Category Archives: littoral

FFH Group & Surveillance Force Grenada, 1983-84

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As a wrap of our coverage of the 40th anniversary of the 1983 invasion of Grenada, we take a look at the unique surface action group that arrived to assist in the peacekeeping phase of the operation, which ran roughly through November and December when the last U.S. combat troops were withdrawn– that of hydrofoils operating with a frigate mothership.

Mid-November 1983 found the newly commissioned Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate USS Aubrey Fitch (FFG-34), along with the two equally new Pegasus-class hydrofoil patrol boats, USS Aquila (PHM-4) and Taurus (PHM-3) in Guantanamo Bay “for the purpose of testing the feasibility of operating those types of ships in the same task organization.”

As noted by Fitch’s DANFS entry, she assumed tactical control of the hydrofoils and jetted over to Grenada:

Demands incident to the continuing American presence in Grenada, however, overtook the experiment and sent Aubrey Fitch and her two consorts south to the tiny republic. Duty in the waters adjacent to Grenada lasted until mid-December when the warship returned to Mayport.

All three were eligible for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for Urgent Fury.

Aquila and Taurus would return to their homeport at Key West on 16 December and spend the rest of their career in unsung law enforcement support work in the Caribbean and off Central America, being decommissioned as a class in 1993 with their sisters and disposed of in 1996.

Fitch lasted a little longer. Decommissioned on 12 December 1997, the frigate was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 May 1999 and sold for scrap shortly after.

Sadly, there are no photos I can find of Fitch and her two ‘foils operating together in Cuba-Grenada Oct-Dec 1983, which is tragic, but drink in these were taken of the ships separately early in their careers.

USS AUBREY FITCH (FFG 34) underway 1982 Bath trials DN-SC-85-04417

USS AUBREY FITCH (FFG 34) underway 1982 Bath trials DN-SC-85-04399

USS AUBREY FITCH (FFG 34) underway 1982 Bath trials DN-SC-85-04401

hydrofoils USS AQUILA (PHM 4), front, and USS GEMINI (PHM 6), center, lie tied up in port with a third PHM. The Coast Guard surface effect ship (SES) cutter USCGC SHEARWATER (WSES 3) is in the background. NARA photo

Hydrofoil patrol combatant missile ship USS TAURUS (PHM 3) race by. Navy hydrofoils are regularly used on Joint Task Force 4 drug interdiction missions.

DN-ST-90-09381 The patrol combatant missile hydrofoils USS HERCULES (PHM 2) and USS TAURUS (PHM 3) maneuver off of Key West, Florida.

Seattle pegasus class hydrofoil USS Taurus (PHM-3) during her acceptance trials

USS Hercules (PHM-2) and Taurus (PHM-3) 1983

Cue USCG

As for what happened from a maritime perspective after Fitch and her PHMs returned home, the answer is that the Coast Guard took over the task of policing Grenada’s waters for the next year, and it should be pointed out that two HC-130s and the 378-foot Hamilton-class cutter USCGC Chase (WHEC 718), which was deployed from 23 Oct – 21 Nov 1983, served during the shooting-part of Urgent Fury, earning the deploying units the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for their service.

The follow-on Operation Island Breeze USCG Grenada Getaway response was a WWII-era 180-foot Balsam (Iris) class buoy tender that served as the mothership for three rotating 95-foot cutters drawn from the Florida-based Seventh Coast Guard District, allowing the small boat crews to get some showers and better food as well as mechanical support from the tender’s extensive onboard workshop.

On 8 December 1983, the Cape-class patrol cutters Cape Gull (WPB-95304), Cape Fox (WPB-95316), Cape Shoalwater (WPB 95324), and the tender Sagebrush (WLB-399) arrived off of the island of Grenada to replace U.S. Navy surface forces conducting surveillance operations after the U.S. invasion of the island earlier that year.

Commissioned on 1 April 1944, Sagebrush spent most of her service life home-ported in San Juan, Puerto Rico, earning four USCG Unit Commendations before she was decommissioned on 26 April 1988.

USCGC Cape Fox (WPB 95316) celebrating Christmas 1983 off Grenada 1983.

Note the two mounted M2 .50 cals, rare for Capes in the 1980s, as well as the Christmas tree on deck.

The Capes used three crews, Green, Blue, and Red, rotating out every 30 days, and used backpack HF radio sets borrowed from the Army to communicate with the forces ashore. Support shoreside for the roughly 100-man force came from two 20-foot containers in port converted into shops.

For air support, they had HC-130Hs out of Clearwater fly over occasionally, taking off and recovering at CGAS Borinquen, as well as a weekly logistics run.

They would remain on station until 3 February 1984 when replaced by a similar group, a task that would run through the end of the year.

The WPB/WLB force was rotated out roughly every three months in 1984 and saw the buoy tender USCGC Mesquite (WLB 305), her sister USCGC Gentian (WLB 290), and the 140-foot icebreaker (!) Mobile Bay (WTGB 103) which sailed from Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the number of WPBs was cut from three to two. 

The sum, as detailed by ADM James S. Gracey, USCG:

After a few days, the Navy figured out that patrolling around the island to keep people from coming on or going off, additional people coming on or other people from escaping, wasn’t working very well with Navy PCs or whatever they were using, whereas our smaller patrol boats would do the job very well. So we took over. We were there long after everybody else had gone home doing this operation and other things that the Coast Guard always does when we are someplace. That was Grenada.

A lasting legacy of the USCG in Grenada was the reformation of the Grenadian Coast Guard, an organization that endures today, with a little help from its northern neighbor.

Warship Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023: Mad Marcus

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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

Warship Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023: Mad Marcus

Photographer: PHCM/AC Louis P. Bodine Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Catalog #: NH 107602

Above we see a great 1968 image of the Edsall-class destroyer escort-turned-radar picket, USS Vance (DER-387) underway off the coast of Oahu. At this time in the little tin can’s life, she had left her mark on the end of two German U-boats, frozen in polar expeditions, logged three very trying tours off coastal Vietnam, and survived a real-life Lt. Commander Queeg who, no shit, was named for a Roman emperor.

She was brought to life on this day in 1943.

The Edsall class

A total of 85 Edsall-class destroyer escorts were cranked out in four different yards in the heyday of World War II rapid production with class leader USS Edsall (DE-129) laid down 2 July 1942 and last of class USS Holder commissioned 18 January 1944– in all some four score ships built in 19 months. The Arsenal of Democracy at work–building tin cans faster than the U-boats and Kamikazes could send them to Davy Jones.

The U.S. Navy destroyer escort USS Edsall (DE-129) underway near Ambrose Light just outside New York Harbor on 25 February 1945. The photo was taken by a blimp from Squadron ZP-12. Edsall is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 3D. U.S. Navy photo 80-G-306257

These 1,590-ton expendable escorts were based on their predecessors, the very successful Cannon-class boats but used an FMR type (Fairbanks-Morse reduction-geared diesel drive) propulsion suite whereas the only slightly less prolific Cannons used a DET (Diesel Electric Tandem) drive. Apples to oranges.

edsallArmed with enough popguns (3×3″/50s, 2x40mm, 8x20mm) to keep aircraft and small craft at bay, they could plug a torpedo into a passing enemy cruiser from one of their trio of above-deck 21-inch tubes, or maul a submarine with any number of ASW weapons including depth charges and Hedgehogs. Too slow for active fleet operations (21 knots) they were designed for coastal patrol (could float in just 125 inches of seawater), sub-chasing, and convoy escorts.

