Category Archives: War

Warship Wednesday: DDGs LBJ & Inouye

Over the summer I planned to head up to Bath, Maine to photograph the USS Lyndon B. Johnson. I planned to take the Maine Maritime Museum’s Shipyards & Lighthouses Cruise just as I had when photographing the USS Monsoor.

Due to the pandemic that was not possible, so I instead rented the Sigma 150-600mm Sport lens from Hunt’s Photo Video. My son and I drove up and tried finding locations to photograph from. The land across from the Kennebec River is filled with private houses and offered no outlet from which to photograph the USS LBJ. We ended up starting on the US Route 1 bridge and traveling down to the Doubling Point Lighthouse:

Bath Maine

The Sigma 150-600mm Sport lens is a very heavy lens. Hand holding it seemed a recipe for blurry photos so I put it on a sturdy tripod. It worked well though the walkway to the Doubling Point Lighthouse vibrated when people walked on it.

From the US Route 1 bridge:

USS Lyndon B. Johnson USS Daniel Inouye

From the Doubling Point Lighthouse:

USS Lyndon B. Johnson USS Lyndon B. Johnson

From where on the Doubling Point Lighthouse I photographed the LBJ. Taken while on a previous boat cruise.

Bath Maine

Boston Anti-War March January 2020

Finally getting around to editing past photos. These are from the Boston Anti-War March on January 4th, 2020. I start with the ones I liked that I consciously composed.

In this one I wanted to contrast the Veterans for Peace flag with the Boston Police surveillance camera, but didn’t quite get enough of the camera in the photograph. What I did get, looming over, is the church (religion) and the office building (finance/bosses/capitalism) in the murky distance. Probably too subtle, but I like it:

01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest

Later in the march we reached part of the theater district which was well lit on a rainy afternoon. I liked the contrast between the bright theater lights and the warmly clad protesters:

01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest

I was trying to position the star over the protesters, but I was too close to get the composition I wanted with the next photograph:

01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest

I liked the contrast between the man, at work in a jewelry store, watching the protesters flags and banners march by:

01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest

One of the better photographs of people recording the march, though I should have moved a bit more to the right:

01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest

Some of the signs:

01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest 01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest 01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest

You can also view other photos I took from the march:

01/04/2020 Anti-War Protest

LBJ (DDG-1002) Christening

I attended the christening of the USS Lyndon B. Johnson (DDG-1002) at Bath Iron Works in Maine. The LBJ is the third and final Zumwalt-class destroyer. It was christened by Johnson’s daughters, Lynda Bird Johnson Robb and Luci Baines Johnson and a variety of public officials, both civilian and military, spoke.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

Manufacturing each ship costs over $4 billion. $12 billion dollars was spent on R&D for the class. Originally 30 were planned.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

It has two specially designed 155mm cannons that were designed to attack land targets in support of amphibious landings. However, since the cost of each shell is $1 million, the Navy has decided not to procure this ammunition leaving the ships without any way to use their cannons. The Navy is looking for a new future for the three ships.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

The bow uses a tumblehome design that adds to the stealthy quality of the ship…

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

…as does the shape of the superstructure.

USS Lyndon B. Johnson Christening

They are still working on the LBJ and it is expected to be at Bath Iron Works for at least another year. At least four Arleigh Burke-class destroyers were in various stages of construction with the Daniel Inouye the furthest along. The production process is quite modular.

The ceremony was live streamed and is available on-line. You can also view larger versions of my photos.

Warship Wednesday: USS Manchester

Last May, my son and I traveled to Portsmouth New Hampshire to photograph the USS Manchester (LCS-14) which was being commissioned.

It was tied up at the New Hampshire State Port Authority on the Piscataqua River. Since it was a weekend, we were able to setup across the river on Badger Island.

USS Manchester
USS Manchester

Later we moved to Kittery and found an open site off of Rice Ave. that allowed me to change perspective.

