Japan’s ruling coalition– the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and the Japan Innovation Party (Ishin)– is considering reviving 19th/20th century military rank titles from the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy for the Self-Defense Forces, causing concern within the Defense Ministry, according to a February 3, 2026, report by The Asahi Shimbun.
This is naturally going over well in China, with the South China Morning Post and others picking up the story, using it as a drum to beat out the tune of remilitarization from Tokyo.
The proposed changes replace the current very generic descriptive titles adopted in 1954 with much more historical Meiji era (circa 1868 onward) period names, which in turn were based on British and French ranks of that day, and used through 1945. These arguably make more sense to Western partners anyway:
Ittohei (Private First Class) and Nitohei (Private)
Additionally, service branch names may revert to traditional terms, such as Hoheika for Infantry (currently Futsuka) and Hohyoka for Artillery (currently Tokka), etc.
A real blast from the past.
I’m not really sure this is a bad thing, as every military should embrace its history and martial tradition, so long as they don’t embrace the war crimes that occurred under the same watch.
After all, the JMSDF has been flying the old Imperial Rising Sun ensign for decades, and has fully embraced it, although it is a bone of contention with folks like South Korea.
JMSDF Kusu (Tree)-class frigates, former Tacoma-class patrol frigates, complete with rebooted IJN Rising Sun Flag, in the early 1950s. Notably, footage of them in JMSDF service appeared in 1954’s original Godzilla. While loaned to the Japanese military for initially five years, they were all eventually transferred outright and continued to serve into the 1970s.
Japanese submarine Hakugei SS-514 launched in October 2021, with some liberal Rising Sun decorations
Plus, both the Cold War era East and West German and now the unified German Bundeswehr (as well as the Austrian Bundesheer) have all practised very stirring torch-set Zapfenstreich tattoo ceremonies (which go back to at least the 19th-century Prussian Guard Corps, if not further) that would probably have old Sepp Dietrich himself getting all misty-eyed.
The Cold War carrier aircraft that wasn’t a carrier aircraft, the Rockwell OV-10 Bronco, served in Navy (Black Pony) and Marine use, and often popped up on flight decks during its career. Although, to be sure, it seems that when they did ship aboard CVs and LHs, it was loaded as deck cargo and then flown off to shore, not operationally carried.
“28 August 1968: Family Portrait: The Bronco (OV-10A), the newest addition to the Marine air arm, poses with 12 Leathernecks directly connected with its flight over South Vietnam. In addition to the pilot and aerial observer, standing next to the cockpit, the Bronco is supported and serviced by crash crewmen, factory technical representative, hydraulics men, mechanics, flight equipment personnel, metalsmiths, ordnancemen, avionics technicians, and air controllers. Based at the Marble Mountain Air Facility, near Da Nang, the new aircraft’s primary mission is observation (official USMC photo by Private First Class W. C. Schobel).”
Capable of carrying 1,200 pounds of ordnance (including Sidewinders) as well as four forward-firing M60 machine guns, the Bronco was a capable little gem of an aircraft.
In a pinch, it could even carry cargo or a couple of passengers, including parachutists.
USS Nassau (LHA-4) flight deck crewmen use an MD-3A tow tractor to position a North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco (BuNo 155447) of U.S. Marine Corps Observation Squadron (VMO-1) on the port elevator of the ship in 1983. After its retirement, this aircraft was leased by the U.S. Department of State to the Colombian national police. Defense Imagery photo # DN-SN-88-007789, a US Navy photo by PHAN Dougherty, now in the collections of Defenseimagery.mil
A North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco of U.S. Marine Corps Observation Squadron (VMO-1) parked on the flight deck of USS Nassau (LHA-4) in 1983. US National Archives and Records Administration Identifier (NAID 6430453) NAID: 6430453, Local ID: 330-CFD-DN-SN-88-00787.jpeg by PHAN Dougherty
A U.S. Marine Corps North American Rockwell OV-10D+ Bronco observation aircraft as it taxis clear of the landing area onboard aircraft carrier USS Saratoga (CV-60) during testing flight qualifications off the coast of North Carolina (USA) on 10 September 1985. It was flown by CAPT George Webb, USN, a Navy test pilot flying from the Naval Air Test Center, Patuxent River, MD. He did landing and take-off tests with the OV-10D+ aboard both USS Saratoga and USS Nassau (LHA-4). USS Saratoga Photo Lab – U.S. Defense Imagery photo VIRIN: DN-ST-00-03628
A North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco of U.S. Marine Corps Observation Squadron (VMO-1) prepares to take off from the flight deck of USS Nassau (LHA-4) in 1983. US Navy photo # DN-SN-88-00788 by PHAN Dougherty
A flight deck crewman stands by as a North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco of U.S. Marine Corps Observation Squadron (VMO-1) prepares to take off from the flight deck of USS Nassau (LHA-4) in 1983. US Navy photo # DN-SN-88-00791 by PHAN Dougherty
The launch of a North American Rockwell OV-10A Bronco of U.S. Marine Corps Observation Squadron VMO-1 from the flight deck of USS Nassau (LHA-4) in 1983. DN-SN-88-00790
Four US Marine Corps OV-10 Bronco aircraft are parked on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Saipan (LHA 2), January 1987. 330-CFD-DN-ST-87-07341
Marine Broncos from both VMO-1 and VMO-2 served in Desert Shield/Storm. These were carried to the theater by the phib USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) as well as the carriers USS America and USS Theodore Roosevelt.
