Mail Call (2002–…): Season 4, Episode 2 - Blimp/Miitary Shotguns/Navy Graveyard/Poop Deck - full transcript
Eyes front, Mack.
Right here.
It's time for "Mail Call."
[music playing]
[engine puttering]
Welcome to "Mail Call."
And when I say jump, you better ask how high.
Oorah!
The war on terrorism means that we
need a constant stream of new hardware
to keep giving us the winning edge.
Chad in Greeley, Colorado wants to know, what is state
of the art in aerial recon?
Well, it might just surprise you to see that one of the newest
things we're using these days is based on some pretty
old technology.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Now, you're
right in thinking that the blimp ain't exactly cutting edge.
But combine it with the new hardware inside this fat body's
gondola, and you may have the next weapon
in the war on terrorism.
The Office of Naval Research is here in San Diego, California
having a look see.
High-tech surveillance gear developed by Science
and Technology International can spot the bad guys
in the air, on the ground, and even underwater.
So there is nowhere left to hide.
You're looking at this to protect our borders,
to protect our harbors.
Go through that.
Tell me about that a little bit.
On board right now, we have some high-resolution cameras.
We've got some infrared cameras.
We've got some new sensors, use of hyperspectral systems.
We can operate at night.
We can operate in the day.
We can operate for a long period of time.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Now basically, a blimp is just
a big gasbag attached to a gondola.
There's no kind of structure inside the bag like some
of the old rigid airships.
The Navy started playing with airships back in the 1920s
and 1930s.
During World War II, blimps flew along with our convoys
crossing the Atlantic to protect them from German U-boats.
They were more effective as scouts than fixed wing aircraft
since the blimps could move at the same speed
as the ships would.
But since they were so slow, they
weren't much good at taking out subs, although the blimps did
usually carry a few depth charges just in case.
Finally in 1961, the Navy gave blimps and rigid airships
the boot.
The brass decided to put their funding into faster fixed wing
surveillance planes instead, like a P-3 Orion.
So why is the Navy considering getting back into the blimp
business?
Well, simple.
Blimps can supply something the fixed wing aircrafts can't--
a stationary eye in the sky.
And that's important for Homeland Security these days.
And you can go extremely high.
You can stay out there long durations
and be able to stay-- have a command center in the sky
and stay over a target of interest for many hours.
And the higher you go, the larger area you can--
you can look at?
Your field of view would be a lot larger if you--
higher you go, yes.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Current testing
on this model is eight hours a day six days a week.
But the next generation of surveillance blimps
will be bigger and more accommodating,
allowing them to stay in action for up to 40 hours at a time.
Another advantage of the blimp over other aircraft
is the simple fact that it requires less maintenance.
TIM GOODWIN: This is a very simple aircraft, very simple
engines.
And there are not that many moving parts.
So every one flight hour, you've got maybe three or four man
hours of maintenance.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Most aircraft can tie up
ground crews for up to 15 hours for one hour of flight time.
Speaking of flight time, I think it's about time
to take this baby for a ride.
But first, the pilot needs to make his pre-flight check.
[whirring]
Everything looks good.
So the ground crew prepares for takeoff.
First, they separate us from the mobile mass.
Next, the blimp is moved to a safe spot.
Using hand signals, the ground crew gives us the all clear,
and away we go.
Now, I know that you might be worried that the old Gunny's
going to go up in flames, just like the infamous
hydrogen-filled Hindenburg.
Well, it ain't going to happen.
And I'll tell you why.
American blimps and airships have
been using helium, a non-flammable gas,
ever since before World War II.
And nowadays blimps are considered
one of the most survivable forms of flight.
Now that that's settled, I better
snuff another misconception that's floating around
out there.
Some people assume that blimps are easy targets.
Wrong.
A blimp is virtually invisible to radar,
since radar waves mostly pass right on through it.
But suppose some hothead on the ground
does start shooting at it.
Well, even if he hits it, it would
take hundreds of punctures to cause a leak big enough
to bring it down.
