Category Archives: military art

Rhino Supremacy

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How about this great overhead shot of a wartime super carrier showing the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) as she sails in the Arabian Sea with CVW-7 AG embarked, 3 May 2026.

US Navy 260503-N-DO477-1121

As you can tell, CVW-7 is Rhino-exclusive when it comes to fixed-wing combat aircraft, carried across five squadrons. This includes the Rampagers of VFA-83, the Jolly Rogers of VFA-103, the Wildcats of VFA-131, and the Gunslingers of VFA-105, all with FA-18E/F models. Added to this are the EA-18G Growlers flown by the Patriots of VAQ-140.

Bush’s AEW is provided by the Sunkings of VAW-116 (E-2C), her rotary wing is made up of the Night Dippers of HSC-5 (MH-60S) and the Griffins of HMS-46 (MH-60R), and she has a support det from the Mighty Bisons of VRM-40 (CMV-22B).

Commissioned 10 January 2009 as the 10th and final Nimitz class carrier, GHWB has always been a Rhino flattop, having her shakedown with CVW-1 off the coast of Virginia that May with three squadrons of FA-18E/F (VFA-11, VFA-136, and VFA-211) rounded out by det of the same type pushed by the Salty Dogs of VX-23 and a Marine F-18C unit (VMFA-251) and a Prowler det and HH-60/SH-60s.

She never knew the touch of the Tomcat, Vigilante, Viking, Crusader, Corsair, Intruder, Skywarrior, or Phantom as her older Cold War sisters did.

LIDAR giving a great look at old coastal forts

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Capable of holding an amazing 450 cannon in its massive six-sided, double-tiered walls (although never even halfway armed), Fort Jefferson in the Dry Tortugas required 16 million bricks to complete over 15 years and is the largest masonry structure in the Americas.

There were 42 principal masonry forts and dozens of smaller batteries built as part of the U.S. “Third System” of coastal defense between 1816 and 1867 to protect major harbors.

You know many of them as they are preserved as state or NPS parks. Forts Gaines and Morgan in Mobile Bay. Pickens and Barrancas in Pensacola. Massachusetts on Ship Island. Trumbull and Griswold in New London. Pulaski and Jackson in Savannah. Taylor in Key West. A dozen nearly forgotten forts around New Orleans. And so on, and so on.

Constructed using millions of bricks and likely billions of manhours of hard labor, many have been reclaimed by nature, abandoned in the 20th Century as relics made obsolete by better naval guns, aircraft carriers, and missiles.

The folks at LIDAR have been giving us a peek at what remains under the kudzu, pines, and centipede grass at some of these lost fortifications.

This is just a treat for fort lovers like myself.

Lidar Fort McAllister near Savannah, Georgia

Lidar Fort Sherman—Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Lidar Fort Trenholm, SC

Lidar Fort Morgan — Baldwin County, Alabama

Lidar Fort Clinch — Amelia Island, Florida

Lidar Fort Gadsden, Florida

Keep it up, LIDAR!

Stingers!

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What a great piece of maritime art!

Seen during a January 1946 visit by four RN aircraft carriers (the light carriers HMS Glory, along with sister Venerable, and along with the larger armored deck carriers Indefatigable and Implacable) to Melbourne, Australia, a yacht closes with the stern of one of the “I” class flattops, which is guarded by a four-pack of 20mm Oerlikons.

State Library Victoria H98.104/2508

Sisters Indefatigable (R10) and Implacable (R86) were laid down in 1939 as improved Illustrious class fleet carriers, but didn’t arrive in the fleet until well into 1944. This limited their European war to harassing Tirpitz in Norway until the call came to join the British Pacific Fleet for much more serious action.

Twin 33,000-ton armored carriers, Implacable and Indefatigable, Janes 1954

Post-war service was limited and, with planned angled-deck modernizations unfunded by a penny-pinching government, both sisters were sold for scrap within days of each other in late 1956.

Champ and her raiders

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70 years ago.

A group of 19 Douglas AD Skyraiders forms the letters “LC” as they fly over their home, the recently recommissioned “Long Hull” Essex-class fleet carrier USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) on 30 April 1956.

U.S. Navy photo from the USS Lake Champlain (CVA-39) 1955-1956 cruise book

The aircraft are from  Carrier Air Group 6 (CVG-6), which accompanied “Champ” on a six-month Mediterranean deployment from October 1955 to April 1956, where she carried to AD units (VMA-324 and VA-25) along with a squadron of FJ-3 Fury (VF-33), another of F2H-3 Banshee (VF-62), and one of F9F-8 Cougars (VF-74).

Laid down in drydock by the Norfolk Navy Yard on the Ides of March 1943, the future CV-39 launched on 2 November 1944 and commissioned 3 June 1945, putting her just a skosh too late to the Big Show and had to spend the days immediately after WWII in Magic Carpet duties instead.

Retired to the “Mothball Fleet” by February 1947, Champ was recalled to active duty during Korea and was active off that peninsula with CVG-4 from 11 June to 27 July 1953, averaging 23 helicopter evolutions per day interspersed with as many as 147 combat sorties per day.

