Category Archives: war

The M39 Revolver Cannon, Spoils of War

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Don’t let anyone tell you that a revolver is too slow. Besides blisteringly fast Single-Action shooters like Bob Munden and the iconic Jerry Miculek, there’s the M39 cannon.

We stumbled upon a great static training layout for the gun system of an F-101 Voodoo fighter at the Pima Air & Space Museum in Arizona while visiting the amazing facility.

That gun?

The M39 autocannon.

The system.

M39 cannon
What could go wrong? (All photos unless noted: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

It had a single barrel with a five-chamber cylinder that revolved at the six o’clock position parallel to the bore. Think S&W J-Frame on steroids with rounds that were more the size of a Red Bull can rather than .38 Specials.

M39 cannon
Note the revolving cylinder, about the size of a desk garbage can. 

Gas-operated with a piston that ejected the spent casing from one of the cylinder’s chambers while a spring-loaded rammer slid a new cartridge into an open chamber on each right-hand rotation, the gun was capable of firing 1,500 rounds per minute.

M39 cannon
20mm shells were fed via a link-less hopper system from the magazine down to the loading drum behind the cylinder. 
M39 cannon
Then you have all of the assorted relays, solenoids, gun camera, sight, and spaghetti wiring to link it all together and make it work. Remember, this system first flew in combat in 1952, just five years after the transistor was invented, and back when a big-screen TV had a 17-inch screen. 
M39 cannon
And it is all connected back to the stick in the cockpit. Flip the switch. Press the button. Briefly. Get out of the way of the debris. 

Backstory

The M39 had its roots in an experimental German Mauser 20mm MG213C revolving cannon design following World War II. To the victors go the spoils, boys!. A captured gun (No. V6/10) was rebuilt by the U.S. Naval Gun Factory in 1946, and a second, third, and fourth rebuild, all with evolving modifications, became the experimental U.S. T74 cannon.

These images of the MG213 and T74 via Chinn.

Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)
Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)
Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)
Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)
Via The Machine Gun History, Evolution, and Development of Manual, Automatic, and Airborne Repeating Weapons by Lt. Col. George M. Chinn, USMC, Prepared for the Bureau of Ordnance, Department of the Navy, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1951, unclassified July 1970 (Public domain)

The American M39 first flew in combat during the latter part of the Korean War as the T160 gun system in the “GunVal” program, which saw four such guns installed in modified F-86F Sabres. The guns had 460 rounds of ammunition, enough for about 4.5 seconds of fire. Each gun weighed 162 pounds.

The system, as installed on a Gun Evaluation (GunVal) F-86F-2, in 1952:

M39 cannon
(Graphic: August 1953 USAF Air Proving Ground Command report, declassified in 1979)

Vetted in combat, the guns were then first installed in production fighters starting in 1954 with the improved F-86H, which carried four M39s with 600 rounds of ammunition.

M39 cannon
The circa 1955 F-86H Sabre at Pima. Note the two forward cannon slots by the air intake. Two more are on the other side of the fuselage, leaving the pilot sitting over four 20mm cannons and 600 rounds of ammo. This particular F-86 remained in the New Jersey Air National Guard until 1965, when it was sent to the boneyard.

Ultimately, more than 35,000 M39s would be produced, and it was the standard gun not only for the F-86H but also the F-100 Super Sabre, F-101A/C Voodoo, and F-5/E Freedom Fighter/Tiger fighters, as well as the B-57B bomber.

While made by several companies over the course of two decades, the primary vendor for production was Pontiac. Yes, the car company.

While replaced in U.S. service with the six-barreled M61 Vulcan Gatling Gun, which fires the same ammunition up to four times faster while offering more longevity (M39s had to have their single barrel replaced after just 4,000 rounds), the old cannon is still in use with a few remaining F-5E operators, such as Brazil, South Korea, and Thailand.

Plus, the Philippine Air Force has recycled M39s out of old F-5s for use as towed ground support weapons, which is just awesome.

M39 cannon
Remember, at heart, it is just a big wheel gun! (Photos: Philippine Air Force).​​​

Looking back at Sandy and the 602nd

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Below, we see Sandy at work, just 60 years ago.

U.S. Air Force Douglas A-1G (AD-5N) four-seat night attack Skyraider (ex-Navy BuNo 132619) nicknamed “Carolyn’s Folly” from the 602nd Fighter Squadron (Commando), call sign Firefly, flying out of Bien Hoa AB, South Vietnam, seen escorting an HH-3C Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopter during a Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR) mission in 1966.

