mine warfare | laststandonzombieisland

Category Archives: mine warfare

Warship Wednesday Feb. 18, 2015 Marshal Massena of Gallipoli

Posted on February 18, 2015 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Here at LSOZI, we are going to take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all of their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places. – Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday Feb. 18, 2015 Marshal Massena of Gallipoli

Click to bigup

Here we see the Charles Martel-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Navy of the French Republic, Marshal André Masséna. Just about one of the coolest late-19th century warwagons, she is a classic of Edwardian naval tumblehome hull architecture.

This 11,000-ton, 369-foot warship today would be classified as a cruiser or even a Zumwalt-class destroyer, but in 1892, she was an ass kicker. An incredibly complicated system of two dozen Lagrafel d’Allest water-tube boilers fed manually by coal pushed three triple expansion engines that could propel her and her near sisters at about 17-ish knots, which was pretty good for the day.

in port

If she had to fight, a pair of 12”/40 caliber (305mm) Modèle 1893 guns, mounted in single turrets fore and aft, could hole an enemy ship with a 770-pound AP shell out to 13,00 yards. These were backed up by another pair of 10-inch guns, 16 smaller mounts and, like most battleships of the era, had submerged torpedo tubes. She was made to be able to slug it out, being fitted with up to 18-inches of steel plate armor.

A great overhead shot. Note the armarment plan, with the two 12-inchers fore and aft and two single 10-inchesr port and starboard.

A great overhead shot. Note the armament plan, with the two 12-inchers fore and aft and two single 10-inchesr port and starboard.

Laid down at Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire in 1892, she was named after André Masséna, Duc de Rivoli, Prince d’Essling, one of Napoleon’s original 18 Marshals. Of course Massena turned his back in little N when the Bourbons came back to power and kept it turned during the 100 Days, but hey nobody is perfect.

The namesake battleship was commissioned in June 1898, after five years on the builder’s ways. Coming out during the Spanish-American War, in which most of the ships in combat were armored cruisers smaller and less heavily armed than Masséna, her design was felt validated.

French pre-dreadnought battleship Masséna, alongside one of her sisters

She spent the next decade in happy peacetime maneuvers, gunnery trials, and practice. However, by 1908 a funny thing happened. You see after the Russo Japanese War of 1904-05, dreadnoughts of her type were hamburger. In fact, four Russian Borodino-class battleships, themselves actually more modern versions of the Masséna and her sisters, lasted just minutes in combat. With the all-big-gun HMS Dreadnought being commissioned in 1906, she was further made obsolete.

Masséna was sitting in French mothballs when World War One erupted and she was eventually dusted off. Even old battleships are useful in a Great War after all. She was to be used to help force the straits to the Bosporus during the Gallipoli Campaign in late 1914 along with her recently recalled sisters.

Note the hull shape

There, Bouvet, one of these sisterships struck a mine and sunk in just two minutes during operations off the Dardanelles on 18 March 1915. That was indicative of campaign. When that whole thing unraveled, Massena, the 17-year-old bruiser was scuttled in shallow water and used as a breakwater to help evac the ANZAC/French forces in 1916. In 1923, the postwar French Naval Bureau sold the hulk, which they still technically owned, to breakers for scrap.

Her three surviving near sisters in French service, Charles Martel, Jauréguiberry, and Carnot, were out of front line service after Gallipoli and scrapped before the next war, the class forgotten.

As for Masséna himself, his sabre is on display at the musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Neuchâte

Specs

Charles Martel class line drawing as commissioned. Image from Shipbucket

Displacement: 11,735 tons (11,550 long tons)
Length: 112.65 m (369 ft. 7 in)
Beam: 20.27 m (66 ft. 6 in)
Draft: 8.84 m (29 ft. 0 in)
Propulsion: Three triple expansion engines
Speed: 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement: 667
Armament:
2 × 305 mm/40 (12 in) Modèle 1893 guns
2 × 274 mm/45 (10.8 in) Modèle 1893 guns
8 × 138 mm/45 (5.5 in) Modèle 1888 guns
8 × 100 mm (3.9 in) guns
4 × 450 mm torpedo tubes (submerged)
Armor:
Belt: 450 mm (18 in)
Turrets: 400 mm (16 in)
Conning tower: 350 mm (14 in)

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International.

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship you can find http://www.warship.org/

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Want to buy a Navy trials boat? Cheap?

Posted on February 6, 2015 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

“Experimental Sea Slice The experimental Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull ship “Sea Slice” returns to its homeport of Naval Station San Diego, Calif., Nov. 30, 2005. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zack Baddorf”

If you read this blog odds are you know what the LCS is (the Littoral Combat Ship) and that two versions of that frigate that isn’t and part time minesweeper exist. Well this is a trails ship from 1996 that was used as a testbed of sorts by Lockheed Martin. You see in the early 90s the original LCS concept was for a whole host of small, expendable ships, a street-fighter concept, that could go and get down and dirty in shallow water.