Following Korea, she was sent on a series of five different Med cruises and eight shorter Atlantic deployments, and joined in the naval quarantine of Cuba, but her biggest claim to fame was in supporting NASA by recovering Mercury 3 (5 May 1961), Gemini 3 (19 January 1965), and Gemini 5 (29 August 1965).

“Escorting Gemini V to USS Lake Champlain.” USS Dupont was the closest ship for the recovery of Gemini 5. Navy divers from the destroyer recovered the astronauts and transferred them via helicopter to USS Lake Champlain. Painting, Watercolor on Paper; by Luis Llorente; 1965; Unframed Dimensions 30H X 22W Accession #: 88-162-CO

88-162-CT These sketches show the sequence of retrieving the command module – recovery by the UDT team, Gemini 5

Champ was decommissioned in May 1966 and subsequently scrapped in 1972. Although her keel had been laid 29 years prior, she had only spent about 17 of those on active duty.

Her ship’s motto, as befitting her name, was Excelsior.

Spitfire at 90

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Sporting a pale blue-grey commonly called “French Grey” that was arrived at by adding blue pigment to a grey enamel base, Supermarine F.37/34 fighter prototype serial K5054 made its first flight on 5 March 1936 under the controls of test pilot Capt. Joseph “Mutt” Summers, CBE.

Prototype Spitfire K5054 Air Historical Branch-RAF MOD

After several minor tweaks and a new and improved prop, K5054 reached 348 mph in level flight in mid-May, then Summers flew K5054 to RAF Martlesham Heath and handed the aircraft over to Squadron Leader Anderson of the Aeroplane & Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) where it led to the Spitfire with the Air Ministry placing an inital order of 310 aircraft for roughly £9,500 a pop on 3 June 1936– while A&AEE was still working on its final report!

The first production Spitfire, K9787, rolled off the Woolston, Southampton assembly line in mid-1938, and ultimately 20,351 Spitfires were produced over the next 10 years in 24 main “Marks” (variants).

No less than 341 Allied pilots (including 16 Americans) gained “ace” status at the controls of a Spit during WWII.

Flight Lieutenant W.H. Pentland, of No. 417 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, awaiting start-up in his Supermarine Spitfire Mark VC (s/n BR195 ‘AN-T’) at Goubrine, Tunisia, in May 1943. Other aircraft of the squadron are lined up alongside. Royal Air Force official photographer, Woodbine G (F/O) IWM TR 861

The type remained, impressively, in front-line service until at least 1961, when it was retired by the Irish Air Corps at a time when jet fighters were entering their third generation.

The Imperial War Museum’s painstakingly built “99 percent accurate” circa 1993 flying replica of K5054 has been making rounds on a two-week tour of the country but has recently returned to Duxford, just in time to celebrate the Spitfire’s 90th birthday.

USCGC Tampa, found

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The 190-foot, 1,200-ton Miami-class auxiliary gunboat/steel-hulled “cruising cutter” Tampa (WGC-11) was built to spec at Newport News and commissioned on 19 August 1912.

Constructed at $250,000 for the Revenue Cutter Service, she was a simple coastwise vessel, armed with a trio of 6-pounders in peacetime, with weight and space reserved to upgrade those to 3-inchers during war.

USCGC Tampa photographed in harbor, before World War I. Note her two visible whalers. Completed in 1912 as the U.S. Revenue Cutter Miami, she was renamed Tampa in February 1916. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 1226

She spent her first few years stationed in southern Florida (go figure), under her original name (Miami), service she alternated with heading to the North for the International Ice Patrol every spring– remember these were the years just after the loss of the Titanic.

Crew photo of the Revenue Service Cutter Miami (future USCGC Tampa) while on Ice Patrol, circa 1912-16. Note one of her 6-pounder guns to the right of the photo

Revenue Cutter Miami, the future USCGC Tampa, USCG 190326-G-G0000-1001

Then came war, and Tampa was quickly modified for overseas service with five other large cutters.

As detailed by the CG Historian’s Office:

On 1 February 1916, three days before the Gasparilla Carnival and South Florida Fair in Tampa, her name was changed to Tampa. Again that year, she made the ice patrol and then returned to Key West. The year 1917 was very eventful for the crew of Tampa. The South Florida Fair and Gasparilla Carnival at Tampa was the greatest yet, lasting nine days, from 2 February through the 10th. With four days to recuperate from this gala affair, they went on to patrol the Annual Motor Boat Regatta at Miami from 15 to 17 February 1916.  On 27 and 28 March, they patrolled the races of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club in St. Petersburg, Florida.

There was a shadow over the spring gaiety of 1917, however.  On 2 February 1917, the opening day of the Fair and Carnival in Tampa, was the day the United States broke off diplomatic relations with Germany.  Perhaps the men of Tampa sensed that this would be their last celebration with the citizens of their favorite city. On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany, and immediately, Tampa and other Coast Guard cutters were transferred to the Navy. During the next four months, she received heavier armament by trading her three six-pounders for four 3-inch guns and a pair of machine guns. After preparations at the Boston Navy Yard, Tampa moved to the New York Navy Yard on 16 September and reported for duty to the commanding officer of USS Paducah (Gunboat No. 18). Ordered to duty overseas, the warship departed New York on 29 September in company with Paducah, Sterling, B.H.B. Hubbard (SP-416), and five French-manned, American-made submarine chasers in tow. After stops at Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Ponta Delgada in the Azores, Tampa and her sailing mates reached Gibraltar on 27 October 1917.

