The 13th U.S. Cavalry Regiment is seen returning to garrison from its last march as a horse cavalry outfit before shipping off their mounts, trading horse shoes and oats for tires and tracks. The regiment’s colonel at the time was Charles “Lutie” Lewis Scott (USMA 1905), a noted horseman, prominent in the Cavalry Branch as a across an array of organized horse shows, polo matches, fox hunting, and endurance races.
Note, they are outfitted in marching order, complete with gun belts and M1911s. U.S. Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-108064, National Archives Identifier 523751061
The 13th Cavalry Regiment was first constituted on Groundhog’s Day 1901 with its first unit, Troop K, standing up at Fort Meade, South Dakota, on 26 July of the same year.
Spending much of its early years in the Philippines on counter-insurgency operations, the 13th Horse then shifted gears to police the border with Mexico from 1911 through 1916, which included pursuing Mexican outlaw Pascual Orozco.
With about 350 men (four Troops and the MG Troop) already stationed at “Cavalry Camp” in Columbus, New Mexico, they were on hand to repulse Pancho Villa’s raid on the border town that left the unit with 14 casualties versus 100~ suffered by the Villaristas in a 90-minute firefight, which led to Blackjack Pershing’s Punitive Expedition to chase old Panch into the Chihuahua desert.
Mexican Punitive Expedition, 13th Cavalry marching out of El Valle, 1916 111-SC-93333
Retiring from the border in 1921 after missing out on going “Over There,” with the rest of the Doughboys to France in the Great War, the horse soldiers helped film several early western movies, including “The Pony Express” in 1925 and “His First Command” in 1929.
They also notably conducted a 625-mile march from Fort D.A. Russell (now Francis E. Warren AFB, west of Cheyanne, Wyoming) to Fort Riley in good order over 30 days, carrying all their own supplies and bivouacking in the field long before there were interstates and rest stops.
13th Cavalry marched 625 miles to Fort Riley, Summer 1927 111-SC-91997
The regulars of the 13th started to receive their first trucks and motorcycles in 1927, in the slow decade-long transition to becoming a mechanized unit.
Leaving Ft Riley, they were assigned to the 7th Cavalry Brigade (Mechanized) at Fort Knox and began to receive the brand-new M1 Combat Car in 1937.
13th Cavalry M1 Combat Car operating cross-country. Fort Knox, Kentucky. August 1938 111-SC-108927
Thompson submachine gun mounted on a Harley flathead motorcycle of the HHC Troop, 13th Cavalry Regiment, August 1938, at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Note the early round “Old Ironsides” sleeve patch and the riding boots. 111-SC-108934
By 1940, re-badged as the 13th Armored Regiment (Light), they had an allowance for 82 M3 Scout Cars and 136 M3 Stuart Light Tanks, tasked with armored recon, and would soon be receiving M3 (Lee) medium tanks.
Shipping out with the “Old Ironsides” of the 1st Armored Division, the 13th landed in North Africa for Torch in November 1942, went on to lock horns and learn from the Afrika Korps the hard way in Tunisia. They saw their first major combat since 1916 at the Battle of Kasserine Pass, which was one tough proving ground for American armor.
M3 medium tank crew from Company F, 13th Armored Regiment, displays assorted 75mm ammunition. North Africa, 1942-43. Rounds from left to right are 75mm APCBC-HE-Ta shell M61, 75mm AP-T shot M72, and 75mm HE shell M48. Signal Corps 167328 via NARA.
The unit then traded its M3 Stuarts for M5s and M3 Lees for M4 Shermans to land in Europe for the invasion of Italy in November 1943. They pushed all the way up the Italian “boot,” ending the war nearly at the Swiss border, and earned seven battle streamers: Algeria-French Morocco (with arrowhead), Tunisia, Naples-Foggia, Anzio, Rome-Arno, North Apennines, and Po Valley.
Then came occupation duty as the 13th Constabulary Squadron (which ironically included some horses), Cold War reorganization, activation, and inactivation until the 1st Battalion, 13th Armor (1-13 Armor), was stood back up on 16 February 1996 at Fort Riley, Kansas, and assigned once again to the 1st Armored Division. Of note, it had been nearly 60 years on the nose since the unit had hung up its horses at that very base to switch to tracks.
Since then, they have been overseas again to South Korea, Bosnia, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and today the only active Squadron, 2-13 Armor, is the armored recon unit for Old Ironsides’ 3rd Brigade, and is based at Fort Bliss. They ride Bradleys and Abrams.
Their motto is “It Shall Be Done,” and they are still nicknamed the 13th Horse.
Twenty-six ships from 13 partner and allied nations last week steamed in formation with the most grand of Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, USS Nimitz (CVN-68) herself, in Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250 under the aegis of U.S. Second Fleet. The ships assembled the week of the 16th for preplanning and briefings with the At-Sea Execution (June 22-29) for a series of training serials, a fleet formation photoex, and a final free-play battle problem.
We have covered Nimitz’s final cruise with attention and a bit of wistfulness, as she is seemingly ageless and still reflects power, prestige, and potential.
Here are some great images of the photoex, captured by Mass Communication Specialists Frankie M. Guage, Julian Jaime, and Johnathan McCune.
Twenty-six ships from 13 partner and allied nations steam in formation with Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) as part of Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250 in the Atlantic Ocean, June 25, 2026. Nimitz is underway taking part in Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250, a series of structured multilateral training events at-sea, aimed at building cohesiveness, validating tactical procedures, and strengthening the interoperability of participating units—which include warships, aircraft, and crews from the U.S. and 13 partner and allied nations. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Frankie M. Guage)
Twenty-six ships from 13 partner and allied nations steam in formation with Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) as part of Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250 in the Atlantic Ocean, June 25, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Julian Jaime)
Twenty-six ships from 13 partner and allied nations steam in formation with Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during a multinational maritime exercise as part of Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250 in the Atlantic Ocean, June 25, 2026.
Twenty-six ships from 13 partner and allied nations steam in formation with Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during a multinational maritime exercise as part of Fleet Exercise (FLEETEX) 250 in the Atlantic Ocean, June 25, 2026.
Participating nations in FLEETEX 250 include Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Spain, Turkey, and the United Kingdom.
You didn’t even have to bring your own ship to join the jointness, as USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) welcomed 10 naval ship riders from both the navies of Ghana and the Côte d’Ivoire, flown in for the event. At the same time, other vessels embarked guests from Cyprus, Cameroon, Morocco, and Senegal.
USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) welcomed 10 naval ship riders from both the Ghana Navy and the Côte d’Ivoire Navy for FLEETEX 250 (USCG photo)
USCGC Stone (WMSL 758) welcomed 10 naval ship riders from both the Ghana Navy and the Côte d’Ivoire Navy for FLEETEX 250 (USCG photo)
Stingray spotted
Photographed aboard Nimitz was a Boeing MQ-25A Stingray on her No. 3 Cat with two Rhinos behind the big UAV. It really gives a sense of scale to the U.S. Navy’s first operational, carrier-based unmanned aircraft, which boasts a 75-foot wingspan (31 folded) compared to the F-18E/F’s 44-foot span.
The Stingray has already been vetted for refueling F-18s, F-35s, and E-2s in operational testing and, once integrated into airwings as the KQ-25 in two squadrons (VUQ-11 and VUQ-12) with 76 airframes planned, could be a game changer for strike operations.
Plus, and nobody really talks much about this, Stingray has two underwing hardpoints, which will likely be used most of the time for extra fuel tanks, but can also be used for things like LRASM and, with a gigantic internal fuel capacity, could be a dark horse strike asset in its own right.
Greyhound’s Final Race
The last ever arrested landing and later final catapult launch of a C-2A Greyhound from a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier happened last week, on Nimitz during FLEETEX250. The aircraft carried VADM Doug Perry, commander of both the Joint Force Command Norfolk and the 2nd Fleet, for a visit to CVN-68.
The aircraft involved was C-2A(R) BuNo 162159 (Modex 40), which was built during the Greyhound’s second run in the mid-1980s. Two other VRC-40 ‘Hounds (BuNos 162149 and 162157) operated from Nimitz the same day as well, but 159, flown by the Rawhide’s LT Nik “Boody” Fagen, was the last to both trap and cat, capping a 60-year run for the type.
A C-2A Greyhound, attached to the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40, lands on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), the last ever arrested landing of a Greyhound on a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, in the Atlantic Ocean, June 25, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Alyssa J. Boling)
A C-2A Greyhound, attached to the “Rawhides” of Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 40, takes off from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68), making the last ever catapult launch of a Greyhound from a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, in the Atlantic Ocean, June 25, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Peter K. McHaddad)
First flown in 1964, the mighty Greyhound, capable of carrying 10,000 pounds of cargo, including an entire engine for any carrier-based aircraft in its hold, is being replaced by the new “mailman of the fleet,” the CMV-22B Osprey, which can carry 6,000 pounds of cargo, including the F414 (used in the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet/EA-18G Growler).
