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High Altitude Stuarts

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A Stuart light tank of an Indian cavalry regiment during the advance on Rangoon, Burma, in April 1945.

No. 9 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit  IWM (IND 4652)

The above Stuart is likely of the 5th Probyn’s Horse: King Edward’s Own Lancers, the light tracks of the 255th Indian Tank Brigade as opposed to the brigade’s two Sherman units (9th Royal Deccan Horse and 116th Royal Armoured Corps (Gordon Highlanders)). Balanced by the motorized infantry from the 4th bn/4th Bombay Grenadiers and 6th bn/7th Rajput Regiment, Priest SP guns of the 18th Field Regiment RA, along with detachments of armored cars, engineers, bridging troops, and medical units, the 255th was a rare armored fist in the liberation of Burma in 1944-45 and later became the 1st (Indian) Armoured Brigade in 1946.

Post-war, the Indian Army still showed much love to its Stuarts, even though the 15-ton light tank, sporting a scant 0.375-inches of armor over much of its hull, was arguably obsolete for most purposes other than reconnaissance even while it was sill in production.

They fought hard against the Pakistanis in 1947-48, setting what is believed (at least by the Indian Army) to be an attitude record for tank combat during the capture of Zola in November 1948. Carefully disassembled and transported to the pass in great secrecy during the build-up, they were reassembled and ran amok at 11,500 feet ASL, much like Hannibal’s war elephants.

Indian Army M5 Stuart light tanks of the 7th Light Cavalry Regiment at Zoji La (Pass of Blizzards) in Ladakh during Operation Bison, November 1948.

The BA-50 is back, apparently

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While Barrett has by far the most name recognition when it comes to portable .50-caliber rifles, there has been another option on (and off) the market for the past 20 years.

Bushmaster recently announced the BA50 is back, baby, and reportedly better than ever.

“Re-engineered to be even more reliable, more durable, and even longer lasting than the original,” says Bushmaster. “New improvements to the bolt design bring effortless bolt operation, with improved extraction and cartridge feeding,” are among the updates.

Standard features include a 29-inch 1:15 twist rate barrel capped with a beefy three-port muzzle brake, a 10-shot detachable magazine, and a Magpul PRS Gen3 adjustable stock. Using a left-hand operated, right-side-eject bolt action that allows the user to keep their right hand on the grip while cycling, the platform has long been known as exceptionally accurate.

Further, the updated rifles will be offered in both black and FDE.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Burke Updates

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A few interesting pieces of news when it comes to everyone’s favorite current class of destroyers.

When it comes to contracts, two recent DoD announcements highlight the very real difference in cost between giving the early Flight I Burkes a service life extension to keep them in the fleet for at least 35 years (which includes baseline nine upgrades through the DDG Modernization program) and the much more extensive MOD 2.0 modernization of “middle-aged” Flight IIA Burkes which includes the new SPY-6 radar and hulking AN/SLQ-32(V)7 system.

Thus:

USS Pinckney (DDG 91) Arleigh Burke-class Flight IIA guided missile destroyer leaving San Diego after a two-year DDG MOD 2.0 upgrade with SEWIP Block 3 – November 7, 2023, via the San Diego Warship Cam

For reference, DDG 56 entered service in 1994– making her 30 years young– while DDG 97 came along in 2005.

Emphasis mine:

BAE Systems – San Diego Ship Repair, San Diego, California, is awarded a $177,821,136 firm-fixed-price, undefinitized contract modification to previously awarded undefinitized contract action N00024-24-C-4423 for the repair, maintenance, and modernization of the USS Halsey (DDG 97), a Chief of Naval Operations Fiscal 2024 Depot Modernization Period (DMP). The scope of this procurement includes all labor, supervision, facilities, equipment, production, testing, and quality assurance necessary to prepare for and accomplish the USS Halsey (DDG 97) Fiscal 2024 DMP. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $225,596,312. Work will be performed in San Diego, California, and is expected to be completed by April 2026. Fiscal 2024 other procurement, Navy funds in the amount of $82,826,616 (98.3%); fiscal 2024 operation and maintenance, Navy (OMN) funds in the amount of $1,409,569 (1.7%); and fiscal 2024 defense-wide procurement funds in the amount of $21,203(.03%), will be obligated at the time of award, of which $1,409,569 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was not competitively procured, but in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 3204 (a) (3) (Industrial Mobilization). Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-24-C-4423).

