Missouri (1944 United States Fast Battleship)

July After Action Report

Mo at Alta-Mons

On July 16th, USS Missouri set out to engage all opponents upon the Alta Mons Sea. A Reconnaissance Report indicated a substantial minefield (moss) that would restrict Missouri's operational area. While no hostiles were encountered, the day did not proceed without incident.

Missouri was testing out her new more redundant propulsion system, which worked with mixed results: Her starboard engines ran without problem or failure the entire day - marking her first meet that she did not require some form of recovery. Unfortunately, the port motor kept blowing fuses (and still is even on the bench a week later - there is some weird ground short which even took out my multimeter fuse this evening, putting debugging on hold until morning).

Tweaks and Upgrades

So, I had a horridly busy week, and was exhausted come the weekend. However, I DID get some time to work on Mo, including replacing the old toggle-switch throttle with a new waterproof ESC (and figured out how to use it)... I still need to put a proper fuse-bank in on it, but that shouldn't take me long this week. I also got A turret re-mounted to the rotation bracket, so everything looks to be shaping up into good form for the target practice this weekend. Now, if only I can survive this week of awesomeness...

Turret Rotation for Missouri

A and B rotationSo, this week I finally got a working mount for the rotation servo for the re-worked turret mounting for Missouri.

Missouri's turrets are a very odd design (only a handful of this type of turret were ever made), and getting them to rotate reliably has been an epic campaign.

 

Missouri, refit, and ready for sea trials

So, with the hull repaired, I am ready to declare Missouri refitted and ready for Sea Trials.

Gunnery trials is another story... when I get the CO2 parts (this weekend maybe?) I should be able to get the guns working quickly (hopefully). Meanwhile, some pictures of the refitted hull.

 

Missouri, edging towards the water

I finally was able to get the prop-shafts and new motors working properly, so it was time to move on to the patching of the hull.

I started by replacing a whole window panel which had been swiss-cheesed in the previous season

Mo whole panel and several small patches

I then performed several patches according to the directions Brian listed here: http://mabg.org/node/127

Reshafting Missouri - Updated 5&8 July

So, picking up where my U-joints were when last I posted (see previous blog post, Building a U-Joint)...

A box for a boat....

Boat by Carrier view 2Spent yesterday working on building a storage and carrying case for Missouri. It's almost ready, but I forgot to take any pictures. This case fits the boat snugly and securely, allowing me to store the boat where the cats cannot get at it, haul the boat in the open bed of my truck without worrying about the wind, and use the case as a workbench, or as a pondside seat (it is strong enough).

Missouri Update

So, I was able to get my hands on some plastic sealant (similar to tool-dip) today and re-sealed the interior and internal mount points on Missouri. This should prevent the cat from smelling residue of previous marking. Also, I'm working up a carrier/storage box similar to what Gniesenau had. That way, I can safely store the boat without worying about the cat once again getting access and "marking" the boat as his. Once this all dries, I'll resume working on the electrical refit.

Bad Plumbing

I got to work on the CO2 plumbing on Missouri this week. I am happy to report that it is back to the same functional level that it was prior to last year's catastrophe. Unfortunately, after working to lubricate the forward magazine plungers, I have determined that the original CO2 layout will need to be changed. I do not (currently) have the parts to make those changes (They are with the pending Group Order). Once I have those in hand, I should be able to get the guns firing at full pressure.