Having had small boats I was wondering if the Iowa class props have the same design as every other prop-shaft I'm used to. Is there a giant cauder-pin too?
Don't know about on a BB, but on a SSN or SSBN, the prop nut wrench is called the "Ship's Key". It is stored in the free flood area between the turtle back and ballast tank 5 bravo. It's a common ship's qual question. And there is no "hitting it with a maul". The damn thing is over 8 ft long and has a hole cut in the end where they can rig a crane block to, and pull on it.
The shipyard would use some type of pneumatic impact wrench with a slot fitting. A handheld screwdriver wouldn't provide sufficient torque - that relatively flimsy shaft would twist and break if you could even keep the slot in place.
That T-handled screwdriver looks like one we used on the submarines I was stationed on. Our deck stanchions screwed into the metal deck for the lifelines while in port. Getting ready to go to sea we would remove and stow the stanchions and screw nylon plugs covered with anti-seize into the deck to keep the threads clean
I don’t mean to throw cold water… but I seriously doubt that that implement would be able to torque out one of those fasteners without deforming. I have no idea what it was meant to do… but I doubt it was for those fasteners. You would need some sort of “impact” gun…. Most likely pneumatic that would give thousands of small “taps” per minute to turn those. And undoubtably you’re going to fail some of those fasteners and drill/welding will be required. Yard type tools and work.
Yes, it doesn't look strong enough, nor does it seem to be well made as the crossbar is nowhere near at right angles to the shaft and is not braced. But it would be okay once a screw is loosened by the bloke with the proper tool and he's moved on to the next one. But why would such a 'driver be on the ship? Removing the turret top is a shipyard job, and it would be the shipyard that had the tools.
I was thinking the same thing. I would guess that an impact or other power tool would be used. There appear to be a lot of screws and a tool like that would take forever. I also think the screws maybe torqued poss with some form of lock tight.
You are correct, they would never remove those screws, but they will tighten them. After hard weather it isn't uncommon for screws to get loose. It is probably also a likely result of firing the main battery. I know some shoulder fired weapons will loosen their bolts after firing a number of times and I suspect the bigger guns would just amplify the problem.
I suspect that the bolts would be a high strength grade to match the metallurgy of the armor. If the ship took a large caliber round direct on the top of the turret the armor is not much good if the bolts all break and the ends go wizzing around inside killing the gunners.
I agree with @jastrapper190... Also, while I dont doubt you know what you are talking about as far as that being a screwdriver used in the way you described, the blade of that particular one is still too small for those screws... (Usually a properly sized Flathead screwdriver should nearly fill the width of the slot in the screw, and also be nearly its entire 'diameter')...
Railroads have really cool tools, too. Big ones. Although track-spiking hammers were surprisingly delicate. It took more finesse and stamina than brawn.
Are we sure this isn't a prank item? I'd think you would need a power tool to move those screws. I'm just imagining some helpless newbies being told take the large screwdriver and go check that all the screws in the turret roof are tight! 😆
Whilst a lovely backstory and find, I can’t seen any chance that this ship made screwdriver tool is designed for these - it would be something much bigger - and pneumatic.
This is exactly my comment but you beat me to it. I don’t mean to “poo poo” the video or claim… but my gut experience tells me… that’s not a tool that would get that job done… before you sheared the welds on the tool.
@@jastrapper190 agreed, unless the blade of the screwdriver matched the slot in the screw (width & length) it would cam out. I'd guess some large and heavy pneumatic driver with a bit with a cavity that matched the screw would be used. Maybe even with magnetic or electromagnetic hold-downs. Why would an oval (or possibly round head) screw be used? Dunno, but bolts would be a tripping hazard. Recessed (countersunk) holes would be stress points, maybe? If the screw slot got mangled, there's enough metal above the plates to tack weld a bolt or hex stock on the screw head and remove it thataway. Ryan, measure the big screwdriver blade (width & length) and compare to screwdriver slot measurement. If they're not within say 1/16" or so of the mating part, then that screwdriver is for something else.
William fittings are vital hatches and valves that are to stay open at all times @@spvillano Which contradicts the OP. You always keep them open, so the screwdriver would be to close them?
@spvillano the ships have material conditions, Zebra, Xray, Yoke, and William. William relates ventilation and hatches only opened during yard periods or special maintenance purpose.