Vigor Marine LLC, Portland, Oregon, is awarded a $76,102,395 firm-fixed-price contract action for maintenance, modernization, and repair of USS John S McCain (DDG 56) Fiscal 2025 Docking Selected Restricted Availability. The scope of this acquisition includes all labor, supervision, equipment, production, testing, facilities, and quality assurance necessary to prepare for and accomplish the Chief of Naval Operations Availability for critical maintenance, modernization, and repair programs. This contract includes options that, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $84,194,754. Work will be performed in Portland, Oregon, and is expected to be completed by November 2025. Fiscal 2024 other procurement, Navy funds for $76,102,395. This contract was competitively procured using full and open competition via the System for Award (SAM) website, with two offers received. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity (N0002424C4407).

For those keeping track at home, the keel for the future USS William Charette (DDG 130), the 80th Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, was laid during a ceremony last week at General Dynamic Bath Iron Works (BIW). The fifth Flight III Burke, she is expected to be commissioned around 2029. The last Burke on the schedule, the future USS Michael G. Mullen (DDG 144) will be the 93rd of her class.

190318-N-DM308-001 WASHINGTON (March 18, 2019) An artist rendering of the future Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS William Charette (DDG 131). (U.S. Navy photo illustration/Released)

Meanwhile, money is flowing to bring the planned Burke replacement, DDG(X), online, scheduled to enter production in 2032 (don’t hold your breath):

Huntington Ingalls Inc., Ingalls Shipbuilding Division, Pascagoula, Mississippi, is awarded a cost-plus fixed fee not-to-exceed $10,601,959 undefinitized order to previously awarded contract (N00024-22-C-2319) for the computer aided design product lifecycle management proof of concept Phase Two in support of the DDG(X) Guided Missile Destroyer Design. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and is expected to be completed by February 2026. Funding in the amount of $7,951,469 was obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The statutory authority for this sole source award is in accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii) – only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington D.C., is the contracting activity (N00024-22-C-2319).

Revisiting the Wrecks of Massacre Bay

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Attu Island in the windswept Western Aleutians, was, briefly, the frontline in the war in the Pacific.

Occupied by the forces of the Empire of Japan for 458 days (7 June 1942 to 8 September 1943) it was the first time a foreign power set up camp in the continental U.S. since the War of 1812.

Massacre Bay, Attu

OS2U Kingfisher of VS-56 over Massacre Bay Area, Attu, Aleutian Islands, 16 November 1943. NARA 80-GK-1536

Last month, a 10-day expedition on the dive ship Norseman II, led by East Carolina University, in conjunction with NOAA and the Aleutian Islands WWII National Monument, surveyed portions of Attu’s completely undocumented underwater battlefield.

They discovered and mapped the underwater graves of the 3,478-ton American cable ship SS Dellwood, which struck an underwater pinnacle on 19 July 1943 during the liberation of the island and sank in Massacre Bay off Attu, as well as two Japanese freighters, the 6,100-ton Kotohira Maru and 4,016-ton Cheribon Maru, which had been sunk by USAAF 11th Air Force B-24s on 6 January 1943 and by B-26s on Thanksgiving Day 1942, respectively.

Cheribon Maru, who took 21 of her crew and Army gunners with her, was found just over 1,000 feet from Attu’s shore, while Kotorhira Maru, which had gone down with 120 of her crew and embarked personnel, is about two miles off the island. They are considered the “only two Japanese military ships believed to be situated within U.S. state waters.”

Dellwood

Dellwood

Kotohira Maru

“Overall, the project marks the beginning of what is sure to be an increased focus on the oft-forgotten Aleutian Island campaign and by extension Alaska’s World War II history,” said Dr. Jason Raupp, ECU assistant professor of history in the maritime studies program.

Roses and Beantown

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Some 80 years ago this week, a great view of the brand-new U.S. Navy Cleveland-class light cruiser USS Pasadena (CL-65) snapped from a Squadron ZP-11 blimp while underway off Boston at 1400 hrs on 21 July 1944. The ship’s position was 42 45’N, 70 50’W, course 110 degrees. Pasadena is painted in Camouflage Measure 32, Design 24d. Note two Kingfisher floatplanes on her stern and her large surface search radar

The official U.S. Navy photograph is now in the collections of the National Archives. Catalog #: 80-G-237944

A 15,000-ton “light” cruiser, CL-65 was the second naval vessel to carry the name of the California Rose City and was built by Bethlehem Steel in Quincy, Massachusetts, and was constructed in just 488 days, commissioning on 8 June 1944.