Aerial view of the experimental Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull (SWATH) ship Sea Slice, an experimental ship built by Lockheed-Martin, operating off the coast of Port Hueneme, CA., 3 August 2002, during Fleet Battle Experiment Juliet (FBE-J). Fleet Battle Experiment Juliet is a joint warfighting experiment combining both live field forces and computer simulation at various locations throughout the United States during “Millennium Challenge 2002” (MC-02). Millennium Challenge is the nation’s premier joint integrating event, bringing together both live field exercises and computer simulations throughout the Department of Defense. Note; Sea Slice is carrying modular mission packages, which simulate the US Navy’s proposed Littoral Combat Ship (LCS). The modular mission packages provide a range of warfare capabilities, including Mine Countermeasures (MCM), Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW), Force Protection and Time Critical Targeting. Some of its weapons tested during FBE-J include the joint Lockheed Martin and Oerlikon Contraves 35mm Millennium Gun and the NetFires System and launcher, intended to launch Loitering Attack Munitions (LAM).US Navy photo #’s, 020802-N-2706D- by JO2 Terry Dillon. Via Navsource

The Navy tested a number of small-waterplane-area twin-hull (SWATH) designs that now continue as the Fast Sea Frame concept. One of these was the HSV Sea Slice

This would defeinatly turn a head at the local small craft harbor

How she looks today minus her teeth. This would turn a head at the local small craft harbor

While that company went with a more traditional mono-hull design for its successful entry to the program, you can see a lot of scaled down similarities in the Sea Slice, a 105-foot multihull that is for sale for a meager $180,000.

Stern

When you consider that your typical USCG 87-foot patrol boat runs some $3 million on the sticker price, this one-off ship, even though its 20 years old, seems a comparative steal. Gone however are the “35-mm Millennium Gun; NetFires missile launching system; FLIR Systems Inc. furnished Forward-Looking Infrared sensors; and a complete combat information center with the Lockheed Martin developed COMBATSS command and control core architecture system utilizing Q-70 VALIANT consoles as well as Time Critical Targeting technology for precision strike,” she carried a decade ago.

Heck, it cost the Navy $15 milly to build.

This thing screams party barge

Specs
LOA: 105 ft 0 in
Beam: 55 ft 0 in
Minimum Draft: 11 ft 6 in
Maximum Draft: 14 ft 0 in
Displacement: 472640 lbs
Dry Weight: 378560 lbs
Total Power: 6960 HP from 2 16V396TB94 MTU Pod drive diesels, 2 Cat 3606 gennies
Cruising Speed: 23 knots
Maximum Speed: 30 knots
Fresh Water Tanks: 2 (400 Gallons)
Fuel Tanks: (11112 Gallons)
Accommodations
Number of single berths: 12
Number of cabins: 5
Number of heads: 1
Seating Capacity: 149

All that’s missing is a margarita machine

Lost Rebel submarine wolfpack found (maybe)

Posted on January 30, 2015 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Saw this today in which it appears that a quartet of Confederate submersibles, scuttled in Louisiana mud to prevent those darned Yankees from grabbing them up, have been located– right where they were left 150~ years ago.

Marty Loschen, director of the Spring Street Museum in downtown Shreveport, thinks he’s found remnants of the hand-propelled craft in the banks of a branch of Cross Bayou about a half-mile west of where the Confederate Navy had a shipyard. At Cross Bayou’s mouth on Red River, it was home to the leaky ironclad CSS Missouri and a fast packet, the Webb, whose presence overshadowed the humbler underwater vessels.

Several months ago, before recent rains raised water levels on Cross Bayou and its feeder streams, Loschen and his brother found decades-old rusted metal and some oddly formed tree roots whose shape suggested they had grown over something curved that had rotted or rusted away. The site was on a bank revealed by low water on Bowman’s chute.

“It’s breathtakingly beautiful out there,” says Loschen, who spends much of his time exploring the more remote, forgotten and forbidding parts of old Shreveport. He points to the 1864 Venable map of the defenses of Shreveport which shows several small buildings near where he found the artifacts.

Rusted iron the drought-exposed lower reaches of Bowmans Inlet. The site is now under at least 10 feet of water. (Photo: Courtesy Marty Loschen)

“There’s your sub base,” he said. “On the Venable map there’s an island out there. My theory is if you’re going to have a clandestine sub base, you’re going to put it out there. Look, there are structures out there, near what I found out beached — it has to be.”

Others disagree…the rest here

Mine Baby Samuel B Roberts back home for good…

Posted on January 5, 2015 by laststandonzombieisland One comment

“Frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) Returns to Naval Station Mayport. Courtesy HD Video | Navy Media Content Services | Date: 12.15.2014. Family and friends welcome back the guided-missile frigate USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) to Naval Station Mayport. Samuel B. Roberts returned from deployment to the U.S. 6th Fleet area of responsibility in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa. The ship is scheduled for decommissioning on May 22, 2015. (U.S. Navy video by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Nathan Lang/Released)”

If the ship sounds familiar, the Sammy B was in the very last batch of Oliver Hazard Perry (FFG-7) class frigates to commission in April 1986. You could still smell the new paint on board when she was sent to the Persian Gulf to stand guard between Saddam’s Iraq and the Iranian rogue state. It was there on 14 April 1988, as part of Operation Earnest Will, the escort of re-flagged Kuwaiti tankers during the Iran–Iraq War, that she struck a Soviet-made M-08 naval mine in the central Persian Gulf. The mine blew a 15-foot hole in her, knocked her GE LM2500 turbines off their mounts, and broke her keel.

