Between 20 and 28 December 1943, the idyllic Adriatic resort town of Ortona, Italy was the scene of some of the most intense combat in the Mediterranean Theater. Soldiers of the First Canadian Infantry Division fought crack German Fallschirmjäger for control of the city, the eastern anchor of the Gustav Line.
Canadian Armour Passing Through Ortona, by Dr. Charles Comfort. Canadian War Museum (CN 12245).
The Army University Films Team is proud to present, The Battle of Ortona, a detailed 50-minute doc on the battle as told by Major Jayson Geroux of the Canadian Armed Forces.
80 years ago today. Official caption: “Christmas With The Trawlers. 21 December 1943, Harwich. members of the Escort Trawler HMS Turquoise (T45) prepare to make the most of Christmas afloat.”
“The cook emerges from the galley bearing the ship’s Christmas pudding, as members of the crew crowd round the hatch to welcome him.” Photo by LT J.E. Russell, Admiralty Collection, Imperial War Museum Catalog No. A 21071
“All set for a Merry Christmas, with pudding, a cigar, and a bottle.” Same as the above, Imperial War Museum Catalog No. A 21072
Same as the above IWM A 21073
“A leading seaman climbing the shrouds to fix a Christmas tree to the mast-head in accordance with custom,” IWM A 21070
The crew had much to celebrate.
Built at Southbank-on-Tees by Smith’s Dock (Yard No. 986) for the Warwickshire Fishing Co of Grimsby, the 460-ton trawler was instead purchased on the ways in November 1935 by the Royal Navy for conversion to a “Gem” class Anti Submarine Escort.
When war came, His Majesty’s Trawler Turquoise was based in Harwich, as seen above, for North Sea convoy escort duties, armed with depth charges and a single 4-inch deck gun forward and Lewis gun aft.
During her full service, for the duration from 1939 through VE Day, she sailed 72,000 miles underway and was an escort in part for something like 215 convoys comprising 6,400 ships totaling over 15 million tons.
Adopted by Gwmbren UD Wales during the war, she fought in at least two clashes with German E-boats, carried BEF troops home from Dunkirk, and helped salvage 11 naval and merchant ships, pulling 150 survivors from the water.
‘Each of our convoy trips had its moments of excitement with the usual attacks by aircraft, but this one was really special. Our charge numbered 72 ships, including tankers, the largest convoy to date. It had been a balmy sunny day and the second dogwatch came round with one of those glorious sunsets travel agents speak of, on a calm, oily sea. It all seemed rather unreal, until shortly after my arrival on duty at the twin point‑five aft the alarm went, and over on the far side of the convoy the firework display of tracers etched their wonderful pattern in the evening dusk. The tine was 6 p.m. It wasn’t long before we were engaging enemy aircraft, Heinkel 113s, and the sky now seemed full of these roaring, bar‑like messengers of death. Our entire ship was shrouded in gunsmoke and the pungent smell of burnt cordite hung in the still air. One lost all sense of time and between the frantic bursts of firing, of near misses, it seemed that an unearthly, ghost‑like silence descended over the area of the sea with Turquoise appearing motionless. The moon was now shining and suddenly the four‑inch crew shouted “E‑boat ‑Green 10, sir!”
‘At this time the angle was too acute for us to see the German, but our forward guns were letting fly. In the starboard wing, manning the Lewis gun was the steward, a Cockney veteran of World War 1. He was a four‑foot‑nothing man and had a beer crate to stand on, and we could see him up on his crate blazing away. Now the E‑boat was in sight at 80 yards, the whine of bullets was loud in the air and the thud of them finding a home in the padding round the bridge sounded clear above the turmoil. Our little steward raked the German gunners at their guns and, doll‑like; they fell over and firing ceased from her. She was now running broadside on to us and our guns methodically raked her, then as she sheered away from us one had the impression that she was finished. But before we had time to collect scattered thoughts a cool voice ordered “Shift target ‑aircraft bearing Green 90, angle of sight 20 degrees”.
‘The rest of the night wore on ‑ “Load, open fire, shift target” ‑ until the sun came up over the horizon, bathing the sea with its shimmering yellow light. “Stand down ‑ tea up!” Blessed relief. Now was the time to feel scared. Later the Richmond came over and congratulated us on defeating the E‑boat, which had sunk some hours after the action. Some of the Germans had been rescued.