Following her shakedown cruise off the East Coast and in the Caribbean, Pasadena joined TF 38, the fast carrier force, at Ulithi just before Thanksgiving 1944 and was soon neck deep in operations against Luzon and Formosa in support of the Philippine campaign. She would earn five battle stars during World War II and witnessed the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay– anchored alongside Missouri– some 451 days after she was commissioned.

Unlike many of her sisters, she was able to take her war paint off and at least spend a few years in peacetime service before she was decommissioned on 12 January 1950, some 1,593 days after VJ Day.

Pasadena (CL-65) entering Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, during an NROTC Midshipmen’s cruise in the Summer of 1948. The photograph was released for publication on 9 August 1948. NH 98201.

Pasadena lingered in Pacific Reserve Fleet mothballs at Bremerton for 22 years– somehow skipping the Korean War– and was then sold for scrap, her name freed up for a Los Angeles-class attack submarine (SSN 752) that had her keep laid in 1986.

SIG Hits Both Retro and Ultra Vibes with new P226 models

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I recently attended SIG’s Next event in New Hampshire last week and thought it was interesting that, among the boatload of new products introduced, the company debuted two very different models of the same pistol– the P226.

The P226 was designed in 1984 – before SIG had even established a presence in the U.S. – to compete for the coveted XM9 Service Pistol Trials to replace the much-loved but aging M1911A1. While the P226 was only narrowly edged out by the Beretta 92 over an issue of cost per unit, the U.S. Navy SEALs would soon adopt the pistol and use it for decades. Well beyond this employment by the country’s frogmen, the P226 rapidly became the sidearm of choice for law enforcement customers and savvy consumers – not to mention hundreds of movies, games, and TV shows.

With their smooth dust covers (sans accessory rail) and pebbled grips, for instance in this specimen from the Vault, the old-school P226 is instantly recognizable.

As the standard P226s cataloged by SIG today have evolved into something that outwardly looks a good bit different from the pistols of the 1980s and 90s, the company has gone retro for a limited run of 40th-anniversary guns that share all the same feature set of those original handguns to include an alloy frame, double-stack 15+1 round magazines, a double-action/single-action trigger system, and a 4.4-inch barrel.

The P226 40th Anniversary Model. Rather than plastic like the originals, the grips are special aluminum models supplied by Hogue. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The P226 XFive Reserve

The new P226 XFive Reserve carries many of the top-tier features of the all-steel American XFive line including an extended beavertail grip, undercut trigger guard, extended magwell, and a factory Delta Point Pro/RMR footprint while still keeping suppressor height XRay3 day/night sights. It also has an SAO system with a three-position AX3 trigger installed that is fully adjustable for pull weight and overtravel while the trigger shoe is removable and adjustable for length of pull.

However, while the standard P226 XFive is all matte-brushed stainless, the new Reserve variant carries a high-polish DLC coating on its stainless slide and frame, a look complemented by a blacked-out set of intricate GridLOK grip panels. Further, to help tame recoil on this 48-ounce (!) 9mm, the slide is fitted with an integral compensator/expansion chamber akin to that seen on the P320 XTen Comp.

The P226 XFive Reserve, with a high polish DLC coating rather than SIG’s more pedestrian nitron finish, is stunning. (Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Sunday Mass on Omaha Beach

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80 Years Ago Today. 23 June 1944. Original Caption: “Combat engineers kneel in prayer at a mass conducted by Chaplain (1st Lt.) Paul J. McGovern, Boston, Mass., former pastor of St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Danvers, Mass. The first American cemetery to be constructed in France is in the center background.”

Original Field Number: ETO-HQ-44-5908. SC No. 111-SC-400327. Photographer: Weintraub. National Archives Identifier 176888746

Note the barrage balloons over the beachhead to the right, the Dodge WC truck in the distance, persistent barbed wire entanglements, and what looks like a DUKW to the left.

Closer views and from different angles.

The longest, most heavily defended, and bloodiest of the five D-Day beach sectors in Normandy, U.S. forces suffered 2,400 casualties to take the sand and had 34,000 troops ashore by nightfall.

Enhancing Excellence: Walther’s Meister Manufaktur Program

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I recently hit the road and visited Carl Walther’s state-of-the-art factory in Ulm, Germany for a factory tour that also included a peek behind the curtain of the gunmaker’s custom and engraving shop. 

