Paul Helsinki over at GunsAmerica did a pretty good review of the Adaptive Tactical Sidewinder Venom kit, a $199 aftermarket that turns a Mossy 500 series pump into a military-grade 6 or 11-shot detachable box/drum mag scattergun by dropping the mag tube/slide/forearm/spring and adding a new one.
The 5 round straight mag is on the gun and the 10 round rotary mag is on the mat.
Sounds like an interesting alternative to a Saiga or KSG for a little less price (as you can find used but functional 500s and Maverick 88s around for about $100 ish)
SOC Seagull aircraft just launched from USS Augusta’s catapult, Casco Bay, Maine, United States, Jun 1942. Note the two bombs carried underwing.
In 1933, with aircraft carriers few and far between, helicopters nonexistent and radar in its infancy, if a surface ship wanted to see over the horizon this meant a seaplane. And the go-to for the U.S. Navy at the time was the Curtiss SOC (scout/observation SO aircraft produced by Curtis-Wright C) Seagull.
This overgrown bumblebee could putter around at about 130 mph and stay aloft for about four hours or so. If needed, the big Pratt & Whitney R-1340 single-row 600 hp engine could be leaned down to give a one-way range of almost 900 miles to deliver mail and dispatches ashore or to other ships far over the horizon.
Armament? Yeah, about that– just one Browning M2 AN machine gun forward and another aft, each with 500 rounds ready. Don’t confuse these guns with the M2 .50 cal, as they were a .30.06-cal air-cooled gun that had a much higher rate of fire (1100 rpm) but a much smaller bullet that had about half the range. Besides this, the little scout could carry about 500 pounds of bombs or depth charges.
Some 315 Gulls were made in four marks by 1938 for the sea services and were used both from seaplane tenders, shore stations, and cruisers/battleships.
SOC-3A Seagull floatplane of US Navy Scouting Squadron 201 (VS-201) parked on the deck of the escort carrier USS Long Island, 16 Dec 1941. Note the float has been replaced by landing gear and a 325-pound aircraft Mk 17 depth charge is fitted centerline.
Long Island #2
It was the latter that the Gull excelled, as since they could be “knocked down” to as small as 12-feet wide, a large cruiser or battlewagon could carry 8 of these seaplanes if needed (4 on the deck/catapults, 4 in the stowage).
SOC-3 Seagull aircraft stripped for maintenance in the hangar of light cruiser USS Savannah, 1938; note the close up of the Pratt and Whitney R-1340 9-cylinder radial engine and caster tracks to roll the planes out of the hangar on its truck and on deck for launch NH 85630
Liberty party from battleship California prepared to go ashore, 1940; note at least three SOC-3 floatplanes on cats
USS Nevada at anchor at Lahaina Roads, Territory of Hawaii, pre-war. Note 3 SOC Seagulls
While the battleships soon had their Gulls replaced by monoplane Kingfishers, the simple Curtiss biplanes remained in service on cruisers as late as 1944 where they were used to scout, rescue downed pilots, and lost seamen and adjust naval gunfire.
SOC-3 scout-observation floatplanes off cruiser USS Honolulu flying in formation, circa 1938-1939, note the prewar scheme. United States Navy Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 82466
USS Memphis’ Curtiss SOC Seagull scout-observation aircraft hooked onto the recovery mat, in preparation for being hoisted on board, circa early 1942
SOC-3 Seagull aircraft from cruiser USS Portland flying in a formation of four, circa 1944, note the wartime scheme United States Navy Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 81995
US Navy Aviation Machinist’s Mate polishing the 9-foot propeller of a SOC Seagull floatplane at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, United States, circa 1940-41. Photographer Dayton A. Seiler, United States National Archives 80-G-K-13541
Retired in 1946, the Seagull was perhaps the last biplane in front line regular U.S. military service.
Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov got a chance recently to visit the Kalashnikov Concern in the Ural Mountain town of Izhevsk to take a tour of the Motherland’s great arms works. Founded originally in 1807 by Tsar Alexander I to build muskets for his immense army gearing up to fight Napoleon, the plant has remained in production for over two centuries, with minor upgrades.
Besides the traditional AK-series rifles (in their most modern AK-103 and AK-12 variants shown below, hold your horses), the plant also makes Saiga-branded rifles and shotguns for export and Molot “animal farm” rifles for civilian sales in Russia.
Oh yeah, you know what I like….
I wonder how many of these are California legal
The AK-12. Test firing these must be a hard job, but Ivan has to do it.
We hear nothing feels better than a Vityaz-SN sub machine gun right off the line
Can we please get these in the U.S., complete with EoTechs. And yes, that is a Saiga 12 sp.340– dig that muzzy brakejob, but Ivan has to do it.
In the 1930s, the wise members of Congress passed legislation that established the National Firearms Act, which regulated the civilian use and ownership of all the cool guns such as those, capable of full-auto fire, cane guns, pen guns, silencers, and short-barreled rifles. It is this last class that caught up a number of innocent Marlin lever guns in the dragnet.
The NFA classified a SBR as one that had a barrel length of less than 16 inches or overall length of less than 26 inches. While not making them illegal, Congress set up a $200 tax on these guns, which in 1934 was a small fortune (about $10,000 in today’s dollars). While Marlin (and most other rifle makers) stopped making non-NFA compliant firearms except for military sales, there were a number of horses that had already left the stable so to speak.
Of the more that 500,000 rifles made by Marlin between 1898-1934, it is estimated that just under 2,000 of these were modern carbines with barrels shorter than 16 inches. These guns by and large were special order trapper models that were fitted at the factory with barrels that ran as short as 12-inches on the Model 92, 93, 94, and 95 rifles, typically in handy calibers such as 32-30 and .44-40 produced in the early 1900s.
The good news is that the feds eventually dropped these classic old rifles off their NFA list and instead put them on the Curios and Relics list (C&R), making them not liable for the tax stamp to transfer.
The latest Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Curios and Relics List download includes just 747 vintage Marlin SBR lever guns. While there are undoubtedly guns out there that are not on the list, sadly, they are likely to be in violation of the NFA, as they are not registered.
A rare Chilean police-marked Model 94 Marlin saddle ring trapper in .44-40 (with a 900-yard ladder sight!) and a super short factory-fitted 15-inch barrel. Made in 1914 this gun predated the NFA by two decades. Photo via James D. Julia
Lt.Col. Art Nalls was a Marine test pilot who spent a lot of time in a number of airframes to include Harriers. Well, after he retired, he went shopping for one of his own and found a pre-owned British RN Sea Harrier FA2, which he pieced back together and got FCC approval for– now he’s looking to pick up a couple more.
US Marine Corps Vought O2U-2 Corsair aircraft preparing to land on Saratoga, circa 1930 Source United States Navy Naval History and Heritage Command Identification Code NH 94899
The USS Saratoga (CV-3) was a beautiful ship converted from a battlecruiser that was never allowed to be built. She and her sistership, Lexington, were largely responsible for training the pre-WWII U.S. Navy in how to use a fleet carrier. As a result, she had a few interesting people cycle through her decks.
Here are a couple
Charles Lindbergh in the cockpit of a F3B-1 carrier aircraft aboard USS Saratoga, 8 Feb 1929
Ever heard of the Thatch Weave? Lt. John Thach’s Wildcat taking off from Saratoga, Oct 1941 Source United States National Archives Identification Code 80-PR-1154
And here’s a bonus shot of her all dolled up for the war.
Saratoga underway at sea, circa 1942, with 5 Grumman F4F fighters, 6 Douglas SBD scout bombers, and 1 Grumman TBF torpedo bomber
USS Saint Paul off Yokosuka, Japan, 21 May 1966. Click to big up
Here we see the Baltimore-class cruiser, USS Saint Paul (CA-73) coming at you bow-on. She was a hard charger who never stopped in 26 years at sea.
