Category Archives: military history

Black Devils at 360

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The Dutch Marines (Korps Mariniers Koninklijke) were founded on 10 December 1665 and have seen over three centuries of hard service around the world– and remain ready for whatever is asked of them today.

Royal Netherlands Marine Corps recruitment poster (c.1902) Dutch via Nationaal Archief Den Haag

To celebrate their 360th, a group of six veteran Marines and nine recruits will begin a 166.5 km march on 9 December from Den Helder via Amsterdam to Rotterdam, with the aim to wrap it up in 36.0 hours by 9 pm on 10 December.

That’s a bit over 103 miles.

I’m sure they will make it.

85 years ago: Carnarvon Castle v Thor

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The Union-Castle Line Royal Mail Motor Vessel Carnarvon Castle was built in 1925-26 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast (Yard No. 595), and at 20,122 GRT and 656 feet overall, was a beautiful ship. With two squat funnels (the foremost being a dummy for looks) she had accommodations for 310 first class, 275 second class, and 266 third class passengers and could make 18 knots.

Coming off a rebuild at Harland & Wolff in 1938 that saw her profile change to a single funnel, 30 feet added to her hull, a new accommodation plan for 699 passengers and a faster speed of 20 knots, it was a no-brainer that the Royal Navy tapped her for service as an armed merchant cruiser in September 1939, carrying eight 6-inch guns left over from scrapped Great War battleships, a pair of 3-inch DP mounts, and some Lewis guns.

Between 25 November 1939 and 21 November 1943, HMS Carnarvon Castle would ride shotgun on a dozen, mostly Sierra Leone-bound, convoys.

Carnarvon Castle, Armed Merchant Cruiser, WWII, By Artist Robert Lloyd

Some 85 years ago today, on 5 December 1940, she would encounter the German Hilfskreuzer Thor (AKA HSK 4, Schiff 10, and Raider E) which was arguably slower (17 knots) but better armed (6x Krupp 5.9″/45s, 4x37mm, 4x20mm Flak, 4x torpedo tubes, mines) and better prepared, having already sunk seven Allied ships and captured one already on her cruise.

The fight would last five hours.

As detailed in “Ocean Liners” by Philip J Fricker:

The Captain had learnt by an intercepted wireless message that the AMC was in the vicinity and hoped to avoid her. However, on 5 December, a large vessel loomed up out of the mist when the Thor was about 550 miles south of Rio and signaled the Thor to stop. (The latter at the time was disguised as a Yugoslav ship.) The British AMC then fired a warning shot, and, realizing he could no longer avoid an engagement, the German captain hoisted his battle ensign and opened fire at a range of about 14,000 yards.

According to the German account, the sun broke through spasmodically, and the British ship was silhouetted against the misty horizon, making a larger target. An enemy shell damaged her electrical control gear early in the action, and guns had to be fired independently by hand control. Nevertheless, the British ship kept up a good, slightly irregular, rate of fire. The Thor kept up a steady fire and also fired a couple of torpedoes, which missed.

By 0844 range had been reduced to about 8,000 yards, and the British AMC had been hit several times. There were several outbreaks of fire on board, and the internal communication had been badly disabled. Accordingly, the ship turned to port and sailed off in a northerly direction to try to control the fires. Having no wish to reopen the engagement, the Thor made off to the eastward. She had expended no fewer than 593 rounds of ammunition, about 70 per cent of her supply, and had escaped damage.

The British ship had not been so fortunate. Twenty-seven enemy shells had found a mark, and her casualties numbered four killed and 28 wounded. The fires were eventually put out, and the ship set a course for Montevideo, where she arrived on 7 December. Some plates salvaged from the wreck of the Graf Spee were used to patch her hull. The Carnarvon Castle later crossed to Cape Town for full repairs.

The skipper of the Thor, Captain Otto Kähler, reported no damage to his ship. It had been Thor’s second gunnery duel with a British Armed Merchant Cruiser, the first being on 28 July 1940 with HMS Alcantara, also a former Union Castle Liner.