‘On our return to Harwich we were given twenty‑four hours excused duty and a bottle of beer each. Later our CO (Lieutenant C. M. Newns, RNVR) received the DSC, and there were four Mentions in Despatches. One of these was for the steward, who had been more instrumental than anyone in saving casualties among our ship’s company. My wife sent me a telegram: “Heard news on wireless ‑‑ write ‑ worried.” The news item she had heard stated that a large‑scale air and sea attack on a big East Coast convoy had been repulsed with the loss of only seven ships … HMT Turquoise pursued and sank an E‑boat. “Pursued” be damned with a 7‑knot trawler!”
Post-war, she was sold into mercantile service first with St Andrews Steam Fisheries of Hull as F/V St.Oswald, then in 1948 to Grimsby Merchants’ Amalgamated as Woolton, and finally to Wyre Trawlers, eventually renamed Wyre Woolton.
She was broken up in 1957 at Preston.
Just three weeks after the above photos were snapped, Turquoise was back on escort duty.
“The trawler HMS Turquoise is an ‘E-boat Alley’ veteran. 14 January 1944, Harwich. The anti-submarine escort trawler HMS Turquoise has just completed 4 years of service on the East Coast.” Photo by LT J.E. Russell, Admiralty Collection, Imperial War Museum Catalog No. A 21378
Some 2,385 officers and men of the Royal Naval Patrol Service aged from sixteen to the late sixties, fathers, sons, brothers, and cousins, who died in the service of their country and found ‘no grave but the sea’.
Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1976. Naval History and Heritage Command Catalog #: NH 84879
Above we see the 542-class tank landing ship USS Meeker County (LST-980) arriving at San Diego, California, on 6 September 1970, capping a four-year stint in Vietnam where she, just a few months before, had survived an attempted mining by a VC dive team. Note that her guns– including WWII-era Bofors– are covered and she is carrying much topside cargo to include vehicles and cranes.
The Normandy veteran was laid down 80 years ago this month, saw lots of service in a few different wars, and was among the very last of her class in U.S. Naval service.
The 542s
A revolutionary concept that, by and large, went a long way to win WWII (and later turn the tables in Korea) was the LST. Designed to beach their bows at the surf line and pull themselves back off via a combination of rear anchor winching and reverse prop work, they were big and slow, earning them the invariable nicknames of “Large Slow Target” or “Last Ship (to) Tokyo.”
While a few early designs were built by the British (the Maracaibo and Boxer classes) it wasn’t until the Royal Navy placed a wish list with the U.S. for 200 LST (2) type vessels that the Americans got into the landing tank ship design in a big way.
This general 1,800-ton, 327-foot vessel, powered (eventually) by two easily maintained GM EMD locomotive diesels, was ultimately built in a whopping 1,052 examples between 1942 and 1945. They could carry around 120 troops, which could be landed by as many as a half-dozen davit-carried Higgins boats, but their main claim to fame was in being able to tote almost 1,500 tons of cargo and vehicles on their tank deck for landing ashore.
Built across three different subclasses (390 LST-1 type, 51 LST-491 type, and 611 LST-542) in nine different yards spread across the country– including five “cornfield shipyards” in the Midwest, then shipped via river to the coast– our humble “gator” was of the latter type.
The 542s, while using the same general hull and engineering plant, were equipped with an enclosed navigation bridge, a large 4,000 gal per day saltwater distilling plant, and a heavier armament (1 3″/50 DP open mount, 2 twin 40mm Bofors w/Mk.51 directors, 4 single Bofors, and 12 20mm Oerlikon) than previous members of the class. This, however, dropped their maximum cargo load from 2,100 tons as carried by previous sisters, down to “only” 1,900.
LST-542 type, cutaway model. Note the extensive 40mm and 20mm gun tubs, six LCVPs in davits, and tank deck. The 542s and some late 491s used a simple ramp rather than an elevator to move vehicles from the topside to the tank deck and vice versa. NMUSN-4950
The first to enter service, LST-542, was commissioned on 29 February 1944, while the last completed was LST-1152, commissioned on 30 June 1945. Now that is production, baby!
