Category Archives: weapons

Batfish evicted?

Posted on by Leave a comment

The Balao-class submarine USS Batfish (SS/AGSS-310), is a famed “sub-buster,” credited with sinking no less than three Imperial Japanese Navy submarines– RO 55, RO 112, and RO 113— in only four days while on a single war patrol. The secret was radar warning receivers picking up on Japanese emissions– the classic trace buster-buster, so to speak.

Navy photographers were waiting for her return to port to record the mighty Batfish’s sixth war patrol.

USS Batfish (SS 310). Battle flags fly from the boat’s superstructure as she heads for her base at the end of a war patrol, in May 1945. Note radars, periscope, and battle flag at the top of the scope. 80-G-468626

Batfish was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and earned six battle stars for her World War II service.

She claimed 14 ships sunk (7 warships and 7 merchantmen) and three others damaged during her seven war patrols. Over a period of four days in February 1945, she sank three Japanese submarines. For this feat, the “sub killer” was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation. Her other WW II exploits included blasting a grounded destroyer, bombarding a Japanese village, and rescuing downed aviators.

Postwar, she was never Guppy’fied like most of her sisters, and instead largely kept her WWII layout, continuing to serve in USNRF training operations in the Caribbean and along the Gulf and East Coast until 1960 when she was laid up in Orange Texas. 

Beating the scrappers, the Navy agreed to allow her to be epically towed up the Arkansas River system in 1972 for installation at Muskogee, Oklahoma for use as a museum.

Since then, she has been largely safe and sound on dry ground (except for a historic 2019 flood that left her afloat for the first time in 47 years), and it looked like she would endure as the last preserved Balao save for the USS Drum, which is likewise ashore in Mobile.

However, that may not be the case.

As reported by local news in Muskogee, the boat may be homeless at the end of the month:

The Muskogee Memorial Park, popular for its World War II submarine the USS Batfish, is being forced to move.

“To have a museum like this is just a reminder to the rest of the population what history is,” said James Erb, the museum’s curator.

For the last 50 years. the park has leased its property from the Port of Muskogee.

This year, the port didn’t renew their lease and is asking them to move. This has lead to rumors of the Batfish being scrapped. Erb says that isn’t true.

The park plans on moving everything to Three Forks Harbor.

“The land is confirmed, we just have to make financial arrangements to do it,” said Erb.

More here.

The King’s Bicentennial Smith, Liberator Action & Gen. Fuller’s NorK Mosin

Posted on by Leave a comment

I had my eye on Rock Island Auction Company’s premier auction over the weekend and almost pulled the trigger on one item of interest. Some of the more newsworthy and curious pieces were as follows.

Elvis’s Russell Smith-signed and factory engraved exhibition grade Smith & Wesson Model 53 in .22 Magnum Jet. One of the neat things about this hogleg is that it was silver inlaid in a Bicentennial Commemorative theme as it was produced for Presley in 1976 by S&W on spec from Hiram’s of California.

Estimated Price: $60,000 – $90,000
Price Realized: $199,750

Liberators!

Next was Ralph Hagan’s Liberator FP-45 collection. Perhaps the most complete group of the single-shot throwaways, Hagan was the author of the definitive work on the guns.

His collection consisted of 10 period guns including the millionth Liberator Pistol presented by the Guide Lamp Division of General Motors to Lt. Fred Thacker, U.S. Army, who was the military representative on the FP-45 project. Also included was an incredibly rare CIA Deer Gun– the 9mm plastic version of the Liberator created in the Vietnam era, of which only an estimated 20 remain in circulation.

Made by the Guide Lamp Division of the General Motors Company in Anderson, Indiana, the factory cranked out 1,000,000 LP-45s in just 12 weeks.

They shipped in a cardboard box with instructions, a packet of ten .45 hardball rounds, and a wooden dowel used for extracting fired cartridges.

This one, technically sn 1,000,001, was made from spare parts after the run was complete and presented to Lt. Fred Thacker, the Army inspector for the project. (RIAC)

The Liberator saw a very limited number used in Europe, and most deployed went to occupied Philippines and China. In the end, though, most were destroyed. 

The Liberators went a little low.

Estimated Price: $90,000 – $140,000
Price Realized: $94K

Personally, I think it would be a great idea if some maker were to produce a run of these guns, correct with the picto-instruction sheet and craftboard box. Vintage Ordnance did so in 2011, asking $515 a pop.

Fuller’s Mosin

My choice, which I was watching and almost pulled the trigger on had it not been for the fact that I just bought a whole shelf of T&E guns from FN that I have been reviewing, was this awesomely historic circa 1929 hex receiver Soviet Izhevsk Arsenal Model 1891 Mosin-Nagant Dragoon inscribed as a Korean War trophy bring back presented to Lt. Gen. Francis (“Frank”) William Farrell of WWII 11th Airborne fame.