Based in Gibraltar, the Tampa, Seneca (her companion ship during the ice patrols), Yamacraw, Ossipee, Algonquin, and Manning made up Squadron 2 of Division 6 of the Atlantic Fleet Patrol Forces. Their mission was to protect convoys from submarine attacks. In the little more than a year left to her, Tampa escorted 18 convoys, comprising a total of 350 vessels, through the U-boat-infested waters from Gibraltar to Britain. Her record during this period was outstanding. She was never disabled, and her one request for repairs had been on two minor items, in spite of spending more than fifty percent of her time at sea and steaming an average of 3,566 miles a month.

A haze grey USCGC Tampa moored in a European port (possibly Gibraltar), circa 1917-1918. Note the paddle tug astern of Tampa and the large converted yacht in the distance. The latter may be a British Navy vessel. Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2009. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 106706

She was sunk while escorting a convoy on 26 September 1918– just seven weeks before the Armistice– in the Bristol Channel off the coast of Wales by German UB III-class submarine UB-91 (Kptlt. Wolf Hans Hertwig).

As detailed by DANFS:

Tampa, in company with her fellow escorts, departed Gibraltar with the 32-ship convoy HG 107, bound for Liverpool, on 17 September 1918. The convoy proceeded without incident beyond Cornwall and into the Irish Sea. During the late afternoon of 26 September, Tampa parted company with the convoy as she was in need of refueling. Ordered to put into Milford Haven, she proceeded independently toward her destination. At 7:30 p.m., as she steamed toward the Bristol Channel, UB-91 (Kapitänleutnant Wolf Hans Hertwig) spotted the ocean escort and, according to the U-boat’s war diary entry, dived and maneuvered into an attack position. From a range of about 550 meters, UB-91 fired one G6AV torpedo with a special attachment from her stern torpedo tube at 8:15 p.m. Minutes later, the warhead detonated on Tampa’s port side amidships, throwing up a huge, luminous column of water. Two minutes later, the U-boat was shocked by a second detonation, most likely caused by Tampa’s depth charges reaching pressure fuse depth, as the cutter sank.

All 131 souls aboard— 111 Coast Guardsmen, four U.S. Navy signalmen, a captain of the British Army, 10 seamen of the Royal Navy, and five British dock workers– were killed, representing the largest single loss of life for the Coast Guard during the conflict and, except the disappearance of the collier USS Cyclops, was the largest loss of life suffered by U.S. Naval forces in any incident of the First World War.

Painting of the sinking of Cutter Tampa by the German submarine UB-91, painted by noted marine artist John Wisinski. Photo by: USCG Historian’s Office, VIRIN: 220818-G-G0000-1001

Admiral William S. Sims, the senior U.S. naval officer on duty in Great Britain, received the following letter from the Lords of the British Admiralty:

“Their Lordships desire me to express their deep regret at the loss of the USS Tampa. Her record since she has been employed in European waters as an ocean escort to convoys has been remarkable. She has acted in the capacity of ocean escort to no less than 18 convoys from Gibraltar, comprising 350 vessels, with a loss of only two ships through enemy action. The commanders of the convoys have recognized the ability with which the Tampa carried out the duties of ocean escort. Appreciation of the good work done by the USS Tampa may be some consolation to those bereft, and Their Lordships would be glad if this could be conveyed to those concerned.”

Two bodies in U.S. naval uniforms later washed ashore, one of which was identified by a waterlogged pocket tag as being Seaman James Marconnier Fleury, USCG. They were both buried with full military honors at Lamphey Churchyard (a small country churchyard in Wales). Fleury’s family later brought home his body and buried him in a cemetery in Long Island, New York, but the unidentified Coast Guardsman still rests in Lamphey Churchyard. Local citizens care for his grave to this day.

Unknown Tampa Crewman, Lamphey Churchyard, Wales, United Kingdom, ca. 2014 “In loving memory of our unknown shipmate from the USS Coast Guard Cutter Tampa torpedoed in the Bristol Channel September 26th, 1918. Erected by the USS Tampa Coast Guard Post 719 American Legion, New York. USCG 170602-G-XX000-152

The UB-91 was surrendered at Harwich on 21 November 1918. Operated by a British crew, she toured several cities, including Cardiff and Newport, where she was displayed from 12–20 January 1919 and visited by local officials to raise funds for mariners’ charities. After the boat’s breakup at Briton Ferry in 1921, her deck gun was moved to Chepstow’s war memorial. Her only wartime skipper, Hertwig, credited with 14,668 tons of shipping (Tampa and three steamers) returned to Germany on board the transport Lucia Woerman and resigned from the Imperial Navy in 1920. He later joined the Kriegsmarine in 1937 at age 52 and held a series of training and desk jobs. KzS Hertwig was taken prisoner by the British during the liberation of Denmark in May 1945 and held in a PoW camp till the end of 1946. He passed in 1958, of cancer.

Until now, the only tangible part of Tampa that has ever been located was a brass boat plate from one of her whalers, found on 14 April 1924, almost six years after she was lost, discovered by a 14-year-old lad while beachcombing at Rest Bay, Porthcawl, England.

