Photo #: NH 98126
USS Birmingham (CL-62)
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 Historical Center.
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