Photo: "Stand Down"

Battleship U.S.S. Iowa contains three 16"/50 caliber Mark 7 guns. The turrets were called "three-gun" (rather than "triple") because each gun could be angled and fired independently of the others. These guns were 66 feet long and fired projectiles weighing anywhere from 1,900 to 2,700lbs at a max speed of 2,690 feet per second for up to 24 miles.

This world class battleship currently sits in the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet awaiting her fate. Currently there is a batte between Long Beach and Mare Island as to where the ship will be docked and turned into a museum. The Navy seems to have chosen Mare Island as the ship's home, but San Pedro seems to have more funding and monetary support.

U.S.S. Wichita (AOR-1)

The hull of U.S.S. Wichita was laid down in Quincy, Massachusetts by General Dynamics Quincy Shipbuilding Division in 1966. She was the first of the Wichita Class Replenishment ships to see service. (She was later joined by USS Milwaukee, USS Kansas City, USS Savannah, USS Wasbah, USS Kalamazoo and USS Roanoke.)

She was comissioned in July 1969, after a final outfitting at the Boston Naval Shipyard.

U.S.S. Wichita was equiped with twin Phalanx Close-In Weapons Systems for anti-missile/anti-aircraft defence. Eventually, this was supplemented with single Sea Sparrow MK 29 missile launchers which protected against surface and air threats by utilizing the Rim-7 NATO SeaSparrow Missile. She also had the ability to support (2) CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters if necessary.

After a long trek through the Panama Canal she arrived on the West Coast in Long Beach, which became her temporary home port, where she remained for a few months before being deployed to support ships in the Vietnam War. During her time there, she earned four battle stars and an Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, which was for replenishing 23 ships within one day, and years later was also awarded a "Battle Efficiency Award" (Battle E). 

Her last West Pacific tour of duty was in 1989, but she had some short deployments to British Columbia, Oregon and Mexico. 

She provided over 30,000,000 gallons of oil and gasoline and 10,000 tons of ammunition to over 240 ships throughout her 24 years of service until she was decomissioned in 1993. 

In 1998 she was transfered to Suisun Bay and became a member of the Reserve Fleet where she has sat ever since.

Inside the 'Treatment Room' where two operating tables and a dentist chair were installed for patient care.

Dentist chair inside the 'Treatment Room' on the 01 Level.

Inside the 1st deck crew mess.

Crew bunks on the 1st deck.

Checker tables on the 1st deck. 

Exploring an Abandoned Bunker

U.S.N.S. Edwin D. Patrick

I just discovered that the most recent ship towed out of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, U.S.N.S. Edwin D. Patrick, was one of the ships I had the priviledge to explore on a recent trip to the Fleet.

She was first of the 6 ships, towed out of the fleet, that I have had the chance to photograph, which is why I'm a bit sadenned by the news. While that might sound strange to many of you, it's something that happens to us explorers/photographers when we see a place we've visited often be demolished or renovated.

Throughout the last year, I've made a number of trips to the Fleet and each time, I discover something new, which leads to a stronger attachment to the ships. This ship in particular was interesting to me because she was a troop transport ship and contained many elements most military ships do not, such as a monetary exhange booth, theatre, church and rec room.

During my trip to the Fleet, I was told that U.S.N.S. Edwin D Patrick and her sister ship, U.S.N.S. General John Pope had been sold for scrap, but there was no indication of when this would occur. 

U.S.N.S Edwin D Patrick was a troop transport ship commissioned in 1945. In 1950, the Navy reclaimed the ship and placed into Military Sea Transportation Service, where she served as a transport ship during the Korean War. She was decommissioned in 1967 and places in Suisun Bay shortly thereafter. In 2005, she was scheduled to be transported to Alang, India for scrapping, but concerns about the condition of her hull prevented this from occuring. In March 2010, U.S.N.S. Edwin D Patrick was sold to ESCO Marine in Brownsville, Texas.

She was towed out of the fleet on April 15, with no announcement in the media or on the Port of San Francisco roster. She now sits in the dry docks at BAE Systems in San Francisco awaiting her trip to Texas to be scrapped.

Photo by Dave R

Photographer Showcase: Rustyjaw

I stumbled upon Rustyjaw's flickr, when I just started to become serious about photography and wanted to learn about HDR's. I must admit, it was an incredibly refreshing find.

Prior to that, I never liked HDR's, in fact I avoided trying them myself because I always saw examples that resembled an altered reality with their incredibly saturated colors, soft focus and unrealistic contrast. I never believed in an HDR subtlety, until I saw his work.

I was enamored by his talent for processing incredibly realistic, beautifully toned and detailed photos. Not only that, but his eye for intriguing compositions and his unique creative style completed the triptych of skills photographers should posess.

Every photo submerges the viewer into his world as he documents the old relics, slowly fading from our lives.

You can find more of his work on his website or check out his recent DSLR video projects here.

Photo-documenting the Colorado River Bridge / Hoover Dam Project

Photo by Jamey Stillings

Photographer Jamey Stillings has been following the Colorado River Bridge / Hoover Dam Bypass project since March of 2009 when he first encountered the construction site. Since then, he has photo-documented the project and the construction of the future new vehicle route diverting traffic around the dam, a 1900 ft bridge.  This new bridge requires thew creation of a 1,060 ft arch spanning the Black Canyon between Arizona and Nevada. When the project is complete, it will be the longest concrete arch span in the US and the fifth longest in the world.

Check out Part I & Part II of Jamey's absolutely incredible photos.