Category Archives: US Army

A Couple of Batteries of Waterlogged Artillery return ‘home’ to Savannah

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What began as a dredging effort to deepen Savannah Harbor near old Fort Jackson became one of the most significant underwater archaeological discoveries in the city’s history.

The artifacts have now been unveiled at their new home, the Savannah History Museum. In early 2021, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crews working on the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project unexpectedly pulled a cannon from the riverbed. Another scoop brought up two more, prompting crews to halt dredging and call in archaeologists and divers.

The resulting recovery effort uncovered 21 cannon and additional artifacts, including anchor fragments and pieces of a ship’s bell, from the bottom of the Savannah River, where they had been hidden for nearly 250 years.

Some cannon were recovered in pieces, and two fragmented examples displayed at the Savannah History Museum served as placeholders while also showing the effects of corrosion without proper conservation.

In February 2023, 17 cannon and several other artifacts were sent to the Conservation Research Laboratory at Texas A&M University. Over more than three years, experts removed corrosion, stabilized the iron, extracted wood plugs, paper wads, cannonballs, and intact gunpowder wads from 14 of the cannon, and conducted scientific analysis.

The 17 fully conserved cannon and related artifacts returned to Savannah on June 3, 2026. On July 2, after an official unveiling ceremony, they went on public display at the Savannah History Museum in the exhibit “Loyalists and Liberty: Savannah in the American Revolution.”

Lifting Battle Weary Eyes to the Heavens

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Some 60 years ago this week. A well-traveled paratrooper with good reason to wonder why.

Official caption: “14 August 1966. SP4 Ruediger Richter (Columbus, Georgia), 4th Bn., 503 Inf., 173 Abn Bde (Separate), lifts his battle-weary eyes to the heavens, as if to ask why? SGT. Daniel E. Spencer (Bend, Oregon) stares down at their fallen comrade. The day’s battle ended, they silently await the helicopter which will evacuate their comrade from the jungle-covered hills in Long Khanh Province.”

By Pfc. L. Paul Epley, 1966 National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (111-SC-635974)

Richter, 25 years old at the time, had a long and winding history before the above image was captured. One that had included surviving Allied bombers in WWII as a youth, running away to the sea at age 14, then accepting a “join or go to prison” stint in the French Foreign Legion under a new name, before heading to America.

From a 2014 article, by which time he was a 73-year-old grandpa in Georgia, finally in a quiet time.

Born in Berlin in February 1941, when Hitler’s Nazi troops already had been marauding across Europe for years, Richter’s earliest memories are of bodies outside bombed-out bunkers and bright flares dropped by Allied bombers.

“We called them Christmas trees. They were beautiful,” he said. “You could hear the sirens going off all over Berlin.”

Richter said when the war ended in 1945 and the Allies sliced the city into sectors, he was fortunate enough to live in the American district, where GIs were a soft touch for a young German boy begging for food. With few options in Berlin, Richter said, he joined the German merchant marine at age 14. That three-year stint ended when his ship docked in Calais, France, where he and other sailors were arrested after a bar fight.

“They put us in a dungeon with water dropping down, just like in a movie. There was just a little window with bars,” he said.

After three days in lockup, a judge gave the penniless Richter a choice: Stay in prison or join the French Foreign Legion, which was battling rebels in French-controlled North Africa. He was too young to join legally at age 17, Richter said, so he was given a new name — Horst Timm — and allowed to enlist.

Richter does not know how many men he killed with the Legion, or how many night-long marches he made through Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. But after five years, he left the Legion and regained his true name. An aunt and uncle living in Columbus suggested he come to America to restart his life, so he did in 1964.

Richter grew bored with his job constructing helicopter landing pads, so he enlisted in the Army in 1965.