On 4 April 1941, Thor engaged and sank HMS Voltaire, the third British Armed Merchant Cruiser she met, in a battle that left 99 British sailors dead and 197 as POWs, underlining just how well Carnarvon Castle had fought the year before, especially when you consider that Voltaire had the same armament as Carnarvon Castle.

Thor arrived in German-occupied France on 23 April 1941 after a 329-day and 57,532-mile war patrol, then seven months later, with new guns, an Arado scout plane, and radar, would venture out on a second one of 321 days that would end in Japan.

As for Carnarvon Castle, she would be converted to trooping duties in late 1943 and survive the war.

Returned to commercial use in 1947, she would be refitted for the emigrant trade and would continue to sail until 1963, when she was scrapped, having served a long and varied 37-year career.

So long, Armidales

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Australia this week said goodbye to the last of 14 aluminum-hulled Armidale-class patrol boats, with the last three active members (HMAS Bathurst, Albany, and Childers) sailing into Darwin’s HMAS Coonawarra for the last time.

HMA Ships Bathurst, Albany, and Childers sail into Darwin harbour for the final time.

HMA Ships Bathurst, Albany, and Childers sail into Darwin harbour for the final time.

They began entering service in 2005, but due to almost constant deployments via 21 rotating crews, and taskings that took them as far as Timor, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, and Christmas Island, as well as on joint counter-terrorism patrols in the Sulu Sea with the Philippine Navy, they are ready for retirement.

Decent ships at some 186 feet in length, they had a 300-ton displacement and a reliable MTU diesel powerplant, which gave them long legs and a 42-day endurance. Armed with a 25mm Mk38 in a Typhoon remote mount and two .50 cals, they carried a 21-member crew– small for a 186-foot PC– as well as two 24-foot RIBs.

However, aluminum is not known for extended durability in high sea states often encountered in the region, and besides hull cracking, they are just worn out.

HMAS Childers prepares to come alongside HMAS Coonawarra in Darwin. Photo: Petty Officer Leo Baumgartner

HMAS Coonawarra has joined former Armidale Class Patrol Boats crew members to welcome the last of the ACPBs, HMA Ships Albany, Bathurst, and Childers, as the ships conducted a final group entry into HMAS Coonawarra

They were also the stars (and set) of Seasons 2-5 of the excellent Ozzie maritime LE drama, Sea Patrol, which aired from 2008 to 2011 and is widely available to watch for free online.

They are being replaced by a half-dozen larger (262 foot/1,600-ton) Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels, which have the same armament but an aviation deck and better seakeeping abilities.

Navy’s second Offshore Patrol Vessel NUSHIP Eyre arrives at Fleet Base West to begin her transition to the operational release phase. *** Local Caption *** NUSHIP Eyre berthed alongside Fleet Base West for the first time on Friday, 3 October 2025. Her arrival marks the beginning of the transitions to Operational release – a proud moment for the crew, who have proven themselves responsive and adaptive throughout the dynamic lead-up to this milestone.

These are augmented by a dozen 189-foot/400-ton Cape and Evolved Cape class PBs, built by Austal.

Gurkhas taking care of their own

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A burial service was held in late November in Italy for an unknown WWII soldier. A bearer party from the Gurkha ARRC Support Battalion carried him, in the rain, to his final resting place at CWGC Cemetery Arezzo.

The casualty was found in a shallow trench within a forest in Alpe di Catenaia near the town of Subbiano, Italy. Research undertaken by JCCC with help from The National Army Museum established that the soldier was most probably involved in action taking place at the beginning of August 1944 and serving with 20th Brigade of the 10th Indian Infantry Division, which included Gurkha units, notably the 2nd Bn/3rd (Queen Alexandria’s Own) Gurkha Rifles. 

According to the NAM, during WWII, more than 110,000 men served in 40 Gurkha battalions in the Western Desert, Italy, Greece, Malaya, Singapore, and Burma. Nearly 30,000 of them were killed or wounded.