16 April 1988: Dubai – A view looking through the hole in the hull of Samuel B. Roberts sustained when the ship struck a mine while on patrol in the Persian Gulf. The ship is in dry dock undergoing temporary repairs. (U.S. Navy photo DVID #DN-SN-93-01451 by PH2 Rudy D. Pahoyo)

30 July 1988: Newport RI- An aerial view of the Dutch heavy lift ship Mighty Servant II transporting the guided missile frigate Samuel B. Roberts. (U.S. Navy photo DVID #DN-ST-89-01414 by PH2(SW) Jeff Elliott)

Normally, this would have been a death sentence for such a small “tincan”. However Sammy was rebuilt, the Iranians, whose mine it was, were plastered in Operation Preying Mantis which sank the Iranian frigate IS Sahand (F74), and things got back to being normal.

Unlike most of the Perrys that are being decommed, the 29-year old Sammy B will not be going overseas as Foreign Aid to some needy third world fleet.

She will be scrapped after her planned decommissioning in May.

Navy wants 20 Up-armored LCS to replace frigates

Posted on December 13, 2014 by laststandonzombieisland 3 comments

Lets just call a spade a spade. The Navy has a critical shortage of Subchaser/Destroyer Escort/Frigate type ships…again.

Going back to the old steam and steel navy of the 1900s, the torpedo boat was put out to pasture by the destroyer (who could both kill torpedo boats and launch torps while keeping up with the fleet). This gave the navy four distinct category of vessels:

1. Battleships– the default capital ship from 1890-1942
2. Large, armored or heavy cruisers– who could fight and kill anything up to a battleship
3. Smaller ‘light’ or protected cruisers– who could screened the fleet and scouted ahead
4. Destroyers– who provided escort for all of the above and could be assigned to expendable missions

Then came World War One and the Navy realized that, while they had a bunch of destroyers, they were tied to the fleet rather than being able to break away from it. You see every destroyer you pulled away from the battle fleet left a cruiser or battleship open to a torpedo from the ship that effectively replaced the torpedo boat– the submarine.

WWI-era 110-foot Subchaser #57 of the "Splinter Fleet" these boats were small but had a lot of heart. Dont knock them for thier size-- submarines of the day weren't much larger

WWI-era 110-foot Subchaser #57 of the “Splinter Fleet” these boats were small but had a lot of heart. Don’t knock them for their size– submarines of the day weren’t much larger

The answer was the “subchaser,” little boats able to bust U-boats, escort merchant ships, creep into shallow littoral waters, wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel, and, when used in fleet service, effectively escort destroyers. Hundreds of SCs were built and used by the Navy in WWI and even remained in service into the 20s to some degree. Then the Navy got rid of them, saying that anything a SC could do a Destroyer could do better so why waste the money.

Then came World War II and the Navy realized that, while they had a bunch of destroyers, they were tied to the fleet rather than being able to break away from it. You see every destroyer you pulled away from the battle fleet left a cruiser or battleship or carrier open to a torpedo. (Sound familiar?)

USS Buckley (DE-51), your typical WWII DE. 1740-tons, 306-feet, built for the fight at hand.

The answer was the “destroyer escort,” little boats able to bust U-boats, escort merchant ships, creep into shallow littoral waters, wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel, and, when used in fleet service, effectively escort destroyers. Hundreds of DEs were built and used by the Navy in WWII and even remained in service into the 50s to some degree. Then the Navy got rid of them, saying that anything a DE could do a Destroyer, of which they had hundreds of left over from the Big One, could do better so why waste the money.

Then came the depths of the Cold War in the 1960s in which the Russkies were cranking out enough submarines to walk from Martha’s Vineyard to Hamburg without getting your feet wet and the Navy realized that, while they had a bunch of destroyers, they were tied to the fleet rather than being able to break away from it. You see every destroyer you pulled away from the battle fleet left a cruiser or carrier or amphibious assault ship open to a torpedo. (Could have sworn I heard this song before)

Aerial view of Knox-class frigate USS McCandless (FF-1084) 4260-tons 438-feet long, these were excellent ASW/ASuW boats and held the line in the Atlantic for 25 years.

The answer was the “frigate,” little boats able to bust U-boats, escort merchant ships, creep into shallow littoral waters, wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel, and, when used in fleet service, effectively escort destroyers. Over a hundred frigates (46 Knox-class FF, 51 Perry-class FFG, 10 Bronstein-class FF, 6 Brooke-class FFG) were built and used by the Navy in the Cold War and even remained in service into the 21st century to some degree. Then the Navy got rid of them, saying that anything a frigate could do a Destroyer could do better so why waste the money. In turn, a group of expendable Littoral Combat Ships that are frigate-sized but not frigate-like will pick up the slack and serve as minesweepers if needed (hey any ship can be a minesweeper once, right?)

