Hi, Historians!
I received this photo from my mother, who has requested help in identifying anything about the ship.
Here's what she had to say about the photo:
"The negative for this photo was in amongst Dad's stuff, and I wondered what the significance might have been. I don't know where it was taken and there aren't any identifying markings on the ship that I can see.
The negative is approximately 6 x 6 cm and is labelled Kodak Safety Film. I have a number of photos on similar negatives of me taken around 1954-56, some of grandma and grandpa when they were on their honeymoon in 1950.
From that I gather that the ship might have been off the coast of Anglesey, or Cardigan Bay, or on the South Coast in the Portsmouth area.
Failing that, Dad served in Ghana during the second world war.."
Thanks in advance for your help!
The side profile matches an Iowa-class battleship, although I can't seem to discern which of the four (Iowa, New Jersey, Missouri, Wisconsin) this one is due to the identification number near the bow not being visible. u/DBHT14?
Sure so if I was a betting man I would say in order or likelihood for the 4 of which one it was would go:
Wisconsin
New Jersey
Iowa
Missouri
All 4 ships did spend time in European waters after the war but Wisconsin and NJ made the most trips both hosting summer training cruises for Midshipmen in the late 40's. Then after service in Korea as surface combatants in the fledgling NATO naval element. Wisconsin notably participated in Exercise MAINBRACE, the first real joint NATO large naval exercise in 1952, while Iowa joined her for STRIKEBACK in 1957.
OK!
So I think I am going to reassert my original assertion that it was most probably Wisconsin.
I got this by looking at the radar set on the mainmast, and seeing the very distinct SPS-8A radar.
NavWeps then was very helpful in showing when each ship got what radar on what mast. http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_Radar_WWII.php
Wisconsin got hit first in 1952, Missouri and New Jersey both in 1954, while Iowa only got a set in 1958.
I'd like to send a HUGE thank you to /u/the_howling_cow, /u/DBHT14, /u/diggerhistory, and /u/kieslowskifan for all of the wonderful responses and information.
My mother and I have spent some time going over all of your information and doing some reading up on these ships ourselves. We have discovered that we have another negative of a picture of this ship, at a slightly different angle, in which we can see open water both at the front and back. We're going to try to get this second negative scanned and hopefully we will be able to see the numbers on the ship! We will absolutely let you know if we come across further information.
We feel that it is likely that this picture is from Portsmouth and very likely the ship is in The Solent. We noticed as we were looking at it more closely that the deck appears to be lined with sailors, so they may have been arriving at port or leaving from? If the picture was taken in Portsmouth, the date of the photo would have been between 1954-1957, as that is the time period in which my grandparents lived in Portsmouth.
Thank you all so much. You guys are completely awesome. :)