Author Archives: laststandonzombieisland

315,144 Miles Under Red & Gold

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The Spanish Navy over the weekend decommissioned the Agosta-class SSK Tramontana, capping a career that began in 1985.

One of four DCNI S-70 Agostas built under license in Spain at the Cartagena dockyard, in her career, Tramontana sailed 315,144 nautical miles, 218,384 of those while submerged.

Besides her Cold War career and her role in the very curious 2002 Perejil Island crisis, she clocked in on a myriad of NATO missions over the years including the 2011 Libyan blockade (Operation Unified Protector) as well as the more recent NATO Active Endeavor and Sea Guardian/European Union’s Operation Sophia counter migrant smuggling efforts.

Consoussiours of bad 1980s/90s action films will perhaps recognize Tramontana from the Charlie Sheen vehicle, Navy SEALS, where she subbed for an American boat.

She was decommissioned on 16 February 2024 at Cartagena Arsenal submarine base with VADM Pedro Luis de la Puente García-Gang in attendance.

Slated to be disarmed and stripped of anything usable or still classified, Tramontana will be expended as a target at some future date.

Only class member Galerna (S-71), commissioned in 1983, remains in Spanish service, with sisters Siroco (S 72) and Mistral (S 73) already discarded.

The class will be replaced by the four new Isaac Peral/DCNI S80 Plus Scorpène AIP variants under construction.

Not a bad looking 40 year old

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How about this great image during the magic hour?

U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Tampa (WMEC 902) transits the Florida Straits, on Feb. 4, 2024, while supporting Operation Vigilant Sentry. Tampa is homeported in Portsmouth, Virginia. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Brodie MacDonald)

Tampa, a 270-foot Famous (Bear)-class cutter, was commissioned on 16 March 1984 putting her within striking distance of the big four-oh. Of note, her class is the last in U.S. service to carry the classic 1970s MK75 OTO Melera 76mm/62 cal mount.

She recently returned home Tuesday, following a 77-day maritime safety and security patrol in the Florida Straits.

“CGC Tampa has gracefully completed a multitude of missions throughout her 40 years of service,” said Cmdr. Walter Krolman, commanding officer of Tampa. “From mass migration rescues to participating in multi-nation military exercises and conducting counterdrug operations, Tampa continues to prove her motto, “Thy way is the sea, thy path in the great waters.”

What I want for Christmas

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Wrapping up my SHOT Show content (hey, I wrote like 40 articles on the week over at Guns.com), I wanted to weigh in on one of the sweetest pieces of hardware that there was at the event.

Ohio Ordnance, the guys that make the M1918 BAR and a wide array of machine guns, came to SHOT with something innovative and mold-breaking– the Recoil Enhanced Automatic Precision Rifle.

The 20,000-foot view is that the REAPR was designed for a SOCOM tender for a .338 Lapua Magnum belt-fed machine gun (not a misprint) that breaks down into three major components in under 10 seconds, small enough to fit into an operator’s backpack.

They say they are ready to put it into production in April and possibly make a non-NFA variant for the masses.

Welcome aboard, John L. Canley

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Marines and Sailors at Naval Base Coronado participated in commissioning ceremonies for the giant new 100,000-ton ton expeditionary mobile base USS John L. Canley (ESB 6), on Feb 17.

This is the first ship to be named after Medal of Honor recipient Sgt. Maj. John L. Canley, Ret., for his actions during the Battle of Hue City in 1968.

Canley (ESB-6) is the fourth Lewis B. Puller-class expeditionary mobile base (ESB) and is envisioned to support low-intensity missions in remote areas as a sort of modernization of the old Mobile Sea Bases Hercules and Wimbrown 7 from the Prime Chance era. As such, they can support MCM assets, USCG patrol boats, Army aviation types, and all flavors of Marines and Navy special warfare units.

They carry the 4th largest flight deck in the U.S. Navy, as part of a huge mission bay. 

Check out this tour: 

Class leader Lewis B. Puller was home to the SEALs who lost their lives late last month while interdicting stateless dhows smuggling rocket parts to Yemen.