As noted by the C-2A Greyhound Facebook page, since Osprey doesn’t trap or cat, this brings a close to another chapter in naval history:
For generations, enlisted Sailors had the unique opportunity to become Tailhookers, sharing the same catapult launches and arrested landings as Naval Aviators while serving aboard the Greyhound. With the retirement of the C-2A, that opportunity has also come to an end. It is a loss that will be deeply felt throughout the Fleet Logistics Support community, as well as by organizations such as the VAW/VRC/VUQ Foundation and the Tailhook Association.
The Last Greyhound
One final salute to steam and sea, One final launch from the carrier’s knee. The shuttle caught, the holdback broke, A roar of power, a plume of smoke. She rose where countless others flew, Through salted skies of endless blue. With mail and hope, with parts and men, She always found her way again. Not built for glory’s loud parade, But for the promises she made— To bridge the miles, to span the foam, To carry pieces of home. One final trap upon the deck, A wire caught with practiced check. The hook released, the engines sighed, As history stood alongside. The flight deck paused—a fleeting grace— Old hands remembered every face. The shirts of every color knew The faithful work the Greyhound drew. Now newer wings inherit the call, To serve the fleet and answer all. Yet echoes linger in the wind, Where steel and ocean have long been friends. For every launch must someday cease, And every landing comes in peace. But legends never fade away— They sail with every carrier day. Fair winds, faithful Greyhound. Your final catapult was not an ending, but the last line in a logbook written across nearly sixty years of sea and sky.
Besides the last lap of the ‘Hound, Nimitz had another blast from the past recently when working with the Argentine Navy, and two visiting Armada S-61D-4 (SH-3A) Sea Kings of EAH2 conducted ops from her deck.
An Argentine Navy SH-3 Sea King, attached to 2da Escuadrilla Aeronaval de Helicopteros (EAH) 2, lands on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) for a subject matter expert knowledge exchange and embark between U.S. and Argentine service members held onboard the Nimitz while the ship is underway in the Atlantic Ocean, April 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jaron Wills)
What next?
Following the exercise, many participating units – joined by the historic tall ships – will sail to New York City to take part in the seventh International Naval Review 250 from July 3-8.
Nimitz will be in the Big Apple as well.
“Adding USS Nimitz to the International Naval Review 250 roster brings a legendary piece of American naval history and maritime dominance directly to the heart of this celebration,” said Vice Adm. Doug Perry, commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet. “For five decades, the Sailors aboard Nimitz have stood the watch, defending freedom and ensuring global maritime security. Having this iconic warship anchor in New York Harbor alongside our international partners will be a breathtaking tribute to our nation’s 250th anniversary and a powerful demonstration of American resolve.”
Sometime after that, Nimitz arrives in Norfolk. Cruising over. One last party to schedule.
The USCG, which is increasingly being tapped for Navy-adjacent blue water ops far away from any American coastline, is getting its first vessel “contracted in a new initiative using commercial vessels to transport supplies, equipment, and personnel to Coast Guard cutters” operating at sea.
The new (to them) vessel is the blue-hulled Homeland Security Cutter-Ocean (HSC-Ocean), a long-term charter from Louisiana-based Bordelon Marine.
Homeland Security Cutter-Ocean is moored at U.S. Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Florida, June 26, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Reese Hindmarsh)
Homeland Security Cutter-Ocean is moored at U.S. Coast Guard Base Miami Beach, Florida, June 26, 2026. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Reese Hindmarsh)
The HSC-Ocean initiative will rapidly deploy this leased commercial asset to augment the Coast Guard’s existing fleet, enhancing the Service’s ability to control, secure, and defend U.S. borders and maritime approaches. The initiative is designed to provide a rapid, adaptable, and effective way to deliver logistics support to high-demand, multi-mission cutters, such as the Fast Response Cutter fleet. By delivering supplies and personnel directly to cutters underway, the vessel will help keep Coast Guard assets on station longer and focused on mission execution.
In short, a rented patrol boat tender with civilian mariners “driving the bus” and embarked Coasties calling the shots.
HSC Ocean started as the M/V Connor Bordelon, a 257-foot/3,285 LT “Ultralight subsea intervention vessel” with a 60-ton AHC crane and 17m USCG/ABS Certified D Value helideck capable of supporting up to an AW189 (8 ton class) aircraft (the Coast Guard’s MH-65 weighs half that).
Connor Bordelon is fairly new, just completed in 2013, is rigged to support diving and multiple ROVs, has a work deck big enough to burn doughnuts on, and has room for 60 berths, including 24 showers and eight stacked laundry units. When it comes to support, she can carry nearly 70,000 gallons of potable water, produce another 3,100 a day via a Neptune system, and carry 122,000 gallons of diesel.
Under the contract, Bordelon Marine will provide a fully crewed commercial vessel operated by civilian mariners, under the direction of a Coast Guard crew. The vessel will transport supplies, equipment, and mission-essential personnel in support of Coast Guard operations. The contractor will be responsible for vessel operations and maintenance, while embarked Coast Guard personnel will coordinate logistics and support mission execution.
While the Royal Navy has been increasingly in doldrums, its love/hate sister fleet across the Channel has been hard at work.
The French Navy celebrates its 400th anniversary this year, and you can tell they are going big.
Big Chuck
On 18 May, while deployed in the Indian Ocean, the sole French aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle (R91) celebrated 25 years of entering active service.
How it started:
Since 2001, she has been holding down deployments around the world in Operations Heracles, Agapanthe, Harmattan, Arromanches, Clemenceau 19/21/22/25, etc., and has traveled in excess of 865,000 nautical miles, and logged more than 60,000 catapult traps.
She had sailed from Toulon in late January for the multinational ORION 26 exercise in the Baltic, then had been shifted to a more war-adjacent deployment to the Eastern Mediterranean and now the Indian Ocean/Arabian Sea.
While scheduled for long-term maintenance for July 2026, this could very well be bumped.
Le vendredi 15 mai, sur le pont d’envol du porte-avions Charles De Gaulle, lors du catapultage d’un E2C Hawkeye ainsi que plusieurs Rafale marine. Le porte-avions Charles de Gaulle et ses escorteurs ont franchi le canal de Suez le 6 mai 2026, sur ordre du Président de la République, afin de rapprocher le groupe aéronaval de la zone du détroit d’Ormuz.
Le samedi 13 juin, sur le pont d’envol du porte-avions Charles De Gaulle, lors du catapultage d’un E2C Hawkeye ainsi que plusieurs Rafale marine. Le porte-avions Charles de Gaulle et ses escorteurs ont franchi le canal de Suez le 6 mai 2026, sur ordre du Président de la République, afin de rapprocher le groupe aéronaval de la zone du détroit d’Ormuz.
Le samedi 13 juin, sur le pont d’envol du porte-avions Charles de Gaulle, lors du catapultage d’un E2C Hawkeye ainsi que de plusieurs Rafales marines. Le porte-avions Charles de Gaulle et ses escorteurs ont franchi le canal de Suez le 6 mai 2026, sur ordre du Président de la République, afin de rapprocher le groupe aéronaval de la zone du détroit d’Ormuz.
At least three French frigates, the replenishment ship Jacques Chevallier, and an SSN have deployed with CdG. Several allied frigates (Spanish, Dutch, and even a Brit, HMS Dragon) have tagged along as well.
Meanwhile, two Mistral-class LHDs and five other frigates are active in the Eastern Med and Red Sea, performing tanker and container ship escorts among assorted taskings under the EU’s Operation Aspides.
On June 10, a French FREMM-class multi-mission frigate escorted the largest container ship sailing under the French flag, the 24,212 TEU CMA CGM Notre Dame, through the Bab el Mandeb Strait as part of the Aspides mission.
The two ships are carrying 160 officer cadets on their summer cruise, a detachment from the 34F Flotilla equipped with an AS565 Panther helicopter, a 36F Flotilla detachment with S-100 Camcopter drones, and a group of 3e RIMa Marines to rotate out the 400 deployed members of the Guadeloupe-based 33rd RIMa.
Also present on board the Fourth Air Combat Brigade (4e BAM) with two NH90 Caiman helicopters and two Gazelles from the 3rd Combat Helicopter Regiment (3e RHC). Also carried are Flexrotor UAVs and a Sirehna unmanned surface vessel.
Le 03 mars 2026, lors du passage du détroit de Bab El-Manded, un poste aviation a lieu pour effectuer de la surveillance maritime. Du 17 février au 14 juillet 2026, le groupe amphibie, composé du porte-hélicoptère amphibie (PHA) Dixmude et de la frégate de type La Fayette (FLF) Aconit, est déployé en Méditerranée orientale, mer Rouge, ainsi qu’à travers l’océan Indien, dans le cadre de la mission « Jeanne d’Arc
Le 03 mars 2026, lors du passage du détroit de Bab El-Manded, un poste aviation a lieu pour effectuer de la surveillance maritime. Du 17 février au 14 juillet 2026, le groupe amphibie, composé du porte-hélicoptère amphibie (PHA) Dixmude et de la frégate de type La Fayette (FLF) Aconit, est déployé en Méditerranée orientale, mer Rouge, ainsi qu’à travers l’océan Indien, dans le cadre de la mission « Jeanne d’Arc
They first sortied to the Indo-Pacific, where they took part in Balkatan 26, Papangue 26, and La Perouse 26, then doubled back to the Americas for Operation Atlantia, conducting port calls and exercises all the way, making sure to stop by every French colony within striking distance to show the flag.
