Monthly Archives: February 2025

Mad Max of Chad…and Iraq

Posted on by Leave a comment

A very Mad Max-looking (or possibly Le Dernier Combat) scene from 24 February 1986. It shows a bush patrol (patrouille en brousse) of 3e section du 8e régiment parachutiste d’infanterie de marine (8e RPIMa) near Moussoro, Chad, doing what they could to modify their uniforms in the 120 degree F heat.

Réf. : 1 986 072 34 13, Patrice George/ECPAD/Défense

Note the FAMAS bullpup of the assistant gunner and the holstered SACM pistol of the anti-tank man. Speaking of which, the pipe is a Luchaire Defense SA Lance-Roquettes AntiChar (LRAC) model F1 STRIM 89mm rocket launcher with a 3x APX M 309 optical sight and two spare rockets at the ready.

Introduced in the early 1970s as a marginally better (but 100 percent more French) weapon than the 90mm M20 Super Bazooka, the launcher weighed 11 pounds, sans sight, with HE rounds pushing another 7 pounds a pop. Capable of penetrating 400mm of armor, the French never confirmed or denied that it was used in combat in Chad.

The French Foreign Legion used the LRAC in Iraq as they served as the far left hook of the Desert Storm ground campaign. 

24-26 February 1991 Al Salman Iraq A two-man anti-tank rocket launchers (LRAC) of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment (2e Régiment Étranger d’Infanterie, 2nd REI) sitting near a concrete hangar at the air base. Ref.: 1 991 001 239 17. Christian Fritsch/ECPAD/Defense

It was replaced by the MBDA Eryx after 1993, which is slated to be replaced by an updated 84mm Carl G.

As for 8e RPIMa, the “Chicken Thieves” (voleurs de poules) shown in the top image are still around and still specialize in light, fast-moving operations that often tend toward the desert environment, having deployed to Afghanistan (2008), Central Africa (2013) and the Sahel (2015) in recent years.

Argentina shows off first F-16, kinda

Posted on by 2 comments

We covered last year the U.S.-approved $300 million purchase of a group of 24 circa 1980s F-16A/B MLU Block 10/15s from Denmark to revitalize the country’s air power.

Argentine F-16BM Block 15 MLU ex-Royal Danish AF, seen in Denmark in April 2024

While the Argentine Air Force and Navy fielded a formidable force of over 130 combat aircraft that got involved in the Falklands in 1982– 27 IAI Dagger (Mirage Vs), 16 Mirage IIIEAs, 8 B.62 Canberras, 24 IA 58A Pucara COIN aircraft, 54 A-4B/C/Q Skyhawks, 6 Aermacchi MB.339As, and four Super Étendards– they are all gone.

About the only combat air assets available to the country these days are 15 FAdeA IA-63 Pampa III trainers of IV Brigada Aérea that have been optimized to carry ordnance and a handful of cranky A-4ARs that may or may not be operable.

That’s why the Danish F-16s, even though they are from the Reagan era, are such a big deal.

The Argentines have already had $941 million worth of U.S.-supplied ordnance and spare parts for the F-16s approved by the State Department including:

  • 36 AIM-120 C-8 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM)
  • 102 MK-82 500lb general purpose bombs
  • 50 MXU-650 air foil groups for 500lb GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bombs
  • 102 FMU-152A/B joint programmable fuzes with FZU-63A/B fuze systems
  • 50 MAU-169L/B computer control groups.

The first Danish F-16 (ex-ET-210, now M-1210), a two-seater B model, was shown off in Argentina this week with a very nice almost USAF grey-blue scheme. The bird was disassembled and shipped to Latin America aboard two Argentine KC-130Hs last December then reassembled with the help of Danish technicians at Tandil Air Base where it will eventually become part of VI Brigada Aérea. Right now it is non-flyable.

On arrival last December

And reassembled with a new livery and display ordnance this week

However, this mockup was shown with two AMRAAMs, another two Sidewinders, two drop tanks, and two domestically made FAS-850 Dardo 3 guided glide bombs, a new little gem that has a touted 200km range.

Note Dardo between the Sidewinder and drop tanks

The country is expecting to have a six-frame half-squadron ready to take to the air by the end of the year, when they will be the first supersonic fighters available since they retired the last of their Mirage IIIs a decade ago.

Holy Loch North

Posted on by 3 comments

One of the aces in the hole for the old-school Polaris Fleet Ballistic Missile submarines and their Trident descendants was Refit Site One, hidden in Holy Loch, Scotland near the Firth of Clyde.