The large harbor tugs Wapakoneta (YTB-766), left, and Wathena (YTB-825) push on the bow of the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2) as the ship departs for the Persian Gulf region to support Operation Desert Shield. Two Marine Corps OV-10 Bronco aircraft are on the IWO JIMA’s flight deck, August 1990. 330-CFD-DN-ST-91-03867
A Marine Observation Squadron 1 (VMO-1) OV-10 Bronco aircraft takes off from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS America (CV 66) as the ship passes Rota, Spain, while en route to the Persian Gulf region for Operation Desert Shield. The six VMO-1 aircraft that were carried across the Atlantic Ocean aboard the America will stop in Rota before continuing to Saudi Arabia. January 1991. 330-CFD-DN-SC-92-02746
Some even self-deployed from CONUS!
In August 1990, VMO-2 made aviation news by launching six OV-10s on an unprecedented 10,000-mile journey to Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Desert Shield.
Beginning in January 1991, the squadron flew a total of 286 combat missions totaling 900 flight hours during Operation Desert Storm. Missions were flown around the clock for the duration of the conflict, focusing primarily on controlling U.S. and Allied artillery, numerous attack aircraft, and naval gunfire, including spotting for the USS Wisconsin’s first combat firing since the Korean War.
The squadron performed these demanding and crucial missions despite being targeted by Iraqi surface-to-air missile gunners over 94 times and while trying to avoid large concentrations of anti-aircraft artillery.
In December 1990, VMO-1 embarked its OV-10s aboard USS America and USS Theodore Roosevelt to deploy to Kuwait in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. The squadron flew over 1,000 combat sorties, losing one crew to enemy action (1 KIA, 1 POW).
The Marine Broncos remained in the region until May 1991, when they were loaded onto USS Juneau (LPD 10), bound for San Diego, where they arrived in June.
Several Marine Corps OV-10 Bronco aircraft sit on the flight deck of the amphibious transport dock USS Juneau (LPD-10) as it arrives for a visit to the naval station. The Juneau is stopping at Pearl Harbor while en route to its home port of Naval Station, San Diego, Calif., after serving in the Persian Gulf region during Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm. 330-CFD-DN-SC-92-03563
The type was retired in 1995, with both VMO-1 and 2 disestablished, and hasn’t been replaced.
Why not today?
Still, it begs the question of, if the Bronc was capable of carrier ops, why not utilize its modern equivalents, the converted crop duster L3Harris OA-1K Skyraider II, or the MQ-9B STOL UAV family, in the same roles in certain circumstances?
Even when it comes to just adding a ramp to an old container ship or tanker taken up from the surplus ship market to make an instant carrier akin to the old MAC ships of WWII?
TBD-1 Devastator of VT-5 pictured in flight over Southern California 5-T-& Bu 0031 Yorktown Nov 1939. The TBD-1 Devastator ranks among the most significant aircraft in U.S. naval aviation history. It was the Navy’s first all-metal, low-wing, semi-monocoque plane and played a critical role during the opening months of the Pacific campaign.. Photo/description from the Naval Aviation Museum
Most military and naval history buffs remember the much-maligned Douglas TBD-1 Devastator “torpecker” for its Ride of the Valkyries style use against the Japanese carriers at Midway, in which 41 Devastators launched, carrying their unreliable Bliss-Leavitt Mark 13 aerial torpedoes, and only six returned to their carriers, without making a single effective torpedo hit.
Torpedo Squadron 2 (VT-2) in the “old days” before WWII, back when they flew Douglas TBD Devastators, and were the first squadron in the Navy to start doing so, in Oct. 1937
Insignia: Torpedo Squadron Five (VT-5) Emblem adopted during the later 1930s, when VT-5 served on board USS Yorktown (CV-5). This reproduction features a stylized representation of a TBD Devastator torpedo plane and an explanation of the insignia’s design. Courtesy of John S. Howland, 1975. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.color Catalog #: NH 82628-KN
Those 41 were almost fully a third of the type that existed, with just 129 production airframes delivered to the Navy between 1937 and 1939.
Forgotten is their more effective performance in raids on the Marshall and Gilbert Islands, Wake and Marcus Islands, just after Pearl Harbor, and in sinking the Japanese Zuiho-class light carrier Shoho during the Battle of the Coral Sea.
A lone Devastator over Wake Island in late Feb 1942
Torpecker success! Japanese aircraft carrier Shoho under attack by U.S. Navy carrier aircraft in the late morning of 7 May 1942. Photographed from a USS Yorktown (CV 5) torpedo plane. Official U.S. Navy photograph 80-G-17027.
Withdrawn from the Pacific after Midway and replaced with the TBM Avenger, the surviving Devastators in VT-4 and VT-7 remained in service briefly in the Atlantic and in training squadrons until 1944, when they were all scrapped by the end of the year.
That left those scattered around the bottom of the Pacific as the sole remaining TBDs in existence.
The project brings together the Air/Sea Heritage Foundation, Texas A&M University’s Center for Maritime Archaeology and Conservation, the Republic of the Marshall Islands Cultural and Historic Preservation Office, Jaluit Atoll local government officials and traditional leaders, and the Naval History and Heritage Command. The team aims to recover Bureau Number 1515, a TBD-1 Devastator (5-T-7 of VT-5) that has remained submerged off Jaluit Atoll for more than 80 years.
BuNo 1515 launched from USS Yorktown (CV-5) and ditched in the Jaluit lagoon on Feb. 1, 1942, during the U.S. Navy’s first offensive operation in the Pacific. All three naval aviators ( Ens Herbert R Hein, Jr, AOM 3c Joseph D. Strahl, and S1c Marshall E. “Windy” Windham) survived the emergency landing and later endured captivity as Japanese prisoners of war until their liberation in 1945.