This has included taking part in Caraibes 2026 with Barbados, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Trinidad and Tobago, and Marambaïa 26 with Brazil.
Dixmude at Guadelupe
FS Dixmude (L9015) and FFH Aconit (F713) arrived in Halifax on May 29
What a recruiting poster! Dixmude at Guadelupe, with her 160 embarked naval cadets, no doubt loving life
Mistral-class amphibious assault ship FNS DIXMUDE docked at Cape Town harbour
FS Dixmude (L9015) i FS Aconit (713) widać FS Confiance (P733) off Guyana
Le PHA Dixmude en Atlantique Nord, lors d’un phénomène météorologique créant des nuages en surface, le 28 mai 2026. Du 17 février au 14 juillet 2026, le groupe amphibie, composé du porte-hélicoptère amphibie (PHA) Dixmude et de la frégate de type La Fayette (FLF) Aconit, est déployé en Méditérannée orientale, mer Rouge, ainsi qu’à travers l’océan Atlantique, dans le cadre de la mission “Jeanne d’Arc
FS Dixmude (L9015) in Mombasa
This has seen her embarked marines hold and seize beaches from St. Pierre and Miquelon off the coast of Canada to Brazil, Guadeloupe, and the Philippines.
Forces armées aux Antilles, French Op Caribes, Dixmude’s landing craft and 33 RIM marines
Un EDAR s’apprête à débarquer des véhicules du GTE, à Marie Galante, le 17 mai. Du 17 au 21 mai 2026, le Groupement Tactique Embarqué participe à la première phase de l’exercice Caraïbes 26, qui les opposent à des membres du 33e RIMA, entre Marie Galante et Basse-Terre. Du 17 février au 14 juillet 2026, le groupe amphibie, composé du porte-hélicoptère amphibie (PHA) Dixmude et de la frégate de type La Fayette (FLF) Aconit, est déployé en Méditérannée orientale
Débarquement par EDA-S des soldats du 3e RIMA à Basse-Terre pour un exercice de prise de fort, le 19 mai. Du 17 au 21 mai 2026, le Groupement Tactique Embarqué participe à la première phase de l’exercice Caraïbes 26, qui les opposent à des membres du 33e RIMA, entre Marie Galante et Basse-Terre. Du 17 février au 14 juillet 2026, le groupe amphibie, composé du porte-hélicoptère amphibie (PHA) Dixmude et de la frégate de type La Fayette (FLF) Aconit, est déployé en Méditérannée orientale, m
Un EDA-S s’apprête à débarquer des véhicules du GTE à Marie-Galante, le 17 mai. Du 17 au 21 mai 2026, le Groupement Tactique Embarqué participe à la première phase de l’exercice Caraïbes 26, qui les opposent à des membres du 33e RIMA, entre Marie Galante et Basse-Terre. Du 17 février au 14 juillet 2026, le groupe amphibie, composé du porte-hélicoptère amphibie (PHA) Dixmude et de la frégate de type La Fayette (FLF) Aconit, est déployé en Méditérannée
Un VBL de la section PEI en progression dans les pistes de Marie Galante, en recherche de la FORAD, le 17 mai. Du 17 au 21 mai 2026, le Groupement Tactique Embarqué participe à la première phase de l’exercice Caraïbes 26, qui les opposent à des membres du 33e RIMA, entre Marie Galante et Basse-Terre. Du 17 février au 14 juillet 2026, le groupe amphibie, composé du porte-hélicoptère amphibie (PHA) Dixmude et de la frégate de type La Fayette (FLF) Aconit, est déployé en Méditérannée orientale
Assaut de l’entrée du fort par une section de soldats brésiliens, dirigées par deux sous-officiers français, à Basse Terre le 19 mai, lors d’un exercice de prise de fort. Du 17 au 21 mai 2026, le Groupement Tactique Embarqué participe à la première phase de l’exercice Caraïbes 26, qui les opposent à des membres du 33e RIMA, entre Marie Galante et Basse-Terre.
Un EDAR du Dixmude rejoint la plage pour le rembarquement des troupes à l’issue de l’exercice, sous la surveillance d’une soldat française, posté à l’entrée du fort Delgrès, à Basse Terre le 19 mai. Du 17 au 21 mai 2026, le Groupement Tactique Embarqué participe à la première phase de l’exercice Caraïbes 26, qui les opposent à des membres du 33e RIMA, entre Marie Galante et Basse-Terre.
Entrainement du groupement tactique embarqué à terre, comportant une désignation de cible pour frappes aéroportées, et simulation d’évacuation médicale par hélicoptère, sur l’ile de Miquelon, le 06 juin 2026.
Le 6 mars 2026, pendant l’opération ATALANTA, les 2 EDA-S à bord du PHA Tonnerre réalisent un déradiage simultanée, avec une mer défavorable.
Le 06 juin 2026, Le groupe Jeanne d’Arc 2026 arrive en escale à St Pierre et Miquelon. C’est l’occasion pour le PHA Dixmude et l’Aconit de réaliser différentes cérémonies auprès de la population, dépose de gerbes, cérémonie du 06 juin et cérémonie des 400 ans.
They just wrapped up exercises with the U.S. Marines and Navy off Little Creek, which included cross-decking an MV-22 and an LCAC, and is due back in France for Bastille Day.
Dixmude with an American V-22 on her deck while working out with U.S. Marines off the Virginia Capes last week
Stosskopf
Intermittently, Dixmude and Aconit have teamed up with the brand new 31,000-ton replenishment ship BRF Jacques Stosskopf, which was recently commissioned and just completed a 155-day, 38,000nm independent cruise that included trialing the new H160M Guépard helicopter and conducting 40 replenishments at sea.
Jacques Stosskopf sailing between the frigate Aconit and the amphibious assault ship Dixmude
Jacques Stosskopf sailing between the frigate Aconit and the amphibious assault ship Dixmude
Jacques Stosskopf sailing between the frigate Aconit and the amphibious assault ship Dixmude a
She has also teamed up with other French and allied assets around the hemisphere.
Jacques Stosskopf Dutch De Zeven Provinciën-class frigate Zr. Ms. De Ruyter (F804) and the British Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless (D33) during ORION 26 in February.
Shadow Fleet Grief
French naval commandos seized another oil tanker from Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” in the Mediterranean Sea near Sicily this week. Flying the Cameroonian flag, the MT Deliver was sailing from Russia’s Baltic port of Primorsk and boarded on Tuesday after allegedly violating maritime law.
Deliver was the fifth tanker seized by France since it launched an enforcement campaign against Russia’s shadow fleet last September in what Moscow calls “another act of piracy.”
In late May, French authorities, with British help, detained the Tagor in the Atlantic on suspicion of flying a false flag and arrested her Russian master.
In January, French forces impounded another suspected Russian tanker, the Grinch, and in March, the Deyna, sailing from Murmansk under a Mozambican flag, was detained in Marseille.
Last September, the French navy boarded the Boracay, which claimed to be flagged in Benin.
Roaming paradise
The new 262-foot/1,300 ton Félix Éboué class patrouilleur outre-mer (overseas patrol boat) Jean Tranape (P782) just made it to her first homeport, the French colonial capital of Noumea in New Caledonia.
She did so after a nearly three-month unescorted sortie that saw her leave Brest in April, cruise across the Atlantic to the colony of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, visit Halifax, the Bahamas, and cross through the Panama Canal before participating in Exercise Marara with her sister Teriieroo a Teriierooiterai (P780) in French Polynesia.
The new patrol boat, armed with a 30mm Nexter Narwal autocannon, two .50 cals, two FN MAGs, and Aliaca UAVs, has a crew of 30 but can accommodate a platoon of marines if needed.
Jean Tranape joins her sister, Auguste Bénébig (P779), in Nouméa and is one of six POMs ordered to replace the much smaller (179-foot/400-ton) P400 class OPVs formerly used for the task.
Sister POMs Jean Tranape (P782) and Auguste Bénébig (P779) are French patrol boats at Noumea in New Caledonia
Tall ship fever
Meanwhile, the French Navy’s windjammer, the 123-foot, two-masted schooner Belle Poule, is actively participating in the Sail 250 flotilla and is set to sail into Baltimore this week.
From there, she will continue on to port calls in New York and Boston for the 4th.
The RAF had a new kid on the block, some 86 years ago this week– just in time for the Battle of Britain.
While the original Hawker Hurricane entered service in 1937, the more advanced Mk.IIA prototype was a “war baby” and first flew on 11 June 1940, with squadron production beginning in September 1940.