Now we have a resurgent and chest-pounding China, who is bullying its neighbors as it reaches out for Lebensraum and to return ethnic-Chinese to the fold while it rebuilds its military (augmented by a New Russia led by Tsar Vladimir I who is doing much the same thing but on a smaller asymmetric scale, and the always fun Persian Gulf follies in a world of unstable oil prices). Both of their navies rely on submarines to do the heavy lifting and (insert shock) the Navy realizes that, while they had a bunch of destroyers, they are tied to the fleet rather than being able to break away from it. You see every destroyer you pull away from the battle fleet left a cruiser or carrier or amphibious assault ship open to a torpedo.

What they need is a (wait for it) class of little boats able to bust U-boats, escort merchant ships, creep into shallow littoral waters, wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel, and, when used in fleet service, effectively escort destroyers.

What they have are 32 ( mostly still building) lightly armed LCSs that currently cannot fool with a submarine, fight a surface contact larger than a speedboat or pirate launch, and, while they can escort a merchant or auxiliary ship in areas with such lightweight threats, if faced with any sort of actual foreign naval presence, is hard-pressed to even escort itself. About the only thing they do have in common with the 100 years of sub-chasers/destroyer escorts/frigates that preceded them is the ability to creep into shallow littoral waters and wave the flag in areas not deemed worthy of sending a larger vessel.

Now that is going to change.

As reported by the USNI and others the last 20 LCS built will instead be much-augmented Small Surface Combatants (SSC)– presumably 10 on each hull.

The ships will pick up some sub-buster creds with multifunction towed array, provisions for ASW torps (helicopter carried), and torpedo countermeasures (Nixie or TRAPR DCL?).

For increased ASuW punch they will get an over-the-horizon anti-ship missile (likely an advanced Harpoon or possibly the excellent new Norwegian Naval Strike missile which has been tested on LCS-4 already), and confusingly, more light guns to include Mk.38 25mm remote mounts forward. While twin Mk44/46/50 gun mount (using a 30mm Bushmaster and the rounds from the GAU-8 Avenger cannon on the A-10) is already slated as a module for the series and is much superior to the 25mm is still listed as a possibility which would make it the first USN combatant to have three 25-57mm caliber batteries on board in modern history if fielded like this.

There will also be some survivability improvements to include more armor, signature management, an active EW system, upgraded decoys and an over the horizon search radar.

Sadly, no on-board Mk32 tubes or even a 8-cell Mk41 VLS for a few ASROC or ESSM bulk packs, but hey, at least this version of the LCS is closer to what the original one should have been and can control some ocean if needed. Perhaps this is an option later however….

Maybe the first 32 LCS can be modernized to SSC standard during their mid-life refit. An SSC will cost $60-$75 million more than a Flight 0 LCS, and procurement of the type is to begin by 2019.

And then just go ahead and call them frigates.

Just saying.

Navy releases more info on Ponce laser

Posted on December 11, 2014 by laststandonzombieisland 2 comments

141116-N-PO203-042
ARABIAN GULF (Nov. 16, 2014) The Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim) USS Ponce (ASB(I) 15) conducts an operational demonstration of the Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored Laser Weapon System (LaWS) while deployed to the Arabian Gulf. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released)

We have talked about the 30kW active laser on the USS Ponce, the converted old gator used as an afloat forward staging base with a hybrid 55-man USN/150 MSC crew conducting spec op/counter mine/counter-terr operations in the Persian Gulf several times.

Well it looks like the Navy is finally going full frontal with the deployed laser on board.

141116-N-PO203-134
ARABIAN GULF (Nov. 16, 2014) Chief Fire Controlman Brett Richmond, right, and Lt. j.g. Katie Woodard, operate the Office of Naval Research (ONR)-sponsored Laser Weapon System (LaWS) installed aboard the Afloat Forward Staging Base (Interim) USS Ponce (ASB(I) 15) during an operational demonstration in the Arabian Gulf. Directed energy weapons can counter asymmetric threats, including unmanned and light aircraft and small attack boats. (U.S. Navy photo by John F. Williams/Released)

ARLINGTON, Va (NNS) — Officials at the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced today the laser weapon system (LaWS) – a cutting-edge weapon that brings significant new capabilities to America’s Sailors and Marines – was for the first time successfully deployed and operated aboard a naval vessel in the Arabian Gulf.

The operational demonstrations, which took place from September to November aboard USS Ponce (AFSB[I] 15), were historic not only because they showed a laser weapon working aboard a deployed U.S. Navy ship, but also because LaWS operated seamlessly with existing ship defense systems.

“Laser weapons are powerful, affordable and will play a vital role in the future of naval combat operations,” said Rear Adm. Matthew L. Klunder, chief of naval research. “We ran this particular weapon, a prototype, through some extremely tough paces, and it locked on and destroyed the targets we designated with near-instantaneous lethality.”

During the tests, LaWS – a collaborative effort between ONR, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Research Laboratory, Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division and industry partners — hit targets mounted aboard a speeding oncoming small boat, shot a Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) out of the sky, and destroyed other moving targets at sea.

