Heavy Metal
The Hard Days and Nights of the Shipyard Workers Who Build America's Supercarriers
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Narrated by:
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Paul Heitsch
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By:
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Michael Fabey
About this listen
An extraordinary story of American can-do, an inside look at the building of the most dangerous aircraft carrier in the world, the John F. Kennedy.
Tip the Empire State Building onto its side and you’ll have a sense of the length of the United States Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the most powerful in the world: the USS John F. Kennedy. Weighing 100,000 tons, Kennedy features the most futuristic technology ever put to sea, making it the most agile and lethal global weapon of war.
Only one place possesses the brawn, brains and brass to transform naval warfare with such a creation – the Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Virginia and its 30,000 employees and shipyard workers. This is their story, the riggers, fitters, welders, electricians, machinists and other steelworkers who built the next-generation aircraft carrier.
Heavy Metal puts us on the waterfront and into the lives of these men and women as they battle layoffs, the elements, impossible deadlines, extraordinary pressure, workplace dangers and a pandemic to complete a ship that will be essential to protect America’s way of life.
The city of Newport News owes its very existence to the company that bears its name. The shipyard dominates the town—physically, politically, financially, socially, and culturally. Thanks to the yard, the city grew from a backwater to be the home of the premier naval contractor in the United States.
Heavy Metal captures an indelible moment in the history of a shipyard, a city, and a country.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2022 Michael Fabey (P)2022 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Richard Whittle
- Narrated by: Kevin Foley
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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When the Marines decided to buy a helicopter-airplane hybrid "tiltrotor" called the V-22 Osprey, they saw it as their dream machine. The tiltrotor was the aviation equivalent of finding the Northwest Passage: an aircraft able to take off, land, and hover with the agility of a helicopter yet fly as fast and as far as an airplane. Many predicted it would reshape civilian aviation. The Marines saw it as key to their very survival. Opponents called it one of the worst boondoggles in Pentagon history.
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Innovation runs into government
- By Cx30 on 09-25-10
By: Richard Whittle
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Against the Tide
- Rickover's Leadership Principles and the Rise of the Nuclear Navy
- By: Rear Adm. Dave Oliver USN - Ret.
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 6 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Against the Tide is a leadership book that illustrates how Adm. Hyman Rickover made a unique impact on American and Navy culture. Dave Oliver is the first former nuclear submarine commander who sailed for the venerable admiral to write about Rickover's management techniques. Oliver draws upon a wealth of untold stories to show how one man changed American and Navy culture while altering the course of history.
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Give me a Break
- By JustBill on 03-31-20
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All Hands Down
- The True Story of the Soviet Attack on the USS Scorpion
- By: Kenneth Sewell, Jerome Preisler
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Forty years ago, in May 1968, the submarine USS Scorpion sank in mysterious circumstances with a loss of 99 lives. The tragedy occurred during the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union.
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All Hands Down
- By Stephen on 12-19-08
By: Kenneth Sewell, and others
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The Billionaire and the Mechanic
- How Larry Ellison and a Car Mechanic Teamed Up to Win Sailing's Greatest Race, the America's Cup
- By: Julian Guthrie
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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The America’s Cup, first awarded in 1851, is the oldest trophy in international sports, and one of the most hotly contested. In 2000, Larry Ellison, co-founder and billionaire CEO of Oracle Corporation, decided to run for the coveted prize and found an unlikely partner in Norbert Bajurin, a car radiator mechanic who had recently been named Commodore of the blue collar Golden Gate Yacht Club.
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Good but incomplete
- By Blaine on 01-29-16
By: Julian Guthrie
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Skunk Works
- A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed
- By: Ben R. Rich, Leo Janos
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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From the development of the U-2 to the Stealth fighter, the never-before-told story behind America's high-stakes quest to dominate the skies. Skunk Works is the true story of America's most secret and successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation's brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the chronicle of Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works is a drama of Cold War confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds.
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Ben Rich's life story...but not in that order
- By Allstar on 11-05-16
By: Ben R. Rich, and others
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Rust
- The Longest War
- By: Jonathan Waldman
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 13 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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In Rust journalist Jonathan Waldman travels from Key West, Florida, to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to meet the colorful and often reclusive people concerned with corrosion. He sneaks into an abandoned steelworks with a brave artist and nearly gets kicked out of Can School. Across the Arctic he follows a massive high-tech robot, hunting for rust in the Alaska pipeline.
