These Tanks use a Great Deal of Gasoline!

Posted on by Leave a comment

Some 85 years ago this month.

Original Caption: “1st Army Maneuvers in the Carolinas. An M2A2 light tank of the 191st Tank Battalion. These tanks use a great deal of gasoline. South Carolina. October 16, 1941.”

The M2A2 light tank ran a 668 cubic-inch (11.0 L) Continental 7-cylinder radial gasoline engine and carried 50 gallons of mogas. Photographer: 161st Signal Photo Co., Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-130131

Another view of the above, same day, same place, showing off the 11-ton M2A2, which saw no combat service with the U.S. military, although 36 updated M2A4s did land with the Marine 1st Tank Bn at Guadalcanal. 111-SC-130069

In October 1918, the U.S. Army, gearing up to beat the Kaiser, had peaked at 2,395,742 active men in uniform with a few million more on the schedule.

Just 15 years later, the story was much different.

During the Depression, the Army was gutted to the point that in 1933 it could count only 135,015 officers, men, Philippine Scouts, and USMA cadets on active service.

Most battalion-sized units were so understrength they could not field 200 men for exercises. Keep in mind this included the Air Corps, which totaled under 20,000 men. On paper, the active Army had nine permanent infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions, but all save for four (1st Infantry, Fort Hamilton, NY; 2nd Infantry, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; 3rd Infantry, Fort Lewis, Washington; and 1st Cavalry, Fort Bliss, Texas) were cadre headquarters units. Empty shells in a hollow force.

Then there were the 138,513 men in the Organized Reserve (OR), almost all of whom (133,485) were officers accumulated over the years through a mix of former ROTC cadets, regular Army officers passed to the reserve list, and Citizens Military Training Camp graduates passed to the OR after receiving their commissions. Most of these were older men, as 1933 saw only 270 CMTC and 5,082 ROTC commissions granted. The small number of enlisted in the OR were largely organized into 30 company-strength MP battalions assigned to paper corps and army headquarters. By comparison, the Regular Army had only four active MP battalions, and the National Guard 11.

While the National Guard numbered 185,925 in June 1933, most were in units that rarely assembled other than for brief meetings at the armory one night a week (and not necessarily every week) for about 75 cents each pocket change (about $20 today), followed by a two-week summer camp (Annual Field Encampment) although attendance at the latter was often skipped, as many enlisted “cannot afford to let his family suffer while he is away at the field camps and consequently he elects to remain at work rather than go to camp.”

This was at a time when the National Defense Act of 1920 assumed a Regular Army of 280,000 men and a National Guard of 450,000, rapidly mobilizing to over a million in time of war, when new recruits would be quickly added, and the OR called back to the colors. Actual figures, if war had been declared in 1933, would have likely been half that.

This would markedly increase with FDR’s “Tree Army,” the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which took unemployed and underemployed young men aged 17 to 28 into regimented public works programs run by the Army. Enticed by a promise of $30 pay per month (which is only like $775 today) plus free room (tent) and board (chow) and 8 a.m.- 5 p.m. workdays, the program peaked at 500,000 men organized in over 2,500 camps in 1935, many later transitioning to the military or National Guard. It was estimated that 75 percent of the 3 million who cycled through CCC camps in the 1930s later served in the military in WWII.

Slowly, the Army and Guard beefed up as tensions rose overseas.

By August 1939, the Regular Army had grown to 187,893. The brand-new Regular Army Reserve (RAR) had been established for prior-service enlisted men and had 24,972 of them on its rolls. The Organized Reserve, primarily of officers, stood at 119,773. The National Guard had 199,491 effectives. Some 97,549 young men were in ROTC programs and another 36,783 in the CMTC. Around 240,000 were still kicking around the dwindling 1,500 CCC camps. All told, the country was approaching 900,000 men in Army fatigues when Hitler sent his legions into Poland.

In the summer of 1940, with Japan and China locked in a grinding military stalemate after three years of war while Poland, Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France had all fallen to the Germans in a matter of months– the last with help from Italy– the U.S. Army started to have division- and corps-sized maneuvers, including reservists and the National Guard.

However, size wasn’t everything. Equipment of every sort was lacking.

What looked formidable on paper looked much different in the field.

From the CMH:

The summer maneuvers of 1940 came too soon to permit any marked improvement in training techniques, but by bringing together a total of 90,000 troops of the First Army, including Regular and National Guard components, and by offering a natural if unfortunate comparison with current battlefield operations as reported from Europe, they evoked far more public attention than had any previous maneuvers, as indicated by the extended accounts in the daily press of that period.

It was a public disturbed by discovery that National Guard divisions (the old “square” type), whose wartime strength was listed at 22,000 men each, reported as present an average of 10,414 enlisted men each; that in one of these were 3,000 recruits who never previously had attended field training; that a typical division had none of the new light or heavy mortars, none of the new antitank guns, and only one-fourth its quota of new rifles; that another was drilling still in armory-drill fundamentals; that some of the “cannon” used in the maneuver were merely iron pipes; that many of the “tanks” were actually commercial trucks used in simulation for purposes of the exercise; and that “bomber” planes similarly engaged were light observation planes serving an imagined role. As simulations for maneuver, they served well enough. They also served as demonstrations of the Army’s critical needs and gave eloquent support to the Chief of Staff’s recent arguments for better armament.

Then came the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, adopted in September, which by New Year’s Day 1941 had placed 18,933 draftees into active training, originally just for one year. Before Pearl Harbor, 922,000 American men had been conscripted, with a rough 2.4:1 ratio of men going to the Army (650,000) vs. the Navy (272,000).

Also over the next year, the now 241,612-strong National Guard was federalized in waves, adding 18 thin infantry divisions, 80 separate regiments, and 29 Army Air Corps squadrons to active service.

All eligible RAR soldiers were mobilized for active service on 15 February 1941.

In July 1941, the Army, swollen by conscripts, activated reservists, new volunteers (often with tree sap under their nails) and federalized Guardsmen, could count 1,462,315 officers and men.

In September 1941, the great maneuvers in the Louisiana-Texas area, employing 400,000 men of the Second and Third Field Armies, were by far the largest the Army had ever held and spanned 30,000 sq. miles from Shreveport south to Lake Charles and from Jasper, Texas, to the Mississippi River.

The next maneuvers, the last before America entered the war, were in the Carolina area. Conducted in a more compact area (9,375 sq. miles straddling the North Carolin and South Carolina border), they employed fewer troops but used armor more intensively and, for this reason, were of lively interest to Washington.

The forces involved would include the newly-motorized 4th Infantry Division, the brand new 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions, the more leg-borne 1st, 8th, and 9th Infantry divisions; seven NG infantry divisions (26th, 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 43rd, and 44th), six horse and hybrid “horse-mechanized” cavalry regiments (active 3rd and 6th, NG 101st, 102nd, 104th, and 107th), as well as such novel organizations as the 502nd Parachute Battalion (which had only been activated three months prior).

They fought across two major Blue vs. Red campaigns, the Battle of the Pee Dee River and the Battle of Camden, with troops beginning to stage in the first week of October and the exercises wrapping up on 30 November.

The photos from the event show a force in transition, and it is amazing to think that the same Army would take on the Afrika Korps in Tunisia just over a year later– with almost totally different equipment.

1941- U.S. 27th Field Artillery troops in T12 75mm GMC M1897A4 M3 during Carolina maneuvers.

1941- Townspeople watch as an M2 light tank makes its way through a street in Rock Hill during U.S. First Army maneuvers in South Carolina.

1941- Unit of Fort Myer, Virginia’s 3rd U.S. Cavalry is forced to retreat during maneuvers in North Carolina, horse-mounted

M2 light tanks, Carolinas Maneuvers, 16 October 1941

Carolina Maneuvers as seen in Stanly County

Carolina Maneuvers 101st Cavalry (New York City NG), 6th Corps, let their horses enjoy a refreshing drink from the Pee Dee River near Albemarle

Carolina Maneuvers Stanly County, half-track M1

M1 37mm AT gun Mass NG Carolina Maneuvers

Carolina Maneuvers 1941-1942. The horse-mechanized 102nd Cavalry from New Jersey with a Scout Car and GPW

US Army, October 1941 Carolina Maneuvers, with a GPW and a 37mm ATG

US Army, October 1941, the Carolina Maneuvers

128th Field Artillery doing live-fire exercises during the 1941 Carolina Maneuvers at Ft. Jackson, with M1897A2 75mm guns

Blue Force Curtiss P-40 Warhawks from the 20th Pursuit Group lined up on the ground during the 1941 Carolina Maneuvers

Red Force Curtiss P-38s, 1941 Carolina Maneuvers

After the Carolina Maneuvers ended, the Secretary of War summoned a conference in his office “to familiarize the officers present with the lessons which had been learned from the maneuvers and to exchange views.”