That's because the helium in the blimp is at such a low pressure
that it barely leaks out when punctured.
So it will float down rather than pop like a balloon.
Now, let's check out the hardware that's given the blimp
a new lease on life.
This is the LASH, or Littoral Airborne Sensor-Hyperspectral
system developed by Science and Technology International.
It uses cameras and sensors to capture light patterns that
can't be seen by the naked eye.
And it creates a very colorful map.
It can read 256 shades of color to identify objects
by their color signature.
So if you know the specific color signature of an object,
like a certain shade of camouflage paint on a tank,
you can program the image processing computer
to zero in on it.
But if you don't have a specific target in mind,
this system is also handy in pointing out
objects that just don't belong.
When the LASH system maps a particular terrain,
it remembers what it sees.
So when it passes over the same area again,
anything that wasn't there before is going to get noticed.
So what happens if the LASH system finds something
suspicious?
Well, this bird is also equipped with telescopic and infrared
cameras so you can take a closer look.
And when we do catch the bad guys lurking about,
we can unleash the hounds immediately
by sending our intel in real time to friendlies.
By combining the LASH technology with the right platform,
this blimp just might make the perfect watchdog.
But just to be sure, I'd better take this baby for a whirl
to see how it handles.
You know, this is amazing.
It's like flying an airplane, only it's very forgiving.
It's not difficult to do.
I'm getting off course here.
But I know if I turn the wheel, it's
going to come back on course for me.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Well, just like I expected.
Not only does it have an amazing set of eyes,
it also knows how to move.
I'll bet you this super snooper makes it to the front lines
in the war on terrorism.
So how far back do American reconnaissance balloons
actually go?
That's what Richard in Oak Forest, Illinois wants to know.
And I can tell you this.
We're talking Civil War here, buddy.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Hats off to Thaddeus Lowe,
the first American to turn ballooning for pleasure
into a battlefield tool.
And it all happened kind of by accident.
In 1861, Lowe flew his balloon for fun 900 miles from Ohio
to South Carolina.
When he landed, the Confederate Army
accused him of being a spy for the Union.
Lowe wasn't.
But it gave Abraham Lincoln a good idea.
That same year, Honest Abe appointed Lowe Chief of Army
Aeronautics and gave him the money to build five hydrogen
balloons.
For the next three years, Lowe and his crew
flew more than 3,000 missions over enemy territory collecting
info on troop deployments at Bull Run, Fredericksburg,
and a bunch of other important battles.
Not only did Lowe build America's
first military airships, he also invented a portable generator
to produce hydrogen gas on the battlefield.
But all of Thaddeus Lowe's genius
couldn't control the wind.
And the airships were kind of unpredictable.
So the aeronautics program was abandoned in 1863.
And Lowe left warfare behind.
He moved to California and built an observatory
to study the more peaceful heavens.
You know, one of my very favorite things
here on "Mail Call" is trying out different kinds of weapons.
So thanks to Dave in Kansas City,
Kansas who's asking about a weird contraption
called the grapeshot revolver.
Matter of fact, just so happens I've got one right here.
It's a handgun that's part revolver, part shotgun,
a guaranteed wrist breaker.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): The outbreak
of civil war in the United States
meant that everybody was scrambling for ways to arm lots
of guys real fast.
Confederate General Pierre Beauregard
liked the looks of this piece invented by his son-in-law Jean
LeMat.
And he ordered a bunch of them for the South.
The grapeshot revolver can fire nine .42 caliber rounds
from the revolving cylinder right here.
And then you got this smooth-bore barrel down here
so you can fire a load of buckshot,
like a mini sawed off shotgun or like the smooth-bore grapeshot
cannons.
Those old cannons fired a bunch of shot in one neat blast.
And that's how this gun got its name.
Now, the email from Dave also asked how effective
the grapeshot revolver was.
So let's just take the old dog for a walk and see if he bites.
Are you ready?
[dramatic music]
[gunshot]
All right.
