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Ship Photo of the Day

Two UH-1B gunships from HAL-3 "Seawolf" sit on the deck of the USS Garret County, Mekong Delta, South Viet Nam.
Gator Navy and Naval Aviation's joint ops. An important and oft overlooked contribution to the Viet Nam War.
Note the painted "runway" next to the helo pad/ramp/parking deck.

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Two UH-1B gunships from HAL-3 "Seawolf" sit on the deck of the USS Garret County, Mekong Delta, South Viet Nam.
Gator Navy and Naval Aviation's joint ops. An important and oft overlooked contribution to the Viet Nam War.
Note the painted "runway" next to the helo pad/ramp/parking deck.

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Arguably one of Naval Aviation’s best.
 
One of the most decorated small boats of WW2 was PT-59. It sank the Japanese submarine I-3, later it had its torpedos removed and added 40mm Bofors forward and aft to hunt barges.

Its second C.O. was LtJg John Kennedy, who declined to go home after his first boat PT-109 was sunk. In addition to the future President, an intelligence officer Byron “Whizzer” White setved with Kennedy on several missions, Kennedy later appointed him as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court. Remnants of the boat are now at Battleship Cove in Massachusetts.


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In September 1943, Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy went to Tulagi and accepted the command of PT 59 which was scheduled to be converted to a gunboat. In October 1943, Kennedy was promoted to Lieutenant and continued to command the motor torpedo boat when the squadron moved to Vella Lavella until a doctor directed him to leave PT 59 on 18 November. Kennedy left the Solomons on 21 December and returned to the U.S. in early January 1944

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October 1943
Deck plan and side profile of PT-59 from "Allied Coastal Forces of World War II: Volume II" by John Lambert and Al Ross
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After conversion to a "Gunboat"

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The French cruiser De Grasse started life as a traditional light cruiser but her construction was interrupted by WW2. When building resumed afterwards, she was built as an anti-aircraft cruiser with 16 (8x2) 127mm/54 caliber cannons as well as 20 (10x2) 57mm auto cannons. It did have an interesting design with all weapons forward or aft and nothing amidships.
Redesigned a 3rd time in the 1960’s, she was the command ship for all French nuclear tests in the Pacific before being decommissioned in the mid-1970’s.

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After looking at the De Grasse, the unusual gun layout of 2 main guns side by side reminded me of a ship we saw in port in Sigonella: the Horizon class destroyer Chevalier Paul. It has the same gun layout with 2 side by side 76mm auto cannons.

It is class of 4 ships, 2 French and 2 Italian with small differences.

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Chevalier Paul underway in the Mediterranean Sea on 15 July 2017

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Twin OTO Melara 76 mmturrets on Chevalier Paul
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Chevalier Paul
with an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea
 
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