Meet USS Vance

Our subject is the only U.S. Navy warship to carry the name of Joseph Williams Vance, Jr.. A mustang who volunteered for the Navy Reserve at age 21 in 1940, the young Seman Vance served aboard the old battlewagon USS Arkansas (BB-33) and, as he had university hours at Southwestern and Florida on his jacket, was appointed a midshipman in the rapidly expanding Navy after four months in the fleet. Joining the flush deck tin can USS Parrott (DD-218) in the Philippines on 16 April as an ensign in charge of the destroyer’s torpedo battery. Facing the Japanese onslaught in the Western Pacific, Ensign Vance picked up a Bronze Star at the Battle of Makassar Strait (24 January 1942)– the Navy’s first surface action victory in the Pacific– saw action in the Java sea and the Badoeng Strait, and, by Guadalcanal, had been promoted to lieutenant (junior grade). With the promotion came a transfer– to the ill-fated HMAS Canberra, as liaison officer with the Royal Australian Navy. He was aboard Canberra on that tragic night off Savo Island on 9 August 1942 when the Kent-class heavy cruiser was sent to the depths of “Ironbottom Sound” with 73 other members of her crew.

His body lost to sea at age 23, his family remembered Joe in a cenotaph at Bethlehem Cemetery in Memphis. He is also marked on the Tablet of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. The paperwork for Makassar Strait caught up to him eventually and his family was presented his bronze star posthumously.

The future Vance (DE-387) was laid down on 30 April 1943 at Houston, Texas by the Brown Shipbuilding Co. and launched just 10 weeks later on 16 July 1943.

She was sponsored by the late Lt. (jg.) Vance’s grieving mother, Elizabeth Sarah “Beth” Harrison Vance, and Joe’s sister, Willie.

A Coast Guard-manned DE, Vance’s pre-commissioning crew was formed in August 1943 at the sub-chaser school in Miami while their ship was under construction on the other side of the Gulf of Mexico. Consisting of 40 officers and men drawn from across the USCG– most had seen war service chasing subs and escorting convoys across the Atlantic. This skilled cadre left Miami after two months of training and headed to Houston in early October, joining 30 newly minted techs and specialists direct from A schools and 130 assorted bluejackets right from basic.

All hands moved aboard USS Vance on 1 November 1943 when she was commissioned at the Tennessee Coal & Iron Docks in Houston, LCDR Eric Alvin Anderson, USCG, in command. As noted by her War History, “The shipyard orchestra played for the commissioning ceremonies and later sandwiches and coffee were served to all hands.”

Following outfitting and shakedown cruises off Bermuda, Vance became the flagship for the all-USCG Escort Division (CortDiv) 45, including the sequentially numbered sisters USS Lansing (DE-388), Durant (DE-389), Calcaterra (DE-390), Chambers (DE-391) and Merrill (DE-392) with Commodore E.J. Roland raising his command pennant aboard on 19 December.

The CNO, ADM Ernest J. King, had, in June 1943, ordered the Coast Guard to staff and operate 30 new (mostly Edsall-class) destroyer escorts on Atlantic ASW duties, trained especially at the Submarine Training Centers at Miami and Norfolk. Each would be crewed by 11 officers and 166 NCOs/enlisted, translating to a need for 5,310 men, all told.

By November 1943, it had been accomplished! Quite a feat.

The USCG-manned DEs would be grouped in five Escort Divisions of a half dozen ships each, 23 of which were Edsalls:

  • Escort Division 20–Marchand, Hurst, Camp, Crow, Pettie, Ricketts.
  • Escort Division 22–Poole, Peterson, Harveson, Joyce, Kirkpatrick, Leopold.
  • Escort Division 23–Sellstrom, Ramsden, Mills, Rhodes, Richey, Savage.
  • Escort Division 45–Vance, Lansing, Durant, Calcaterra, Chambers, Morrill.
  • Escort Division 46–Menges, Mosley, Newell, Pride, Falgout, Lowe.

These ships were soon facing off with the Germans in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.

War!

Celebrating Christmas 1943 at sea “being tossed around like a matchstick,” Vance’s first escort job was to ride shotgun on a group of tankers running from Port Arthur, Texas to Norfolk just after the New Year, then escorting the jeep carrier USS Core (CVE-13) to New York City.

She crossed the Atlantic with her division to escort a large slow (7-10 knots) convoy, UGS.33, to Gibraltar in February then turned around to the return trip with a GUS convoy, returning to the Med with UGS 39 in May, where she would come face to face with the enemy. On 14 May 1944, the Type VIIC sub U-616 (Kplt. Siegfried Koitschka) torpedoed two Allied merchants– the British flagged G.S. Walden (7,127 tons) and Fort Fidler (10,627 tons).

From Vance’s war history:

Eight American destroyers and aircraft from five squadrons hunted U-616 until it was sunk on 17 May, lost with all hands.

1944 Palermo, Sicily – USS Vance (DE 387) via navsource

Following her battle with U-616, Vance would recycle and cross the Atlantic again with UGS.46 in June, UGS.53 in September, UGS.66 in January 1945, UGS.78 in March 1945, and UGS.90 in May 1945. The latter dispersed on 18 May as it wasn’t considered needed after the German surrender.

It was on this last convoy that the advanced Type IXD2 Schnorchel-fitted submarine, U-873 (Kptlt. Friedrich Steinhoff), was sighted on the surface at 0230 on 11 May off the Azores by Vance and her sister, Durant. Finding Steinhoff’s crew, illuminated by 24-inch searchlights and with every gun on two destroyers trained on them, ready to surrender and the boat making no offensive actions, Vance put a whaleboat with the ship’s XO, Lt. Carlton J. Schmidt, USCGR; Ensign Vance K. Randle, USCG; and 19 enlisted aboard to take U-873 as prize. They found seven Kriegsmarine officers and 52 enlisted, about half of whom had come from the gesunken U-604.

By 0410, a spare U.S. ensign was hoisted aboard the German boat, and Vance, departing the convoy with her prize, made for Bermuda, then was directed to Casco Bay to bring the sub to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, arriving there on the 17th.

U-873 is under her own power, manned by 2 officers and 19 crewmembers of USS Vance DE 387. Notably, U-873 carried a rare twin 3.7 cm Flakzwilling M43U on the DLM42 mount, seen stern. Photo courtesy of Joe Haberkern, son of Joseph W. Haberkern, Jr., MoMM2/C, Plankowner

Captain Friedrich Steinhoff (wearing white cap) and Officers and Crew of Surrendered German U-873 on Deck of Tug, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May 17, 1945. Note the Marine to the right with a Reising SMG at the ready. NARA photo

Steinhoff under heavy Marine guard

Crewmembers of USS Vance DE 387. Showing items from their captured German U-boat, U-873. Photo courtesy of Joe Haberkern, son of Joseph W. Haberkern, Jr., MoMM2/C, Plankowner

Sadly, as detailed by U-boat.net, even though VE-Day was well past, post-war POW life would not be kind to U-873‘s crew.

Steinhoff and his men were taken, not to POW camp, but to Charles Street Jail, a Boston city jail where they were locked up with common criminals while awaiting disposition to a POW camp. There are many accounts of mistreatment of the U-boat men while they were held there.

After suffering harsh interrogation, Steinhoff- [brother of rocket scientist and future U.S> Army rocketry bright bulb Ernst Steinhoff] committed suicide on the morning of 19 May 1945, opening his arteries using broken glass from his sunglasses. U-873‘s doctor, Dr. Karl Steinke, attempted to give first aid but was too late.

Steinhoff was buried in the military cemetery at Fort Devens, age 35, while the rest of his crew were sent to warm their skin in a Mississippi POW camp until repatriated.

As for U-873, she was placed in dry dock for a design study of her type by Portsmouth Naval Shipyard engineers and then later transferred to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for tests. After trials, the U-boat was scrapped in 1948, her lessons being rolled into the Navy’s GUPPY program.

For Vance, her war in the Atlantic and Med was over.