Miami in Trinidad

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80 years ago today: The Cleveland-class light cruiser USS Miami (CL 89) at Trinidad during her shakedown, 19 February 1944, photographed from heavy cruiser USS Quincy (CA-71). Note her crew at quarters on deck in crackerjacks, the very weathered paint of her new Measure 32, Design 1D camouflage on her hull, and a pair of Vought OS2U-3 Kingfishers of Cruiser Scouting Squadron 8 perched on her catapults at the fantail.

Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph NH 98404

Commissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 28 December 1943, Miami had been in the fleet for just six weeks in the above image.

And from the same cruise, a great photo of the new cruiser with a bone in her teeth.

View of USS Miami (CL 89). Note spray coming over the bow, February 17, 1944. Photographed by crew of USS Quincy (CA 71). Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-367898

As detailed by DANFS:

On 12 February 1944, Miami got underway from the Chesapeake Bay and in the late afternoon moored at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va. Underway again on the 14th, at 0835 she weighed anchor and shaped a course for Trinidad, British West Indies, to conduct her shakedown. She steamed to the Caribbean in company with the heavy cruiser Quincy (CA-71) and the destroyers Carmick (DD-493) and Doyle (DD-494). On the second day of her voyage she encountered heavy seas and at approximately 0415, Sea2c Leonard S. Dera, a native of Buffalo, N.Y., fell overboard. Despite a search for him for over an hour, Dera was never recovered.

Miami passed through the Boca de Navios Channel on 18 February 1944 and shortly thereafter anchored inside the submarine net off Trinidad. From 19 February to 1 March, the cruiser shifted between Trinidad and the Gulf of Paria to participate in drills and exercises. On 3 March, at 0522 she departed Trinidad and began her voyage back to Norfolk accompanied by Quincy and the destroyers Baldwin (DD-624) and Thompson (DD-627). She arrived at Norfolk without incident on the 7th.

Repainted and given a quick post-shakedown maintenance availability, Miami soon passed through the Canal Zone and headed to the war in the Pacific. In early June 1944, Miami joined the Fast Carrier Task Force conducting air strikes on Japanese-held islands in the Marianas on her way to earn six battle stars in 13 months for her service in World War II.

Post-war, she operated on the California coast training naval reservists until her decommissioning on 30 June 1947, at which point she entered the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Miami’s name was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 September 1961 and her hulk was sold for scrapping to Nicholai Joffe Corp., Beverly Hills, Calif., on 26 July 1962.

Denali Paratroopers Test New Next-Gen Weapons at 25 Below

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The only Arctic, Airborne, Recon cavalry squadron in the U.S. Army has been busy trying out the service’s new Next Generation Squad Weapon systems in some of the worst weather Alaska can offer.

The 1st Squadron (Airborne) of the 40th Cavalry Regiment, working with Fort Greely’s Cold Regions Test Center in one of the coldest parts of Alaska, has been putting the NGSW platform through its paces. The program includes SIG Sauer’s XM-7 rifle, which will fill the role currently held by the M4 Carbine series, the SIG XM250 light machine gun slated to replace the M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and the Vortex-produced M157 Fire Control optics system used on both platforms.

“Extreme environmental testing is critical to ensuring reliable systems,” noted Col. Jason Bohannon, the Army’s Project Manager Soldier Lethality on Feb. 9.

Meanwhile, a social media page for the 1st Squadron-40th Cav noted that they have been experiencing “sub-Arctic conditions in the vicinity of Ft Greely where temperatures haven’t topped above -25 degrees.”

If your range gear includes “Mickey Mouse” Boots, you may be testing an NGSW in Alaska in winter. (Photo: PEO Soldier)

That just seems…really cold. (Photo: PEO Soldier)

The 40th has a long military history of making it work under terrible conditions. Based in its current form in Alaska since 2005– from where they deployed to Iraq (Southern Baghdad) once and Afghanistan twice (Paktya and Khost Provinces)– it draws its lineage from the old 40th Tank Battalion which entered combat on August 15 1944 fighting across northern France into Belgium where it made a significant contribution to the defeat of German forces at St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge then drove into Germany linking up with the Soviets on the Baltic coast.