Note these are early Mk.IIAs with the then-experimental quad 20mm cannon fits, two in each wing. (NARA 44266494)
The main difference between the type and the original Mk.I series was that it was stretched 4.5 inches to accommodate a larger (1,260hp) liquid-cooled Merlin XX V-12 piston engine with a two-speed supercharger instead of the 1,030hp Rolls-Royce Merlin Mk II/III. While the difference in speed was negligible (only about 20mph more), the longer fuselage shifted the center of gravity and made it more stable. Further, its heavier “universal wing” allowed a more robust armament fit, including 20mm (and later even 40mm) cannons.
Hawker built 418 Mk.IIAs, while the Gloster Aircraft Company delivered 33.
Subsequent Mk.II sub-variants (such as IIB, IIC, and IID) were delivered through 1944, with the chief differences being in armament to include so-called “Hurribomber” variants. In all, 4,710 assorted MK IIs were produced, about a third of the Hurricane’s total run of 14,583.
In fact, the last Hawker-built Hurricane was a Mark II variant. Shortly after its first flight on 22 July 1944, it was dubbed “The Last of the Many” in a call back to Churchill’s “Never was so much owed by so many to so few” remarks from the Battle of Britain.
The last Hurricane built by the Hawker Aircraft Company, Mark IIC, PZ865 “The Last of the Many” was decorated with banners and pennants on its completion at Langley, Berkshire. PZ865 was bought off the original Ministry of Aircraft Production contract by Hawkers and was retained as a communications and test aircraft. It continues to fly with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. IWM (CH 13673)
While the last Mk.II Hurricane was retired from squadron service in 1951 (at the time with Portugal), they have proved luckier than their sisters in old age. Of the 50 or so preserved Hurricanes, more than half (27) are Mk.IIs, including at least three that are still airworthy– including The Last of the Many.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Interceptor, first fielded in 2008, is, along with Aegis SM-3, the exo-atmospheric ballistic missile defense “meat” in the layered air defense sandwich between the full-on ICBM-killing Ground-Based Interceptor, and shorter-range MIM-104 Patriot and SM-2.
The thing is, the Army only has a grand total of eight THAAD batteries, and in the recent escapades in the Middle East, reportedly anywhere between 15 and 50 percent of the total U.S. THAAD interceptor stockpile has been expended.
So the meat is getting pretty thin on that sandwich.
As it moves toward rebuilding and expanding that inventory (keep in mind all the Gulf States are buying them as well), the Pentagon has just given Lockheed a 7-year, $35 billion award for more THAADs.
For that same amount of taxpayer slush, the Navy could get 13 of the newest SM-3 slinging Flight III Burkes (maybe even 14 or 15 if done in a block buy), each of which will serve for 30 years, or almost three new Ford class CVNs (airwings not included), which would each serve for 50.
Just saying.
Anyways, via DOD/DOW contracts:
Lockheed Martin Corp. Missiles and Fire Control, Dallas, Texas, is awarded a multi-year procurement sole-source, fixed-price incentive, undefinitized contract for the production of Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) Interceptors. The total value of this contract is $35,327,237,604. Under this contract, the contractor will produce THAAD missile rounds, under fixed-price contract line-item numbers. The work will be performed in Dallas, Texas; Sunnyvale, California; Troy, Alabama; and Camden, Arkansas. The performance period is from March 2026 through June 2032. One offer was solicited, and one offer was received. Fiscal 2026 procurement funds in the amount of $842,871,672 are being obligated at time of award. The Missile Defense Agency, Huntsville, Alabama, is the contracting activity.
U.S. Pacific Fleet oiler USS Hassayampa (AO 145) refuels two ships simultaneously while underway at sea. To the right is the attack carrier USS Hancock (CVA 19), and on the left the destroyer USS McKean (DD 784) on Yankee Station during Vietnam at a time when the fleet had some 100 fleet oilers on the Naval List. NHHC L45-121.03.01
During the naval build-up for World War II, Maritime Commission standard T2 and T3 tankers were converted to US Navy oilers (AO)s with relative ease. By the time VJ-Day came, this fleet included 35 large (22,000-ton) T3 Cimarron-class, and 60 even larger 25,000-ton Kennebec/Suamico/Mission Buenaventura-class T2 oilers.
And that’s not even including tankers requisitioned from trade, and older Kanawha/Patoka/Kaweah class oilers left over from the circa 1917 expansion.
That’s well over 100 large tankers in haze grey.
And Nimitz needed every single one.
It is no secret that the lack of oilers to send to the Southwest Pacific in 1942 led Nimitz to hold back his *numerous available battleships from the opening acts of the Guadalcanal campaign for lack of bunker fuel to feed them. *(USS Maryland, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania were only lightly damaged during the attack on Pearl Harbor and rejoined the Pacific fleet relatively quickly after, while USS Idaho, Mississippi, and New Mexico were also available, but largely spent 1942 on the West Coast and Eastern Pacific.)
The saga of the oiler USS Neosho (AO-23) from Pearl Harbor to the Coral Sea, during which Admiral Cox referred to her as a “critical strategic asset,” is legend. Further, the ship that took her name after she was sunk, USS Neosho (AO-48), well earned her 13 battle stars for World War II service.
The Navy well remembered the tanker lessons of WWII throughout the Cold War and kept many of the AOs from that era on the payroll for as long as their engines held out– even buying a dozen more T2s from the commercial market after the 1956 Suez crisis pointed the way.
Even with all of the old tankers soldiering on, the Navy still invested millions into six 38,000-ton Neosho-class oilers in the 1950s, eight 40,000-ton Wichita-class AORs, and four massive 54,000-ton Sacramento-class AOEs in the 1960s, even while the Navy began cranking out nuclear-powered carriers, cruisers, and destroyer leaders.
To keep the fleet in fuel as the older T2/T3s began to retire in the 1980s, a new breed of Cimarron-class AOs and fast Supply-class AOEs were ordered.
By 1995, with block obsolescence catching up and the Cold War over, the Navy’s armed grey-hulled oiler fleet had dwindled to a still very respectable 13 Cimmaron and Wichita class AO/AORs, eight Sacramento and Supply class AOEs, and 16 further new 50,000-ton gas turbine-powered AOE(V) class ships planned. Added to this were 16 42,000-ton Henry J. Kaiser-class T-AOs operated by the Military Sealift Command with primarily civilian crews. That’s a hard 30-40 tankers, bube.
Since then, the follow-on AOE(V) class never materialized, the remaining Cimmaron, Sacramento, and Wichita class replenishment ships have been put to pasture, and everything else has long ago been transferred to the MSC. Today, the MSC only has 20 tankers: four new John Lewis-class T-AOs, two aging fast T-AOEs (Supply and Arctic), and 14 assorted Kaisers.
Well, enter the rented tanker turned fleet oiler.
The 58,000-ton MSC chartered Motor Tanker Empire State was built by General Dynamics NASSCO in San Diego with MARAD funds and officially entered service under a long-term charter agreement in October 2010. She even has a DANFS page.
Empire State is one of 10 U.S.-flagged chartered commercial tankers in MSC’s inventory. They are not USNS grey hulls, but fly normal “bright” commercial livery and have MT designations with an MSC hull number, for instance, MT Empire State (T-AOT 5193).
MT Empire State (T-AOT 5193) 101007-N-IS698-0001
While usually used to shuttle fuel to overseas bases, Empire State last year notably conducted an underway replenishment at sea with the big deck phib USS Tripoli (LHA-7). During the evolution, the two ships remained on station side-by-side at 12-15 knots for 40 minutes with wet lines attached, transferring F-76 diesel ship fuel.
Military Sealift Command’s chartered Motor Tanker Ship Empire State and U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli (LHA-7) conduct the first Consolidated Replenishment at Sea (CONSOL) between Tripoli and a tanker ship, 9 June 2025. MSC Photo 250530-N-WD133-4432 by Sarah Cannon
Before that, at RIMPAC ’22, another contract tanker, MT Maersk Perry, transferred JP-5 and diesel to the three MSC fleet auxillaries: USNS Henry J Kaiser (T-AO 187), Pecos (T-AO 197), and Washington Chambers(T-AKE 11), during CONSOLS-at-sea.
Note these contract announcements on Wednesday, basically laying out a process to rent-an-oiler for at $100 million a pop from now through 2031. Emphasis mine.
