Civil Defense Command Post, using Surveyed BB-58 Class Battleship

[RyanC]

This conversion would have a rating of 35 PSI against airblast, and a protective factor of about 1,000 against Fallout.

Access to the operations center is to accommodate five thousand persons in one-half hour.

The entire superstructure above the main deck is to be removed.

This includes the sixteen inch guns and rotating turrets. The stationary portion of the No. II turret is to be cut back to the deck. All deck openings, including the turrets are to be sealed with reinforced concrete slabs.

The main deck forward of Frame 24 and aft of Frame 140 is to be strengthened with a reinforced concrete slab.

The shell plating forward of Frame #24 and aft of Frame #140 is to be reinforced in way of living quarters and usable spaces.

An eight foot doorway is to be cut through the blister and armor plating, about midships, to provide access to the Third Deck from the outside. This doorway is to be enclosed with a blast-proof door, and will be about on level with grade after emplacement.

From a paper on Civil Defense I'm scanning in now.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Would this happen to be the same paper?: http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/421043.pdf

ABSTRACT

Various ways in which ships and boats might supplement the
overall civil defense program were investigated. Both merchant and
reserve ("mothball") fleet ships were considered for the part they
might play in a lifesaving, life-sustaining civil defense capacity.
Data for two port cities were analyzed to obtain information on
population distribution and shipping activity. Engineering feasibility
studies were made of the use of ships as personnel shelters and the
availability of ships' utilities for use by shore installations. The
protection offered from nuclear fallout radiation was calculated for
two classes of ships. It was concluded that ships and boats could
provide evacuation or fallout-shelter facilities, or both, before
or during a nuclear attack. For the postattack situation, ships could
serve as headquarters, hospitals, living quarters, storehouses, end
prime producers of electrical power and potable water. It is recommended
that further studies be made of selected port cities to determine
how ships and boats could best be used to supplement present
civil defense capabilities of these cities.

SUMMARY PAGE



The Problem

A serious shortage of suitable fallout shelter spaces exists in
many areas of the country. Further, shortages of food, fuel supplies,
electrical power, and potable water might occur following a nuclear
attack. Might ships and boats be used to help alleviate these shortages?
This study was undertaken to assess the use of merchant ships,
boats, and ships of the reserve ("mothball") fleets in the present
civil defense program.


Findings

With sufficient warning of a nuclear attack, merchant ships and
boats could evacuate up to 12,500,000 persons from target areas. In
addition, Naval reserve fleets with only minor modifications could be
used to house another 500,000 persons. Further, at a cost of about
$90 per occupant, 800 of the Liberty ships (currently being scrapped
at the rate 50 per year) in the Maritime Administration's reserve
fleets could be converted into ship shelters that would accommodate
an additional 8,000,000 persons.

In the immediate postattack phase, passenger ships, converted
Liberty ships, and surplus battleships could be used for civil defense
headquarters, hospitals, communication centers, etc. Tankers in the
reserve fleets could be used, at modest cost, to store some 8,000,000
barrels of fuel which would be a substantial adjunct to the 50,000,000
barrels of fuel that might be salvaged from merchant tankers aurviving
the attack. An alternate use of the 800 Liberty ships in the reserve
fleets would be to store sufficient wheat at widely scattered locations
to feed 60,000,000 people for 6 months. Merchant ships could supply
the minimum water requirements of large segments of the population.
Ships in the reserve fleets could be activated to provide 400,000 kw
of electrical power to shore installations.

Successful utilization of ships and boats for civil defense
functions can be achieved if (1) the intended uses are well defined and
documented, (2) all cognizant government agencies agree to participate
in such utilization, and (3) ships intended for such use are promptly
diverted from the scrap program.


Recommendations

One or two port cities should be selected for a detailed study
to determine how ships and boats might be integrated most effectively
and efficiently in existing civil defense plans.