M4 Shermans in temporary position near St. Vith, Belgium, fire on enemy positions beyond the city. 40th Tank Battalion. 7th Armored Division.” Date: 24 January 1945. Salis, U.S. Army Signal Corps photo 111-SC-199467

Golden Grizzly on Mt. Fuji

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Check out this magnificent image of the 11.500-ton cruiser USS California (CGN-36) late in her career, with Japan’s Fujisan in the background.

Commissioned 50 years ago today on 16 February 1974, California was the lead of her two-ship class of nuclear-powered guided-missile destroyer leaders (redubbed as cruisers in June 1975 to counter the rise in Soviet destroyer-sized “cruisers”).

In her late career configuration, seen above in the image from the CGN-38 Veterans Assoc, California is seen with twin Phalanx 20mm CIWS and twin Mk141 quad Harpoon cans installed. This was added to her original pair of twin Mk.13 Standard (MR) “one-armed bandit” launchers, ASROC matchbox launcher, and Mk.46 ASW torpedo tubes.

The “Golden Grizzly” led a happy life and was present at a myriad of Cold War crises including two circumnavigations of the globe. Despite the fact that she had received a New Threat Upgrade package in a 1993 overhaul, she, and the rest of the Navy’s nuclear-powered cruisers, were axed as part of the Clinton-era cruiser slaughter to skimp on the cost of a mid-life refuel that would have added 20 years to her lifespan.

USS California was deactivated on 1 October 1998, just 24 years after being accepted, then decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 9 July 1999. She was disposed of in the U.S. Navy’s Nuclear-Powered Ship-Submarine recycling program at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Her recycling and scrapping was completed on 12 May 2000.

16th Independence-variant LCS to join the Pacific fleet Soon

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The future USS Kingsville (LCS 36) returning to Mobile on 31 January from her sea trials (Austal)

Austal just recently announced that the future USS Kingsville (LCS 36) has returned pier side after successfully completing acceptance trials in the Gulf of Mexico for the U.S. Navy.

Via Austal:

During acceptance trials, comprehensive testing is conducted on the ship’s major systems and equipment in order to demonstrate their successful operation and mission readiness. The U.S. Navy’s Board of Inspection and Survey participates throughout the trials to validate the quality of construction and compliance with Navy requirements.

Once Kingsville leaves for the Pacific– where the Indy variants are located, the more troubled Freedom variants are based in Florida and basically don’t have a mission other than the occasional 4th Fleet deployment– Austal will only have the future USS Pierre (LCS 38) as the final Independence-variant under construction. Pierre will be christened this spring.

Of the 19 planned Indys, the first two hulls (Independence LCS-2, and Coronado, LCS-4) were decommissioned in 2021-22 after just 11 years and 9 years of service, respectively.

Bell of only American Tin Can Lost in Great War Recovered

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The Tucker-class destroyer USS Jacob Jones (DD-61) was laid down by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey, on 3 August 1914– the same day the Kaiser’s Germany declared war on France and dusted off the (terribly modified) Schlieffen Plan that would jump start what would become the Western Front.

USS Jacob Jones Description: (Destroyer # 61) underway in 1916, soon after she was completed. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 52123.

Jones, commissioned 10 February 1916, was sent to fight “Over There” after America entered the war and served on the front lines of the battle against the U-boats, earning the dubious distinction of being both the first U.S. destroyer ever to be lost to enemy action, and the only American destroyer sunk during WWI.

USS Jacob Jones (Destroyer # 61) Sinking off the Scilly Islands, England, on 6 December 1917, after she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-53. Photographed by Seaman William G. Ellis. Smithsonian Institution Photograph. Catalog #: Smithsonian 72-4509-A

After over a century since its loss, her final resting place was recently been found by a team of technical divers (Darkstar) based in the United Kingdom.