Note the ‘Raiders” jolly roger. VIRIN: 100426-F-1234S-004

This circa 1952 aircraft began service in the Navy and was noted aboard USS Hancock (CV-19) on 21 August 1958 with VA(AW)-35 Det. D before transfer to the USAF. Struck off charge at NAS Alameda on 29 October 1964 after a 12 year Navy career, 132619 was transferred to the USAF– one of 330 Skyraiders to the Air Force including the A-1E, G, H, and J models. After flying with the 602nd and later the 1st ACS/SOS, 132619 was transferred to the South Vietnamese Air Force’s 516th Squadron in February 1971 when the USAF divested themselves of the type.

She was one of the rare ex-USN Raiders that survived USAF service in Southeast Asia, with more than 200 lost across 90,000 combat sorties in their nine-year (1963-72) stint

The aircraft is available as a Scalemates decal set.

The 602nd (designated a Special Operations Squadron in 1968) alone amazingly had 140 different AH-1E/G/H/J Skyraiders pass through their hands during Vietnam between 1964 and December 1970.

Here are a few.

USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-133885) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron flies over a fortified hamlet in Vietnam, in 1964. In 1964-1965, USAF aircraft in Vietnam often flew with Vietnamese markings due to political reasons. This aircraft was shot down over Laos on 15 February 1966. U.S. Air Force photo scanned from Dana Bell: Air War over Vietnam. Volume IV. (Warbirds Illustrated 26). Arms and Armour Press, London 1984, p. 38, ISBN 0853686351.

USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-132423) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron escorts a Sikorsky HH-3C Jolly Green Giant, in 1966. 132423 was shot down by small arms fire 40km north-west of Sam Neua, Houaphan Province, Laos on 6 July 1966. The pilot, Capt. J.R. Crane was able to fly about 30km north of Udorn, Thailand, and bailed out. He was rescued by a USAF helicopter. USAF Museum Photo  101117-F-1234S-104

USAF A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-132425) of the 602nd Air Commando Squadron in South Vietnam, January 1966. Note the Douglas C-47 and the Grumman HU-16 Albatross in the background. 132425 was shot down by ground fire near Na Pho, Khammouan Province, Laos, on 19 April 1966. The pilot, Capt. Richard J. Robbins, was killed. National Museum of the U.S. Air Force photo 051123-F-1234P-016

U.S. Air Force “Tropic Moon I” Douglas A-1E Skyraider (s/n 52-135195) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron in flight with a Low-Light-Level-Televison (LLLTV) pod on the left wing, 1 June 1968. This aircraft was later shot down on 11 February 1970 while in service with the 22nd SOS. The pilot, Colonel William L. Kieffer, was killed.

A U.S. Air Force Douglas A-1H Skyraider (s/n 52-134555) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron sits on the ramp at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base (“NKP”), Thailand, circa in 1968. This was the first USAF A-1H to be named “The Proud American”. 134555 was operated by the U.S. Navy until 9 January 1968. It was then transferred to the USAF, where it operated with the 602nd, 22nd, and 1st SOS before being transferred to the Vietnam Air Force. Here it operated with the 515th and 518th Fighter Squadrons until it was lost on 3 April 1972. 221109-F-IO108-002

U.S. Air Force “Tropic Moon I” officers and airmen of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base on 1 June 1968, showing the Low-Light-Level-Televison (LLLTV) pod on the wing of one of the four Douglas A-1E Skyraiders that made up the unit (s/n 52-135177, -135187, -135195, -135211).

USAF HC-130P Combat King recovery aircraft refuels a Sikorsky HH-3E Jolly Green Giant of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron in flight near Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, between 10 and 23 February 1969. Visible are another HH-3E and two Douglas A-1 Skyraider (A-1H 135314, A-1J 142023) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron. The A-1H 135314 was later shot down by ground fire near Ban Na, Laos, on 18 June 1971 while in service with the 1st SOS. The pilot was killed. The A-1J 142023 was shot down by ground fire over Laos on 1 March 1969. The pilot was killed. 342-C-KE-60922

USAF A-1H Skyraider (s/n 52-139778, “Bubbles’n Bust”) of the 602nd Special Operations Squadron on final approach before landing at Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, 15 March 1970. NARA 176246880

The Air Force lost 102 pilots, killed, while flying A-1s in combat with USAF Skyraider drivers earning two Medals of Honor, 14 Air Force Crosses, and many other awards for valor.