Meet LST-980
Laid down on 9 December 1943, at Boston Navy Yard, LST-980 was constructed in just 79 days to be commissioned on 26 February 1944. T
hen came two months of shakedown and post-delivery refits before she left, packed with equipment, bound for England where “the big show” was soon to start.
Touring Beachside France
After leaving Southend on the afternoon of 5 June, on D-Day, LST-980, along with sisters LST-543, 981, 982, and 983, made up Flotilla 17, Group 52, Division 103, under CDR William J. Whiteside as commodore.
The group brought their loads, elements of the British Army, successfully to Juno Beach in the afternoon of the 6th.
Part of L Force, they carried the British 7 Armoured Division and 51 Division along with parts of both I Corps and XXX Corps.
Mitchell Jamieson, “Morning of D-Day from LST” NHHC 88-193-hi
LST in Channel Convoy June 1944 Drawing, Ink and Wash on Paper; by Mitchell Jamieson; 1944; Framed Dimensions 30H X 25W Accession #88-193-HK
After reloading, on 7 June, while carrying elements of the 1st British Army Corps to the No. 102 Beach area on Sword Beach, LST-980 was the subject of several low-level German air attacks, one of which hit the gator with two small (125 pound) (SC50?) bombs, neither of which seemed to have had enough time/distance to arm. The second passed through the main deck and continued into the water. The first, however, likewise passed through the main deck but came to rest in a truck parked on the tank deck.
This problem was carefully addressed by four engineers (LT JHB Monday, SGT H. Charnley, CPL J. McAninly, LCPL F. Crick) of 1 Electrical & Mechanical Section, 282 General Transport Company, who gingerly picked it up, placed it on a field stretcher, carried it to the opened bow doors, and deep-sixed it. While DANFS reports one killed in this incident, other sources note there were no personnel casualties and only minor damage.
Several of her sisters would not be as lucky.
LST-376 was sunk by German E-boats off Normandy on 9 June 1944, LST-499, LST-496, and LST-523 were lost to German mines between 8 June and 19 June; and LST-921 was torpedoed by U-764 on 14 August.
Speaking of August, look at this report from LST-980 filed in September, covering her continued operations on the England to France cross-channel run. Among the more interesting spots are narrowly avoiding German coastal batteries on occupied Gurnsey Island while loaded with artillery shells, shipping 167 U.S. Army vehicles (including 25 tanks and two batteries of field artillery) and 521 soldiers to the Continent while returning to England with 1,106 captured German personnel (guarded at a ratio of 200 EPOWs to 9 MPs) including 30 female nurses.
By February 1945, with the prospect of further amphibious landings in the European Theatre unlikely, LST-980 was sent back to the East Coast to serve as a training ship at Little Creek for troops headed to the Pacific for the ongoing push on Tokyo and the Navy/Coast Guardsmen that would carry them. Our gator was there on VE-Day and VJ-Day.
Naval Gun Factory, Navy Day, October 27 October 1945. Visitors are shown to the U.S. Navy ships at the waterfront. Shown right to left: USS Meeker County (LST 980); USS Dyson (DD 572); USS Claxton (DD 571); USS Converse (DD 509); and USS Charles Ausburne (DD 570). Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph, Navy Subject Files, WNY Box 7, Folder 1.
In April 1949, just three weeks after NATO was formed, LST-980 sailed for a six-month stint with the 6th Fleet in the Med at a time when Europe was still very much in a post-war recovery, with the Cold War dawning.
Records indicate her crew was eligible for a battle star for the Invasion of Normandy from 6 June to 25 June 1944 and later a Navy Occupation Medal for service in Europe from 19 May to 19 September 1949.
When it came to her sisters, no less than 41 were lost during the conflict including six in the so-called West Loch Disaster, two at Slapton Sands to German E-boats during Exercise Tiger, seven to Japanese aircraft and kamikaze, six to Japanese and German submarines, and one (LST-282) to a German glider bomb
Post-war service
In the period immediately following VJ-Day, the Navy rapidly shed their huge LST fleet, giving ships away to allies, selling others on the commercial market (they proved a hit for ferry conversions, as coasters in remote areas, and use in the logging industry), and laying up most of the remainder. More than 100 vessels that were still under contract but not completed were canceled.