EOTECH, B.E. Meyers seen in more NGSW Spaces

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While the Vortex M1157 Fire Control System is the electro-optic of record for the Army’s 250,000 Next Generation Squad Weapons in rifle (M7), carbine (XM8), and LMG (M250) variants to the tune of a fantastical $2.7 billion, Big Green is also looking at other, more modular, options under what is being termed the “M7 Surrogate Fire Control Program.”

The Vortex NGSW-FC has a direct view 1-8×30 magnification and combines a laser rangefinder and ballistic computer in an overlaid display for increased first-round hit probability. Even if the high-tech add-ons take a dirt nap, the backup etched reticle should still allow the sight to work as akin to an LPVO. (Graphic: PEO Soldier)

EOTECH just picked up an award for 14,000 sets of OGL (On-Gun Laser) systems, HWS (Holographic Weapon Sights), and compatible magnifiers.

The EOTECH OGL (On-Gun Laser) aiming and illumination system mounted on a rifle rail, as part of recent U.S. Army modernization and surrogate optics evaluations

The moto video on the OGL:

Plus, and this may or may not be folded into the contract, EOTECH just introduced a CUAS (Counter Unmanned Aircraft Sight) reticle to its existing EXPS3 and XPS3 HWS models, which you could see being deployed downrange very rapidly.

Similarly, B.E. Meyers has also been awarded a contract for 8,936 DAGIR‑V1 systems. The DAGIR is an infrared and visible aiming and illumination laser system designed for multi-platform applications.

Sure, they look more 2026 than 2036, but it seems like they may have a shorter road to realization.

Army Jungleers making a GOYA comeback

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The Army is getting a newfound interest in jungle warfare.

COL Keith W. Benedict and CPT Christian M. Hert have a great article in Line of Departure (How Panama’s Crucible is Yet Again Testing Soldiers’ Mettle) detailing how legendary jungle training has returned to former Fort Sherman, Panama– now a Panamanian aeronaval base, Cristóbal Colón– after more than two decades of hiatus.

Before the doors closed in 1999 and the course moved to Hawaii, the Fort Sherman-based “Green Hell” Jungle Operations Training Center (JOTC) was training up to 9,000 personnel annually and awarding the Jungle Expert patch to successful units. JOTC also offered a 10-day air crew survival course and a four-week engineers’ course.

Today the course is back as an 18-day event, using lots of old-school sweat, blood, and mud, blended with new technology.

U.S. service members and Panamanian partners, all candidates of Jungle Operations Training Course – Panama, make it to the finish line of the green mile at Aeronaval Base Cristóbal Colón, Panamá, July 2, 2026. The event tested participants’ endurance, teamwork, and ability to move equipment through physically demanding jungle terrain under stressful conditions. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Carolyn Dodge)

Moreover, the Army has announced it is making the Jungle Tab, retroactively to 1990, a permanent tab.

The GOYAs Return

The U.S. Army is reactivating the historic 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion as a full regiment, with sequenced ceremonies at Fort Benning and in Panama, set for 14 August.

The new unit will comprise four battalions to support joint training under the United States Army Western Hemisphere Command– which in itself was stood up last December, uniting U.S. Army Forces Command, U.S. Army North, and U.S. Army South into a single, four-star operational headquarters.

The 551st was one of the independent PIBs established by the Army in 1942-43, formed at Fort Kobbe, Panama Canal Zone, on 26 November 1942. After a stint in Panama, they were sent for more training at Camp Mackall, North Carolina, and then moved up to recently liberated airfields in Italy in 1944 to join the 1st Airborne Task Force. By that time, they had earned the nickname GOYAs, which, depending on who you talked to, meant “Great Outstanding Young Americans” or “Get off Your Ass(es).”

On 15 August 1944 at 1804hrs local time, the 46 officers and 796 NCOs and enlisted “GOYAs” of the 551st PIB conducted their only combat parachute assault during WWII into Drop Zone “A” at Valbourges near Le Muy in Southern France during Operation Dragoon.