She put into Boston Naval Yard for additional AAA guns and departed on 2 July 1945 bound for the Pacific. Crossing through “The Ditch” and putting into San Diego then Pearl Harbor, she was there with orders to sail for the 5th Fleet in Philippine waters when news of the Japanese surrender overtook her.

Ordered to the Green Cove Springs, Florida reserve fleet, she was decommissioned on 27 February 1946. Her Coast Guard crew returned to their home service, with most being demobilized. Her skipper for five of her eight convoy runs and the capture of U-873, LCDR Frank Vincent Helmer, USCG (USCGA ’35), would go on to retire as a rear admiral during the 1960s.

The Edsall class, 1946 Janes.

Break out the White Paint

With the dramatic surge in air and maritime traffic across some downright vacant stretches of the Pacific that came with the Korean War, the USCG was again tapped to man a growing series of Ocean Stations. Two had been formed after WWII and the Navy added another three in 1950, bringing the total to five.

These stations would serve both a meteorological purpose– with U.S. Weather Bureau personnel embarked– as well as serve as floating checkpoints for military and commercial maritime and air traffic and communication “relay” stations for aircraft on transoceanic flights crisscrossing the Pacific. Further, they provided an emergency ditch option for aircraft (a concept that had already been proved by the Bermuda Sky Queen rescue in 1947, which saw all 69 passengers and crew rescued by the cutter Bibb.)

As detailed by Scott Price in The Forgotten Service in the Forgotten War, these stations were no picnic, with the average cutter logging 4,000 miles and as many as 320 radar fixes while serving upwards of 700 hours on station.

Ocean station duty could be monotonous at one moment and terrifying the next, as the vessels rode out storms that made the saltiest sailors green. One crew member noted: “After twenty-one days of being slammed around by rough cold sea swells 20 to 50 feet high, and wild winds hitting gale force at times, within an ocean grid the size of a postage stamp, you can stand any kind of duty.”

A typical tour was composed of arriving at Midway Island for three weeks on SAR standby, three weeks on Ocean Station Victor midway between Japan and the Aleutian Islands, three weeks on SAR standby at Guam, two weeks “R and R” in Japan, three weeks on Ocean Station Sugar, three weeks on SAR standby Adak, Alaska, and then back to home port.

To stand post on these new ocean stations and backfill for other cutters detailed to the role, the Navy lent the USCG 12 mothballed Edsalls (Newell, Falgout, Lowe, Finch, Koiner, Foster, Ramsden, Rickey, Vance, Lansing,  Durant, and Chambers), nine of which the service had originally operated during WWII.

To man these extra vessels and fill other wartime roles such as establishing new LORAN stations and pulling port security, the USCG almost doubled in size from just over 18,000 to 35,082 in 1952.

The conversion to Coast Guard service included a white paint scheme, an aft weather balloon shelter (they would have to launch three balloons a day in all sea states), and the fitting of a 31-foot self-bailing motor surfboat for rescues in heavy weather. The USCG designator “W” was added to the hull number, as was the number 100.

This brings us to Vance, some seven years in Florida mothballs, being recommissioned as the white-painted USCGC Vance (WDE-487) on 9 May 1952. She was stationed at Honolulu, and, assigned to the Commander Philippine Section, served on Ocean Station Queen there from 2-23 August 1953, and again on 4-24 October 1953.

Coast Guard Cutter Vance WDE 487 working with a Sangley Point USCG-operated PBM-5G, one of two PBM-5Gs and a JRF that were assigned to augment the PBY-5As there in 1951-53. Importantly, one of the Sangley Point PBMs went to attempt the rescue of a VP-22 P2V-5 Neptune (BuNo 127744) crew shot down in the Formosa Strait while the aircraft was on a covert patrol along the Communist Chinese coast near Swatow. USCG photo 211103-G-G0000-002

Vance was decommissioned for a second time on 3 April 1954 and returned to the Navy.

DER

The DER program filled an early gap in the continental air defense system by placing a string of ships as sea-based radar platforms to provide a distant early warning line to possible attack from the Soviets. The Pacific had up to 11 picket stations while the Atlantic had as many as nine. A dozen DEs became DERs through the addition of SPS-6 and SPS-8 air search radars to help man these DEW lines as the Atlantic Barrier became fully operational in 1956 and the Pacific Barrier (which Vance took part in) by 1958.

To make room for the extra topside weight of the big radars, they gave up most of their WWII armament, keeping only their Hedgehog ASW device and two Mark 34 3-inch guns that would eventually be fitted with aluminum and fiberglass weather shields.

DER conversion of Edsall (FMR) class ships reproduced from Peter Elliot’s American Destroyer Escorts of WWII

Detail of masts. Note the WWII AAA suite, one of the 3″ guns, and centerline 21-inch tubes have been landed

Vance was towed to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in November 1955 for conversion to a radar picket destroyer escort. Designated DER-378 as a result, she recommissioned for a second time on 5 October 1956, a 12-year-old Navy escort with its first Navy skipper, CDR Albert Martin Brouner (USNA ‘44).

USS Vance (DER-387) underway in San Francisco Bay, California (USA), on 1 November 1956. Note her 3-inch guns are open, which would change in the 1960s when they would get distinctive weather shields. Photo via Navsource

As detailed by DANFS:

Between March of 1957 and the end of the year, Vance was homeported at Seattle, Wash., as a unit of CortDiv 5 and completed eight patrols on various stations of the Radar Early Warning System in the northern Pacific. Each tour lasted approximately 17 days, and the ship maintained a round-the-clock vigil with air-search radars, tracking and reporting every aircraft entering or approaching the air space of the northwestern United States.

This continued into 1958 when she shifted homeports to Pearl Harbor; and she began operating with CortRon 7, the first ship working the DEW line in the newly organized Pacific barrier patrol. This would continue through early 1965, with a segway to join TF43 for Deepfreeze ’62, serving as the relay ship for aircraft bringing supplies to the Antarctic stations from Dunedin, New Zealand between August 1961 and March 1962. In this duty, she was called “The Loneliest Ship in the Navy.”

Then came Vietnam.

Market Time

With the DEW line service fading as far as the Navy was concerned at the same time the Navy established Operation Market Time (March 1965-1972) to prevent North Vietnamese ships from supplying enemy forces in South Vietnam, recycling the fleet’s increasingly idle shallow-draft DERs into what would be today called a littoral combat ship was an easy choice.

Vance would complete four WestPac cruises (March-Sept 1965, Jan.-August 1966, Dec. 1966- August 1967, Jan-Aug. 1968) with the 7th Fleet, detached to TF 115 for use in brown water. Of note, she was the first DER to take a Market Time station, reporting for duty to CTU 71.1.1 on 1 April 1965, and soon after was the first U.S. Navy ship to take aboard a Vietnamese Navy Liaison Officer while underway.

USS VANCE South China Sea 1966. Note the weather shields on her 3-inch mount

For example, during this time Task Force 115 consisted of an LST mothership, 70 Navy PCFs, 26 Coast Guard 82-foot patrol boats (WPBs), with the support of the “big boys” in the form of eight DERs (including Vance), and 16 smaller minesweepers (six MSCs, and 10 MSOs).

USS Vance (DER-387) – November 1967. Note her Hedgehog device uncovered and ready to rock 

A typical breakdown of how one of these deployments would run can be had from Vance’s 220-day 1967 stint which included 62 days on Market Time operations in the Vietnam littoral, 24 days on the tense Taiwan Patrol, and 15 days in Hong Kong as SOPA Admin station ship. To illustrate just how busy a Market Time rotation could be, in her short 1965 deployment which included just 92 days under TF 115, Vance had 1,538 radar contacts, sighted visually 1,001, and investigated 185 vessels.