I'm with you. I can't imagine someone using that to unscrew the top of the turret especially when Ryan said it's usually done in the shipyard. Besides, with rust, I would imagine unscrewing the top of the turret to be a pain, the screws probably need a serious amount of WD40.
I was just thinking that. A big pneumatic impact wrench and socket seems ideal. I wonder if the smooth surface these screw heads have, rather than the sharp-edged protruding bolt heads was important in the design.
@@cclentz The Chieftain explained in one video that tank armor used domed screw heads because a hex head would get rounded off by incoming fire or at worst catch it and break off, I'd expect the same design philosophy applies here.
My guess, since Ryan said they screwed pad eyes in to allow the cranes to lift the plates off, would be it's a lot easier to have a screw just long enough for one plate rather than take the bolts out, jack up the plate from below then slide nuts under. But again, this is just a guess.
Bolts would collect paint over time, which would have to be stripped first, unless you put a cap on top of the bolt, which might collect water and rust. The same goes for an huge imbus screws. Also, bolts and imbus screws are actually easier to strip than a flathead, as long as the flathead properly inserted and held in place. The angle of the screw surface being pressed on by the wrench and the required play for being able to insert the wrench leaves a very small angle of attack, while on a slit-screwdriver, the angle of attack between the slit and the drivers is nearly 90°. The better solution would be torque or even triangle screws, which have a very high angle of attack on the engaging surfaces. Of course, you still have the issue of collecting water, which I guess you also have with the slit screws, soo.....
The commercial 24" adjustable wrench at 5:27 may be used for some task today but it is not an original issue wrench. I myself have a 24" wrench my grandfather used for 2" or so threaded plumbing connections. The "screwdriver" is a DIY job and would be twisted all to hell if you tried to remove the turret roof screws. Very interesting non the less.
I haven't yet been on an Iowa, but I have been to USS Alabama many times. I found it strange that they used slotted screws all over, from armor to things like clamps to attach wires to bulkheads inside. I guess it's just what they did then. On a lot of things, it seems like it would be much easier to use them and tighten them enough with a hex bolt.
My grandpa was an engineers mate on the Cleveland and then a refrigeration tech in civilian life. He had a couple machined screwdrivers that size. These don’t have a t-handle, but they do have a hexagonal handle that a 1-1/2 wrench fits. I don’t know what screws they were ever used for. I only saw him use them to spin castle nuts of old washing machine drums. Today they are mine and I use them as prybars, they are hardened steel and incredibly strong.
As an automotive mechanic (someone who regularly deals with threaded fasteners that have been in their homes for a long time and aren’t interested in leaving) I’ll say this…whenever it did come time for those shipyard workers to pull those screws off, they may have used that tool to take them out…however, before that, they spent an hour on each one heating it with a torch and beating it with a sledgehammer to break up the corrosion on the threads that formed from it living on the same place in a salty-air environment for 25 years without turning…or, more likely, they did that for 3 or 4 of those screws, said ‘this is stupid.’ Torched the heads off the rest of them, lifted the plates off the now headless studs, and got all the studs out with a pipe wrench
I know they broke loose, the screws and bolts on the Iowa. When work began to rebuild turret 2 after the explosion. All work was halted do to the Cold War ending, and the need to keep the Iowas in commission came into question great video
Wow, did I just pick up on a pregnant pause by Ryan at 5:12, followed by Ryan saying at 5:14, "when they decide to reactivate the ship, etc". Ryan, that is very interesting, and so many missed this comment. That's one big cat you let out of the bag if true.
Ryan, the t-handle wrench you have that you are calling a big slotted screwdriver is for locking and unlocking scuttle hatches that do not have a top side handle most likely. Have used many of the same type just only smaller when I was in.
I was on the the uss midway recently and in the crew bunks in the boiler deck they had “the screw driver” and it was a pice of pipe about 3 feet long with a pice of 1/4” plate welded on one end and another on the side, giving the crew effectively a “ratchet handle “ and a speed handle.
I've got a screwdriver that size, but it's configured as a standard-looking, yellow plastic handled model. Have no idea what it was used for. Got it from a Navy friend in the 70s, when we were both stationed in HI. I agree with several others here that the T-handled pipe setup looks highly unlikely to be capable of removing those turret roof screws.
They do look pretty fearsome . After all these years I'd think many are going to break unless they are stainless which the rust suggests they aren't . There has to be a specialist tool for that job held in the yard .
