Search results

Not sure how much the missiles the Navy is using cost, but drones are certainly changing the cost structure of war. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/19/missile-drone-pentagon-houthi-attacks-iran-00132480

Couple of good books this Christmas morning- as my library is at capacity, this week is a good chance to cull a number of books to make room for more naval history.

Looks like the drone attacks have spread further out - quite a distance from Yemen. The incident on the Liberian-flagged chemical product tanker occurred 120 miles (200-kilometers) southwest of the Indian port of Veraval...

Some of the most heavily armed gunboats of WW2 were the Dutch Navy’s Flores class of 2 gunboats. Limited by only 1500 tons displacement and less than 250 ft long; they patrolled the Dutch East Indies. Although they only had 2,000 HP from triple expansion engines which limited their speed to 15...

The only Liberty cargo ship to sink a German surface combatant was SS Stephen Hopkins which sank the German Auxiliary Cruiser Stier in the South Atlantic in 1942. The two ships blundered into each other at point blank range and began to trade gunfire. Despite the Stier mounting six 5.9”...

I’ll take a quick break from watching Drachinifel’s Drydock (#277 just popped up today) but its likely a degree in National Security Affairs, etc with a class on International Law and/or other classes touching upon the subject. He didn’t say he was an International Lawyer, rather he had some...

So having master’s level courses in International Law is not relevant to this discussion on international law?

How this affects Europe long term remains to be seen, but losing feedstocks for their petrochemical industries as well as lower cost electricity does not bode well. From The Atlantic today...

Looks like Israel has started flooding some tunnels in Gaza. https://www.usatoday.com/story/graphics/2023/12/13/idf-israel-flooding-hamas-tunnels/71904366007/

Interesting article on the finance side of renewables: https://www.politico.com/news/2023/12/09/climate-talks-newest-threat-interest-rates-00130949

There was an executive version of the Focke Wulf 200 Condor that was used by Hitler and staff during WW2. Originally designed as an airliner with 4 Pratt & Whitney Hornet 875 HP engines, it was the first aircraft to fly non-stop from Berlin to NYC. Later variants were powered by Bramos 323 9...

Thank you for the update. Venezuela’s oil industry is in serious, perhaps terminal, disrepair and it might be easier / cheaper / quicker to take someone else’s oil right now than spending the billions of dollars and waiting the years required - and the US is quite busy right now.

Great question - here is your answer: http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/05108.htm

The Academy Award nominee actor Robert Montgomery was skipper of PT-107, an 80 ft Elco boat. He later starred in The Expendables with John Wayne. (Note: Robert Montgomery was also the father of Elizabeth Montgomery whom you may remember from the show Bewitched.) 12 July 1942 PT-105 and...

Happened to see this on a Youtube video yesterday. Hard to believe, but Kelly Johnson developed the original U-2 by using the fuselage of the F-104 Starfighter. From this: To this:

Fascinating article concerning the future of Florida State. Ironic that the ACC lobbied against expanding the playoffs. Even more is that the SEC wanted FSU to join back in the early ‘90’s, but the Seminoles thought the ACC’s basketball reputation was too good to pass up...

As t As the LCS’s aren’t of much use in the Pacific, wonder if they could contribute there?

That “Get Smart” from Mel Brooks and Buck Henry was the best comedy of the 1960’s ?

Not sure if you saw it, but Texas fans were chanting SEC, SEC, SEC during the presentation of the BIG12 trophy. As to you and Oklahoma, we welcome you to the Southeastern Conference. Resistance is futile.

SMS Seeadler was a captured sailing ship converted into a merchant raider by the German Navy in WW1. As a sailing ship, she was far less dependent on coaling ports than traditional ships, while a substantial armament of two 105 mm cannons and heavy machine guns was sufficient to capture or sink...

Had just finished reading the article. For what it’s worth, I still think if Georgia had made the playoffs they would have run the table like they did in 2021. Don’t know about Washington’s injury situation but I believe Texas is down their best running back and Michigan is down its best...

Just saw that Alabama’s strength of schedule was 5th, FSU’s was 55th. So thoughts on 1 loss Texas being ahead of FSU as well? If Georgia had won yesterday, the discussion would be Texas vs FSU - again, FSU is playing with their 3rd string QB. Orange Bowl with Georgia vs FSU will be...

#1 Michigan vs #4 FSU, #2 Washington vs #3 Texas. These are the most deserving teams. However, 12-1 Alabama, 12-1 Georgia and 11-1 Ohio State are left on the outside looking in - and does anyone think FSU with a 3rd string QB could beat any of those 3 ? Best 4 teams are ??? (note: of the...

Interesting article from Foreign Policy: https://foreignpolicy.com/2023/11/29/britain-royal-navy-us-pacific/ For reference, the Queen Elizabeth and Prince of Wales are 932 ft long and displace 65,000 tons - slightly smaller than the Forrestal class of US carriers and roughly the size of the...

In the NYT today from Ross Douthat: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/02/opinion/south-korea-birth-dearth.html But South Korea is distinctive in that it slipped into below-replacement territory in the 1980s but lately has been falling even more — dropping below one child per woman in 2018, to...

If it is WW3, I would imagine the retired would get called back. 3 months to get spooled up at North Field? I was thinking 3 weeks to be ready to teach X’s at South Field. The attached SAU always had more hours than the active duty CO / XO - but we made it clear that we were there to provide...

