WWII hand-powered lathe from Liberty Ship - photo

[Shiseiji]

The item has been identified on other boards https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/...d.php?t=207138 as a PT Boat prop shaft packing cutter. I understand that operating in coral reef areas, a bent prop shaft wasn't unusual. How they straightened them I have no idea, but the tool was used to fit a new packing around the shaft.

During other discussions about the item, I learned that Liberty (and Victory) ships had a basic machine shop, a member of a group posted pictures of a Liberty Ship shop with a lathe and drill press. No idea how milling tasks were handled.

Ron

[Ron B]

Yes, Most ocean going ships have a lathe and drill etc just in case .On container ships you have lots of winches,electric motors,pumps and so on ,and if trouble should strike and you are mid pacific it is up to the ships engineers to remake any parts required. Burt Munro, the man immortilised in the movie,the Worlds fastest indian ,spoke of getting a job as cook on a freighter so he could use the ships machine shop to make pistons and other parts as he sailed to the US from New Zealand.

[Frank S]

Ron in this picture also from the John W Brown liberty ship machine shop on the left side you can see a Bridgeport mill it looks to be a J head

the Lathe is Southbend

[Dr Stan]

Ron in this picture also from the John W Brown liberty ship machine shop on the left side you can see a Bridgeport mill it looks to be a J head

the Lathe is Southbend

In all likely hood the Bridgeport is a later addition. WWII destroyers and the like had a lathe with a milling attachment rather than a stand alone mill.

[Jon]

Lathe on the USS Missouri, a Virginia-class attack submarine Iowa-class battleship. Fullsize 4,000px wide pic: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...e_fullsize.jpg .






Anyone know about the effect of sea motion on machining? Is it minimized in such a large sub? Worse above the water surface?

[Seedtick]

Lathe on the USS Missouri, a Virginia-class attack submarine Iowa-class battleship. Fullsize 4,000px wide pic: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...e_fullsize.jpg .






Anyone know about the effect of sea motion on machining? Is it minimized in such a large sub? Worse above the water surface?

Check out the drill chuck in tail stock of that behemoth of a lathe. Someone had a sense of humor.
Greg

[Toolmaker51]

Check out the drill chuck in tail stock of that behemoth of a lathe. Greg

Agreed, not even a #14N Jacobs. But in reference to scale, note arm of the radial drill and tilting work table in the foreground. Or the face plate resting near the far end of the lathe. Whether USS Enterprise, a FFG, or a repair ship, even experienced hands are surprised by the range of machine tools and tooling that Machinery Repairmen have access to. It got even better in the yards.
Having referenced it before, I wish I could share pages of the auction catalog from Long Beach Naval Shipyard, CA. I knew that location like back of my hand, still amazes me nearly 20 years later.

[mklotz]

That's a monstrous lathe. I guesstimated the height of the crossfeed wheel above the deck at 28" and used that to scale the overall length of the lathe. It came out close to thirteen feet!

The marking on the headstock says Lodge and Shipley. Their 24 x 120 would be about that length and looks very similar to the one on the ship...

Lodge and Shipley

Note the crank below the right end of the tailstock. I believe that's a means of moving what must be a very heavy tailstock using the lathe rack. You can see it also on the picture of the lathe on the boat.

Here's a video of a similar size Lodge and Shipley taking a 1/4" cut in steel...

It's all very overwhelming for us hobbyists with Unimats, Sherlines and 12 x 24 imports.

I doubt a lathe like that would notice any ship motion. In fact, the lathe probably provides structural stiffening for the boat.

[Toolmaker51]

If [and in defense of the Navy's dependence on machine tools] ability of machine tools to perform as intended have few dependencies; steady amperage and properly mounted to a solid foundation. I can't see any reason a lathe or any machine tool couldn't hang on the wall and run correctly, except the lubrication system. Heavy turnings would be an issue, as the weight would be out of plane with the bed and feet. Also, lathes in particular, need their main gearshaft to run in it's oilbath, and splash remainder of headstock. Much the same as manual auto transmission.

Marv is correct. The crank adjacent to tailstock is there for exactly that reason. Some use them as a feed for coarse drilling. Some have a gear rack under the ways, others use a 'jack' arrangement and ratchet teeth are cast into the bed between the ways.
I'm a mill guy, but certain lathes really turn me on. Lodge & Shipley is one of them. Near every machine intended for industrial use has a range of features that suit them to a particular type of work. And NONE do everything well.

And Marv, not surprising you'd find interest in the logging site. One of my favorites.

[Dr Stan]

Breaking news for all you civilians. That lathe is not on a sub, it's on the USS Missouri BB-63 a retired battleship berthed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Which served as the location for the formal surrender of Japan at the end of WWII. BTW, it would never fit on a sub, even one of the boomers.

I have used virtually the exact same lathe on the USS Coral Sea CVA-43 an aircraft carrier of the same vintage and a newer version on the USS Samuel Gompers AD-37 a repair ship.

A simple & quick Google search would have revealed the correct location of the lathe.

BTW, there is another one on the USS Alabama near New Orleans.