They would need someone with a big wrench to hold the nut too. Looks like it would be hard work especially if the screw was rusted hard. I wonder how many would need drilled out during the operation.
Since we have an election coming up, how was voting handled on the ship through the years? And for that matter, how would voting have been handled for deployed troops in WW2?
First off, that screwdriver ISN'T for those armor screws. We had the same wrench/screwdriver of the FF's I was on, and not that I ever used one (I was with the Air Det), there were deck fittings or the like that that wrench would be used on.
I am very surprised that such a large job as removing the armored roof of a 16" gun turrets would be performed with a hand tool, even a large screwdriver. Would have bet money that a huge power tool would be required.
Absolutely amazing. I am amazed that they use a slotted head screws - do they use a thread sealant or anti-seize? What happens if you strip a screw? Wouldn't it have been better to use hex bolts?
The wrench works on the Rudder post top I think. How much does each plate of the turret top weigh? @jastrapper190-I agree I doubt that really for these screws. That reminds me of "Plug" wrenches to open top of sounding tubes for tanks (Fuel or water or ballast). Even though not a square - would work there if the lenght matched the diagonal of the square plug. So - What is the small antenna on the turret for ? Certain Not original - something required for recent move to from dry dock just not removed yet?
The large wrench for the nut that is on the bottom of each ruder post. It's accessed by cutting each side of the rudder. Should be hanging on the bulkhead in one of the steering gear rooms..
Dang it! I'm a heavy duty truck mechanic and I thought I had every screwdrivers size available, including some very large screwdrivers, but I dont have that one!.....I gotta go shopping now to complete my collection. Somehow, I don't think Snap-On is going to have this one on the tool truck though!!!
No way that little manually operated thing is for those gigantic screws through armored plates. I guess the good news is we'll get more NJ content when Ryan posts a correction :P
Maybe Ryan can do a video on floating drydocks big enough to lift Iowa class battleships like AFDB-1 Artisan and was there any still in service after WW2???
@@stevebrown-l1p Maybe just to temporarily snug one that was working loose, but I'm not sure that's what the tool is for. In my job we deal with a lot of bolts up to about 2-1/2 inch. They take a hydraulic wrench or a 1-1/2 drive impact wrench. I'm guessing those bolts are in the 1-1/2 to 2 inch range. I think the shaft would twist and break if you actually tried to break one loose with that tool.
The "screwdriver" you found might get one of those screwhead bolts out only with a lot of luck. Those screws are painted and rusted in place, many of them look like the slot is mangled beyond use. Bet most of them will need to have heads ground off to remove cover. I wouldn't want to be the guys who need to do the removal job.
Maybe not walked past it a thousand times. It’s almost Halloween, so the ship’s gremlins might have brought out a present for having taken such good care of their old gal.
Ryan any possibility or plans to rotate any of the main turrets like Battleship Iowa recently did? It may be a big fundraiser for the museum to consider to advertise that on certain date it plans to rotate any of the main turrets.
I doubt that's the purpose. It would in the least be an impact tool. But I would imagine even then most of those would strip only to be ground off. Remove the armor, remove the broken screws, then replace. My guess based on all the broken fasteners I dealt with over the years on a ship.
Ryan, isn’t there an access hatch in one of the interior corridors that’s held down with massive screws? From memory, they were about 3” across the face. I used to have a pic of them from my visit to the NJ two years ago.
I'm sure they probably had something to actually break them loose initially I can't imagine doing them with that . Not saying they didn't use it for maybe starting them cI could be wrong.
About two metres tall. Ryan, two metres is just shy of 6ft 6 inches. Is our curator expanding and contracting in the heat and cold??? The "large" screwdriver looks to me to be a ship built one. As the OG one was lost or damaged. I doubt it would last too long either. Just welds holding it together. The torque must be immense, to get just a single screw out.
Yeah, I don't think yards workers are going to use manual wrenches on the turret roof. I'm pretty sure they would have used pneumatic drivers after they needle gun the rust and paint off.
Nice try. That tool would not move one of those screws, but it is amusing to think that a Petty Officer might hand it to some mouthy junior rating and tell him to go tighten all of the turret screws, preferably in rough weather. Much like being sent to the engine room for a bucket of steam.