The after-action conference held by the War Department on 3 December 1941– just four days before Pearl Harbor- concluded the following:

(1) There was still dissatisfaction with the training of small units, and this training was to be stressed in coming months

(2) The outstanding question was the struggle between tank and antitank, fairly well tested in Carolina by the use of 865 tanks and armored cars, against 764 mobile antitank guns and 3,557 other pieces of artillery;155 the tactical employment of antitank weapons called for restudy, armored units likewise had not been sufficiently massed for field operation, and there was a demonstrated need for a higher ratio of medium tanks.

(3) The horse units had not proved their value.

(4) Tactical air forces were poorly coordinated with the ground units they were to support.

(5) Motor transport was used without a realistic sense of limitations that actual field maintenance would impose.

(6) Larger and earlier use of mines was called for.

(7) Radio communications from ground to air were “awful,” in General Arnold’s judgment.

(8) Communications generally were too slow.

In the main, the maneuvers were declared better than earlier maneuvers, which was to be hoped for at this late date, and there was a difference in the judgments of air and ground officers as to responsibility for the admittedly poor co-ordination of those elements. One hopeful situation was pointed out: the ammunition plants were beginning to function more fully, and during the winter a far better supply of small arms cartridges would come to hand for training the troops.

They would need them.

Things would change dramatically after Pearl Harbor, and in one month alone, just a year after the Carolina Maneuvers, 514,345 enlisted men would be added to the Army’s rolls in the single month of October 1942.

Built like a Panzer: The Arminus, err, Windicator .357 Magnum Snub Nose

Posted on by One comment

Earlier this year, we had Chase with EAA in the GDC studio as a podcast guest and got the lowdown on the company’s Windicator series of European-made wheel guns– which they have been importing for 30 years.

“I mean, they’re just tanks,” he said. “And look, I mean, there’s no denying that Germans make some great firearms. And they have a very deep history in making really, really, well-made firearms. For sure. So it’s just cool to see those out there. And people kind of, you know, they’re neglected. People sleep on them. They do. They 100 percent sleep on them.”

Produced by Hermann Weihrauch Revolver GmbH in Mellrichstadt, Germany – about 30 miles from the legendary Thuringian firearms-making and gunsmithing hub of Suhl – Weihrauch dates back to 1899. Btw, for those curious, you would pronounce the name “Vyre-owk” with a hard “ch” on the end. Really put the sauerkraut into it. Likewise, “Windicator” is likely a take on the maker’s last name blended with Vindicator, using the German more V-like pronunciation of the W.

After origins as a rifle maker, the company introduced its HW Arminius series revolvers in the 1960s, named for a Teutonic hero of the first century AD famous for slapping around the Romans at the Teutoburg Forest.

Imported and sold in the U.S. under a variety of brands (e.g., the Dickson Bulldog and Herter’s Guide Model) and by assorted firms (F.I.E., LA Distributors, etc.), the revolvers were a staple in hardware stores and gun shops coast to coast for generations.

FIE Arminus
An HW Arminius .32 in the Guns.com Vault and an FIE ad on the series from 1976. For reference, the quoted $120 price is $725 in today’s dollars. 

EAA has imported assorted double-action Weihrauch revolvers into the U.S. under the Windicator name since at least 1993, later adding Bounty Hunter–branded single-action wheel guns from the same factory.

Today, EAA sells the Windicator in both .38 Special and .357 Magnum, in 2-, 4-, and 6-inch formats, and in blue/black or nickel (not a misprint). As snubby fans, we opted to review the blue/black 2-inch .357 (770130), right off the boat from Bavaria.

EAA Windicator 357 Magnum Snub 2 inch 741566103605 770130 Eger
The EAA Windicator 2-inch .357 six-shot double-action revolver. Weihrauch catalogs this model as the HW 357 T. (Photos unless noted: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
EAA Windicator 357 Magnum Snub 2 inch 741566103605 770130 Eger
It is beefy for a snub, tipping the scales at nearly 29 ounces, unloaded. By comparison, similar six-shot .357s such as S&W’s $1,300 Model 19 2.5 Carry Comp weigh 33 ounces, while the $900 Colt King Cobra Carry 2-inch is billed at 26 ounces. 
EAA Windicator 357 Magnum Snub 2 inch 741566103605 770130 Eger
The snub 2-inch Windicator is a medium-frame, not a small-frame, revolver. It feels closest, in the author’s opinion, to his Fink’s Custom (at Gunsite Academy) chopped-down S&W 2-inch K-frame.

For full disclosure, EAA provided this Windicator revolver to Guns.com for review purposes. All testing was done on this one gun, which has been under evaluation since early May.

What we found:

  • It takes K-frame speedloaders.
  • It was dependable over the course of 500 mixed rounds of .38 and .357
  • It has a very stout double-action trigger that you need to take your pre-workout to run at the range.
  • It is affordable.

The only big rock we could toss at the $400~ Windicator was its very limited aftermarket support (no grips, can’t change the sights, virtually no parts). But EAA carries a lifetime warranty if something goes wrong (by comparison, Colt runs a three-year warranty).

With that in mind, if you want to upgrade your snub with different sights and accessories at some point, you may want to look toward a Colt or S&W. The closest six-shot .357 Mag snub we can find in the Windy’s price range is the Diamondback SDR,  which runs nearly $700.

If you want a basic .357 (big) pocket gun that will go bang and you don’t anticipate upgrading, the Windicator is a, well, win.

Full review over in my column at Guns.com.

Shiloh gone as Ticos, and Civil War namesakes, fade away

Posted on by Leave a comment

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67) was honored in her homeport of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam with a formal decommissioning ceremony yesterday, marking 34 years of continued service at sea and a revered naval legacy.

U.S. Navy Chief Interior Communications Electrician Deja Washington, assigned to the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Shiloh (CG 67), left and led the crew in disembarking Shiloh for the final time at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Sept. 30, 2026. Shiloh was decommissioned after 34 years of continuous service. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Claire M. Alfaro)

Her sister, USS Lake Erie (CG 70), lowered her Navy Jack for the final time during the ship’s decommissioning ceremony held onboard Naval Base San Diego on 25 September, capping a 33-year career.

Erie deployed with Phibron8 just a few months ago, wrapping up her final cruise in style.

Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) approaches Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7) for a replenishment-at-sea while underway in the Caribbean Sea, Feb. 3, 2026. U.S. military forces are deployed to the Caribbean in support of the U.S. Southern Command mission, Department of War-directed operations, and the president’s priorities to disrupt illicit drug trafficking and protect the homeland. (U.S. Navy Photo by Seaman Andrew Eggert)

With Lake Erie and Shiloh inactivated, that leaves only five of 27 completed Ticos in the fleet: USS Princeton, Robert Smalls (ex-Chancellorsville), Gettysburg, Chosin, and Cape St. George.

All of these are scheduled to retire in the next few years.

Speaking of which, check out this sad batch of Ticonderogas awaiting disposition on “Red Lead Row,” the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility (NISMF) in Philadelphia, image taken on September 20th, 2026.

They include

  • USS Monterey (CG 61)
  • USS San Jacinto (CG 56)
  • USS Hue City (CG 66)
  • USS Anzio (CG 68)
  • USS Vella Gulf (CG 72)
  • USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55)
  • USS Philippine Sea (CG 58)
  • USS Normandy (CG 60)
  • USS Vicksburg (CG 69)

Even that assembly has changed for the worse, with Vicksburg being towed out of Philadelphia en route to Brownsville, Texas, for scrapping on 30 September.

These are from Warship Cam, SRC: YT- Al Stinger

Done with Civil War names?

The U.S. Navy of the late Cold War was replete with Civil War references, from battle names to the fighting men who fought there —on both sides. The Ticos alone had USS Vicksburg and Antietam, along with the aforementioned Shiloh, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Even sub-tenders were involved in the act (Dixon and Hunley). The Fig-7s took a break from 1812 and WWII heroes to name one for a Confederate officer (Capt. Duncan Ingraham, defender of Charleston Harbor).

Now, with Shiloh gone, Gettysburg and Smalls remain. The latter is named for a Civil War-era figure who went over to the North with the CSS Planter, then later served as a pilot for the Union fleet, including the ironclad USS Keokuk, during the Second Battle of Fort Sumter.

Of the great Union admirals and heroes, just two names endure, both on destroyers:

Admiral David “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” Farragut, commander of the West Gulf Blockading Squadron famous for forcing Mobile Bay, is on the fifth torpedo-carrying vessel to have his name: USS Farragut (DDG 99)

Farragut, a Goula Boy, has long had a banner across from the Jackson County Courthouse.

USS Farragut’s quarterdeck while in Mobile for Mardi Gras 2026 earlier this year, by Chris Eger

RADM David Dixon Porter, commander of the Mississippi Squadron, which handed Vicksburg to Grant, and later the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which took Fort Fisher. As with his adoptive brother. Farragut, Porter is also on his fifth torpedo-carrying vessel, USS Porter (DDG 78).