Got another email kind of on the same subject from Darryl
in Davis, California.
Darryl wants to know if the military ever uses shotguns.
Well, they sure as shot do.
And here's one they're using right now, a Mossberg 12 gauge.
But how far back do shotguns go in military history?
Well, that's what Stan in San Antonio, Texas is asking.
Well, unofficially, guys have been grabbing their shotguns
off the wall since the Revolutionary War.
But one of the very first official purpose-built shotguns
is this baby right here.
[explosions]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): When we got into World War I,
Central Command figured out right quick that our troops
needed something special to fight a new kind of trench
warfare.
In 1917, the War Department ordered Winchester
to make a combat version of their Model 1897
pump-action shotgun, one that was capable of mounting
the bayonet.
The result was a 12 gauge shotgun officially designated
trench gun Model 1917.
The wide spray of shot was great for close-range trench
fighting.
And the Model 1917 also saw plenty of action in the Pacific
during World War II.
Winchester delivered almost 20,000 of these honeys
during WWI.
And they all worked damn good.
How good?
Well, I smell a little live fire demo coming on.
I'm getting a little tired of shooting melons.
So check it out.
This is Gunny's new and improved shooting gallery.
[bugle call]
And I'm going to turn it into an art gallery.
[drum roll]
[gunshots]
Ha, ha, ha.
Eat your heart out, Picasso!
Wow, that's so ugly it could be a modern art masterpiece.
[music playing]
Tracy in Fountain Inn, South Carolina
shot me an email asking, "Where do old navy ships go to die?"
Well, here's a hint for you geniuses out there.
No actual mothballs are involved.
[playing taps]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): When a ship is retired
from active duty in the United States Navy,
she goes through a process called decommissioning.
The Navy can make the decision to retire a ship for any number
of reasons--
different mission objectives, obsolete technology, or simply
too many miles can seal the fate of a warship.
A couple of our buddies, Travis Scarbrough and Mike Petronis,
are managers at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility
at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.
They gave us a look at what happens when a ship leaves
the fleet.
Whether she's cut up for scrap iron
or returned to active duty, she comes through these guys
right here.
What precedes us getting one of the vessels
here is about three to four months before the ship actually
decoms, we get a notification of inactivation.
What happens then is we take a team of our people
down to assist in getting the ship ready to decommission.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): One of the latest aircraft carriers
to be retired is the USS Constellation, the Connie.
Fresh back from Operation Iraqi Freedom,
she's beginning her inactive days here at the shipyard
by having all of her salvageable equipment removed.
TRAVIS SCARBROUGH: After decommissioning,
the shipyard gets her for about a year.
They do such things as they lay up the flight deck.
They take catapult tracks off.
They stow them down below.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): When the shipyard is finished
scavenging all the reusable items,
the ship is taken to the Inactive Maintenance Facility,
also known as the mothball fleet.
And that's where the hatches are battened down.
Another aircraft carrier, the USS Ranger,
was decommissioned back in 1995.
And now she's in the next phase of retirement.
TRAVIS SCARBROUGH: We seal her up.
We check her out.
We put dehumidification on board.
It's monitored to make sure that the hull is best suited
for the ocean atmosphere and to keep it from corroding.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Dehumidification is the saving
grace for any inactive ship.
Without dry air flowing through the compartments,
these beautiful ships would turn into big old rust buckets.
These are all the control panels for the 11 machines
that operate on this ship, transferring dry air around
at a relative humidity of 40%.
As you can see all these pretty little lights,
this ship is divided into 11 zones.
About every roughly 120 foot of the ship
is divided into a separate zone.
That's all the way from the top to the bottom.
The machine takes care of keeping it dry
and keeping it well.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Just because the ship is old,
that doesn't mean it isn't useful, especially
with nice, dry air around.
On average, a ship is kept for about 12 years
before being scrapped.
That allows enough time to take parts off
in case other active duty ships in its class need replacements.
And after a dozen years or so, it's
going to be obsolete enough not to be needed for any emergency
reactivation.
