Category Archives: weapons

Cold Canuks

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80 years ago today. Infantrymen of the French-Canadian Régiment de la Chaudière, who are wearing British winter camouflage clothing, on patrol, Bergendal, Netherlands, 24 January 1945. This is either a training course or a unit’s sniper section. The rifles are No.4 Mk.I (T) or No.4 Mk.I* (T). Equipped with No. 32 scopes.

(L-R): Sergeants R.A. Wilkinson and René Letendre, Lieutenant Pierre-Paul Elie, Corporal W. Arsenault and Private Jean-Paul Drouin. Department of National Defence. Library and Archives Canada, PA-137987 by Lieut. Barney J. Gloster

Formed as a reserve unit in 1869, the regiment sailed for Britain in July 1941 and garrisoned the islands until landed on Juno Beach at Bernières-sur-Mer, France, on D-Day, 6 June 1944, from HMCS Prince David and fought their way across Northwest Europe over the next 10 months as part of the 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division.

Private Jack Roy of Le Régiment de la Chaudière preparing to disembark from HMCS Prince David off Bernières-sur-Mer, France, 6 June 1944. Note the No. 38 field wireless set across his chest, E-tool slung over his shoulder, helmet skrim, and wrapped Enfield. PD-371 LAC 3396561

An unidentified infantryman of Le Régiment de la Chaudière, 8th Infantry Brigade, 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, preparing to disembark from HMCS Prince David off the Normandy beachhead, France, 6 June 1944. Note that his Enfield is in a protective plastic bag. PD-360. LAC 3202207

They earned 19 battle honors for their time in Europe.

Still on the Canadian rolls, as a reserve unit, they are garrisoned in Levis, Quebec.

STENs and Radar-Directed 3.7s are a girl’s best friend

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80 years ago this week: Private Kay Elms of the ATS, a member of 281st Battery, 137 (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment (TA), Royal Artillery, carries a STEN gun at a camp in Belgium, on 26 January 1945.

Photograph by LT O’Brien, War Office official photographer, IWM H 41228

Another from the same shoot.

One of the first “Mixed (co-ed) regiments in which women of the Auxiliary Territorial Service were integrated, the 137th was formed in 1941 and fought during the Blitz then, as shown above, were forward deployed with their SCR-584 radar-directed Mk IIC 3.7-inch HAA guns and to reinforce the Brussels “X” defenses against German V-1s in January 1945.

As noted by RA 1939-45:

137 (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (TA) was formed at Newton, Chester in November 1941. The Regiment served in Anti-Aircraft Command until moving to Brussels with 101 Anti-Aircraft Brigade in January 1945. They were the first Mixed AA Regiment to arrive there. Their experience with the static, power-operated 3.7’s and the latest Radar and Predictor proved invaluable in shooting down the V 1’s. 137 (Mixed) Heavy Anti-Aircraft Regiment RA (TA) was disbanded in October 1945.

Yankee Brandt 60

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Some 81 years ago this month, January 1954, Dien Bien Phu, French Indochina, members of the newly-formed 5e BPVN (5e bataillon de parachutistes vietnamiens) of Groupe d’Opération Nord-Ouest (GONO), operate their American-made M2 60mm mortar.

You have to love the mix of TAP 47/52 lizard camo jackets and American M1 helmets as well. Réf. : NVN 54-9 R61, Daniel Camus/ECPAD/Défense

Based, ironically, on the French Brandt 60mm Mortier Modèle 1935 and licensed by that company for production in America, the U.S. M2 mortar was a hit with light infantry of all strokes for the last half of the 20th Century. Weighing just 42 pounds all-up (which is light for a mortar), a five-man crew (two in a pinch) could land 3-pound shells out to a mile away for as long as the ammo held out, even topping 30 rounds per minute if the rounds are staged and ready.

The French paras loved it in Vietnam.