Bureau Number 1515, a Douglas TBD-1 Devastator submerged off Jaluit Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The aircraft went down Feb. 1, 1942. Air and Sea Heritage Foundation photo
The project seeks to recover the Jaluit Devastator and preserve it as-is.
Some 75 years ago this week, in February 1951, the 600-man, all-volunteer Belgian-Luxembourgish battalion landed in Pusan, South Korea, and, after marrying up with their equipment, held their first formation before joining the British Commonwealth 29th Infantry Brigade, fleshed out with a company-sized formation of South Korean augmentees.
The flags of Belgium and Luxembourg fly for the first time in Korea.
On 13 September 1950, the Belgian Government offered a battalion as a contribution to the United Nations effort to fight aggression in Korea.
As the country’s standing forces– which all included conscripts– could not deploy overseas in line with government policy, a call went out for volunteers, of which more than 2,000 regulars submitted packets. Following a selection process and a special training period of three months, the unit shipped out for the Pacific from Antwerp via Singapore, bolstered by 43 officers and men from Luxembourg who formed 1st Platoon, A Company.
Luxembourgish soldier in Korea
This picture shows the Luxembourg Army flag.
The unit was originally formed along British lines, complete with DPM camo smocks and No.4 Enfield .303 rifles. They shipped out to Korea with a new design dark brown beret and a new cap badge, which would be a hallmark of their battalion.
Belgian Battalion Korea soldier cleaning No 4 Enfield rifle 1951 UN 191459
Luxembourg soldiers, Belgian B,n Korea Feb 1951 UN7668158
The Belgian Battalion commander was Colonel Albert Crahay, 48, a regular who graduated from the Royal Military Academy (the École Militaire) in 1923 and, having been captured during the German invasion of his country in 1940, spent five long years as a POW. Crahay left his position at the academy to command the battalion, while his XO, Major Henri Moreau de Melen, resigned as Minister of War for the chance to go to Korea.
Here, at a parade, the commandant, Lt. Colonel Albert Crahay, of Brussels, receives a report from a company commander. The white-haired officer at left is Major Moreau de Melen, who resigned as Minister of War to come to Korea. 1 February 1951, UN7668160
The battalion experienced its first casualties on 18 March 1951 when Lt. Pierre Beauprez, at the time leading a patrol with American soldiers on the southern bank of the Han River, was killed by a Chinese land mine. In WWII, he had served in 4 Belgian troop of No 10 (Inter Allied) Commando.
Hungry for combat, they fought alongside the 1st Gloucestershire Regiment at the Battle of the Imjin River in April 1951. For their actions, the Belgians were awarded a U.S. Presidential Unit Citation. Lt. Col. Crahay, seriously wounded in the battle, picked up a DSC, while de Melen earned a Legion of Honor.
From Crahay’s citation:
Upon receiving orders to withdraw on the night of 23 April 1951, Colonel Crahay, realizing that all planned routes of withdrawal were unfeasible, daringly seized upon a momentary lull in the battle and organized, regrouped, and effected a spectacular lateral withdrawal across the Imjin River. After an arduous, circuitous march, his command rejoined the brigade the following day and was committed to cover the displacement of two battalions along the enemy-infested main supply route. He was seriously wounded while directing and coordinating this stubbornly contested action, but his incredible courage under fire and his intrepid actions inspired his officers and men to fight with unwavering persistency, which contributed significantly to stemming the relentless advance of the numerically superior foe.
Henry Huss, commander of C Company, 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars, during the Battle of the Imjin River. Lt. Col. Crahay and Major de Melen are seen with their Lion-badged brown berets.
Chopped to the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division’s 7th Infantry Regiment and later the 15th Regiment, post-Imjin, the Belgians received several citations for their actions at Haktang-Ni in October 1951, and along the “Iron Triangle,” and in the Battle of Chatkol in April 1953, including both U.S. and South Korean citations.
This saw them slowly morph into more supportable U.S. gear, including uniforms, M1 helmets, M1 Garands/Carbines, and .30-06 caliber machine guns.
Belgian Battalion Korea
Belgian Battalion Korea
Belgian Battalion Korea during its period with the 15th Infantry Regiment, whose motto was “Can do.”
A Belgian Battalion jeep, complete with KATUSA, circa 1952. Note the combination of Belgian lion berets and 3rd Infantry Division “broken television” patches.
Post 1953, they were one of the first Belgian line units to receive the new SAFN 49 rifles.
The last Belgian troops remained in Korea until June 1955, with the battalion rotating out several times. A total of 3,172 Belgians participated in the Korean War. Some 700 pulled two tours, and 19 very hardy souls elected to draw a third.
The Belgian Battalion lost 106 troops killed in action, along with two Luxembourgers, and 9 assigned South Korean soldiers. Another 478 of its members and 17 Luxembourgers were wounded during the war. Five Belgians are still listed as MIA, while one was captured by the Chinese and repatriated post-armistice.
As for Lt. Col. Crahay, he later went on to command the Belgian 16th Armored Division and, by 1960, was commander of all Belgian Forces in Germany. He retired in 1964 as a Lieutenant-General and was made a Baron in 1983. He passed away in 1991, aged 88.
Today, the Belgian Para-Commando Brigade and the 3rd Parachute Bn (3 Bataljon Parachutisten), retain a dark brown Parachute Qualification Brevet in a salute to the brown berets made iconic in Korea, paid for with the blood of lions.
Hawker Hunter FGA.9 SN XG256 of No 8 Squadron, RAF, armed with sixteen 20-pound rockets and four 30mm Aden cannons, is seen on a sortie in support of Radforce during operations in the Radfan region, Saudi Arabia, June 1964, during the Aden Emergency.
