Science Hypothetical: The Navy drafted you in WWII. - Page 17

**Rain Man** · 10-09-2014, 03:32 PM

I found a database of major American WWII ships the other day and pulled it into Excel. Then I found information on crew sizes. Now I have a simple simulator.

So if you were drafted into the Navy in World War II and were assigned to a large ship (e.g., submarine, destroyer, cruiser, or larger), I can now randomly assign you to a ship. Report in this thread to get your assignment.

I'll tell you your ship, and then it's up to you to look it up and see where it went and what happened to it. If the ship took casualties, let me know how many were killed and wounded and I'll do a random draw to see if you would have survived.

As for me, I would have been one of 700 sailors aboard:

Juneau** Atlanta-class Light Cruiser**

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(CL-52)

That's not really a good thing. I hung out with a nice set of five brothers from Iowa, the Sullivans, but we saw some bad things.

We launched early in 1942 and did some early runs in the Atlantic and Caribbean before heading to the Pacific Theater. Right out of the gate in the Pacific we had to rescue sailors from an aircraft carrier that sank from a sub attack, and then we headed to Guadalcanal.

Our task force fought off four attacks from the Japanese, one of which took down another aircraft carrier.

Then another big Japanese group attacked, and we took a torpedo. We headed off toward Vanuatu for repairs, running with two other damaged ships, when we were attacked again by a Japanese sub. We took another torpedo which blew the ship to smithereens and we sank in 20 seconds.

The other two ships assumed there were no survivors and took off running. In actuality, 100 of the crew survived the sinking, but only about 10 survived the next eight days until rescue aircraft found them.

Based on a random dice roll, I went down with the ship, so my naval career ended late in 1942. I hope America won.

Amnorix · 10-10-2014, 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

See #20.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 505 Chief

No doubt. I was blown away by the history of that ship. That has to be incredibly rare.

I clearly need to read this entire thread...

**Rain Man** · 10-10-2014, 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amnorix

I'm waiting to see if anyone gets assigned to the Indianapolis.

It's definitely in the mix, but we have 454 ships. It's slightly larger than average, and has about a 0.3% chance of being assigned. So someone may get it.

I'm not completely convinced that it's the worst story, though it may be. Those guys on the destroyers that swamped in Typhoon Cobra met a tough end, as did the survivors of my own Juneau. And then of course you've got the Arizona, but at least that happened fast.

I think one of the worst things about dying in a war, aside from the dying part, would be not knowing how it ends. If you're a Juneau crew member in 1942 or a Pearl Harbor guy, you died without knowing the great ending to the story, and that would be very unappealing.

**Old Dog** · 10-10-2014, 11:01 AM

I did my time in the Army, go ahead and give me a spot in the Navy as well Rain Man

98 SR20 · 10-10-2014, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Croaker** Gato-class Submarine**

That really seems like an unlucky name for a warship. Whose idea was that? I hope you have a good experience on it.

Man I had the time of my life on that Sub! We were sinking ships left and right. Sank 19,710 tons of shipping

. Made it through the war with no damage, no causalities either. She's now a floating museum in Buffalo New York.

Amnorix · 10-10-2014, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Welcome to the:

Yorktown (Yorktown-class)** Yorktown-class Aircraft Carrier**

I generally assume that if I've heard of a ship, something bad happened to it. Look it up and let us know.

Awesome history there.

Amnorix · 10-10-2014, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

I feel for the poor bastard who gets Indy.

Oh I see. You were just saying you beat me to the punch, in your typical bastardy fashion.

**Donger** · 10-10-2014, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rain Man

And then of course you've got the Arizona, but at least that happened fast.

Not for all the crew, unfortunately.

**Rain Man** · 10-10-2014, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dog

I did my time in the Army, go ahead and give me a spot in the Navy as well Rain Man

Cabot** Independence-class Light Carrier**

What an elegant-sounding name. I'm guessing that you dined on fine china in the Cabot's mess hall.

**Rain Man** · 10-10-2014, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 98 SR20

Man I had the time of my life on that Sub! We were sinking ships left and right. Sank 19,710 tons of shipping

. Made it through the war with no damage, no causalities either. She's now a floating museum in Buffalo New York.