Marching 5km through the night, they liberated the French town of Draguignan the next morning, fighting on foot all the way into the Alps.

By the Battle of the Bulge, they had been attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, and the 96 remaining men from the 551st PIB, not dead or in hospital, were folded into the 82nd in March 1945, erasing the hard-fighting “Lost Battalion.”

Forgotten by history, they only recived their hard-earned Presidential Unit Citation in 2001.

It will be nice to see the old 551st returned to service– this time with Jungle Tabs.

Copenhagen Joes

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Filmed 75 years ago in August 1951, this historical video covers the visit to the country of then five-star Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, who just four months prior had been named the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

The occasion of the visit was for Ike to stress how important Denmark was to the new NATO alliance, expressed through the handover of surplus Republic F-84 Thunderjets to the rebuilding Danish Air Force, which would soon be bolstered by 240 new F-84Gs over the next four years– a huge upgrade from their previous force of 40~ WWII surplus RAF Spitfires handed over in 1948.

An especially interesting part of the video for me– which incidentally is about 60 percent in English– is the Danish Army honor guard for the occasion.

Outfitted in British-pattern wool uniforms and American M1 helmets, M1 Garand rifles (adopted as the M/50 GarandGevær) and canvas-holstered Swiss-made SIG P210 pistols (adopted as the M/49), they are very exotic in a sense. Danish by way of Portsmouth, Neuhausen, and Springfield.

The Danes would continue to use the Garand as their primary infantry arm until 1975, when it was replaced by the German-made HK G3, adopted as the Gevær M/75.

Garands would continue to soldier on with the Danish as a second-line and Home Guard rifle through the 1990s, when it would finally be replaced by Colt Canada C7 (M16A2) rifles and C8 (M4A1) carbines, which would be adopted as the Gevær M/95 and Karabin M/96, respectively. As such, the Danes would be the last Western European NATO member to field John Garand’s vaunted 30.06.

Today, the Danish military is expanding once again, waking from a 35-year nap after the end of the Cold War. The country is now drafting women, upping the annual intake from 5,000 to 7,500 18-year-olds, and extending mandatory service from four months to 11.

See this interesting 10-minute doc on conscription in the country recently published by NATO:

Yankees Across the ETO, 1944-45

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And in a follow-up to yesterday’s post on the ‘Minutemen’ of the old 328th, here is a second piece from the TEC4 William Faucett collection: the Grapevine unit newspaper of the 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division from October 1945, which details the outfit’s march from Utah Beach to Czechoslovakia and Austria. The 328th was one of the 26th’s three infantry regiments, along with the 101st and 104th, all of which are touched on.

Fresh off the scanner!

These are large images, so be patient.

Remembering the ‘Minutemen’ of the old 328th

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The U.S. 328th Infantry Regiment was a war baby.

Initially stood up at Camp (now Fort) Gordon on 25 August 1917, it made it “Over There” as part of the 82nd (All American) Infantry Division, back when they were “legs” and fought in the Lorraine, St. Mihiel, and Meuse-Argonne offensives. One of their members you may have heard of was one Sgt. Alvin York.

Reformed as a USAR unit in the 1920s, it was carved away from the 82nd in 1943 when the Army switched from four-regiment “square” divisions to three-regiment “triangular” divisions. This saw the 328th ordered into active federal service on 12 February 1943, and shifted to the forming 26th (Yankee) Infantry Division in preparation for deployment to Europe.

That brings us to our tale here today.

A good family friend is the septuagenarian daughter of the late William Earl Faucett of Warrior, Alabama, who served in the 328th for the duration of WWII, ending his enlistment in 1946 as a TEC4.

Among TEC4 Faucett’s war chest was this great booklet, compiled by Sgt Jermoen Theise and printed by Verlagsdruckerei Weis (Weis Publishing House) in Austria in early 1946, before the 328th came home. The unit was disbanded in July 1946, some 80 years ago this month.