The two Skyraiders in the collection the National Museum of the Air Force, Bu Nos. 132649 and 134600 are both former Navy planes that served with the 1st Special Operations Squadron during Vietnam.

Of note, 649 was the aircraft that Major Bernard Fisher earned his MoH in in 1966, having rescued a fellow pilot shot down over South Vietnam by landing in enemy territory under heavy fire and personally flying him to safety.

Douglas A-1E Skyraider Bu No. 132649 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force. A 1952 Navy plane, she was struck off at Alameda in April 1964 and transferred to the USAF, serving with the 1st ACS in Vietnam. (U.S. Air Force photo 071030-F-1234S-020)

The aircraft on display represents Captain Ronald Smith’s A-1H The Proud American (Serial Number 52-139738) as it appeared during his SAR mission in June 1972 as part of the 1st Special Operations Squadron, Nakhon Phanom (NKP) Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand. Captain Smith was awarded the Air Force Cross for the rescue of a downed F-4 Phantom crewman near a North Vietnamese airfield. The Proud American had a long and storied record in Southeast Asia. Although many pilots flew the plane, it is renowned for three separate episodes: Lt Col William Jones’ Medal of Honor mission in 1968, Capt Ronald Smith’s Air Force Cross mission in June 1972, and for being the last US Air Force A-1 lost in combat in Southeast Asia in September 1972. This aircraft (U.S. Navy BuNo 134600) was modified and painted by the Museum’s Restoration Division to represent Capt Smith’s Air Force Cross aircraft and placed on display at the National Museum of the Air Force in 2022. It was part of OPERATION FARM GATE and flown by the South Vietnamese Air Force from 1965 to 1975. (U.S. Air Force photo 221114-F-AU145-1305 by Ty Greenlees)

The Whisper of, ‘Remember’

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Remember your friends, relatives, and those who gave their last full measure today, gents. It’s not about saving 25 percent on bedding.

Official caption: “USS Saratoga (CV-3), 5 November 1943, during the raid on Rabaul, New Britain. The gunner in this Navy bomber was killed by a Japanese 20mm shell from a Japanese “Zero” [Mitsubishi A6M2] during the raid from Rabaul. Upon the plane’s return to the carrier, the dead gunner’s finger was still clasped on the trigger of his 50 cal. machine gun. Saratoga also participated in the second Navy raid on Rabaul on November 11, 1943, and saw action in the bloody taking of Tarawa.”

Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-44094

No more posts today.

Of Blockades and Commerce Raiders, 2026 Edition

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So can we just talk for a minute, not of politics, but of naval tactics at work in the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and Arabian?

As any fan of the blog knows, we lean pretty hard into the stories of the old steam/diesel navies from 1833 to 1954, which in turn is heavily punctuated by surface/commerce raiders and naval quarantine/blockade.

With that foundation under us, it has become super interesting that the Navy has delivered its first disabling gunfire against a large surface vessel since 1988, with several 5″/62 rounds delivered into the engine room of the M/V Touska by the USS Spruance (DDG 111) while operating as part of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group.

It was certainly the old “cruiser rules” with Sprunace firing five warning shots and opting to use nine BLP (Blind Loaded Projectile, the blue, steel projectile loaded with inert contents) to wreck Touska’s engine room after several broadcasted warnings and a six-hour pursuit.

Dead in the water, Touska was soon boarded in a night operation by Marines from the 31st MEU carried via helicopter from USS Tripoli (LHA 7). Some real deal VBSS stuff on a 73,000-ton/968-foot Panamax-sized container ship– not your more typical seizure of an unflagged dhow that the Navy has typically done in the past several decades.

Such an incident shows the value of a 5-inch gun aboard a grey hull for just such a moment– and underlines why the Navy’s next frigates (and the Coast Guard’s larger cutters) need such a weapon installed. Bofors 57s aren’t going to get it.

Either way, you know Spruance’s already colorful forward mount will receive some extra paint on its gun house.

U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance (DDG 111) approaches fleet replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO-187) before a replenishment-at-sea Jan. 17, 2026. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jordan Steis)

Then came the interception of the Iranian-chartered “Botswanan-flagged” (officially stateless) crude carrier M/T Tifani— 156,967 gross tons of shipping– on the 21st in the Bay of Bengal.