The large version of the wrench either moves a rudder or a main battery turret. That is my best guess. I would go nuts on that ship doing shipboard archeology. I would volunteer but I live all the way across the country and I am not as physically capable as I used to be but I was always that guy who wonders how they removed those damned screws and goes and finds the turret roof screwdriver.
I thought for a moment that we would watch Ryan start to unscrew the battleship one screw at a time, until the whole ship sinks under him, and now I'm very disappointed.
I imagine that there is one big master screw that was originally painted bright red: “DO NOT LOOSEN THIS SCREW!! But over the decades the paint has worn off and now no one can remember which one it is. Careful with that screwdriver, Ryan.
I have a hard time believing that a flimsy looking tool made from hollow pipe stock with a little flat piece welded at the end could endure the torque necessary to remove those large fasteners. Maybe if they used some kind of impact tool to break them loose first, but even then.
I love the fact that the museum crew is still finding stuff on the battleship after so many years.
Big wrench is definitely the prop wrench. It resides in a store room underneath some wire, if memory serves correctly
Was going to say the same, it's a large box wrench with a rectangular boss on the end to hit with a maul.
Having had small boats I was wondering if the Iowa class props have the same design as every other prop-shaft I'm used to. Is there a giant cauder-pin too?
video id o9oVJCOR4SA if anyone wants to see it
@@Aaron-ot1xs Just doing my job as a pedant - it's cotter-pin. Thanks and have a nice day!
Don't know about on a BB, but on a SSN or SSBN, the prop nut wrench is called the "Ship's Key". It is stored in the free flood area between the turtle back and ballast tank 5 bravo. It's a common ship's qual question. And there is no "hitting it with a maul". The damn thing is over 8 ft long and has a hole cut in the end where they can rig a crane block to, and pull on it.
Your enthusiasm for even the littlest of things relating to the New Jersey is inspiring, contagious, and quite simply fun. Thank you
The shipyard would use some type of pneumatic impact wrench with a slot fitting. A handheld screwdriver wouldn't provide sufficient torque - that relatively flimsy shaft would twist and break if you could even keep the slot in place.
That screw driver looks like it may be used on a flush deck fitting. Shipyards had special tools for jobs like taking armor platting off.
I agree, it doesn't fill the slot properly.
No way they aren't using power tools for that many huge bolts
Yeah, still use those for flush deck fittings. Could be those screws are covers for hexhead bolts or the like.
I have something exactly like this in the basement for diverting septic flow between my two drain fields
Very surprised they would use slot heads for this and not hex heads.
That T-handled screwdriver looks like one we used on the submarines I was stationed on. Our deck stanchions screwed into the metal deck for the lifelines while in port. Getting ready to go to sea we would remove and stow the stanchions and screw nylon plugs covered with anti-seize into the deck to keep the threads clean
"Length of a Hobbit's Sword" - new unit of measure courtesy of Battleship New Jersey!
Pairs well with the "one Curator tall" measurement.
"One curator long" isn't "G" rated.
Proof once again that we Americans will use absolutely _any_ unit of measurement as long as it isn't metric.
I question whether that’s the actual driver lol… more than likely they would just use a long piece of hardened flat bar on edge.
@@seafodder6129 well Standard "freedom" units of measurement are based off parts of the human body
I don’t mean to throw cold water… but I seriously doubt that that implement would be able to torque out one of those fasteners without deforming. I have no idea what it was meant to do… but I doubt it was for those fasteners. You would need some sort of “impact” gun…. Most likely pneumatic that would give thousands of small “taps” per minute to turn those. And undoubtably you’re going to fail some of those fasteners and drill/welding will be required. Yard type tools and work.
Yes, it doesn't look strong enough, nor does it seem to be well made as the crossbar is nowhere near at right angles to the shaft and is not braced. But it would be okay once a screw is loosened by the bloke with the proper tool and he's moved on to the next one. But why would such a 'driver be on the ship? Removing the turret top is a shipyard job, and it would be the shipyard that had the tools.
I was thinking the same thing. I would guess that an impact or other power tool would be used. There appear to be a lot of screws and a tool like that would take forever. I also think the screws maybe torqued poss with some form of lock tight.
You are correct, they would never remove those screws, but they will tighten them. After hard weather it isn't uncommon for screws to get loose. It is probably also a likely result of firing the main battery. I know some shoulder fired weapons will loosen their bolts after firing a number of times and I suspect the bigger guns would just amplify the problem.