I scanned it in preparation for sending the scans to the 26th Infantry Museum and the CMH, but thought you guys would also appreciate it.

You can thank TEC4 Faucett for keeping it safe for decades and his daughter for continuing to do so, in his honor.

 

 

That time the Navy escorted one of the deadliest convoys of the Cold War

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Operation Steel Box/Golden Python kicked off some 36 years ago this month, on 26 July 1990. It was about as joint as can be, and for good reason.

It had to move legacy stockpiles of 100,000 Sarin (GB) and VX (nerve agent) filled chemical munitions, specifically M121 155mm and M426 8-inch unitary chemical projectiles, from their igloos in West Germany, some 13,000 miles around the globe, to remote Johnston Atoll in the Pacific for destruction.

It was believed there was enough agent to easily kill millions of people if deployed, only limited by the density of the local population.

The thing is, the shells were increasingly unstable and occasionally leaked or broke, many having been filled in the 1950s and subjected to 25 years of winter freezes in Germany.

A pallet of M121/A 155mm chemical artillery shells sits in its shipping crate before being unloaded during Operation Steel Box. SSGT. Val Gempis/330-CFD-DF-ST-92-02497

The Army leg of it (it was their gas after all) saw 15 bunkers at the classified Sonderwaffenlager Site 59 in Clausen emptied into 28 road convoys by the 330th Ordnance Company (EOD) with the 110th Military Police Company riding shotgun and shuttled to the nearby Miesau Army Depot. Air-tight and haz-mat rated Secondary Steel Containers (SSC) were used to overpack the standard shipping pallets.

The munitions were loaded onto a special ammunition train for the 400-mile rail journey from Miesau to the port of Nordenham, shadowed by 80 West German police and U.S. Army vehicles which closed off each crossing to avoid accidents.

Waiting at the North Sea-adjacent port were the MSC-operated 30,000-ton 1,230-TEU auxiliary crane (sister) ships SS Gopher State (T-ACS-4) and SS Flickertail State (T-ACS-5), standing by to receive their moody cargo.

SS Gopher State (T-ACS-4) MSC photo

The ships’ crews had been given weeks of extra training in chemical response and firefighting, and the vessels had been specially modified for the mission at a cost of $53 million.

From a 1991 GAO report:

To monitor the cargo, the ships were equipped with three different systems for testing the atmosphere for the presence of chemical agents. These systems used special ventilation equipment, various air sampling devices, and on-board laboratories for sample analysis. The ship holds and hatch covers were modified to be airtight. Empty containers were loaded along the sides of the cargo holds, thus providing a buffer zone to protect the cargo in the event of a collision and to prevent the cargo from shifting during rough seas. The ships were also outfitted with collective protection systems that provided a constant flow of clean filtered air to the crew accommodations and most working areas. This protected these areas from contamination in the event of an accidental release of chemical agents. Other safety modifications included decontamination stations and upgrades to the ships’ medical facilities and firefighting/damage control systems.

Once loaded, the sea trip would be non-stop to avoid any possible disasters in a seaport and would skip the constricted Panama Canal by routing around Cape Horn at the tip of South America.

To keep tabs on the cargo, the auxiliaries carried 12 armed and MOPP-gear-equipped Army Technical Escort personnel on each ship.

For insurance, the two grey-hulled auxiliaries would be escorted for their 46-day trip by the nuclear-powered (for obvious reasons) Cold War veteran cruisers USS Bainbridge (CGN-25) and USS Truxtun (CGN-35).

USS Bainbridge firing a Harpoon in Exercise Red Reef III, 10 January 1992. DN-ST-92-07301

A port beam view of the nuclear-powered guided missile-cruiser USS Truxtun (CGN 35) underway steaming to her homeport of San Diego. 3 January 1989. DN-SC-90-02332

Single-class vessels built in the 1960s as 9,000-ton destroyer leaders then reclassed as cruisers, Bainbridge and Truxtun were more than capable of stopping any attempted hijacking on the high seas, carrying between them a 5″/45 Mk 42 gun, three twin Mk 10 launchers for a mix of 140 Standard SM-2 and ASROC missiles, 16 Harpoon AShMs, 10 ASW torpedo tubes, and four CIWS.

