A Floating Dry-Dock?

 

Curious. This box had a series of Slide Mounts, each with a 35mm Black and White negative mounted in them. How rare. The seller claimed that they dated from 1937...and that might be reasonable.

This image had no description, but appears to be a floating dry-dock, so... COULD be the USS ARD-1. Or maybe something else.

Bonus :

The Reserve Armada

 

No info on this one (Surprise) but the feeling I get is that these are Ships forming part of the US Navy's reserve fleet.

Also known as Mothballed, the ships are capable of being reactivated, in times of crisis. Or, being scrapped.

Bonus - Medieval Punishment  Harsh, but fair.

Seaman (2nd Class) Arnold J Rimmer

 

They say that every soldier carries a Field Marshall's baton in his knapsack.

However, Water Fountain Servicing Technician Arnold J Rimmer carries a copy of the US Navy's Guidebook "So You Made It To Fleet Commodore" in his kit-bag, just in case of an in-field promotion.

Bonus - Having seen a link to another article on The 30 Greatest Action Movies of All Time, I though...Ho-hum. But having seen what's at number one..... Yeah !

USS Dwight D Eisenhower CVN-69

 

Hurrah !    A slide with some information on it.

USS Dwight D Eisenhower CVN-69

(Which I could have guessed)

Mayport 1978

So... there you have it.

Bonus -  What?  You want more information on The Ike, Mayport, Gangplanks or 1978?

Bonus 2 - Quiz.   Which country covers the most timezones ?   Answer here

The Naval Spies

This may appear to be a really tedious slide...

... but what if I was to tell you that this slide was found in the possession of a known Russian Spy, and seems to show some covert surveillance of the latest (at the time) US Naval research craft.)

That changes things.

But it's not true.  It's a dull slide.

Bonus - How Real Sociedad thrashed a third-division team 8-0 but won their hearts.

Bonus 2 - R.I.P. Katherine Johnson, a Hidden Figure in NASA.

Pearl Harbor - Belatedly.

I knew I had some, somewhere.  A shot of the USS Arizona Memorial, posted after it was revealed that For first time, Pearl Harbor remembrance takes place without a single USS Arizona survivor present

Bonus - This nature photo makes me sad.

A Nice Day Out

Great day, seeing the weapons of mass destruction, and lots and lots of Seamen.

Bonus - "What concept fucks you up the most?" "The idea that blind people don’t just see black, they see nothing."

Bonus 2 - Cheese Saturday 4
An admission - This was the first Christmas Cheese I tried, but I saved the write up until the end.
Today - a Petit Gaugry.

The Ghost Ships

I dare say that there is someone, somewhere who could identify these mothballed ships.

They might not even need the enlargement section also attached ("US Navy E 775"?)

But they certainly look like creepy ghost ships, to me.

Bonus 1 - The Daily Mail knows the stories that interest their readers.

Bonus 2 - You can get Camouflaged Baby Coffins in the US....

1970 Navy Relief Carnival

From the look of those clouds, I'd estimate that this slide image was taken in San Diego (California.)

But I could be wrong.

Bonus - It's hard being a single father

Bonus 2 -

In The Navy

Tho' due to financial cutbacks, he was only issued with XXL Trousers.

If he salutes, his trousers fall down.


Bonus - The curious life cycle of the Adactylidium

Instruction in life-saving from a naval officer

Another recently scanned slide.

The label says

Instruction in life-saving from a naval officer

The first scout camp was held on Brownsea Island in 1907

...but I'm not certain that this picture is actually from that pioneering Scouting event, or a recreation.

The fact that the Naval Officer looks like Edward Smith counts in it's favour, but basically everyone in that era looked like him.

Bonus - Get Happy

The Captain Of Your Ship

You've guessed it - I have no information of who this short naval officer is, or anything about the ship in the background.

The only clue, is taht the slide was in with a lot of slides about Halley's Comet, so it may a naval officer involved in observations of the the 1835 visit.

Bonus - The Captain Of Your Ship

Bonus 2 - (NSFW - sweariness)

Death Dealing, but Dull

Tedious Tuesday is upon us, and more evidence that even the most exciting subject can make a tedious photograph.

If my research is right, this is the USS Ranger, which is currently awaiting scrapping.  wonder if it will fit my my garden?

Bonus -

Cheeeese !

"Smile for the camera, Marvin"

"No. Your Nice Smile."

Bonus - What the cool kids are wearing and carrying this season

Ghost Ship Storage

As well as the usual supernatural aspect of the name, Ghost Ships can also refer to vessels such as these. Decommissioned (or "in reserve") and tied up awaiting scrapping or restoration.

I've often fancied exploring a derelict such as this, but I've seen enough Horror Movies to know that that's a Bad idea.

Bonus - No particular reason

A Load of Seamen

From a bunch of slides from the mid fifties, some of which were marked "French Indochina", so this does possibly mark the start of the Vietnam War.

Historic Stuff.

Bonus - Upstaged by a bag

USS Ranger

Heavens ! It's Tedious Tuesday once again.

(Searches thru' collection.)

Ah yes.   Far from being a good shot, it's still interesting to see what I can find out about a subject, and from a little digging, I suspect this is the USS Ranger.

Some info here, or of course here.  And...ooohhh....it could be all yours if you have space in a museum !

Bonus - Melancholy today, so how about Bjork's version of Gloomy Sunday (The Hungarian Suicide Song.)

Look !! A Ship !!!

So, Tedious Tuesday is upon us again, and another ho-hum slide from the collection is on display.

The Navy ship involved - Classified

The Navy ship being photographed - Classified

The Island that they're off-shore of - Classified.

The ocean involved? - Arctic.

(Only kidding. That's Classified information as well.)

Bonus - WANT !!!!

On-Board Catering

Ah. Life is sweet aboard HMS Venus.  

Especially when tempting the officers back from shore leave.

Bonus - Macaroni Casserole. 6805 calories. (No typo)

In drag on the USS LaRue

It gets pretty boring on patrol on a warship during the Vietnam Wars, and things were no different on the USS LaRue. But the first Sunday of each month was a bit special, as each of teh drafted crewmen had to "drag up" for the benefit of the officers.

Outfits and wigs were issued by the ship's Quartermaster, and the draftees had to spend the day "'en femme". Cameras were banned, due to the possible negative effects upon mainstream America, but sometimes a photograph was surreptitiously taken, and this is one of the few. The crewman photographer waited until no-one was looking his way, to save the blushes of his fellow ladies.

(Of course, this could all be lies...but you can decide.)