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.

[Hydrae]

Originally Posted by TrebMaxx

I didn't mention this in my short version of the USS Albert W. Grant history but while en route to Leyte, damaged and limping on one engine the Grant weathered Typhoon Cobra before reaching the anchorage.

The Grant sounds as tough as it's namesake.

[InChiefsHeaven]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Arizona** Pennsylvania-class Battleship**


Oh, dude. That sucks.

1,177 deaths, and (rolling dice), you're one of them. You never even knew what hit you.

Man, that is some bullshit right there. BUT...I'm going to Hawaii in November, so I'll be visiting the old gal.

[trndobrd]

If joining the Navy will get out of this German POW camp. Let's do it.

[Kaepernick]

Ensign Pulver requesting permission to board, Sir!

Now what the hell is this about no movie tonight?

[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.

[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?

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

USS Bunker Hill (CV/CVA/CVS-17, AVT-9) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, was named for the Battle of Bunker Hill. Bunker Hill was commissioned in May 1943, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific War, earning eleven battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. She was badly damaged in May 1945 by Japanese kamikaze attacks, with the loss of hundreds of her crew, becoming one of the most heavily damaged carriers to survive the war.

After the attack she returned to the U.S. mainland for repairs and was decommissioned in 1947. While in reserve she was reclassified as an attack carrier (CVA), then an antisubmarine carrier (CVS), and finally an Auxiliary Aircraft Landing Training Ship (AVT), but was never modernized and never saw active service again. Bunker Hill and Franklin were the only Essex-class ships never recommissioned after World War II.

Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1966, she served as an electronics test platform for many years in San Diego bay, and was sold for scrap in 1973. An effort to save her as a museum ship in 1972 was unsuccessful.

Such a shame she wasn't made into a Museum. I just went through the USS Hornet again docked in Alameda, CA, and we still didn't have time again this time to tour the super structure. What a huge boat and empty. At sea, this empty think would have been standing room only, it would have been so packed with content below decks. I look at the huge under deck level and I can't imagine it packed with aircraft and machinery and crates and men and whathaveyou.

[cmh6476]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

California** Tennessee-class Battleship**


Perhaps you should reconsider. I think you were at Pearl Harbor if I remember right.

If it were WWI I might be in trouble, but I think I could have been ok in WWII.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_California_(BB-44)

World War II[edit]

California after rebuilding




California's aft triple 14-inch (356 mm) 50-caliber gun turrets in August 1945.
On 7 December 1941, California was moored at the southernmost berth of Battleship Row and was with other dreadnoughts of the Battle Force when the Japanese launched their aerial attack. Watertight integrity had been impaired by preparations for a material inspection; and the ship suffered extensive flooding damage when hit.[9] One torpedo detonated below the armor belt between Frames 46 and 60, and a second detonated below the armor belt between Frames 95 and 100.[10] At 0845, a 551 lb (250 kg) bomb entered the starboard upper deck level at Frame 60, passed through the main deck, and exploded on the armored second deck, setting off an anti-aircraft ammunition magazine and killing about 50 men.[11] A second near miss bomb ruptured her bow plates.[9] Smoke from fires started by the bomb hit caused evacuation of the forward engine-room at 1000 and ended pumping efforts to keep California afloat.[9] After three days of progressive flooding, California settled into the mud with only her superstructure remaining above the surface.[9] When the action ended, 100 of her crew were lost and 62 wounded. Machinist's Mate 1st Class Robert R. Scott was one of the sailors who lost his life on 7 December, refusing to leave his battle station, even as it flooded, "as long as the guns keep firing". Also killed was Chief Radioman Thomas Reeves who organized hand delivery of anti-aircraft ammunition when the equipment to lift it to the guns was knocked out. He was overcome by smoke and fire below decks while leading this effort. Both men were awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for their heroism and Destroyer Escorts USS Reeves (DE-156) and USS Scott (DE-214) were named in their honor.

On 25 March 1942, California was refloated and dry-docked at Pearl Harbor for repairs. On 7 June, she departed under her own power for Puget Sound Navy Yard where a major reconstruction job was accomplished, including improved protection, watertight compartmenting, stability, antiaircraft battery, and fire control system. Her original twin funnels were combined into a single funnel faired into the superstructure tower as with the newer South Dakota class. The original 5 in (130 mm)/51 cal guns of the secondary battery and the 5 in (130 mm)/25 cal guns of the anti-aircraft battery were replaced by 16 5 in (130 mm)/38 cal guns in new twin mountings.[6] Her appearance was nearly identical to that of Tennessee and West Virginia, which were rebuilt after the Pearl Harbor attack to resemble South Dakota-class battleships. Like her sisters, she was a virtually new ship built on the bones of the old.[12]

As part of the two ocean navy policy, U.S. battleships had been designed within a beam constraint of 108 feet (33 m) in order to transit the Panama Canal; after their similar rebuilds, Tennessee, California and West Virginia were widened to 114 feet (35 m) feet, in effect limiting deployment to the Pacific theater.