In the meantime, cavernous ships like the Ranger
are used to store all kinds of useful items,
like those big-ass radars.
Where we're at right now located
is in the hangar bay of the USS X Ranger.
It's no longer stored for aircraft and helicopters.
We use it for storage for extra mooring lines
from various other ships, backup chains, equipment
that we've removed from the ship that will probably
go on an existing carrier or future carriers.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): It's tough to see
once-proud warships like the USS Long Beach, America's
first nuclear-powered surface ship, in the condition she's
in.
But firing up the welding torches
and cutting off the superstructure
is the next step in the process.
MIKE PETRONIS: She's been out of commission
now for a better part of a dozen years.
And everything's cut off the top of her.
She had a very unique superstructure,
which is not there anymore.
It was a great big box up on top.
Her and the Bainbridge-- one of the other early nuclear-powered
cruisers-- and the Enterprise-- the first nuclear-powered
carrier--
they ran together.
They did around the world together, the three of them.
And because they were nuclear powered,
they could steam and do anything they want to.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): The USS Sailfish
is at the end of her career.
And she's scheduled to be used for target practice.
Commissioned back in 1956, Sailfish
was one of the last diesel submarines
to enter the fleet after the Navy went nuclear.
The more modern nuclear subs get scrapped at the shipyard where
they can do the fancy testing needed to make sure nothing
cut up and carried out is still going.
But old diesel submarines like the Sailfish
come to the mothball fleet to await their final rest.
MIKE PETRONIS: They'd cut them up.
You'll see them go out of here on boxcars on the trains.
They'll have the sail on it.
And they'll have the bow planes on it.
And they'll have a big chunk of the hull.
And it just-- just big chunks is what they haul off.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Now, you softies out
there'll be happy to know that sometimes these ships do come
back to life.
The Ranger here is going to be turned into a floating museum.
Ships can also be purchased by the navies of other countries,
assuming they're friendly, that is.
And in the event of an extreme national emergency,
some of these vessels can also be reinstated to active duty.
MIKE PETRONIS: You see all the shiny stuff up there topside?
That's where we've basically sealed up the vent
to keep moisture and everything out
to try to keep them preserved as best we can.
For example, the sides there-- if we had to really
have her back on active duty, they would just basically
take her right off the chain there,
take her down to the shipyard here, and then
about a high-intensity effort of about six to nine months,
they could have her back on the line and ready to go out
and do her thing.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): But until the ultimate fate
of each ship is decided, they'll stay here
under the protection of the guys at the Inactive Shipyard.
Now, before we DD on out of here today,
it's time for another installment of America's newest
quiz sensation, "GI Jargon."
The question this time comes from Eric in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
Eric wants to know, what is the deal with poop and the Navy?
I mean, we got poop deck, pooped out, what's the poop,
poop sheet.
Is the Navy overly concerned with bodily functions or what?
So before I get beat up by a fleet of squids,
here's the scoop on poop.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): It all starts with the poop deck.
And no, it's not where the sailors
go to read Sports Illustrated, if you catch my drift.
Blame it on the ancient Romans who
used to mount a sacred idol in the stern, or back
end of their ships.
The Latin word for idol was poopus.
So that part of the ship was called the poopum.
Well, when the English got into the act, poopum became poop.
And the poop deck became the deck that
covered the stern of the ship.
Now, the poop deck was where the skipper could stand and address
the sailors.
So you could say he was full of poop, so to speak.
Now, how we got the phrase pooped out to mean tired--
well, that one's not so easy to figure out.
It may have something to do with the fact
that poop was also an Old English word for breaking wind.
But before we go any further, maybe I should just
quit while I'm ahead.
Semper fi.
Carry on.
[music playing]
Got the drippies here this morning, boys.
Oh! Ready?
[beep]
The grapeshot revolver can fire nine .42 caliber rounds
from the revol--
[beep]
Oh, I didn't do welcome back.
Am I supposed-- is the welcome back in this dialogue?