By August 1946, only 480 of the 1,011 survivors were still in some sort of active U.S. Navy service with many of those slated for conversion, mothballs, or disposal.
Many had been reclassified to auxiliary roles as diverse as PT-boat tenders (AGP), repair ships (ARL), battle damage repair ships (ARB), self-propelled barracks ships (APB), cargo ships (AKS), electronic parts supply ships (AG), and salvage craft tenders (ARST). Others, like LST-822, were transferred to the civilian mariner-run Military Sea Transportation Service and traded their USS for USNS. Heck, some had even served during the war as mini-aircraft carriers, toting Army Grasshoppers.
Jane’s 1946 listing, covering a thumbnail of the U.S. Navy’s LST classes.
However, LST-980 remained on active service through the Korean conflict, where she was semi-exiled to support the Army and Air Force’s polar basing efforts in Greenland, carrying supplies through the barely thawed Baffin Bay in the summers of 1951, 1952, and 1953, earning a trifecta of Blue Noses for her crew.
USS LST-980 working her way through the Baffin Bay icepack en route to U.S. Air Force Base Thule, Greenland in the summer of 1953. USS LST-980 sailed in August from NAB Little Creek, VA. to Thule Air Force Base, Greenland. LST-980’s load was construction equipment. The ship moved through the icepack behind the Icebreaker USS Northwind (AGB-5). Despite careful sounding of the landing route to the beach at Thule, LST-980 settled on a huge underwater boulder puncturing two of the ship’s fuel tanks and disabling two of the three ship’s generators. After unloading, divers from the seagoing tug in our company patched the punctures and LST-980 proceeded back to Portsmouth, VA. at reduced speed, in the company of the tug. At Portsmouth, the ship was hauled out onto a marine railway for repairs. LST-980 was not able to pump out the damaged fuel tanks, consequently, thousands of gallons of diesel fuel drained into the James River. Repairs were made and LST-980 was back in the fleet in a couple of months. Photo from Alvin Taub, Engineering Officer USS LST-980, via Navsource.
As something of a reward, LST-980 would spend the winters during the same period schlepping Marines around the sunny Caribbean on exercises, typically out of Gtmo and Vieques/Rosy Roads.
LST-980 photographed circa 1950s. Courtesy of William H. Davis, 1976 NH 84878
In July 1955, the 158 LSTs remaining on the Naval List (including the two post-WWII era LST-1153 class and the 54 Korean War-era LST 1156 class vessels) were given county names to go with the hull numbers. Thus, our LST-980 became USS Meeker County, the only ship named in honor of the rural south-central Minnesota county with Litchfield as its seat.
By this time, with over a decade of good service on her hull and most of her class either under a different flag or rusting away in mothballs, the ax came for our girl.
On 16 December 1955, the newly named Meeker County was decommissioned and placed in reserve status, first in Green Cove Springs, Florida, and then in Philly.
Reactivation, and headed to China Beach
With the problems in Southeast Asia suddenly coming to a head in 1965, and the Marines of Battalion Landing Team 3/9 wading ashore at Red Beach Two, north of Da Nang, on 8 March, the Navy suddenly found itself needing more gators.
“Coming Ashore: Marines of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Marines [BLT 3/9] wade ashore from landing craft at Red Beach 2, just north of Da Nang on March 8, 1965.” From the Jonathan F. Abel Collection (COLL/3611) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division
Several mothballed LSTs were inspected and those found to be in better condition were modernized and reactivated for West Pac service.
The retrofit saw modern (ish) radars and commo gear installed on a new mast to the rear of the wheelhouse, the four forward Higgins boat davits removed while two aft were retained for 36-foot LCVPs, the armament reduced, and a helicopter deck installed on the top deck between Frames 16 and 26.
Observed the changes as shown on sister USS Hamilton County (LST-802) click to big up:
Meeker County was towed to Baltimore, modernized, and recommissioned on 23 September 1966.
A much cleaner Meeker County. Note the helicopter pad and large rear mast but retained 40mm and 20mm guns
Four months later she shipped out for Guam, her official “home port” although she would be bound for semi-permanent service with Landing Ship Squadron Three in Danang. LSRON3 was composed of a dozen modernized WWII LSTs (LST-344, 509, 525, 603, 819, 839, 901, 980, 1077, 1082, 1123, and 1150).