Established as the forward base for SUBRON 14 around the tender USS Proteus (AS-19) and floating dry dock Los Alamos (AFDB-7) in 1961 with a small shoreside footprint, the tenders and SSBNs changed but Los Alamos endured and the base quietly closed after the thaw in the Cold War in 1991, capping its 30-year mission.

“Trident, The Black Knight.” USS Michigan (SSBN-727) rests quietly at the US Naval Base at Holy Loch, Scotland in 1988, waiting to be replenished for sea. Painting, Oil on Masonite; by John Charles Roach; 1984; Framed Dimensions 34H X 44W NHHC Accession #: 88-163-CU

Well, with Holy Loch long gone and the sub force still in need of some quiet out-of-the-way places to make occasionally needed pit stops on the surface, Iceland has become a friend indeed. Since April 2023, six SSNs– important to the Icelandic government nuclear-powered but not “officially” carrying nuclear weapons– have slipped into Eyjafjordur– a huge fjord in Northcentral Iceland some 15km wide and 60 km long, dotted by a few small villages and the town of Akureyri (pop 19,000)– for partial resupply and crew swaps.

For their part, Iceland provides logistical support and local security in the form of the cutters and crews of the Icelandic Coast Guard.

The ICG’s cutter Freyja recently assisted with one such service of one of SUBRON 12’s Block III Virginia-class hunter-killers, USS Delaware (SSN 791), over the weekend.

Via the ICG:

The service visits are part of Iceland’s defense commitments and an important contribution to the joint defense of the Atlantic Union. Their deployment here on land allows our allies to ensure continuity of surveillance, shorten response times, and send messages of presence and defense in the North Atlantic.

Meanwhile, down under…

In related news on the other side of the globe, the SUBRON15’s Guam-based Virginia-class hunter-killer USS Minnesota (SSN 783) arrived in sunny Western Australia on February 25, 2025, kicking off the first of two planned U.S. fast-attack submarine visits to HMAS Stirling at Freemantle in 2025.

250225-N-QR679-1011 ROCKINGHAM, Western Australia, Australia (Feb. 25, 2025) Sailors assigned to the Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Minnesota (SSN 783) conduct mooring operations at HMAS Stirling, Western Australia, Australia, Feb. 25, 2025. Minnesota arrived in Western Australia kicking off the first of two planned U.S. fast-attack submarine visits to HMAS Stirling in 2025. Minnesota is currently on deployment supporting the U.S. 7th Fleet, the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered flee

250225-N-QR679-1002 ROCKINGHAM, Western Australia, Australia (Feb. 25, 2025) The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Minnesota (SSN 783) prepares to moor at HMAS Stirling, Western Australia, Australia, Feb. 25, 2025. Minnesota arrived in Western Australia kicking off the first of two planned U.S. fast-attack submarine visits to HMAS Stirling in 2025. Minnesota is currently on deployment supporting the U.S. 7th Fleet, the U.S. Navy’s largest forward-deployed numbered fleet, operating with allies and p

Powell, Awash

Posted on by Leave a comment

80 years ago today, on 27 February 1945, the Fletcher-class destroyer USS Halsey Powell (DD-686) was seen in a series of period Kodachromes during a very wet replenishment near Japan alongside the fast battleship USS Wisconsin (BB-64).

80-G-K-3266

80-G-K-3264

How about the great view of the twin torpedo turnstiles. 80-G-K-3265

Built by Bethlehem Steel Co., Staten Island, N.Y., sponsored by Mrs. Halsey Powell, widow of the late Captain Halsey Powell (USNA 1904); and commissioned on 25 October 1943, our destroyer still had enough time left in World War II to earn seven battle stars in the Pacific from the Marshall Islands to Okinawa– including sinking a Japanese submarine.

After picking up another two battle stars for Korean service, she ultimately transferred in 1968 to join the South Korean Navy as ROKS Seoul (DD-912), serving until 1982.

Experienced Big Tech Censorship? The FTC Wants to Hear from You

Posted on by Leave a comment

The nation’s consumer protection agency wants feedback from the public about how technology platforms deny users access to services based on the content of their speech.

The Federal Trade Commission has launched a public inquiry on the possibly unlawful ways that consumers may have been harmed by technology platforms – such as Facebook, Instagram, Google, et. al. – that limited their ability to share ideas freely and openly.

“Censorship by technology platforms is not just un-American, it is potentially illegal,” said the watchdog agency in a statement. “Tech firms can employ confusing or unpredictable internal procedures that cut users off, sometimes with no ability to appeal the decision. Such actions taken by tech platforms may harm consumers, affect competition, may have resulted from a lack of competition, or may have been the product of anti-competitive conduct.”

The FTC is asking the public who feels such censorship has occurred to enter a public comment, which will become part of the record at Regulations.gov. Those with privacy concerns who may be reluctant to call out big tech in such a public manner can file a report directly with the FTC by going to the agency’s site and clicking “Report Now.”