When the early shitstorm of 1939 World War II broke out, the U.S. Navy, realized that in the likely coming involvement with Germany in said war– and that country’s huge new 18,000-ton, 8x8inch gunned, 4.1-inches of armor Hipper-class super cruisers– it was outclassed in the big assed heavy cruiser department.
When you add to the fire the fact that the Japanese had left all of the Washington and London Naval treaties behind and were building giant Mogami-class vessels (15,000-tons, 3.9-inches of armor), the writing was on the wall.
That’s where the Baltimore-class came in.
These 24 envisioned ships of the class looked like an Iowa-class battleship in miniature with three triple turrets, twin stacks, a high central bridge, and two masts– and they were (almost) as powerful. Sheathed in a hefty 6 inches of armor belt (and 3-inches of deck armor), they could take a beating if they had to. They were fast, capable of over 30-knots, which meant they could keep pace with the fast new battlewagons they looked so much like as well as the new fleet carriers that were on the drawing board as well.
While they were more heavily armored than Hipper and Mogami, they also had an extra 8-inch tube, mounting 9 8 inch/55 caliber guns whereas the German and Japanese only had 155mm guns (though later picked up 10×8-inchers, thanks for keeping me straight Tom!). A larger suite of AAA guns that included a dozen 5 inch /38 caliber guns in twin mounts and 70+ 40mm and 20mm guns rounded this out.
In short, these ships were deadly to incoming aircraft, could close to the shore as long as there was at least 27-feet of seawater for them to float in and hammer coastal beaches and emplacements for amphibious landings, and take out any enemy surface combatant short of a modern battleship in a one-on-one fight.
Class leader Baltimore was laid down 26 May 1941, just six months before Pearl Harbor, and was commissioned 15 April 1943.
Saint Paul, the 6th ship of the class, was laid down at Bethlehem Steel Company at Quincy, Mass on 3 February 1943.
USS Saint Paul (CA-73), a Baltimore-class cruiser note vertrep markings. She swapped her seaplanes for choppers in 1949
As such, Paul, just the 2nd U.S. Naval ship named for the Minnesota city, was completed late in the war, only being commissioned 17 February 1945.
Whereas the original ships of the class mounted Mk 12 8-inch guns, Saint Paul was completed with the more advanced Mk 15 guns in three 300-ton triple turrets. These long-barreled 203mm guns could fire a new, “super-heavy” 335-pound shell out to 30,000 yards and penetrate 10-inches of armor at close ranges. It should be noted that the older cruisers used a 260-pound AP shell.
USS Saint Paul bombarding communist positions off Vietnam, Oct 1966
After shakedown, she was off the coast of Japan in July, getting in the last salvos fired by a major warship on a land target in the war when she plastered the steelworks in Kamaishi from just offshore, putting those big new 8-inchers to good use.
Watercolor “U.S.S. ST. PAUL – Let Go Port Anchor” by Arthur Beaumont, 1946
Then at the end of the war, a funny thing happened: the five almost new Baltimores that came before Saint Paul was decommissioned and laid up in reserve, whereas CA-73 remained on post. Further, many of the follow-on ships that were to come after her were never ordered, and some of these never completed. In all, just 14 Baltimore-class cruisers were built, with Saint Paul arguably seeing the most continuous service.
In Korea, Saint Paul saw hard use and made her 8-inchers a regular hitter, completing her first naval gunfire support on Nov. 19, 1950. It would be far from her last.
USS Saint Paul bombarding communist positions near Wonsan, Kangwon Province, Korea, 20 Apr 1951
USS Saint Paul bombarding communist positions near Hungnam, South Hamgyong Province, Korea, 26 Jul 1953
HO3S-1 helicopter landing on USS Saint Paul off Wonsan, Kangwon Province, Korea, 17 Apr 1951. Her guns look sad…but are probably just depressed for cleaning as they had lots of chances to get dirty at the time.
