Are the bulkheads still 17” thick on today’s ships as they were in WWII?

PFC James (LURCH) Janota — Sat, 08 May 2021 04:46:57 -0400

I was watching a documentary about WWII and the different ships and they said the bulkheads were 17” thick. I took out a tape measure to show him what that looked like and he made the comment, that was thicker than our house walls. So he and I just wanted to know if modern day ships are that thick?

Response by SFC Casey O'Mally made May 8 at 2021 1:13 PM

SFC Casey O'Mally — Sat, 08 May 2021 13:13:23 -0400

I don't know. But I would guess that this type of specification would go danger close to OPSEC violations. Not the type of thing to discuss on an open forum (even if it probably *is* unclassified).

Not in the Navy, not sure how "public" that info is. Just looking at it from an adversary POV.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made May 8 at 2021 2:21 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 08 May 2021 14:21:25 -0400

Would you like to read a narrative of how important the US Navy was in our quest to defeat Japan?

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made May 8 at 2021 2:23 PM

LTC Jason Mackay — Sat, 08 May 2021 14:23:13 -0400

Would say this specification is not the same as many US Navy vessels have aluminum hulls. Open source information.

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made May 8 at 2021 3:02 PM

SSgt Christophe Murphy — Sat, 08 May 2021 15:02:20 -0400

Ships in general aren't as large or bulky as they were in WWII. That has a lot to do with materials used, weapons used, and naval tactics as a whole. If you compare something like the USS Alabama to a modern littoral you can see how tech has evolved. We don't use 16 inch guns anymore so ships don't need to be so large to support that weapon system.

Response by Maj John Bell made May 8 at 2021 3:59 PM

Maj John Bell — Sat, 08 May 2021 15:59:55 -0400

You are probably referring to the armor plates that make up the hull, particularly at or near the water line. Bulkheads are something entirely different.

A bulkhead is essentially any wall that divides two or more compartments. They can be steel or aluminum, thick or thin. A powder magazine may have vented blast walls of case hardened steel in excess of 16 inches thick.

Officer's country, above the waterline, the compartment walls will normally be made of stiffened sheet metal less than 1/8" thick.

It is all about the contents of the compartment and the stability/seakeeping ability of the hull form

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made May 8 at 2021 4:40 PM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 May 2021 16:40:39 -0400

That's how we had 50,000 ton battleships.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made May 8 at 2021 5:48 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 08 May 2021 17:48:55 -0400

Not today ISIS.