While not Aegis ships, they had long-range and advanced SPS-48 and SPS-52 3D radar sets as well as big SQS-26 sonar domes, so no rogue ship was going to get a drop on them. Their fire control systems allowed them to track and engage up to 16 targets simultaneously.

An eye in the sky was provided by Truxtun’s embarked SH-2F Sea Sprite, while Bainbridge had a helicopter deck but no hangar. Meanwhile, long-range land-based Navy and Air Force assets provided frequent overflights.

You can be sure that, in the event of some sort of runaway incident aboard one of the ships that couldn’t be contained, the crews would be evacuated and the Harpoons would fly, relying on the deep, dark waters to become the ultimate containment vessel.

It was slow going, averaging just over 11 knots, wallowing along monotonously in the same way that WWII convoys crept across oceans, moving at the speed of the slowest vessel.

Shoving off on 22 September, they arrived at Johnston Atoll on 6 November, without incident, despite experiencing several severe storms while “rounding the Cape.”

Replenishment food stores and boiler fuel oil for the auxiliaries were transferred underway.

Offloading took place over 12 days, with a commercial tug moving the Gophers around the small terminal while the recently commissioned 110-foot Island-class patrol boat, USCGC Kiska (WPB-1336), stood by the littoral to provide security.

She had steamed there independently from her station at Hilo, Hawaii, some 900 miles north, and had cleared the local waters a week before the task force’s arrival.

The Coast Guard large patrol craft USCGC Kiska (WPB-1336) ties up at the pier upon its arrival for Operation Steel Box, 1 November 1990. The Kiska is in place to provide security during the delivery of chemical munitions to the atoll. SSGT James M. Bowman/330-CFD-DF-ST-92-02502

USCGC Kiska, Johnston Atoll, Operation Steel Box. DF-ST-92-02501

Coast Guardsmen aboard a rigid-hull inflatable boat pass through the harbor as the Military Sealift Command auxiliary crane ship Gopher State (T-ACS-4) is tied up to the pier behind them during Operation Steel Box. The Gopher State is delivering chemical munitions to the U.S. Army Chemical Activity on the atoll for storage and disposal. SSGT James M. Bowman/330-CFD-DF-ST-92-02442

Note the all-important MOPP gear bag and clean shave! “A soldier from the 58th Military Police Company stands guard with an M-16A2 rifle as a convoy of M-878 yard tractor trucks carrying containers of chemical munitions prepares to depart from the pier area during Operation Steel Box. The trucks will carry the containers to the U.S. Army Chemical Activity on the atoll, where the munitions will be held for storage and disposal. The munitions were transported to Johnston Atoll aboard Military Sealift Command ships.” SSGT Val Gempis/330-CFD-DF-ST-92-02487

Soldiers (the “Red Hats” of the 267th Chemical Company) prepare to unload a crate of 155mm chemical artillery shells before placing them in a storage bunker during Operation Steel Box. The munitions, which were transported to the atoll aboard Military Sealift Command ships, will be stored in the bunker until their disposal. SSGT Val Gempis/330-CFD-DF-ST-92-02496

Steel Box concluded on 18 November, with no leaks or security breaches, and after the ships left, the “Red Hats” of the 267th Chemical Company– one of the only Chem Branch units with its own attached MP platoon (of the 58th Military Police Company)– slowly but safely disposed of the projectiles over the next decade.

By 2003, the facility itself had been demolished, and the 267th was deactivated the next year. The 58th is in garrison at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.

Steel Box was among Bainbridge and Truxton’s final hurrahs before being decommissioned in 1995-1996 and recycled.