The public comment period ends on May 21.

Warship Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025: Walking the Beat

Posted on by Leave a comment

Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places.- Christopher Eger

If you enjoy my always ad-free Warship Wednesday content, you can support it by buying me a cup of joe at https://buymeacoffee.com/lsozi

Warship Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025: Walking the Beat

National Museum of Denmark photo THM-6216

Above we see the Danish inspektionsskibet— classed as a “fishery cruiser” at the time in Jane’s— Fylla in rough seas on her patrol route, likely off Iceland, in the late 1920s.

Armed with a pair of 4.7-inch guns and another set of 6-pounders, she replaced Denmark’s only proper cruiser just after the Great War but started her life under service to a different king.

The “Cabbage” Class

When the British slammed into the largest naval war in history up to that time, the Royal Navy found themselves in urgent need of small purpose-built fleet escorts and minesweepers and a class of ultimately 112 vessels in five distinct groups ordered under the Emergency War Programme would prove suitable to both needs.

British Flower (Arabis) class minesweeping sloop HMS Wisteria IWM SP 827

The so-called Flower or Cabbage-class minesweeping sloops were triple hulled forward to allow them survivability when working minefields or dodging torpedoes but still constructed to merchant rather than naval standards, allowing them to be produced quickly (typically in just five months from keel laying to delivery) by commercial yards while Royal Dockyards and the like could be left to the business of building “proper” warships for the Grand Fleet.

All were 250 feet long at the waterline (267 oal), with a simple two-boiler/one engine-screw-funnel power plant good for at least 15 knots. Designed to carry two medium-sized (3, 4, or 4.7-inch) and two light (3-pounder/47mm or 6-pounder/57mm) guns, there was much variation through the builds. Allowance was made for mechanical minesweeping gear, although not all were fitted with it.

The Flowers were built in five sub-classes spanning three in the original “slooper” format: 36 Arabis (sloop-sweepers with 2×4.7″/40 QF, 2×3-pdr/47mm), 12 Azalea (sloop-sweepers with 2×4″/40 QF, 2×3-pdr/47mm), 12 Acacia (sloop-sweepers with 2×12-pdr/3″ QF, 2×3-pdr/47mm) and two as “Warship Q” vessels: 12 Aubrietia (Q-ships with 2x 4″ guns, 1×3-pdr/47mm, depth charge throwers), and 28 Anchusa (Q-ships with 2x 4″ guns, 2x 12-pdr/3″ guns, depth charge throwers).

Arabis-class sloops of the Flower typeNo less than 15 yards built the Cabbages including Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend;  Earle’s Shipbuilding & Engineering Co, Kingston upon Hull; Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock;  Barclay Curle & Company, Whiteinch;  Lobnitz & Company, Renfrew; Charles Connell and Company, Scotstoun; Napier & Miller, Old Kilpatrick; Archibald McMillan & Son, Dumbarton; Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company, Greenock; Bow, McLachlan and Company, Paisley; William Simons & Company, Renfrew; D. & W. Henderson & Company, Glasgow; Workman, Clark and Company, Belfast; Richardson, Duck and Company, Thornaby-on-Tees; and Dunlop Bremner & Company, Port Glasgow.

Meet Asphodel

Named for the lily connected via Greek legend to the dead and the underworld, our sloop, HMS Asphodel, was one of six Cabbages (five Arabis type) built by D. & W. Henderson in Glasgow alongside the yard’s bread and butter– War Standard “A” tramp ships.

Asphodel was D&W Hull No. 498, completed with a T3Cy 22½”36½”60″x27″ 180psi 2,000ihp engine, launched 21 December 1915 and commissioned 28 January 1916, with CDR Reginald Gay Copleston, R.N., Retired List, as her first skipper. Copleston, who had voluntarily moved to the Retired List in 1911 after 15 years of service, was the Librarian at the Royal Naval War College when the War started. Asphodel was his first seagoing command since the old Apollo-class second-class protected cruiser HMS Sirius in 1909.

Ordered to the Mediterranean, Asphodel sailed into Alexandria on 19 March to join the East Indies and Egypt force under VADM John Michael de Robeck, First Baronet. There, she joined several other sloops including several sisters (HMS Amaryllis, Cornflower, Nigella, Verbena, and Valerian) supporting the old Majestic-class pre-dreadnoughts HMS Hannibal and Jupiter along with five monitors and seven cruisers.