IWM RAF-T 4624
And of the same type but a different aircraft and squadron in the same conflict.
A Hawker Hunter FGA.9 of No 43 Squadron based at RAF Khomaksar, Aden, fires a salvo of 60-pound rockets at an enemy position during operations in the Radfan region of the Federation of South Arabia, now Yemen. IWM (RAF-T 4617)
In Aden, isolated British Army SAS units working against insurgents in the mountains would routinely call in air strikes that required considerable precision, and, predominantly using high-explosive rockets and 30mm cannon, the Hunter proved an able ground-attack platform.
Members of the SAS in the Radfan region in a Pink Panther land rover, 1965. From a collection of photographs assembled for use in Col Robin McNish’s ‘Iron Division – The History of the 3rd Division’, 1918-1977. National Army Museum, London NAM. 2007-12-6-148
Both No. 8 and No. 43 squadrons continued operations with their Hunters in the region until London withdrew from Aden in November 1967.
The transonic swept-wing Hunter first flew in 1951 and replaced the first-generation Gloster Meteor and de Havilland Venom in British service. With nearly 2,000 made across something like 70 versions when export series aircraft are included, it was a backbone of the RAF and allied service for decades, only being fully replaced in training and secondary roles in British service in the early 1990s. Ironically, some of the first sorties of Desert Storm, some 35 years ago this month, were to take out still-capable Iraqi FGA.59 Hunters on the ground.
As for No. 8 Sqn, founded in 1915, they are the first RAF unit to operate the E-7 Wedgetail and are currently based at RAF Lossiemouth. However, the Fighting Cocks of 43 Squadron, formed in 1916, disbanded in 2009 as part of the Government’s force reductions, though their legacy endures.
Some 70 years ago this week, a great recruiting poster-worthy image from the port of Oran, French Algeria, showing bluejackets at leisure across from the Dutch cruiser Hr.Ms. De Zeven Provinciën (C 802), while this week’s Warship Wednesday subject, the torpedobootjager Hr.Ms. Evertsen (D 802)takes up the rear, late January 1956, while Dutch Oefensmaldeel (Training Squadron) 5 was on its Med cruise.
Centrum voor Audiovisuele Dienstverlening Koninklijke Marine. NIMH Objectnummer 2009-002-063_003
DZP, a 12,000-ton light cruiser, was laid down before WWII, but, with her construction on hold during German occupation, only commissioned in 1953.
Dutch cruisers HNLMS De Ruyter and HNLMS De Zeven Provinciën, leading a Dutch squadron of frigates and submarines
They were later converted to a CLG equipped with Terrier missiles that replaced her rear 6″/53 Bofors turrets.
Capping 23 years with the Royal Netherlands Navy, she was sold to Peru, where she served as Aguirre until 1999, one of the last large-gunned cruisers in commission.
When Croatia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1991, its nascent air force, the HRZ, was comprised of civil aircraft such as the UTVA (a sort of Yugo-made Cessna without the luxury), scrounged AN-2 Colts, and even ultralights flown by volunteers from local Aero clubs dropping homemade “boiler bombs” on enemy formations. Real MacGyver kind of stuff.
Croatian air force Antonov An-2 (NATO: Colt) in 1991. Yes, this was used in combat. They were used to drop improvised bombs on Serb positions around Vukovar.
The HRZ later obtained a handful of the aircraft you would expect for a former Yugo state: MiG-21 fighter jets, Mi-24 combat helicopters, Mi-8 and Mi-17 transport helicopters, largely acquired cash-and-carry as surplus from former Soviet states in Central Asia and Ukraine. The running gag is that sometimes those states didn’t always realize they were surplus!
MiG-21UMD in Croatian checkerboard livery of 191. Eskadrila Lovačkih Aviona.
MiG-21UMD in Croatian checkerboard livery of 191. Eskadrila Lovačkih Aviona.
MiG-21UMD in Croatian checkerboard livery of 191. Eskadrila Lovačkih Aviona.
Although its second/third-hand 24 MiG-21bis/UM types were upgraded and lightly modified over the years, they were old and, ultimately, unsupportable as modern fighter aircraft, but cash-strapped Croatia didn’t have the funds to pull off better.
Finally, after a multi-year effort, it was decided in November 2021 to buy 12 used Rafale F3-R C/Bs: ten single-seater C F3-Rs and two two-seater Rafale B F3Rs. On 2 October 2023, Croatia received the first aircraft at Mont-de-Marsan Air Base, while the 12th was delivered on 25 April 2025, all fielded by the “Knights” of the 191st Fighter Aircraft Squadron (191. Eskadrila Lovačkih Aviona), the country’s only fighter outfit.
As training and support shifted from the MiGs, which the 191st retired, to the new (to them) Rafales, NATO-allied Hungary and Italy shared the responsibility for policing Croatian airspace, with Gripens and Typhoons on QRAs in their respective countries. After all, the HRZ is a small organization, just 1,500 members strong, and modern multi-role fighters are a time/money drain for any air force.
That has changed as, effective 1 January, Croatia’s new Rafes came online and took over their country’s airspace, plugged into NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) framework.
And the 191st still runs the country’s now-iconic national checkerboards.
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Warship Wednesday 28 January 2026: Juliana’s Enforcer
U.S. Navy photo 80-G-708163
Above we see the Dutch S (Saumarez/Savage)-class destroyer Hr.Ms. Evertsen (D 802) at Yokosuka some 75 years ago this month, in January 1951, while deployed with the UN Blockading and Escort Force off Korea.
She had been ordered under a different name by the British some 10 years prior, in January 1941, for a very different war, and gave good account not only in the Atlantic against the Germans but would also draw blood in a third conflict in 1962– oddly enough against a German-built warship.
