dusty
01-27-2010, 07:54 AM
I was instrumental in dropping a radar sail off of the catwalk around the radome. I sure wish that thing had been bubble wrapped.
Hmmm, thinking about that that would have been a good production test. That was in 1959 or maybe 1960.
jdramsey
01-27-2010, 11:12 AM
About 1983-4. The Navy realized they'd never actually tested the supercarriers to see just how well they would survive torpedo and bomb explosions. So my bird-farm was selected (CV-67). We spend months getting ready. Things like desks and file cabinets and tool boxes and such weren't of concern, so we bubble wrapped them. That or removed them from the ship. We stripped the ship of all the loose gear we didn't need. We bubble wrapped darn near everything else. The Navy was interested in the aircraft elevators, engines, boilers, hull integrity, etc. Things that couldn't be bubble wrapped and really would cripple or sink the ship.
So, after months of preparation and weeks of bubble wrapping, we steamed off to get blown up. Made for some fun rides. Explosions here, explosions there, big ones, little ones, nearby and farther away. Some were to punch holes, some were to break the back of the ship. Nothing like riding a carrier that's been thrown several hundred feet, Hang on!
After something like two weeks of getting blown up it was learned that supercarriers can indeed survive some massive hits.
For bubble wrapping, we had truckload after truckload of bubblewrap. Unlimited supply. The pier was covered in pallets of the stuff. Being mature anchor-clankers, we played. We'd make big piles of the stuff to jump into of the side of the ship. We'd throw forklifts and such into piles of it. We'd see how high we could get wrenches and such to bounce off the stuff. Great fun.
Your tax dollar at work! Actually, all kidding aside, it might have be fun.