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Almost too geeky for geeks
- By Norman B. Bernstein on 03-26-15
By: Jonathan Waldman
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The Arsenal of Democracy
- FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War
- By: A. J. Baime
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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The Arsenal of Democracy tells the incredible story of how Detroit answered the call, centering on Henry Ford and his tortured son Edsel, who, when asked if they could deliver 50,000 airplanes, made an outrageous claim: Ford Motor Company would erect a plant that could yield a “bomber an hour”. Critics scoffed: Ford didn’t make planes; they made simple, affordable cars. But bucking his father’s resistance, Edsel charged ahead.
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Misleading title
- By Kindle Customer on 12-01-14
By: A. J. Baime
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Destroyer Captain
- Lessons of a First Command
- By: James Stavridis
- Narrated by: Chaz Allen
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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This memoir of James Stavridis' two years in command of the destroyer USS Barry (DDG-52) reveals the human side of what it is like to be in charge of a warship for the first time and in the midst of international crisis. From Haiti to the Balkans to the Arabian Gulf, the Barry was involved in operations throughout the world during his 1993-1995 tour. Drawing on daily journals he kept for the entire period, the author reveals the complex nature of those deployments in a 'real time' context and describes life on board the Barry and liberty ashore for sailors and officers alike.
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Great Navy book
- By Richard Giddeon on 03-04-15
By: James Stavridis
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Titanic's Last Secrets
- The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler
- By: John Chatterton, Richie Kohler, Brad Matsen
- Narrated by: Henry Leyva
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Abridged
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Why did Titanic sink as quickly as it did? Two of the greatest wreck divers in the world, the heroes of Shadow Divers, solve the mystery of history's greatest wreck. Titanic's Last Secrets peers into the lives of scientists, financiers, adventurers, and industrialists to bring listeners a thrilling and revelatory work of history and contemporary adventure.
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Not much diving but interesting story
- By Jonas on 10-17-08
By: John Chatterton, and others
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Blind Man's Bluff
- The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
- By: Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew
- Narrated by: George Wilson
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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No espionage missions have been kept more secret than those involving American submarines. Now, Blind Man's Bluff shows for the first time how the navy sent submarines wired with self-destruct charges into the heart of Soviet seas to tap crucial underwater telephone cables. It unveils how the navy's own negligence might have been responsible for the loss of the USS Scorpion, a submarine that disappeared, all hands lost, 30 years ago.
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best Cold War documentary...
- By Kojoukhinator Sr. on 11-15-17
By: Sherry Sontag, and others
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Diamondhead
- By: Patrick Robinson
- Narrated by: Charles Leggett
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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When Navy SEAL Mack Bedford's fellow officers are brutally killed by Iraqi insurgents using a cruel, new anti-tank Diamondhead missile, Mack avenges their murders by gunning down the then-unarmed attackers, ultimately getting himself court-martialed and kicked out of the Navy. To make matters worse, Mack then learns that the Diamondhead missiles were sold illegally by French industrialist and infamous politician Henri Foche.
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A Disastrous Departure of Style and Genre
- By GH on 01-09-13
By: Patrick Robinson
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Front Burner
- Al Qaeda’s Attack on the USS Cole
- By: Commander Kirk S. Lippold USN (Ret.)
- Narrated by: Commander Kirk S. Lippold USN (Ret.)
- Length: 12 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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On October 12, 2000, at 11:18 a.m., an 8,400-ton destroyer, the USS Cole, was rocked by an enormous explosion. The ship’s commander, Kirk Lippold, watched as tiles tumbled from the ceiling, mugs of coffee tumbled to the floor, and everything not bolted down seemed to float in midair. Lippold knew in a matter of moments that the Cole had been attacked. What he didn’t know was how much the world was changing around him.
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Great Book!
- By Jeffery P Brown on 07-18-16
What listeners say about Heavy Metal
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- RetPoliceman
- 07-03-22
A terrific read about a fascinating subject.
This is a great book. I am from Hampton Roads and there are few people in this area that are not acquainted in someway with NNSB. Either by knowing someone who has worked there or simply by seeing it when crossing one of the rivers between the south side and the peninsula. It is a magnificent sight with mighty aircraft carriers there either under construction or in for a refit. I have often wondered what it must be like to work there. Now I know. It is much like having an important role in our military. And I know more about our nation’s largest warships than I thought I ever would. The narration was also great. There are more than 1100 books, mostly non-fiction, in my audible library. This is one of the few I know I will listen to again and again. I got to meet the author at a book signing in Newport News shortly after the book was published. I will remember that well since this book is going to be a best seller without a doubt.