KROIL
I suspect that the bolts would be a high strength grade to match the metallurgy of the armor. If the ship took a large caliber round direct on the top of the turret the armor is not much good if the bolts all break and the ends go wizzing around inside killing the gunners.
I agree with @jastrapper190... Also, while I dont doubt you know what you are talking about as far as that being a screwdriver used in the way you described, the blade of that particular one is still too small for those screws... (Usually a properly sized Flathead screwdriver should nearly fill the width of the slot in the screw, and also be nearly its entire 'diameter')...
Definitely a unique sound it makes when hitting the roof of the turret.
I'm going to say the large wrench is attached to the steering gear somewhere.
Sounds like when a cartoon character gets poked in the eye.
The same basic tool with different ends is used for many commercial water or gas shutoffs. Great video.
Railroads have really cool tools, too. Big ones. Although track-spiking hammers were surprisingly delicate. It took more finesse and stamina than brawn.
Are we sure this isn't a prank item? I'd think you would need a power tool to move those screws. I'm just imagining some helpless newbies being told take the large screwdriver and go check that all the screws in the turret roof are tight! 😆
Like being told to ask the bo’s’un for the key to the keelson.
@@genreynolds6685 Or having to go find the bosun's punch, a hundred feet of deck line, headlight fluid and a box of grid squares.
The large wrenches for the propellers
I absolutely love this episode. Quite possibly my favorite one.
Whilst a lovely backstory and find, I can’t seen any chance that this ship made screwdriver tool is designed for these - it would be something much bigger - and pneumatic.
This is exactly my comment but you beat me to it. I don’t mean to “poo poo” the video or claim… but my gut experience tells me… that’s not a tool that would get that job done… before you sheared the welds on the tool.
@@jastrapper190 agreed, unless the blade of the screwdriver matched the slot in the screw (width & length) it would cam out. I'd guess some large and heavy pneumatic driver with a bit with a cavity that matched the screw would be used. Maybe even with magnetic or electromagnetic hold-downs. Why would an oval (or possibly round head) screw be used? Dunno, but bolts would be a tripping hazard. Recessed (countersunk) holes would be stress points, maybe? If the screw slot got mangled, there's enough metal above the plates to tack weld a bolt or hex stock on the screw head and remove it thataway.
Ryan, measure the big screwdriver blade (width & length) and compare to screwdriver slot measurement. If they're not within say 1/16" or so of the mating part, then that screwdriver is for something else.
KROIL
Ryan that's not for turret roofs. That is for opening William hatches in the deck that uses slotted dogs.
OK, I'll bite. What are William hatches?
William fittings are vital hatches and valves that are to stay open at all times @@spvillano
Which contradicts the OP. You always keep them open, so the screwdriver would be to close them?
@spvillano the ships have material conditions, Zebra, Xray, Yoke, and William. William relates ventilation and hatches only opened during yard periods or special maintenance purpose.
I'm with you. I can't imagine someone using that to unscrew the top of the turret especially when Ryan said it's usually done in the shipyard. Besides, with rust, I would imagine unscrewing the top of the turret to be a pain, the screws probably need a serious amount of WD40.
Crazy that you guys still find new stuff there. If that was "my ship" you bet I would have checked out every square inch a long time ago.
She has a LOT of square inches to check...
Crazy they went for a slotted screw rather than a bolt! Imagine stripping one of those out.
I was just thinking that. A big pneumatic impact wrench and socket seems ideal. I wonder if the smooth surface these screw heads have, rather than the sharp-edged protruding bolt heads was important in the design.
I had the same question.
@@cclentz The Chieftain explained in one video that tank armor used domed screw heads because a hex head would get rounded off by incoming fire or at worst catch it and break off, I'd expect the same design philosophy applies here.
My guess, since Ryan said they screwed pad eyes in to allow the cranes to lift the plates off, would be it's a lot easier to have a screw just long enough for one plate rather than take the bolts out, jack up the plate from below then slide nuts under. But again, this is just a guess.
Bolts would collect paint over time, which would have to be stripped first, unless you put a cap on top of the bolt, which might collect water and rust. The same goes for an huge imbus screws.
Also, bolts and imbus screws are actually easier to strip than a flathead, as long as the flathead properly inserted and held in place. The angle of the screw surface being pressed on by the wrench and the required play for being able to insert the wrench leaves a very small angle of attack, while on a slit-screwdriver, the angle of attack between the slit and the drivers is nearly 90°.