HMS Argus was the first aircraft carrier with a full length deck. Converted from an ocean liner, she was commissioned in September 1918. Of note, she was part of the plan to lead a Pearl Harbor style torpedo attack on the battleships and battlecruisers of the High Seas Fleet based at...

Following HMS Ark Royal, the Royal Navy determined that due to the proximity of land based aircraft in the North and Mediterranean Seas, their next aircraft carriers would need armored hangars and 3” thick armored flight decks. Although this cut the available hangar space in half due to weight...

The Royal Navy fighter that achieved the most kills in WW2 was the Fairey Fulmar, 112 kills vs 40 shot down. It was actually developed from the earlier P4/34 light bomber. With a maximum speed of 272 mph and ceiling of 27,000 ft, it was soon outclassed- but held the line early for the Royal...

Perhaps the biggest TV movie of the 1980’s premiered on this date 40 years ago 20 Nov 1983: The Day After. Some reports said that the movie had an effect on Reagan and Gorbachev. If you haven’t seen it, it is on YouTube and certainly worth a watch...

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-covid-vaccine-mandate-reversal/ Soldiers who were forced out of the Army for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine have received letters with instructions on how to rejoin, as the service faces its toughest recruiting environment in a generation.

I don’t think that first line is completely accurate. You may be interested in a newly arriving book from Democratic pollsters John B Judis and Ruy Teixeira (they wrote “The Emerging Democratic Majority shortly before President Obama’s election in 2008). Their new analysis, “Where Have All the...

HMS Ocean, mentioned above with HMS Belfast, was one of 16 Colossus class light carrier. Built on a merchantman hull, it provided excellent service. The Ocean actually had the last shipboard recovery of the famed Fairey Swordfish biplane torpedo bomber in November 1945, the first planned jet...

Congrats to Michigan on their 1,000 victory. No real surprises today, but it looks like #4 Florida State may have lost their starting QB for the year with a leg injury.

HMS Belfast is a Town class light cruiser. The first ship named after Belfast, Northern Ireland, she was commissioned on St Patrick’s Day 1938. In November 1939, she struck a mine and was so severely damaged that she took 2 full years to be repaired. She returned for Arctic convoy duty to the...

SpaceX’s launch exploded again today, although this time they made it beyond 1st stage separation. Interesting that the Super Heavy booster has 33 rocket motors while the Saturn V first stage only had 5 motors. https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-second-test-flight-launch-explodes

Oddly enough, the last naval battle of WW2 was fought by sailing ships on 21 August 1945 off the coast of China. 2 junks under the command of LCDR Livingston Swentzel and 1LT Steuart Pittman engaged a Japanese Navy junk which had a 75mm howitzer. The Americans replied with bazookas and .50...

The Naval Battle of Guadalcanal is fascinating- some point blank action where battleships were unable to depress their guns low enough to hit enemy ships. A couple of items that show the good fortune the US had were the 2 waves of Long Lance torpedo salvos (30+) that all missed the Washington...

Continuing with the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal on 14 November 1942, the battleship USS South Dakota BB-57 which took heavy damage. Battleship X as she was known could be recognized from her sisters by having 1 less dual 5” turret on each side the extra space being used for flagship duties...

13 November 1942 was the day USS Juneau CL-52, an Atlanta class anti-aircraft light cruiser, was sunk. Already hit by 1 torpedo during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal, the Japanese submarine I-26 managed to hit the ship with a Long Lance in the exact spot of the first torpedo- breaking apart...

There were swashplate bearing issues in the mid-90’s. That said, it’s a good machine. (Edit: just reread and in regards to aerial refueling, I don’t recall any Class A accidents either) https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/56026

You may like Wayne Scarpaci’s book on battleship conversion projects: https://www.amazon.com/Battleship-Conversion-1942-1965-illustrated-technical/dp/1475099509 One of my favorite is the Kentucky with 4 quad 8” turrets capable of long range anti-aircraft defense: Anti-Aircraft Battleship...

Looking forward to Michigan-Ohio State in a couple of weeks. FSU and Washington had much closer than expected games today; meanwhile, Georgia is up 38-14 over #9 Ole Miss. Georgia vs Alabama - again - in the SEC championship is going to be quite good.

Interesting joint report breaking from The Washington Post and Der Spiegel today concerning the destruction of the Nordstream pipelines. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2023/11/11/nordstream-bombing-ukraine-chervinsky/...

Neither Michigan nor Penn State had 100 yards passing. You don’t see that every day.

In related news, USNI is stating the Navy Reserves missed officer recruitment this year by 28%. https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2023/november/navy-must-improve-navy-reserve-retention?mc_cid=fe85ede986&mc_eid=be57031107

If forced to resign, it would be an interesting primary with, I assume, Nikki Haley running against Nancy Mace in a Republican primary. And in other news, Joe Manchin of West Virginia just announced he is not running for Senate reelection in 2024.

Sorry to see that fire in the news. I believe the blimp hangars at Tustin are the biggest wooden structures in the world? https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/07/us/fire-blimp-hangar-california.html

USS Norfolk, DL-1 was the first Destroyer Leader built for the US Navy. One of the first ships designed and built after WW2, it used a light cruiser hull but was primarily an anti-submarine ship. One of the interesting items was that the biggest cannon it carried was not 5” but rather the...