Of interest, she was seized by a converted tanker design, with an Expeditionary Sea Base, possibly the Lewis B. Puller-class USS Miguel Keith (ESB 5), seen just off her bow in the photos released by CENTCOM and DoW.

There is no way you can look at that as other than a direct call back to the auxiliary cruisers of the Russo-Japanese War, WWI, and WWII, which typically saw gently converted mail steamers and ocean liners modified with a few guns, some paint, and a military crew, then sent out to halt enemy blockade runners and similar auxiliary cruisers flying the flags of the other guys.

On 22 April, CENTCOM said that it had intercepted a total of 29 ships as part of the now nine-day-old blockade, including five Iranian-flagged/contracted/controlled tankers (Diona, Sevin, Dorena, Derya, and Deep Sea).

To wit, the IRCG has also said they have bagged a couple of ships of their own.

Sal catches us up on that.

$2.5 billion per hull, grease pencil not included

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Official caption: “Keeping Tally. A sailor tallies launches as the USS Thomas Hudner fires a Tomahawk land attack missile in support of Operation Epic Fury in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, March 5, 2026.”

Note the columns for both TLAMS (43 marks) and SM-3ERs (9 marks); surely a story in two parts, while the fact that Hudner only has a 96-cell VLS is the third act of this tale.

260305-D-D0477-2924M.

The first Flight IIA (TI) Burke, USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116), commissioned 1 December 2018, and the 66th hull of the class, and since joining the fleet, has been a SUFRFLANT asset, based in Mayport.

Her crew famously earned a Combat Action Ribbon for her time (October 2023 – April 2024) in the Red Sea during the quasi-war with the Houthis. You can bet a second one is inbound.

Doodlebugs over Nassau

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The amphibious assault ship “USS Nassau (LHA 4) cruises in the Gulf of Oman,” during Desert Storm by John C. Roach. with air cover provided by two AV-8B Harrier IIs of Marine Attack Squadron 331 (VMA-331).

(U.S. Navy History and Heritage Command Art Collection)

On 25 January 1985, the “Doodlebugs” became the first fully operational AV-8B Harrier II squadron in Marine Corps service.

The Doodlebugs deployed on the Nassau to the Persian Gulf for Desert Shield and eventually flew 243 sorties, dropping 256 tons of ordnance, during Desert Storm to become the first Marine Attack Squadron to conduct combat operations from a general-purpose amphibious assault ship in the process.

AV-8B Harrier II (VMA-331) aboard USS Nassau (LHA 4) – February 1991. NNAM

While supporting Operation Desert Storm, a Harrier from the squadron was shot down by a “two or more” SA-7s over Safwan, Iraq, on 27 February 1991. The pilot, Capt. Reginald C. Underwood, USMC, was killed in action, a more somber note for the Harrier in Marine service.

The 86 Marine Harriers in theatre flew 9,353 sorties and logged 11,120 hours during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Five were lost during the campaign.

Mission-capable rates averaged 90% throughout the war. Maintenance crews were able to hold five to ten aircraft per squadron in maintenance reserve and still meet the flight schedule. Turnaround times between sorties averaged 20 minutes for gas and arming. The land-based AV-8Bs consistently flew as many as 120 sorties a day, with highs of 160.

Bravo Zulu Capt. Williams!

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Capt. Elmer Royce Williams (Ret.), the United States Navy’s most recent Medal of Honor recipient, will celebrate his 101st birthday in April. Capt. Williams was formally inducted into the Hall of Heroes this week for deeds done in Korea some 73 years ago.

Minted as a WWII-era naval aviator at Pensacola in August 1945, he flew F9F-5 Panthers with the “Pacemakers” of VF-781 aboard the USS Oriskany off Korea, chalking up 70 combat sorties.

The most famous of these sorties, on 18 November 1952, included a 35-minute dogfight (not a misprint) that pitted Williams and his wingman against seven MiG-15s in what is believed to be the longest dogfight in U.S. Navy history. He splashed four of these MiGs and, when he landed, ground crews on Oriskany counted 263 holes in his Panther.

The nitty-gritty details of the dogfight were covered up for years so as not to offend the Reds, who may or may not have lost four Soviet Naval Aviation pilots that day (later confirmed to be Captains Belyakov and Vandalov, and Lieutenants Pakhomkin and Tarshinov).