Tampa boat plate NH 41869

Now it seems, as reported by the Gasperados Dive Team, that the final resting place of Tampa is in 320 feet of water, some 50 miles off Newquay, England.

As detailed by the USCG Historian’s Office:

“Since 1790, the Coast Guard has defended our nation during every armed conflict in American history, a legacy reflected in the courage and sacrifice of the crew of Coast Guard Cutter Tampa,” said Adm. Kevin Lunday, commandant of the Coast Guard. “When the Tampa was lost with all hands in 1918, it left an enduring grief in our service. Locating the wreck connects us to their sacrifice and reminds us that devotion to duty endures. We will always remember them.  We are proud to carry their spirit forward in defense of the United States.”

In 2023, the Coast Guard Historians Office was contacted by the Gasperados Dive Team regarding the Tampa. Over the past three years, the all-volunteer team conducted an extensive search for the wreckage.

“We provided the dive team with historical records and technical data to assist in confirming the wreck site,” said Dr. William Thiesen, Coast Guard Atlantic Area Historian. “This included the archival images of the deck fittings, ship’s wheel, bell, weaponry, and archival images of the Tampa.”

The Coast Guard is now developing plans for underwater research and exploration in coordination with its offices of specialized capabilities, historians, cutter forces, robotics and autonomous systems, and dive locker.

And so we remember.

In Waters Deep– Eileen Mahoney

In ocean wastes no poppies blow,
No crosses stand in ordered row,
There young hearts sleep… beneath the wave…
The spirited, the good, the brave,
But stars a constant vigil keep,
For them who lie beneath the deep.
‘Tis true you cannot kneel in prayer
On certain spot and think. “He’s there.”
But you can to the ocean go…
See whitecaps marching row on row;
Know one for him will always ride…
In and out… with every tide.
And when your span of life is passed,
He’ll meet you at the “Captain’s Mast.”
And they who mourn on distant shore
For sailors who’ll come home no more,
Can dry their tears and pray for these
Who rest beneath the heaving seas…
For stars that shine and winds that blow
And whitecaps marching row on row.
And they can never lonely be
For when they lived… they chose the sea.

Warship Wednesday 22 April 2026: The Morning Star

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Here at LSOZI, we take a break every Wednesday to explore the old steam/diesel navies from 1833 to 1954, profiling a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places- Christopher Eger.

If you enjoy my always ad-free Warship Wednesday content, you can support it by buying me a cup of joe at https://buymeacoffee.com/lsozi As Henk says: “Warship Coffee – no sugar, just a pinch of salt!”

Warship Wednesday 22 April 2026: The Morning Star

Photo via the Danish Naval Museum (Orlogsmuseet) Archives THM-6115

Above, we see the small protected (krydseren) Gejser (also variously known as Gisjer and Geyser) of the Royal Danish Navy in Copenhagen, with the historic St. Alban’s Church in the background.

The class leader of a new series of modern warships under the Dannebrog, she joined the fleet’s 1st Squadron (I Eskadre) some 130 years ago this month and would go on to perform a solid 30 years of enjoyable, even picturesque, service, punctuated by a moment of horror.

Danish cruisers

The first warship rated as a “cruiser” in Danish service was the 2,663-ton ram-bowed iron-hulled sail-rigged steam schooner cruiser (skonnert-krydseren) Fyen, which commissioned in 1884. She carried an impressive 16 5.9-inch Krupp guns (two 149/32 RK L/35 C/80s and 14 shorter 149/22 RK L/25 C/78s), along with two 356mm bow torpedo tubes, protected by 39mm of armor plate. Capable of 12.5 knots, she was swathed in a 1.5-inch armored steel deck.

Danish cruiser Fyen’s armor and gunnery plan, showing her impressive battery of 16 5.9″ Krupp guns and two torpedo tubes, which wasn’t bad for 1884

Danish cruiser Fyen photographed during the winter of 1885-86, likely during one of her early Mediterranean cruises. By 1907, replaced by newer and more modern ships, she was disarmed and immobilized, turned into a barracks/school hulk, a role she held until scrapping in 1962. NH 85361

Then came a quartet of old (built 1862-78) armored screw schooners/sloops: St. Thomas (1,550 tons) Dagmar (1,200 tons), Ingolf (1,019 tons) and Absalon (533 tons) which were modernized in 1885-88 with new powerplants and a main battery of 4.7″/27 RK L/30 C/84 Krupp guns, backed up by 87mm and 37mm QF guns, to be reclassed as 3rd rate cruisers (krydstogtskib 3. klasse), to remain in service as such for a decade.

The 228-foot Danish Orlogsskonnerten St. Thomas in white tropical paint with yellow stacks and masts, common for service in the Danish West Indies (the Virgin Islands), where she was a station ship during the Spanish-American War. She had been re-armed in 1885 with eight 4.7″27 Krupp breechloaders along with six 37mm Hotchkiss 1-pdrs and redesignated a cruiser corvette (krydserkorvet)

Then came the British-built 3,000-ton krydserkorvet (cruiser corvette) Valkyrien, a close cousin of the Armstrong-built Chilean protected cruiser Esmeralda. Entering service in 1890, she cruised the world and waved the Dannebrog as far away as Siam and Hong Kong, and is most notable for overseeing the Danish West Indies (Virgin Islands) to the U.S. in 1917.

