phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) (08/16/90)
From: phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG (Phil Gustafson) In article <1990Aug6.031133.2036@cbnews.att.com> lbryant%eagle@blackbird.afit.af.mil (Lee N. Bryant) writes: > > I am currently looking for information on the battleship U.S.S. >Massachusetts, constructed in 1897. I was wondering if those people who had >posted info on the Nelson could look in thier battleship books and give me >a rundown on it. If you could please E-mail it to me. Thanks in advance. > [Moderator's excellent summary deleted. This response posted because many portions may be of general interest. pg] You don't say exactly what you want to know. Let me start with some general notes. An excellent source for technical and historical information of warships from about the Civil War to the present is: The International Naval Research Organization, Inc. (INRO) 1729 Lois Court Toledo, Ohio, 43613,USA A year's membership costs $18 and includes a subscription to the quarterly _Warship_International_. WI is to the newsstand warship magazines as the _Proceedings_of_the_ACM_ is to the poorer newsstand computer magazines. INRO also offers small-scale plans, photos, back issues, and even INRO shoulder patches. Issue 86/4 includes a _Massachusetts_ article, but I have no idea whether it's about BB-2 or BB-59, or even the unfinished BB-54. INRO is nonprofit -- enclose an SASE with any correspondence. For detailed information on American ships from the mid-1880's onward, consider the series: U.S. {Battleships|Cruisers|Destroyers|Aircraft Carriers| Small Combatants} -- An Illustrated Design History Norman Friedman Naval Institute Press The volumes discuss each warship or class built, as well as each important one _not_ built, and the technical and political reasons for the building or not building. They run about $50 a book and are available at large hobby shops and through mail-order outlets. One such outlet is: Taubman Plans Service International 11 College Drive -4G Jersey City, NJ 07305 Their catalog package is $6.50 plus $3 first-class USA postage. They list a 1/96 scaleplan for the _Oregon_ (BB-3, a sister ship) as plan BJK-4075 for $10. Now, the National Archives maintains a stock of about 50,000 original builder's plans dating from the war of 1812 to WWII. Its post-Civil- War files are reasonably complete. Write them at: National Archives Cartographical and Architectural Branch (NNSC) Washington, DC 20408 or visit at: 841 S. Pickett Street Alexandria, VA See "U.S. Naval Ship Plans at the National Archives," by Donald Canney, in Scale Ship Modeler magazine, Feb/Mar 1990, for instructions in using this resource. A good set of exterior and deck plans will run a few tens of dollars. Whatever you do, don't ask for "everything you have on the Massachusetts" -- it'll cost a fortune, and you really don't need the plumbing patterns for the CPO head. Ship plans are in NA Record Group 19 and naval ordnance in RG 74. RG 19 also includes come Confedarate plans. Official photos are available at $4 or so each from: National Archives Still Pictures Branch (NNSP) Washington, DC 20408 and: Naval Historical Center Washington Naval Yard Washington, DC 20374 If you just wanna make a plastic model of the ship, try Glencoe Models Box 846 Northboro, MA 01532 The kit is for the _Oregon_, but includes _Massachusetts_ markings. $19.98 at your local hobby store. I have no commercial connection with any of the above, exclusive of my tax contribution to the NA and the NHC. [This got longer than I thought. BB-2 history will have to wait till tomorrow. pg] -- | phil@zorch.SF-Bay.ORG | Phil Gustafson | (ames|pyramid|vsi1)!zorch!phil | UNIX/Graphics Consultant | | 1550 Martin Ave., San Jose CA 95126 | | 408/286-1749