed home, arriving in New York City on 17 October. Monterey left behind an impressive and enviable war record. Her planes sank five enemy warships, and damaged others. She was responsible for the destruction of thousands of tons of Japanese shipping, hundreds of planes, and vital industrial complexes. She was assigned "Magic Carpet" duty, and made several voyages between Naples and Norfolk. She was decommissioned on 11 February 1947, and was assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Monterey_(CVL-26)

[Amnorix]

Ensign Amnorix reporting for duty SIR!

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

Everybody here should have heard of the Sullivan brothers. Being older, I already knew their story, but not their ship name.

But the whole premise of Saving Private Ryan is based on the Sullivan brothers and in fact the opening of the movie talks about them and then Congress changing the law so that brothers could not serve together in the same unit.

Then private Ryan being saved because his mother had already lost all her other sons in the War.

The Civil War was horrifying in this regard. Units signed up by town, and would serve together. So the, whatever, 12th Ohio was ALL from Ohio (or nearly all), and many times the brigades/squads were from the same town.

So the 12th Ohio goes into combat, and suddenly an entire townfull of parents in Ohio gets the bad news a few weeks later. Parents losing multiple kids in one engagement, etc. etc.

Joshua Chamberlain had his brother with him at Little Roundtop, for one example.

[Steron]

Reporting for duty. (heh heh, I said duty)

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

I take it none of us will pull submarine duty? I was hoping I might have torpedoed a few thousand tons of Jap scrap metal.

I am guessing this is surface ships only, not the Silent Service.


I am guessing no Patrol Torpedo boats either. We are not expendable. Warships only?

Ummmmm, I think I've offered to extend on the Billy boat (Billfish)...

Hell yeah, let's dive this pig!!!

Chief of the watch, on the 1MC.................................

[Graystoke]

Sign me up.
Btw I am only 17. But my Mom says its ok.

[Pennywise]

Let's go

[MagicHef]

Yes, please.

[KC native]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Missouri** Iowa-class Battleship**

Oh, look at you with your big fancy battleship.

Woooo

I love being part of the win.

The Missouri was the last of the four Iowa-class battleships to be completed. She was ordered 12 June 1940, laid down 6 January 1941, launched 29 January 1944, and commissioned 11 June 1944. Missouri conducted her trials off New York with shakedown and battle practice in Chesapeake Bay before transferring to the Pacific Fleet, where she screened U.S. aircraft carriers involved in offensive operations against the Japanese before reporting to Okinawa to shell the island in advance of the planned landings. Following the bombardment of Okinawa, Missouri turned her attention to the Japanese homeland islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, performing shore bombardment and screening U.S. carriers involved in combat operations. She became a symbol of the U.S. Navy's victory in the Pacific when representatives of the Empire of Japan boarded the battleship to sign the documents of unconditional surrender to the Allied powers in September 1945. After World War II, Missouri conducted largely uneventful training and operational cruises until suffering a grounding accident. In 1950 she was dispatched to Korea in response to the outbreak of the Korean War. Missouri served two tours of duty in Korea providing shore bombardment. She was decommissioned in 1956. She spent many years at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. Reactivated in 1984 as part of the 600-ship Navy plan, Missouri was sent on operational cruises until being assigned to Operation Earnest Will in 1988. In 1991, Missouri participated in Operation Desert Storm, firing 28 Tomahawk Missiles and 759 sixteen-inch (406 mm) shells at Iraqi targets along the coast.[118][129] Decommissioned for the last time in 1992, Missouri was donated to the USS Missouri Memorial Association of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for use as a museum ship in 1999.[130]

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

The Civil War was horrifying in this regard. Units signed up by town, and would serve together. So the, whatever, 12th Ohio was ALL from Ohio (or nearly all), and many times the brigades/squads were from the same town.

So the 12th Ohio goes into combat, and suddenly an entire townfull of parents in Ohio gets the bad news a few weeks later. Parents losing multiple kids in one engagement, etc. etc.

Joshua Chamberlain had his brother with him at Little Roundtop, for one example.

That does sound terrible. I never thought of that, but it is human nature to want to be with familiar folks. I can't imagine an entire town having most of their kids wiped out.

That is brutal.

[TambaBerry]

To late to get assigned?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Mojo Jojo

Reporting for duty

South Dakota** South Dakota-class Battleship**


We appear to have a big need for battleship crews. I don't know if anyone else has been assigned to this one yet.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by cavtrp1

USS Massachusetts (BB-59) South Dakota-class battleship
My grandfathers ship.

But you draw the...

Jack** Gato-class Submarine**

I bet you get some good war stories out of that.

Whoa, this sub was productive, if you count destroying stuff as productive: http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3005.html

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by 505 Chief

Amazing. I had a great run with the old girl:

I am agog. This ship was in WWI, survived Pearl Harbor, helped with landings in Normandy and the Mediterranean, and then added Okinawa and Iwo Jima to the mix? And then it survived a nuclear bomb? That may be the best story yet.

If you were Forrest Gump or a time traveler, this is the ship to be aboard.