Yeah man, so tragic. It was a real blow to the whole community that something so dangerous and yet so routine went exactly perfectly wrong. I think that’s why I still get that feeling today. Unlike Hollywood, there was no happy ending to the story, just terror until...nothing.

Ship things are really big. Like this crankshaft, which fits in a 14 cylinder engine and weighs 300 tonnes. Note the steps down to the bearings.

This is the same thing they would have had to do to replace the turbines on the Iowa class battleships. Only the hull armor is over 12 inches thick.

My friend is a chief mate (is that the right term?) on, I think, natural gas carrying tanker. She once showed me the pictures of ship being worked on. On picture, she’s sitting on the dry dock, with a ship behind, and the ship has a portion of front bit (bow? I really don’t know ship talk) open for a repair. What was…

Just like power washing a sidewalk, it’s fun for about 5 minutes then it gets tedious as shit.

You can look at historical photos of pre-WWII battleships that were refitted with modern secondary guns for more evidence of the prowess of shipyard welders. Ships like the USS Nevada and USS California that were severely damaged and actually sunk at Pearl Harbor, that were re-floated, returned stateside, and rebuilt.

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I would imagine it would be super satisfying to begin with.

That’s an awesome idea. Suddenly I want all the walls and roofs on my house to be quick-release and modular. It would make everything so much easier!

Isn’t it five counting the Space Force?

The virtuoso-type specialists really are impressive.

I’ve seen utility buildings with “quick release” roofs for just this purpose.  Remove a dozen or so large bolts, and the entire roof can be lifted off with a crane.  You’ve already got the crane there to replace the equipment, so it only take a few minutes longer to remove and replace the roof to get access.  The roof…

Hey, David!!! Here’s a free story idea for Boatlopnik if you want it:)

I work for a large equipment manufacturer. One of our customers are cruise ships. When we sell to them, it’s generally when they are either building a new ship - the equipment will be rigged into place during the build process - or a major refit where they will do a similar procedure and open a portion of the hull.

David, you should expect a reprimand in your inbox for not using G/O Media’s super-duper slideshow optimization tool.

Back in the day, 1972, I served on a U.S. Navy destroyer that had to have a reduction gear removed and replaced though a large hole cut into the main deck. That was a big deal, cutting a hole this large in the side of the hull is much more of a challenge. Much has changed in the last half century, but I am sure that…

If this project is anything like my past ones, the mechanics will have a handful of nuts/bolts/fasteners leftover at the end that they’ll put in an old peanut butter jar in case they eventually find where they go, but until then, enjoy the weight reduction.

OK. I have definitely been around this site too long. The comedy is rubbing off on me.

Brutalist architecture.

Concrete Communist Block