Can you imagine? A half hour of turning and burning against smaller and more maneuverable swept-wing MiGs in an all-gun fight at speeds no WWII pilot had to contend with. To this day, no single U.S. Navy pilot has repeated his one-engagement MiG tally, especially in a gun fight.

Williams earned a Silver Star at the time (later upgraded to a Navy Cross) and, in retrospect, the MoH is certainly in order.

At least he looks happy.

Living up to her potential

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Some 75 years ago this week.

The “long-hull” Essex-class fleet carrier USS Leyte (CV-32) is seen loading aircraft at Yokosuka, Japan, for transportation to the U.S. at the end of her Korean War combat tour. The photograph is dated 24 January 1951. Several decommissioned Tacoma-class frigates (PF), late of the Soviet Red Banner fleet, are moored in groups across the harbor background while a snow-capped Mount Fuji is just visible in the distance.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command. NH 97295

Commissioned 11 April 1946, Leyte (laid down as USS Crown Point) came too late for WWII but got her licks in off Korea from 9 October 1950 through 19 January 1951, where the ship and her airwing of Air Group Three spent 92 days at sea and flew 3,933 sorties against North Korean and Chinese forces.

Her pilots accumulated nearly 11,000 hours in the air while inflicting massive damage upon enemy positions, supplies, transportation, and communications.

She earned two battle stars for the cruise.

Among the squadrons based on Leyte were the “Swordsmen” of VF-32 flying the F4U-4 Corsair, a squadron that included Ensign Jesse Brown and LT Thomas J. Hudner Jr.

Other outfits included another Corsair squadron, VF-33, a F9F-2 Panther unit (VF-31), an AD-3/4 Skyraider squadron (VA-35), and smaller dets from VC-4 (F4U-5N night fighters), VC-62 (F4U-5P photo birds), VC-12 (AD-4W), VC-33 (AD-3N), and a couple of well-used whirly birds from HU-2 who were famed for their C-SAR use.

USS Leyte (CV-32). Moored off Naval Operating Base, Yokosuka, Japan, during a break from Korean War operations, 1 December 1950. 80-G-424599

Mascot “Beno” sits in a Grumman F9F-2 Panther of Fighter Squadron Three One (VF-31) “Tomcatters” aboard USS Leyte (CV-32) as she pulled into San Diego, California, at the end of her Korean deployment. 3 February 1951.

Never modernized from her 1946 arrangement, Leyte was reclassified as CVA-32 in October 1952 and as an anti-submarine carrier, CVS-32, the following August, operating in the Med and Caribbean for the rest of the decade.

Reclassified as a training carrier, AVT-10, in May 1959, she decommissioned the same day and was sold for scrap in 1970 after her parts were raided to keep her sisters in service; her usefulness to the Navy was at an end.

Panama flashback

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Panama Defense Force patches, including that of the Macho de Monte jungle commandos, captured during Operation Just Cause in December 1989, at the USAF Armament Museum, Eglin AFB (Chris Eger)

More Just Cause PDF patches, including the desk plate and helmet from Noriega’s desk, are at the Infantry Museum, Fort Benning. (Chris Eger)

I once worked with a guy, let’s call him Dan, who I now list as a friend, on a government contracting job about 20 years back, who had just retired as a Marine SNCO.

One cold night, while talking over a way too tough pot of coffee, the subject matter turned to Panama, and Dan fished a photo from his wallet of a younger version of him, clad in M81 Woodland BDUs and a high-and-tight, war face, and an M16A2 dutifully on display.

“That’s when I was stationed in the Canal Zone.”

Dan said he loved it. Kid in a candy store kind of duty in 1988, shifting to the big bad Just Cause in 1989 when things weren’t so much fun.

He said the night Just Cause kicked off, he was on a one-man post shared with a PDF corporal on an oft-forgotten back gate of some naval base (Rodman?), when the phone rang– a call Dan had been advised was coming– and was told to go ahead and take the Panamanian into custody one way or another.

It almost turned into a 1911-on-1911 “gunfight in a phone booth,” but eventually de-escalated, and my friend was able to sit back down at his desk with an extra pistol and no shots fired.

“I’d have blown his brains out,” Dan said, sipping coffee. “Glad I didn’t have to.”