Légionnaire du 2e bataillon étranger parachutiste (2e BEP) Roger Chapel, working a 60mm M2 mortar in Indochina, 10 May 1952. Note the crowd-pleasing belt of M49A2/3 HE mortar bombs around his waist– some 18 pounds of shells– and the M4 Collimator sight on the left of the mortar. Réf. TONK 52-123 R12, Jean Péraud/ECPAD/Défense

The French developed a light mortar shell vest with segmented front and back canvas pockets to carry 8 rounds of 60mm mortar ammunition (24 pounds of shells) for use in Indochina and later Algeria. These could be used to carry extra machine gun magazines too like 16 Bren .303/MAC 24 7.5mm magazines, a cool 16 Ba mươi ba “333” beer cans, or 8 magnum-sized ‘Foster’s lager’ beers!

The M2 was replaced in U.S. service by the new and improved (47 pounds!) M224 60mm company mortar after 1978, but you can be sure that thousands old the old “Yankee Brandts” still linger on in arsenals across the Third World.

5-inchers got a Lot more use than you’d expect in the Red Sea (and an LCS got in on it)

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As detailed by the head of Naval Surface Forces, VADM Brendan McLane, during the annual Surface Navy Association conference this week, warships expended some 400 pieces of ordnance in defense against incoming threats from Iranian/Houthi rebels over the past 15 months.

  • 120 SM-2 missiles.
  • 80 SM-6 missiles.
  • 20 Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles (ESSM) and SM-3 missiles.
  • 160 rounds from destroyers and cruisers’ five-inch main guns.

The last one is great news, as the anti-air capability of the MK 45 5″/54 and 5″/62— especially when using proximity (VTF and IR) rounds– has been often overlooked. I mean they have a published effective AA range of 23,000 feet and can fire 20 rounds in the first minute of going hot.

Datasheets inbound: 

LCS Combat!

One interesting tidbit not included in the above table is that an LCS has been bloodied in battle as well, with the USS Indianapolis (LCS 17) recently earning a Combat Action Ribbon and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the first for her type, “after shooting down Houthi drones and missiles in the Red Sea.”

Indy, a Freedom-variant littoral combat ship, just completed an 18-month deployment, which included two exchanges of command between LCS Crew 112 and LCS Crew 118.

While traveling as a Surface Action Group with the destroyers USS Spruance and USS Stockdale through the Red Sea, the ships “successfully detected and defeated a combined 23 Ballistic and Anti-Ship Cruise missiles and one-way attack drones fired from Houthi Rebels in Yemen” across three days from 23-25 September.

Now, unclear is if Indy got in shots on said incoming vampires, and if so was it from her 57mm gun, her Sea-Ram, or her embarked MH-60 from HSC 28. It was also recently detailed that a Seahawk downed a Houthi drone via its 7.62mm door gun last month, so that’s a possibility.

“What this team of amazing Americans achieved over the course of this deployment will pay dividends in the maintenance planning and tactics development arenas for years to come,” said Cmdr. Matthew Arndt, USS Indianapolis’ Commanding Officer. “As the workhorse of the Arabian Gulf, Indy executed the lower tier missions necessary to maintaining good diplomatic relations in the Middle East which allowed Standard Missile shooters to reposition to deal with bad actors in the Red Sea. I think it’s pretty special that we were able to provide the 5th Fleet commander with more tools and options to aid in the free flow of commerce through a contested waterway.”

The Littlest Wren

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Some 82 years ago this week, the official caption: “WREN Nancy Jackson asking the sentry’s permission to go onboard a destroyer to deliver a message in Harwich, Essex, England – January 15, 1943. At 4 ft 7 inches tall, Nancy Jackson was the shortest WREN (Women’s Royal Naval Service) in the Royal Navy during WW2

Davies, F A (Lt) Photographer, Admiralty collection, IWM A 13976
https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205147218

The gangplank sentry is armed with the classic Great War era “Smelly” (SMLE Rifle #1 Mark III*).

As for the WRENS, formed originally in 1917— at about the same time as the sentry’s rifle was made, by the end of the war they counted 5,500 members. However, they really came into their own in WWII, with some 74,000 women– all volunteers– involved in over 200 different jobs within the Royal Navy, concentrating on clerical, workshop, and communications taskings.

WOMEN ON THE HOME FRONT 1939 – 1945 (A 13209) The Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS): Wren Armourers, whose jobs included the overhaul, maintenance and serving of guns, pictured testing a Lewis gun at Lee-on-Solent Naval Air Station. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205193235

WOMEN’S ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE. MAINTENANCE WRENS MAINTAIN SMALL ARMS UP TO 3 POUNDER HOTCHKISS FOR ALL TYPES OF SMALL CRAFT – MTB, MGB, ML, MOS AND MASB. THESE GIRLS KNOWN AS QO (QUICK-FIRING ORDNANCE) WRENS BOARD THE BOATS AS SOON AS THEY COME IN AFTER AN OPERATION, TO STRIP AND CLEAN THE LEWIS AND 0.5 VICKERS MACHINE GUNS. (A 12187) A QO Wren removing a 0.5 Vickers machine gun turret for servicing. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205145632

WOMEN’S ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE. MAINTENANCE WRENS MAINTAIN SMALL ARMS UP TO 3 POUNDER HOTCHKISS FOR ALL TYPES OF SMALL CRAFT – MTB, MGB, ML, MOS AND MASB. THESE GIRLS KNOWN AS QO (QUICK-FIRING ORDNANCE) WRENS BOARD THE BOATS AS SOON AS THEY COME IN AFTER AN OPERATION, TO STRIP AND CLEAN THE LEWIS AND 0.5 VICKERS MACHINE GUNS. (A 12193) A QO Wren stripping and cleaning a Lewis Gun on board a coastal craft. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205145638

WOMEN’S ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE. MAINTENANCE WRENS MAINTAIN SMALL ARMS UP TO 3 POUNDER HOTCHKISS FOR ALL TYPES OF SMALL CRAFT – MTB, MGB, ML, MOS AND MASB. THESE GIRLS KNOWN AS QO (QUICK-FIRING ORDNANCE) WRENS BOARD THE BOATS AS SOON AS THEY COME IN AFTER AN OPERATION, TO STRIP AND CLEAN THE LEWIS AND 0.5 VICKERS MACHINE GUNS. (A 12198) Installing the 0.5 Vickers machine gun into the gun turret after servicing it. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205145643

WOMEN’S ROYAL NAVAL SERVICE. MAINTENANCE WRENS MAINTAIN SMALL ARMS UP TO 3 POUNDER HOTCHKISS FOR ALL TYPES OF SMALL CRAFT – MTB, MGB, ML, MOS AND MASB. THESE GIRLS KNOWN AS QO (QUICK-FIRING ORDNANCE) WRENS BOARD THE BOATS AS SOON AS THEY COME IN AFTER AN OPERATION, TO STRIP AND CLEAN THE LEWIS AND 0.5 VICKERS MACHINE GUNS. (A 12189) A QO Wren stripping and cleaning Lewis Guns on board a coastal craft. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205145634

WRENS working a pom-pom, and not the cheerleading kind

A WREN serving on a harbor launch in Portsmouth during World War II. Photo by Cecil Beaton, via the Imperial War Museum. (click to big up)

Sadly, 102 lost their life during the conflict.

Curiously, the WRENS remained a separate corps of the RN until 1993 while comparative U.S. Navy (WAVES), USCG (SPAR), and Army (WAC) all-female units were integrated into the main force much earlier (1948, 1946, and 1978, respectively).

Of note, however, both the WAVES and SPARS had a minimum height requirement in 1943 of 5 feet (without shoes). The WACs, meanwhile, let ’em run a couple inches shorter, with the requirement of “standing at least fifty-eight inches tall, weighing at least 100 pounds, and possessing good vision.”

CMP Raises Gun Limits

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Official caption: “Group of men surround the last M1 .30-caliber rifles off the production line. Col. Hurlbut stands on the left. Lt. Col. Septfonds stands second from left. John C. Garand stands second from right and he holds the last rifle.” (Springfield Armory National Historic Site Photo 12808-SA.1)

Apparently, the CMP is either (A) not getting the same sort of demand for M1 Garands as they have been in the past or (B) is super flush with guns that fewer people want and is running out of space because they have just all but abandoned the rationing of rifles to its members.

I’m betting they are getting a lot of old Garands (along with smaller lots of Krags, M1917s, and M1903s) turned in by local VFW and similar units that are closing their doors. Today’s vets just don’t join those groups as their dads and granddads did in the 20th Century. Plus, in this economy, not a lot of folks have even the modest $1,150 for re-barreled Expert Grade and $900 for Navy 7.62 NATO M1s to spare.

Of note, the previous limit was 8 Garands per year– but that was back when Field and Service grade rifles were available for $650-$750 just a few years back.

Via CMP:

  • Effective January 7, 2025, customers are allowed to purchase up to twelve (12) surplus rifles (any type) per year. This limit excludes .22 rifles.
  • Surplus Ammo Limit: 2,000 rounds per caliber per year.
  • Commercial Ammo Limit: None
  • Please note: The CMP strictly enforces the limits referenced above. The CMP, at its discretion, reserves the right to ban from all future sales any attempts made by customers to circumvent these limits

Touring Germany with a Chopped Down M1 Carbine

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With personal space at a premium inside the tracked metal monsters of a World War II tank battalion, guns sometimes got unofficially smaller.

Check out this great image, snapped some 80 years ago this month, of two members of the 784th Tank Battalion at a railway marshaling yard in recently occupied Eschweiler, Germany on 23 January 1945, just after the Battle of the Bulge.

(Photo: W.C. Sanderson/ Signal Corps No. 111-SC-259409/ NARA NAID 276537211)

According to the official released wartime caption, the above shows Pfc. Floyd McMurthry (in the foreground) of Canton, Ohio, test-firing an M-3 Grease gun, while Pvt. Willie R. Gibbs (in the background) of Birmingham, Alabama, test-fires a sawed-off M-1 Carbine “which he shortened with his light tank to make it easier to handle.”

Let’s zoom in on that M1 a bit.

Judging by the size of the 8.5-inch handguard on the M1 Carbine, Pvt. Gibbs seems to have whittled this gun down to about 24 inches overall, with most of the 17.75-inch barrel abbreviated. The standard M1 Carbine went 35.6 inches overall.

No word on how the performance of the short-stroke piston action Carbine was affected in the above instance, although it is known that, some 20 years after the above image was captured, American advisors in Vietnam were often chopping down their M1s to more pistol length versions. Meanwhile, “Enforcer” pistols from Iver Johnson and Universal were marketed in the 1970s-90s with barrel lengths in the 9.5 to 10.25-inch range.

But that’s a different article.

For reference, the 784th Tank Battalion, a segregated unit equipped with a mix of M4 Sherman medium Tanks and M5A1 Stuart light tanks, entered combat in Europe in December 1944 and fought its way into Germany with the 104th “Timberwolf” Infantry Division.

Company B, 784th Tank Battalion at Sevelen, Germany on March 5, 1945. The two tanks to the left and right are M5 Stuarts while the vehicle in the center of the image is an M3 half-track. Note the extensive use of M3 Grease Guns, which remained prized by American armored vehicle crews through the 1990s. (U.S. Army Photo: SC 336785)

The 784th later linked up with advancing Soviet troops on the Elbe River and spent several months on occupation duty in Germany after the war. The 700-member battalion suffered nearly 200 casualties during its WWII service.

Carrier Gunnery

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How about these great shots, taken 7 August 1976 over NAS North Island, California, of the new class-leading big deck phib USS Tarawa (LHA 1), and the carriers USS Coral Sea (CV-43) and USS Constellation (CV-64).

An aerial view of ships moored at Naval Air Station, North Island. They are, from left to right, the amphibious assault ship USS TARAWA (LHA 1), the aircraft carrier US CORAL SEA (CV 43), and the aircraft carrier USS CONSTELLATION (CV 64). (Substandard image)

These show good details– to include a mix of guns– on the Midway-class Coral Sea and Tarawa. Constellation, as a circa 1960s Kitty Hawk class flattop, was the first class of American fleet carriers going back to USS Langley (CV-1) in 1920, to not mount a single 5-incher.

The Midway class was originally designed to carry 18 long-barreled 5″/54 Mk 16 guns— originally designed for the Montana class battleships– along with a slew of 40mm (21 quad) and 20mm (28 twin) guns.

Coral Sea was seen with her 1947-57 14-gun 5-inch fit, via USS Coral Sea assoc. https://www.usscoralsea.net/shipsweapons.php

They subsequently downgraded by 1960 to just 10 5″/54s, four on the port side and six on the starboard side, while their smaller guns had been replaced by 11 twin-3-inch mountings in place of the former quadruple 40 mm mountings. This was dropped to just six 5″/54s by January 1960 and only three after 1966. Coral Sea and Midway lost their last 5-inchers in 1979/80 to pick up CIWS while middle sister FDR had already been retired by then.

For the record, the first Langley carried four 5″/51s in open mounts during her “covered wagon” period of carrier ops, the mighty USS Lexington (CV-2) and Saratoga (CV-3) toted eight heavy cruiser-worthy 8″/55 guns along with dozen 5″/25s, Ranger (CV-4) had eight 5″/25s, the three Yorktowns and the one-off USS Wasp (CV-7) had eight 5″/38 DPs, and the 24 Essex class fleet carriers had eight 5″/38s in twin turrets and another four in single open mounts.

USS Lexington (CV-2) showing off just a portion of her impressive gun fit. Both Lex and Sara would land their 8-inchers in 1942, with the Army going on to use them for coastal defense around Hawaii

While the Independence and Saipan-class light carriers had to make do with smaller guns, every one of the assorted escort carrier classes (Long Island, Charger, Bogue, Sangamon, Casablanca, and Commencement Bay) carried at least one or two 5-inch guns, with USS Kalinin Bay and White Plains credited with scoring hits on pursuing Japanese heavy cruisers off Samar in October 1944.

Testing 5-inch guns on the escort carrier USS Manila Bay (CVE 61) 3 November 1943. Note fuzed ready shells. 80-G-372778

So it made sense in the 1950s that the new Forrestal-class supercarriers carried eight new style Mk.42 5″/54 caliber mounts, the same style guns as in the Navy’s new DD and FF classes throughout the Cold War.

McDonnell F3H Demon on Forrestal-class USS Saratoga. Not the Mk 42 5 inch gun and S-2 Tracker.

A-3B Skywarrior coming aboard USS Independence note 5-inch guns on carrier

USS Ranger (CVA-61) test firing two of her eight 5-inch 54 Mark 42 guns during a practice drill in 1961.

Check out these 1960 profiles of Midway and Forrestal:

Of course, the Forrestals later had their troublesome 5-inchers removed in later updates, as did Midway and Coral Sea.

Coupled with the retirement of the Essexes (Oriskany still had two 5″/38s aboard when she was decommissioned in 1976), Tarawa and her sisters, which carried three 5″/54 Mk 45s in bow and starboard aft sponsons, were the last American “flattops” to carry such heavy seagoing artillery.

USS Tarawa with her bow 5-inch MK45 guns.

Even these were removed by 1997 to allow for better topside aircraft operations.

It was a good 77-year run.

SBDs of the Republic

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Some 80 years ago today.

Between December 13 and 31, 1944 – Cognac (Charente). Maintenance and inspection of a Douglas SBD-5 Dauntless dive bomber belonging to the 4e flottille de bombardement (4e FB) of the French Navy.

Ref.: MARINE 389-7165, ECPAD

Ed Heinemann’s Douglas SBD Dauntless dive-bomber was famous in U.S. Naval service, doing everything from bombing Vichy French tanks during the Torch Landings in Algeria to the day the update went back at Midway to “scratch four flattops” from the Empire of Japan’s lineup.

SBD-5 Dauntless dive bombers Marine Scouting Squadron 3 VMS-3 Devilbirds Kodachrome. Note the distinctive grey-blue-white Atlantic Theater camouflage on the aircraft. NHHC 80-G-K-14310

Nearly 6,000 came off the assembly line during WWII and most went to serve in American hands across the Navy and Marines (SBD) and Army (as the A-24 Banshee). However, the Royal New Zealand Air Force fielded a whole squadron (No. 25) of SBDs and post-war Chile, Mexico, and Morrocco would keep the plane flying into the Cold War.

However, it may surprise you that the second most prolific user of the SBD, after Uncle Sam, was the Free French Air Force and Aeronavale.

The French Navy, whose sole aircraft carrier never really had any teeth in the form of a credible air wing, ordered 174 early SBD-3s in 1940 but the Republic fell before they could be delivered.

Nonetheless, between mid-1943 and June 1944, the Free French AF received as many as 50 A-24Bs, flown by I/17 Picardie and GC 1/18, while the Aeronavale picked up 32 SBD-5s. which would be flown by Flotilles 3FB (Lv Felix Ortolan) and 4FB (CC Raymond Béhic).

The French naval SBDs were placed under the initial command of U.S. Navy Fleet Air Wing 15 at NAS Port Lyautey.

French SBD Douglas SBD 5 dauntles de la 4F

SBD 5 of Flotilla 4.FB 166 and 174, GAN 2 Cognac winter 1944-45.

From providing air cover over the Dragoon landings to moving inland to support the Free French forces in the effort to liberate their country, the A-24s and SBDs were well used, with the Naval units, in particular, flying an average of three sorties a day per airframe towards the end of the war.

Battered French Douglas A24 crew pose with locals in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region 1945

Flying together as Groupe d’aéronautique navale n°2, the two French Navy SBD squadrons spent lots of time dopping ordnance on German pockets left along the Atlantic Wall. It sort of made sense as most of these were port units garrisoned by the Kriegsmarine, which made it, in a way, a French Navy-on-German Navy fight, albeit all conducted on land– with donated American dive bombers famous for sinking Japan’s finest.

French Douglas SBD Dauntless 4FB and 3FB at Cognac, late 1944

French Douglas SBD Dauntless 162 of 4FB Cognac, late 1944

French Douglas SBD Dauntless 3FB Cognac, late 1944, Note the star and crescent tail insignia

Crew members of Douglas SDB-5 Dauntless dive bombers, belonging to the 3FB or 4FB flotilla of the No. 2 Naval Aviation Group, returning from a mission as part of the operations to liberate the Atlantic pockets, 1945. Note the Yank and RAF flying gear mix, including British Enfield holsters and USN “Mae Wests”.

Post-war, the French AF relegated their A-24s to use as trainers Meknès, Morocco, a role they retained as late as 1953.

At the same time, the Aeronavale took their SBD act on the road, flying from them via Flotille 4FB from the light carrier Arromanches (HMS Colossus, on loan) and 3FB from the escort carrier Dixmude (HMS Biter), over Indochina in the late 1940s, ironically making the French the last folks to fly the Dauntless in combat. They converted to SB2Cs in 1949. 

French Douglas SBD Dauntless of 3FB au dessus du porte-avions Arromanches.

French Douglas SBD Dauntless of 3FB on Dixmude

Dauntless de la 3.F sur le PA Dixmude en Indochine en 1947

Today, Flottille 4F, the most decorated squadron in the Aeronavale, flies Grumman E-2C Hawkeyes from the French Navy’s sole carrier, DeGaulle, and is the only non-USN carrier Hawkeye unit.

Meanwhile, Flottille 3F was dissolved in Hyères on 31 December 1954– 70 years ago today– after flying their SB2Cs danger-close at Dien Bien Phu.

And, keeping the Navy Air-Aeronavale connection in the same space, this is from yesterday’s DOD contracts, emphasis mine:

General Atomics, San Diego, California, is awarded a $41,572,260 firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee order (N0001925F0028) against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N0001921G0014). This order provides for the advancement of the design of the future French carrier configuration of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System and advanced arresting gear through the preliminary design review. Work will be performed in San Diego, California (91%); Lakehurst, New Jersey (5.6%); and Tupelo, Mississippi (3.5%), and is expected to be completed in January 2026. Foreign Military Sales customer funds in the amount of $41,572,260 will be obligated at the time of award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This order was not competed. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.

An Albion & Bulwark-sized hole in the RN’s Sealift

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Between 1982 and 2017, the Royal Navy’s amphibious forces enjoyed a renaissance.

Saved from a planned gutting by the Falklands operation, the capability was preserved– and even enhanced– for a 35-year run that included very successful over-the-beach operations in 2000’s Operation Palliser in Sierra Leone and then during Operation Telic during the 2003 Iraq War– where the latter saw a full brigade-sized amphibious assault on the strategically key Al-Faw peninsula in south-east Iraq.

Royal Marine Commandoes from 42 Commando hit MAMYOKO BEACH from Sea King helicopters of 846 Naval Air Squadron, in a demonstration of amphibious power during Operation Silkman in Freetown, Sierra Leone 13 Nov 2000. MOD image by Royal Navy PO Jim Gibson (Click to big up)

By the late 1990s, the RNs phibs included 13 dedicated new vessels: a 21,000-ton LPH (HMS Ocean), two 20,000-ton LPDs– HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, four 16,000-ton Bay-class landing ships of the civilian-manned Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and six 23,000-ton Point-class roll-on/roll-off merchant sealift ships permanently contracted to the MoD for use as needed. Basic math puts this at 263,000 tons of vessels dedicated to the ‘phib role, with about a quarter of that being RN manned and controlled.

However, this had been whittled away with the still-young HMS Ocean sold to Brazil– where she serves as that fleet’s proud flagship– and one of the four Bays (RFA Largs Bay) sold to Australia. Two of the Point-class RO/ROs have all been released from contract (while gratefully the other four have recently been retained on a new contract running until 2031).

Now, Maria Eagle, Minister of State for Defence, recently stated:

“All of the remaining crew from HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark have been reassigned: either to other platforms, to training courses, or into other positions supporting the Royal Navy’s highest priority outputs.”

Britain’s flagship HMS Albion (L-14), seen in the Java Sea, 2018. With a well deck capable of holding four LCU MK10s and another four LCVP MK5s can be held in davits, she can land 620 Marines on the beach in a single lift. Meanwhile, she can also accommodate three CH-47 Chinooks on her heli deck. 

For reference, Albion and Bulwark only entered the RN in 2003 and 2004, respectively and the latter has been in an extended major refit to add 15 years of life to her! Both ships have been effectively in reserve since 2011, swapping places in reserve/high readiness conditions over that time, meaning both are low-milage vessels. The plan had been to retain them until at least the mid-2030s, but the Labor government has scrapped that idea.

The official disposal of Albion and Bulwark cuts the two most capable British “gators” from the fleet inventory, slashing 40,000 tons of sealift in the process. Coupled with the sale of HMS Ocean and RFA Largs Bay, and the release of MV Longstone and Beachy Head from the contract, the Royal Navy only has three Bays (two of which are laid up!) and four Points left on tap, representing 140,000 tons of shipping.

Worse, all of it is civilian-manned and those mariners have not been very happy lately.

If the red button gets mashed in 2025, it looks like only one dedicated amphibious warship, the humble RFA Lyme Bay (L3007), would be able to take the call. Meanwhile, the Royal Marines have been reduced to just two deployable six-company battalion-sized units: 40 Cdo and 42 Cdo.

RFA Lyme Bay in the Mediterranean as she makes her way back to the UK after training with the Italian Navy, in November 2020. LPhot Barry Swainsbury MOD 45167525

Designed for 356 embarked Royal Marines, she can double that for short, uncomfortable, stints. Her tiny well deck can hold either a single LCU or two LCVPs while her heli deck (without hangar) can only support a limited amount of vertical lift. Her self-defense armament is limited to a pair of 20mm CIWS and a few light guns.

Besides the light battalion landed on the beach in five or six (hopefully unopposed) lifts by Lyme Bay’s sole LCU, anything else would have to be flown in by fixed-wing RAF assets to marry up with equipment brought in sometime later by the Point class RO/ROs to a seized local port. This can be alleviated a bit by the use of Mexifloat connectors– provided of course that the beach can handle the load and the deep water curve is close enough to the surfline to accommodate Lyme Bay’s 19-foot draft without grounding. 

Churchill wept.

Since you came this far, enjoy this recent interview with retired MG Julian Thompson, CB, OBE, who got the call to take 3 Commando to the Falklands in 1982– back when the RN had a proper amphibious force.

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