Those who know Walther are well aware that the company has long produced exhibition and presentation-grade pistols for special occasions and to meet customer requests. Just drink these in.

More in my column at Guns.com. 

Near Toronto? Time for CIAS!

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A Canadair CF-5 (officially designated the CF-116 Freedom Fighter) Serial No. 116742 from 433 “Porcupine” ÉTAC squadron based at CFB Bagotville, Quebec flies over Toronto, in September 1974. The pilot is doing a preview of the high-speed passes its squadron will make at the annual Canadian International Air Show (CIAS). Note the unfinished 1,800-foot-high CN Tower in the background.

(Toronto Star Archive)

Celebrating its 75th Anniversary this year, the Canadian International Air Show is North America’s longest-running airshow, and tickets go on sale this week.

The CN Tower still dominates the skyline.

Meanwhile, the top Freedom Fighter airframe, as detailed by Silverhawkauthor, was:

Originally ordered as RCAF 14742, re-marked before completion. Delivered directly to CFB Cold Lake, Alberta, where it served with No. 419 Squadron. With 433e L’Escadre de Combat when it visited Lossiemouth, UK in November 1975, and California in 1983. With No. 434 Squadron at CFB Chatham, NB in 1988. Back to No. 419 Squadron, with them in July 1989. Became instructional airframe 900B on 3 April 1993, used as a cockpit procedures trainer. In storage at Bristol Aerospace, Winnipeg, in December 1994. Reported damaged in handling accident at CFD Mountain View in the summer of 1995. Front fuselage in storage at CFB Cold Lake, Alberta in May 2006. Still there in 2009, stored for Cold Lake Museum. Nose section on display at Cold Lake Museum by 2010. Reported sold to Botswana, but that may just have been pieces of the airframe for spares.

 

Bonnie Dick Hits the Water

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Some 80 years ago today, we see this great original Kodachrome of the last of the original “short bow” (just 872 feet long versus her later 888 foot sisters) type Essex-class fast fleet carriers, USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) sliding down the building ways, as she is launched at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, on 29 April 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives, 80-G-K-3888(Color).

Commissioned on 26 November 1944, “Bonnie Dick” was the first ship in the modern Navy to commemorate the name of John Paul Jones’s famous Revolutionary War frigate– and she got in enough licks in during WWII to earn one Battlestar.

Of note, she was a night fighter carrier, equipped with F6F-5Ns of VF-(N)-91 and TBM-3Ds of VT-N-91 for her 8 June-15 August 1945 war cruise.

One of her “Nightcats,” Ensign Phillip T. McDonald, while flying a dusk CAP- one of the last in the war– over one of the task Force “watchdog” radar pickets, west of Mito, on 13 August 1945 shot down two Ki-45 (Nick) and two P1Y (Frances) as well as two more probable, just missing out on earning the double coveted ace-in-a-day and night-fighter-ace monikers (all though he is listed as one of the Top F6F Night Fighters in terms of score). The final score for all of VF(N)-91 was 9-2-0, all occurring between 1820 and 1915 hours.

Her WWII cruise

Bonnie Dick was much more active in Korea, carrying the F9F Panthers and AD-4 Skyraiders of first Carrier Air Group 102 (CVG-102) then CVG-7.

Stretched and given the SCB-125 overhaul in the mid-1950s, BHR was in the thick of the air war off Vietnam from 1964 onward, completing six deployments.

USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) with her crew spelling out Hello San Diego, while en route to San Diego on 9 February 1963. She returned to San Diego, her home port, on 11 February, following a Western Pacific cruise that had begun seven months earlier, on 12 July 1962. Aircraft on her flight deck include three E-1, 11 F-8, six F-3, 13 A-4, and nine A-1 types. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. Catalog #: NH 97343

Two U.S. Navy CVG-21 airwing pilots on the flight deck escalator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31). Escalators were added to Essex class carriers during their 1950s modernizations as ready rooms were moved below the hanger deck level for more protection– a lesson from the kamikaze era when hits caused high mortality rates in pilots waiting in ready rooms. Also, pilots had more gear in the jet age than back in the F6F era. U.S. Navy photo from the Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) 1956-57 cruise book

Completing her last deployment to Yankee Station on 12 November 1970 she was decommissioned the next year and, after spending 21 years on red lead row as a source for potential spare parts for the similarly laid-up but slightly younger USS Oriskany (which the Navy saw as a mobilization asset through the Reagan years), she was scrapped in 1992.

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