Both Admiral Farragut and Porter, brothers, were remembered on a joint postal stamp along with their closely associated flagships– including Powhatan

USS Porter (DDG 78) (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Juan Sua/Released) 200329-N-CR843-0264 

These storied names are gone from the fleet:

RADM John A. Dahlgren, the “Father of American Naval Ordnance” and later commander of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron, which met Sherman in Savannah without destroying it. He had three TBs and DD/DDGs named for him, the last decommissioned in 1992.

RADM Louis M. Goldsborough, who gave Burnside Roanoke Island, closing the coast of North Carolina. As with Dahlgren, he had a TB, a DD, and a DDG named in his honor; the last was decommissioned in 1993.

RADM Samuel Phillips Lee, Robert E. Lee’s cousin, commanded both the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron and the Mississippi Squadron at times; a destroyer (DD 310) and a research vessel (T-AGS-31) were named after him, with the latter leaving service in 1974.

RADM John Ancrum Winslow, who bested the commerce raider CSS Alabama off the French coast from the helm of the USS Kearsarge, later commanded the Pacific Squadron and had only two ships named after him. The last, DD-53, was paid off in 1922. Alabama’s pirate leader, Raphael Semmes, had two as well; the last was decommissioned only in 1992.

Capt. John A. Winslow (3rd from left) and officers on board the U.S.S. Kearsarge after sinking the C.S.S. Alabama, 1864

RADM John Marston, who cut his teeth on USS Constitution during the War of 1812, sailed with Perry to China, and commanded the USS Roanoke at the Battle of Hampton Roads– where he ordered the unproven USS Monitor to enter the battle against CSS Virginia— was described as “one of the most efficient officers of the United States Navy during the Civil War,” but he has never had a ship named for him.

RADM John Lorimer Worden, who commanded Monitor at Hampton Roads, then went on post-war to lead the European Squadron, became the first president of the USNI, and superintendent of Annapolis (where his Tiffany sword hangs), had four vessels named for him (DD 16, DD 288, DD 352, and CG 18), the last decommissioned in 1993.

Commodore William D. “Dirty Bill” Porter, David Porter’s (and by extension Farragut’s) brother who ably commanded the USS Essex during the war, has only ever had one ship named for him, an unlucky Fletcher-class destroyer.

As a sort of consolation prize, Admiral George Dewey (USNA 1858), before he became famous at Manila Bay against the Spanish, served as executive lieutenant on USS Mississippi, a steam paddle frigate assigned to the Union West Gulf Blockading Squadron during the Civil War. Currently a Burke, DDG-105, the third destroyer to carry his name, continues his legacy.

At least for now, anyway.

HST out, JFK (almost) in

Posted on by Leave a comment

With a $20 billion outlay of taxpayer dollars this week, the Navy is getting two flattops, kinda.

This week, the service issued a big-fat Refueling and Complex Overhaul award to HII in Newport News for USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). The eighth Nimitz-class aircraft carrier was built at Newport News over 54 months, from November 1993 to June 1998, for $4.5B at the time.

She returned from her last deployment (her 12th) in June 2025 and has obviously been prepping for her RCOH since then

USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) Arrival for RCOH

Her RCOH, which will give her another 25-30 years of life, is expected to run (at least) 48 months until November 2031 and cost just under $5.2B.

The Navy and HII, as shown in the images above, have been doing a lot of advance work to meet those 48 months, or perhaps even cut it shorter.

Per HII

“We’ve taken a proactive approach, from ordering long lead-time materials to conducting thousands of inspections and preliminary work, to ensure the RCOH of USS Harry S. Truman is successful,” said Bryan Caccavale, NNS vice president of program management. “This extensive engineering and construction project to ready the ship to rejoin the fleet is a team effort, across shipbuilders, suppliers and our Navy partners, and we are honored to do our part.”

Per DOD

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, is awarded a $5,099,973,132 fixed-ceiling incentive contract for the accomplishment of the USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) refueling and complex overhaul. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to $5,183,380,744. Work will be performed in Newport News, Virginia and is expected to be completed by November 2031.Fiscal 2026 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $547,826,087 will be obligated at time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. In accordance with 10 U.S. Code 3204(a)(1), this contract was not competitively procured. Only one responsible source, Huntington Ingalls Inc., Newport News, Virginia, has the knowledge, experience, and facilities required to accomplish this without an unacceptable disruption of Navy-wide overhaul and repair schedule. Portfolio Acquisition Executive Maritime, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-26-C-2175).

JFK, inbound

Also this week, HII announced that it had achieved preliminary acceptance of the future USS John F. Kennedy (CVN 79), the second Ford-class carrier, and, so far, has cost $13.2B.

Preliminary acceptance, the final step before formal delivery to the U.S. Navy, allows the Navy to begin underway test and evaluation of Kennedy’s unique systems and for the crew to gain operational proficiency. CVN 79 successfully completed acceptance trials in August.

JFK is expected to commission in March 2027.

Where are the other carriers?

The Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group with CVW-11 aboard just got underway from the West Coast, bound for the Middle East, replacing her sister, the exhausted Abraham Lincoln, which has been underway for over 300 days.

USS George H.W. Bush and sister USS George Washington remain in and around the 5th Fleet’s AOR, conducting operations against Iran.

USS Carl Vinson is in San Diego and just completed her eight-month Planned Incremental Availability (PIA) in July. Expect her to deploy soon.

USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ike) is working up along the Virginia Coast, and recently lost a VAQ-130 Growler but not its crew.

Nimitz, the grand old lady, has officially finished her last cruise but is still “around” for training tasks out of Norfolk as she heads towards deactivation. Expect her to remain loosely available but running on two angry electrons duct-taped inside her reactors until JFK commissions.

Offline: 

USS Ronald Reagan is wrapping up a major 18-month Docking Planned Incremental Availability (DPIA) maintenance period at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, where she has been since last Spring.

USS Gerald R. Ford, suffering from a brutal deployment and a fire that was apparently bigger than anyone knew, just started her own at least eight-month PIA at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

USS John C. Stennis is still mired in her RCOH at Newport News, which she started back in May 2021. Her expected redelivery is targeted for late 2026 / early 2027.

For Some Recruits, the M-1 Garand is still Used for Extra Motivation

Posted on by One comment

I always loved this July 1974 National Geographic image by David Alan Harvey of Sheila E. Denison, one of the first early coed Officer Candidate School class members at USCG TRACEN Yorktown, cleaning her M1 Garand while touching up her hair.

The 10.5-pound wooden-stocked Garand, officially the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1, was used by every class at the U.S. Coast Guard Training Center in Cape May, New Jersey, for half a century, only replaced by the M16/M4 in the early 2000s.

However, for those (un)lucky enough to find themselves in Cape May’s Recruit Aptitude and Motivation Program, or RAMP, “The Greatest Battle Implement Ever Devised” gets pulled out of the armory to add some emphasis to the daily program.

As these images, captured in September, show USCG Company Commanders providing RAMP recruits with “enhanced and personalized training in order for them to succeed.”

(U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Danielle Layton and Seaman Juliana Thornton)

According to the GAO, in 2024, the attrition rate for recruits at Cape May was about 15 percent —higher than in most of the larger services, which average about 11 percent. RAMP aims to turn that around a bit.

Of course, the Coast Guard isn’t the only service still using the Garand, as the WWII icon still often appears in service academy and ROTC training programs, in heritage events such as those hosted by the “Old Guard” of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Regiment, at the CMP’s National Matches in the hands of military competitors, and, last but not least, with the Silent Drill Platoon of the Marines.

“The United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon, Alpha Company, Marine Barracks Washington, execute the ‘bursting bomb’ sequence at the UFC Freedom 250 Fan Fest at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., on June 13, 2026. The 24-Marine rifle platoon executed a series of calculated drill movements and precise handling of their hand-polished, 10.5-pound M1 Garand rifles with fixed bayonets, all without a single verbal command. The unique precision drill exhibition showcased the uncompromising attention to detail and rigid discipline that exemplify the United States Marine Corps.” (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Brynn L. Bouchard)

Warship Wednesday 30 September 2026: What Friends Are For

Posted on by Leave a comment

Here at LSOZI, we take a break every Wednesday to explore the old steam/diesel navies from 1833 to 1954, profiling a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places.- Christopher Eger 

If you enjoy my always ad-free Warship Wednesday content, you can support it by buying me a cup of joe at https://buymeacoffee.com/lsozi As Henk says: “Warship Coffee – no sugar, just a pinch of salt!”

Warship Wednesday 30 September 2026: What Friends Are For

NIMH photo, via the Fotoafdrukken Koninklijke Marine, No. 2158_002974

Above, we see the Free Dutch Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyer (torpedobootjager) Hr.Ms. Isaac Sweers (G 83) steaming into the Grand Harbor of Malta circa late 1942, wearing British Atlantic camo.

