Posts Tagged ‘ship’
Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013
1. Here’s the news of the day:
“Anti-missile systems sent to Guam to counter North Korean threat“
2. Those systems are called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).
3. THAAD was developed using the former USS Tripoli (LPH-10), an Iwo Jima-class amphibious assault ship that’s basically a mini aircraft carrier.
4. The USS Tripoli was based at Pier 80 in Dogpatch as recently as last year and it’s still there right now, for all I know.
That’s the connection.
That’s San Francisco’s contribution to the war effort.
(And, just saying, THAAD could come in handy when dealing with NK’s big buddy China…)
All the deets:
“She was decommissioned in 1995 and as of 2004, she was on loan to the Army, but remained laid up at Mare Island Naval Shipyard. In December 2006, the ship was towed to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, where it now has a high-tech role as a launch platform with the nation’s developing ballistic missile defense program. Three times the ship was towed some 100 miles off shore and used to launch small ballistic missiles, which are then intercepted by Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Missiles, test-fired from the Pacific Missile Range Facility. The last test in the series was performed 26 October, when the ship fired a “Scud-like” missile, which was successfully intercepted. The ship will be towed back to the San Francisco Bay Area for the winter. Kaua’i lacks a suitable land-based launch site, and the costs of building one would far exceed the approximately $600,000 per year it costs to use the old warship, so the vessel returned to Pearl Harbor for a second series of tests in late spring 2008.[1] As of 16 June 2012 she berthed at Pier 80 in San Francisco, CA.”
From 2008:
Well, look what just got towed in from Hawaii. Fresh from testing of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, San Francisco’s favorite former helicopter carrier, the former U.S.S. Tripoli (LPH-10), had its ups and downs in the Aloha State.
Read all about the post-retirement adventures of the USS Tripoli at Telstar Logistics.
Under the Golden Gate Bridge:
Who knows what the future will be for this old ship. Probably more missile launching.
And from 2010:
Now I could tell you all about the supr sekrt USS Tripoli (LPH-10 (Landing Platform, Helicopter)) but that would be MUY PRO HI BI DA DO (I say that in Spanish because that’s how not allowed it would be).
Suffice to say the old girl has been chilling in the Dogpatch lately, right next to ridiculously hilly Potrero Hill. See?
Click to expand
Where, oh where, will it get towed to next?
What, oh what, will it next launch into the Heav’ns Above?
Courage.
The Trip as seen off of Kauai in the 808 State (or somewhere else in the wide Pacific) during the sum, sum, summertime. Whoosh:
E komo mai. Nou ka hale, USS Tripoli
Tags: 2010, 2013, Ballistic Missile Defense, bmd, bvessel, california, China, chinesese, crisi, Dogpatch, Golden Gate Bridge, guam, hawaii, hawaiian, island, kauai, korean, lph-10, missile, north, north korea, pearl harbor, pier 80, San Francisco, sbx missiles, ship, south, south korea, summer, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, THAAD, tripoli, uss, war, winter
Posted in vessels | No Comments »
Friday, March 8th, 2013
I don’t know, do you make a half-million dollars per year? Well then you just might be richer than a typical San Francisco Bar Pilot.
I’m telling you, it’s the best blue-collar job in the world.
Why do they get paid so much? IDK.
Why do they get paid more than double or triple what other American bar pilots get paid? IDK.
Anyway, this fellow may or may not be an SF bar pilot, but he could be:
Click to expand
Oh well.
Tags: 2013, 94111, Bar Pilot, bay area, Blue-Collar, california, canyons, Captain, car, ferrari convertible, pay, red, roaring, salsty, San Francisco, San Francisco Bar Pilot, ship, Shipping, street, tugboat
Posted in cars | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 4th, 2013
See?
Petroleum powers cars and ships – I suppose that’s The Message from the Builders of 225 Bush.
Contrast that with the message from the current owners of 225 Bush found on this Wiki entry, which reads like an advertisement for potential tenants.
Or in other words, “This article’s tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia.”
Indeed.
Tags: 2012, 225 Bush, bay area, building, california, chevron, derrick, emblem, financial district, global warming, il, propeller, San Francisco, sansome, ship, smoke cloud, Standard Oil, Standard Oil Building, street, Wheel, wikipedia
Posted in bidness, buildings | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012
Here they are:
Click to expand
[UPDATE: Upon further review, these aren't Chinese naval uniforms after all:
At first I thought they could have been from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy.
And oh, look what's on the PLAN's to-do list:
See that? In addition to taking over Japanese islands (the Senkakus and others), the neo-Imperial Chinese Navy wants to take over Vietnamese, Malaysian, Filipino, and Bruneian islands as well. And don't forget about Taiwan.
But we're being visited by a South Korean ship so it's all good.]
Tags: 054 type, 2012, bay area, boat, california, China, chinese, frigate, islands, korean, macy's, market, mid market, navy, officers, pak, People's Liberation Army, People's Liberation Army Navy, Philippines, plan, republic, rok, San Francisco, senkakus, ship, shopping, south korea, south korean, street, sunkaku, taiwan, take over, tour, union square, white
Posted in vessels | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, May 8th, 2012
Check it, our very own Oceanic Society is kicking off annual Farallon Island whale watching season on May 26, 2012.