USS Manchester
USS Manchester

Also got a few close ups:

USS Manchester
USS Manchester
USS Manchester

Afterwards, we visited the USS Albacore (AGSS-569), but I’ll post those pictures another day.

Warship Wednesday: USS Monsoor

Back in August I visited Bath with my eldest to see the ships Bath Iron Works was creating.  This included the Zumwalt-class destroyers USS Michael Monsoor and USS Lyndon B. Johnson, as well as the  Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, USS Hudner and USS Daniel Inouye.

The best way to photograph the ship yard was to take the Maine Maritime Museum‘s hour long Shipyards & Lighthouses boat tour.

Bath Maine

USS Monsoor

The tour turns away from the ship yard and travels down the Kennebec River before returning, sailing past the ship yard to the Sasanoa River, turning around and traveling past Bath Iron Works to the museum.

Bath Maine

Bath Maine

I started the voyage with my 55-300mm lens. I got some photos of the various buildings along the river as well as some pictures of the ships under construction.

Bath Maine

USS Monsoor

As we approached the ship yard, I switched to my 18-105mm lens.  Unfortunately, I realized too late that the 2nd lens was set to manual mode with vibration reduction turned off.  Ooops! Reminder to self: recheck that the camera and lenses are setup the way they should be before leaving.

USS Monsoor

Bath Maine

USS Monsoor

Later in the day, we surveyed various vantage points across from the ship yard. After parking at the Dairy Queen near Sasanoa Point, I walked along the Sagadahoc bridge (Route 1) over the Kennebec. While very few people walked over the bridge while I was there, there wasn’t much space for a tripod, so I shot handheld. With the late afternoon sun high in the sky and the air over the river hazy from the August sun, very few of the pictures came out well.

USS Monsoor

Railway Bridge Footing, Bath Maine

On a return trip to see the LBJ, now that it is in the water, I’ll aim to arrive before sunrise and try using a tripod since that helped with the USS Hudner pictures.  The rest of the pictures are at my Bath Iron Works photo album.

USS Hudner

The USS Hudner, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, was in Boston for its commissioning ceremony.  My son and I saw this ship in August when we travelled to Bath, Maine to photograph the Zumwalt destroyer, USS Monsoor.  However, many of the photographs of the Hudner came out poorly due to distance or an error on my part.

While it was in Boston, I was able to go on a public tour of the Hudner. Most of the photographs are from that outing.

USS Hudner

USS Hudner

USS Hudner Cannon

USS Hudner Bridge

USS Hudner

USS Hudner

The following Saturday, I planned to take pictures when the sun came up. I woke up early, but decided I wanted to sleep more and tried to get back to sleep. After 30 minutes of failing to get back to sleep, I got up, threw the previous day’s clothes on, gathered my camera equipment (except for my remote trigger) and drove to a spot across the Reserve channel, which I probably should not have.

I drove to the lobster boat pier, found a sign that said not to enter, and doubled back to another spot. I parked, gathered my equipment, walked near the waters edge and found a large barge in the way. I decided to try the lobster pier again and found that the do not enter sign applied to a different fenced area, so I drove in. After asking if it was ok to photograph in the area and getting an ok, I grabbed my gear, setup my tripod and took a bunch of photos.

USS Hudner

I watched as a Massachusetts Environmental Police boat appeared, came to the waters edge and dropped a Massachusetts Environmental Police officer off. We talked courteously and he went on his way.

Just then the light peaked through the clouds and lit up the Hudner.

USS Hudner

I got a few more shots of the ship and the surrounding seagulls and decided to drive home. I saw another spot outside the port on the drive home, but ignored it. Since this was likely the last time I would get a chance to photograph any Burke-class destroyer, I turned around and got a few more photos of the ship and a number of birds from a little park.

USS Hudner

USS Hudner Landing Pad

However, the light was higher and much more harsh, so the pictures aren’t nearly as good, unfortunately. You can find all of the pictures I posted at my Flickr album:

USS Hudner