Battleship USS Washington BB56 Index 4 www.usswashington.com

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And to the Inside Machine Shop where expert mechanics machine, drill and finish the main shaft which will convert the power from the engines to the propeller of PNY's battleship.

Armor must be machined and planed to absolute precision so that the various pieces will fit together. Here a crew is supervising a plate planing machine while. . . .

This giant pit planer is cutting keyhole slots in the armor where the plates fit together. This machine is one of the largest in the world for the cutting, planing and machining of giant armor plate.

A giant bronze casting, which covers the propeller tip, acting as a hub cap, is finished and polished.

A bearing, which will hold the drive shaft in place, is cut, machined and polished in the Inside Machine Shop.

On the deck of the ship, each Supervisor checks to see that each piece is placed in its proper location.

A giant boiler to power the big ship is made and completed in the Boiler Shop.

While in the same shop, expert mechanics are completing an intricate condenser.

Huge turbines, which will furnish power to drive the battleship through the waves at speeds greater than 30 knots, are being completed for PNY's battleship.

Indispensable part of the preservation and maintenance of any ship is the painting, which is here being done by a group from the Paint Shop. Thousands of gallons of paint are applied to the battleship.

Aboard the ship again, huge bolts clamp the armor to the deck plates. The bolts are then welded to the armor. . . .

And the clamp is removed and the top part of the bolt cut away from the armor. The bolt has been fused with the armor.

A bulkhead section has just been lowered, and here is being made secure to the deck by means of welding and riveting.

Highly-skilled crane operators lower a section of rack which will be lowered again below decks and used for a base for a switchboard.

Here a difficult pipe intersection has been cut and welded.