Meeker County, nicknamed at this point “Old Lovely” by her crew, would spend most of the next four years deployed to the South Vietnam littoral, with the gaps between the below periods generally seeing the LST in Subic Bay, Guam, Hong Kong, or Pearl Harbor undergoing maintenance, rotating crewmembers, or getting some much-needed R&R.
In country:
April-June; September-December 1967
February-May; June-October, and December 1968 (including the Tet Offensive)
January; March-April 1969
January-March, June-July 1970
Beautiful color footage exists from this period.
Check out this great two-pager, “Shuttle Run,” covering Meeker County‘s role in moving the Army’s 5th Cavalry Division from Danang to Cua Viet in the I Corps area of Vietnam, just a hair south of the DMZ, by JOC Dick Benjamin in the July 1968 issue of All Hands.
Two snippets:
These are not milk runs. Meeker County and her sister LSTs are often shelled by enemy mortar and artillery fire.
And, as the LST was almost done unloading:
Just a few trailers were left to unload when mortar rounds started coming in, hitting 200 yards from the ship. Before the enemy could correct their range, the unloading was completed and LT [Frank Elwood] Clark backed the ship away. As Meeker County started toward the narrow inlet, heavier artillery rounds began hitting the ramp. More rounds followed the ship as she made her way to the open sea; each succeeding round hit where the ship had been only a few seconds before.
Besides shells and mortar bombs, American ships were subject to repeated attacks by swimmers carrying improvised limpet mines.
At a camp in the jungle, Viet Cong (VC) swimmer sappers raise their right arms in salute at the completion of a briefing for a demolition attack on a bridge in the province. The original photograph was captured from the VC. AWM P01003.010
To counter such attacks, ships inshore would mount extensive topside sentries with grenades and rifles and occasionally spin up their props to scare away sneaky swimmers.
Note this passage from Meeker’s deck log:
Meeker, in a repeat of her Normandy bombing, was once again lucky when the sappers came paddling through.
At 0220 on 28 June 1970, while berthed at the De Long Pier in Vung Tau with 14 feet of muddy water under her keel, a sentry on Meeker Countyspotted a nylon line secured to the pier, and soon after a swimmer was spotted in the area.
Coming to her assistance were EOD divers of the Royal Australian Navy’s Clearance Diving Team 3. LT Ross Blue, Petty Officer John Kershler, and Able Seaman Gerald Kingston.
As described by the Australian War Memorial:
Kershler dove into the water to discover explosives wrapped in black plastic, and four fishing floats secured to the nylon line.
The bundle was drawn clear of the ship and Blue towed it away using a small craft, so it didn’t touch the bottom of the harbour. It was secured to an empty barge a kilometer from the Meeker County and away from the main shipping channel. The plan was to move it to a nearby mud bank at high tide to inspect it more closely.
A few hours before that could occur, the package exploded, shooting water ten metres into the air. Fortunately, no one was near the package at the time, and there were no injuries or damage from the blast.
Meeker County’s deck log for the day:
CDT 3 7th Team 1970: Rear: ABCD Jock Kingston, LSCD John Aldenhoven, (Inset ABCD Bob Wojcik, Killed 21 June 1970). Front: CPOCD Dollar, LT Ross Blue, and POCD John Kershler. Photo via the Military Operations Analysis Team (MOAT) at the University of New South Wales (Canberra)/AWM P01620.003
All told, Meeker County would earn 10 battle stars, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, and the Navy Unit Commendation for Vietnam service, adding to her WWII battle star from Normandy and her Occupation Medal.
Meeker County was decommissioned, in December 1970, at Bremerton and laid up there. She joined 15 remaining WWII LSTs in U.S. service in mothballs while the last of the type on active duty, USS Pitkin County (LST-1082), was decommissioned the following September.
The 1973 Jane’s listing for what was left of the class, all of which were laid up.
By 1975, with Saigon fallen, the Navy moved to dispose of the last of its WWII LSTs, and they were stricken from the Naval Register. The hulls would be transferred overseas, some scrapped, and others sold on the commercial market. The last to go was USS Duval County (LST-758), sold by MARAD in 1981.