Some 85 years ago this week, Sweers was part of the epic Operation Halberd, a resupply operation to keep besieged Malta fed, and lent her advanced AAA guns to help swat down Axis torpedo bombers.

All in a day’s work.

Dutch destroyer primer

A fleet based on cruisers, gunboats, and torpedo boats, the Netherlands dipped their first toe in the water of destroyerdom in 1909 with a group of eight Roofdier (Wolf)-class tin cans, the first serial-built Dutch turbine-engine ships, built for service in the East Indies. Small, 510-ton, 229-foot ships with four 3-inch guns and two torpedo tubes, they could make 30 knots on their combination of Krupp-Germania steam turbines and English Yarrow boilers.

The Torpedobootjager Hr. Ms. Fret (Ferret), of the first Dutch destroyer class, was in commission from 1911 to 1922, then used as a target ship until 1930. All of her sisters were named after predators (Roofdiers). Note the canvas sea bridge and knifelike 21-foot beam. NIMH 2158_002538

With the eight obsolete Roofdiers stricken by the 1920s, they were replaced hull-for-hull with a batch of eight 30-knot Admiralen-type tin cans built on a Yarrow design starting in 1925, based on the British destroyer Ambuscade. Built in two batches, the Van Ghents and the Van Galens, they were the same general size (1,640 tons/322-feet) and batteries (4×4.7-inch guns, 6 torpedo tubes); they differed in range. Interestingly, they also had the weight and space for a seaplane.

The Dutch Admiralen types, via the 1938 Jane’s:

Then, by the mid-1930s, with both the Germans beating the war drums in Europe and the Japanese doing the same in the Pacific with an eye towards the Dutch East Indies, it was decided to replace the fleet’s 12 mis-matched and aging T-class (Thornycroft), Z-class (Schelde), and G-class (Fljenoord) torpedo boats– most dating to the Great War, armed with just a deck gun or two and a few 17.7-inch tubes and struggling to make 25 knots– with a dozen much larger and more capable destroyers, outclassing even the Admiralens.

Dutch Callenburg-class destroyers, Janes 1938

This expansion came as part of Vlootplan Deckers, the Deckers Fleet Plan, named after Minister of the Navy, Dr. L.N. Deckers. The plan was to replace aging assets with modern ones and envisioned three light cruisers, another pair of “torpedokruisers” (torpedo/scout cruisers) to serve as flotilla leaders for the 20 modern destroyers (eight Admiralen and 12 Callenburghs), and at least 26 submarines (eight in Europe and 18 in the Dutch East Indies) augmented by 90 land-based Dornier Do 24K three-engine patrol bombers of the Marine-Luchtvaartdienst (MLD). They also added new gunnery training ships and gunboats to serve ancillary wartime duties. By 1938, this ambitious plan was augmented by a new push (Project 1047) to build a trio of hulking 25,000-ton Scharnhorst-style “cruiser killers” with 11-inch guns and swathed in 9 inches of armor, envisioned to join the fleet in 1944.

Moving past the Deckers Plan, let’s just focus on the Callenburghs.

With an overall length of 349 feet and a 35-foot beam, they had a natural 1:10 ratio and could float in just over 10 feet of seawater. Light displacement was 1,628 tons, full 2,240. This made them roughly the same size as the British Tribal-class destroyers.

The Dutch machine factory Werkspoor obtained licenses for Parsons geared steam turbines and Yarrow 3-drum boilers intended to equip the newest fleet of destroyers. Using a powerplant of three oil-fired boilers and twin turbines on twin screws, they could generate 45,000 shp at 475rpm for a designed speed of 36 knots. Of note, the class leader hit 50,100 shp on speed trials at full load by superheating the boilers to 350 °C, reaching 515 rpm and 42 knots. Twin in-line fire rooms and stacks provided redundancy against damage. Range on 560 tons of oil was 5,400nm at 19 knots, which was superior to the 5,700nm @ 15 kts of Tribals.

The intended armament was to be a main battery of five 4.7″/45 Bofors-derived Wilton-Fijenoord guns in two No. 8 twin mounts (one fore, one aft) and one single No. 6 mount amidships between the two stacks.

Built under license from Bofors by the ordnance office of the Wilton-Feijenoord Dockyard in Rotterdam, the Dutch before the war produced 17 4.7″/45s for the ships in armored turrets, and another 22 to equip six coastal batteries along the coast of the Netherlands. Capable of firing 10-12 rounds per minute at 19,500m, the electrically powered turrets were armored to 60mm.

Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyer initial 1937 general plan and longitudinal section, showing the original planned stern Fokker platform. Note the gun and torpedo arrangement. Nationaal Archief

Her secondary battery included two twin 40mm/56 Bofors No. 3 AAA guns (one over each twin 4.7″/45 mount) with Hazemayer fire control systems (more on this later) and two twin water-cooled .50 cal Colt (Browning) export Model 1924 mounts (on each side of the bridge wings), the latter platform also used on Dutch Flores-class sloops, minesweepers, and the minelayer Bloemendaal. The Dutch also trialed the twin air-cooled, Swiss-made Solothurn S-14-200 .50 cals with Zeiss sights, which were installed on the one-off frigate Johan Maurits van Nassau.

Twin Colt Model 1924 water-cooled. 50 cal Browning on a Dutch minesweeper, 1940s 2158_015801

They had eight 21-inch torpedo tubes (lancerbuizen) in two quad turnstiles serviced by a torpedo davit on each side of the deck. Two spare torps could be carried in a magazine behind the first turnstile, giving the destroyers a total capacity of 10 fish.

Maintenance on the torpedoes aboard the destroyer Hr. Ms. Isaac Sweers, circa 1941-42. NIMH 2158_002975

Anti-submarine weapons consisted of four depth charge throwers (dieptebombenwerpers) with space for a dozen cans.

They also had space for 24 sea mines on deck in place of stern depth charge rails and mechanical minesweeping gear in the form of two paravanes and chains, stored by the ship’s boats, which included a 23-foot motor launch and a 26-foot eight-oared rowing sloop with an auxiliary motor (Sloep B IV met hulpmotor).

Like the Admiralen-class, these new destroyers could carry a crane-launched and recovered single-engine seaplane, typically a Dutch-made Fokker C.VII-W.

The plane was initially going to be stowed aft with its tail hanging over the stern 40mm mount when stowed, but this shifted amidships with the single 4.7″/45 No. 6 single mount shifted aft instead, overlooking the stern 4.7″/45 twin No. 8, in the position of the stern 40mm twin mount, which instead was moved to a bandstand between the two torpedo tube turnstiles. The two twin .50-cal water-cooled Colt-Brownings were likewise moved from the bridge wing to flank the second funnel, abeam, port and starboard.

Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyer plan, showing the planned amidships Fokker platform and the reallocated guns. Nationaal Archief NL 4.MST_1921

Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyer finalized rigging plan, showing the planned amidships Fokker platform and the reallocated guns. Nationaal Archief

A Fokker C.VII-W seaplane on the Admiralen-class destroyer Hr.Ms. Witte de With at anchor, Koepang, Timor, Dutch East Indies, September 1934.  NIMH 2173-223-014

The Dutch were the only users of the Fokker C.VII-W, buying 30 of them for the MLD. Capable of a 70 kt cruising speed and 600nm range, these open-cockpit canvas beauties could carry two light bombs and a twin observer-manned Vickers gun on a ring mount.

They were designed for a peacetime complement of 158: 11 officers, 19 NCOs, and 128 enlisted, growing to over 200 in wartime.

Built for service in the Dutch East Indies, it is likely that as much as a quarter of their enlisted would be drawn from Indonesian volunteers. In 1933, the Dutch Navy had about 12,000 officers and men, including around 2,500 indigenous sailors drawn from the DEI, with efforts to train local officer candidates underway in 1940.

The first two members of the class, Callenburgh (Yard No. 208) and Tjerk Hiddes (Yard 207), were laid down six weeks apart at RDM in Rotterdam and constructed side by side.

Construction of -right- the Tjerk Hiddes and -left- the Gerard Callenburgh at the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij, 9 June 1939. Note the RDM yard numbers on each hull. NIMH 2158_012320

Construction of -right- the Tjerk Hiddes and -left- the Gerard Callenburgh at the Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij, 13 September 1939. Note the RDM yard numbers on each hull.  NIMH 2158_031833

Mrs. G. A. J. Dijxhoorn-Ybes, the wife of the Minister of Defense, christened both.

The next two of the class, our Isaac Sweers and sister Philips van Almonde, were ordered from Koninklijke Mij De Schelde, Flushing.