Federated Maritime LLC, Boca Raton, Florida, is awarded a $21,557,995 firm-fixed-price contract with pass through reimbursable elements (N3220526C1244), for time charter of one clean, Coast Guard approved, upon delivery U.S. flag or foreign flag to be reflagged prior to delivery, double hull tanker with an inert gas system and segregated ballast tanks that is capable of carrying a minimum of 240,000 barrels of clean petroleum products (intention JP5, JP8, JAA, or F76) within the vessel’s natural segregation in designated cargo tanks with double valve isolation. This contract includes a 12-month base period with three one-year option periods, and one 11-month option which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $97,749,572. The contract will be for worldwide performance, with intentions to operate in the Western Pacific. The contract is expected to be completed if all options are exercised by May 2031. Transportation Working Capital Funds in the amount of $21,557,995 are obligated for fiscal 2026 and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as full and open competition with proposals solicited via the Governmentwide point of entry and nine offers were received. Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
U.S. Marine Management LLC, Norfolk, Virginia, is awarded a $16,607,500 firm-fixed-price contract with pass through reimbursable elements (N3220526C1243), for time charter of one clean, Coast Guard approved, upon delivery U.S. flag or foreign flag to be reflagged prior to delivery, double hull tanker with an Inert Gas System and Segregated Ballast Tanks that is capable of carrying a minimum of 240,000 barrels of clean petroleum products (intention JP5, JP8, JAA, or F76) within the vessel’s natural segregation in designated cargo tanks with double valve isolation. This contract includes a 12-month base period with three one-year option periods, and one 11-month option which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $97,138,351. The contract will be for worldwide performance, with intentions to operate in the Western Pacific. The contract is expected to be completed if all options are exercised by May 2031. Transportation Working Capital Funds in the amount of $16,607,500 are obligated for fiscal 2026 and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured as full and open competition with proposals solicited via the Governmentwide point of entry and nine offers were received. Military Sealift Command, Norfolk, Virginia, is the contracting activity.
Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser Blücher on sea trials. Her career was short.
The destruction of the Kriegsmarine’s Hipper-class superheavy cruiser Blucher before the dawn of the first day of Operation Weserübung on 9 April 1940 was, without any doubt, an incredible feat of arms for the Norwegian coastal defenses at Fort Oscarborg in Oslo.
I mean, who would have bet on a couple of old guns and a shore-mounted torpedo battery manned by a skeleton crew of reservists against a 16.000-ton ultra-modern cruiser which had only completed her shakedown three months prior?
Well, a new movie is inbound (in theaters and on digital July 3) covering the clash, and it looks great.
You can tell that the folks behind it watched the Blucher vs Oscarborg scene in 2016’s The King’s Choice and were like, “wait, let’s take the best two minutes of that movie and make it two hours, because that’s what people really want to see.”
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 24 June 2026: Scourge of the Med
Image by German official photographer, part of the German official post-war exchange catalog, BUFA No. 2565. U.S. National Archives 165-GB-02565
Above we see the U-31-class submarine, SM U-35, stopping an Allied steamer during the Great War, with her deck gun slewed towards the aforementioned merchantman and ripping a round out.
Under skipper Kptlt. Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere, across 11 war patrols conducted between January 1916 and March 1918, the little boat would claim no less than 188 vessels (not a misprint) from 13 countries, including 40 ships in June 1916 alone– and that wasn’t even a whole month.
And that wasn’t even her best patrol!
Early German U-boats
Germany only got into the modern submarine game in 1906 with U-1, a small 139-foot/283-ton coastal boat with Körting gasoline engines. Armed with a single 17.7-inch torpedo tube and three fish, she was good for 10 knots and had an operational constructed diving depth (Konstruktionstauchtiefe) of a shallow 100 feet. Her range was 1,500nm. Built at Germaniawerft in Kiel (as Werke 119), she was a stumbling yet important first step.
The godfather behind Germaniawerft’s sub program was Hans-Heinrich Ludwig Friedrich Techel, a young engineer who had worked with the early Spanish submarine designer Raimundo Lorenzo d’Equevilley-Montjustin.
Next came U-2 in 1908, followed by U-3 and sister U-4 in 1909– all built by KW Danzig.
Then came a class of four Germaniawerft boats of the U-5 series and another four from Danzig of the U-9 class in 1910-1911.
Germaniawerft-built U-5 class German submarine SM U-7 with four Körting petrol engines and a huge telltale white exhaust plume from her raised stack, circa 1912. This boat was lost in 1915 during the war in a blue-on-blue incident with a very unfriendly torpedo from U-22 in the North Sea. LOC ggbain-17700-17780u
Keeping the contracts and development flowing, another three Danzig-built U-13s and two U-17 class boats were delivered in 1912, along with the one-off Germaniawerft U-16 boat. All of these were slightly bigger than the last, and retained the dangerous petrol engines, short range, 100-foot depth, and 17.7-inch tubes of U-1.
The game changer for the pre-war German submarine fleet was U-19 and her three sisters. Delivered by Danzig in 1913, they had grown to 210 feet overall and tipped the scales at over 800 tons, more than twice the size of the original U-1 that had preceded them by just seven years. Double-hulled ocean-going boats, they were the diesel-powered German submarines and toted a combination of two MAN diesels and two AEG electric motors, capable of nearly 16 knots on the surface and 10 submerged. Further, they had big 19.7-inch tubes and could dive to 165 feet, also key firsts for the Kaiser’s growing fleet of steel sharks.
It was Techel at Germaniawerft who had first used diesels in the Italian boat R.Smg. Atropo, which was launched in Kiel in March 1912, while he also designed the Kiel-built Norwegian sub Kobben and the Austro-Hungarian Navy’s SM U3 and U4.
Germaniawerft, with Techel busy with the designs, continued down the same vein with their new U-23 class quartet delivered in late 1913-early 1914, which went the same general size (212 feet/860 tons) and characteristics (19.7-inch tubes, 165 foot depth, 16 knot speed) of the U-19s but used Germania diesels and SSW Modyn electric motors.
The Germaniawerft-built U-23 class boat SM U-24, powered by diesels. Postkarte Photogr. u. Verlag Gebr. Lempe, Kiel
German official war photograph. BUFA 2146. Signal Corps 165-GB-2146
Forward submarine torpedo room of a German U-boat. German official war photograph. BUFA 2157. Signal Corps 165-GB-02157 Photograph of the Engine Room of a German Submarine.
German submarines at Kiel on 17 February 1914. Caption says: “Our submarine boats in the harbor” (in German). Identifiable are: SM U-22 , U-20 , U-19 , and U-21 (first row, left-right); U-14 , U-15 , U-12 , U 16 , U 18 , U-17 , and U-13 (second row, left-right); U-11 , U-9 , U-6, U-7 , U-8 , and U-5 (third row, left-right). The newest boat, U-22, was commissioned in November 1913. Bain News Service photo via LOC ggbain. 17782
Acheron and early German submarines U-13, U-5, U-11, U-3, and U-16 in the front row and U-9, U-12, and U-6 in the second row. Note the smokestacks raised on the gas boats. LC-DIG-ggbain-18519
The U-31s
With the writing on the wall, and Danzig working on another run of improved U-19s (the U-27s), the “more” button was pressed, and Germaniawerft was given an order in turn for a class of 11 improved U-23s in 1912.
Starting with U-31 (Werke 191) and running through U-41 (Werke 201), the first boat of the 11-pack would hit the water in January 1914 and be completed soon after.
The U-31s were a very developed product, especially considering they were ordered just six years after U-1 had been delivered. With a submerged displacement of nearly 900 tons, they ran 212 feet overall. Capable of holding 110 tons of diesel oil, they had an impressive 8,800nm range on the surface at 8 knots but could make twice that speed in an attack run.
They used a pair of two-stroke 850hp GW diesel engines with their cylinders over-bored an additional 10mm to develop 925 hp at 430 rpm, as explained by Rössler.
Via Rossler.
The 11 U-31s were constructed nearly side-by-side at GW. Here, U-37 and U-38 are in the company’s Slip 5, while U-25 and U-26 are in Slip 4 in the background. Despite the work en masse, the class was delivered an average of six months later than scheduled due to delays in the construction of the GW-made engines.
Four 19.7-inch tubes, two bow and two stern, provided the primary armament with room for six fish, the new alcohol-powered G/6K torpedo. Adjustable for running depth and speed (35 knots at a 2,000m range or 27 knots at 5,000m), the G/6 had a 362-pound Hexanite/TNT warhead.
Early German Submarines from a British RN Intelligence bulletin 1917
While U-31 and some of the first of her class were completed without a deck gun, soon after delivery, they would receive either a 75mm/15 UK L/18 or 88mm/27 TK L/30 C/08, later upped to a 105mm/43 TK L/45 C/16 gun. This was later expanded during the war to two guns in some boats, but we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Firing drill on submarines. German official war photograph. BUFA 2153. Signal Corps 165-GB-02153
Meet U-35
Our little boat, SM Unterseeboot U-35, was ordered from GW with the rest of her 11-boat class on 29 March 1912. Laid down at Kiel as Werke 195 on 20 December 1912, she was launched on 18 April 1914 during the Kaiserreich’s last golden spring and commissioned, with the war already in progress, on 3 November 1914. Her cost was 2,891,000 marks.
Our little boat’s first skipper was Korvettenkapitän Waldemar Kophamel. Aged just 24 at the time, young Kophamel was already a world traveler, having shipped out to North Africa on the training ship SMS Stosch as a cadet and then to East Africa on the light cruisers Niobe and Thetis as a lieutenant. Beyond that, he had served on the battleships SMS Westfalen and Ostfriesland, commanded the torpedo boat S.3, participated in the sea trials of U-1, and been under the sea on U-2 and U-9.