The better solution would be torque or even triangle screws, which have a very high angle of attack on the engaging surfaces. Of course, you still have the issue of collecting water, which I guess you also have with the slit screws, soo.....
The commercial 24" adjustable wrench at 5:27 may be used for some task today but it is not an original issue wrench. I myself have a 24" wrench my grandfather used for 2" or so threaded plumbing connections. The "screwdriver" is a DIY job and would be twisted all to hell if you tried to remove the turret roof screws. Very interesting non the less.
These days, you say, "battleship-sized screwdriver", I think of vodka and orange juice. And I don't even drink.
I haven't yet been on an Iowa, but I have been to USS Alabama many times. I found it strange that they used slotted screws all over, from armor to things like clamps to attach wires to bulkheads inside. I guess it's just what they did then. On a lot of things, it seems like it would be much easier to use them and tighten them enough with a hex bolt.
This new video was a treat !
We got the trick.
Turrent screwdriver.. uh huh.
For when the Navy reactivates NJ.
You didn't leave much for April 1st :)
My grandpa was an engineers mate on the Cleveland and then a refrigeration tech in civilian life. He had a couple machined screwdrivers that size. These don’t have a t-handle, but they do have a hexagonal handle that a 1-1/2 wrench fits. I don’t know what screws they were ever used for. I only saw him use them to spin castle nuts of old washing machine drums. Today they are mine and I use them as prybars, they are hardened steel and incredibly strong.
Must be for the turret roof armor 😎
(Edit - I didn’t read the description first, honest!)
The oversized can opener required too much space.
As an automotive mechanic (someone who regularly deals with threaded fasteners that have been in their homes for a long time and aren’t interested in leaving) I’ll say this…whenever it did come time for those shipyard workers to pull those screws off, they may have used that tool to take them out…however, before that, they spent an hour on each one heating it with a torch and beating it with a sledgehammer to break up the corrosion on the threads that formed from it living on the same place in a salty-air environment for 25 years without turning…or, more likely, they did that for 3 or 4 of those screws, said ‘this is stupid.’ Torched the heads off the rest of them, lifted the plates off the now headless studs, and got all the studs out with a pipe wrench
I know they broke loose, the screws and bolts on the Iowa. When work began to rebuild turret 2 after the explosion. All work was halted do to the Cold War ending, and the need to keep the Iowas in commission came into question great video
very cool. its funny working somewhere for years and years and still finding new areas and new stuff.
Wow, did I just pick up on a pregnant pause by Ryan at 5:12, followed by Ryan saying at 5:14, "when they decide to reactivate the ship, etc".
Ryan, that is very interesting, and so many missed this comment.
That's one big cat you let out of the bag if true.
Cool find, thanks for sharing.
Ryan,
the t-handle wrench you have that you are calling a big slotted screwdriver is for locking and unlocking scuttle hatches that do not have a top side handle most likely. Have used many of the same type just only smaller when I was in.
Looks a little spindly to get them out. But I'm not a curator who has access to the manuals.
Possibly used to turn valves?
I was on the the uss midway recently and in the crew bunks in the boiler deck they had “the screw driver” and it was a pice of pipe about 3 feet long with a pice of 1/4” plate welded on one end and another on the side, giving the crew effectively a “ratchet handle “ and a speed handle.
I've got a screwdriver that size, but it's configured as a standard-looking, yellow plastic handled model. Have no idea what it was used for. Got it from a Navy friend in the 70s, when we were both stationed in HI. I agree with several others here that the T-handled pipe setup looks highly unlikely to be capable of removing those turret roof screws.
HI I'M RYAN SZIMANSKI...love it everytime
Now I want to know about the nixie room!
it's for dragging mine nets. no discharge tubes, sadly.
@@manitoba-op4jx Ha! Yeah, I was thinking about Nixie tubes :)
He’s done videos on it. Search for it. Anti torpedo noisemaker
I guess the "big size screwdriver" is for something else. I bet shipyard used an even bigger one.
They do look pretty fearsome . After all these years I'd think many are going to break unless they are stainless which the rust suggests they aren't . There has to be a specialist tool for that job held in the yard .