All the deets:
“WHALE WATCH/NATURE CRUISES TO FARALLON ISLANDS BEGIN MAY 26
San Francisco, California – Oceanic Society’s educational day long boat trips to the Farallon Islands, just 27 miles west of San Francisco, will operate May 26 through November 25, with departures available from San Francisco and Sausalito.
Blue whales (the largest animal to have ever lived on earth), Humpback whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, Harbor porpoises, Risso’s dolphins and Northern right whale dolphins all may be encountered during the whale-watch cruises to the islands and the nearby continental shelf.
An exceptional wilderness area, the Farallon Islands National Wildlife Refuge is the largest seabird rookery in the eastern Pacific south of Alaska – including nesting Tufted puffins, Pigeon guillemots, Rhinoceros auklets, Common murres, Black oystercatchers and cormorants. The Islands are also a breeding haven and home to California sea lions, northern elephant seals, Steller sea lions, Harbor seals and fur seals.
Though only scientists are permitted on the islands, the abundance of wildlife may be closely observed and photographed from aboard the Salty Lady, Oceanic Society’s 56-foot, Coast Guard-certified vessel. The boat holds 48 passengers.
Experienced naturalists lead each excursion to help identify seabirds and locate whales and interpret their behavior. The naturalists also provide informal discussions on marine wildlife and on the history of the islands. Passengers also benefit from the presence of whale researchers from the Cascadia Research Collective, scientists who have studied these whales since the early 1990’s.
Oceanic Society trips to the Farallon Islands depart Saturdays, Sundays and select Fridays from the Marina Green in San Francisco. Trips begin at 8 a.m. and last about eight hours. Passengers also have the option of departing at 7:15 a.m. from the Sausalito Clipper Yacht Harbor. The minimum age is 10, and an adult must accompany children under 15. Participants supply their own food and beverages.
The fee is $125 per person, with special group rates available. The fee includes a copy of “The Farallon Islands: Past, Present, and Future,” a 42-minute DVD produced by the Oceanic Society in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The DVD offers a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the natural and human history of the Farallon Islands and provides a virtual land tour of the islands. (Additional DVDs cost $15.)
Founded in 1969, the mission of the Oceanic Society is to protect marine wildlife and oceanic biodiversity through an integrated program of scientific research and environmental education. An official partner of the Farallon National Wildlife Refuge, Oceanic Society has offered educational whale-watch cruises since 1984 and is the only nonprofit organization that offers whale-watch trips year round in the Bay Area.
Reservations for the Farallon Islands whale-watch trips are advised. Please call 415- 256-9941 or 800-326-7491 or register atwww.oceanicsociety.org. For recorded information on current wildlife sightings, call 415-258-8220.
Sea you there!
Tags: 2012, bay area, boat, california, dolphins, Farallon, farallones, Golden Gate Bridge, island, islands, pacific, per person, ride, San Francisco, seals, season, ship, tickets, watch, watching, whale, whales
Posted in Animals | No Comments »
Friday, May 4th, 2012
Just like it was on eBay.
But back in the day, this ship was all that.
See?
The auction ends on Friday May 4, 2012. The buyer will be required to cut up this stealth ship for scrap. Current bid is $300k.
Oh well.
This boat was built here in the Bay Area and now it’s about to die here.
All the deets, below.
Remember back when Bay Areans could espy the straight-outta-Redwood-City $200-million Sea Shadow stealth ship bobbing about in San Francisco Bay? Check this video from down Fun Diego way over at Telstar Logistics to see this baby in action.
Say it aloud: Super-Secret Sea Shadow Stealth Ship, Super-Secret Sea Shadow Stealth Ship, Super-Secret Sea Shadow Stealth Ship! This project was so secret that it didn’t make the Bay Area newspapers up until 1999, when this boat was identified as an airplane three times by the San Francisco Examiner.*
But lately, the ex Sea Shadow just sits around in the mothballed Ghost Fleet of the East Bay over in Benicia. Check out these great photos from Amy Heiden. Pretty boss, huh?
Now the first time the Navy tried to get rid of this historic boat, in 2006, they had all sorts of rules. Then they tried again in 2009 with more flexible rules. But the problem is that you can’t just take the Shadow, you also have to take the Hughes Mining Barge (HMB-1), a floating drydock boat that was developed as part of Project Jennifer. (That was the semi-successful, top-secret effort mounted by the Central Intelligence Agency to salvage the remains of the Soviet submarine K-129 from the ocean floor.)
Here’s a shot of them together, ignore the two conventional warships in the background:
But wait, there’s more. Here’s how the Sea Shadow is laid out on the inside:
The bridge of Grant Imahara’s future evil lair. (Boy, talk about a glass cockpit, huh?)
And here’s how she looks from the outside:
You want. However, nobody set up a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and take these things off of the Navy’s hands. So now an important piece of Bay Area military history (and film history what with it inspiring the bad guys’ floating lair in Tomorrow Never Dies) is a gonna get scrapped.