MAN: Yeah.
Oh.
Right here.
It's time for "Mail Call."
[music playing]
[engine puttering]
Welcome to "Mail Call."
And when I say jump, you better ask how high.
Oorah!
The war on terrorism means that we
need a constant stream of new hardware
to keep giving us the winning edge.
Chad in Greeley, Colorado wants to know, what is state
of the art in aerial recon?
Well, it might just surprise you to see that one of the newest
things we're using these days is based on some pretty
old technology.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Now, you're
right in thinking that the blimp ain't exactly cutting edge.
But combine it with the new hardware inside this fat body's
gondola, and you may have the next weapon
in the war on terrorism.
The Office of Naval Research is here in San Diego, California
having a look see.
High-tech surveillance gear developed by Science
and Technology International can spot the bad guys
in the air, on the ground, and even underwater.
So there is nowhere left to hide.
You're looking at this to protect our borders,
to protect our harbors.
Go through that.
Tell me about that a little bit.
On board right now, we have some high-resolution cameras.
We've got some infrared cameras.
We've got some new sensors, use of hyperspectral systems.
We can operate at night.
We can operate in the day.
We can operate for a long period of time.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Now basically, a blimp is just
a big gasbag attached to a gondola.
There's no kind of structure inside the bag like some
of the old rigid airships.
The Navy started playing with airships back in the 1920s
and 1930s.
During World War II, blimps flew along with our convoys
crossing the Atlantic to protect them from German U-boats.
They were more effective as scouts than fixed wing aircraft
since the blimps could move at the same speed
as the ships would.
But since they were so slow, they
weren't much good at taking out subs, although the blimps did
usually carry a few depth charges just in case.
Finally in 1961, the Navy gave blimps and rigid airships
the boot.
The brass decided to put their funding into faster fixed wing
surveillance planes instead, like a P-3 Orion.
So why is the Navy considering getting back into the blimp
business?
Well, simple.
Blimps can supply something the fixed wing aircrafts can't--
a stationary eye in the sky.
And that's important for Homeland Security these days.
And you can go extremely high.
You can stay out there long durations
and be able to stay-- have a command center in the sky
and stay over a target of interest for many hours.
And the higher you go, the larger area you can--
you can look at?
Your field of view would be a lot larger if you--
higher you go, yes.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Current testing
on this model is eight hours a day six days a week.
But the next generation of surveillance blimps
will be bigger and more accommodating,
allowing them to stay in action for up to 40 hours at a time.
Another advantage of the blimp over other aircraft
is the simple fact that it requires less maintenance.
TIM GOODWIN: This is a very simple aircraft, very simple
engines.
And there are not that many moving parts.
So every one flight hour, you've got maybe three or four man
hours of maintenance.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Most aircraft can tie up
ground crews for up to 15 hours for one hour of flight time.
Speaking of flight time, I think it's about time
to take this baby for a ride.
But first, the pilot needs to make his pre-flight check.
[whirring]
Everything looks good.
So the ground crew prepares for takeoff.
First, they separate us from the mobile mass.
Next, the blimp is moved to a safe spot.
Using hand signals, the ground crew gives us the all clear,
and away we go.
Now, I know that you might be worried that the old Gunny's
going to go up in flames, just like the infamous
hydrogen-filled Hindenburg.
Well, it ain't going to happen.
And I'll tell you why.
American blimps and airships have
been using helium, a non-flammable gas,
ever since before World War II.
And nowadays blimps are considered
one of the most survivable forms of flight.
Now that that's settled, I better
snuff another misconception that's floating around
out there.
Some people assume that blimps are easy targets.
Wrong.
A blimp is virtually invisible to radar,
since radar waves mostly pass right on through it.
But suppose some hothead on the ground
does start shooting at it.
Well, even if he hits it, it would
take hundreds of punctures to cause a leak big enough
to bring it down.
That's because the helium in the blimp is at such a low pressure
that it barely leaks out when punctured.