California departed Bremerton, Washington on 31 January 1944 for shakedown at San Pedro, California, and sailed from San Francisco, California, on 5 May for the invasion of the Marianas. Off Saipan in June, she conducted effective shore bombardment and call fire missions. On 14 June, she was hit by a shell from an enemy shore battery which killed one man and wounded nine. Following Saipan, her heavy guns helped blast the way for the assault force in the Guam and Tinian operations from 18 July to 9 August. On 24 August she arrived at Espiritu Santo for repairs to her port bow damaged in a collision with her sister ship that was also present at Pearl Harbor with California, Tennessee.

On 17 September, California sailed to Manus to ready for the invasion of the Philippines. From 17 October to 20 November, she played a key role in the Leyte operation, including the destruction of the Japanese fleet in the Battle of Surigao Strait on 25 October. On 1 January 1945, she departed the Palaus for the Luzon landings. Her powerful batteries were an important factor in the success of these dangerous operations driven home into the heart of enemy-held territory under heavy air attack. On 6 January, while providing shore bombardment at Lingayen Gulf, she was hit by a kamikaze; 44 of her crew were killed and 155 were wounded. Undeterred she made temporary repairs on the spot and remained carrying out her critical mission of shore bombardment until the job was done. She departed on 23 January for Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving on 15 February for permanent repairs.





A bell from California on display at the California State Capitol Museum.
California returned to action at Okinawa on 15 June, and remained in that embattled area until 21 July. Two days later, she joined Task Force 95 (TF 95) to cover the East China Sea minesweeping operations. After a short voyage to San Pedro Bay (Philippines) in August, the ship departed Okinawa on 20 September to cover the landing of the Sixth Army occupation force at Wakanoura Wan, Honshū. She remained supporting the occupation until 15 October, then sailed via Singapore, Colombo, Ceylon, and Cape Town, South Africa, to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, arriving on 7 December. She was placed in commission in reserve there on 7 August 1946, out of commission in reserve on 14 February 1947, stricken on 1 March 1959, and sold for scrapping on 10 July 1959 to Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Sparrows Point, Maryland.

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Sorry, buddy. You can't run in World War II. We're killin' Nazis. You can be a pacifist on ...

Steamer Bay** Casablanca-class Escort Carrier**

I'm not entirely sure how many Nazis the US Navy killed. My recollection is that the British Navy had things pretty well tied up in the Atlantic and Mediterranean while almost all US ships operated in the Pacific Theater of war.

Did a US naval vessel ever tangle with the Germans or Italians?

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Albert W. Grant** Fletcher-class Destroyer**


Cool. We don't have many destroyer members yet.

The numbers are deceptive. You have less big boats but they have 2000 men crews. You have many many small boats but with 300 man crews. So all in all, there may have been more men on all the aircraft carriers than there were on all the Destroyers and escorts. I just don't know. Those big boats really sucked up the manpower.


A Yorktown class aircraft carrier had 2200 crew.

A North Carolina class battleship had 1800 crew.

An Alaska class cruiser had a crew of 670.

A Fletcher class destroyer had a crew of 330.

So a Yorktown class aircraft carrier carries as many men as 7 Fletcher class destroyers.

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Oh, cool. Another submariner. Tell me how it turns out.

Blackfish** Gato-class Submarine**

I had a video game using the Gato class Submarine, so it must be a fast attack sub.

Cool. You are a hunter and you are going to be taking down a lot of tons of Japanese tankers and freighters.

[Kaepernick]

Still praying for the USS Enterprise -- the most decorated ship in the US Navy.

Watch, I will be assigned to a Liberty Ship, unless your database only has warships, in case their won't be any merchant ships or transports.

[Dartgod]

Hook me up.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Good news/ bad news?

Ship made it through the war with a lot of not eventful action though it did sink a Jap cargo ship full of troops.

Now here is some history though. She was converted to a missile carrying sub and eventually was assigned to the get this....US Postal service!

That may be the best trivia I've ever read.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Delaney37

Sign me up Admiral Rain Man!

Uncle was on a Fletcher class destroyer running one of the 40mm bofor guns. His ship was running screen for the Bunker Hill in the Marianas Turkey Shoot. They took a kamikaze hit in the torpedo tubes during the engagement.

Ticonderoga** Essex-class Aircraft Carrier**

No destroyer for you, but I bet this is a cool ship. It's got a great name.