I looked it up, and yeah, that sub was a rock star. It even sank a cruiser in its first at-bat.

I'm going to be passing through Buffalo in a couple of weeks. If I have time, I may visit it. I wouldn't have guessed that there would be a sub museum in Buffalo.

**Rain Man** · 10-10-2014, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donger

Not for all the crew, unfortunately.

Well, good point. (Shudder.)

On another note, one of the worst parts about being in a shipwreck would be floating around all covered in oil. I've seen pictures of them pulling guys out of the water, and I bet it took forever to get cleaned up.

Eleazar · 10-10-2014, 11:07 AM

Reporting for duty, Admiral Rainman

**Old Dog** · 10-10-2014, 11:07 AM

RE USS Cabot:

Is this US Navy time only or does it cover the time she was a Spanish ship as well? Or was I one of the 62 killed in Japan prior to that?

Amnorix · 10-10-2014, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stumppy

Didn't know, until just now, when the Bismark sunk the Hood there were only 3 survivors from the Hood.
Daaaaamn!

It blew up damn fast. It was a Battlecruiser. Not a battleship. Which really means the firepower of a battleship, faster than a battleship, but LESS ARMOR than a battleship. It's speculated to have taken on in a magazine.

From the movie "Sink the Bismarck"

**Rain Man** · 10-10-2014, 11:11 AM

Another thing I'm learning in this thread is how important a handful of naval bases were. I read over and over about Pearl Harbor, Espiritu Santo, and Manus. The first one I would expect, but I'd never heard of the other two. I bet those places were guarded like Fort Knox.

Graystoke · 10-10-2014, 11:11 AM

Wow...
So interesting.

The USS Boston CA-69 was a Baltimore class heavy cruiser; it was the sixth BOSTON named by the Navy. CA-69 was launched August 26, 1942 by the Bethlehem Steel Company’s Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. The ship was christened by Mrs. Maurice J Tobin, the wife of the Mayor of Boston. The ship was commissioned on June 30, 1943 with over 1500 sailors and officers. It reported to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii on December 6, 1943 and took part in raids, invasions and assaults of Marshall Islands, Kwajalein, Majouro, Eniwetok, the Palaus and the Western Carolines. She and her crew supported operations at Hollandia and Western New Guinea, she participated in the attack on Truk Island, and supported the invasion of Saipan. The BOSTON supported carrier task forces during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, she supported the invasion of Guam, took part in the raids on Palau-Yap-Ulithi, supported the Landings on Morotai, and the raids on the Philippine Islands. She served with Task Force 38 during the raid on Okinawa and northern Formosa as well as 4 Luzon raids. The Boston participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, as well as raids of Japanese positions on the Chinese mainland and raids and bombardments of the Japanese Mainland.

The BOSTON helped the crippled cruiser HOUSTON, and became part of the famous ‘bait fleet’ to try to get the Japanese navy to attack a convoy of wounded ships. Finally, the BOSTON was caught up in Typhoon Cobra and listed further than was thought possible after a large set of waves. She did not sink.

The BOSTON and its crew returned to the US for retrofitting March 25, 1945 after about 16 months of constant battle. She returned to Japan and was present at the Japanese surrender.

This was quite the celebration, as you can tell from the menu. I mean Cigars, Cigarettes and Parker House Rolls!

The Celebration Menu:

The BOSTON was active after the war destroying suicide submarines and assessing bomb damage to Hiroshima.

For its amazing duty the BOSTON received 10 battle stars.
I made so many life time friends on this ship.

