Author Archives: laststandonzombieisland

Wurm Swim

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An unusual sight some 80 years ago this month. Likely on the Wurm River system near recently captured Aachen, Germany, March 1945, we see a great period original Kodachrome capturing U.S. Army Engineer diving unit personnel, complete with a Mark V dive helmet and suit.

Official wartime caption: “These men are members of the 1058th Port Construction Company engaged in repairing a railway bridge destroyed by the F.F.I. to prevent the Germans from retreating. Two locomotives were steamed up by the local F.F.I. and sent careening down the track into the river.”

U.S. Signal Corps Photo C-885. U.S. National Archives. Digitized by Signal Corps Archive.

L-R: Albert Boettner, Bronx, N.Y., assistant to diver; Michael Obrine, diver; E. L. Kennedy, Jackson, Miss., assistant to diver. Note that Boettner is outfitted with a black leather German officer’s sidearm holster, likely holding a P-38.

The 1058th Engineer & Port Construction Repair Group, formed at Camp Gordon Johnston, Florida, one of 11 272-man units (numbered 1051-1061) stood up specifically to repair captured waterway infrastructure in Europe post D-Day. Each company contained 16 Navy-trained salvage divers.

As noted by U.S. Army Deep Sea Divers:

The first Army Divers were trained by the U.S. Navy at Pier 88, on the North River in New York City beside the berth where the former liner “Normandy” was laying on her side after burning and sinking. The school later moved to the New York Naval Shipyard in Bayonne, New Jersey.

The strenuous training took 14 weeks and consisted of underwater welding and burning, rigging, the use of pneumatic tools, and various other skills that would be invaluable to them in the months to come.

Upon graduation from the Navy School of Diving and Salvage as Navy certified Second Class Divers, these Army Divers were sent to Fort Screven, Ga. in 1943 where they established and operated the U.S. Army Engineers Diving and Salvage School under the command of A.L. Mercer, Capt. C.E.

The curriculum at this school was patterned after the Navy school but stressed underwater welding, burning, rigging, and added the underwater use of explosives for demolition.

The divers of the 1058th were particularly busy in the ETO from July 1944 through VE-Day in rebuilding the port of Granville, the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen (where its commander and seven men were killed by a left-behind German demo charge), and in the construction of the “Roosevelt” road bridge over the Rhine and Lippe rivers.

Today, the Army still has about 150 dive billets in its engineer units.

U.S. Army divers with the 7th Engineer Dive Detachment, 84th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, partner with Philippines service members for a port clearance operation during Salaknib 2024 in Basco, Philippines, May 25, 2024. 

And they still break out the old gear, with the “Krakens” of the Hawaii-based 7th Engineer Dive Detachment using it to inter remains of Pearl Harbor vets on Battleship Row.

Amerigo Vespucci Completes her Grande Equipaggio

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The “most beautiful ship in the world” has arrived back home.
The Italian Navy’s 90-year-old training ship Amerigo Vespucci arrived in Trieste from her Grande Equipaggio tour on 1 March 2025, welcomed by a host of mariners and the aircraft carrier Cavour (C 550) — which recently capped a five-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific region herself. 
Vespucci left Italy on 1 July 2023 on a 46,000-mile, 20-month world tour that saw her round the Cape for the first time, and conducted 35 port visits in 30 countries on five continents.
She remains easy on the eyes.

Bren & Mills

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Offical caption: Gunner J. Hinchcliffe, of Sheffield, 30 years old, and upholsterer before the war, setting out on a “recce” patrol in the Dunkirk perimeter, 3 March 1945. The Bren Gunner is assigned to 12 Platoon, D Company, 5th Battalion Duke of Wellington’s Regiment (West Riding) (600th Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery).

Taken by SGT. C.H. Hewitt, No. 5 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit. Via IWM B 15107

Besides Hinchcliffe’s Bren gun recce rifle (!) he carries a couple of Mills bombs for those up-close and personal moments.

Although an RA regiment, the 600th, originally formed as the 43rd Garrison Regiment, saw a good bit of ground combat in Northwest Europe in 1944-45 and left behind the graves on the Continent to prove it.

Visiting an old friend for Mardi Gras

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Mobile has long had a “Mardi Gras Ship” tradition with the Navy and Coast Guard, where a transiting surface warfare asset or cutter stops in and ties up downtown by the Civic Center across from Austal for the week of Mardi Gras. The crews participate in the dozen assorted local parades (Mobilians claim to have started the modern MG parade tradition in the Gulf South with Joe Cain in 1868 and the Comic Cowboys in 1884) as well as opening the ship for the locals to tour.