USS Vance (DER-387) underway at sea on 26 November 1967 NHHC

Among the more notable incidents while on Market Time was saving Capt. Leland D. Holcomb, USAF, who had ejected from a burning F-100 Super Sabre in 1965 while on a ferry mission from Danang to Clark AFB in the PI. Her 1966, 1967, and 1968 reports are on file in the NHHC and make interesting and sometimes entertaining reading.

Vance as radar picket 1960s with her glad rags flying. Note by this time the large EW “pod” on her aft mast.

Oh yeah, something else happened while off Vietnam as well.

The Arnheiter Affair

LCDR Marcus Aurelius Arnheiter entered West Point in 1946 but subsequently resigned, later obtaining an appointment to Annapolis where he passed out as 628th of 783 mids in 1952 and then saw Korean War service on the battleship USS Iowa (BB-61). He later saw much service on destroyers (USS Ingersoll– where he served as XO– Fiske, Coolbaugh, Abbot, and Worden), held a series of staff appointments in the Pentagon where he authored a novel (Shadow of Pearl) under a pseudonym before arriving on Vance’s quarterdeck as her 14th (7th Navy) skipper on 22 December 1965.

Just 99 days later, he was relieved of his first, and last, seagoing command.

The scandal over just what happened in those 99 days aboard Vance is lengthy, including a book by NYT writer Neil Sheehan that was the subject of a libel suit filed by Arnheiter. Suffice it to say, there are avenues to dig deeper if you are curious but among the (many) oddities seen on Vance during Arnheiter’s command was the purchase (through MWR funds!) of a 16-foot fiberglass speedboat that was armed with a .30 caliber M1919 machine gun and painted with a shark’s mouth.

The speedboat was supposed to be for interdiction and patrol work but ended up getting Vance’s crew into problems time after time.

Other oddities included the skipper’s insistence to blare the Hellcat Reveille over the 1MC while in port rather than a simple bosun call for reveille, follow gun line destroyers into no-go areas while they were performing NGFS ashore to the point that said destroyer’s skipper directed the radio traffic be recorded and incident logged, establishing a “boner box” in the wardroom with mandatory levies of 25-cents per perceived infraction, requiring non-religious personnel to attend services, cruising danger close to shore (like within small arms range) while only one engine was working, doubling the small arms locker from 15 authorized M1 Garands to 30 without permission then holding wild live-fire drills in congested waters (to include reportedly keeping a rifle on the bridge wing that the skipper would use to zip off rounds at random “sea snakes” while VBSS crews were away checking a sampan.)

Following a six-day non-judicial inquiry at Subic, Arnheiter was removed from his command quietly but not reprimanded or court-martialed, even though he repeatedly requested the latter to clear his name, even lobbying Congress. He ended up retiring from the service in 1971, still as an LCDR, and passed in 2009, aged 83. Sheehan died in 2021, likely closing the matter although both continue to be the subject of much conversation.

As for USS Vance, her usefulness ended following extensive Vietnam service, she was decommissioned on 10 October 1969.

Her fellow DERs shared a similar fate, either laid up in mothballs or transferred to overseas allies.

1973 Janes on the Edsall class DERs.

Stricken on June 1, 1975, Vance was used as a target for several years off the California coast until finally sent to the bottom in deep water in a 1985 SINKEX.

Vance in August 1983 when being used as a target ship off San Francisco. The sign amidships reads “Target Ship – Stand Clear.” Photo from Ozzie Henry who acquired them from a sailor at a DESA Convention. Via the USS Vance veterans’ group.

Vance received seven battle stars for USN service in Vietnam in addition to her USCG service in WWII and Korea.

Epilogue

Vance’s war history, plans, and diaries are in the National Archives.

Vance’s memories are carried forward by a well-organized veterans’ group and they last had a reunion last October in Georgia.

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.

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Making it Rain, Guam & Caron edition

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Of the 22 U.S. Navy warships and auxiliaries tasked with supporting Operation Urgent Fury– the invasion of Grenada– some 40 years ago this week, two really stand out, the old ‘phib USS Guam (LPH-9) and the newer Sprucan, USS Caron (DD-970).

Guam gets a big nod, of course, because, of the 116 American servicemen wounded in the four-day operation, Guam treated no less than 77 in her cramped hospital suite after they were medivaced to her deck just offshore.

Speaking of which, Guam was also the main launching/refueling point for the helicopters of the 82nd Airborne and 22nd MAU for the operation and logged a whopping 1,214 launchings and landings in Urgent Fury.

Flight deck crewmen hose down a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter upon its landing aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Guam (LPH 9) during Operation Urgent Fury, October 25, 1983. The helicopter’s engine was hit by anti-aircraft fire on the island of Grenada. JO1 Sundberg. DN-SN-85-02069

Flight operations take place aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Guam (LPH 9) off the coast of Grenada during Operation Urgent Fury. Visible on the flight deck are two UH-1N Iroquois helicopters, a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter, and a CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter. JO1 Sundberg. October 25, 1983. DN-SN-85-02037

But if Guam’s “Grenada Get Away” is largely forgotten, Caron’s is never even mentioned, which is a crying shame.

Commissioned 1 October 1977 at Pascagoula, USS Caron is the only warship ever named for HC3c Wayne Maurice Caron, a MoH recipient who gave his last full measure at age 21 as a corpsman with 3d/7th Marines in Vietnam, mortally wounded while going to save those who needed him.

The destroyer that carried his name lived up to it in Grenada.

As detailed by DANFS:

After embarking Capt. Grant A. Sharp, Commander, DesRon 32, on 19 October 1983, Caron got underway for deployment to the Mediterranean the following day as part of the Independence Battle Group. However, on 21 October, Caron was detached from the battle group and diverted to Grenada at “max speed” in support of Operation Urgent Fury.

As the first U.S. Navy ship to arrive on the scene on 23 October 1983, Caron paused 12 miles off the coast of Grenada to gather intelligence. With the Special Forces amphibious assault on the island already underway, in the early morning hours of 25 October, destroyer Moosbrugger (DD-980) and guided missile frigate Clifton Sprague (FFG-16) joined Caron, and the ships steamed at 25 knots for Point Saline with their arrival planned for daybreak. While advancing toward the island, Caron recovered a small craft with 12 Special Forces troops embarked that had been carried to sea by strong currents. Later in the morning while conducting a search and rescue operation for a downed Bell AH-1T Cobra of Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 261 near St. George’s Harbor, Caron avoided enemy mortar rounds while operating close to shore.

On the afternoon of the 25th, Caron fired her 5-inch guns towards the site of the communist propaganda station “Radio Free Grenada,” allowing a 12-man Navy Sea, Air and Land (SEAL) team to evade enemy forces surrounding their position there. That night, as fighting continued to rage on the island, Caron responded to a visual signal from shore and rescued ten of the SEALs who had escaped from the radio transmitter site, two of whom had suffered serious injuries. While Caron’s medical staff treated the wounded men, the destroyer directed Sikorsky UH-60 Blackhawks to the beach to rescue the two remaining SEALs from the team. The following evening, the ship also saved 11 U.S. Army Rangers whose helicopter had crashed.

Caron remained on the scene at Grenada through 2 November 1983. During this time, she continued to patrol within range of hostile gunfire, ready to provide naval gunfire support for land and amphibious troops. All told, Caron’s search and rescue efforts saved 41 soldiers and sailors. “Caron demonstrated in a wartime environment what our forces are capable of,” Capt. Sharp remarked, “and the readiness that ‘Can-Do’ Caron is known for.” For her actions in the Grenadian conflict, Caron received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

Artwork: “USS Caron Neutralizes Radio Free Grenada – Beausejour Bay”. by Mike Leahy, via the Naval History and Heritage Command. U.S. Navy Combat Art Center, Washington Navy Yard. U.S. Navy photo by the Navy Audiovisual Center.DN-SC-85-07100.