10-09-2014, 03:32 PM
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $-772449 VARSITY	Hypothetical: The Navy drafted you in WWII. I found a database of major American WWII ships the other day and pulled it into Excel. Then I found information on crew sizes. Now I have a simple simulator. So if you were drafted into the Navy in World War II and were assigned to a large ship (e.g., submarine, destroyer, cruiser, or larger), I can now randomly assign you to a ship. Report in this thread to get your assignment. I'll tell you your ship, and then it's up to you to look it up and see where it went and what happened to it. If the ship took casualties, let me know how many were killed and wounded and I'll do a random draw to see if you would have survived. As for me, I would have been one of 700 sailors aboard: Juneau Atlanta-class Light Cruiser http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Juneau_(CL-52) That's not really a good thing. I hung out with a nice set of five brothers from Iowa, the Sullivans, but we saw some bad things. We launched early in 1942 and did some early runs in the Atlantic and Caribbean before heading to the Pacific Theater. Right out of the gate in the Pacific we had to rescue sailors from an aircraft carrier that sank from a sub attack, and then we headed to Guadalcanal. Our task force fought off four attacks from the Japanese, one of which took down another aircraft carrier. Then another big Japanese group attacked, and we took a torpedo. We headed off toward Vanuatu for repairs, running with two other damaged ships, when we were attacked again by a Japanese sub. We took another torpedo which blew the ship to smithereens and we sank in 20 seconds. The other two ships assumed there were no survivors and took off running. In actuality, 100 of the crew survived the sinking, but only about 10 survived the next eight days until rescue aircraft found them. Based on a random dice roll, I went down with the ship, so my naval career ended late in 1942. I hope America won.
Posts: 145,598

10-10-2014, 11:01 AM	#243
Old Dog Supporter Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Central Kansas Casino cash: $2390201	I did my time in the Army, go ahead and give me a spot in the Navy as well Rain Man
Posts: 10,772

10-10-2014, 11:07 AM	#251
Eleazar Beyond the Rapids Join Date: May 2003 Location: Langley, VA Casino cash: $-370000	Reporting for duty, Admiral Rainman
Posts: 80,659

10-10-2014, 11:07 AM	#252
Old Dog Supporter Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Central Kansas Casino cash: $2390201	RE USS Cabot: Is this US Navy time only or does it cover the time she was a Spanish ship as well? Or was I one of the 62 killed in Japan prior to that?
Posts: 10,772

10-10-2014, 11:11 AM	#254
Rain Man Seize life. Be an ermine. Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: My house Casino cash: $-772449 VARSITY	Another thing I'm learning in this thread is how important a handful of naval bases were. I read over and over about Pearl Harbor, Espiritu Santo, and Manus. The first one I would expect, but I'd never heard of the other two. I bet those places were guarded like Fort Knox. __________________ Active fan of the greatest team in NFL history.
Posts: 145,598

10-10-2014, 11:11 AM	#255
Graystoke MVP Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Driftless Region Casino cash: $-2630000	Wow... So interesting. The USS Boston CA-69 was a Baltimore class heavy cruiser; it was the sixth BOSTON named by the Navy. CA-69 was launched August 26, 1942 by the Bethlehem Steel Company’s Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. The ship was christened by Mrs. Maurice J Tobin, the wife of the Mayor of Boston. The ship was commissioned on June 30, 1943 with over 1500 sailors and officers. It reported to Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii on December 6, 1943 and took part in raids, invasions and assaults of Marshall Islands, Kwajalein, Majouro, Eniwetok, the Palaus and the Western Carolines. She and her crew supported operations at Hollandia and Western New Guinea, she participated in the attack on Truk Island, and supported the invasion of Saipan. The BOSTON supported carrier task forces during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, she supported the invasion of Guam, took part in the raids on Palau-Yap-Ulithi, supported the Landings on Morotai, and the raids on the Philippine Islands. She served with Task Force 38 during the raid on Okinawa and northern Formosa as well as 4 Luzon raids. The Boston participated in the Battle of Leyte Gulf, as well as raids of Japanese positions on the Chinese mainland and raids and bombardments of the Japanese Mainland. The BOSTON helped the crippled cruiser HOUSTON, and became part of the famous ‘bait fleet’ to try to get the Japanese navy to attack a convoy of wounded ships. Finally, the BOSTON was caught up in Typhoon Cobra and listed further than was thought possible after a large set of waves. She did not sink. The BOSTON and its crew returned to the US for retrofitting March 25, 1945 after about 16 months of constant battle. She returned to Japan and was present at the Japanese surrender. This was quite the celebration, as you can tell from the menu. I mean Cigars, Cigarettes and Parker House Rolls! The Celebration Menu: The BOSTON was active after the war destroying suicide submarines and assessing bomb damage to Hiroshima. For its amazing duty the BOSTON received 10 battle stars. I made so many life time friends on this ship.
Posts: 9,623