The S-class
The 16 wartime British “S” & “T” class destroyers were long ships (363 feet) but thin (just 35 feet), giving them a 10:1 length-to-beam ratio, making them a knife on the water.
Tipping the scales at just 2,500~ tons, they were slender stilettos made for stabbing through the waves at nearly 36 knots on a pair of Parsons geared turbines generating 40,000 shp. Armed with a quartet of shielded 4.7-inch QF Mk IX guns for surface actions, U-boat busting depth charges, and two four-packs of anti-ship torpedo tubes along with a mixed battery of AAA guns, they were ready for a fight.
Class leader HMS Saumarez (G12) was completed in July 1943, right in time for the crucial part of the Battle of the Atlantic, and the 15 ships that followed her were made ready to go into harm’s way as soon as they could leave the builders’ yards. The class proved so successful that the design was essentially reused for the only incrementally improved “U” & “V” and “W” & “Z” destroyer classes, a further 32 greyhounds.
Saumarez would cover herself in glory, being instrumental in the sinking of both the German battleship Scharnhorst and the Japanese cruiser Haguro.
Beam view, HMS Saumarez (G12). IWM A 18404
Another S-class, HMS Success, was transferred on completion to the Free Norwegian forces on 26 August 1943 as KNM Stord (G26), and soon got to chasing the Germans, helping scrap with Scharnhorst just four months after transfer. A third, HMS Shark, while serving as KNM Svenner, was lost on D-Day off Sword Beach by torpedoes from a German S-boat. A fourth, HMS Swift (G46), was sunk by a mine off Sword on 24 June 1944.
But we are getting slightly ahead of ourselves.
Meet Scourge
Our subject was ordered from Cammell Laird, Birkenhead, on 9 January 1941 as Yard No 1095, the future HMS Scourge (G01). Laid down on 26 June 1941– the same week the Axis invaded the Soviet Union– she would be constructed at the yard alongside wartime sisters HMS Scorpion, Teazer, and Tenacious, as well as near-sisters Ulysses and Undaunted.
Christened 8 December 1942, she was the 10th (and, sadly, the last) to carry the splendid name of Scourge in the Royal Navy, going back to a 14-gun brig-sloop launched in 1779. Notably, the eighth Scourge, a Beagle-class destroyer, landed ANZACs at Gallipoli. This allowed our final Scourge to begin life carrying the past battle honors Crimea 1855, and Dardanelles 1914-15.
Adopted by the civil community of Bexhill, East Sussex, who held a “warship week” to raise money for her completion, HMS Scourge was commissioned on 14 July 1943, LCDR George Ian Mackintosh Balfour, RN, in command. A regular who earned his sub-lieutenant stripe in 1932, Mackintosh Balfour had seen much of the war already, having commanded the destroyers HMS Decoy (H 75) and HMS Tuscan (R 56).
As completed, beside her main and torpedo batteries, she carried a twin 40/56 Bofors Mk VIII and four twin 20/70 Oerlikon Mk IIs for AAA defense, as well as four depth charge throwers and two racks with room for as many as 130 “ash cans” for ASW. Her sensor suite included Type 271, 285, and 291 radars, as well as Type 144 sonar.
HMS Scourge (G01) S-class destroyer 12 October 1943. Note the great layout view of her twin quad torpedo turnstiles and four 4.7/45 guns. IWM A 19638
HMS Scourge (G01) S-class destroyer 12 October 1943. IWM A 19639
A very clean HMS Scourge (G01) S-class destroyer, undated, likely soon after delivery. Photo by Stewart Bale Ltd, Liverpool IWM FL 18828.
Getting into the war!
Her construction was drawn out nearly three years due to the late delivery of armament and fire-control equipment.
Scourgebegan her shakedown with the 23rd Destroyer Flotilla just in time to take part in Convoy TA 58 (Operation Quadrant), whose primary mission was to zip HMT Queen Mary, with Churchill aboard, to the Quebec Conference in August 1943.
By 20 October 1943, she took part in Operation FR, the movement of 10 wooden-hulled American Admirable-class minesweepers and SC-class submarine chasers for Lend Lease to the Soviet Navy from Iceland to the windswept Kola Peninsula in Northern Russia.
Scourge then picked up Convoy RA 054A, her first of a dozen such runs between Archangel/Murmansk and Britain and back. Often traveling in conjunction with her sisters, she braved the harsh Barents Sea weather, U-boat attacks, a near brush with Scharnhorst, and long-ranging German Condor aircraft.
Taking a break from her convoy work after her initial five runs (besides RA 054A, she was on JW 054B, JW 055B, JW 056B, and RA 056), Scourge was nominated to join the great Neptune flotillas for the Overlord (D-Day) landings in Normandy.
On hand with the Sword Bombardment Group, she fell in with the battleships HMS Ramillies and Warspite, the heavy cruiser Frobisher, the light cruisers Arethusa, Danae, Mauritius, and Dragon (Polish), and 13 destroyers, including sisters Saumarez, Scorpion, Serapis, Stord, Svenner, and Swift. Scourge lent her guns to the cacophony on 6 June 1944 and continued to defend the beachhead as the fight moved inshore.
Just days later, Scourge joined with near-sister HMS Urania and the K-class destroyer HMS Kelvin to escort first Churchill and later King George VI himself, then aboard Arethusa, to Sword. Keep in mind that the control of the Channel was still very much in question at the time, with German U-boats below and S-boats above frequently encountered along with mines, midget submarines, and the occasional Luftwaffe aircraft.