They would need someone with a big wrench to hold the nut too. Looks like it would be hard work especially if the screw was rusted hard. I wonder how many would need drilled out during the operation.
Now that's what I call a screwdriver!!
Well now we GOTTA see it action. Come on just One screw.
I don't think I could resist the temptation to unscrew one of those screws. And I also don't think I could resist the temptation to stop at just one.
@@Manatherindrell As someone with a lifelong fixation with taking things apart, and occasionally putting them back together, I get it.
BB-62 is the gift that just keeps giving.
Since we have an election coming up, how was voting handled on the ship through the years? And for that matter, how would voting have been handled for deployed troops in WW2?
First off, that screwdriver ISN'T for those armor screws. We had the same wrench/screwdriver of the FF's I was on, and not that I ever used one (I was with the Air Det), there were deck fittings or the like that that wrench would be used on.
to do tank soundings
@@michaelcraig4710 ive stood many a sounding, and security watch. we always just used the head of the sounding tape tool to remove the plugs.
Cue Paul Hogan:
That's nout a screwdriver....... THAT'S A SCREWDRIVER.
I am very surprised that such a large job as removing the armored roof of a 16" gun turrets would be performed with a hand tool, even a large screwdriver. Would have bet money that a huge power tool would be required.
Go and take one of those turret roofs screws out now Ryan!
Absolutely amazing. I am amazed that they use a slotted head screws - do they use a thread sealant or anti-seize? What happens if you strip a screw? Wouldn't it have been better to use hex bolts?
So that screwdriver, and a tanker railcar of penetrating oil, and you just unscrew the roof and take it off. Pretty cool.
Don’t forget the containment boom to put around the ship to keep all that oil from contaminating the river. You would need a *lot* of it. :-D
Biggest wrench? For the propeller nuts.
The largest wrench I've ever seen was IIRC an 18 inch box wrench. It was for the nuts that hold a hydroelectric generator into a dam.
The wrench works on the Rudder post top I think. How much does each plate of the turret top weigh? @jastrapper190-I agree I doubt that really for these screws. That reminds me of "Plug" wrenches to open top of sounding tubes for tanks (Fuel or water or ballast). Even though not a square - would work there if the lenght matched the diagonal of the square plug. So - What is the small antenna on the turret for ? Certain Not original - something required for recent move to from dry dock just not removed yet?
Nice find.
The large wrench for the nut that is on the bottom of each ruder post. It's accessed by cutting each side of the rudder. Should be hanging on the bulkhead in one of the steering gear rooms..
"1 curator tall" 😂
5:34 jacking gear for the engines.
Nut on the propeller
Dang it! I'm a heavy duty truck mechanic and I thought I had every screwdrivers size available, including some very large screwdrivers, but I dont have that one!.....I gotta go shopping now to complete my collection. Somehow, I don't think Snap-On is going to have this one on the tool truck though!!!
If they did, who could afford a snap on screwdriver that size?
@tomkrisel4493 : It's easy! Only 415 installments of $99.99 and its all mine!🤣😂🤣 The tool will probably be made in China though!!!
No way that little manually operated thing is for those gigantic screws through armored plates. I guess the good news is we'll get more NJ content when Ryan posts a correction :P
Maybe Ryan can do a video on floating drydocks big enough to lift Iowa class battleships like AFDB-1 Artisan and was there any still in service after WW2???
That's the second-biggest screwdriver I've ever seen!
OK, what’s the biggest?
@@billbrockman779 Running gag from Get Smart
I am sure there is an impact socket made specifically that would be used by the shipyard for time saving purposes
Do you Know why a slot Screw instead of hex or even a plow bolt ? also why have a tool that will not be used outside the yard?
@@stevebrown-l1p Maybe just to temporarily snug one that was working loose, but I'm not sure that's what the tool is for. In my job we deal with a lot of bolts up to about 2-1/2 inch. They take a hydraulic wrench or a 1-1/2 drive impact wrench. I'm guessing those bolts are in the 1-1/2 to 2 inch range. I think the shaft would twist and break if you actually tried to break one loose with that tool.
because that thing is not what he thinks its for.
Those screws would removed by an air impact tool, 1' drive, with a huge drag link.
No, no, no... a hobbit's sword is definitely longer than a medium screwdriver.
In the yard, i would imagine the shipwrights would weld. Nuts onto the screw heads and use and impact to loosen the bolts
they used those on sounding caps along the main deck i believe possibly with a shorter handle.