So it will float down rather than pop like a balloon.
Now, let's check out the hardware that's given the blimp
a new lease on life.
This is the LASH, or Littoral Airborne Sensor-Hyperspectral
system developed by Science and Technology International.
It uses cameras and sensors to capture light patterns that
can't be seen by the naked eye.
And it creates a very colorful map.
It can read 256 shades of color to identify objects
by their color signature.
So if you know the specific color signature of an object,
like a certain shade of camouflage paint on a tank,
you can program the image processing computer
to zero in on it.
But if you don't have a specific target in mind,
this system is also handy in pointing out
objects that just don't belong.
When the LASH system maps a particular terrain,
it remembers what it sees.
So when it passes over the same area again,
anything that wasn't there before is going to get noticed.
So what happens if the LASH system finds something
suspicious?
Well, this bird is also equipped with telescopic and infrared
cameras so you can take a closer look.
And when we do catch the bad guys lurking about,
we can unleash the hounds immediately
by sending our intel in real time to friendlies.
By combining the LASH technology with the right platform,
this blimp just might make the perfect watchdog.
But just to be sure, I'd better take this baby for a whirl
to see how it handles.
You know, this is amazing.
It's like flying an airplane, only it's very forgiving.
It's not difficult to do.
I'm getting off course here.
But I know if I turn the wheel, it's
going to come back on course for me.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Well, just like I expected.
Not only does it have an amazing set of eyes,
it also knows how to move.
I'll bet you this super snooper makes it to the front lines
in the war on terrorism.
So how far back do American reconnaissance balloons
actually go?
That's what Richard in Oak Forest, Illinois wants to know.
And I can tell you this.
We're talking Civil War here, buddy.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Hats off to Thaddeus Lowe,
the first American to turn ballooning for pleasure
into a battlefield tool.
And it all happened kind of by accident.
In 1861, Lowe flew his balloon for fun 900 miles from Ohio
to South Carolina.
When he landed, the Confederate Army
accused him of being a spy for the Union.
Lowe wasn't.
But it gave Abraham Lincoln a good idea.
That same year, Honest Abe appointed Lowe Chief of Army
Aeronautics and gave him the money to build five hydrogen
balloons.
For the next three years, Lowe and his crew
flew more than 3,000 missions over enemy territory collecting
info on troop deployments at Bull Run, Fredericksburg,
and a bunch of other important battles.
Not only did Lowe build America's
first military airships, he also invented a portable generator
to produce hydrogen gas on the battlefield.
But all of Thaddeus Lowe's genius
couldn't control the wind.
And the airships were kind of unpredictable.
So the aeronautics program was abandoned in 1863.
And Lowe left warfare behind.
He moved to California and built an observatory
to study the more peaceful heavens.
You know, one of my very favorite things
here on "Mail Call" is trying out different kinds of weapons.
So thanks to Dave in Kansas City,
Kansas who's asking about a weird contraption
called the grapeshot revolver.
Matter of fact, just so happens I've got one right here.
It's a handgun that's part revolver, part shotgun,
a guaranteed wrist breaker.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): The outbreak
of civil war in the United States
meant that everybody was scrambling for ways to arm lots
of guys real fast.
Confederate General Pierre Beauregard
liked the looks of this piece invented by his son-in-law Jean
LeMat.
And he ordered a bunch of them for the South.
The grapeshot revolver can fire nine .42 caliber rounds
from the revolving cylinder right here.
And then you got this smooth-bore barrel down here
so you can fire a load of buckshot,
like a mini sawed off shotgun or like the smooth-bore grapeshot
cannons.
Those old cannons fired a bunch of shot in one neat blast.
And that's how this gun got its name.
Now, the email from Dave also asked how effective
the grapeshot revolver was.
So let's just take the old dog for a walk and see if he bites.
Are you ready?
[dramatic music]
[gunshot]
All right.
Got another email kind of on the same subject from Darryl
in Davis, California.
Darryl wants to know if the military ever uses shotguns.