Kiska was decommissioned in Guam in October 2020, after 30 years of service, then transferred to Ukraine as Viacheslav Kubrak (P194), current status unknown.

Both Flickertail State and Gopher State outlived them all. Held in the MARAD’s Ready Reserve Force along with sister SS Cornhusker State (T-ACS-6) at Newport News, Gopher State is subject to recall on a five-day notice, despite both being over 50 years young. Meanwhile, Flickertail State is held in the National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) at Alameda so that her spare parts can be stripped for her two sister ships.

CMP to Sell (Modded) Military Surplus M14s

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A Soldier with “Sykes Regulars,” 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, fires an M14 Rifle on March 7, 2019, at Nueva Ecija Province, Philippines. (Photo: U.S. Army)

The country’s clearinghouse for milsurp rifles and pistols announced over the weekend that a collectible American battle rifle will soon be available.

The notice from CMP:

By special authorization, the CMP is pleased to announce the future availability and sale of surplus M14 rifles. Prior to sale, the rifles will be modified to be permanently and irreversibly semi-automatic rifles. The modified semi-automatic M14s will be fully compliant with CMP enabling legislation authorizing the transfer and sale of military surplus .30 caliber rifles.

The CMP anticipates first order fulfilment in the late 2026 to early 2027 timeframe. More details will be published on the M14 order submission process, pricing, limits and sales channels (mail order and physical stores) at a later date. Proceeds from the sale of these and other historic firearms allow the CMP to teach firearms safety and marksmanship, conduct competitions, and provide scholarships and youth programs, nationwide.

Adopted in the late 1950s to replace not only the Garand, but also the M1 Carbine, M3 Grease Gun, and M1918 BAR, the Springfield Armory-designed M14 in 7.62 NATO was America’s battle rifle for a generation.

However, as the McNamara-era Pentagon looked to Vietnam, and followed the Air Force’s lead in 1963 by fielding Eugene Stoner’s much handier AR-15 as the M16, the M14’s time in the spotlight was limited, and production ended in 1965.

The 7.62 NATO M14, center, was the bridge between the .30-06 M1 Garand, top, and the 5.56 NATO M16, bottom. (Photo: Sgt. James Stanfield/USMC Museum)

U.S. Sen.  Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo) said that 100,000 M14s would be made available to CMP, with agreement from the Army and ATF already secured.

“Proceeds will fund marksmanship training and youth programs nationwide, including at the new Wyoming State Shooting Complex in Cody, which will partner with CMP,” said Lummis.

While over 5 million Garands were produced, only 1.38 million M14s were made by H&R, Springfield Armory, TRW, and Winchester between 1959 and 1965. Of those, something like 479,000 were fed to “Captain Crunch” at Anniston Army Depot in the late 1990s.

Another 321,000 were given away as military aid over the years to countries such as South Vietnam, Estonia, Lithuania, Turkey, Greece, the Philippines, and Ukraine. Other rifles, partially demilled, were issued to JROTC units for drill purposes.

Further, the M14 was never fully removed from U.S. military use and remains in limited service with a variety of units, including the Army’s “Old Guard” on ceremonial duties in the Washington, D.C area, with the Service Academies for drill use, with assorted EOD units to deliver disabling fire at distance, and as line throwers and service rifles aboard Navy ships.

The M14 remains in service with honor guard units such as the Army’s Old Guard, left, assorted Service Academies as drill rifles, and with EOD units and in the small arms lockers of hundreds of Navy surface ships. (Photos: Department of War via DVIDS)

The Bigger Deal Behind the Announcement

The importance of this news goes far past some M14s hitting the collectors’ market.

The ATF has long enforced a “once a machine gun, always a machine gun” policy when it comes to receivers, meaning they could only ever become scrap or remain an NFA item forever. Presumably, CMP has cleared the planned conversion of these surplus select-fire M14s with the ATF to be “civilian-legal” and non-NFA items, which could be part of the “Special Authorization” mentioned in the press release.