Our Meeker County struck on April Fool’s Day 1975, was sold that December to Max Rouse & Sons, Beverly Hills, and soon was resold to fly a Singapore flag as MV LST 3. By 1978, she was operated by a Panama-owned Greek-flagged firm as MV Petrola 143 (IMO 7629893). Out of service by 1996, she was sold to a breaker in Turkey.
Epilogue
When it comes to enduring relics of our humble LST, little remains.
One curious relic, the simple handmade snorkel that was left behind by Viet Cong saboteurs who tried to blow up Meeker County in 1970 was recovered by the Australian divers of CDT3 and is cataloged as part of the AWM’s collection.
“Improvised snorkel with plastic tube connected to a rubber mouthpiece, made from a tyre. Tied around the tube is a piece of khaki green lanyard, to be worn around the neck. A piece of roughly woven string is also attached to the snorkel. It divides at the other end into two piece of string, to which are attached two small balls for insertion in the nose while in use.” AWM RELAWM40821
As for the Ozzies of CDT 3, in the four years (February 1967 – May 1971) they were in Vietnam, they performed over 7,000 ship inspections and safely removed no less than 78 devices from allied hulls.
When it comes to Meeker County’s vast collection of over 1,000 sisters and near-sisters, 11 remain in some sort of service including Mexico, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines– where one, BRP Sierra Madre (LT-57), ex USS Harnett County (LST-821/AGP-281)/RVNS My Tho (HQ-800,) is famously grounded as an outpost on Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratly Islands.
Meanwhile, two WWII LSTs, none 542 types, are preserved as museum ships in the States. They are USS LST-325 in Evansville, Indiana, and LST-393 in Muskegon, Michigan. Please visit them if you have a chance.
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.
Original caption: “Christmas tree and Howitzers form the holiday theme of Battery C, 599th Field Artillery Battalion, Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas, Dec 1943.
“We guarantee Christmas spirit American style.” From left to right: Pvt. Lewis Cox, Pvt. Charles Dunnings, Cpl. Alfonso Swain, Pvt. Homer Lee Johnson, Pvt. Frank Black, Pvt. Alexander Jones, Sgt. Willie Wright, Pvt. Dumas E. Bennett, Pvt. Amos Smith, Pvt. Henry Bowman, Pvt. David Swayze, Pvt. John Coles, Pvt. Wesley Douglas, Sgt. Albert Sawyer.”
Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-167469. National Archives Identifier 148727112.
Note their M1 (M116) 75mm pack howitzers, a fine light gun that only weighed 1,400 pounds and remained in service through Grenada.
The “red legs” are outfitted in heavy M1939 wool greatcoats, M1 helmets sans covers, and M38 field leggings (spats). Besides the howitzers and a tripod-mounted M1919 under the tree, the cannon-cockers are armed with Great War vintage 30-06 caliber M1917 “American Enfields.”
Note the potbellied appearance and distinctive sights of the M1917s on this inset.
For reference, the 599th Field Artillery Battalion was part of the organization of the segregated “Buffalo Soldiers” of the 92nd Infantry Division.
Shipped overseas in September 1944, nine months after the above image was snapped, the 92nd fought in Italy in the North Apennines and Po Valley campaigns, frequently against crack German and Italian mountain troops, and are remembered in the book and film Miracle at St. Anna.
So I’ve spent the past couple of months putting 500 rounds through the SDS Imports Tisas-made Raider B45 M1911A1 railgun, which strives to emulate the Colt M45A1 CQBP used by the Marines until just very recently.
In a nutshell, the Raider looks good, shoots good, and faithfully recreates the aesthetic railgun used by the Marines in recent years without just slaughtering your bank account. I’d personally like some better sights and a trigger job to remove the “bounce” in the trigger, or a swap out for a shorter aluminum trigger but then again that would start cutting into that aesthetic that it so clearly strives to meet. It is ready for the range or for home defense but beware that, if carrying, holster fits could be funny due to the rail.
The wonderful thing about the price is that you can use that saved cash to buy more ammo, a Kabar, and contribute the Toys for Tots program.