This salty young man was headed into history.
War!
On 1 August 1914, with Germany, France, and Russia joining the Balkan sideshow that had been brewing against Austro-Hungary and Serbia/Montenegro, things got a bit out of hand.
Operational prewar planning by the Kaiserliche Marine had envisioned a force of 70 sea-going U-boats with 36 used rotationally to protect the German Bight, 12 to patrol the approaches to Kiel, another 12 for offensive operations in the North Sea, and 10 kept for training and reserve.
In true “you go to war with the force you have,” reality, the German admiralty only had exactly 28 operational blue water U-boats in its High Seas Fleet when the lamps went out across Europe.
Soon after commissioning, U-35 was assigned to the II. U-boot Flottille in Heligoland and completed her first two war patrols (19-21 January and 24-26 January 1915) in the Bight/North Sea, without much to show for it.
As with the other large boats in the German fleet, U-35 soon sent to spearhead the Handelskrieg (trade war) and her 3rd patrol (7-20 March 1915) took place from the English Channel to the Irish Sea and saw Kophamel and company bag her first two victims, the British steamer SS Blackwood (1,230 tons) and the French trawler Gris Nez (208 tons) as well as damaging the large freighter SS Hyndford which limped away.
U-35’s 4th war patrol (29 April to 2 May) only accounted for a small Norwegian steamer, Laila (748 tons).
Her 5th patrol was her longest to date, some 25 days (29 May to 23 June 1915), and led to the boat taking 14 ships (five large steamers and nine smaller sailing vessels) on a trip around Ireland. This included sinking four ships in a single day (8 June) off Lundy Island and bagging the large freighter SS Strathcarron (4,347 tons).
Headed South
On 4 August 1915, U-35 sailed out of Kiel on her 6th patrol, bound for the Austro-Hungarian naval base at Cattaro (now Kotor, Montenegro). A Habsburg stronghold going as far back as 1797, Cattaro in 1915 was the home port of the Austrian Fifth Fleet. The cruise to the Adriatic carried U-35 out into the Atlantic over north Scotland, and eventually hooked east past Gibraltar and Malta, arriving on the 23rd. On the way, Kophamel attacked a trio of sailing vessels (a Russian, a Frenchman, and a Norwegian) off Fastnet and sent the latter two to the bottom.
U-35 and her sister U-34, which had traveled at the same time, became part of the budding U-Boot-Sonderkommando Pola, which had been established in April with the small minelayer boats UC-12, UC- 13, UC-14, and UC-15, which had been transported by rail to Pola in sections for assembly, and joined by the ocean-going U-21 in July. In a bit of subterfuge, as Italy had not yet joined the war, the German boats flew Austrian flags until after August 1916 so as not to further inflame the situation.
SM U-35 leaving Pola (Pula) while flying the Austrian flag, passing an Erzherzog Karl-class battleship, 1915
The German U-boat U-35 in the Cattaro (Kotor) Harbour, her primary base port when operating in the Mediterranean, 1915-1917. IWM (Q 24049)
U-35’s 7th patrol, her first from Cattaro, took place 12-22 September 1915, remained in the Adriatic Sea, and sank three medium-sized steamers, two British and one French.
Her 8th patrol saw her penetrate the Eastern Mediterranean in early October 1915, sinking the old Italian steamer Scilla (1,220 tons) off Sporades Island in the Aegean, followed by the British troopship Marquette(7,057) off Salonica, sending the latter to the bottom with 167 men, primarily members of the ammunition column of the British 29th Division and a New Zealand medical unit.
HMT Marquette (Image courtesy NZ National Maritime Museum)
U-35’s 9th patrol (25 October to 13 November 1915) included a curious sortie to support the Senussi rebels in Libya who were fighting the British. This amounted to putting in at Orak Adasi (near Bodrum), taking on 10 Ottoman officers, 120,000 gold francs, 300,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, and 80 ammunition belts for machine guns, and, together with two small schooners carrying 120 Turkish soldiers and other war materiel, shepherding them 380 miles across the Med to Bardia.
She was then released on her own and would account for a diverse mixture of 11 vessels including an Egyptian coast guard boat (the small 298-ton Abbas), the large tanker Lumina (6,218 tons), the 1,800-ton armed boarding steamer HMS Tara (sunk in a raid on the Egyptian port of Sollum) and the infamous Leyland Lines steamer SS Californian, the vessel widely believed to have been the so-called “mystery ship” seen from the decks of the Titanic in 1912 that did not come to her rescue. Kophamel torpedoed and sank Californian some 60 miles SSW of Cape Matapan, sending her to the bottom.
The F. Leyland & Co. steamer SS Californian (6,223 tons) was notorious for being close enough to the sinking RMS Titanic to spot distress rockets but failed to respond. Inquiries heavily condemned her skipper and the Californian’s crew for their inaction, concluding that a prompt response could have saved many lives. Kophamel sank her while in ballast on U-35’s 9th patrol.
Enter Arnauld
Following the completion of U-35’s 9th war patrol, the well-proven Kophamel was given a promotion to Korvettenkapitän on 18 November 1915 and placed in command of the growing German submarine group in the Adriatic, which had been renamed U-Flottille Pola, a billet he would hold down through June 1917.
This left U-35 without a skipper.
Entering stage left, we have one unproven Kapitänleutnant Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière. A Prussian noble of French heritage (his great-grandfather fled France to become an officer for Fredrick the Great), Arnauld joined the Imperial German Navy as a midshipman in 1903, at the age of 17 (Crew 4/03). Before the war, he sailed aboard the square-rigger training ship SMS Stein to the West Indies, held down a spot in the wardroom of the battleships SMS Kurfürst Friedrich Wilhelm, Schlesien, and Schleswig-Holstein, as well as on the light cruiser Emden, before being attached to Admiral von Pohl’s staff in 1914. Transferred to the submarine service, he completed a command course on the training boats U-1 and U-3, then shipped to Pola by train to board U-35, both his first command and his first combat.
U-35’s 10th patrol, Arnauld’s 1st, began in mid-December 1915, with the boat setting out into the Central Mediterranean. It wasn’t until after the New Year that the new skipper would prove himself, sinking the British steamer SS Sutherland (3,542 tons) on 17 January 1916 while some 192 miles SE of Malta, filled with a cargo of manganese bound from Bombay to Hull.
U-35’s 11th patrol (21 February to 4 March 1916) saw Arnauld log four kills, including the 1,200-ton sloop HMS Primula and the large French auxiliary cruiser La Provence (13,753 tons). A beautiful two-funneled CGT-owned liner before the war, La Provence was carrying a full load of 1,700 French troops from Toulon to Salonika when she was torpedoed off Cerigo Island. She went down so quickly that she carried the lifeboats with her, and more than 1,000 perished, including virtually an entire battalion of the Third Colonial Infantry (3e RIC) regiment.
French Steamer ‘La Provence’, 1911, by Antonio Jacobsen
The only noteworthy incident on her 12th patrol was torpedoing the British Atlantic lines passenger steamer SS Minneapolis (13,500 tons) off Malta while bound from Marseille to Alexandria in ballast. Despite being one of the largest vessels sunk by a U-boat during the war, she had no cargo and only suffered 12 casualties.
Then came the epic 13th patrol of U-35. Between 13 June and 29 June 1916, Arnauld and his little boat would sink or damage no less than 40 vessels. While many of these (19) were small Italian sailing vessels, sent to the bottom via demolition charges or a few well-placed shots from the submarine’s deck guns, there were also some significant prizes such as the French passenger steamer Herault (2,299 tons), sunk off of Cabo San Antonio while on the way to Oran, the Italian steamer Mongibello (4,059 tons) sunk off Port Mahon while carrying a cargo from Baltimore destined for Genoa, and the British steamer Beachy (4,718 tons), which was filled with cargo bound for Hull from Calcutta.
German U-Boat, U-35, at work sinking the French steamer, Herault (2,299 tons), in the Mediterranean Sea, off Cabo San Antonio, Spain, 23 June 1916. Halftone photograph. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Stopping an Allied merchantman. IWM Q 88310.
It was during this cruise that U-35 went on to sail unabashedly into neutral Spain at Cartagena on 21 June 1916, saluting the Spanish cruiser Cataluna and semi-secretly landing German spy Heinrich Karl Fricke under the official cover of delivering a letter from Kaiser Wilhelm II to King Alfonso XIII.