A grey-painted HMS Jupiter in Grand Harbour, Valletta, Malta, March 1915. Jupiter, which joined the fleet in 1897, left the Med in November 1916 and paid off at Devonport to provide crews for antisubmarine vessels. Hannibal, who had given up her main battery of four BL 12-inch Mark VIII guns to arm the monitors HMS Prince Eugene and HMS Sir John Moore, would endure until 1919. Photo by Surgeon Oscar Parkes. IWM SP 77.

Asphodel had a quiet life, as she was typically used as a fleet messenger on the 1,000-mile run between Alexandria and Malta, leaving once a week for a round-trip back and forth, with Hannibal listing her arriving and departing in her logs over 200 times across the next 42 months.

Fleet Messengers at Malta: HMS Asphodel and HMS Ivy. By Frank Mason. IWM ART 3109

Copleston commanded Asphodel until being appointed Commander of Patrols, Malta on 18 August 1917, replaced by the younger CDR James Charles Wauhope, formerly of the unsuccessful Q-ship HMS Carrigan Head (Q4) out of Queenstown. Wauhope would command her for the remainder of her RN career.

Asphodel was assigned to the newly-formed Twelfth Sloop Flotilla in June 1918, a force that grew to as large as 19 such vessels.

She outlasted her consort Hannibal, which was paid off for disposal in Malta on 25 October 1919, and left Malta with her own paying off pennant in December 1919, bound for decommissioning on 27 April 1920 and storage in the Home Isles pending disposal.

Asphodel, as far as I can, tell never saw combat during WWI but she did lose three men at once– all outbound to the Devonport Naval Dockyard– drowned in Malta on 2 April 1918. They are among the 351 Commonwealth Great War burials in Malta’s Capuccini/Kalkara Naval Cemetery.

  • ADAMS, Charles W, Able Seaman, J 17911
  • CARROLL, John, Petty Officer 1c, 190285
  • GREEN, Cyril G, Armourer’s Mate, M 5081

A fourth Asphodel man, Able Seaman John Browning Smale, 21, died in an accident on 5 October 1918 and is buried with his shipmates at Capuccini.

The war was not otherwise kind to the Cabbages, with eight lost while on Q-ship duty and four on more traditional naval work, with Asphodel’s direct sisters HMS Arabis sunk by German torpedo boats off the Dogger Bank in 1916, HMS Primula sent to the bottom in the Med by SM U-35, and HMS Genista sunk by SM U-57 in the Atlantic the same year.

Post-war, most were paid off, sold either to the breakers or for mercantile use in the early 1920s and the few kept around were hulked as drill ships for the RNVR or tasked with ancillary uses such as fisheries patrol.

A few went on to be sold or donated to other governments, as military aid. This included HMS Zinnia heading to the Belgian Navy as a fishery protection vessel, HMS Pentstemon becoming the Chinese gunboat Hai Chow, HMS Gladiolus and HMS Jonquil becoming the Portuguese “cruisers” NRP República and NRP Carvalho Araújo, and HMS Geranium heading down south to become HMAS Geranium.

HMAS Geranium, 1930s. SLV 9916498703607636

This brings us to Asphodel’s second career.

Danish Service

For some 30 years, the Danes made steady use of the British-built 3,000-ton krydserkorvetten (cruiser corvette)  Valkyrien, a close cousin of the Armstrong-built Chilean protected cruiser Esmeralda. She cruised the world and waved the Dannebrog as far away as Siam and Hong Kong and is most notable for overseeing the Danish West Indies (Virgin Islands) to the U.S. in 1917.

The white-hulled Valkyrien in the harbor at St. Thomas as the Danish flag comes down in the Virgin Islands, 31 March 1917. Behind her is the Danish-flag-flying grey-hulled transport USS Hancock (AP-5), which carried American Marines to the islands for the transfer. DH009717

Denmark’s only true cruiser, by the early 1920s, the ram-bowed Valkyrien was hopelessly obsolete and needed replacement.

However, after a wartime mobilization that saw the Danish military swell to over 75,000 and construct the 23 km-long Tunestillingen line of defenses near Copenhagen, the Danish fishing and merchant marine fleets had to absorb the losses of more than 324 ships to both sides during the conflict, and the economic burden of the reunification of economically depressed Southern Jutland (Northern Schleswig) from Weimar Germany in 1920, the Danes were flat broke and had little appetite for more military spending.

This led the government to the bargain basement deal that was HMS Asphodel.

A good deal lighter than the Valkyrien (1,250 tons vs 3,000) as our sloop had zero armor plating other than the shields of her main guns, she was nonetheless the same length (267 feet oal) while a lighter draft (11 feet vs 18 feet) allowed her to enter more colonial ports and harbors. While Asphodel only carried two 4.7-inch guns and another pair of 6-pounders, Valkyrien by 1915 only carried two aging 5.86″/32s and six 3″/55s. But the substantial savings was in crew, with Valkyrien requiring a minimum of 200 men even in light peacetime service (albeit allowing space for another 100 cadets), while Asphodel could be placed in full service with only 75 men in her complement.