In Dutch fashion, all were to have name initials as pennant numbers (Gerard Callenburgh was GC, Tjerk Hiddes TH, Isaac Sweers IS, Philips van Almonde PA)

This all brings us to…

Meet Sweers

Our subject is named in honor of Isaak Sweers (also seen as Ysaack Sweerts), Vice-Admiraal van Holland en West-Friesland, a 17th-century naval hero of the Anglo-Dutch wars. Sweers was a swashbuckler who first saw combat in his 20s under Jan van Galen against the Barbary Pirates, then sailed on Michiel de Ruyter’s expedition to West Africa and America. He was killed in a North Sea naval battle by a direct hit from a British 24-pounder cannonball that saved only his torso for the coffin– but left the Dutch with a victory.

Sweers and the painting by Willem van de Velde the Younger, “Night Battle between Tromp and Spragge at Kijkduin,” August 21, 1673; the 227-ship naval battle in which Sweers was mortally wounded, at age 51. Both via the Nationaal Archief

Laid down on 26 November 1938 at Koninklijke Mij. De Schelde, Vlissingen, Zeeland, she was Yard No. 212, while her sister, the planned Philips van Almonde, was laid down four months later as Yard No. 213.

March 1939. The future Isaac Sweers on the builder’s ways on Kon. Mij. De Schelde te Vlissingen. NIMH 2158_002965

The future Isaac Sweers was christened by sponsor (doopster) Mrs. Johanna van den Arend-Keers, wife of LtZ Henry van den Arend, supervisor of the destroyers under construction at the yard. 16 March 1940

The future Torpedobootjager Hr. Ms. Isaac Sweers was launched at Vlissingen, 16 March 1940. NIMH 2158_028945

Torpedobootjager Hr.Ms. Isaac Sweers gereed voor de tewaterlating bij de Kon. Mij. De Schelde te Vlissingen, 16 March 1940. NIMH

Sliding down the ways, 16 March 1940. NIMH 2158_002967

Hr.Ms. Isaac Sweers in Schelde te Vlissingen being fitted out, between April and May 1940. NIMH 2158_028947

Same as the above. NIMH 2158_028946

30 April 1940, the submarine Hr.Ms. O 22 (K XXII) comes back home to Vlissingen following sea trials, passing the fitting out Isaac Sweers. For reference, O 22 escaped incomplete to England when the Germans occupied Holland the next month and went missing off Norway on her fifth war patrol. NIMH 2158_015482

War!

During the first eight and a half months of WWII, although the country was neutral, the Dutch merchant marine was very much at war, with 43 merchant ships lost or severely damaged due to acts of war– and that isn’t even counting the fishing fleet, which also suffered heavy losses.

When the Germans swept into the neutral Netherlands as part of their sweep through the Lowlands on 10 May 1940, the Dutch had no hope of stopping the 29 battle-hardened enemy divisions of Von Bock’s Armee Group B with their nine much lighter divisions– especially with an army that had not seen combat in Europe since 1831. Plus, the Germans had something like a 7:1 local advantage in tactical aircraft, allowing the Luftwaffe to largely control the skies on Day 1.

Most of the Dutch fleet was deployed to the Far East to oppose an increasingly warlike Japan. This included the cruisers De Ruyter, Java, and Tromp; all active Admiralen-class destroyers; 15 submarines; and a myriad of smaller craft, as well as the bulk of the MLD’s combat aircraft —including 37 new Dornier Do 24 K-1 flying boats, soon augmented by 36 PBY Catalinas. Their inferno along the Java Sea would come at the hands of the Emperor’s Combined Fleet in 1942.

Left in Europe was the old 8,000-ton cruiser Hr.Ms. Sumatra, awaiting her mid-life refit in Vlissingen; the new cruiser Jacob van Heemskerck, still fitting out; the four building Gerard Callenburgh-class destroyers; assorted auxiliaries; and 13 submarines, most of which were either under construction or in dry dock for refit. The commander of the Royal Dutch Navy, VADM Johannes Furstner, soon left the country with Queen Wilhelmina and family on Sumatra for England to continue the fight, and issued orders for the rest of the fleet to do the same.

The Admiralen-class destroyer Van Galen, in refit at Rotterdam, was bombed and damaged by Heinkel He 111 aircraft of Kampfgeschwader 4 on 10 May and sank in the Merwedehaven. The same day, the tug De Oceaan, too slow to make a getaway, was scuttled as a block ship.

The 11th saw the old gunboat Braga scuttled in the Waal, while the Luftwaffe sank the Dutch liners Statendam and Veendam, along with the steamer Stella.

The 12th saw the gunboats Bulgia and Friso and the hospital ship Luctor et Emergo sunk by German bombs, joined by the steamers Prinses Juliana and Van Rensselaer.

On the 13th, the torpedo boat Christiaan Cornelis was scuttled by her crew after sustaining crippling battle damage, while the minesweeper M 2 was sunk while doing her job.

The 14th was a day of reckoning for the Dutch Navy. Destroyed by the Germans or scuttled by their crew were the ancient and immobile 5,000-ton coastal battleship Batterijschip IJmuiden, the brave sloop/frigate Johan Maurits van Nassau, the yard-bound submarines O 8, O 11, O 12, O 25, O 26, and O 27; the minesweepers Abraham van der Hulst, M 1, M 3, M 4, and Pieter Florisz, the minelayer Hydra, the gunboats Brinio, Freyr, Hefring, and Tyr; the torpedo boats Jan Danielzoon van de Rijn, G 16, and Z 3; the tug Noordzee II, and the merchant steamers Jan Pieterszoon Coen and Naaldwijk.

Picture postcard with drawings of some of the Dutch warships lost during the May days of 1940. Top left: the gunboat Hr.Ms. Johan Maurits van Nassau (1933-1940), which was sunk by aerial bombs on May 14, 1940, between Petten and Callantsoog. Top right: the torpedo boat Hr.Ms. Z 3 (1920-1940), which was sunk by its own crew near Enkhuizen on May 14, 1940. Below that: the destroyer Hr.Ms. Van Galen (1929-1940), which was sunk by aerial bombs near Rotterdam on May 10, 1940. Below that, on the left: the minelayer Hr.Ms. Hydra (1912-1940), which was heavily damaged by German anti-tank fire in the Zijpe near St. Philipsstad on May 15, 1940, and grounded in shallow water. Next to it on the right are the minesweepers Hr. Ms. Pieter Florisz (1937-1940) and Hr. Ms. Abraham van der Hulst (1937-1940), which was sunk by its own crew near Medemblik and Enkhuizen on May 14. Below that on the left is the accommodation ship in Vlissingen, Hr.Ms. Noordbrabant (1925-1940) was set on fire by its own crew on May 17, 1940. Next to it is the gunboat Hr. Ms. Friso (1915-1940), which was heavily damaged by aircraft bombs on the IJsselmeer on May 12, 1940, and subsequently by gunfire from Hr. Ms. Pieter Florisz (1937-194) was sunk after the crew had abandoned the ship. Additionally, the gunboat Hr. Ms. Brinio (1914-1940), which was sunk by its own crew on Lake IJssel near Enkhuizen on May 14, 1940. Additionally, the minelayer Zr./Hr.Ms. Bulgia (1894-1940), which was sunk during an air raid on Vlissingen on May 12. NIMH 2061-006-001

Looking to fight another day, the cruisers Sumatra and Jacob van Heemskerck, the gunboat Gruno, the minelayers Jan van Gelder and Willem van der Zaan, and seven Dutch submarines (O 9, O 10, O 13, O 21, O 22, O 23, and O 24) escaped from the European mainland to Great Britain, most under strafing attacks by German fighters and a hail of German bombs. Heemskerck had to be towed, and the O 20-series subs were still incomplete.

They were joined by an armada of coasters and merchant vessels that also ran the gauntlet. No less than 39 Dutch coasters took part in the “Miracle from Dunkirk” and the Channel harbors of France over the next month, lifting at least 1,900 Dutch troops away from the maelstrom. In all, more than 1,200 Dutch merchant ships would serve with the Allies during WWII, with estimates hovering at about 525 of those lost.

The Dutch army units, which had not yet linked up with the Allies, laid down their arms on the morning of 15 May.

Dutch RADM Hoyte Jolles, commanding nearly 10,000 stranded sailors, marines, shipyard workers, and recalled reservists at Den Helder, which included several fortified coastal defense sites, wanted to keep fighting until the bitter end and was only narrowly convinced by CiC Gen. Henri Winkelman not to waste his men’s lives.

But what of our four building destroyers?

On the Issac Sweers, MLD LtZ Baron Hugo Anne Victor Raoul van Lawick gathered 10 naval personnel and six shipyard workers, all volunteers, and, with the blessing of KMDS personnel, cast off the incomplete destroyer on the late evening of 10 May 1940.