Valkyrien, dansk krysser, krigsskip, Oslofjorden Norwegian archives HHB-15663

This brings us to the 1,322-ton Helka, which would be the first of three planned protected cruisers to replace the old, converted 3rd rates, which were nothing but a stopgap for new construction. Laid down as Yard No. 70 on 9 April 1889, at the Royal Dockyard Copenhagen (Orlogsværftet, København), Hekla had a sloping (1.75-inch to 1-inch) “turtle back” armor deck right, fore, and aft, protecting engines, magazines, steering engines, and shell hoists. Meanwhile, her open gun mounts were all protected by shields.

Danish cruiser Hekla Farenholt collection NH 66303

As noted in 1889’s (London) Engineer [notes mine].

The upper deck is clear fore and aft, leaving ample scope for firing the two 6-inch [149/32 RK C/88 Krupp Schnelladekanone Länge 35] guns, one of which is placed at each end of the ship. Amidships are four [57/40 M.1885] rapid firing guns and two torpedo [381mm] launching tubes. Above the deck houses are six machine guns [37mm M.1875 Hotchkiss 1-pounder Gatling types]. The bridge and a conning tower constructed of nickel steel armor plate are forward. A powerful electric search light is placed on the top of the conning tower and another at the stern of the ship. The Hekla is 225 feet long, her breadth being 33 feet, and of light draught. The engines have been supplied by the Burmeister and Wain Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Copenhagen.

Before she was even fully outfitted and commissioned, the guns on the old third-rate cruisers were evaluated on the new Hekla.

Danish protected cruiser Hekla photographed at Copenhagen dockyard, 1891, after trials of her cellulose protection in which a 4.7″ shell was fired at 30-35 m. distance by gunboat (3rd rate cruiser) Absalon. The dotted line indicates the bow wave. Searchlights and secondary armament are not in place. NH 85349

Same as above of Hekla, NH 85363

Proven satisfactory in terms of arms and armor, Hekla’s 8-pack of coal-fed locomotive boilers and twin VTEs generated 3,000 shp on twin screws, which was good for 16 knots. Her bunkers could hold 113 tons of coal, which was enough for 1,700nm at 10 knots.

The Danes thought they could tweak that powerplant to do better.

Meet Gejser

Named for the turbulent steam and water discharge common to Iceland (then a Danish territory), Gejser was based on Hekla and nearly identical above water save for the fact that she had a single funnel rather than Hekla’s twin pipe arrangement.

Ordered from Burmeister & Wain, the future Gejser launched on a beautiful summer day on 5 July 1892 with HM King Christian IX in attendance.

Gejser photographed at launch, 5 July 1892, at Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen. Note her forward 450mm torpedo tube in her ram bow, restraining cable, two old hulks (probably steam frigates Sjaelland and Jylland) in the background, and coast defense battleship Helgoland to the right. Local reports noted, “The beautiful weather had lured many spectators out to the naval yard to watch the launch, both ladies and gentlemen.” NH 85379

As completed, Gejser had roughly the same armament scheme as Hekla save smaller main guns (4.7″/38 QF L/40 C/92s) rather than Hekla’s 5.9s, while retaining the same four 3.45″/37 SK L/40 secondary guns, six 37mm Hotchkiss 1-pdr machine guns, and four torpedo tubes (one 450mm bow, two 381mm beam, one 381 over the stern).

She also had two 35-inch searchlights (Spejlprojektører) and two 8mm machine guns. It should be noted that, while our cruiser had smaller main guns than Hekla, Gejser’s guns could fire more than five rounds per minute compared to one round in Hekla, to a range of 9.2 km compared to 8 km for Hekla’s guns.

Danish Krydseren Gejser

Danish cruiser Gejser NH 85350

Danish cruiser Gejser NH 85354

Gejser had more significant changes from her half-sister when looking below deck, which included the first installation in an armored ship (not a torpedo boat) of eight Thornycroft water tube style boilers (instead of the locomotive boilers on Hekla), which enabled a combined SHP of 3,157 on her full power trial and a speed of 17.1 knots. Further, the smaller (and faster to heat) boilers and other minor changes shaved some 80 tons off Gejser’s displacement when compared to Hekla, even while allowing a gently strengthened armor scheme because of lessons learned from the latter’s 1891 trials.

Via the December 1892 edition of the Engineer (London):

The Danes liked the new Thornycroft boilers so well that they used them on the new “bathtub battleship” armored coastal defense ship Skjold, which was 2,160 tons and mounted 9.4-inch SK L/40 Krupp guns and had up to 10 inches of armor.

Gejser and Skjold in Aarhus THM-6470

The Danes also ordered a near carbon-copy of Gejser, the single-funneled Orlogsværftet-built cruiser Hejmdal (Heimdall), which launched in August 1894 and commissioned in 1895. Meanwhile, Hekla had her boilers upgraded to the new standard in a later refit.

The one-stacked Danish Gejser-class cruiser Hejmdal anchored in a harbor, probably in France, during the summer of 1910 when she was employed as a training ship for naval cadets. She spent much of her early service as the Icelandic station ship, patrolling those waters from March to October-November, then retiring to metropolitan Denmark for the winter. THM-16033

Danish Krydseren Gejser, Heimdal, Hekla, Janes 1904, with several errors. 