Here’s what came next, after the Shadow got mothballed – it’s the all-aluminum Sea Fighter, as seen back in 2006:
via Telstar Logistics
The point being is that the aging Sea Shadow is the ur-ship, the JetFire of the stealth boat world. Why didn’t anybody save her?
Check out the owner’s manuals - pretty soon, that will be all that’s left…
Ever more deets, after the jump.
*From 1999: “The combined Navy-Marine exercise included overflights of the Bay Area by the Sea Shadow, the Navy equivalent of the stealth bomber.” No, this thing can’t fly, it just floats. Veteran SF Chronicle writer Henry K. Lee got that right but others did not. Nevertheless, SFGate.com, San Francisco’s online newspaper, remains an invaluable resource.
(more…)
Tags: (HMB-1, 007, 2012, adopt, Amy Heiden, auction, Bay, bay area, Central Intelligence Agency, chronicle, Contra Costa, county, donate, east bay, ex, ex sea shadow, Examiner, fighter, fleet, fsf-1, g row, general services administration, ghost, Golden Gate Bridge, gsa, Henry K. Lee, Hughes Mining Barge, ix-529, james bond, Lockheed, marines, may 4, mothball, National Defense Reserve Fleet, navy, newspaper, Project Jennifer, radar, redwood city, San Francisco, san francisoc's online newspaper, san francsico, scrap, Sea Fighter, sea shadow, secret, ship, stealth, suisun, susuin, Tomorrow Never Dies, u.s. navy, United States
Posted in military | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
Coit Tower, Pier 9:
Click to expand
Tags: 2012, bar, Bar Pilot, bay area, best, Best Blue-Collar Job in the World, Blue-Collar, boat, california, capt., Captain, in the world, job, Pier 9, pilot, San Francisco, San Francisco Bar Pilot, ship, tug, tugboat
Posted in employment | 1 Comment »
Friday, October 7th, 2011
Well, this is different:
“This fall, in partnership with San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, We Players shares episodes of the classic sea story The Odyssey aboard the park’s 1891 scow schooner Alma. On eleven autumn afternoons, from September 17 to November 18, Alma’s broad, sturdy deck will evoke Odysseus’ sleek black triremes, and help tell the unlucky sailor’s tale of travel, exploration, and homecoming.
Each performance will take place during a three-hour sail on San Francisco Bay, as the cast and crew weave real-time line handling with Homer’s stirring account of weary seafarers striking sail for home. Audience seating is limited to 40 per performance, and tickets are available in advance only. Join our mailing list to be informed when reservations open, and when additional tickets are released.”
Writer Lily Janiak took the tour – here’s her impression.
It goes a little something like this:
PERFORMANCE DATES:
Friday, October 28
Saturday, October 29
Friday, November 4
Saturday, November 5
Sunday, November 6 (reserved for special guests of SF Maritime Association)
Friday, November 11
Saturday, November 12
Friday, November 18
All right, see you there, matey!
Tags: 2011, Alma, bay area, boat, california, homer, Homer's Odyssey, Lily Janiak, November, october, odyssey, Odyssey on Alma, performance, play, San Francisco, schooner, september, ship, tickets, We Players, Writer
Posted in theatre, vessels | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 4th, 2011
This is all that’s left of SS Lyman Stewart – you can see its three cylinder steam engine from Land’s End at low tide.
The first cylinder is 75 inches in diameter and the second and third are 45 and 26.5:
Click to expand – this one gets real big
This is what the she looked like after her big collision 89 years ago on October 7, 1922. Pwned!
“Lyman Stewart, a steam tanker, wrecked on a rocky beach with people looking on”
Via Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society - click to expand
Take a tour yourself, why not?
All the deets:
“Length over all, 426 ft. 9 in.; length between perpendiculars, 410 ft.; beam moulded, 55 ft. 3j4 in.; depth moulded to upper deck, 31 ft. 8 in.; load draft, 27 ft.; load displacement, 13,960 tons; cargo capacity, 63,964 bbls.; fuel capacity, 2,211 bbls.; gross tonnage, about 5,900; revolutions per minute, 65; designed I. H. P., 2,600; designed speed 10J/2 knots.
The ship is a single screw steamer with the machinery located aft.
The hold is subdivided into 16 tanks for carrying oil in bulk, the starboard and port compartments being separated by an oil tight center line bulkhead up to the top of the expansion trunk.
The ‘tween decks, in the wings outside the expansion trunk, is arranged for carrying refined oil.”
Ever more deets after the jump.
(more…)
Tags: 1922, 2011, bay area, california, chevron, lands end, Lyman a Stewart, Lyman Stewart, october 7, oil, oiler, San Francisco, ship, shipwreck, Steam, steam engine, tanker, tour, triple expansion, walking, wreck, wrecks
Posted in vessels | No Comments »
Friday, June 24th, 2011
Tags: 2011, 3508, bay area, california, chinese, Chinese Submarines, destroyer, japan, Japanese, jds, JDS Kashima, Kashima, navy, pier, San Francisco, ship, Submarines, training, TV-3508
Posted in military | No Comments »