She would keep her guns blistered in the coming weeks.

Escorting Guam and the 22nd MAU from Grenada to Lebanon, she would be called for NGFS ashore on 8 February 1984, plastering enemy positions with 450 5-inch shells, then follow up on another fire call on 25-26 February, firing 141.

Keep in mind that Spruance-class tin cans only had enough room for about 1,200 rounds of assorted 5-inch in their magazines, if they were fully loaded.

Caron later received the Navy Expeditionary Medal for her service off Lebanon.

As for retirement, Guam decommissioned on 25 August 1998 after 33 years of service and was disposed of in a SINKEX three years later while Caron, decommissioned on 15 October 2001 after just 24 years, would likewise be deep-sixed at the hands of the same Navy she once served so well.

Coasties in New Places…and with new Cutters

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Last week, the 154-foot Sentinel-class fast response cutter USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143), based in Guam, visited Tacloban in the Philippines on the occasion of the 79th Leyte Gulf Landing Anniversary while the larger frigate-sized USCGC Stratton (WMSL 752) called in Manila.

Hatch is the first of her class to visit the Philippines and will certainly not be the last as the FRCs are sailing far and wide, increasingly roaming around the West Pac. If you are curious, while calling at Tacloban she was 1,300 miles away from home, certainly within range as they have been logging patrols as long as 8,000nm in recent months. 

Colleagues from the Philippine Coast Guard prepare to receive the crew of the USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143) at the pier in Tacloban, Philippines, on Oct. 19, 2023. In a historic first, the USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143) visited Tacloban, Philippines, from Oct. 19 to 23, 2023, and the crew conducted engagements marking a significant milestone in the enduring relationship between the United States and the Philippines. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Cmdr. Ryan Crose)

From the CG PAO:

“The expanded capabilities of the Fast Response Cutter represent more than just advanced technology; they symbolize the bridge of cooperation and goodwill between nations. The FRCs and their dedicated crews regularly play a pivotal role in international diplomacy. These vessels, along with their highly trained and professional crews, are ambassadors of peace and collaboration, said Capt. Nick Simmons, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam. “They foster understanding and trust across borders, making the seas safer not only for our own nations but for all nations that rely on the freedom of navigation and maritime security.”

Hatch is the 43rd FRC and was commissioned in July 2021, so she is a new hull.

The class has been around since 2012 when the leader, USCGC Bernard C. Webber (WPC 1101) was commissioned and sent to Miami.

Of relevance, the fourth of the class commissioned, USCGC Robert Yeard (WPC 1104) joined the fleet in 2013 and is currently out of the water at the CG Yard in Maryland where she is getting an overhaul, offering some great shots of her hull form.

As detailed by the cutter’s social media page:

Every three years the Yered gets hauled out for some much-needed maintenance including a top-end overhaul of the mains and a full paint job. For the next 140 days, it will be stripped, sprayed, welded, shafts and props dropped replaced, and cleaned. As hard as this ship works and runs, it needs it.

For reference, all of the FRCs are built by Bollinger in New Orleans and the current program of record is 65 hulls, although plans are for at least two to be placed in uncrewed a Recurring Depot Availability Program (RDAP)– otherwise known as “ordinary” back in the day, due to empty billets across the USCG. 

OPC Progress

Meanwhile, the future USCGC Argus (WMSM-915), the lead ship of the Heritage-class Offshore Patrol Cutter program and the sixth cutter to carry the name, is set to side-launch at Eastern Shipbuilding Group’s Nelson Shipyard near Panama City, Florida on Friday and proceed to finish fitting out in prep for commissioning.

Offshore Patrol Cutter ARGUS in launch position. Photo Eastern Shipbuilding Group

Offshore Patrol Cutter ARGUS in launch position. Photo Eastern Shipbuilding Group

The Heritage class is so-called as they are all to be named for historic cutters, a move I for one support and wish the Navy would take a hint when it comes to naming conventions. For example, the initial cutter Argus was one of the first 10 ships assigned to the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service, a predecessor service to the Coast Guard in 1791. Of the 10 original cutters assigned to the RCS, Argus spent the longest time in service. Subsequent cutters Argus were commissioned in 1804, 1809, 1830, and 1850.

Interestingly, the first OPC’s sponsor is not a politician but  Capt. Beverly Kelley, USCG, (Ret). She was the first woman to command an American military vessel when she was piped aboard the 95-foot Cape-class patrol boat USCGC Cape Newagen in 1979.

Kelly, a University of Miami alum who graduated from OCS in 1976, seen on Cape Newagen’s bridge back in the day when the USCG still allowed beards without a profile. She went on to skipper the 270-foot cutter Northland (WMEC-904) as well as the 378-foot cutter Boutwell (WHEC-719) before retiring in 2006, capping a 30-year career that included 18 in sea-going billets.

More on the Heritage (Argus) class

OPC Characteristics:
• Length: 360 feet
• Beam: 54 feet
• Draft: 17 feet
• Sustained Speed: 22 Plus knots
• Range: 8500 Plus nautical miles
• Endurance: 60 Days

The main armament is an Mk 110 57mm gun forward with an MK 38 25mm gun over the stern HH60-sized hangar, and four remote .50 cal mounts. 

I say replace the Mk38 with a C-RAM, shoehorn a towed sonar, ASW tubes, an 8-pack Mk41 VLS crammed with Sea Sparrows, and eight NSSMs aboard, then call it a day.

But no one listens to me…

Current spending on the overbudget and overtime project puts the ships at $704 million per hull. Hopefully, this can be amortized out now that a second yard (Austal in Mobile) is working on the cutters and a big reason why Eastern is so far behind is a mix of teething issues with the brand-new design (in particular non-compliant shafts delivered by Rolls-Royce for the first to hulls) and the 2021-22 supply chain/Covid slow down.

As the OPC program of record is for 25 cutters– replacing the smaller 13-strong Bear class and 16-member Reliance classes of cutters– and, knowing the Coast Guard will be the backbone of the force in blue water for the next 40 years, it is important to get it right.

Portugal’s sub force getting it done

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The modern Tridente-class submarine, a unique fuel cell AIP variant of the German Type 209PN/Type 214PN, has been in operation since 2010 with the Portuguese Navy. While three were envisioned, just two were completed– NRP Tridente (S160) and NRP Arpão (S161).

Tridente-class submarine of the Portuguese navy

The country has made good use of these in recent deployments and in bird-dogging passing Russian warships. Speaking to the former, Arpão in August wrapped up a 120-day patrol as part of the Open Sea Initiative 23.2, in the South Atlantic, which contributed to strengthening military and diplomatic relations between Portugal and each of the countries visited — Cape Verde, Brazil, South Africa, Angola, and Morocco– having traveled more than 13,000 miles and spent over 2,500 hours underway.

She reportedly covered the length of the African continent submerged in 15 days.

Arpão (FrigCapt. Taveira Pinto) arrived in Lisbon in August after her deployment which made her the first Portuguese submarine to carry out an equator-crossing mission.

Interestingly, her 35-member crew is co-ed.

You have to love Arpão’s patch. Of note, Arpão means “Harpoon”

Turning around just 60 days later, Arpão has deployed again, this time to the Med as part of NATO’s Operation Sea Guardian, on a patrol that will run into December and include taking part in Dynamic Mariner 23.

She is a good-looking boat for sure.

Portuguese Sub Heritage

As noted in this week’s Warship Wednesday, in 1914 Portugal had a single submarine to its name, a small Fiat-designed La Spezia-built boat, dubbed Espadarte (Swordfish). Ordered in 1910, this 148-foot/300-ton diesel-electric boat would remain in service until 1930.