Sailors worked daily with LaWS over several months since it was installed, and reported the weapon performed flawlessly, including in adverse weather conditions of high winds, heat and humidity. They noted the system exceeded expectations for both reliability and maintainability.

The system is operated by a video-game like controller, and can address multiple threats using a range of escalating options, from non-lethal measures such as optical “dazzling” and disabling, to lethal destruction if necessary. It could prove to be a pivotal asset against what are termed “asymmetric threats,” which include small attack boats and UAVs.

Data regarding accuracy, lethality and other factors from the Ponce deployment will guide the development of weapons under ONR’s Solid-State Laser-Technology Maturation program. Under this program, industry teams have been selected to develop cost-effective, combat-ready laser prototypes that could be installed on vessels such as guided-missile destroyers and the Littoral Combat Ship in the early 2020s.

More here

Warship Wednesday December 3, 2014, The Hidden Scandinavian Lion

Posted on December 3, 2014 by laststandonzombieisland 9 comments

Warship Wednesday, December 3, 2014, The Scandinavian Leviathan

(Courtesy of reddit)

Here we don’t see the Tre Kronor-class cruiser Hennes Majestäts Skepp (HSvMS) Göta Lejon (Gothic lion) of the Royal Swedish Navy. Her ship’s motto was Nemo me impune lacessit (“No one provokes me with impunity”) and she meant to back that up as needed.

Can’t see her?

How about now in this enhanced photo?

Ok, this may actually be a destroyer, or a banana, or Tom Sawyer’s raft, but how can you tell for sure?

The Swedish navy has had a long history of camouflaging their ships while hidden next to rocky isolated inlets and islands, even large capital ships– note the bluejackets standing on mine rails

Swedish coastal defense battleship HSwMS Gustav V, using extensive camouflage, a serious tactic used to great extent by the Swedes, especially for air defense

Designed before the start of World War II, the Tre Kronor (Three Crowns)-class of three fast cruisers (Kryssaren) were to each serve as a flotilla flagship of a new squadron of four destroyers and six motor torpedo boats. As such, they were much larger, faster, and modern than the long long line of 18 Pansarskepps (literally “armored ships”) coastal defense ships built for the crown between 1897 and 1918.

1943-45. The brand new coastal destroyer J29 HMS Mode (J29) leads the armored division (pansarbåtsdivisionen) in an archipelago trail. In addition to Mode, we see the Sverigeskeppen pansarskeppen HMS Sverige, HMS Drottning Victoria, and HMS Gustaf V. Three more destroyers follow after that.

Kryssaren HMS Göta Lejon without her camouflage netting.

The three most modern (but still slow) pansarskepps would form a strategic reserve while the three new cruisers would race their destroyers up and down the coastline, sinking enemy ships and laying minefields as needed. Capable of sinking smaller fast ships and running away from those that could wreck them in turn; they were supposed to be “stronger than the quicker and quicker than the stronger.”

Note the twin rear mine-laying chutes in stern and pair of twin 152mm turrets facing the national ensign.

Built to an Italian design, when the war broke out in 1939 the third ship was cut, with just class leader Tre Kronor and her sister, Göta Lejon remaining. With construction beginning in 1943 as the country suffered from shortages of everything due to her tense neutrality during WWII, they were only completed by Eriksbergs Mekaniska Verkstads AB, Gothenburg after the war’s end.

Armed with 7 M1942 Bofors 6-inch (152/53 mm) high-elevation guns, each capable of firing an impressive 10 rounds per minute (with a combined broadside of 70 rounds per minute) due to automatic loaders, she was classified as a light cruiser. They could fire a 99-pound AP/HE shell out to 28,400 yards and could be used in an AAA role if needed due to their high elevation.

hms_tre_kronor_50_talet_50d4ab6b9606ee5a68105afb

*As a side note, these guns were designed as 5.9-inchers by Bofors for the Royal Dutch Navy (Koninklijke Marine) cruiser De Zeven Provinciën. After the German invasion of the Netherlands in 1940, these artillery pieces were confiscated by the Swedes and promptly recycled into their new cruisers, stretched to accommodate the Swedish standard 6-inch shell. The DZP did eventually get a new set of guns of the same type delivered by Bofors— after the war. The sole survivor of the class, currently in service as the BAP Almirante Grau (CLM-81) of the Peruvian Navy, is the last WWII-era “gun” cruiser in fleet service.

152mm shells aboard Gota Lejon Wiki http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:OgreBot/Watercraft/2012_January_11-20

152mm shells aboard Gota Lejon Photo Wiki

For dooming larger vessels, Göta Lejon carried a half-dozen 533mm surface torpedo tubes. Her armor was adequate, at 2.8 inches, to defend her against destroyer-sized weapons while it was hoped her 33-knot speed could move her away from bigger brawlers. AAA was accomplished with ten twin 40mm Bofors (after all, the company was based in Sweden) and several smaller guns.

Iced in. Note early pre-modernization superstructure tower

Built as a large, well-armed minelayer of sorts, Göta Lejon could carry up to 150 heavy (300# warhead) contact mines in a hold below decks and rapidly drop them over the stern after running them down her topside deck on fitted rails.