As a no-brainer, the surplus ex-Asphodel was acquired for her value in scrap metal from the Admiralty in June 1920 and then sent for an overhaul at Orlogsværftets in Copenhagen.

Following her last summer cruise to Greenland and Iceland in 1921, Valkyrien was laid up in 1923 and sold for scrap the next year. Her spot was taken by the newly dubbed Fylla— the fourth Danish warship to carry the name, with the first two being sail-powered frigates (fregaten) completed in 1802 and 1812, respectively.

The name had previously been carried by an Orlogsværftets-built 8-gunned steam-powered armored schooner that joined the Danish fleet in 1863– just in time to fight the Germans– but spent her career cruising as a station ship in the Danish West Indies and around the Faroes, Greenland, and Iceland.

The third Danish warship Fylla, a 157-foot armored schooner launched in 1862 and decommissioned in 1894, accomplished several polar mapping and exploration cruises, leaving at least one geographic feature named after her in Greenland. She was kept as a pier side trainer and barracks ship for another decade, scrapped in 1903. The name comes from an old Norse verb which means roughly to fill or complete. THM-18183

She was rearmed at least thrice in her career, shifting from 60- and 30-pounder muzzle-loading smoothbore cannons to 3-inch rifled breechloaders in her final form. THM-18182

Our Fylla’s first Danish skipper was CDR Prince Axel, a swashbuckling 32-year-old grandson of King Christian IX of Denmark and at the time the fourth in line to the throne. Axel, who nursed a love of sports, flying, and fast cars his whole life, was a career naval officer, having joined the service in 1909 and cut his teeth on numerous Danish coastal battleships including tense Great War neutrality patrols threading the needle between the British and the Germans, later becoming one of the Danish Navy’s first aviators. In 1918, he led the Danish Naval Mission to America and returned to Europe in company with the dynamic Assistant SECNAV, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Axel had married a popular Swedish princess in 1919 and had only narrowly avoided an effort to draft him to fill a nascent throne in newly independent Finland.

Her inaugural cruise in late 1920 was captured in photos.

Fylla riding light with signal flags, THM-3927

Fylla off Godthab, Greenland, 27 September 1920 ES-167772

Fylla at anchor off Iceland THM-13968

Inspection ship Fylla returning around 1920 from her first patrol THM-41465

Fylla typically was employed as the station ship in Iceland and would patrol the Faeroes to the southeast and Greenland to the northwest as well, with the occasional visits to Holland, England, and Norway.

At the time, the Danes only had two smaller inspection ships on the same beat and they were significantly older and less well-armed: Island Falk (entered fleet 1906, 730 tons, 183 feet oal, 13 knots, 2×3″ guns) and Besytteren (entered fleet 1900, 450 tons, 142 feet oal, 11 knots, 2x57mm guns), so Fylla was the queen of the overseas fleet.

Postcard Reykjavik, harbor area with, among others, the inspection ship Fylla, circa 1926

English trawler Lord Ernle who had lost its propeller, was taken in tow by Fylla in the Denmark Strait and towed to Reykjavik, in the summer of 1931. THM-6220

Fylla raising ensign circa 1933. Note her stern 4.7″ gun THM-18491

Fylla, THM-18471

Fylla, THM-18477

Fylla, with a 20mm Madsen AAA gun fitted late in her career THM-18849

Fylla Greenland THM-18891

Danish Flower-class sloop Fylla ex-Asphodel

Danish Flower-class sloop Fylla, Jane’s 1929, ex-Asphodel

Fylla in Icelandic waters 1920s via Sapur, Icelandic National Museum

Fylla in Icelandic waters 1920s via Sapur, Icelandic National Museum

She would carry King Christian X to the Faeroe Islands and Iceland in June 1930, one of the first visits by a sitting Danish monarch to the far-flung Atlantic colonies. On the return leg, escorting the coastal battleship ship Niels Juel, the ships visited Oslo and saluted King Haakon VII.

Niels Juel and Fylla in Oslo, Norway July 7, 1930. The paintings show the Danish coastal defense ship Niels Juel (left) and the gunboat Fylla saluting the Norwegian King in Olso. The two vessels carried the Danish king Christian X to the Faeroe Islands and Iceland from June 1930, so this visit must have been on their way home to Copenhagen. Benjamin Olsen seems to have been part of the entourage. By Benjamin Olsen 1930 via the Forsvarsgalleriet.