While this duty is often delegated to LCSs coming out of Austal, this year the aging Flight II Burke, USS McFaul (DDG-74) was tapped, so of course I had to go visit her.

All photos by me.

Constructed at Ingalls between 1996 and 1998, I was at the yard at the time and attended her christening, having worked on subassemblies of the ship while I was a much younger man.

When McFaul joined the fleet, Creed, Semi-Sonic and The Verve were on the top of the rock charts.

Now part of the Greyhounds of Norfolk-based DesRon 2 along with four of her sisterships, she supports CSG-12 centered around the USS Ford, meaning she is very much a working tin can.

Still, at almost 30 years on active duty, she looks great.

Rare to see a twin CIWS Burke these days, but at least they are 1B series guns. However, her Harpoon cans, which were under this mount before the stern VLS cluster, are gone.

Now that’s a profile

Talk about a classic! The old Mk 45 5″/54 Mod 0-2 is getting rare in the fleet. It was installed pre-1999 in no less than 180 mounts across the Tarawa-class LHAs, California and Virginia class CGNs, Ticonderoga class CGs, Spruance class DDs, and Kidd class DDGs. Just the first 27 Burkes (slowly being swapped out for Mod 4s) and the last couple of active Ticos still carry them. 

But it still looks good and still works, just not as well as a Mod 4 5″/62

They had the starboard Mk32 uncovered

Along with the stbd Mk 38. Note it’s a remote-controlled and stabilized Mod 2 mount, which is far superior to the first series of Mk38s.

She had her .50s mounted as well, and they looked very clean. Excellent job by the GMs

Note she is rocking the new AS-4692 passive direction-finding antenna, picked up at NASSCO in a refit in 2021. Keep in mind she is an SM-3 capable ship. 

Meanwhile, across the river at Austal, the future USNS Point Loma (EPF 15), which was just recently launched, is fitting out.

And the final Independence-variant littoral combat ship, the future USS Pierre (LCS 38), is also nearing completion. She launched last August.

While a Navajo class towing/salvage/rescue ship, possibly the future USNS Billy Frank Jr. (T-ATS 11), is poking out of the yard’s main assembly building.

Already Cold F-16s and CF-18s Have a Chance to Get Colder in Greenland

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As part of NORAD’s recently completed Operation Noble Defender, Canadian CF-18s and USAF F-16s saw an expeditionary deployment from their bases in Quebec and Alaska across the Artic Circle to Pituffik Space Base (ex-Thule AB) in Greenland to operate from there for two weeks.

They were supported by assorted KC-135s, E-3s, C-150s and CH-149s.

Airmen that supported the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, for Operation NOBLE DEFENDER, pose for a group photo at Pittufik Space Base, Greenland, Feb. 5, 2025. Operation NOBLE DEFENDER is an air defense operation under the direction of the North American Aerospace Defense Command designed to demonstrate the command’s ability to defend the approaches of North America from current and future threats while integrating across domains with partners and allies. NORAD routinely conducts sustained, dispersed operations in defense of North America through one or all three NORAD regions, including Alaska, Canada, and the continental U.S. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano)

F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, are placed on the flightline during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER at Pittufik Space Base, Greenland, Jan. 29, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ruano)

A CF-18 Hornet from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron out of 3 Wing Bagotville, Quebec, and a CC-150 Polaris from 437 (T) Sqn out of 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario, deployed in support of the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR) carry out air-to-air refueling during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER on February 3rd, 2025. (Capt Rachel Brosseau)

CH-149 Cormorant from 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron out of 14 Wing Greenwood, Nova Scotia, deployed to Pituffik, Greenland, in support of the Canadian NORAD Region (CANR), ready to respond to potential distress calls from NORAD assets during Operation NOBLE DEFENDER. (Capt Andrew Birchall)

As noted by NORAD:

During the operation, local temperatures were regularly below 0 degrees Fahrenheit, with the coldest days reaching minus 29 degrees F (-34 C) and a wind chill of minus 56 degrees F (-49 C). Maintenance and Civil Engineering airmen operated tirelessly in these conditions to ensure aircrews were able to conduct flying missions.

Mad Max of Chad…and Iraq

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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