Following the capture of Sicily in late summer 1943, the Allies slowly moved up the leg of Italy to penetrate the Gothic line – the Germans’ last line of defense. The Gurkhas and Indian soldiers who served in the 10th Indian Division were involved in every major offensive and played a significant role in Italy. Their stamina, strength, and ability to fight in difficult terrains made them ideal for this offensive.

This soldier can only have served with a handful of units, but the sheer number of casualties testifies to the ferocity of the fighting, making identification impossible. It is believed this casualty was most probably an Indian or Gurkha soldier.

The service was conducted by Reverend Timothy Watts CF, the bearer party was led by Warrant Officer Class One Yogendra Pratap Singh Thakuri, and the musician was Lance Corporal Amar Magar, The Band of the Brigade of Gurkhas. Readings were delivered by Colonel Erica Bridge, Captain Tej Bahadur Gurung, Rifleman Deepen Gurung, and Sapr Munfin Eakten.

Photos courtesy of Sgt S Terry, HQ Public Affairs Office, Crown Copyright

While the old 3rd Gurkha Rifles have been part of the Indian Army since 1947, the current Brigade of Gurkhas in the British Army boasts a strength of some 4,000 soldiers.

CVN-68 final call to Battleship Row

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Sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN-68) render honors as the ship passes the USS Arizona Memorial while arriving at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 29 November 2025. The Nimitz made the scheduled port visit while operating in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations during an eight-month deployment as the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 11.

Credit: Navy Seaman Matthew C. Wolf. VIRIN: 251129-N-AW546-1141P

U.S. Navy sailors man the rails on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) while pulling into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Nov. 29, 2025. Nimitz is underway in the U.S. 3rd Fleet area of operations on a scheduled deployment, demonstrating the U.S. Navy’s unwavering commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jaron Wills)

The photo is appropriate as ADM Chester Nimitz, the supercarrier’s namesake, was dispatched to Pearl Harbor to assume command of the Pacific Fleet just nine days after Arizona went down, and would assume command of the seriously damaged and demoralized force in a ceremony aboard the submarine USS Grayling (SS-209) on 31 December 1941, as no battlewagons were availible since all eight dreadnoughts in the Harbor were sunk or severely damaged.

The carrier was christened on 13 May 1972 by Catherine Nimitz Lay, the daughter of the late admiral.

This is likely CVN-68’s final trip past Battleship Row, as she is scheduled to begin deactivation in early 2026, capping a 51-year career.

Her first port call at Pearl was back during RIMPAC 1988– as OPFOR against the USS Missouri Battleship Battle Group, no less– and she has been back at least 11 times since then.

And, of course, she will live on as Pearl Harbor’s strongest yet unsuccessful defender, ala 1980s The Final Countdown.

The Navy granted access to Nimtz during production of the movie, so when you see those stunning shots of the “Big 6-8 haze gray and underway,” it is not stock footage.

Shootin’s Good in the Schoutens!

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On the road today to Georgia at a firearms industry event to see some new guns from a company whose name rhymes with “Wok.”

Thus, I offer you the reader this abridged Warship Wednesday, with a promise to “return to regular scheduled programming next week.

Original caption: Like Johnny in the song, these G.I. Joes ‘got a Zero today’ — in fact, they shot down three zeros in one day with their anti-aircraft gun on the beach of Biak in the Schouten Islands. Ashore from a Coast Guard-manned assault transport, the gunners jubilantly posted the score-three down and more to go.”

US National Archives Identifier 205584181, Local ID 26-G-2487, US Coast Guard photo # 2487.

Closer inspection of the board claims, “Mitsubishi downed May 31st, 1944.” The LST doors in the background read “26.”

Note the caption on the scoreboard says it is “subject to changes daily,” for the USCG 40mm Bofors crew in the Pacific in WWII. They aren’t bluffing, as the board seems crafted from a riveted section of a downed aircraft.

One of 76 sea-going LSTs manned by Coast Guard crews during WWII, USS LST-26’s first skipper was LT. Eugene Kiernan, USCGR.