Espadarte, seen here in Lisbon, was the first sub in the Marinha Portuguesa)

NRP Espadarte, the first Portuguese submarine delivered to the Navy, on April 15, 1913

She was very active, if nothing else providing an OPFOR for the fleet. 

ASW training between destroyer NRP Guadiana and submarine NRP Espadarte Portugal 1915

To replace their well-worn little Italian boat and expand their force, Portugal ordered a pair of modified Squalo class boats from C.R.D.A in Trieste in 1931. However, Mussolini ordered them seized on the ways in 1935 and pressed into service as the Glauco class off Spain, where the Italian “pirate submarine” fleet was very active.

To replace the undelivered Italian boats, Portugal turned to Vickers in Britain for a pair of 227-foot/1,000 ton boats that could carry a dozen torpedos and have a 5,000nm endurance while carrying a very English 4-inch gun in a streamlined semi-turret forward of the sail. All three– Delfim, Espadarte, and Golfinho were delivered in May 1934 and remained active through WWII.

The Vickers built Delfim class, as described in the 1946 ed of Jane’s

Class leader Delfim. Note the “D” on her fairwater as a designator. Logically, Golfinho carried a “G” while Espadarte had an “E”. The forward streamlined QF 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XII deck gun mount was similar to that seen on the RN’s O-class and, on a smaller scale, to the four-gunned experimental HMS X-1 cruiser submarine of the same era. 

To replace the Vickers boats, Portugal managed to pick up a trio of WWII surplus British 217-foot/990-ton S-class boats in 1948: HMS Spur/NRP Narval (S160), HMS Saga/NRP Náutilo (S161), and HMS Spearhead/NRP Neptuno (S162).

These remained in service into the late 1960s.

British RN S-class submarine HMS Spearhead, as NRP Neptuno (S162) in Portugal service 1950s

Then, in 1967, Portugal ordered a four-pack of French Daphné type SSKs that entered service as the Albacora-class by the end of the decade.

While one– NRP Cachalote (S165)— was sold to Pakistan after the Carnation Revolution and the military fell out of favor, the other three (Albacora S163, Barracuda S164, and Delfim S166) would be retained into the 2000s, replaced by the current German boats.

NRP Barracuda was NATO’s oldest active submarine when she was decommissioned in 2010. Laid down by the Dubigeon Shipyards of France in 1967, she is preserved as a museum ship in Portugal.

Mosquitos!

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80 years ago today: PT boat No. 285 underway, 19 October 1943. Note the extensive camouflage paint scheme on the 78-foot Higgins Motor Torpedo Boat, her SO type radar set, four lightweight Mark 13 aircraft torpedos in roll-off mounts, two twin M2 .50 cal Brownings pointed skyward, another pair of 20mm Oerlikon singles fore and aft, and a 7×3-foot balsa float on deck filled with supplies.

U.S. Navy Photo in the National Archives 80-G-85754

Carrying the unofficial names of “Scuttlebutt John” and “Fighting Irish,” PT-285 was laid down 8 February 1943 by Higgins Industries in New Orleans, completed 16 July 1943, and assigned to Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron TWENTY THREE (MTBRon 23), going on to see action at Bougainville and Green Island as well as in New Guinea, ending her career in the Philippines, stripped and torched off Samar as excess equipment in November 1946.

PT boat No. 337, an 80-foot Elco Motor Torpedo Boat, was photographed the same day in likely the same location, and she gives a great profile view of such a craft. She carries the same torpedo punch as PT-285 above, but one fewer 20mm mount and a wooden dingy instead of the balsa float.

80-G-85757

PT-337 was laid down at Elco in Bayonne, New Jersey on 17 February 1943 and completed on 14 May then was assigned to MTBRon 24 for service in New Guinea. Serving under the unofficial names of “Heaven Can Wait” and “PT Intrepid” she was lost to Japanese shore batteries on 7 March 1944 in Hansa Bay, New Guinea.

Bulkely covers the tragic tale in his At Close Quarters book on PT boat operations in WWII:

On the night of March 1/2, Lt. R. H. Miller, USNR, in PT 335 (Lt. Bernard C. Denvir, USNR), with PT 343 (Ens. Fred L. Jacobson, USNR), destroyed two enemy luggers and set fire to a storehouse, a fuel dump, and an ammunition dump at Bogia Harbor, 125 miles northwest of Saidor. On the following night, Lieutenant Commander Davis, in PT 338 (Lt. (jg.) Carl T. Gleason), with PT 337 (Ens. Henry W. Cutter, USNR), went 10 miles farther up the coast to Hansa Bay, a known enemy strongpoint.

The boats idled into the bay at 0200, the 338 leading. They picked up a radar target a mile and a quarter ahead, close to shore. Closing to 400 yards, they saw two heavily camouflaged luggers moored together. Heavy machine-gun fire opened from the beach. As the PT’s turned and started to strafe the beach, more machine-guns started firing along the shore, and a heavy-caliber battery opened from Awar Point, at the northwestern entrance of the bay.

The first shell hit so close to the port bow of the 337 that some of the crew were splashed with water and heard fragments whizzing overhead. Three or four more shells dropped near the 337; then one hit the tank compartment just below the port turret, going through the engineroom. All engines were knocked out and the tanks burst into flame. Ensign Cutter pulled the carbon dioxide release, but the blaze already was too furious to be checked.

Francis C. Watson, MoMM3c, USNR, who had been thrown from the port turret, got to his feet and saw William Daley, Jr., MoMM1c, USNR, staggering out of the flaming engineroom, badly wounded in the neck and jaw. Watson guided Daley forward, slipped to the deck and shouted to Morgan J.

–224–

Canterbury, TM2c, USNR, to help the wounded man. In the meantime Cutter gave the order to abandon ship and the men put the liferaft over the starboard, or offshore, side, and began taking to the water. Daley was dazed but obedient. He got in the water by himself, and Ensign Cutter and Ens. Robert W. Hyde, USNR, towed him to the raft.

The crew paddled and swam, trying to guide the raft away from the exploding boat and out to sea. They must have been working against the current, because after 2 hours they were only 700 yards away from the boat, and were considerably shaken by a tremendous explosion. After the explosion the flames subsided somewhat, but the hulk was still burning at dawn.

Several times the survivors saw searchlights’ sweep the bay from shore and heard the shore guns firing. They did not know the guns were firing at the 338, outside the bay. When the heavy battery had first opened on the boats, Davis ordered a high-speed retirement and the 338 laid a smokescreen. When the 337 did not come through the screen, Davis tried repeatedly to reenter the bay, but every time the 338 approached the entrance, the shore battery bracketed the PT so closely that it had to retire. Finally, knowing that the 338 would be a sitting duck not only for shore guns but enemy planes in daylight, Davis set course back to Saidor.

Daley died before dawn and was committed to the sea. That left three officers and eight men in the raft. Besides Cutter, Hyde, Watson, and Canterbury, there were Ens. Bruce S. Bales, USNR; Allen B. Gregory, QM2c, USNR; Harry E. Barnett, RM2c, USNR; Henry S. Timmons, Y2c; Edgar L. Schmidt, TM3c, USNR; Evo A. Fucili, MoMM3c, USNR; and James P. Mitchell, SC3c.

To say that the men were in the raft perhaps gives an exaggerated impression of comfort. It was an oval of balsa, 7 feet by 3, with a slatted bottom open to the waves. With 11 men, it was awash. Usually they did not even try to stay in it at the same time. Some stayed in it and paddled, others tried to guide it by swimming.

At dawn on the 7th the raft still was less than a mile off the entrance of Hansa Bay. During the morning the current carried it toward Manam Island, 6 miles offshore. Cutter wanted to go ashore on Manam, thinking it would be easier to escape detection in the woods than on the surface so close to Hansa Bay. Besides, the men could find food, water, and shelter ashore, and might be able to steal a canoe or a sailboat. All afternoon they paddled and swam, but whenever they came close to shore another current pushed them out again.