Well, they sure as shot do.
And here's one they're using right now, a Mossberg 12 gauge.
But how far back do shotguns go in military history?
Well, that's what Stan in San Antonio, Texas is asking.
Well, unofficially, guys have been grabbing their shotguns
off the wall since the Revolutionary War.
But one of the very first official purpose-built shotguns
is this baby right here.
[explosions]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): When we got into World War I,
Central Command figured out right quick that our troops
needed something special to fight a new kind of trench
warfare.
In 1917, the War Department ordered Winchester
to make a combat version of their Model 1897
pump-action shotgun, one that was capable of mounting
the bayonet.
The result was a 12 gauge shotgun officially designated
trench gun Model 1917.
The wide spray of shot was great for close-range trench
fighting.
And the Model 1917 also saw plenty of action in the Pacific
during World War II.
Winchester delivered almost 20,000 of these honeys
during WWI.
And they all worked damn good.
How good?
Well, I smell a little live fire demo coming on.
I'm getting a little tired of shooting melons.
So check it out.
This is Gunny's new and improved shooting gallery.
[bugle call]
And I'm going to turn it into an art gallery.
[drum roll]
[gunshots]
Ha, ha, ha.
Eat your heart out, Picasso!
Wow, that's so ugly it could be a modern art masterpiece.
[music playing]
Tracy in Fountain Inn, South Carolina
shot me an email asking, "Where do old navy ships go to die?"
Well, here's a hint for you geniuses out there.
No actual mothballs are involved.
[playing taps]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): When a ship is retired
from active duty in the United States Navy,
she goes through a process called decommissioning.
The Navy can make the decision to retire a ship for any number
of reasons--
different mission objectives, obsolete technology, or simply
too many miles can seal the fate of a warship.
A couple of our buddies, Travis Scarbrough and Mike Petronis,
are managers at the Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility
at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.
They gave us a look at what happens when a ship leaves
the fleet.
Whether she's cut up for scrap iron
or returned to active duty, she comes through these guys
right here.
What precedes us getting one of the vessels
here is about three to four months before the ship actually
decoms, we get a notification of inactivation.
What happens then is we take a team of our people
down to assist in getting the ship ready to decommission.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): One of the latest aircraft carriers
to be retired is the USS Constellation, the Connie.
Fresh back from Operation Iraqi Freedom,
she's beginning her inactive days here at the shipyard
by having all of her salvageable equipment removed.
TRAVIS SCARBROUGH: After decommissioning,
the shipyard gets her for about a year.
They do such things as they lay up the flight deck.
They take catapult tracks off.
They stow them down below.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): When the shipyard is finished
scavenging all the reusable items,
the ship is taken to the Inactive Maintenance Facility,
also known as the mothball fleet.
And that's where the hatches are battened down.
Another aircraft carrier, the USS Ranger,
was decommissioned back in 1995.
And now she's in the next phase of retirement.
TRAVIS SCARBROUGH: We seal her up.
We check her out.
We put dehumidification on board.
It's monitored to make sure that the hull is best suited
for the ocean atmosphere and to keep it from corroding.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Dehumidification is the saving
grace for any inactive ship.
Without dry air flowing through the compartments,
these beautiful ships would turn into big old rust buckets.
These are all the control panels for the 11 machines
that operate on this ship, transferring dry air around
at a relative humidity of 40%.
As you can see all these pretty little lights,
this ship is divided into 11 zones.
About every roughly 120 foot of the ship
is divided into a separate zone.
That's all the way from the top to the bottom.
The machine takes care of keeping it dry
and keeping it well.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Just because the ship is old,
that doesn't mean it isn't useful, especially
with nice, dry air around.
On average, a ship is kept for about 12 years
before being scrapped.
That allows enough time to take parts off
in case other active duty ships in its class need replacements.
And after a dozen years or so, it's
going to be obsolete enough not to be needed for any emergency
reactivation.
In the meantime, cavernous ships like the Ranger
are used to store all kinds of useful items,
like those big-ass radars.