Fast forward to today, where Just Cause is now 31 years in the rearview, and these pictures came into my feed, part of the expanded formalization of efforts for the DOD/DOW getting involved with Panama’s mil/LE counterparts.

A combined U.S. Navy SEALs and Panamanian special operations team conducted a complex crisis scenario at the U.S. Embassy in Panama City, according to information shared on December 9, 2025, by U.S. Special Operations in Central, South America, and the Caribbean. Officials familiar with the drill described it as a full-spectrum validation of how quickly partner units can synchronize communications, access sensitive areas, and stabilize a rapidly evolving threat within a diplomatic facility. The mission paired U.S. Navy SEALs from Naval Special Warfare with Army Special Forces operators from 7th SFG(A), who worked alongside embassy security elements and Panama’s elite Dirección Nacional de Fuerzas Especiales, or DINFEE.

Members of the U.S. Marine Corps and Panamanian security services practice contact drill techniques during the Combined Jungle Operations Training Course at Base Aeronaval Cristóbal Colón, Panamá, Dec. 8, 2025. U.S. Southern Command is focused on increasing partner nation capacity and interoperability in the region and reflects the United States’ enduring promise of friendship, partnership, and solidarity with the Panamanian people. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Trey Woodard)

Glad to know things are healing.

Maybe I’ll text Dan later.

A family reunion in the Indian Ocean

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The Sri Lanka Navy, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, just took possession of a ship almost as old as the service.

A familiar old friend, ex-USCGC Decisive (WMEC-629), a B-Type Reliance-class 210-foot gunboat/cutter, is now pennant number SLS P 628 in the Sri Lanka Navy, transferred at her birthplace, the USCG Yard, earlier this month.

Decisive’s keel was laid on 12 May 1967 at the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore. Launched on 14 December of that year, she was commissioned on 23 August 1968.

Following her commissioning, she was homeported in New Castle, New Hampshire, where she soon clocked in protecting the fishing fleet, enforcing the 200-mile marine resource zone (including chasing and citing Soviet trawlers), and participating in the International Ice Patrol.

USCGC Decisive WMEC-629 with HH-52A #1463 1970s USCG Photo

Key moments in her career included rescuing three ships back to back in a terrible winter storm in 1978 and rescuing the crew of the foundered Canadian S/V Toberua after that majestic craft sank in 40-foot seas and 60 knot winds.

In warmer climes in the 1980s, she had to fire 300 rounds into the engine compartment of a rogue Colombian fishing vessel, the Cone, to get the drug smuggler to finally stop. She also saved thousands of migrants at peril on the sea, including a 1995 interception of a 75-foot coaster overloaded with an amazing 516 thirsty and overheating Haitians– still listed as the second largest migrant interdiction in history.

The cutter moved homeports several times during her service, including St. Petersburg, Florida, and at CGS Pascagoula, formerly NAVSTA Pascagoula, directly across from Ingalls on Singing River Island– where I was very familiar with the “Swamp Rats” and toured her for an article in Sea Classics— before her final assignment to Pensacola.

USCGC Decisive, photo by Chris Eger, 2011, at CGS Pascagoula

USCGC Decisive’s salad bar, photo by Chris Eger, 2011, at CGS Pascagoula

USCGC Decisive, photo by Chris Eger, 2011, at CGS Pascagoula

She was decommissioned earlier than planned in March 2023 due to budget issues with the service, capping a 55-year run, only interrupted by a two-year Major Maintenance Availability in 1996-98, which saw her undergo a major overhaul in terms of electronics, habitability, weapons, and engineering. The CGY just gave her a refresh as well.

A simple ship with twin diesel engines and almost zero automation, she joins class member SLNS Samudura (P261)/ex-USCGC Courageous, which has been in service with the force since 2005, and two former 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters transferred in recent years, SLNS Gajabahu (P626)/ex-USCGC Sherman, and SLNS Vijayabahu (P627)/ex-USCGC Munro.

HMS Kent with the Sri Lanka OPC SLNS Samudura (P261), a 210-foot Reliance class cutter, formerly USCGC Courageous (WMEC-622), Oct 24, 2021. RN photo

Talk about a family reunion!

Eight of Decisive’s sisters remain in USCG service while four others are laid up “In commission, special status” due to personnel shortfalls; their crews transferred to other Coast Guard units to help meet the service-wide shortage of enlisted personnel.

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