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Naval History and Heritage Command

NH 98126 USS Birmingham (CL-62)

Photo #: NH 98126 USS Birmingham (CL-62)
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Title: USS Birmingham (CL-62)
Description: A plume of water spouts from the ship's foredeck as she steams back to the U.S. for battle damage repairs, circa November 1943. During operations off Bougainville in the evening of 8 November 1943, Birmingham had been struck forward by a Japanese aerial torpedo, opening up her bow and allowing wave action and the ship's forward motion to generate considerable water pressure there. Damage control parties constructed a trunk to divert this pressure upwards, reducing stress on the ship's forward bulkheads, but also creating the geyser effect as the ship pitched. The crew called this Old Faithful, after the famous geyser in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Despite her damage, both from the torpedo hit forward and two bombs that hit aft during the same action, Birmingham was able to stay in formation and remained battle-worthy. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command.
Catalog #: NH 98126
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