This could open the door to apply the same logic to the millions of surplus 5.56 firearms (M16A1, A2, A4s, etc.) in military storage, provided Congress tweaks the organization’s charter to include that caliber (currently the CMP is only allowed to sell surplus U.S. military .30-caliber and .22-caliber rifles).

Going past CMP, it could signal the end of the once/always standard, which could mean big things in terms of importing and commercial sales.

Price?

The question on everyone’s mind is, what about the cost? Well, CMP runs Garands currently for $1,150, and those are reconditioned guns using reclaimed drill rifle receivers with new barrels and furniture. Every other grade is sold out. The popular commentary on the M14 pricing, which hasn’t been announced, ranges from $4,000 to $6,000 on assorted CMP and collector forums, likely with a lottery system such as used in early batches of surplus M1911 sales.

This could make brand-new cast receiver Springfield M1As, which start at about $1,500 for base models, a good alternative. Even Fulton and LRB-made M14 clones, using forged receivers, are out there for under $4K.

RIMPAC 26 SINKEX: Final Cruise of USS Peleliu and USS Mobile Bay

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To cap RIMPAC 26, two large SINKEXs took place, targeting the long decommissioned Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship ex-USS Peleliu (LHA-5) and the more recently laid up Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser ex-USS Mobile Bay (CG 53).

The event took place in deep water (+6,000 feet) north of Hawaii to keep the broken wrecks safe from unwelcome eyes.

Of course, Big Navy did what Big Navy is well-known for, deep-sixing ships De Soto style that some on Capitol Hill would like to see returned to service. Peleliu, the last of her class, had been laid up since 2015 but drew interest as a short-term replacement for Bon Homme Richard for a few years until a new ‘phib could be completed. Likewise, cruiser fans hate to see every Tico get a hard goodbye, especially if they still “look” so good.

I mean, look at Mobile Bay when she was decommissioned just under three years ago:

SAN DIEGO (Aug.10, 2023) – The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) sits pier side during a decommissioning ceremony. The Mobile Bay was decommissioned after more than 36 years of distinguished service. Commissioned Feb. 21, 1987, Mobile Bay served in the U.S. Atlantic, Seventh, and U.S. Pacific Fleet and supported Operation Desert Storm. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Stevin C. Atkins)

If they are at the bottom of the Pacific, the NDAA can’t authorize millions to reactivate elderly vessels– so that the money can be spent on shiny new ones.

Mobile Bay SINKEX from Royal Canadian Navy submarine HMCS Cornerbrook. Corner Brook fired a warshot Mk 48 Mod 7AT heavyweight torpedo into Mobile Bay during the event. It was the first time a Canadian sub took part in RIMPAC since HMCS Victoria in 2014.

Mobile Bay SINKEX from Royal Canadian Navy submarine HMCS Cornerbrook.

Plus, obtaining valid weapons testing evaluations on a big deck LHA– from a class that the Navy’s current LHAs and LHDs are based upon– is worthwhile.

Peleliu had already been towed out to sea from her retirement home in the West Loch earlier this year to simulate battle damage in various spaces and then towed back to Ford Island as part of an extensive Repair Technology Exercise (REPTX) which brought together various technologies for inspection, repair, and/or prevention of damage.

Shore-based rocket batteries (M142 HIMARS of the Kentucky National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 623rd Field Artillery, and Type 12 anti-ship missiles from the Japanese Army’s 8th Surface-to-Surface Missile Regiment) got their real-world tasking and showed the continued promise of mobile sea control from the shore.

In the end, Peleliu was finished off by Harpoon missiles launched by the Spanish frigate Álvaro de Bazan (F 101) and the Japanese destroyer JS Kongo (DDG 173), emulating the use of air-launched Harpoons by an RNZAF P-8 Poseidon to sink the ex-USS Juneau last month in Valiant Spear.