(Oct. 14, 2023) Chief Fire Controlman (Aegis) Kenneth Krull, from Jacksonville, Florida, assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64), mans the combat systems coordinator console in the combat information center (CIC) during a general quarters drill, October 14, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo 231014-N-GF955-1022 by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)
While you can expect to see some grey hulls from the USN, RN, and “La Royale,” as well as possibly a random visiting frigate from Canada, Italy, Holland, Spain, and Norway, to be sure the only reason that Bahrain and Seychelles are mentioned are for basing reasons, with the latter being exceptionally sticky as of late.
Notably absent are forces from regional players Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who have very capable Western-style navies that are already in the area. Of course, with sky-high tensions over Palestine right now, that is not surprising.
Also not mentioned is the Chinese Navy whose anti-piracy 37th Naval Escort Task Force has been living at a $600 million base in Djibouti since 2016, or the Japanese who have had a small naval base in the same Horn of Africa country since 2011.
To get a handle on just how many attacks have occurred in the Dab El Mandeb chokepoint in the past two months, note this chart via Damien Symon (Detresfa).
According to DOD, Houthis thus far have conducted over 100 one-way uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) and ballistic missile attacks, targeting 10 merchant vessels involving more than 35 different nations.
For a wider view of the dust-up and its already-felt effects on global shipping, check out this really good run down by Sal Mercogliano – maritime historian at Campbell University– below:
For your seasonal enjoyment, how about the 90-minute annual Holiday Concert by the combined ensembles of the United States Navy Band? Held at the DAR Constitution Hall in DC over the weekend, it includes Little Drummer Boy, Fanfare Joy to the World, We Need a Little Christmas, Silver Bells, Let It Snow, Count Your Blessings, Lulla Lulla Lullay, The Night Before Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Love to Keep Me Warm, Feliz Navidad, Christmas Cookies, I’m Going Home, It’s Christmas, and others.
They sound great this year.
Of course, the SECNAV has to open it, and gives his stump speech welcoming the assorted DC types, but you can skip past that if you like.
“December 1967. Nui Dat, South Vietnam. 15233 Sergeant Reg Matheson of Hammondville, NSW, a member of 103 Field Battery, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), with his gun near a sandbagged area at the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) base.”
Photo by Michael Coleridge via the Australian War Memorial COL/66/0959/VN
Designed by 24-year-old Pvt. Evelyn Ernest Owen, with 2/17 Battalion of the Australian Army, the gun can generally be regarded as Australia’s STEN and was placed into wartime production in 1943 with some 40,000 produced.
Production Owen Mk 1 painted in green and yellow camouflage for use in jungle fighting. The pistol grips are black plastic and the butt is wood. The 33 round 9mm magazine didn’t last long at the guns ripping 700 rounds per minute rate of fire — but “Diggers” would carry lots of spare mags to keep it stoked.
Late model Owen Mk 1/43 SMG complete with canvas sling mounted on the left-hand side. The butt is the skeleton frame type with a clip for an oil bottle — similar to the one found on the U.S. M1A1 Carbine.
The WWII era guns were refurbished at the Australian Lithgow Small Arms factory in the 1950s, which included stripping away the camo and giving them new MkIII style barrels and a safety catch. This is a good example of the latter type of “improved” Mk2/3 Owen.
As well documented in images online at the AWM, the 9mm Owen continued to see much front-line use in Korea, augmenting the bolt-action .303 Enfield with the Diggers against the Norks and Chinese “volunteers.”
20 September 1952, Korea. Informal portrait of 2400799 Private Bruce Grattan Horgan, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), standing near a trench on Hill 187. Pte Horgan is armed to go on a summer night fighting patrol, which usually consists of 15 men. His armament consists of a 9mm Owen sub-machine gun, seven magazines each holding 33 bullets, and four M36 Mills bomb hand grenades. AWM P06251.002
Owens remained in service with the Australians well into the 1960s– with Vietnam being its last hurrah, serving alongside M16s and inch-pattern semi-auto FALs– then they were replaced by the very Owen-like F1 submachine gun, which was in turn replaced by the Steyr F88 in the 1990s.
AWM caption: “Nui Dat, South Vietnam. 1966. A Signal Corps linesman with a 9mm Owen Machine Carbine (Owen Gun) on his back, climbing a rubber tree at 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) Base.”