–225–

That night Cutter and Bales tried to paddle ashore on logs. If they could get ashore they would try to find a boat and come back for the others. After 3 hours the unaccountable currents swept the two exhausted officers and the raft together again. While they were away, Hyde and Gregory set out to swim to the island. They were not seen again.

During the night the men saw gunfire toward Hansa Bay, as though PT’s and shore batteries were firing at each other, but they saw no PT’s. By dawn of the 8th the raft had drifted around to the north side of Manam, no more than a mile from the beach. Mitchell already had set out to swim to the island. Cutter, Schmidt, and Canterbury were delirious that night. During the storm Canterbury suddenly swam away. Barnett, a strong swimmer, tried to save him, but could not find him. Soon after dawn, Bales, Fucili, and Schmidt also set out for shore. The others were too weak to move. Most of the men thought that Bales, Fucili, and Schmidt reached the island, but Watson, who said he saw Bales walking on the beach, is the only one who claimed to have seen any of them ashore. Soon afterward Japanese were seen on the beach.

Mitchell returned to the raft in the middle of the morning. He was only 75 yards from shore when he saw several Japanese working on the beach, apparently building boats. Plans to go to Manam were abandoned.

Soon after dark that night a small boat put out from shore, circled the raft and stood off at about 200 yards. There were two men in it who, some of the men said, were armed with machine-guns. They made no attempt to molest the men in the raft, but kept close to them until about 0400, when a sudden squall blew up, with 6- to 8-foot waves. When calm came again the boat was nowhere to be seen.

On the morning of the 9th the remaining men, Cutter, Barnett, Timmons, Watson, and Mitchell, saw an overturned Japanese collapsible boat floating a few yards away. It was only 15 feet long, but it looked luxurious in comparison with the raft. They righted it, bailed it and boarded it. Mitchell saw a crab clinging to the boat, and in catching it let the raft slip away. No one thought it was worth retrieving.

The crab was not the only food during the day. Later the men picked up a drifting cocoanut. The food helped some, but the men were tortured by thirst. They had lost their waterbreaker in the storm, and the cocoanut was dry. They were suffering, too, from exposure. Scorched by day and chilled at night, they were covered with salt water sores.

–226–

The night of the 9th and the morning of the 10th were monotonous agony. At noon, three Army B-25’s flew over, wheeled about and circled the boat. Cutter waved his arms, trying to identify himself by semaphore. One of the bombers came in low and dropped a box. It collapsed and sank on hitting the water. Then came two more boxes and a small package attached to a life preserver, all within 10 feet of the boat. The boxes contained food, water, cigarettes, and medicines. In the package was a chart showing their position and a message saying that a Catalina would come to pick them up.

The next morning a Catalina, covered by two P-47’s, circled the boat. The Catalina picked up the five men. Within 2½ hours they were back in Dreger Harbor.

A liferaft is a hard thing to spot. During the 5 days since the loss of the 337, planes by day and PT’s by night had searched for the survivors. Of those who tried to go ashore at Manam, little is known. A captured document indicates that 1 officer and 2 enlisted men were taken prisoner by the Japanese, but none of the crew of the 337 was reported as a prisoner of war.

Old School LST…Maybe Cool Again?

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Check out this short (1 minute) moto reel of a Greek Jason-class tank landing ship HS Samos (L174) hitting the beach during exercise “Parmenion-23” on the Island of Chios and disgorging a series of vehicles including M113s, M48A5 MBTs, Humvees, and M109 SPGs in a very dated “right on the beach through scissor doors” kind of way.

You know, ala D-Day and Iwo Jima kinda stuff.

The U.S. got out of the LST biz almost a quarter century ago when we retired the excellent Newport-class tank landing ships.

The Newports went big, the 1960s designed vessels pushing some 8,500 tons or so, but could carry a light battalion of troops (430~) and almost 30 vehicles in as close to 17 feet of water as they could and, using a causeway, get them feet dry on the beach.

U.S. Navy crewmen stand at the end of a causeway as the Newport-class tank landing ship USS San Bernardino (LST-1189), with bow open, prepares to lower its ramp off Coronado, August 1979.

However, the Greek LST above is, as you can see, pretty handy. At just 4,500 tons, they can float with their back end in 11 feet of seawater and carry 350 troops and two dozen vehicles. They also have a helicopter pad for S-70-sized birds and four 36-foot LCVPs in davits.

They have a modest self-defense suite including an OTO Melara 76/62 gun, 2 twin BOFORS 40L/70 anti-aircraft guns, and 2 Rheinmetall 20 mm anti-aircraft guns.

Something like the Jason class, which was built in the 1990s and only has a 120-man crew, could be the off-the-shelf answer to the U.S. Navy’s Medium Landing Ship (LSM) program, previously called the Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) program, which aims to land small Marine Littoral AShM detachments on isolated Pacific atolls.

The Navy wants 18-36 LSMs about this size and capability, so it seems a good fit. 

Swap out the OTO for a 57mm MK110, the 40mm guns for a C-RAM launcher, and mount a couple of 25mm or 30mm Bushmasters for small work– all equipment that can be taken from decommissioned LCSs!

Food for thought rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. Just look at somebody else’s wheel. Plus, the Greeks have been in the littoral biz for more than a couple of millennia so they may know a thing or two.

First All-ASEAN Naval Ex Wraps up

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The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations recently concluded its first joint naval exercises that, importantly, did not include a big outside power.

Crew Singapore’s RSS Vigour (92), a Victory-class corvette, waving their ballcaps during the sailpast to the Royal Brunei Navy’s KDB Darulehsan (left, background) and the  Sudirohusodo-class hospital ship KRI dr. Radjiman Wedyodiningrat of the Indonesian Navy. (Singapore Navy Photo)

The drills, focused on disaster response, took place near waters China claims as its own and are seen by some as a dress rehearsal for a Noncombatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) if things ever got too tense in Taiwan, where 730,000 ASEAN nationals are working.

The exercise included ships from Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, while the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and East Timor sent observers.

While ASEAN is not a military alliance per se, the group has held joint AUMX exercises with U.S. forces in the past.

The ASEAN naval ex included Singapore transferring a refurbished 500-ton Fearless-class patrol vessel, ex- RSS Dauntless (99) to Brunei as Al Faruq. (Singapore Navy Photo)

Simultaneously, the 30th edition of the Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (SIMBEX) was successfully completed over the weekend. 

RSS Stalwart, RSS Tenacious, and RSS Valour participated in a series of exercises in the southern reaches of the South China Sea within international waters alongside Indian Navy frigates INS Ranvijay and INS Kavaratti. (Singapore Navy Photo)

Also, of note, the white hull U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) has been in the region at the same time, playing well in the South China Sea with the rebooted British Pacific naval force in the area, as part of CARAT 2023 with ASEAN member Brunei.

Royal Navy vessel HMS Spey (P234) (foreground) conducts coordinated ship maneuvers with U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) on Sept. 17, 2023, in the South China Sea. Munro is deployed to the Indo-Pacific to advance relationships with ally and partner nations to build a more stable, free, open, and resilient region with unrestricted, lawful access to the maritime commons. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Brett Cote)

Again with the LCS shuffle…

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In addition to the rapidly falling numbers of cruisers (without replacement) and SSN-688s (with some replacement, albeit not 1:1) the Navy keeps pulling the LCS shuffle.