U-35 photographed in July 1916 while entering Cartagena harbor, Spain, by Casau of Cartagena. She was commanded at this time by Kptlt. Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, and has two deck guns mounted. NH 43793
The crew of the German submarine U-35 saluting those of the Spanish cruiser Cataluna when leaving the port of Cartagena, where it was presented on the 21st day of the current month. The commander of the submarine has brought an autograph letter from the Kaiser to H. M. the King. Drawing of Don Verdugo Landi
German U-boat U-35 running into the Spanish port of Cartagena. IWM (Q 46498)
U-35 photographed in June 1916, moored alongside the interned German liner SS Roma in Cartagena harbor, Spain, by Casau of Cartagena. She was commanded at this time by Kaptlan Lothar von Arnauld de la Periere. NH 43794
The crew of the German U-boat U-35 ashore in the Spanish port of Cartagena for one hour. Note the Spanish officers keeping tabs. BUFA 3657 IWM (Q 46497)
Her 14th patrol would be even more sensational, prowling for 25 days in the French-patrolled Western Mediterranean between Marseille and Corsica. Prowling from 26 July to 20 August 1916, U-35 accounted for a staggering 54 merchant ships (32 Italian) totaling 90,350 GRT. The largest of these was the Italian LVN passenger steamer SS Siena (4,372 tons), captured and sunk by gunfire some 20 miles SW of Planier Island on the morning of 4 August while plying the Colon to Genoa route. Arnauld accomplished all this with only four torpedoes, the rest being accomplished by demo charges and gunfire, with the little U-boat crammed with 900 shells when she left Cattaro, the ordnance crammed in every nook and cranny of every compartment.
The patrol was regarded as the most successful single submarine war patrol of all time.
In any conflict.
During any war.
U-35’s 15th patrol, from 20 September to 7 October 1916, accounted for 22 ships. These included the 1,200-ton French gunboat Rigel and the bruising 14,900-ton French auxiliary cruiser Gallia, broken in half off Cape Spartivento near Sardinia. A brand-new Cie. de Navigation Sud-Atlantique steamer, Gallia, had been sailing unescorted (!) and carrying 2,000 troops (1,650 French/350 Serbian) along with a cargo of artillery and ammunition from Marseille to Salonika when she was torpedoed 35 miles SW of San Pietro. She exploded and sank in just 15 minutes, carrying 1,338 men to the bottom. It was a butcher’s bill higher than that on Lusitania.
Arnauld would receive the coveted Prussian Pour le Mérite, the Blue Max, just a week after Gallia was reported lost and U-35 made it back to Cattaro with the news. Of note, while over 5 million Iron Crosses were handed out during the Great War, only 1,600 Maxes were presented.
U-35’s 16th and 17th patrols (3-11 January and 8-28 February 1917) were successful, adding another 20 ships to her tally, albeit with a half-dozen of those being small (under 400 ton) sailing vessels.
Ready for my close-up
With all the fame that the renowned Kptlt. Arnauld had garnered back home, he was sent out on U-35’s 18th patrol in April 1917 with a BUFA film crew embarked to chronicle the voyage for the good damen und herren back in the Vaterland.
These images are from said film, Der Magische Gürtel, which is available in both the IWM (21 minutes) and NARA (12 minutes) with post-war English cards and the 44-minute original German version (in three parts), with stills in both as well as the LOC, making U-35 probably the best photographed submarine of the Great War.
The film crew was aboard U-35 for 36 days, during which the boat sank 23 enemy and neutral ships, with 10 of the sinkings captured on film.
It was an exciting cruise, with the steamers SS Parkgate, Maplewood, Corfu, Nentmoor, India, and Stromboli taken. The largest of U-35‘s targets on the patrol, the 9,737-ton Union-Castle Mail steamer SS Leasowe Castle, bound for Liverpool, managed to limp away with only a torpedo in her hold, received while some 90 miles off Gibraltar. Leasowe Castle was one of just 10 damaged ships that managed to escape U-35 in the boat’s career.
The German U-boat U-35 taking torpedoes on board before setting out for her cruise in the Mediterranean, April-May 1917. IWM (Q 53012)
German U-boat U-35 in the Mediterranean taking on board cases of Pestle’s condensed milk from her collapsible boat, April-May 1917. IWM (Q 53013)
The garlanded German U-boat U-35 putting out to sea from harbor, probably in Cattaro (Kotor), April 1917. Note the surface steering position in the fairwater. IWM (Q 53028)
The German U-boat U-35 running on the surface in the Mediterranean about to submerge, April-May 1917. IWM (Q 53019)
The German U-boat U-35 half-submerged during her cruise in the Mediterranean, April-May 1917. IWM (Q 53008)
British tanker Maplewood (3,239 tons) being sunk by SM U-35 47nm southwest of Sardinia, 7 April 1917. Rehse Collection. Halftone photograph. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
“A shot from the 105mm deck gun to hasten her sinking.” 7 April 1917, the British steamer SS Parkgate (3,232 tons), on a voyage from Malta to Gibraltar in ballast, was sunk by gunfire by the German submarine U 35. 16 lives were lost. BUFA 3607
Captains of SS Parkgate, SS Maplewood, SS Corfu, SS Nentmoor, SS India, and SS Stromboli arrive on board U-35 and are questioned by Captain von Arnauld de la Perière. Still from IWM film, reference number IWM 560, reel 1, title “The Exploits of German Submarine (U-35) Operating in the Mediterranean”. IWM (Q 69777)
The German U-boat U-35 on the surface in the sunset in the Mediterranean, April-May 1917. BUFA 2122 IWM (Q 53023)
The German U-boat U-35 cruising in the Mediterranean, April 1917. IWM (Q 20380)
The German U-boat U-35 off the African Coast at Cape Magroua, Algeria. BUFA 3667 IWM (Q 53015)
Two German U-boats, U-35 (nearest camera) and the U-42, meeting in the Mediterranean, April-May 1917. German official war photograph. BUFA 3674. Signal Corps 165-GB-03674
Two submarines meet on the high seas. German official war photograph. BUFA 2160. Signal Corps 165-GB-02160
The crew of a freighter comes alongside the submarine with the ship’s papers. German official war photograph. BUFA 2762. Signal Corps 165-GB-02162
The crew of an enemy steamer is taken off by the crew of the submarine. April 1917. German official war photograph. BUFA 2553. Signal Corps 165-GB-02553
After the sinking of an enemy steamer. The crew of the steamer is towed by the submarine towards land. April 1917. German official war photograph. BUFA 2560. Signal Corps 165-GB-02560
She also had several meetings with German seaplanes while on patrol, to both collect dispatches and transfer captured papers to see if actionable intelligence could be discerned.
A Friedrichshafen 33H seaplane (serial number 687) bringing dispatches to the German U-boat U-35 during a cruise in the Mediterranean. IWM (Q 54435)
A Friedrichshafen seaplane (serial number 729) bringing dispatches to the German U-boat U-35 during a cruise in the Mediterranean. IWM (Q 54436)
Transfer on the high seas of important captured papers from a German submarine to a German Friedrichshafen amphibian plane. April 1917. German official war photograph. BUFA 2555. Signal Corps 165-GB-02555
German U-boat U-35 approaching Cattaro (Kotor) in the Mediterranean, April-May 1917, with Fort Arza on the port side and Fort Mamula on Lastavica Island to the starboard. She is flying a pennant for each ship sunk on the cruise. IWM (Q 53025)
The German U-boat U-35 showing the 10.5 cm gun. She is returning to Cattaro (Kotor), her base port, and is flying a pennant for each ship sunk on the cruise – 21 steamers and 3 windjammers (white pennants), April-May 1917. IWM (Q 46496)
The German U-boat U-35 entering the harbor of Cattaro (Kotor), her Mediterranean base port, April 1917, approaching the Austro-Hungarian auxiliary submarine tender SMS Gäa/Gaea (ex SS Fürst Bismarck). IWM (Q 53021)
The cartoon shows the Grim Reaper with his scythe (labeled “Submarine Toll”) scuttling ships in the Mediterranean. A sign on the scythe reads “Vienna reports 67 ships sunk — 5000 persons drowned in six weeks.” Expresses the pro-Allied view of the frightfulness of German submarine warfare during World War I. Drawing by Lute Pease. LOC DLC/PP-1954:R02.75
U-35’s 19th patrol would not come until mid-October 1917, concluding in early November. Her 20th, conducted in December, would close out the year. Between the two, Arnuald would add another 20 ships to his lengthy record, including a trio of steamers– the British SS Argo (3,811 tons) and Cliftondale (3,071 tons), along with the Norwegian Nordol (2,053 tons)– sunk on Christmas Day just off Algiers.
U-35’s 21st war patrol, Arnuald’s 11th, would venture out into the Med in early 1918 (22 February to 10 March) and bring back flag for five kills to include the big Japanese steamer Daiten Maru (4,555 tons) sunk off Sicily while bound for Reggio with cargo from Baltimore.
On 16 March 1918, Arnauld was relieved by U-35’s incoming new commander, Kplt. Ernst von Voigt, late of U-73, UC-35, and UB-8. While Voigt claimed 32 vessels before coming to U-35, he would never add a 33rd to his list.
Post Arnauld
Across Kophamel and Arnauld’s 19 successful patrols, U-35 reliably claimed 226 ships sunk (538,500 tons) and 10 ships damaged (36,889 tons), including three large troopships with their vital human cargo. With that, suffering from cranky engines, she was sent into semi-retirement, ordered back to Kiel to serve as a training boat.
