Painting of a ship in the movie: In Harms Way

Did you ever do this project? I would be interested in a copy of this as well, but colorized

 

Hi Dashman, honestly I forgot about this thread. I'm still interested in doing it, but I have about four painting projects going on right now, so it might be a while still before I can get started.But since you were the original poster, do you want an exact replica? Or do you want some details to make a specific battleship? Arizona, Pennsyvania, or such?

 

It's a composite battleship. The tripod masts of equal height, with multi-level gunnery control positions atop both masts, were unique to the reconstructed Nevada and Pennsylvania classes; but as noted the clipper bow only originated with the next class, the New Mexicos.

Also visible is the cutaway in the hull forward, to allow the first few 5"/51 secondary guns mounted in the hull to fire directly forward. This was characteristic of of battleships up through the New Mexicos. The painting hints at the non-viability of these gun positions in heavy seas, and modernization included relocating the guns (reduced numbers) to the superstructure. The embrasures were permanently plated over, but the hull cutouts remained; apparently it was not considered worth the work or expense to fair them over.

 

Wonder if they could tell, but are they alive and how to contact them if they are?

Set Decoration by
Morris Hoffman

Art Department
Eugene Acker .... painter


In Harm's Way (1965) - Full cast and crew

 

The oil painting of the battleship in the Admiral's study looks as if it is one of the battleships berthed at Pearl Harbor. Since the Admiral spoke wit a Southern accent, my guess is it might have been
the USS Tennessee, West Virginia, or Oklahoma. The high upper superstructure is a giveaway.

 

Oklahoma had the tripod masts but, as several people have noted, a completely different bow (side note, she was also the only ship in the Battle Force still equipped with reciprocating engines).

Tennessee and WeeVee had bows roughly like the painting but still had their original cage masts. Ironically the "Big Five", the youngest of the WWI generation, were the least modern as of 1941. Starting in the, late 1920s, our battleships were extensively modernized, by class in the order in which they had been built, but the program was cut short by the Depression before the Tennessee and Colorado classes could be addressed.

 

and

Nix on the Tennessee and the West Virginia. Only the bow form, the "clipper bow", is similar.

The anchor placement, however, is different. Also, neither the Tennessee class, nor the Colorado class were built with the forward 5-inch casemates - clearly seen in the painting - located in the forward section of the hull.
Tennessee
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/014132.jpg

West Virginia
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/0148004.jpg

The Tennessee class and the Colorado class did have "high" superstructures, but the upper levels were set back a bit - See the above photos.

The USS Oklahoma did not have a "high" superstructure.

Oklahoma
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/013766.jpg



As such, the only real possibilities are the Pennsylvania class and the New Mexico class...And the painting is apparently an amalgamation of both classes.
Pennsylvania class - USS Arizona
http://www.navsource.org/archives/01/013922a.jpg

New Mexico class - USS New Mexico
http://navsource.org/archives/01/040/014086.jpg

 

Happened to watch In Harm's Way again recently and noticed another odd painting in the same scene, a sailing ship with four masts, square sails on the first two, fore-and-aft on the other two. There were barques with square sails on all masts except the aftermost (mizzen or jigger) and barquentines with square on the foremast and all the rest fore-and-aft, but I've never seen the combination in the painting. Apparent the set crew included an imaginative artist.