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- mrwswd
- 08-25-22
In-depth Look at Ship building
This book is an excellent look at building warships. It revolves around not only the mechanics and logistics of the process but the human factor. It goes off course for a bit when talking about building in the time of Covid with some very liberal leanings “referring to Trump and his henchmen” this part should have been left out as it’s really the only hard bias part injected by the author.
It’s very good look at the construction process and it’s human and Union perspective makes it a quality read.
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- Charles smith
- 07-22-22
Audible was horrible.
Grew up with the features of this book as part of my tribe. Generations invested in this subject matter. The book was great. The audible was an intolerable robot.
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- TJ Green
- 06-28-22
A triumph! Make sure to wear your PPE!
As a retired union boilermaker I'm always a little skeptical when I hear that a book about trade workers purports to be about the working men and women "in the trenches". While there are no trenches in shipbuilding, this book put me there! The descriptions of the lives and work of the working men and women who build our fighting ships are so well crafted that I was immediately reminded of the smell of burnt-up grinding wheels beveling a sheet of quarter inch plate! Mr. Fabey's descriptions of the men and women who make up the Newport News Shipbuilding work force are heartfelt and spot on. He has obviously worked dilligently to bring their stories to life, and has done so brilliantly! It is no easy thing to incorporate history, politics (both Washington and military) and real life day to day work into the same narrative and still keep it consistently interesting. I'll bet that many of the workers profiled never realized that their stories could be so fascinating! He could also not have chosen a more engaging narrator for this tome. Paul Heitsch has a warm, colloquial manner about his narration that is friendly and consistently interesting without being too "conversational" when dealing with relating deep background as it occurs.
As one who has done this work for part of a 25 year career as a heavy industrial boilermaker I can honesly say that I "know" these men and women. I see a little of my personal story in theirs, in my journey from apprentice to journeyman to supervisor and eventually project manager. As an instructor who trained union stewards I have seen all three sides of the business - the working man, the union, and management perspectives. Mr. Fabey dealt with all three with a refreshing even handedness that is unusual in our contentious "us against them" times. Although my entire career was not spent in shipyards (much of it in refineries and powerhouses) I did have my "turn in the barrel" working on modification of a Seawolf-class submarine. Michael Fabey brought me back there for 11 1/2 hours! Such a gift. I was proud to build things that other men couldn't! I was proud of my craft and my craftsmanship, just as these men and women are.To be able to point to that sub or carrier and say to your kids or grandkids "See that? I was part of that!" Such a feeling! I often tell people that "I don't miss the work too much, but I do miss the guys!" I was sorry when the ending credits rolled; I'd love to see the sequel! If you're looking for a read that conjures the age (which is apparently still going on!) when "men were made of iron and ships were made of steel", then look no further! Bravo Zulu, Michael!
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- Jim Naibert
- 10-23-22
didn't float my boat
I was hoping for a lot more info on the building/ mechanics of the work, while in actuality this about unions and politics. disappointed overall.
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- Geb Blum
- 07-20-22
History of the United Steel Workers
This tome is heavy on union history and gushing over the Kennedy family, peppered with oblique shots at Donald Trump. I was hoping to get more than sparing naval technical details (problems with carrier weapons elevators, electric launch and retrieval systems e.g.). The steelworkers are obviously very talented, their work is demanding, and the whole construction program is under a lot of external pressures, but the question remains why the USA has lost so much other ship building business. The carrier business will go on as long as taxpayers still have pulses to support the artificial naval construction economy. All the work and treasure put into these supercarriers made me think about the hopes and investments in the Hood and Bismarck. The carriers are great with current US military domination, but in a conflict with China, Russia, and some others these breathtaking engineering and construction marvels are massive targets difficult to hide and defend.
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- Don Wright
- 02-01-23
What I learned ( instead of how a carrier is built)
Trump is bad. COVID is bad and the science was 110% on point, if only we had listened. Joe Biden is ok because he’s a catholic President like Kennedy. Caroline is an angel from heaven. JFK (which I already knew lots about) turns out to be somewhere after the Father and maybe the son but definitely in front of Holy Ghost. Wish I knew more about building a carrier.
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