The German U-boat U-35 about to dive, note the training flotilla triangle on her sail. IWM (Q 53032)
German U-35 submarine off the coast of Norway, Aug. 05, 1918
In October 1918, just three weeks before the Armistice, Kptlt. Heino von Heimburg, a Blue Max wearer who had sunk the British submarine E20, British troop transport HMS Royal Edward, the Italian submarine Medusa, and the Italian cruiser Amalfi, took over U-35.
Heimburg’s command would be cut short.
In the end, U-35 was one of 122 remaining German U-boats that surrendered to the Allies post-Armistice. The scourge of the Mediterranean was handed over to Great Britain on 26 November 1918 and scrapped in Blyth between 1919 and 1920.
Ultimately, of the 373 German U-boats used by the Kaiserliche Marine during the Great War, 178 were lost in operations during the conflict. These included U-35’s sisters U-31 and U-34 (disappeared on patrol), U-32 (sunk by depth charges from British sloop), U-37 (lost to a mine), U-39 (damaged by French seaplanes and interned at Cartagena in 1918), U-40 (sunk by a decoy ship and partnered British sub), along with U-36 and U-41 (sunk by Q ships).
Post-war, the damaged U-39 was handed over to France, as was Max Valentiner’s famed U-38, while the surviving U-32 was nominated for transfer to the British. All three were broken up soon after Versailles, sharing U-35’s fate and thus ending the tale of the U-31 class.
Speaking to the out-sized success of the U-31 class, the four highest scoring U-boats of the Great War, U-35 (226 ships), U-39 (154 ships), U-38 (139 ships), and U-34 (119 ships) were all from the same 11-boat class. The seventh highest-scoring was sister U-33 (84 ships), leaving the class to hold fully half of the top ten slots.
Epilogue
As far as I can tell, other than the 44-minute film of U-35’s April-May 1917 patrol, and the above images, little remains of the boat.
The film enjoyed a wide release in English-speaking countries in 1919, a window into the once-novel seagoing pestilence that had claimed over 11 million tons of merchant and fishing shipping during the war.
When it comes to her skippers, after leaving his exceptionally well-fought U-boat flotilla at Pola in 1917 (it had chalked up 1.8 million tons of shipping under his command), Kophamel returned to Germany and commanded the big submarine cruisers SM U-151 and U-140, chalking up an additional two patrols to his credit before the war ended, having personally been at the scope for the sinking of 54 ships for 148,852 tons. Kophamel was the seventh U-boat commander to be awarded the Blue Max. Post-war, he briefly commanded the small cruiser Strasbourg in the Reichsmarine before he was demobilized in August 1920. He passed away in 1934, aged 54. The Kriegsmarine used his name for a 5,600-ton Bauer-class submarine tender for 27. U-Flottille in 1939. Sunk in 1944 by British bombers at Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in Poland, the Soviets raised the tender and used her for another 25 years in their Baltic fleet.
Ernst von Voigt, who brought U-35 back to Germany but never got a “kill” to his credit while on her decks, was retired from the Reichsmarine in 1919. Having spent just 13 years in uniform, he didn’t rate a pension despite his Blue Max, which meant increasingly less in the coming years. Korvettenkapitän der Reserve Ernst von Voigt, with the Staff of the Kriegsmarine’s Inspection of Naval Artillery Office (Stabe der Inspektion der Marineartilleriezeugämter) during WWII, survived the maelstrom and passed in Hannover in 1961, aged 73.
U-35’s final skipper, Heimburg, finished the war with 21 ships (55,036 GRT) to his tally. Retained by the U-boat-less Reichsmarine, he was a putschist with Knapp in Berlin, then spent the interwar years in a series of positions ranging from navigator on the old cruiser Amazone to XO of the elderly battlewagon Schlesien and commander of the fortifications at Cuxhaven. Promoted to a rear admiral in 1939, he spent the next few years in desk jobs and, a convinced National Socialist, often clocked in on assorted kangaroo tribunals and military courts. Upgraded to vice admiral status when shifted to the retired list in 1943, he was captured by the Soviets in 1945. He died in a POW camp near Stalingrad, aged 55.
Waldemar Kophamel, Ernst von Voigt, and Heino von Heimburg during their glory days. (Illustrirte Zeitung, 1918)
Finally, after leaving U-35 and Pola, Arnauld commanded the U-cruiser U-139 late in the war and added five small ships to his tally. The Reichsmarine made sure to keep the Blue Max-clad hero on the rolls post-war despite the fact it had zero submarines by stipulation of the Versailles treaty. He was a nav officer on a variety of surface ships, led the training division, was a staff officer, and finally skipper of the new light cruiser Emden from 1928 to 1930, including visiting New Orleans with the man-o-war for Mardi Gras, where she was the first German warship to visit the U.S. since 1914, and he was welcomed aboard the battlewagon USS Texas.
After retiring from the Reichsmarine in 1930 as a captain with 27 years of service, Arnauld authored a book about his war (U 35 auf Jagd), then taught at the Turkish Naval Academy while wearing an admiral’s uniform for the rest of the decade until called back to serve in the Kriegsmarine in September 1939. Riding a desk as a frocked admiral, though still listed as retired, Arnauld perished in a plane crash in France in 1941, just shy of his 55th birthday.
In memoriam, U-boat Wolfpack Arnauld operated in the Atlantic later that year and during its short run sank the British carrier HMS Ark Royal (91) in the face of a trying Force 11 storm off Gibraltar.
The old man would probably have been touched.
A methodical people, the Germans have reissued the U-35 designator twice since 1915, not counting the small Great War-era coastal and minelaying boats UC-35 and UB-35.
The Kriegsmarine’s Type VIIA U-boat U-35 was appropriately built at Germaniawerft (Werke 558) in 1936, and was a showboat in her brief career, later run to ground on her second war patrol in November 1939 and scuttled.
Today’s German submarine U-35 (S185) is an ultra-modern Type 212 SSK that entered service in 2015.
Part of 1. Ubootgeschwader at Eckernförde, she followed in the footsteps of her Great War namesake by deploying to the Med in 2021 as part of the EU’s Operation Irini, albeit without any gun actions or torpedoes fired.
German U-35 leaving eckenförde for Operation Irini in the Mediterranean Sea (Type 212A)
U-35 (S185) in Malta during Op Irini in 2021.
Thanks for reading!
Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive
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Michigan-based Trijicon won an Army contract to build an optic for the vaunted “Ma Deuce,” and the sight has made its first appearance in the field.
First announced in July 2021, the Army tapped Trijicon to deliver its Machine Gun Reflex Sight, or MGRS, specifically for use with the M2A1 .50 caliber heavy machine gun. It basically looks like a huge RMR with a flip-in magnifier.
Constructed of 7075-T6 aluminum, the MGRS is designed to withstand the jarring, rapid recoil produced by fixed and turret-mounted machine guns. It features a large, non-magnified objective lens with a 35 MOA segmented circle reticle. Centered within the reticle is a 3 MOA dot for precise aiming. A single CR123A battery powers the unit, providing more than 1,000 hours of continuous operation. A three-power magnifier is included for faster positive identification (PID) of potential targets downrange. (Photo Trijicon)
Type classified as the M155 Mounted Machine Gun Optic, or MMO, the sight attaches to the M2A1 .50 cal with a BE Meyers BOARS Mount using M1913 Picatinny rails. (Photo: U.S. Army Capability Program Executive – Ground Soldier Systems)
“Compared with the original iron sights, the M155 MMO illuminates targets, especially when the environmental elements are not the best,” said Sgt. Eleanor Osgood, a mass communications specialist with the 126th TPASE. “The red-dot sight is very useful in ensuring the round hits the target.”
U.S. Army Sgt. Eleanor Osgood, assigned to the 126th Theater Public Affairs Support Element, Michigan Army National Guard, uses the M155 mounted machine gun optic to zero the M2 Browning machine gun at Camp Grayling, Michigan, June 9, 2026. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Patrick Mayabb/U.S. Army National Guard)
The MGRS offers seven brightness settings, two facilitating the use of night-vision optics and five settings for fast adjustment to match current conditions, including a super-bright setting for bright daylight. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Patrick Mayabb/U.S. Army National Guard)
Zeroing is via 1 MOA adjustment increments, and the sight has 100 MOA total travel of adjustment. The MGRS includes two interchangeable range knobs that are ballistically calibrated for use on M2 series. When properly zeroed to the weapon platform, the range knob allows the user to dial the correct range as a mechanical BDC for more accurate engagements. (Photo: Staff Sgt. Patrick Mayabb/U.S. Army National Guard)
Assorted telescopic, night vision, and thermal sights, such as this AN/PAS-13 optic seen in 2017, have been used on the M2 series over the years, as would be expected, as the Browning-designed heavy MG dates back to the 1920s. (Photo: Sgt. Heather Doppke/U.S. Army)