Using the requisitioned 850-ton L. Smit & Co tugboat Zwarte Zee (Black Sea), the shoestring operation towed the hull 80 miles from Vlissingen to The Downs in England–dodging four German magnetic mines dropped in the tug’s path– arriving late morning on the 11th. Safe, they moved to Spithead the following day.

There, Sweers was tied up, safe from the German advance. Zwarte Zee remained in English waters, joining 12 other Dutch ocean-going tugs, and, despite being sunk at least once, entered the service of the British Admiralty as a salvage vessel and tow boat. Zwarte Zee’s master throughout the war, Teun Vet, was honored with the Dutch Bronze Lion (Bronzen Leeuw).

As for the building, Tjerk Hiddes and Gerard Callenburgh, still being fitted out in Rotterdam, were both scuttled on the Nieuwe Waterweg by naval and RDM personnel, putting them out of the Germans’ hands for at least the time being.

The fourth ship of the class, the building Philips van Almonde, still in the stocks as she was just laid down in March 1939, was blown up at the shipyard in Vlissingen and scrapped by the Germans.

Completion abroad

In June, Isaac Sweers was towed to Thornycroft shipyard at Southampton, where she would be completed, a process that took nearly a year.

Torpedobootjager Hr.Ms. Isaac Sweers in drydock at John I. Thornycroft & Co. Ltd., Southampton, October 1940. Note that her screws haven’t been installed yet. NIMH 2158_002969

Isaac Sweers in drydock at John I. Thornycroft. Note that her 40mm mount is covered, and the radar and fire-control system antennas have been marked out by the censor. Nationaal Archief 934-9828

Although she had most of her intended equipment installed, including her propulsion plant, she lacked her main guns. This left her with three twin British 4″/45 QF Mk XVI mounts rather than the five 4.7″/45 Dutch guns she had planned. The incomplete cruiser Jacob van Heemskerck, likewise without guns, received five of the same mounts.

At Alexandria on the Free Dutch destroyer Issac Sweers (G 83). Dutch sailors off duty, enjoying a yarn beside depth-charges. Note the 4″/45 QF Mk XVI twin mount, 24 December 1941. By LT E.A. Zimmerman, RN. IWM (A 7263)

She also got two Vickers quad .50 cal mounts instead of the planned Colt-Browning twin .50s and British torpedo tubes, but never did get that seaplane fitted. Instead of the Dutch listening gear she had planned, she got a British Type 124 sonar.

Quad .50 cal Vickers mount on Isaac Sweers, at Alexandria, Egypt, 24 December 1941. By LT EA Zimmerman, IWM (A 7264)

Issac Sweers as completed, 1941, with British guns and radar. Dutch Nationaal Archief. 4.MST

Drawing by AD Baker III via British Destroyers from Earliest days to the Second World War by Friedman (Seaforth 2009).

Torpedobootjager Hr. Ms. Isaac Sweers, 1941, Bestanddeelnr 934-9830

The Brits were very interested in her 40mm Bofors mounts, as was her Hazemayer local fire control system, classified as the Range & Direction Finding system 289, or simply called “The Dutch Device” by ASE Plymouth. Sea trials with the primitive radar showed that a Swordfish had a continuously trackable echo out to 4,400 yards, while barrage balloons could be pinged out to 6,600.

Hr.Ms. torpedobootjager Isaac Sweers at Vosper Tornycraft soon after completion. Note the barrage balloons overhead. NIMH 2158_005293

The electric listening device (RDF 289) transmitter-receiver on Isaac Sweers with the J-scope and headphones, shown next to an image of the RDF 289 transmitter section. Sweers had one of these sets in shacks behind each of her two 40mm Bofors mounts. 

The Brits elected to simplify the system for their own use and augment the Dutch ship with a range-only British UHF-band Type 282 fire control radar as well.

As noted by Friedman:

The Royal Navy was most impressed by the twin stabilized Bofors guns aboard Isaac Sweers and other Dutch warships. Both it and the U.S. Navy saw them demonstrated on board a Dutch gunboat in the West Indies. The U.S. reaction was to adopt a simplified (unstabilized) twin-powered Bofors in place of its quadruple 1.1-in anti-aircraft gun; this weapon entered widespread service from 1942 onwards. The Royal Navy was more interested in the mount, which it called a Hazemeyer, after the Dutch manufacturer (which later became Signaal), as a self-contained unit, carrying its own fire-control computer and its own range-only (Type 282) radar. A ship armed with multiple Hazemeyers could engage multiple air targets; a U.S. ship could engage only as many targets as she had off-mount directors (Mk 51 or radar-equipped successors such as Mk 57).

However, the complex mount turned out to be a manufacturing and maintenance nightmare, and the A through to I class destroyers could never be fitted with it. The promise of the Hazemeyer led the Royal Navy to develop the much heavier STAAG, with a next-generation radar (Type 262), and to project an even more elaborate Buster mounting, which would have weighed twenty tons (and was canceled).

The early 40mm Bofors Hazemeyer mount shown is aboard the destroyer Isaac Sweers, probably in mid-1941. The antennas are for the range-only British UHF-band Type 282 fire control radar. In effect, a Hazemeyer combined gun and fire control system, NIMH 2158_053881

A closer look at that Type 282. NIMH 2158_028955

With a 194-man crew drawn from across the assembled Free Dutch naval personnel in the West, Hr.Ms. Isaac Sweers, complete with the British pennant G 83 rather than her Dutch IS, entered service on 29 May 1941. Her first skipper was KtZ Jacques Houtsmuller, RNN, a regular who obtained his commission in 1916.

Hr.Ms. torpedobootjager Isaac Sweers (G 83) after completion in England. IWM (A 30815)

Finally, in the fight!

In June 1941, Sweers took part in a series of trials off Portsmouth and Plymouth, during which she achieved a top speed of 36.7 knots over a measured mile. She continued her workups and exercises at Scapa Flow through July and, on 1 August, arrived at Greenock to join the Western Approaches Command for escort duties.

She soon joined the escort for Convoy WS 10, a slow “Winston Special” headed to Africa from the Clyde.

Then came WS 11, which she took as far as Gibraltar.

Our little Dutch destroyer, sailing with the 4th Destroyer Flotilla, became part of Admiral Somerville’s Operation Halberd at “The Rock,” bound for Malta. Running two convoys totaling 12 freighters packed with supplies for the island, Sweers fell in with 18 other destroyers (including two Poles), five cruisers, the battleships HMS Nelson, Rodney, and Prince of Wales, and the carrier Ark Royal. A force of nine Allied submarines (including the Dutch O 21) patrolled ahead of the Italian fleet.

Speaking of which, the Italian RADM Angelo Iachino sortied out with two battlewagons, five cruisers, and 14 destroyers of his own, while the Italian air force had 500 assorted tactical aircraft based in Sardinia and Sicily that the Halberd force had to sail through.

When the smoke cleared, the Allied escorts and Ark Royal’s Fulmars shot down 21 attacking SM.79 and BR.20 torpedo bombers while only one Allied steamer (MV Imperial Star) was lost along the way. The Allied tin cans of Sweers‘ 4th DF, specifically HMS Gurkha and Legion, sank the Italian sub Adua. Gurkha and Sweers also unsuccessfully chased the Italian submarine Diaspro.

Sweers had at least three “narrow misses” from Italian torpedoes in as many days, two sub-launched torps traveling too deep, and an air-dropped fish missing her bow by 30 meters. She also suffered two men injured from friendly fire splinters.

Arriving back in Gibraltar on 1 October, Sweers ventured out to help escort Convoy OS 9 to Freetown, then came back north as an escort for Convoy SL 90

Back in Gibraltar for Operation Perpetual, one of the Club Run aircraft delivery missions to Malta, Sweers fell in with Force H– the carriers Argus and Ark Royal (the latter packed with Hurricane fighters and Blenheim bombers), battleship Malaya, cruiser Hermione, and six destroyers on 10 November.

Cape Bon

Ordered from Gibraltar to Alexandria via Malta with fellow destroyers HMS Sikh, Legion, and Maori to reinforce the Mediterranean Fleet in December, the four greyhounds sighted the outlines of two medium-sized ships steaming south on the early morning of 13 December near Cape Bon, Tunisia. With the force commodore on Sikh (CDR Graham Stokes) warned about two Italian cruisers (Alberico da Barbiano and Alberto di Giussano) proceeding from Palermo to Tripoli thanks to Ultra intercepts, he immediately presumed them to be these ships, and soon the surface action was afoot.

Sikh, leading the column, went in first, torpedoes and guns opening up at 1,000 yards, followed by Legion and Maori, with 12 torps wrecking the Italian cruisers. Sweers, the last in the column, got off 4-inch rounds at one of the burning cruisers (Alberto di Giussano), then switched fire to an Italian torpedo boat (Cigno) running in close, scoring several hits as the two traded missed torpedoes at close range in the dark.