The "screwdriver" you found might get one of those screwhead bolts out only with a lot of luck. Those screws are painted and rusted in place, many of them look like the slot is mangled beyond use. Bet most of them will need to have heads ground off to remove cover. I wouldn't want to be the guys who need to do the removal job.
The design makes no sense. Why would you use a screw head as a Fastener rather than a bolt
Maybe not walked past it a thousand times. It’s almost Halloween, so the ship’s gremlins might have brought out a present for having taken such good care of their old gal.
Ryan any possibility or plans to rotate any of the main turrets like Battleship Iowa recently did? It may be a big fundraiser for the museum to consider to advertise that on certain date it plans to rotate any of the main turrets.
I doubt that's the purpose. It would in the least be an impact tool. But I would imagine even then most of those would strip only to be ground off. Remove the armor, remove the broken screws, then replace. My guess based on all the broken fasteners I dealt with over the years on a ship.
Ryan, isn’t there an access hatch in one of the interior corridors that’s held down with massive screws? From memory, they were about 3” across the face. I used to have a pic of them from my visit to the NJ two years ago.
Surely if they reactivate the battleship they will develop the Giant Cordless Screwdriver as part of the modernization.
big wrench probably for decoupling the shafts
That's actually Drachinifel's luggage tow bar
I would guess the wrench for the propeller shaft to keep the propeller on.
Don’t know about The ship , but the oilfield has 4 foot crescent wrench’s / pipe wrench
I wonder how many of those T handle screw drivers were on a battleship? And Ryan you should have tried it out.
I can't remember which - if the large wrench had something to do with the rudders, the jacking gear or the props.
I'm sure they probably had something to actually break them loose initially I can't imagine doing them with that . Not saying they didn't use it for maybe starting them cI could be wrong.
agree
About two metres tall. Ryan, two metres is just shy of 6ft 6 inches. Is our curator expanding and contracting in the heat and cold??? The "large" screwdriver looks to me to be a ship built one. As the OG one was lost or damaged. I doubt it would last too long either. Just welds holding it together. The torque must be immense, to get just a single screw out.
Yeah, I don't think yards workers are going to use manual wrenches on the turret roof. I'm pretty sure they would have used pneumatic drivers after they needle gun the rust and paint off.
Neat!
There slotted sockets and you use an impact wrench to pull the screws.
The Iowa's Turret two plates screws were removed.
It looks like they would have used hex nuts and an air driven impact wrench to remove the fasteners.
Nice try. That tool would not move one of those screws, but it is amusing to think that a Petty Officer might hand it to some mouthy junior rating and tell him to go tighten all of the turret screws, preferably in rough weather. Much like being sent to the engine room for a bucket of steam.
After the accident on the Iowa they had started taking the roof off to repair the gun but they decided to decommission her so it never happened.
Cool Find Ryan #BattleshipNewJersey ❤❤❤❤❤😊😊😊😊😊 thanks #Drachinifil
The large version of the wrench either moves a rudder or a main battery turret. That is my best guess.
I would go nuts on that ship doing shipboard archeology. I would volunteer but I live all the way across the country and I am not as physically capable as I used to be but I was always that guy who wonders how they removed those damned screws and goes and finds the turret roof screwdriver.
The old B&W picture of the turret disassembled seem to show very skinny side walls, maybe an inch or two thick? Not what I expected.
Keep the turret faces facing toward the enemy, lads!
The propeller wrench is the large wrench
The angled edge on the plates is known as a scarfed joint.
I thought for a moment that we would watch Ryan start to unscrew the battleship one screw at a time, until the whole ship sinks under him, and now I'm very disappointed.
I imagine that there is one big master screw that was originally painted bright red: “DO NOT LOOSEN THIS SCREW!! But over the decades the paint has worn off and now no one can remember which one it is.
Careful with that screwdriver, Ryan.
So since New Jersey was built, have the roofs ever been removed and if so when?
I have a hard time believing that a flimsy looking tool made from hollow pipe stock with a little flat piece welded at the end could endure the torque necessary to remove those large fasteners. Maybe if they used some kind of impact tool to break them loose first, but even then.
If Ryan believes that puny tool would remove one of those machine screws...then I have a drydock in Kansas I'd like to sell him.
Why did I know this had to involve Drachinifel? 😁