Just two weeks ago, we brought you the news that the Freedom-variant (mono-hull Marinette Marine-built) littoral combat ship USS Milwaukee (LCS 5), was decommissioned at Naval Station Mayport, with a career spanning just 7 years, 9 months, and 18 days– a record cradle-to-grave for such a vessel, the third of the class retired. The same week, the USS Marinette (LCS 25) commissioned in Menominee, Michigan, the “Lucky” 13th Freedom-variant LCS, leaving three final Freedom-class LCS fitting out, to be delivered at some future date: PCUs USS Nantucket (LCS-27), Beloit (LCS-29), and Cleveland (LCS-31).

Now, the Navy essentially pulled a repeat last weekend with two Freedom variants hitting mothballs while a new Independence variant (trimaran built by Austal in Mobile) joined the fleet.

Littoral Combat Ship Squadron Two in Mayport paid off the sixth US Navy vessel to bear the name of Michigan’s largest city, USS Detroit (LCS-7) and the second to be named after the largest city in Arkansas, USS Little Rock (LCS-9), were decommissioned on September 29, 2023. They are the fourth and fifth members of that class.

USS Detroit (LCS-7) was decommissioned on September 29, 2023

Detroit was active for 6 years, 11 months, 7 days.
Little Rock was active for 5 years, 9 months, 13 days-– a new short-timer record for an LCS.

Detroit managed to deploy four times to SOUTCOM on 4th Fleet orders with CTF-45 in her career, essentially holding down missions typically completed by 50-year-old Coast Guard cutters half their size.

As noted by the Navy:

Detroit and its Sailors contributed a tremendous amount of work and time to ensure the success of the LCS program during the ship’s time in naval service. USS Detroit (LCS 7) began the year with a Light Off Assessment (LOA) on January 30. The crew performed with distinction through several major milestones including LOA, contractor sea trials, and the basic/advanced phase in preparation for her 2023 deployment. Detroit completed her most recent deployment to the Fourth Fleet in April 2023 partnered with the embarked US Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment, other US warships, the Department of Defense, the Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security. Detroit participated in two fleet experiments off the coast of San Juan, Puerto Rico, which greatly contributed to C4F’s tactical mission set. Detroit and her embarked LEDETs seized an estimated total of 900kg of cocaine from entering the United States. Detroit provided a maritime security presence enabling the free flow of commerce in key corridors of trade.

Likewise, Little Rock also did roughly the same, deploying south three times, only recently returning from a CTF-45 tasking in April.

CARIBBEAN SEA – (Apr. 17, 2023) — The Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Little Rock (LCS 9) steams in the Caribbean Sea while deployed to the U.S. Naval Forces Southern Command/U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations (AOR) (U.S. Navy courtesy photo/Released) 230417-N-N3764-1000

Of interest, LCS-9 was the first warship to be commissioned while next to a former namesake, ex-USS Little Rock (CL-92/CLG-4/CG-4), which served off and on from 1945-1976 and has been a museum ship in Buffalo, New York since then.

Both Detroit and Little Rock are reportedly on hold for potential foreign military sales, presumably with a paid engineering combining gear fix (estimated at $8-10 million per hull). Only seven Freedom-class LCS (of 13 completed) remain in service, with the latter models presumably incorporating the fix.

Fast forward to Maine, where USS Augusta (LCS 34), the newest (17th) Independence-variant littoral combat ship was placed in commission. Austal only has two ships of a total of 19 to be delivered remaining under construction: the future USS Kingsville (LCS 36) and USS Pierre (LCS 38).

Independence-class Littoral Combat Ship, the future USS Augusta (LCS 34) was delivered to the U.S. Navy on 15 May 2023. Note the Battle House Hotel and the Trustmark building behind the vessel on Mobile’s skyline, the latter home to the only 600lb electric MoonPie which is dropped at midnight on New Year’s Eve. (Image: Austal USA)

She is the second naval warship named for the city of Augusta, Maine. LCS 34 continues the legacy of USS Augusta (SSN 710), a Los Angeles-class submarine that was in active service for 24 years and decommissioned on February 11, 2009.

And, just because you came this far, take a look at this great drydock shot of the USS Charleston (LCS 18) in San Diego after a 26-month rotational deployment, showing her class’s unique stern drive.

Upsizing Bushmaster

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Of interest to small boat naval gun guys is this notice from Thursday’s and Friday’s DOD Contracts announcements (emphasis mine):

MSI Defence Systems US LLC, Rock Hill, South Carolina, is awarded a $23,463,149 firm-fixed-price contract for the procurement of 15 MK88 MOD4 Gun Mounts, associated hardware, and spares. Work will be performed in the United Kingdom (90%) and Rock Hill, South Carolina (10%) and is expected to be completed by March 2025. Fiscal 2023 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $11,621,453 (50%); fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $8,991,450 (38%); and fiscal 2023 weapons procurement (Coast Guard) funds in the amount of $2,850,246 (12%), will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 3204(a)(1), (only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.) Naval Surface Warfare Center Indian Head Division, Indian Head, Maryland, is the contracting activity (N00174-23-C-0015).

MSI-Defence Systems US LLC,* Rock Hill, South Carolina, is awarded a $29,263,267 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the procurement of the MK 48 Mod 2 Electro-Optical Sight (EOS), EOS spare parts and transportation cases, and evaluation and repair of EOS subassemblies in support of the MK 38 Mod 4 Machine Gun System for the Navy, Coast Guard, and Military Sealift Command. Work will be performed in Norwich, United Kingdom (56%); and Rock Hill, South Carolina (44%), and is expected to be completed by September 2026. Fiscal 2023 weapons procurement (Navy) funds in the amount of $7,601,246 (57%); and fiscal 2023 shipbuilding and conversion (Navy) funds in the amount of $5,700,936 (43%), will be obligated at time of award; the funding will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured via the sam.gov website, with one offer received. This is a sole source action in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1, only one responsible source. MSI-Defence Systems US LLC is the original equipment manufacturer of the systems and the only company who can provide the systems and perform the required evaluation and repairs. No other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, Crane, Indiana, is the contracting activity (N0016423DJQ13).

MSI makes the MK38 Mod 4 on a standard M88 mount, perhaps the best version of the Bushmaster. Whereas the first version was crew-manned, this one is a “fully integrated Naval Gun controlled via a Combat Management System (CMS) or Electro-Optic Fire Control System (FCS) using a remote independent Electro-Optical Sight System (EOSS)” which really ups the hit factor.

Plus, rather than just a M242 25mm cannon, the Mod 4 carries the MK44S 30mm cannon with the option to coaxially mount the 12.7mm M2HB Heavy Machine Gun to the main gun, providing additional engagement capability.

The 30mm MK44S has 70% of the same parts as the M242 while increasing the firepower by as much as 50% with the 20% increase in caliber size, making it a much more powerful option with a 4,000m range versus the 25mm’s 2,000m range.

The Mk 48 Mod 2 MSI-DS Electro-Optical Sight System (EOSS) includes long-range Day/Night All Weather sensors, has an auto-tracking mode for long endurance surveillance of targets, can be mounted on superstructure or mast positions, and interfaces with the ship’s Combat Management System or Integrated Bridge via existing common consoles or a standalone Remote Operator Console and HD display monitor. Plus, since it is not on the gun mount itself, it doesn’t spook those it observes. Meanwhile, as it is all-optical/IR it doesn’t light up a radar warning receiver/ECM set, which could be a nice benefit in ambush attacks

As for where they are going, the USCG has gone on record as saying they plan on mounting one or two of these on each of the new icebreakers (Polar Security Cutter) but, as these mounts are only negligibly heavier and fit the same footprint as earlier MK38s, there is a definite logic in mounting these on the 154-foot Sentinel (Webber) class Fast Response Cutters operating in the Persian Gulf and Western Pacific, swapping out the MK38 Mod 2s currently fitted on the bow. 

As 15 mounts are on order, maybe that is the plan…plus the MSC notation is very interesting.

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