Quiet Peacetime service

Delivered on 8 May 1893, Gejser spent her first few years in the fleet in a series of extended tests, trials, and showboating, later steaming that fall on a Baltic cruise with the coastwise battlewagon Iver Hvitfeldt, the cruiser Valkyrien, and four torpedo boats.

Gejser, showing off her stern “stinger” torpedo tube. THM-3241

Then came a series of shipyard availabilities in 1894, followed by a mission to neighboring German waters in the summer of 1895 with her sister Hekla, and the torpedo boats Narhvalen, Støren, Søløven, and Havhesten to represent Denmark at the opening of the Kiel Canal. Seventy-six warships totaling 380,000 tons from 15 different nations anchored in the roadstead for this historic event.

The Danish ships were positioned in the international naval parade ahead of the German cruisers SMS Kaiserin Augusta and Gefion and behind the American USS Marblehead (Cruiser No. 11) and New York (Armored Cruiser No. 2), anchored just off the German Marine Akademie.

The squadron representing Denmark at the official opening of the Kaiser Wilhelm Kanal in Kiel in 1895. The ships, identified in verso of the frame, consist of modern war vessels: the torpedo boats “Nahrvalen” (launched 1888), the “Havhesten”, the light cruiser “Hekla” (launched 1890), the torpedo boat “Støren” (launched 1887), the light cruiser “Gejser” (launched 1892) and the “Søløven” by Vilhelm Karl Ferdinand Arnesen.

Plan of the harbor, showing anchorages of warships present for ceremonies opening the Kiel Canal, June 1895. NH 89539

Fully operational, Gejser joined the 1st Squadron in 1896 and remained in the fleet’s first line until 1903. One of her skippers during this period was Prince Valdemar, a career naval officer who just happened to be the last son of King Christian IX of Denmark and brother to King George I of Greece and Frederick VIII of Denmark.

She was then tasked as a training ship (Øvelsesskib), home to the gunnery and torpedo school.

She would continue in this role, clocking in for regular Squadron exercises each fall, until November 1905, when she was used, along with the bruising coastal battleship Olfert Fischer, to escort the royal yacht (kongeskibet) Dannebrog to Oslo, the latter taking Prince Carl of Denmark to become the king of newly independent Norway upon the dissolution of that country’s near century-long union with Sweden.

The Danish Prince Carl sailing on his way to becoming King Haakon VII of Norway. The Dannebrog was escorted by the Danish coastal defense ship Olfert Fischer (to the right) and the small cruiser Geiser (behind O.F.). Painted by Vilhelm Karl Ferdinand Arnesen.

Prince Carl and Princess Maud arriving in the Oslofjord as King Haakon VII and Queen Maud of Norway in 1905. The royal yacht Dannebrog leads the column, escorted by the Danish naval ships Olfert Fischer and Geiser and joined by two Norwegian coastal defense ships. Painted by Vilhelm Karl Ferdinand Arnesen.

After spending most of 1906 in refit (she had 10 years of squadron service behind her), Gejser shipped out with the Royal Division (Kongedelingen) alongside the Danish EAC steamer Birma (ex-Arundel Castle) to carry King Frederick VIII and the members of the Danish Parliament to the Faroe Islands and Iceland in the summer of 1907.

King Frederik VIII’s departure from Reykjavik, 1907. Frederik VIII visited Iceland in 1907 with a deputation of members of parliament. The picture depicts the king’s departure from Reykjavik on board EAC’s Birma. Cruiser Gejser following. Painted by Vilhelm Karl Ferdinand Arnesen.

Gejser then returned to service as the training ship for the Artillery and Torpedo School (Artilleri- og Torpedoskolen), a stint interrupted by escorting Frederik on his visit to relatives in Russia (the Tsar was his first cousin) in the summer of 1909, with the Danish royal family gathering at the Tsar’s palace at Peterhof.

Russian Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, Queen Louise of Denmark, Victoria Battenberg, King Frederik, Tsar Nicholas II, Grand Duchess Olga, Tsarevich Alexei, Grand Duchess Marie, Grand Duchess Anastasia, Princess Thyra of Denmark, and Princess Dagmar of Denmark in front of the Lower Dacha in Peterhof, July 1909.

During a circa 1910 refit, both Gejser and Hejmdal landed their half-dozen 37mm Hotchkiss guns in exchange for a quartet of more modern 57mm 6-pounder M.1885 Hotchkiss high-angle anti-aircraft (antiluftskytskanoner) guns. Meanwhile, older half-sister Hekla was transferred to the reserve and disarmed. Hekla was converted into a depot and logistics ship by 1913. Hejmdal returned to service as a cadet training vessel.

In ordinary from 1 October 1912 to 7 January 1914, Gejser was brought back into active service for use as a submarine tender, leaving the Valkyrien as the Danish Navy’s only active cruiser.

At the time, the Danish fleet had nine submarines: eight Whitehead (Fiume) diesel-electric types of 129 feet/200 tons and the older gasoline-engined Fiat-built 114-foot/130-ton Dykkeren.

War!