HSwMS Göta Lejon with mines on her after deck, 1948, Fo70916AB

Hey, that’s MINE! (Get it)

Gota Lejon dropping it while its hot. She could sow mines at 20-knots if needed and her crew got the hustle on Wiki http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:OgreBot/Watercraft/2012_January_11-20

Gota Lejon dropping it while it’s hot. She could sow mines at 20 knots if needed and her crew got the hustle on. Photo Wiki

Mines are a big business in the Baltic. An estimated 200,000 mines were laid by all sides in the East of Sweden and the Straits of Kattegatt and Skagerrak to the West throughout the two world wars and are still regularly encountered.

Commissioned on 15 December 1947, Göta Lejon had a tense span of Cold War service with an increasingly active Soviet Navy poking its nose into Swedish waters. Over the next ten years, the older pansarskepps were retired while just the two cruisers endured.

Swedish cruisers kryssarna Tre Kronor and Göta Lejon together in 1951 in a rare meeting in Stockholm when both were active at the same time

A good close-up of how she looked as commissioned. She had a usual main battery layout with a triple single turret forward and two twin turrets aft. Note the HF/DF gear under the bridge.

Then, in 1958, her only slightly older sister and class leader Tre Kronor was laid up, leaving the Göta Lejon as the principal ship in the Swedish Navy, a legit WWII-style cruiser in a 60’s era fleet of mosquito boats and tin cans.

1954–note, no camo, and modified superstructure

As such she was modernized, given advanced surface and air-search radars (Type 277 and Type 293), and her AAA suite augmented by more modern Bofors 57mm guns. Further, she was fitted to carry helicopters as needed.

Gota Lejon at anchor. Note the swabbie greasing and coating the mine rails as an armed platoon of sailors prepares to go ashore. Wiki http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:OgreBot/Watercraft/2012_January_11-20

Gota Lejon at anchor. Note the swabbie greasing and coating the mine rails as a Mauser-armed platoon of sailors drills nearby. The Swedish navy has long used national servicemen and, as with any large group of semi-motivated young men, must be kept busy. Photo Wiki

Tre Kronor (rear) and Göta Lejon (front) in Karlskrona, 1964, note the laid-up sister has been camouflaged as has the active-duty cruiser. Photo by Ingvar Andersson

As she appeared in 1978. The Swedes were very into camo by this time. Note the large surface search radars

Tre Kronor was scrapped in 1964 as Göta Lejon remained, kept alive in part with items cannibalized from the elder whose steel was repurposed as a pontoon bridge.

A 15-minute long Swedish film from 1964 showing the cruiser under steam, in operations in the Baltic, laying mines (at the 3-4 minute mark) getting all camoed up (at the 9-ish minute mark), delivering broadsides (13 mins), and dropping depth charges.

In 1970, it was planned to modernize the ship by removing her aft turrets and replacing them with U.S. Terrier missiles. However, this plan was scrapped, as it would likely have brought political repercussions from the nearby Soviets.

Aft view of HMS KkrV Göta Lejon handed over to her new owners on a sad and rainy afternoon.

With time marching on and no refit in sight, by 1 July 1970, after 24 years of service, she was withdrawn from the King’s naval list and transferred to the Republic of Chile the same year.

At a hard turn. Note the extreme 70-degree elevation on the 152mm mount forward.

Renamed Almirante Latorre (CL-04) after the revered Jutland-veteran battleship of the same name, the ship sailed to Latin America and gave a hard dozen years of service to that fleet, serving as a counter to the aging Argentine Brooklyn-class light cruiser ARA Gen. Belgrano and Peruvian BAP Almirante Grau (small world) in times of tension.

Almirante Latorre lives fire 1983. At this point, her battery was four decades old.

As Almirante LaTorre on a sunshine-filled day in the Pacific.

However, despite a limited refit when transferred, she was in poor condition again in just a few years and by 1980 rarely sailed. On 2 January 1984, she was decommissioned and held in reserve for two years.

Then, in Sept. 1986, she was sold to the Shion Yek Steel Corp of Taiwan, tugged across the Pacific, and scrapped. No doubt her good Swedish steel has been re-blended and recycled into a myriad of household items by now.

Nevertheless, at least one of her screws is retained on display in Chile while her original Göta Lejon bell and shield remain in Sweden.

Admiral Latorre’s port-side screw at Naval Base de Talcahuano, Chile

Specs:

http://www.shipbucket.com/images.php?dir=Real%20Designs/Sweden/CL%20Tre%20Kronor%201964-70%20camo.PNG CL Tre Kronor 1964-70 camo shipbucket

CL Tre Kronor 1964-70. Image by ship bucket

Displacement: 7,400 long tons (7,519 t) standard, 9,200 long tons (9,348 t) full load
Length: 174 m (570 ft. 10 in) (pp)
182 m (597 ft. 1 in) (oa)
Beam: 16.45 m (54 ft. 0 in)
Draft: 5.94 m (19 ft. 6 in)
Propulsion:
Two shaft geared turbines, 4× 4-drum boilers,
100,000 shp (75,000 kW)
Speed:             33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement:   618
Armament:      As-built:
7 × Bofors 152 mm guns
20 × 40 mm guns
7 × 25 mm guns
6 × torpedo tubes
Post-1958:
7 × 152 mm (6 in) guns
4 × 57 mm Bofors
11 × 40 mm guns
6 × torpedo tubes
Armor:
Belt: 70 mm (2.8 in)
Deck: 30 mm (1.2 in) upper, 30 mm (1.2 in) main
Turrets: 50–127 mm (2.0–5.0 in)
Conning tower: 20–25 mm (0.79–0.98 in)

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship you can find http://www.warship.org/

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to encouraging the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.

Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.

I’m a member, so should you be!

Yum! Mines!

Posted on October 24, 2014 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

WATERS SOUTH OF THE KOREAN PENINSULA (Oct. 21, 2014) Mineman 1st Class (SW) Douglas Reynolds gives commands to the crane operator during deployment of the Mine Neutralization Vehicle (MNV) AN/SLQ 48 aboard the Avenger-class mine countermeasures ship USS Chief (MCM 14). The MNV is used to identify and neutralize simulated mines during training as part of exercise Clear Horizon 2014.

Clear Horizon is an annual bilateral exercise between the U.S. and Republic of Korea navies designed to enhance cooperation and improve capabilities in mine countermeasure operations. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class (SW/AW) Frank L. Andrews / Released)

Combat Gallery Sunday: The martial art of Charles Pears, RI, ROI, RSMA

Posted on October 19, 2014 by laststandonzombieisland 2 comments

Charles Pears working on an oil painting of ‘R.M.S. Orcades’

Born in the quiet market town of Pontefract, Yorkshire was an Englishman by the name of Charles Pears on 9 Sept. 1873. A professional illustrator from the time he was 17, Charles did his duty in the Royal Marines as an officer in World War I, although in his 40s at the time. He also served as an official war artist through the Second World War, by then in his later 60s, but still on the list of the Royal Naval Reserve. A thorough Englishman, he made his living by drawing and painting amazing and captivating travel images for the Empire Marketing Board, and British Railway as well as in periodicals like Punch and Yellow Book. Between 1902-1933, with a break for his wartime service, he illustrated more than 50 books ranging from A Christmas Carol to The Great War.

Whenever possible, it seems he tried to work warships into his commercial illustrations.

“Gibraltar” by Charles Pears, for the Empire Marketing Board, 1930. Note that its a travel poster– but he still was able to work in a plethora of Royal Navy ships on the horizon.

Again, its a travel poster– but you see the naval aspect clearly.

Charles Pears paid the bills through illustrating.

“New Fast Turbine Steamers” GWR poster, 1923-1947. Poster produced for the Great Western Railway (GWR) to promote the new turbine steamers St Julien and St Helier which operated on services between Weymouth and the Channel Islands. Artwork by Charles Pears, a marine painter in oil who was an Official Naval Artist during the World Wars. He worked as a poster artist for rail companies and other clients and was also a book illustrator. Dimensions: 1050 mm x 1300 mm.

Poster produced for the Great Western Railway (GWR) promoting rail travel to Paignton, South Devon. The poster shows a bathing belle waving a towel on the beach, with the promenade stretching out behind her and sunbathers enjoying themselves on the beach. Artwork by Charles Pears,

However it is is maritime art in oils that Pear excelled in. He lived in the age of the mighty dreadnought and as such, captured some of the best battleship painting ever to grace a canvas.

“HMS Queen Elizabeth” by Charles Pears. he Royal Society of Marine Artists; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

“Transport by Sea: Supplying the Navy 1917” by Charles Pears 1873-1958 Presented by the Ministry of Information 1918

Charles Pears “HMS Courageous in drydock”

“Battleship HMS Howe in Suez Canal”by Charles Pears. Click to very much biggup

“Jervis Bay action” by Charles Pears

“The Bombing of The British Chancellor in Falmouth Docks, 1940” by Charles Pears

“British sub K22 in drydock at Rosyth, Winter” by Charles Pears. The Royal Society of Marine Artists; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

“Streaming the para-vanes” by Charles Pears. The Royal Society of Marine Artists; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

“HMS Ullswater torpedoed. ” by Charles Pears. The Royal Society of Marine Artists; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

A motor launch recovering a torpedo. The Royal Society of Marine Artists; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

Pears – Hard Lying

“A Boarding Party of Royal Naval Reserve Men Going Aboard a Prize under Searchlight” by Charles Pears

During WWII he painted “MV San Demetrio gets home” which was turned into a Post Office Savings Bank stamp.

“San Demetrio gets home” By Charles Pears. Collection of the IWM

His original artwork presently part of the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Imperial War Museum, and others. In all an amazing 83 of his works are held on public display in the UK.

Charles Pears, member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists, Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolor, Royal Institute of Oil Painters and the first elected President of the Society of Marine Artists, died in 1958 at age 84 in Cornwall, but his art is timeless. Many of the ships he captured are immortalized no where else and it is through his scholarship that generations who will never know the experience of a true leviathan ship of war, may gaze upon his art and remember.