She was graceful enough in Danish service that she caught the eye of maritime artist Christian Benjamin Olsen who captured her in at least three of his period works, several of which are in the Royal Danish Naval Museum in Copenhagen. Of note, Olsen visited the Faroe Islands and Iceland in 1921, 1926, and 1930, having frequent chances to see Fylla in action.

Inspektionsskibet Fylla at sea by Christian Benjamin Olsen

Inspektionsskibet Fylla off Iceland by Christian Benjamin Olsen

However, all good things come to an end. When the two large new aircraft-equipped inspection ships, Hvidbjornen (1,050 t, 196 feet oal, 2x87mm, 1 floatplane, 14 knots, circa 1928) and Ingolf (1,180 t, 213 feet oal, 2×4.7″/45, 1 floatplane, 16.5 knots, circa 1932), were ordered in the late 1920s/early 1930s, the need to retain the aging Fylla was removed.

At that, Fylla was withdrawn from service in 1933, disarmed, and sold for scrap.

Epilogue

Little remains of our subject.

Of her RN skippers, Copleston returned to England after the war and reverted to the Retired List in December 1918. A cricketer from a family of cricketers, he died in Devon in 1960, aged 85.

Meanwhile, the younger CDR James Charles Wauhope would post-Armistice volunteer for transfer to the Royal Australian Navy from which he would retire in 1929. Returning to England pre-war after working a claim in the Wewak goldfield in New Guinea for years, he rejoined the RN in WWII, ultimately serving as Naval Officer in Charge, Stornoway. Capt. Wauhope died a pauper in General Hospital Paddington, London in 1960, aged 76.

The Royal Navy commissioned a second HMS Asphodel, appropriately a Flower-class corvette (K56) in September 1940. She was sunk on 10 March 1944 off Cape Finisterre by U-575, with only five survivors.

Flower class Corvette HMS Asphodel K56 under tow on the Tyne, circa 1943, IWM FL 1109

Fylla’s first Danish skipper, Prince Axel, continued his military service albeit from a desk and was appointed a rear admiral on the naval staff in 1939. He was also simultaneously the director of the Danish East Asiatic Company shipping concern from 1934 to 1953 and had previously commanded the 8,100-ton SS Alsia under the EAC flag. During the war, although under surveillance by the Gestapo, he reportedly endorsed the scuttling of the Danish fleet in 1943 to keep it out of German hands, and quietly blessed the work of EAC’s fleet-at-large in Allied service– with the company losing at least six ships during the conflict. He also cultivated contacts with several of the Danish resistance groups. Promoted to a perfunctory full admiral in 1958, his youngest son, Prince Fleming, a naval cadet in 1945, served on active duty with the Danish Navy for several years as a submariner. Axel passed in 1964, aged 75, and was buried in his naval uniform.

Prince Flemming Valdemar (L), son of Prince Axel, cousin of King Christian X of Denmark, with members of the Danish Resistance in Copenhagen Denmark – 7-9 May 1945. Note Flemming is armed with a Swedish M37/39 Suomi SMG, the resistance member behind him has a Sten Mk II SMG. IWM – Pelman, L (Lt) Photographer. IWM A 28475

The Danes commissioned a fourth Fylla, a 1,700-ton Aalborg-built inspection ship (F351) that entered the fleet in 1963. She served until 1991.

Inspection ship F351 Fylla, 1986, in Greenland’s Prins Christians Sund med Ministerflag

Of Asphodel/Fylla‘s 111 sister Cabbages, a dozen had been lost in the Great War, one (HMS Valerian) was lost at sea in a hurricane off Cuba in 1926, one sunk by the Japanese in 1937 (ex-HMS Pentstemon/Hai Chow), at least three (ex-HMS Buttercup/Teseo, HMS Laburnum, and HMS Cornflower) were sunk in WWII. The last in RN service– and the last active coal-burner on the Admiralty List– HMS Rosemary, had been a fishery protection ship interbellum then was pressed into service as an escort during WWII, was only sent to the breakers in 1947.

Just one Cabbage is believed to remain, the Anchusa group Q-ship HMS Saxifrage, which continued to serve as RNVR President from 1922 through 1982 as a moored drillship sans guns or engines. Sold to private interests, she has changed hands several times in the past few decades and, carrying a wild dazzle paint scheme, is currently owned by a charitable trust that is seeking to preserve her. Laid up at Chatham Dock with much of her topside razed, she may not be around much longer.

Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive

 

***

Ships are more than steel
and wood
And heart of burning coal,
For those who sail upon
them know
That some ships have a
soul.

***

 

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

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

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to 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.

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

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

I’m a member, so should you be!