Where we're at right now located
is in the hangar bay of the USS X Ranger.
It's no longer stored for aircraft and helicopters.
We use it for storage for extra mooring lines
from various other ships, backup chains, equipment
that we've removed from the ship that will probably
go on an existing carrier or future carriers.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): It's tough to see
once-proud warships like the USS Long Beach, America's
first nuclear-powered surface ship, in the condition she's
in.
But firing up the welding torches
and cutting off the superstructure
is the next step in the process.
MIKE PETRONIS: She's been out of commission
now for a better part of a dozen years.
And everything's cut off the top of her.
She had a very unique superstructure,
which is not there anymore.
It was a great big box up on top.
Her and the Bainbridge-- one of the other early nuclear-powered
cruisers-- and the Enterprise-- the first nuclear-powered
carrier--
they ran together.
They did around the world together, the three of them.
And because they were nuclear powered,
they could steam and do anything they want to.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): The USS Sailfish
is at the end of her career.
And she's scheduled to be used for target practice.
Commissioned back in 1956, Sailfish
was one of the last diesel submarines
to enter the fleet after the Navy went nuclear.
The more modern nuclear subs get scrapped at the shipyard where
they can do the fancy testing needed to make sure nothing
cut up and carried out is still going.
But old diesel submarines like the Sailfish
come to the mothball fleet to await their final rest.
MIKE PETRONIS: They'd cut them up.
You'll see them go out of here on boxcars on the trains.
They'll have the sail on it.
And they'll have the bow planes on it.
And they'll have a big chunk of the hull.
And it just-- just big chunks is what they haul off.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): Now, you softies out
there'll be happy to know that sometimes these ships do come
back to life.
The Ranger here is going to be turned into a floating museum.
Ships can also be purchased by the navies of other countries,
assuming they're friendly, that is.
And in the event of an extreme national emergency,
some of these vessels can also be reinstated to active duty.
MIKE PETRONIS: You see all the shiny stuff up there topside?
That's where we've basically sealed up the vent
to keep moisture and everything out
to try to keep them preserved as best we can.
For example, the sides there-- if we had to really
have her back on active duty, they would just basically
take her right off the chain there,
take her down to the shipyard here, and then
about a high-intensity effort of about six to nine months,
they could have her back on the line and ready to go out
and do her thing.
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): But until the ultimate fate
of each ship is decided, they'll stay here
under the protection of the guys at the Inactive Shipyard.
Now, before we DD on out of here today,
it's time for another installment of America's newest
quiz sensation, "GI Jargon."
The question this time comes from Eric in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
Eric wants to know, what is the deal with poop and the Navy?
I mean, we got poop deck, pooped out, what's the poop,
poop sheet.
Is the Navy overly concerned with bodily functions or what?
So before I get beat up by a fleet of squids,
here's the scoop on poop.
[music playing]
R. LEE ERMEY (VOICEOVER): It all starts with the poop deck.
And no, it's not where the sailors
go to read Sports Illustrated, if you catch my drift.
Blame it on the ancient Romans who
used to mount a sacred idol in the stern, or back
end of their ships.
The Latin word for idol was poopus.
So that part of the ship was called the poopum.
Well, when the English got into the act, poopum became poop.
And the poop deck became the deck that
covered the stern of the ship.
Now, the poop deck was where the skipper could stand and address
the sailors.
So you could say he was full of poop, so to speak.
Now, how we got the phrase pooped out to mean tired--
well, that one's not so easy to figure out.
It may have something to do with the fact
that poop was also an Old English word for breaking wind.
But before we go any further, maybe I should just
quit while I'm ahead.
Semper fi.
Carry on.
[music playing]
Got the drippies here this morning, boys.
Oh! Ready?
[beep]
The grapeshot revolver can fire nine .42 caliber rounds
from the revol--
[beep]
Oh, I didn't do welcome back.
Am I supposed-- is the welcome back in this dialogue?
MAN: Yeah.
Oh.