Thank you for your work, sir.

Haupt’s torpedo for quickly wrecking wooden bridges.

Posted on October 16, 2014 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Back in the Civil War, what we know today as land and naval mines and demolition charges were all lumped into the same title of : Torpedo.

While these infernal devices were most commonly used by the troop-poor South, the Union also got into the act. One of their generals, B.Gen Herman Haupt (USMA Class of 1835), was also a respected professor of mathematics and engineering who came up with one of the better ones, designed to destroy railroad and foot bridges as required.

Haupt's torpedo for quickly wrecking wooden bridges. LOC image http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2006676180/

Haupt’s torpedo for quickly wrecking wooden bridges. LOC image Click to big up

I made the following report on how to destroy bridges and locomotive engines expeditiously:

From Civil War Documents.com : General Haupt’s report on his device
Washington, D. C, November 1, 1862.

A simple and expeditious mode of destroying bridges, and rendering locomotive engines useless to an enemy, is often a desideratum. Cavalry may penetrate far into an enemy’s country, may reach bridges forming viaducts on important lines of communication, which, it may be desirable to break effectually; or, in retreat, the destruction of a bridge may be essential to the safety of an army, and yet time may not be sufficient to gather combustibles, or they may not be accessible, or the fire may be extinguished, or the damage may be so slight as to be easily repaired.

What is required is the means of certainly and effectually throwing down a bridge in a period of time not exceeding five minutes, and with apparatus so simple and portable that it can be carried in the pocket or a saddle-bag.

These requirements are fulfilled by a torpedo, which consists simply of a short bolt of seven-eighths inch iron, eight inches long, with head and nut—the head to be two inches in diameter, and about one inch thick. A washer of same size as the head must be placed under the nut at the other end, with a fuse-hole in it. Between the washer and the head is a tin cylinder one and three-quarters inches in diameter, open at both ends, which is filled with powder, and, when the washer and nut are put on, forms a case which encloses it.

In using this torpedo, a hole is bored in a timber; the torpedo (head downwards) is driven in by a stone or billet of wood, and the fuse ignited. The explosion blows the timber in pieces, and, if a main support, brings down the whole structure.

The time required is only that which is necessary to bore a hole with an auger. Ordinary cigar lighters, which burn without flame, and cannot be blown out, are best for igniting the fuse, which should be about two feet long.

For portability, the auger should be short, say thirteen inches, and the handle movable and of same length.

The proper place at which to insert the torpedo is of much consequence. Most of the Virginia bridges are Howe trusses without arches. In this kind of bridge, the destruction of the main braces at one end, and on only one side of a span, will be sufficient to bring down the whole structure. There are usually but two main braces in each panel, and two torpedoes will suffice to throw down a span. Two men can bore the two holes at the same time without interfering with each other.

Cartridges containing a fulminate would be more portable, but they are not always conveniently procurable, and their use is attended with risk of explosion.

It is only necessary to operate at one side and on one end of a bridge. If one side falls, the other side is pulled down with it.

If the structure contains an arch, two additional torpedoes will be required; but in this case it may be equally advantageous to operate upon the lower chord.

Experiments made at Alexandria proved that a timber placed in the position of a main brace, and similarly loaded, was shattered into many pieces, some of which were projected by the force of explosion more than a hundred feet.

To Render Locomotives Unfit for Service: The most expeditious mode is to fire a cannon ball through the boiler. This damage cannot be repaired without taking out all the flues.

The usual mode of disabling engines consists in burning the flues

by letting out the water and making a fire in the fire-box; but this is generally done so imperfectly that the enemy soon gets them in running order.

Cars are Readily Destroyed by Burning: On this subject no instructions are necessary. The destruction of more than four hundred cars by our own troops within the last six months proves that in the work of destroying such property perfection has been attained, and no room left for winning fresh laurels in this field.

The Superintendent of the Orange & Alexandria Military Railroad has instructions to furnish sample torpedoes to officers who may order them.

Address “J. H. Devereux, Superintendent of Orange & Alexandria Railroad, Alexandria, Va.”

H. HAUPT

Brigadier-General,
In Charge of United States Military Railroads

« Older Entries Recent Entries »

laststandonzombieisland

Weapons, Wars, Preparation and Security from a recovering gun nut turned bad writer

Category Archives: mine warfare

Warship Wednesday Feb. 18, 2015 Marshal Massena of Gallipoli

Like this:

Want to buy a Navy trials boat? Cheap?

Like this:

Lost Rebel submarine wolfpack found (maybe)

Like this:

Mine Baby Samuel B Roberts back home for good…

Like this:

Navy wants 20 Up-armored LCS to replace frigates

Like this:

Navy releases more info on Ponce laser

Like this:

Warship Wednesday December 3, 2014, The Hidden Scandinavian Lion

Like this:

Yum! Mines!

Like this:

Combat Gallery Sunday: The martial art of Charles Pears, RI, ROI, RSMA

Like this:

Haupt’s torpedo for quickly wrecking wooden bridges.

Like this:

Category Archives: mine warfare

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: