Category Archives: weapons

So long, Indy

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Pretty soon, relics such as these will be all that is be left of Indy...

Pretty soon, relics such as these will be all that is be left of Indy…

The ex-USS Independence (CV-62), last of the Forrestal-class of aircraft carriers that plied the seas from the 1950s to the 1990s, will begin its final voyage to Texas later this year to be turned into razor blades. The Navy is paying International Shipbreaking of Brownsville $6 million to tow the 90,000-ton vessel from the West Coast, around the Cape, to the Lone Star State and cut her to pieces in accordance with some very strict guidelines. The same firm has won contracts in recent years to break the Saratoga, Ranger, and Forrestal.

This steady selloff of old supercarriers leaves only USS Kitty Hawk, decommissioned in 2009, and USS John F. Kennedy, decommissioned in 2007, on “donation hold” for use as museums or memorials, while the Navy has issued a Request for Proposals for the USS Enterprise.

As noted in the Brownsville Herald, International Shipbreaking is vying for that job as well.

Currently at Bremerton, Washington since 1998, Indy gave 39 years of hard service including a tour off the coast of Vietnam in 1965, airstrikes against Syrian forces during the Lebanese Civil War and operations over Iraq during Operation Southern Watch.

For those interested, the firm also sells individual items such as pieces of deck armor, hatch signs, and other tidbits recovered from the old warships online as relics.

Safety, via Trabuzio

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Italian made Trabuzio Palm Pistol

Here we see an all-steel Catello Trabuzio (also spelled Tribuzio) Palm Pistol, produced in the 1890s in Italy, the ring you see at the base of the grip is the trigger that doubles as a safety (by collapsing). Turning the safety a few more twists one can remove the cover and inspect the inside.

Italian made Trabuzio Palm Pistol note witness holes
This repeater 8mm semi-auto uses a top-loaded magazine and incorporates a witness holes in the side for the gentleman and lady on the go to keep easy count of how many rounds they had left. This one is in the collection of the National Firearms Museum but they do pop up at auction from time to time, priced around $2K.

Tribuzio-e

Repatriation

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Snap shot out of the CAF "blue Book" from 1975, via CAF https://www.facebook.com/CommemorativeAF/?fref=nf

Click to big up. Snap shot out of the CAF “blue Book” from 1975, via CAF

47 years ago today: On September 5, 1969 the S.S. Rosaldina arrived at the port of Brownsville, Texas from Latin America with six Republic P-47 Thunderbolt “jugs” brought back from the Peruvian Air Force and turned over to the then-Confederate Air Force (now the more PC Commemorative Air Force), a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and showing historical aircraft at airshows primarily throughout the U.S. and Canada.

The group currently owns 162 classic aircraft, including the airworthy #44-89136 Lil Meatie’s Meat Chopper and the static  #44-88548 (a P-47N-5RE).

EDC, South Fla. edition

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With the heat and humidity hovering in the 90s, and rainfall being an everyday reality, my summer everyday in Florida consists of the following:

eger edc

Smith and Wesson .38 Spl Model 642-1 (no lock) Airweight with Altamont round combat super rosewood grips and fed with Remington High Terminal Defense 110 grain JHPs, a Five Star HKS style speedloader stoked with the same, blue Swiss Army Cadet, Steamlight Stylus Pro LED and a Seiko Solar.

Total weight, all items: 1 lb, 12 oz. flat including Bianchi IWB leather holster (not shown). Throw in Jeep keys, wallet and mobile device and you are good to go.

“A man mustn’t
walk without weapons
even an inch from home,
because he never knows when,
as he pursues his path,
he’ll suddenly need a spear.”

— Hávamál, stanza 38. (Advice from Odin). Source

Little Birds, Afghan style

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“Train Advise Assist Command – Air (TAAC – Air) advisors from the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing fly Afghan Air Force’s newest MD 530F Cayuse Warrior helicopters for a training event. The new helicopters are capable of firing 2.75” rockets and .50-cal machine guns for close air support.”

The U.S. Army adopted the Hughes OH-6 Cayuse (nicknamed “Loach”, after the program acronym LOH—Light Observation Helicopter) in 1965 and fielded more than 1,400 of these egg shaped killers in the Vietnam era and, while largely replaced by the 1980s, the AH6/MH6 Little Bird variants did yeoman work with special operations units in the Persian Gulf and elsewhere during the Reagan era (see Operation Prime Chance).

Over Mogadishu during the Blackhawk Down affair, it was four MH-6s (Barbers 51-54 of the 160th SOAR) that kept the city at bay overnight.

“In the movie, the gunships are shown making only one attack. In fact, they were constantly engaged all night long. Each aircraft reloaded six times. It is estimated that they fired between 70 and 80,000 rounds of minigun ammo and fired a total 90 to 100 aerial rockets. They were the only thing that kept the Somalis from overrunning the objective area. All eight gunship pilots were awarded the Silver Star. Every one of them deserved it.” (source)

Today the Army still has about 47 Little Birds of various marks, and the Afghan Air Force is using the next best thing.

The MD 530F Cayuse Warrior, shown turning and burning above, is flown jointly by U.S. and Afghanistan forces and see combat just about every day. The last four of 27 MD 530Fs arrived at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul aboard a U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III airlifter in late August as noted by Janes.

They are all moving to use the Enhanced-Mission Equipment Package (EMEP) which offers the FN Herstal 12.7 mm Heavy Machine Gun Pod (HMP) or 70 mm rockets.

A 16-year old lion from Luxembourg

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Caption: Members of the 108th company of the F.T.P.F. (Francs-tireurs et partisans français), the communist resistance group pose with their weapons at a mountain base. Photo: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Marion Loewenstein

Caption: Members of the 108th company of the FTP (Francs-tireurs et partisans français), the communist resistance group pose with their weapons at a mountain base. Photo: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Marion Loewenstein

Claude Lowenstein (lying down at lower left behind the British-made Bren light machine gun, notably the other weapons are captured German models), was born on 12 February 1928 in Luxembourg, making him a preteen when the Germans thundered across the country in a single day in 1940. Soon, the Germans instituted anti-Jewish measures and young Claude was exiled to an internment camp in France with his family.

Allowed to work as a farm hand in the countryside, as noted by the USHMM:

In July 1944 a cell from the underground Franc-Tireurs et Partisans raided the farm to search for gasoline. They also asked the Jewish farm hands if they cared to join the cell. All 15 teenagers left with the partisans. England gave the partisans orders for their operations, guns and ammunition which they provided by parachute drop. In one operation the partisans climbed a mountain over-looking a road and dropped home-made grenades on an open truck filled with German soldiers thereby disrupting the convoy.

Just 16, Claude participated in the liberation of Lyon and other fighting as the Allies moved into the country from Normandy and the Riviera.

By the autumn of 1944, De Gaulle merged both the nationalist French Forces of the Interior (Forces françaises de l’intérieur) and the now 100,000-stong communist FTP, which Claude was a part of, into the overall French Army under Gen. Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.

As the Germans withdrew East, Claude was reunited with his family in early 1945.

Pushing a hardy 17, he joined the reformed Luxembourg army (whose coat of arms includes a lion) and assisted in the occupation of Bitburg near the Luxembourg border before the war ended.

The 2nd Battalion of the Luxembourg Army took command of the Caserne in 1945 and would remain in the area until 1952, two years longer than the armistice required.

Claude emigrated to the U.S. in 1956.

Meet the Carbine Semi-Automatic .45ACP, or CSA45

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Had a chance to hang out with the guys who make and try to break these.

It only looks like it’s based on an AR.

I’ll have a write up on them soon.

FRA

 

Getting in touch with modified prone

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Sig Sauer Academy senior instructor and retired SGM Chili Palmer walks you through a modified prone position simulating shooting around a vehicle tire.

Prone is one of your basic and most tried and true shooting positions, but there is nothing basic about the modified position Palmer exhibits. A shooter has to keep a lot of variables in mind to pull it off but the method can minimize exposure to a bad guy lurking on the other side of the barricade.

Sure, it’s not something you would use everyday, but if you are a practical/tactical shooter, it’s something to work out the mechanics of while at the range long before you ever have to use it in real life.

‘Rusty Lusty’ sold for scrap instead of being used as museum

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HMS Illustrious, an Invincible-class Britsh Harrier Carrier with a Sea Harrier lifting off her ski jump

HMS Illustrious, an Invincible-class Britsh Harrier Carrier with a Sea Harrier lifting off her ski jump

Britain’s last “Harrier Carrier” ex-HMS Illustrious (R06), the fifth warship and second flattop to bear the name in the Royal Navy since 1789, had been courted by three different cities in the UK for use as a floating museum ship in the past couple years. Alas, that is not to be.

She was the oldest ship in the Royal Navy’s active fleet when she was paid off 28 August 2014 after 32 years’ service and will not be replaced until HMS Queen Elizabeth is formally commissioned in May 2017.

The only operational aircraft carrier in the British fleet, she lost her fixed wing air arm when the MoD retired the Harrier fleet in 2006 and served as an LPH after that, only operating helicopters. The last of the 1980s era Invincible class of 20,000-ton harrier-carriers, she was to be kept as a museum ship but that fell through and the Crown has sold her to the Turks for £2 million.

She will leave Portsmouth for the breakers this fall.

Say it’s not so, Coronado

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160629-N-IY142-050 PEARL HARBOR (June 29, 2016) USS Coronado (LCS 4) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for Rim of the Pacific 2016. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. The world's largest international maritime exercise, RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2016 is the 25th exercise in the series that began in 1971. (U.S. Navy Photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Herman/RELEASED)

160629-N-IY142-050 PEARL HARBOR (June 29, 2016) USS Coronado (LCS 4) arrives at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for Rim of the Pacific 2016. Twenty-six nations, more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft and 25,000 personnel are participating in RIMPAC from June 30 to Aug. 4, in and around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California. (U.S. Navy Photo By Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class John Herman/RELEASED)

It looks like a fourth LCS has suffered an engineering casualty, USS Coronado (LCS 4).

The crew took precautionary measures, and the ship is currently returning to Pearl Harbor to determine the extent of the problem and conduct repairs. Coronado is operating under her own power and is being escorted by USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187).

This adds Coronado to the list that includes USS Freedom (LCS 1) last week, USS Milwaukee (LCS-5) in last December, and USS Fort Worth (LCS 3) in January. That makes four littoral combat ships– three Freedom class and now one Independence class– that have taken a hit on their propulsion suites in a nine month period. As these ships are lightly armed and speed is their best weapon, this sucks.

And the brass seem kinda hosed off.

Statement from Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson:

“Last night’s problem is the fourth issue in the last year. Some of these were caused by personnel, and some were due to design and engineering. These issues are all receiving our full and immediate attention, both individually and in the aggregate. To address the personnel and training issues, I established a program-wide review earlier this summer to incorporate deployment lessons learned and identify systemic problems with how the program was structured. Vice Adm. Rowden has completed the review, which recommends changes to the crewing, deployment, mission module, training and testing concepts. These changes will provide more ownership and stability, while also allowing for more forward presence. In light of recent problems, we also recognize more immediate action needs to be taken as well. The review is being briefed to leadership before implementation. I also support Vice Adm. Rowden’s decision to improve oversight class-wide, which will result in the retraining and certifying of all LCS Sailors who work in engineering.

“With respect to the engineering issues, we are reviewing each one and making the appropriate corrections. For instance, the software problem on USS Milwaukee has been corrected for all ships. NAVSEA and SURFOR will review this most recent problem to determine the cause, and we will respond as needed to correct it.

“The entire leadership team is focused on ensuring our ships are properly designed and built, and that our Sailors have the tools and training they need to safely and effectively operate these ships. These ships bring needed capability to our combatant and theater commanders–we must get these problems fixed now.”

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