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Jan. 22, 2024) — Larger Multibeam image of the wreck of USS Jacob Jones (DD-61). The U.K. Ministry of Defence’s Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO) unit successfully conducted a survey of the historic WWI wreck of the Tucker-class destroyer USS Jacob Jones (DD-61) in the Atlantic Ocean on Jan. 22, 2024. (Updated larger courtesy asset image of multibeam data collected and provided by the UK National Oceanography Centre and further processed by Wessex Archaeology.)

Her wreck, now confirmed, was recently inspected and her bell respectfully recovered to prevent it being lost to history via unlawful salvage.

Via the Naval History and Heritage Command: 

In a joint effort between the United Kingdom and the United States, the UK Ministry of Defence’s Salvage and Marine Operations, or SALMO, unit successfully conducted a survey of the historic World War One wreck of USS Jacob Jones (DD-61). The operation, carried out at the behest of Naval History and Heritage Command, or NHHC, and with pivotal support from the U.S. Embassy in London, led to the recovery of a key artifact — the ship’s bell.

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Jan. 22, 2024) The U.K. Ministry of Defence’s Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO) unit successfully conducted a survey of the historic WWI wreck of the Tucker-class destroyer USS Jacob Jones (DD-61) in the Atlantic Ocean on Jan. 22, 2024. The operation, carried out at the behest of Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) and with pivotal support from the U.S. Embassy in London, led to the recovery of the ship’s bell. NHHC, located at the Washington Navy Yard, is responsible for preserving, analyzing, and disseminating U.S. naval history and heritage. (Updated image courtesy asset provided by U.K. Ministry of Defence, Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO))

The UK MOD’s SALMO team not only collected ROV video data and recovered the ship’s bell, but also placed a wreath and American flag on the wreck in tribute to the Sailors lost 107 years ago. After its recovery, the bell was placed into the temporary custody of Wessex Archaeology, a private firm contracted by NHHC. Later this year, after a ceremonial handover, the bell will be sent to the NHHC’s Underwater Archaeology Branch for conservation treatment and eventual display at the National Museum of the U.S. Navy.

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Jan. 22, 2024) The U.K. Ministry of Defence’s Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO) unit successfully conducted a survey of the historic WWI wreck of the Tucker-class destroyer USS Jacob Jones (DD-61) in the Atlantic Ocean on Jan. 22, 2024. The operation, carried out at the behest of Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) and with pivotal support from the U.S. Embassy in London, led to the recovery of the ship’s bell. During the recovery, the UK MOD’s SALMO team placed a wreath and an American flag on the wreck to honor lost sailors. NHHC, located at the Washington Navy Yard, is responsible for preserving, analyzing, and disseminating U.S. naval history and heritage. (Image courtesy asset provided by U.K. Ministry of Defence, Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO))

Chuck has hung up his rifle for the final time

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Marine Sgt. Charles “Chuck” Mawhinney in Vietnam, left, and in 2013 while at Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, California. (Photos: USMC)

Charles Benjamin “Chuck” Mawhinney was born in Lakeview, Oregon in February 1949, and, the son of a Marine Corps WWII vet, volunteered for service in October 1967 during the height of the Vietnam War. Assigned as a rifleman in the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam, he was later reassigned to the regiment’s scout sniper section and, in 16 months while working with not only his Regiment but also in support of ROK Marines and U.S. Army units, was credited with 103 confirmed NVA-VC kills and 216 “probable.”

This left him with the legacy of being the most successful sniper in the service’s history. 

After rotating back CONUS and serving as a marksmanship instructor at Camp Pendleton, Mawhinney left the Corps in 1970 as a sergeant and returned home to Oregon. There, he worked for the U.S. Forest Service until he retired in the 1990s.

Mawhinney, as reported by local media in Oregon, passed in Baker City on Feb. 12, aged 74.

Ironically, Mawhinney outlived the scout sniper program he was associated with, as Marine Corps brass recently moved to terminate the program, seen as unneeded in an age of drones.

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