At the end of the scrap, the Allies suffered no casualties or damage, while both Italian cruisers were on the bottom, with 817 men from their crews. The damaged Cigno returned after dawn to pick up 500 waterlogged survivors.

The four Allied destroyers sailed into Alexandria with a hell of an after-action report on 19 December.

Changing skippers, loss of Gurkha

On Christmas Eve 1941, RN Photographer Lt. E.A. Zimmerman came aboard the Dutch man-of-war at Alexandria and captured her crew at work, then accompanied them for a Christmas ASW patrol.

Zimmerman’s photo essay:

CDR Houtsmuller, captain of the Isaac Sweers (left by one of the ship’s torpedo turnstiles) with RADM Irvine Gordon Glennie, Rear Admiral (Destroyers, Mediterranean Fleet). Glennie, who started the war commanding HMS Hood but had been kicked upstairs before she met Bismarck, retired as a full admiral in 1947, capping 42 years in uniform. By Zimmerman. IWM (A 7258)

At Alexandria on Issac Sweers. Dutch sailors pulling out torpedoes for cleaning, oiling, varnishing, and revision, 24 December 1941. By Zimmerman. IWM (A 7259)

At Alexandria on Issac Sweers. Dutch sailors pulling out torpedoes for cleaning, oiling, varnishing, and revision, 24 December 1941. By Zimmerman. IWM (A 7261)

At Alexandria on Issac Sweers. Members of the gun crew overhauling their pom-poms while in harbor. 24 December 1941. By Zimmerman. IWM (A 7264)

25 December 1941. ASW Patrol. Sending and receiving messages on the Dutch destroyer Isaac Sweers, while the look-out below scans the horizon. By Zimmerman IWM (A 8056)

25 December 1941. ASW Patrol, eastern Med. HMS Napier and HMS Nizam are almost hidden by bow waves from Isaac Sweers in heavy seas.  By Zimmerman IWM (A 8053)

In early 1942, at a ceremony at Admiralty House, a DSO (Houtsmuller), 2 DSCs, and 3 DSMs were presented by Admiral of the Fleet and First Sea Lord, Sir Dudley Pound, to officers of Isaac Sweers, “who participated in the night action in the Mediterranean on 13 December 1941 when two Italian cruisers and an E-boat were sunk and an Italian torpedo boat was heavily damaged.”

By this time, Houtsmuller had been replaced by KltZ Willem Harmsen, RNN, who had commanded the British-loaned destroyer HNMS Campbeltown (I 42) throughout 1941. A regular, Harmsen had earned his first stripe in July 1915.

The new year saw Sweers on cross-Med Convoy ME 8, AT 12, and MW 8A/B. It was on the latter that U-133 (Kptlt Hesse) torpedoed Gurkha off Sidi Barrani on 17 January 1942. Sweers and Maori rushed to her aid and, after towing her out of a burning oil slick, Sweers picked up 240 survivors while Maori screened the rescue and hunted the attacker. Gurkha suffered nine losses.

Royal Navy L-class destroyer HMS Gurkha (G 65), one hour after being torpedoed by U-133 off Sidi Barrani on 17 January 1942. She would be on the bottom just 30 minutes later, with Sweers saving the majority of her crew. The photo was taken by D.J.Hoefsloot, the ship’s barber on Isaac Sweers.

Spared at Java, lost at Torch

On 29 January 1942, with a brand-new war being fought in the Pacific, Sweers was released from the Mediterranean Fleet and ordered to proceed to the Dutch East Indies to reinforce the Free Dutch forces there under pressure from the Japanese.

However, upon arriving in Colombo via Port Said and Aden in late February, the situation in the Java Sea had come to a head, and there was no longer a Dutch fleet for Sweers to join in the Far East.

Falling in with the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean, she spent most of March and April escorting the battleship HMS Royal Sovereign, reacting to Operation C, the strong 5-carrier/4-battleship Japanese raid into the region.

Isaac Sweers in the Indian Ocean under British RN orders. Nationaal Archief NL 934-9831

Sweers, likely in a British port in 1942, looking worn. NIMH 2158 028954

After the Japanese retired back to the Pacific, Sweers was released to make her way to England via Durban, Simonstown, Freetown, and Gibraltar.

On 22 June 1942, she arrived at Thornycroft shipyard in Portsmouth for a much-needed refit after a solid year of high-tempo operations. She would remain there for three months. During the refit, Sweers landed her quad Vickers .50s in exchange for four Oerlikon singles and picked up a British Western Approaches-style camo scheme.

Hr.Ms. torpedobootjager Isaac Sweers’ post-camo scheme late in her career. NIMH 2158_005303

After working up and exercises in Scapa Flow, Sweers was attached to the escort for troop Convoy KMF 1 for the Torch Landings in North Africa, and headed back to the Med in October. There, she was detached on 5 November to join Force H, supporting the Eastern (Algiers) and Center (Oran) Task Forces.

On 11 November, Sweers and the British destroyer HMS Porcupine rescued 238 survivors from the Dutch troop transport Nieuw Zeeland, which had been torpedoed and sunk by U-380 about 80 miles east of Gibraltar.

The next day, our subject’s long streak of luck finally ran out.

At 0615  on 13 November, while northwest of Algiers, Sweers was hit by two torpedoes from U-431 (Kptlt Wilhelm Dommes) on the starboard side. One torpedo struck an oil tank, which had just been topped off by the fleet oiler HMS Dingledale, spreading burning oil over the ship and the water. The second torpedo hit the logroom and O quarters, killing all 13 officers sleeping there, with the butcher’s bill topping 108.

The British armed trawler HMS Loch Oskaig picked up the 86 survivors.

A snapshot of Hr. Ms. Isaac Sweers was found on the body of one of her crew after she was lost. The discolored spots are due to fuel oil, with which this survivor was also soaked. NIMH 2158_001537

For what it is worth, U-431 was chased to the ground the following October by RAF Wellingtons off Cartagena and sent to the bottom with all hands. Kptlt Dommes had, however, left the boat by then, sailing to the Pacific to become the Monsun Group commander at Penang, surviving the war with 11 patrols and 40,103 GRT to his credit.

Epilogue

Sweers‘ 1941 skipper of Cape Bon fame, KtZ Jacques Houtsmuller, RNN, survived the war and retired from the Navy in December 1946, capping a 30-year career, and was made an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau. He passed away in 1974, aged 80.

Kapitein ter zee Jacques Houtsmuller, DSO, et, al

Her final skipper, KltZ Willem Harmsen, would go on to command the completed Jacob van Heemskerck in the Indian Ocean in 1943 and 44. He retired in 1946 as Commanding Officer, Naval Forces Rotterdam. He passed away in 1970, aged 77.

The Dutch naval aviator who managed to save the incomplete Isaac Sweers, Baron von Lawick, was killed in a plane crash in the Dutch East Indies in 1941, aged just 31. His only son, naturalist Baron Hugo van Lawick, married Jane Goodall and won eight Emmy Awards for his documentary films.

As for Zwarte Zee, the little tug that saved Isaac Sweers from the Germans in 1940, sailing as W 163, she and 11 other Dutch tugs would take part in Operation Pluto, the breakwater for Normandy, in 1944, when her sister Roode Zee was struck by a German torpedo and sunk with her entire crew. After returning home, Zwarte Zee had a long career, chugging along for 33 years on her original pair of good old Werkspoor crosshead diesels.

On her last voyage to the scrappers in 1966, the old tug sailed slowly along the Nieuwe Maas through the port of Rotterdam, with many on the riverbank to bid farewell to the vessel.

Sleepboot Zwarte Zee waarschijnlijk in het Noordzeekanaal 1933

As for Issac Sweers’ sisters, the scuttled Gerard Callenburgh was salvaged and seized by the Germans in July 1940, then completed and served in the Kriegsmarine with a mixture of her Dutch main guns and German 20mm C/38 (16) and 37mm C/30 (4) flak guns and torpedo tubes, and as ZH1 (Zerstörer Holland 1), commissioned 11 October 1942.

Ex-Gerard Callenburgh, German ZH1, was sunk on 9 June 1944 by Allied destroyers (British HMS Tartar, Ashanti, Eskimo, and Javelin, the Canadian Haida and Huron, and the Polish Blyskawica) in the English Channel 10 miles NW of Ile de Bas by gunfire and torpedoes. NIMH 2158_035728

The scuttled Tjerk Hiddes, raised in June 1942, was planned to become ZH 2 but was never completed as such and was eventually scrapped at Hendrik-Ido-Ambacht.

An illustration of ZH 1 and 2 destroyers Source: “Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815 – 1945, Band 2” book, by Erich Gröner

In a passive resistance kind of thing, the good patriotic employees of Werkspoor, under chief engineer Gerard Jan Lugt, duly disassembled and hid from the Germans eight Werkspoor-Parsons turbines meant for the Gerard Callenburgh class destroyers, along with plans and machinery for their production, through a variety of subterfuges including offsite storage (including at the company’s vast railcar plant at Utrecht), disassembly, and burying them under scrap and rubbish piles until 1945.