Heavy cruiser USS Saint Paul (CA-73) lights up the night while firing her 8-inch guns off the coast of Hungnam, North Korea 1950
Hungnam, Songjin, Inchon, Wonsan, Chongjin, Kosong, et. al. She racked up a steady total of hits onshore targets and picked up some Chinese lead in exchange from shore batteries. In all, Saint Paul earned eight Battle stars for her Korean War service, the hard way.
Much like she fired the last shots into Japan, she also completed the last naval gun mission into Korea, at a Chinese emplacement at on 27 July 1953 at 2159– one minute before the truce took effect.
USS SAINT PAUL (CA-73) near Wonsan, Korea just before the signing of truce at Panmunjon. A 5″ shell is fired from the ship against the Communist shore batteries. This round is believed to have been the last fired on enemy positions by UN Naval units before the armistice. NARA FILE #: 80-G-625878
Still, as after WWII, while most of her sisters took up space on red lead row, she remained in service. Tragically, in 1962, 30 of her crewmen were killed in a turret explosion in peacetime drills.
Heavy cruiser USS Saint Paul (CA-73) “Manning the Rails” off Pearl Harbor, July 1959. [2607 × 1481]
After about 1963, when the Iowas were laid up, her guns and those of the few cruisers still left on active duty were the largest ones available to the fleet. This led to her spending most of her service as either a squadron or fleet flag.
This gave her a chance in 1964 to fill in as the battered cruiser “Old Swayback” in the iconic Otto Preminger/John Wayne film In Harm’s Way
The Duke on St.Paul aka Old Swayback
By 1966, she earned a regular spot on the gun line off Vietnam, where she spent most of the next four years, earning another 9 Battlestars for an impressive total of 18 (1 WWII, 8 Korea, 9 RVN).
Tony D’Angelo, <em>USS St. Paul,</em> details the satisfaction of rounds on target and the danger of swapping fuses on the ship’s guns.
Tony D’Angelo, USS St. Paul, remembers conducting harassment and interdiction fire, along with supporting the Marines near the DMZ, during his deployment to Vietnam.
USS Saint Paul bombarding the Cong Phy railroad yard 25 miles south of Thanu Hoa, Vietnam, 4 Aug 1967; note splashes from coastal gun batteries
Big up. More Vietnam work
St. Paul in Da Nang
USS Saint Paul (CA-73) approaching USS Boston (CAG-1) off the coast of Vietnam, September 1968. Courtesy of John Jazdzewski.
In the late 60s, as part of Project Gunfighter at Indian Head Naval Ordnance Station, Saint Paul picked up an experimental shell to use in her 8-inchers, a saboted 104mm Long Range Bombardment Ammunition (LRBA) round that had an estimated range of 72,000 yards.
In 1970, Big Paul, using LRBA, made some of the longest gunfire missions in history when she fired on Viet Cong targets some 35 miles away, destroying six structures. At the time, she was the last big-gun heavy cruiser in the United States Navy.
Video of her firing after the intro…
Then, on 30 April 1971, for the first time since 1945, Saint Paul was taken out of commission after three Pacific wars. Only sisterships Chicago and Columbus, who had long before traded in their 8-inchers for Tartar and Talos missiles, lasted longer.
In the end, Saint Paul was stricken from the Naval List on 31 July 1978 and scrapped in 1980.
She was remembered in the USS Minneapolis-Saint Paul (SSN-708), the twenty-first Los Angeles-class submarine, in commission from 1984 to 2008.
Her 1,000-pound brass bell is located in St. Paul’s city hall, where the city seems to take good care of it.