If you don’t think the next naval war will be drone-centric, you aren’t paying attention. In fact, we are fighting one right now.
Via CENTCOM (emphasis mine):
In the early morning hours of December 16 (Sanna time) the US Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS CARNEY (DDG 64), operating in the Red Sea, successfully engaged 14 unmanned aerial systems launched as a drone wave from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen. The UAS were assessed to be one-way attack drones and were shot down with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries. Regional Red Sea partners were alerted to the threat.
While not disclosed by CENTCOM, it is well known that the majority of the drones used by the Houthi are locally built (with Iranian help and Chinese/German commercial components) Samad-type, which are felt to be not very technically advanced.
Via TRADOC
However, what if that is the plan in a larger conflict? Smother destroyers and escorts with hundreds of simple yet still dangerous UAVs over the course of several days that empty the tin cans’ missile cells and magazines, then send in the tough and more advanced stuff to finish the job.
The U.S. Navy made no comment on how the swarm against Carney was splashed, whether it was one of the destroyer’s huge (and very expensive) SM-3 ABMs, smaller (but still overkill) SM-1/2 MRs that she carries, her 5″/54 MK45 mount (which has a limited anti-air capability), her 20mm CIWS (which would have meant allowing the drones to get very close) or 25mm chain guns/M2 .50 cals (which would have meant letting them get even closer).
Notably, in 2016, Carney replaced her aft Phalanx CIWS 20mm Vulcan cannon with the SeaRAM 11-cell RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile launcher, which stretched the engagement envelope on that mount from 3,000m to 6~ miles.
Carneydid go kinetic during an earlier attack in October, hitting an undisclosed number of Houthi drones and three land-attack missiles headed toward Israel.
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG-64) defeats a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles in the Red Sea, Oct. 19, 2023. US Navy Photo
The British and French are also getting into the act as well, with each one claiming a drone shot down in the same region recently.
HMS Diamond (D34) is the third of six 9,500-ton Type 45/Daring class AAW destroyers in service with the Royal Navy. She was sent to the Gulf late last month to bolster the RN’s three minesweepers and frigate HMS Lancaster. While in the Red Sea, she splashed a “one-way armed drone targeting merchant shipping” on 15 December.
The RN is citing the incident as its first surface-to-air “kill” since the 1991 Gulf War.
HMS Diamond successfully engaged and shot down an aerial system suspected to have been a one way attack drone, that appears to have originated from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen. (Pictures: MOD)
This is the first use of an Aster 30 missile (named PAAMS(S) Sea Viper by the British) in combat by the Royal Navy, although the French Aquitaine-class frigate Languedoc (D653) also fired a smaller Aster 15 missile at a similar target earlier last week. Diamond carries as many as 48 Sea Vipers in her VLS cells while the smaller (6,000 ton) French frigate carries just 16 vells.
The First Sea Lord, Admiral Sir Ben Key KCB CBE ADC, made the following statement:
A sixth of the world’s commercial shipping passes through the Bab-al-Mandeb and Red Sea. The RN is committed to upholding the right to free use of the oceans and we do not tolerate indiscriminate threats or attacks against those going about their lawful business on the high seas.
80 years ago today, we see a tragedy in slow motion, with General Motors FM-1 Wildcat, BuNo# 46744, code L12, skidding to a rough landing across the flight deck of the escort carrier USS Manila Bay (CVE 61)with her landing gear stripped away, 16 December 1943.
U.S. Navy photo in the National Archives 80-G-372820
80-G-372821
80-G-372822
80-G-372823
The above event occurred while the newly commissioned Casablanca-class jeep carrier was conducting air group training during her shakedown cruise with VC-7 and VC-66 off the coast of San Diego. Amazingly, the young pilot, Ensign E.C. Cech, survived the crack-up with minor injuries.
From her accident report of the incident:
Still, the accident didn’t slow down Manila Bay on her rush to the front lines. By 22 January 1944, the carrier would tote VC-7 to bomb and strafe enemy positions on Kwajalein Island.
Ultimately, Manila Bay gave hard service for received eight battle stars for World War II service in just under 19 months.
Decommissioned in Boston on 31 July 1946, she was mothballed for 12 years and sold for scrap in 1958.
Her 11-page War History is in the National Archives.