Post-liberation, they were coupled with new Babcock boilers and recycled into the power plants of four new, albeit smaller and more modern, Type 47A (Holland) class submarine hunter (onderzeebootjager) ASW destroyers built in the early 1950s, sailing into the mid-1970s in Dutch service, with one later serving in Peru well into the 1980s.

The Type 47A Onderzeebootjager Hr.Ms. Holland, complete with a pair of quad Bofors 375mm ASW mortars forward of the bridge. She served from 1954 to 1977 with the Dutch, then until 1986 with Peru as BAP Garcia y Garcia (DD75)– and did it all with pre-WWII engines ordered for the Gerard Callenburgh class– and Holland broke 40 knots on builder’s sea trials! NIMH 2158_002863

Speaking of carrying a legacy forward, the Dutch reused the name of VADM Sweers for an NDSM-built Van Speijk (Dutch Leander)- class frigate (F 814), commissioned in 1968. She served the Koninklijke Marine until 1990, when she was decommissioned as part of a post-Cold War drawdown. Still young and in good condition, she was sold to Indonesia, where she remains in service as the Ahmad Yani-class frigate KRI Karel Satsuitubun (F 356), now 58 years old.

HNLMS Isaac Sweers (F814) during her Cold War service in the Royal Netherlands Navy. She continues to ply the Pacific under an Indonesian flag, serving alongside four of her sisters.

Thanks for reading!

Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive

***

If you like this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship you can find. http://www.warship.org/membership.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to encouraging the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron- and steel-hulled warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

With more than 50 years of scholarship, Warship International, the INRO’s written tome, has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their scope and subject matter.

PRINT still has its place. If you LOVE warships, you should belong.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Scratch another Fig-7

Posted on by One comment

Gaze upon this beautiful new “long hull” Oliver Hazard Perry-class guided missile frigate USS Klakring (FFG 42) underway on 28 June 1983 during her builder’s trials off Maine prior to commissioning later that August.

Gotta love that “one-armed bandit” launcher on her bow.

Bath Iron Works Corp. photo via National Archives, Identifier 6405085, Navy Assigned Identifier DNSC8605676

The first naval vessel named for famed WWII submarine skipper and Yankee Wolfpack leader RADM Thomas Burton “Burt” Klakring who earned three (3) Navy Crosses and a Silver Star during WWII, the frigate herself made a bit of history, participating in Earnest Will/Prime Chance during the Iran-Iraq War, made 20 overseas deployments, was one of the first ships to vet the MQ-8 FireScout VTOL-UAV at sea, and in seizing 3,850 gallons of liquid cocaine while on JTF-South/4th Fleet tasking in 2013.

Decommissioned and stricken in 2013, she has been in mothballs for the past 13 years and, as part of Op Atlantic Thunder 2026, was expended during a SINKEX on 21 September 2026 by the U.S. and Royal Navy in deep water (+1,000 fathoms) some 150 miles off the coast of the Hebrides in Scotland.

The Flight IIA Burke-class destroyer USS Paul Ignatius (DDG 117) opened the engagement with an SM-6 fired at its maximum (undisclosed) anti-surface range. The 140-pound frag warhead is seen doing a good bit of damage and would probably have been an effective “mission kill” on its own against the 4,000-ton FFG.

The Type 23 (Duke) class frigate HMS Portland (F 79), fresh out of a mid-life LIFEX overhaul, fired a Naval Strike Missile (NSM). Of note, Portland is only the second RN ship to carry NSM.

A Royal Navy Wildcat helicopter launched an MBDA Sea Venom/ANL, the first time the Royal Navy’s new light (275-pound) anti-ship missiles have been fired at a real warship.

USAF F-15E Strike Eagles also struck the target with undisclosed ordnance before the Virginia-class submarine USS Massachusetts (SSN 798) administered the coup de grace with a Mk 48 (or higher?) torpedo.

For this sinking, the UK Defence Journal noted, “Particular interest is placed on uncrewed underwater vehicles (UUVs) able to perform underwater battle damage assessment after the strike.”

Of the 71 FFG-7s completed for the U.S. and allied fleets, 35 are still in service overseas (both Turkey and Taiwan, for instance, have eight apiece), with just five laid up stateside in the NISMF, awaiting disposal.

  • ex-USS Taylor (FFG-50)
  • ex-USS Elrod (FFG-55)
  • ex-USS Simpson (FFG-56) (The final U.S. Navy FFG-7 to decommission)
  • ex-USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58)
  • ex-USS Kauffman (FFG-59)

The snuff film of Klakring being taken out, with terrible music, is below from Navy Lookout.

A South of the Border Option for the Marine Rocket Batteries?

Posted on by Leave a comment

In the aftermath of Hurricane Polo in the Pacific, which crossed over Baja California, the Mexican Navy has dispatched a relief force to include the 2,933-strong Brigadas de Respuesta a Emergencias and the camouflaged Buque de Apoyo Logístico (Logistics Support Vessel) ARM Isla Tiburon (BAL-01), complete with an Fuerza AeroNaval Mil Mi-8 “Hip” aboard, of which the service owns 22.

Thus:

While she looks like a WWII-era LST, Isla Tiburon and her sister, ARM Isla Holbox (BAL-02), are fairly new, built in 2010-13 at ASTIMAR in Oaxaca.

At 3,600 tons and 327 feet overall, they are the largest Mexican Navy ships built domestically.

Powered by twin 1,750 BHP diesels, they can make 12 knots and remain underway for 60 days. Carrying two LCVPs in addition to a bow ramp for beach landings, they have a large central helipad for a decent-sized helo or two (see previously mentioned 12-ton Hip).

They have an 80-man crew and sufficient weight and space to carry five WWII-vintage 40mm L60 Bofors for self-defense.

Note the LCVPs alongside her stern and her bow ramp in a very shallow sand beachline, along with three helos on deck. 

The country has a long history with LSTs, having acquired three LST-542/LST-491-class ships (ex-USS Park County, Clearwater County, and Megara) from the U.S. surplus in the early 1970s, which they operated for 30 years. They still run two 1970s-vintage Newport-class LSTs they picked up in 2003: ARM Rio Papaloapan (A 411), ex-USS Newport (LST-1179), and ARM Usumacinta (A 412), ex-USS Frederick (LST-1184).

Currently, the U.S. Navy is moving forward with a Dutch (Damen) design for the first of up to 35 very similarly sized LSMs to schlep Marine Littoral Regiments around the Nine-Dash Line in the near future. A program sure to be a boondoggle if NAVSEA has its way, and it historically has.

The Damen LST 100 design, which was picked last December to be the Navy LSM– coming to a shipyard near you

Perhaps a proven design from south of the border could be a better option.

Grab the Joe pot, boys (but never wash the cup)

Posted on by Leave a comment

A kapok-clad crewman on the Sims-class destroyer USS Wainwright (DD 419) brings coffee to the open bridge during the escort for the ill-fated Arctic Convoy PQ-17, July 1942.

LIFE Magazine Archives – Frank Scherschel Photographer.

LIFE Magazine Archives – Frank Scherschel Photographer.

Various events have been held, called Coffee Day or National Coffee Day, with many of these on or around September 29.

Cups up, gents.

Grey Wolf has achieved IOC

Posted on by One comment

A 582nd Helicopter Group MH-139 Grey Wolf takes off near Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, Feb. 19, 2026. The 582 HG supports USSTRATCOM’s strategic deterrence mission by enabling airborne security and rapid response capabilities for missile wings across Air Force Global Strike Command. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nicholas Rowe)

Air Force Global Strike Command announced that the MH-139A Grey Wolf officially achieved Initial Operational Capability on August 10, ushering in a new era of modernization for AFGSC’s nuclear security operations.

An American-made (by Boeing) Leonardo AW139, the Air Force is buying 84 of these sleek choppers at about $21M a pop (although commercial AW139s run like $11M) to replace its elderly Hueys in the three operational squadrons (37th, 40th, and 54th) of the 582nd HG for ICBM field security and convoy use, with extras flown for training/support by the 703rd HS and 413th FTS.

Not sure why $15M UH-60s or $11.5M UH-72s couldn’t do the task, but you have to admit they look sweet. Oh, and they cost a bit less than the $28M fly-away of a UH-1Y Venom as flown by the Marines.

This milestone marks the historic transition from the Vietnam-era UH-1N Huey, a platform that served the Air Force for more than five decades.

The MH-139 Grey Wolf boasts significant capability upgrades: it is nearly 50 percent faster, can carry twice as many troops, and features enhanced defensive systems. These advancements allow security forces to mobilize combat power and arrive on-site sooner than the legacy platform.

Cue that beautiful viz-modded Bell 222. You know you are already thinking it.

« Older Entries