Perhaps the Navy is eager to assuage allies that their 1970s-designed anti-ship missiles can still, you know, anti-ship.

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Kongo-class guided missile destroyer JS Kongo (DDG 173) fires a Harpoon missile at the hulk of decommissioned Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) during a combined sinking exercise in the Pacific Ocean as part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2026, July 17, 2026. (Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force photo)

Although, to be fair, HMAS Sydney did get a chance to test out one of the RAN’s new Naval Strike Missiles.

HMAS Sydney (V) conducts a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) firing during RIMPAC Sea phase off the coast of Hawaii, United States.  

Getting Spiked

Of note, among those who got in licks were a flight of AH-64D Longbow Apaches from the Fort Lewis-based 16th Combat Aviation Brigade of the 7th Infantry (Hourglass) Division, which carried Israeli-made Spike NLOS missiles. The 75-pound fire-and-forget missile has a 20+ mile range and a 28-pound warhead while only costing about $250K. In effect, a sort of super Hellfire.

U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division (Multi-Domain Command – Pacific) load a Spike missile on the an AH-64 Apache in preparation for their role in a sink exercise, where each aircraft fires a Spike missile at a decommissioned warship for the purpose of at-sea live-fire training during exercise Rim of the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii, on July 11, 2026. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Christian Morton)

Said Army Apaches flew from USS Essex (LHD-2) alongside Marine Cobras (Vipers) and Hueys (Venoms).

Note the Spike aboard

Two U.S. Army AH-64 Apaches from the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division (Multi-Domain Command – Pacific) participate in a sink exercise, where each aircraft fires a Spike missile at a decommissioned Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53), for the purpose of at-sea live-fire training during Exercise Rim of the Pacific off the coast of Hawaii, on July 11, 2026. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Christian Morton)

A U.S. Army AH-64 Apache from the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade, 7th Infantry Division, Multi-Domain Command – Pacific, fires a Spike Non-Line of Sight missile at the USS Mobile Bay for a Sink Exercise during Rim of the Pacific in Hawaii, July 11, 2026.  

The Spikes were joined by Penguins fired from an RNZN SH-2G SeaSprite (they do exist!) from the Anzac-class frigate HMNZS Te Mana (F 111), a Marte from an Italian SH-101 flying from the frigate Giovanni Delle Bande Nere (P 434), and Hellfires from a pair of RAN MH-60Rs flying from both Sydney and cross-decked from USS Wayne G. Meyer (DDG 108).

RNZN SH-2G SeaSprite Penguin RIMPAC SINKEX

Italian Navy SH-101 launching a Marte anti-ship missile during Exercise RIMPAC, flown from Giovanni Delle Bande Nere

Flight 607 personnel load Hellfire missiles into MH-60R Seahawk “DUNDEE” on the flight deck of HMAS Sydney (V) during RIMPAC sea phase off the coast of Hawaii, United States. 

So long, Tarawas

In the end, let’s pour out one for the Tarawas, which were first ordered 1 May 1969, amid the worst part of the Vietnam War. Peleliu’s sinking closes the book on the class, spanning a 57-year run.

Artist’s conception of a very preliminary design of the LHA, released by DoD, 15 February 1967. USN 1120262

They held the line in the Cold War and multiple evolutions of the Sandbox, combining big Harrier and Super Stallion capable air decks with large LCAC and LCU capable well decks and room for 1,700 embarked Marines. Nothing else came close before the class.

Of the five members, USS Belleau Wood (LHA 3) was the first disposed of, sunk in 2006, followed by Saipan (LHA 2), which was scrapped in 2009, Nassau (scrapped in 2021), and Tarawa herself, which was sent to the bottom in RIMPAC 24.

141022-N-NZ935-083 PHILIPPINE SEA (Oct. 22, 2014) The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) is underway as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group and is conducting joint forces exercises in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Joshua Hammond/Released)

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