The Navy lands supplies in Normandy, 13 June 1944, on board HMS Kelvin during Mr. Churchill’s crossing to France. At 30 knots in the Channel, HMS Scourge is seen from the destroyer HMS Kelvin. Photo by LT CH Parnall, RN, IWM A 24090.
The Navy lands supplies in Normandy, 13 June 1944, on board HMS Kelvin during Mr. Churchill’s crossing to France. At 30 knots in the Channel, HMS Scourge is seen from the destroyer HMS Kelvin. Photo by LT CH Parnall, RN, IWM A 24089.
The King goes to France. 16 June 1944, on board the cruiser HMS Arethusa and at the beachhead in Normandy. The S-class destroyer HMS Scourge, seen from the Arethusa during the crossing. Photo by LT CH Parnall, RN, IWM A 24198.
On 25 June, she escorted vital Convoy FTM 017 from the Thames estuary to the Normandy landing beaches, backfilling equipment and supplies for the push inland.
In addition to seven further Russian runs (JW 061A, RA 061A, JW 063, RA 063, RA 064, JW 065, and RA 065) between November 1944 and March 1945, Scourge clocked in as a carrier escort on Operation Mascot (the July 1944 attempt to cripple the German battleship Tirpitz in the Kaa Fiord), Operation Turbine (August 1944 anti-shipping sweep of the Norwegian coast), Operation Offspring (mining the Norwegian coast), Operation Victual (a distant covering operation for Russian-bound convoy JW59, spoiling to fight Tirpitz), Operations Handfast and Provident (two further Norwegian mining sorties in November 1944), Operation Selenium (more Norwegian mining in February 1945), Operation Newmarket (to raid German U-boat tenders in Kilbotn, Norway in April 1945) and Operation Invective, the latter a destroyer-only anti-shipping run that saw the tin cans shell German searchlight positions on the Norwegian coast.
In early May, she went on one further combat operation in Norwegian waters, as part of the Operation Judgement escort for three jeep carriers bound for another bite at the U-boats of Kilbotn.
It was the Royal Navy’s last offensive operation against the Germans.
Operation Judgement, May 4, 1945, was an attack on the U-boat base at Kilbotn, near Harstad, Norway. This proved to be the last offensive operation by the Home Fleet, as the war in Europe ended just a few days later. The main targets of the attack are, in fact, hidden behind water columns and smoke in the center of the photo. They were the depot ship Black Watch and the Type VIIC submarine U-711 — they were both sunk. The ship visible in the center of the pic is, in all probability, the motor vessel Senja, also sunk in this attack but raised and repaired after the war. U-711 was the last U-boat sunk by the Fleet Air Arm in WW2. The attack was carried out by Avenger torpedo-bombers and Wildcat fighters from Squadrons 846 (HMS Trumpeter, Capt. K. S. Colquhoun), 853 (HMS Queen, Capt. K. J. D’Arcy), and 882 (HMS Searcher, Capt. J. W. Grant).
Wrapping up her RN service in WWII, Scourge sailed as part of VADM McGrigor’s Force 6 into the Skagerrak and Kattegat from 7 to 12 May 1945, marking VE-Day at sea.
For her WWII service, Scourge was granted the battle honors Arctic 1943-45 and Normandy 1944.
Post VJ Day, she was laid up and quietly placed out of service.
At least for a few months.
Dutch Days
Ex-Scourge was sold to the Royal Netherlands Navy on 1 February 1946 after a short spell in ordinary.
At the time, she had her original four 4.7/45s, depth charge armament, Type 144 sonar, and eight torpedo tubes, but had been fitted with two 40mm Bofors Mk IV Hazemeyer mounts, four twin 20mm Oerlikons, and carried upgraded Type 276, 285, and 291 radars.
She joined sisters ex-Scorpion and ex-Serapis, which had been transferred in October 1945 and renamed Hr.Ms. Kortenaer (D 804) and Hr.Ms. Piet Hein (D 805), respectively, in Dutch service. Following the trend of her now-Dutch sisters being named after famous admirals, Scourge became at least the sixth RNN warship named for the storied Evertsen family of naval heroes with pennant D 802. Taking the naming convention forward, all three names had been carried previously by Dutch destroyers (torpedobootjager) lost against the Japanese in 1942.
Evertsen (D 802), ex-HMS Scourge, between 1946 and 1957. NIMH 2158_002503
Almost as soon as their crews got acquainted with their new ships, they were off to the Dutch East Indies, which was fighting mad in the process of becoming Indonesia.
Hr.Ms. Evertsen (ex. HMS Scourge), D 802, and Hr.Ms. Kortenaer (ex. HMS Scorpion), D 804, at Soerabaja, Dutch East Indies, April 1950, clad in flags and tropical canvas. NIMH 2158_028763
The sisters in Jane’s circa 1954, referred to as the Evertsen class in Dutch service.
Aerial photograph of the Hr.Ms Evertsen or the Hr.Ms Kortenaer in the Strait of Madura, 1949. Note her extensive use of canvas awnings. Marine Luchtvaart Dienst Indië KITLV MLD392 30D
Aerial photograph of laying a smoke screen near Gili Pandan Island in the Madura Strait by Hr.Ms Evertsen, Marine Luchtvaart Dienst Indië KITLV MLD390 013
Aerial photograph of gunnery exercises by the Hr.Ms Evertsen or the Hr.Ms Kortenaer in the Strait of Madura, Marine Luchtvaart Dienst Indië KITLV MLD392 017
Korea
Still in the waters off Java when the North Koreans crossed the 38th Parallel in June 1950, Evertsen was dispatched to the Yellow Sea to join the UN forces off the embattled South Korean coast, arriving on 19 July.