Army Continues to Ramp up 155mm Howitzer Shell Production

Posted on by One comment

An M109A6 Paladin 155mm howitzer of Charlie Battery, 2nd Battalion, 142nd Field Artillery Brigade, fires a round during a fire mission at the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center near Barling, Arkansas, May 14. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Stephen M. Wright) 05.12.2019

Five new facilities to make 155mm shells for the U.S. Army opened last year.

The Pentagon sent “more than” 200 155mm howitzers and “more than” 3 million 155mm artillery rounds to Ukraine under the Biden Administration. As many of those were pulled from existing DOD stockpiles (and the balance bought with DOD funds from places like Poland, Brazil, and South Korea), this has left many depot warehouses bare and drawn a stark red line under the fact that tube artillery remains the “King of Battle” even in the age of drones and cyber warfare.

With that, the Army has been looking to grow its production of 155mm shells, opening the first ammo plant since 1945– the new Universal Artillery Projectile Lines facility at Mesquite, Texas— last May.

The move came as the Army held ribbon-cutting ceremonies for new propelling charge facilities in Marion, Illinois, and Perry, Florida and a new load assemble pack facility in Camden, Arkansas.

This was followed last October by the inauguration of the IMT Precision Production Facility in Ingersoll, Canada, with the latter capable of producing 15,000 shell bodies per month. At that rate, the Ingersoll plant could make good on the 3 million shells sent to Ukraine by just after 2041– so long as no other rounds are used.

Now, the Army is looking to keep expanding production.

Per Picatinny Arsenal:

The Army’s Project Manager, Combat Ammunition Systems will host an Industry Day on March 20 in Parsippany, New Jersey, to engage with industry partners and explore strategies for enhancing manufacturing capabilities. The Industry Day will contribute to the U.S. Army’s continuing efforts to expand and accelerate production of 155mm artillery ammunition, aiming to reach a production rate of 100,000 shots per month by 2026.

A shot is defined as a complete 155 mm round to include fuze, primer, explosively loaded projectile, and a propelling charge. The 155 mm artillery round is the backbone of U.S. and allied field artillery, providing long-range, high explosive firepower to support maneuver forces and suppress enemy positions.

The munition is a staple of modern warfare and is used in platforms such as the M777 howitzer and the M109 Paladin. It offers a balance of range, lethality, and adaptability, with various warhead configurations, including precision-guided variants, smoke, and illumination rounds.

The push for increased 155 mm production comes as demand for artillery has surged due to ongoing global conflicts, including support for Ukraine, Israel, and broader U.S. defense readiness efforts. The event will focus on enhancing artillery propelling charge systems, investing in the industrial base, and fostering innovation in munitions development.

“Expanding 155 mm artillery production is about ensuring the Army, our allies, and international partners have the firepower needed to deter and, if necessary, decisively win conflicts”, said Colonel Leon L. Rogers II, Project Manager for Combat Ammunition Systems. “Industry Day is a critical opportunity for us to engage with our partners, drive innovation, and strengthen the industrial base. It is through strategic investments, modernization, and collaboration with industry, we are building a production enterprise capable of delivering at scale and speed.”

The Army has already made significant investments to increase its domestic production of 155 mm shots, including the commissioning of new manufacturing facilities and modernization of existing locations. Recent contracts and funding initiatives have supported efforts to expand metal parts production, load-assemble-pack capabilities, and propellant supply.

Industry partners attending the event will have the opportunity to discuss these initiatives with Army leaders and gain insight into upcoming contract opportunities.

The rapid consumption of artillery munitions in ongoing conflicts has reinforced the need for a resilient, high-output industrial base capable of meeting wartime demands.

In response, the Army launched an aggressive multi-billion-dollar expansion effort, investing in industrial modernization, workforce growth, and supply chain resiliency. As a result, current monthly production capacity has more than tripled its 2022 output.

“This Industry Day represents a call to action for American industry to continue our efforts to expand and modernize our nation’s production capacity of 155 mm artillery,” said Maj. Gen. John T. Reim, Joint Program Executive Officer for Armaments and Ammunition. “We must forge a robust and responsive industrial base that ensures our warfighters and allies have the firepower they need and when they need it in order to deter aggression and defend freedom across the globe.”

The Army’s goal of 100,000 shots per month by 2026 will require further investment in metal parts manufacturing, load-assemble- pack (LAP) facilities, and propellant production.

Companies specializing in munitions production, advanced manufacturing, materials sourcing, and logistics will have the opportunity to engage in discussions and explore future contracting opportunities.

For more information, industry partners are encouraged to register on SAM.gov for updates on 155 mm production contracts and opportunities.

Just relaxing along the Irrawaddy

Posted on by Leave a comment

80 years ago today. Official caption: “The British Army in Burma. Men of 2nd Division man a position on the Irrawaddy River near Pagan, Burma, 25 February 1945.”