Specs:
Displacement: 14,500 long tons (14,733 t) standard
17,000 long tons (17,273 t) full load
Length: 673 ft. 5 in (205.26 m)
Beam: 70 ft. 10 in (21.59 m)
Height: 112 ft. 10 in (34.39 m) (mast)
Draft: 26 ft. 10 in (8.18 m)
Propulsion: Geared steam turbines with four screws
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement: 61 officers and 1,085 sailors
Armament: 9 × 8 inch/55 caliber guns (3 × 3)
12 × 5 inch/38 caliber guns (6 × 2)
48 × 40 mm Bofors guns
24 × 20 mm Oerlikon cannons
Armor: Belt Armor: 6 in (150 mm)
Deck: 3 in (76 mm)
Turrets: 3–6 inches (76–152 mm)
Conning Tower: 8 in (200 mm)
If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International
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The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.
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Three Nimitz-class aircraft carriers USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76), and USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) are pierside at Naval Air Station North Island. (U.S. Navy photo 150612-N-NI474-228 by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel M. Young/Released).
The Navy likes to call the big Nimitz class carriers “4.5 acres of sovereign and mobile American territory,” or “90,000-tons of diplomacy.”
Pictured is very nearly more active front-line aircraft carrier deck space than in the rest of the world combined.
We’ve covered the Nelson-class battleship HMS Rodney (pennant number 29) in past Warship Wednesdays, and she is a remarkable design. Well armed and armored but slow (just 23 knots) as a result of compromises put into effect after the 1922 Washington Naval Treaties.
Well, as an update, here are a series of images from the Imperial War Museum taken by Lt. R.G.G. Coote, Royal Navy while in Scotland in the fall of 1940. Enjoy, and as always, click to big up
Her impressive 16 inchers
Sailors aboard HMS Rodney receiving a 16-inch shell from an ammunition ship, 1940
Sailor at his hammock aboard HMS Rodney, 1940. Looks comfy, yes?
Sailors conducting bayonet drill aboard HMS Rodney, circa 1940. Dig the SMLEs
Sailors conducting bayonet drill aboard HMS Rodney, circa 1940
View of the forward section of HMS Rodney, 1940
QF 2-pdr Mk VIII anti-aircraft gun mount and crew aboard HMS Rodney, Sep 1940
Sailors cleaning one of the 16-inch guns aboard HMS Rodney, Sep 1940
View of the torpedo room aboard HMS Rodney, Sep 1940
One of the pinnacles of Bill Ruger’s firearm design legacy was his P-series pistols that came just a few months too late to win a huge military contract. One of the last of that series to hit the market was a rugged and beefy Commander-sized .45ACP single stack that just didn’t get enough love.
The P-series
In 1985 Ruger debuted their P-85 pistol, an investment cast aluminum framed pistol with a carbon steel slide and stainless internals. Made in a traditional double-action/single-action (DA/SA) semi-auto with a SIG-style lockup and M1911-style titling barrel (but without the bushing) the guns were modern, high-capacity (15+1 rounds of 9mm) used ambi surface controls, and, due to the manufacturing process, fairly inexpensive.
Designed to compete against S&W, Sig, Beretta and others in the 1981-83 Joint Service Small Arms Program, which was looking for a 9mm to replace the military’s legacy WWII-era stocks of M1911A1 pistols, the gun was not ready in time and the Beretta 92 was in turn adopted in 1984.
Nevertheless, Ruger went public with its P-85 and it was soon a hit with those seeking a reliable modern handgun as well as a good number of police agencies. It was soon expanded into other calibers such as the .45ACP-chambered P90 (in 1990) and the .40S&W caliber P91 the next year.
The very chunky P90
However, with guns such as the Glock series and S&Ws follow-on Sigma series, polymer was the new thing, this led to the P95 (9mm) and P97 (.45ACP) respectively. The thing is, the 97 was took bulky and didn’t prove as popular on the market as Ruger hoped. It really needed to be slimmed down….
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