She ultimately joined Task Force 96 in the U.S. Seventh Fleet, and saw service during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter and then covered the amphibious squadron at Inchon’s outer port.
Hr. Ms. Evertsen in action at Wonsan, letting her 4.7s ring, 26 April 1951. Nationaal Archief 904-5397
The Dutch naval service off Korea led to the country further sending a battalion of 646 men (the NDVN), which served as part of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, ultimately being rotated out several times.
Speaking of being rotated out, Evertsen was relieved in place by the Dutch destroyer Van Galen at the end of April 1951 and was soon pointed back to Holland, having served 10 months of the “Forgotten War.”
Evertsen on her way home from Korea to the Netherlands, 8 May 1951. In “Sunday uniform” (“Zondags tenue”), most of the officers and men pose on the forecastle. Nationaal Archief 35017_002
Return of destroyer Hr.Ms. Evertsen from Korea, 1951. 2158_028806
As for the Dutch effort in Korea, Van Galen was rotated out in early 1952, replaced by Evertsen’s sister Piet Hein, who in turn was tapped out by the frigate Johan Maurits van Naasau in early 1953. A fifth destroyer, Hr. Ms. Dubois, arrived in November 1953 to enforce the peace, followed by Hr. Ms. Van Zijll in September 1954.
On average, each Dutch ship carried out 10 patrols, mainly along the west coast of Korea. The ships were also given the task of escorting a U.S. or British aircraft carrier on a regular basis. The Dutch ships were also given the task of protecting the lines of communication and bombarding enemy troop concentrations, reinforcements and infrastructure.
The Netherlands sent 5,322 soldiers to Korea, with 2,980 men seeing combat, of which 120 of them were killed and 645 wounded. They fought in battles at Hoengsong, Wonju, Soyang River, and the Iron Triangle, among others. After the armistice, the ground forces withdrew from Korea in December 1954 and the Navy in January 1955.
Some 1,360 Dutch naval personnel served in the Korean War, with the first four warships active in the fighting– Evertsen included– earning the South Korean Distinguished Unit Citation. Only one Dutch sailor, a signalman on Johan Maurits van Nassau, was killed during the conflict.
A peaceful respite
With that, Evertsen would remain in European waters for a few years at least. It was while on this domestic service that she came to the rescue of the distressed Danish schooner Svaerdfisken during a storm in the North Sea in 1954. After towing the Dane to Stavanger, the Danish ambassador to the Netherlands later presented the ship and crew with a commemorative cup in Rotterdam as an official thanks.
A great profile shot of Evertsen working in the North Sea, showing her twin torpedo turnstiles, circa 1953. NIMH 2009-001-018_008
Kortenaer (D 804) with Evertsen (D 802) behind her, dressed for ceremonies. Circa 1953-1955. NIMH 2158_007043
Presto-changeo, you are now a frigate
All of the S-class destroyers in Dutch service were converted at Rijkswerf Willemsoord between 1957 and 1958 to fast frigates (FF) with new sensors, the “X” 4/7″/45 mount removed, a shorter mainmast installed, and a helicopter platform fitted aft for Bell 47s. This saw the class switch from “D” pennants to “F” with Evertsen carrying F 803 afterward.
Meanwhile, the British did a similar Type 15/16 ASW frigate conversion to three dozen remaining T, U, V, W, and Z-class near-sisters during the same period, removing most of the gun armament and fitting new sensors and either a Squid or Limbo A/S mortar.
Jane’s on the class, 1960.
Frigate HNLMS Evertsen (F 803) in the harbor of Ponta Delgada, Azores, 15 December 1957. NIMH 2158_028782
Targeting exercises with a late model 40mm gun aboard the frigate Hr.Ms. Evertsen, 1957. Aiming is at a Grumman TBM-3W2 Avenger, a type that flew with the Dutch fleet between 1953 and 1961. NIMH 2009-003-111_008
Evertsen as a frigate, 1961 2158_107708
Post-conversion, the Evertsens were dispatched once again to the Pacific, this time to keep watch over the last Dutch colony in the Far East, 10 December 1957.
Departure of Hr Ms Evertsen to New Guinea, Nationaal Archief 909-1735
Splash one Jaguar
Queen Juliana, who took over the throne from her ailing mother, the indefatigable Queen Wilhelmina, in 1948, saw a reign that included the decolonization and independence of the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) and Suriname, although not without a stout fight for the former.
This became particularly sticky when it came to the remnant colony of Dutch New Guinea, which escalated from a tense Confrontation (Konfrontasi) dispute in 1959 into direct low-level military conflict between the Netherlands and Soviet-backed Indonesia in 1962.
With the stage thus set, the Evertsen class was on hand in New Guinea for this endgame.
Evertsen underway as seen from a maritime patrol aircraft off the Nederlands Nieuw-Guinea in the South Pacific, note her frigate conversion. NIMH 2158_028792
Evertsen in the Konijnenburg shipyard slipway Manokwari, Netherlands New Guinea. Note her helicopter platform. NIMH 2158_028817
This conflict came to a head in what is known as the Battle of Vlakke Hoek or the Battle of Arafura Sea in the early morning of 15 January 1962. In the engagement, a trio of brand new West German-built Type 140 Jaguar-class torpedo boats– essentially Lürssen-built updated S-boats– operated by the Indonesian navy, attempted to land 150 infiltrators into Kaimana in Dutch New Guinea as part of Operation Trikora.
The boats, Matjan Tutul, Matjan Kumbang, and Harimau, were blisteringly fast, capable of hitting 42 knots in bursts, and well-armed, bristling with torpedo tubes and 40mm guns.
