How to cook an egg ironclad side up

[Jimmayo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0QXIYvYpo8

Thought some of you Navy guys would enjoy this. Also some good info on the heat index in the Monitor.

[1stMaine]

Re: How to cook an egg ironclad side up

Jim,

There's a good reason why, some years later, the Navy started painting all of the areas above the waterline white....

Respects,

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: How to cook an egg ironclad side up

Museum people think other museum people are hilarious.

[Gary of CA]

Re: How to cook an egg ironclad side up

Reminds me of Rommel when he tried that stunt on the deck of a tank in Afrika. He failed. Undaunted and being the clever Desert Fox, he had a torch heat the deck. With cameras rolling, the tanker then broke a fresh egg and voila! It cooked.

[Texyank]

Re: How to cook an egg ironclad side up

There's a good reason why, some years later, the Navy started painting all of the areas above the waterline white

I spent my first summer in the Coast Guard on a black hull with no air conditioning.

Quite uncomfortable at times.

[sigsaye]

Re: How to cook an egg ironclad side up

There was a time early in the war whent here was a shortage of shoes in the Navy. Watches were relieved on the berth deck, and part of the releiving process was to pass on your shoes. The releived Sailor then got into his hammock. Even thouhg interior decks were wood, the lack of lagging (insolation) allowed the heat from the exterior of the ship and the fire rooms to pass through the entire ship. It was an excessivevly miserable life aboard the ironclads.

Sailors of the blockading fleet thouhgt they had it bad due to boredom, but they were for the most part receiving fresh food, water and even ice about every three days from logistics ships that came down from New York. Other than that, they just stared at the water for months on end.

Sailors from the river ironclads were sent to the blockaders to recover from heat injuries. Lots of fresh sea air and cooler temps. If they thouhght the surgeon would find them fit for duty (and return to their ships) they would try and fake something else to stay out at sea. Scrubbing decks and shining brass was far more preferable to broiling in a coal dust filled iron box at 135 F.

Steve Hesson

[1stMaine]

Re: How to cook an egg ironclad side up

I spent my first summer in the Coast Guard on a black hull with no air conditioning.

Quite uncomfortable at times.

Fellers,

I was rfering to the 1880-1910 or so period, ala the "Great White Fleet". Although some vessels on the Yangtse carried white areas above the water-line, it pretty much went back to haze gray during WWI.

I can also remember how sweltering it was on the flight deck, even during ops with a strong wind over the bow. Between the black non-skid, the engine exhauts and the green flight suit and equipment, it still got pretty doggone warm.

Respects,

[Gary of CA]

Re: How to cook an egg ironclad side up

Gray was adopted after the Great White Fleet returned from its cruise. The officers discovered that white stood out but worse, made aiming easy. It's pretty, but impractical.

[CheeseBoxRaft]

Re: How to cook an egg ironclad side up

I spent my first summer in the Coast Guard on a black hull with no air conditioning. Quite uncomfortable at times.

Ah, fellow Coastie... I know of what ye speak! I spent most of my Coast Guard service in an ocean-going tug plying Southern waters... without central A/C! Temperatures in the engine room rose to 140 degrees in the summer. We, like the Monitor's crew had to drag our bedding out on deck during clear weather in order to sleep . Unlike the Monitor boys however, we didn't have to worry about reb sharpshooters taking pot-shots at us. The mosquitoes on the other hand.... :(

And I won't even go into how danged cold and damp the interior of a metal ship can get when in winter waters! :sad_smile

- Tom Green