Her DANFS listing reads:

LST-26 was laid down on 16 November 1942 at Pittsburgh, Pa., by the Dravo Corp.; launched on 31 March 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Mathilda B. Coulter; and commissioned on 7 June 1943.

During World War II, LST-26 served in the Asiatic-Pacific theater and took part in the following operations:

Bismarck Archipelago operation:

(a) Cape Gloucester, New Britain-December 1943 and January 1944

Hollandia operation-April and May 1944, Western New Guinea operations:

(a) Toem-Wakde-Sarmi area operation-May 1944

(b) Biak Island operation-May and June 1944

(c) Noemfoor Island operation-July 1944

(d) Cape Sansapor operation-July and August 1944

(e) Morotai landings-September 1944

Leyte landings-October and November 1944

Consolidation of the southern Philippines:

(a) Mindanao Island landings-March 1945

She saw service in China from 3 to 10 October 1945.

Following the war, LST-26 performed occupation duty in the Far East until early November 1945. She returned to the United States and was decommissioned on 1 April 1946. She was struck from the Navy list on 8 May 1946 and was sold to Arctic Circle Exploration, Seattle, Wash., on 17 June 1946 to be converted for merchant service.

LST-26 earned five battle stars for World War II service.

From small beginnings…

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Some 250 years ago this week, on 3 December 1775, the 30-gunned three-masted Continental ship Alfred was commissioned in Philadelphia, marking the first time the Grand Union Flag–  a combination of the British Flag and 13 stripes representing the thirteen Colonies– was raised over an American naval vessel.

Continental Ship Alfred (1775-1778) Painting in oils by W. Nowland Van Powell, depicting Lieutenant John Paul Jones raising the Grand Union flag as Alfred was placed in commission at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 3 December 1775. Commanded by Captain Dudley Saltonstall, Alfred was the flagship of Commodore Esek Hopkins’ Continental Navy flotilla during the remainder of 1775 and the first four months of 1776. Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, D.C. Donation of the Memphis Council, U.S. Navy League, 1776. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. Catalog #: NH 85212-KN

The ship, originally named Black Prince, was built at Philadelphia in 1774 and acquired by the Continental Congress in November 1775. Renamed Alfred, she had the newly minted Continental Navy LT John Paul Jones, a Scot, hoist the Grand Union Flag during the commissioning ceremony.

A Grand Union Flag, circa 1775-1776, displayed in 1926. USN 900248

The ship was outfitted with numerous small guns: 20 9-pounder smooth-bore cannon and 10 6-pounder smooth-bore cannon, and served admirably and against all odds until 9 March 1778, when, under the command of Elisha Hinsman near Barbados, she encountered the faster British warships Ariadne and Ceres and was captured, then ignobly pressed into service with the Crown.

By that time, John Paul Jones had moved on to his own command and was noted as writing, “I wish to have no connection with any ship that does not sail fast, for I intend to go in harm’s way.”

The Cold Desperate Fire of the Sapper Steel Battalion

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It is unusual for American units to burn their colors every year, but there is one, the 2nd Engineer Battalion.

During the Battle of Kunu-ri in the Korean War, in late November 1950, with an tsunami of Chinese “volunteers” close to overrunning the 8th Army’s 2nd Infantry Division, the division’s attached 2nd Engineer Battalion’s commander, Lt. Col. Alarich “Al” Zacherle, elected to set his unit’s own colors ablaze rather than let them be captured by the enemy and used as a trophy.

It was clear to Zacherle that his unit, left to perform a rear guard action as the division left the mountain pass, would likely be mauled if not eliminated in toto.

Founded in 1861 and first seeing combat at Antietam, then fighting in the Great War and WWII with the 2nd Division, the unit had 25 hard-earned battle streamers, at least three French Croix de Guerre, and a Presidential Unit Citation by 1950.

“The colors, box and all, were drenched with gasoline,” Zacherle wrote in a 1996 letter to the battalion’s association. “A last look at the colors with the unbelievable number of battle streamers were imprinted on our minds. Setting the fire produced a bright blaze that denied the enemy of a trophy they surely would have greatly prized.”