A 139-foot Lurssen-built Jaguar class, constructed to the Schnellboot 55 design.
However, the little Indonesian flotilla was spotted by an alert Dutch Navy P-2 Neptune patrol plane, and Evertsen, nearby, was diverted to the scene to intercept. Sister Kortenaer and a third Dutch destroyer, the newly commissioned Hr.Ms. Utrecht trailed behind.
By the time the smoke cleared, Evertsen sank the flagship MTB, RI Matjan Tutul (650). The two other Jaguars were damaged but made their escape more or less intact. Among the 23 missing considered dead was the flotilla commander, Commodore Yosaphat “Yos” Sudarso.
The Battle of Vlakke Hoek (Dutch New Guinea). Empty shells after the action aboard a fast frigate of the Evertsen class. NIMH 2158_035634
A short color film in the NIMH archives contains footage from Evertsen’s radar during the night battle near Vlakke Hoek with the Indonesian motor torpedo boat Matjan Tutul, including the captured survivors on the quarterdeck of the frigate the next morning.
The three Evertsens remained in Dutch service through the UN-brokered agreement to the transfer of Dutch New Guinea from Dutch to Indonesian control in October 1962.
An Evertsen-class destroyer (with tropical canvas) photographed from the air at Mios Woendi, Papua, between May and July 1962. NIMH 2007-11-27
Sent back to Europe, the class, obsolete for NATO use, was retired and scrapped in 1963.
Epilogue
The Dutch ships were the final S-class destroyers, the type having left British service in 1960. The last of their (near) sisters, the V-class destroyer HMS Grenville (R97/F197), remained in RN service until 1974 as a trials ship and was only broken up in 1983.
The British have not reused the awe-inspiring sea dog-appropriate name HMS Scourge, but the Dutch have recycled Evertsen for a Van Speijk-class frigate (F815), active from 1967 to 1989, and a De Zeven Provincien-class frigate (F805), commissioned in 2005.
HNLMS Evertsen conducts a high-speed turn in the Gulf of Aden while on JTF duties
As for Indonesia, a replica of Matjan Tutul has been created.
Matjan Tutul (replica), at the Satriamandala Museum in Indonesia. Wikimedia Commons image
The Troika commodore who was killed in the operation, Yos Sudarso, was promoted to vice admiral posthumously and has had two frigates named after him since then. Ironically, the current one to bear the name is a former Dutch Van Speijk-class frigate that has remained in Indonesian service since 1985.
KRI Yos Sudarso (353) Indonesian Navy, Ex HNLMS F 803 van Galen
Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive
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The mighty 21,000-ton dreadnought, USS Florida (Battleship No. 30), gives Naval Academy Midshipmen a taste of salt water on their annual cruise during the early 1920s. She is followed by USS Delaware (BB-28) and USS North Dakota (BB-29).
NARA photo 19-N-12607. National Archives Identifier 496081005
According to DANFS, Florida was familiar to the Mids, having often carried them as part of the Practice Squadron to sea during her career. This included a tour of European ports of call, including Copenhagen, Denmark; Greenock, Scotland; Lisbon, Portugal; and Gibraltar in 1923; as well as regular summer cruises in both 1912 and 1913 then 1927 through 1930, ranging from Nova Scotia to the Panama Canal. She also conducted coastal cruises for Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) students from Harvard, Yale, and Georgia Tech.
Her summer trip to Europe, her decks teeming with Mids, would be her last.
USS Florida (BB-30) at Kiel, Germany, 7 July 1930, during a Midshipman’s training cruise. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-1025114
Decommissioned at the Philadelphia Navy Yard on 16 February 1931, Florida was authorized on 1 April to be placed on the list of Navy vessels to be disposed of by salvage in accordance with the London Naval Treaty of 1930. Consequently, Florida was stricken from the Navy Register on 6 April 1931, and her final scrapping, including all shipments of materials sold or reserved, was completed on 30 September 1932.
Official period caption: “Egyptian sub-chaser anchored in Grand Harbor, Valetta, Malta. 24 January 1951.”
Photographed by U.S. Navy PH2 W.S. McGill, 80-G-426951
I’m fairly sure that the warship above, with very British lines, is the Egyptian Navy frigate El Malek al Farouq (Farouk). A former Yarrow-built Black Swan-class sloop,HMS Whimbrel (U 29), she entered service in January 1943, making her just eight years old in the above photo.
She replaced a Hawthorne-built sloop of the same name, which was sunk in a scrap with the Israelis in 1948. As such, she was the best ship in the Egyptian fleet until a pair of ex-British Z-class destroyers (HMS Myngs and Zenith) were transferred in 1955.
Transferred in November 1949 to the nascent Egyptian force, she was named after Farouk I, the King of Egypt and the Sudan from 1936 through 1952, including the period during which she was captured above.
After King Farouk was overthrown in a military coup, the sloop/frigate was renamed a third time to Tariq (Tarik) in 1954.
Tariq, ex-Farouk, ex-Whimbrel, in the 1960 Janes.
Where the ship really stands out is, as Whimbrel, rode on more than two dozen Atlantic convoys and picked up battle honors for Sicily, 1943; Atlantic, 1943–44; Normandy, 1944; English Channel, 1944; Arctic, 1944; and Okinawa, 1945, and has been reported as the only member remaining of the 16 Royal Navy warships to have been present at the Surrender of Japan on VJ Day in Tokyo Bay.
Wait, what?
Yeah, the Egyptians apparently kept Tariq in somewhat limited service as a pier-side trainer until at least 2016 and held on to her for a while after that.
Assorted museums in the UK have shown an interest in housing ex-Whimbrel and as a museum ship, but I am not sure that is still a thing.