When the lights went out across Europe in August 1914, the Danish navy counted some 4,000 officers, men, and cadets. They protected not only the country’s coastline and overseas possessions (Iceland, Greenland, Faroes, West Indies), but also its merchant fleet, which at the time had some 558 registered steamers (398,323 tons all told) and over 3,400 sailing vessels of all sizes.

At its disposal were five coastal battleships (Peder Skram, Olfert Fischer, Herluf Trolle, Skjold, and Iver Hvitfeldt), three remaining cruisers (Gejser, Hejmdal, and Valkyrien) rushed back to front-line service, 20 assorted torpedo boats, the nine small submarines detailed above, and a handful of mine ships, gunboats, and “fisheries cruisers” (inspetionsskibe), with none of the latter larger than 700 tons.

With that, on 4 August 1914, the fleet was put on a war footing and, as the Security Force (Sikringsstyrken), was divided between the 1st Squadron in the Øresund in the North between Denmark and Sweden and the 2nd Squadron in the Great Belt (Storebælt) to the West between Zealand and Funen.

Gejser spent most of the war alternating between squadrons, with exceptions for a refit (from September to December 1916) and for brief stints as a training ship.

She even carried King Christian X from Copenhagen to Korsør in November 1915.

King Christian X onboard Danish cruiser Geiser in snow squall on the way to Korsor, 25 November 1915, with three torpedo boats following. By Vilhelm Karl Ferdinand Arnesen

One of Gejser’s past skippers, CDR Rord Hammer, who commanded her from 1905-09, would lead the delegation carrying the bodies of the men killed aboard HM submarine E.13, which, after being grounded at Søndre Flindt, was fired upon by German torpedo boats on 19 August 1915.

Post-war tragedy

With peace, of a sort, falling over Europe, Gejser was moved back to her regular mission of summer cadet cruises and school ship duties, interspersed with training evolutions.

Gejser’s training cruise, 1919 THM-33595

Coal gang during Gejser’s training cruise, 1919 THM-33597

Cutlass drill during Gejser’s training cruise, 1919 THM-33598

Gejser’s training cruise, 1919 THM-33599

To the cutlass! Gejser’s training cruise, 1919 THM-33605

Gejser’s training cruise, 1919. THM-35518

Danish Krydseren Gejser 1921 Janes

A ship designed with naval thinking that predated the Spanish-American War, Gejser was well past her prime in the 1920s. Her typical service during this period was in summer exercises and maneuvers (May-July).

The worst day aboard Gejser came on 25 May 1923 when, during a demonstration of a new fog generating apparatus (Taageudviklingsapparater), an explosion occurred.

The device used “the devil’s element,” yellow phosphorus, held in a tank that, when fed via a steam line from the ship’s boilers, would yield great clouds of billowing smoke used to hide the cruiser and its accompanying force. Shown off to an assembled crowd of officers gathered from throughout the fleet, the novel device exploded with a shot like that of a cannon, and Gejser was enveloped in an extremely poisonous and flammable cloud of vaporized phosphorus, glowing like a morning star through the smoke.

No less than 47 men were extremely injured, including her skipper, Capt. Godfred Hansen, the famed second-in-command of Amundsen’s Gjoa expedition through the Northwest Passage in 1903-06.

Most of the commanders of the exercise squadron’s nine torpedo boats and three minelayers were also among the wounded. LCDR Paul C. Rützou, commander of the torpedo boat Delfinen, died at the Garrison Hospital in Vordingborg after an agonizing 16 days. Crown Prince Frederik (later King Frederik IX from 1947), then a junior officer, had only left Gejser moments before returning to his torpedo boat.

Many of the men suffered terrible disfigurement, with Sir Harold Delf Gillies, known as the father of plastic surgery in Britain, traveling to Denmark especially to treat them.

Gejser was repaired and returned to service. Notably, she conducted a series of cadet training cruises around the Baltic and Mediterranean in 1924, 1925, 1926, and 1927. She also functioned as an escort ship in the Royal Division for King Christian X’s trip to the Faroe Islands and Iceland in 1926.

Danish cruiser Gejser 1926

Geyser in dry dock Naval Yard 1926 THM-7305

She was removed from the fleet’s list on 28 May 1928 and sold for her value in scrap.

Her sister Hejmdal was likewise disposed of in 1930.

Danish cruiser Hejmdal circa 1922 THM-8985

Their collective older half-sister Hekla, hulked in 1915, amazingly was only disposed of in 1955.

Epilogue

Little remains of our cruiser that I can locate, other than an abundance of maritime art.

Danish cruiser Gejser, by Vilhelm Arnesen, showing off her bow torpedo tube

As Iceland gained sovereignty as a separate kingdom under the Danish crown in 1918, and then moved toward complete independence in 1944, Denmark had little impetus to name another warship after geysers.

When it comes to Gejser’s former skippers, Emmanuel Briand de Crevecoeur (as headmaster of the artillery school in 1923 and then as her commanding officer proper from 1926-27), was a rear admiral holding the tough dual seats of Chief of the Naval Command and Acting Director of the Ministry of the Navy in 1940 after the Germans occupied Denmark, assuming the spots vacated by RADM Hjalmar Rechnitzer, who had resigned in disgrace. Later interned by the Germans, De Crevecoeur retired after liberation in 1945, wrapping up a career that he began as a cadet in 1898. Spending his retirement as a professor of languages at Krogerup College, he passed away in 1968.