When the 2nd Battalion regrouped after the withdrawal, just 266 of its 787 Soldiers were present for roll call. While 331 of those “missing” had been captured, only 117 of those men survived the conflict.

Zacherle was a prisoner of war from 30 November 1950 to September 1953 at Pyeongtaek, but, repatriated post-ceasefire, lived to a ripe old age of 94, passing in Florida in 2005. He reportedly weighed but 80 pounds when released.

For at least the past 30 years, the unit, now as the Fort Bliss-based 1st Armored Division’s 2d Brigade Engineer Battalion (2BEB), has held a burning ceremony with each Soldier present reading off the name of a fallen/missing circa 1950 member of the battalion as the roll is called.

It concludes with Taps and a night shoot.

 

Final LCS delivered as Frigate Program tanks

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Littoral Combat Ship 31, the future USS Cleveland, was delivered to the Navy on 26 November from Fincantieri Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, closing out the line.

While all 19 of the more successful Indianapolis-class variants have been delivered and commissioned (albeit with two early hulls laid up), and are increasingly being used in a minesweeper role, the 16 Freedom-class variants, of which Cleveland is the final hull, have been much less successful, and five of her sisters have already been retired.

Cleveland launched in April 2023 and has spent the past 31 months fitting out. By comparison, the last Indy, USS Pierre (LCS-38), only needed 14 months between christening (18 May 2024) and delivery (11 July 2025). Pierre’s entire construction period, from keel laying to commissioning, spanned 29 months.

Following commissioning in Cleveland, Ohio, in early 2026, LCS 31 will be homeported in Mayport, Florida, with her 10 active sisters.

When commissioned, LCS-31 will be the fourth U.S. Navy vessel named for the Ohio city after two cruisers (C-19/CL-21 and CL-55), which served in WWI and WWII, respectively, and LPD-7, a Cold War era amphibious transport dock commissioned in 1967 and disposed of in a 2024 SINKEX.

Fincantieri, meanwhile, is continuing to work on the first (and last) two hopelessly behind Constellation class frigates, while the other four on contract will be canceled.

The Navy has agreed to take the blame for the program’s mismanagement, even going so far as to indemnify Fincantieri while the shipyard “is expected to receive new orders to deliver classes of vessels in segments that best serve the immediate interests of the nation and the renaissance of U.S. shipbuilding, such as amphibious, icebreaking, and other special missions.”

Wow.

Buy ROK FFGs?

Perhaps we should just order some frigates off the shelf from Korea, where the third Chungnam-class (FFX) Batch-III frigate, the future ROKS Jeonnam (FFG-831), was launched at SK Ocean Plant in Goseong, Gyeongnam, on 25 November.

Small, 3,600-ton (4,300 full load) ships that run 423 feet oal, they run a CODAG setup that allows a 30 knot speed and 8,000nm range at 16 knots– ideal for convoy and patrol work. They run a phased-array four-sided AESA radar/IRST mast, carry a 5″/62 MK45 gun, have a VLS (64 K-SAAM, 8 land attack) system, all the ASW goodies (hull-mounted active sonar, towed passive, VLA, 324mm tubes), a hangar for an embarked helicopter, and a CIWS.

Why can’t we have nice things?

Jeonnam’s sister, the ROKS Gyeoungbuk (FFG-829), gives a better view of the class. If we could just whistle up 40 of these. Bulk contract. Single source. Roll it!

Nord Poilus

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Some 110 years ago this week, 22 November 1915. French lines “Somewhere on the Western Front.”

Official caption: “Three men in the cold, in a front-line trench, wearing hats and scarves. One of them, sitting on the firing bench, is handling grenades. While they seem like North African riflemen (Tirailleurs nord africain), they are actually just standard Poliu infantry equipped with mountain caps and hats.”

Note their Lebel rifles and long spike bayonets, as well as the man holding the early F1 (Fusante No. 1) cast-iron fragmentation grenade. Réf. : SPA 1 S 21 Emmanuel Mas/ECPAD/Défense

Stay warm out there, guys.

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