Photo by SGT. P. Sanders, No. 9 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit, IWM (SE 3181).

Note the blend of No.4 Enfield .303 rifle and M1928 Thompson along with the slouch hats, common for British troops of Lt. Gen. Bill Slim’s “Forgotten” Fourteenth Army in Burma at this stage of the war.

They would soon cross the river, a key moment in the campaign to liberate the region from the Japanese that was the equivalent of crossing the Rhine in the ETO.

Men of the 2nd Division disembark from boats having crossed the Irrawaddy River at Ngazun, on 28 February 1945. Photo by SGT. P. Sanders, No. 9 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit, IWM (SE 3146)

The 2nd British Infantry Division– 2nd Manchester Regt, 6th Bn Loyal Regt (North Lancashire), 1st Royal Scots, 1st Bn 8th Lancashire Fusiliers, 2nd Bn Royal Norfolk, 1st Bn Queen’s Cameron Highlanders, 2nd Bn Dorsetshire Regt, 7th Bn Worcestershire Regt, 1st Bn Royal Berkshire Regt, 2nd Bn Durham light Infantry, and 1st Bn Royal Welsh Fusiliers– was a pre-war unit of regulars with a history that dates back to Wellington that had lost all its equipment at Dunkirk.

Reformed in England, with many of its original members chopped to form new units, the division was ordered to Ahmednagar, India in June 1942 where it would serve a garrison and training role until March 1944.

Then, as one of just two British infantry divisions (along with the 36th) in the CBI to fight in Burma, would slug it out in the jungle for 15 months before being sent back to India for rest in June 1945.

They were most notable for breaking the Japanese siege of Kohima and destroying the Imperial Army’s “Furious” 31st Division.

Post-war, the 2nd would serve as occupation troops in Japan and, after a few years garrison in Malaya, would be an integral part of the BAOR in West Germany during the Cold War. Since then, it was brought back as a UK-based training division only to be disbanded again in 2012.

Springfield brings new 9mm AR pistol to market– and it takes Colt SMG sticks

Posted on by Leave a comment

Springfield Armory this week delivered a 9mm pistol variant of the Saint Victor to complement its PCC models. The company debuted the direct blowback-action Saint Victor 9mm carbine in late 2022 with a Melonite-coated 16-inch CMV 1:10 twist barrel, ambidextrous safety, nickel-boron-coated flat trigger, and a standard GI-style charging handle. In a departure from the widespread use of Glock double-stack mags for 9mm PCCs, the Victor carbine accepted 32-round Colt SMG stick mags– which are widely available.

Now, for 2025, Springfield is shrinking the platform down to an NFA-compliant pistol format with a 5.5-inch barrel inside a free-floating M-LOK handguard and outfitted with an SB Tactical SB-A3 stabilizing brace on an adjustable three-position receiver extension. Other standard features include a full-length top Picatinny rail, short-throw ambidextrous 45-degree thumb safety, a B5 Systems grip and trigger guard, and a SA muzzle drum on a threaded barrel.

Gotta love those Colt stick mags.

Bear Patrol

Posted on by Leave a comment
The old turboprop-powered Tu-95 Bear, first flown in 1952, is still poking around, spotted this time over the Bearing and Chukchi Sea, and a whole new generation of interceptors are now rising to meet them.

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft positively identified and intercepted two Russian Tu-95 and two Su-35 military aircraft over the Bering Sea, on 18 Feb. 2025.

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft positively identified and intercepted two Russian Tu-95 and two Su-35 military aircraft over the Chukchi Sea, on 19 Feb. 2025.

Two Russian Tu-95 and two Su-27 military aircraft are positively identified and intercepted by North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft over the Chukchi Sea,19 Feb. 2025. 

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft positively identified and intercepted two Russian Tu-95 and two Su-35 military aircraft over the Bering Sea, on 18 Feb. 2025.

Via Alaskan Command:
On Feb. 18th and 19th, 2025, North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft positively identified and intercepted two Russian Tu-95 and two Su-35 military aircraft in the Alaska Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) remaining in international airspace west of Alaska.
NORAD remains ready to employ a number of response options in defense of North American including meeting presence with presence.
The bandits appear to include Tupelov Tu-95MS Bear-H Red 45 (RF-94189), a strategic missile slinger of the Amur long-range aviation unit, escorted by Sukhoi Su-35 Super Flankers Blue 24 (95493) and Red 51– possibly of the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment.
Of note, Blue 24 seemed to be armed with two long-range Vympel NPO R-77s and two short-range R-73 AAMs, which is a flex.
« Older Entries