Perhaps the best-known of Gejser’s skippers, the polar explorer Hansen, recovered from his wounds and held several further seagoing commands before becoming commandant of the Danish naval academy. He passed in 1937, aged 61, while still a rear admiral on the naval rolls.

However, the legacy of Gejser’s 1923 explosion echoed well into the 1950s.

One of Gejser’s junior officers, 1Lt Kai Hammerich, was so debilitated in the blast that he was under medical treatment in both Denmark and England for several years thereafter. Later transferring to the country’s lighthouse service, he soon became active in the Danish Red Cross and, as head of the organization in 1950, took command of the 356-bed Danish hospital ship MS Jutlandia during the Korean War. Serving for 999 days during the conflict, Jutlandia cared for 4,981 gravely wounded soldiers from 24 different nations, as well as over 6,000 Korean civilians.

Royal Danish Navy Reserve Capt. Kai Hammerich aboard MS Jutlana during the Korean War, one of Gejser’s most prominent veterans. Hammerich was awarded a South Korea’s Order of Merit (대한민국장), the country’s highest honor, in March 1952 UN Photo 7667766

Thanks for reading!

Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive

***

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Those wacky Ethiopian Type 68 AKs are here

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RTI, which has been bringing in the massive larder that has been Ethiopia’s accumulated military surplus going back to the 1940s, is now landing Ethiopian GAEC Gafat-1 pattern AK parts kits.

Ethiopian GAFAT-1 rifle from ConflictID (https://conflictid.c4ads.org/weapons)

My friend Vladimir Onokoy, probably the world’s foremost AK expert, wrote about these in TFB late last month, noting field experience with GAFAT guns in Somalia.

Ethiopian AKs are certainly not the best Kalashnikov rifles out there. But they do have a unique and fascinating history, and I am sure the gunsmiths in the US will do a better job putting them together than Ethiopian factory workers. So I am kinda excited that parts that I never expected to see outside of Africa will be available at the US civilian market.

According to RTI, “Ethiopian-produced ET-97 AK Parts Kits available now! These rifles were produced by the Gafat Armament Engineering Complex based upon the North Korean Type 68 rifle and further updated with some features similar to an AK-103.”

They are 7.62×39 and accept common AK-pattern mags, but have an AK-74 muzzle device, AM-72 style stocks, and two bayonet lugs.

These guns are riveted differently from just about anything else, and have seriously odd trunnions and sights.

More from RTI, below:

Marking the passing of Brigade 2506 including Baker, Gray, Ray, and Shamburger

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Today marks the end of the attempted liberation of Cuba by Brigade 2506 (Brigada Asalto 2506), which landed at the island’s Bahía de Cochinos (Bay of Pigs) on 17 April 1961 and, surrounded and cut off, laid down their arms on 20 April, some 65 years ago.

Special Demolition Frogman, Brigade 2506, Cuban Bay of Pigs, by Stephen Walsh, Paratrooper from 1st Bn, and a Brigadista with a MP40

Brigade 2506, Cuban Bay of Pigs, Stephen Walsh

The brigade, 177 airborne paratroops and 1,297 landed seaborne, fought valiantly but, facing upward of 25,000 Cuban troops backed by militia and police, never stood a realistic chance, especially once the Cubans controlled the air over the beachhead.

An estimated 114 drowned or were killed in action, and 1,183 were captured, “tried” before a kangaroo court, and imprisoned.

Exile groups in the U.S. raised $53 million worth of food and medicine in ransom to exchange for the release and repatriation of Brigade prisoners to Miami starting on 23 December 1962.

Four Americans, Capt. Thomas Willard “Pete” Ray, TSgt. Leo Francis Baker, Major Riley W. Shamburger, and TSgt. Wade C. Gray was killed when their Brigade 2506-marked B-26s were shot down over the beachhead. The CIA had recruited all through the Alabama Air National Guard and posthumously earned the Distinguished Intelligence Cross.

A new museum of the Brigade 2506 Association just opened in Miami.

The Southern Museum of Flight, joined by the 117th Air Refueling Wing of the Alabama Air National Guard, will assemble in Birmingham on 21 April in solemn remembrance to honor four Alabamians who paid the ultimate price.

And so we remember…

Nothing More Stirring than a Super Delta

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The Thunderbirds took a slight detour on their way to SUN ‘n FUN from Panama City to link up with the Blue Angels over the Emerald Coast.

Offical caption: The U.S. Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (NFDS) – the Blue Angels – and the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron (USAFADS) – The Thunderbirds – took part in a rare formation flyover of Pensacola Beach April 14. The Super Delta formation, a much anticipated event, stems from joint training opportunities held in 2020 and 2021 and serves as a show of both teams’ discipline and skill.

Photo by Bruce Cummins VIRIN: 260414-N-GO179-9001

The image also shows the big difference in size between the Birds’ 10-ton F-16C/D Vipers they have been flying since 1992 and the Blues’ more recently acquired (2021) F-18E/F Rhinos, which run 16 tons empty.

Have a great weekend, guys!

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