It seems to have been captured by 1st Bn, 7th Cav Rgt, 1st Cav Division at Tabu-dong in Sept. 1950, early on in the conflict, while Farrell was head of the Korean MAG which was training the nascent ROK Army.

It only went for $2,350.

Man, I should have got this one…

Last stand of the Danish Army

Posted on by 2 comments

In a sort of follow-up to the one-day 9 April 1940 invasion that saw an overwhelming German force steamroll the country by lunch, on 29 August 1943– some 80 years ago today– while we covered the actions of the Danish Navy already (see Copenhagen’s Finest), the Hæren made a final attempt to resist their unwanted neighbors to the south when the Germans made a move to stamp out a growing resistance and uprising through an armored fist.

The prelude included the famed Danish “cold shoulder” campaign, no less than 800 sabotage actions in the first eight months of 1943, and a series of strikes and public disorders in Esbjerg (9-11 August), Odense (18-23 August), Aalborg (23-29 August), and Århus (26-29 August), culminated with the Danish government submitting their resignation to the King on 28 August.

This led Gen. Hermann von Hanneken, the supreme commander of the German forces in Denmark, to declare martial law in an “emergency action” (Operation Safari) that led to the Danish military being disarmed and its personnel interned, at least briefly.

Denmark was largely used by the German military during the war as a training ground for its garrison, with many units stationed there long-term filled with older (age 38 was average) men unlikely to do well on more active fronts. Often units were sent to the country– unofficially dubbed the “Whipped Cream Front” due to the widespread availability of dairy products long scarce in Germany– to rest and reform before being shipped out to the Ostfront or elsewhere. 
 
At the time of Safari, the Germans had at their disposal in Denmark three infantry divisions including one Landesschützen (fortress infantry) (416. Inf.Div) and two second-line (160. Res.Div. and 166. Res.Div.), a Luftwaffe Field Division (20. Lw.-Feld Div.) made up of mobilized ground personnel pressed into an infantry role, and a second-line panzer division (233. Res.Pz.Div.) which had just arrived and included a mixed regiment of rebuilt Pz Kpfw IIIs and IVs.
 
A new infantry division (361. Inf.Div.) was being formed in the country from remnants of the battered 86th, 94th, and 137th Infantry Divisions under the command of Ritterkreuz-adorned GenLt. Siegmund Freiherr von Schleinitz, late of the old 9th Infantry.  

Unternehmen Safari: German panzers of 233. Res.Pz.Div. on the move in Copenhagen on the morning of 29 August 1943. FHM-170533

The occupied country’s pre-war left-socialist government had stripped the ostensibly 30,000-man two-division Danish Army by April 1940 to its bare minimum of just 15,000, then furloughing most of them until the force stood at just a 2,000-man cadre and about 6,600 conscripts on month two of their 11-month national service orders.

Even at this, post the German occupation, the Danish Army was paired down even further to just 2,200 men: the battalion-sized Royal Life Guards (Kongelige Livgarde) who were still allowed to protect the King, caretaker forces required for maintenance work at bases, and a small number of reserve officers and NCOs were allowed to train in the Army’s Kornet og løjtnantskole (Cornet and Lieutenant School).

Facing 60,000 panzer- and air-supported German troops, it was a no-win situation.

Still, there was resistance offered and the Danish army suffered about 60 casualties, inflicting roughly half as many on the Germans. 

An understrength company-sized unit at the Holbæk Barracks on the island of Zealand took to the street…

Soldiers from Holbæk Barracks prepare for battle, on Aug 29, 1943. Note the Madsen LMG with its distinctive 40-round magazine forward, Krag rifles, and their iconic Danish M23/38 Staalhjelm. FHM-170147

FHM-170119

…Then, with German armor coming up, saw the futility of their actions and managed to turn the resulting hour-long stalemate into an opportunity to scrap their guns.

They even paraded with their broken weapons before stacking them.

Soldiers from the garrison in Holbæk 29 August 1943 parade with broken guns before the arrival of the Germans. FHM-170129

FHM-170112

Several period color images, snapped by Flemming Find Andersen, detailing the Army Officer’s School detachment at the Jægersprislejren training grounds in Horns Herred, about 50 km from Copenhagen, going on alert on 29 August 1943 endure in the collection of the Nationalmuseet.

Drink in that period Danish battle rattle including Krag rifles and a M35 Swedish-Danish 37mm antitank gun the distance. FHM-159177

FHM-159176

At one point in the morning, they loaded up in privately owned trucks and readied to rush off to meet the Germans. Some discussion was made about a trip into the capital to link up with the Life Guards.

FHM-159178

FHM-159179

FHM-159182

In the end, the prospect of a company or so of officer cadets facing off against a German division proved futile, and they were ordered to lay down their arms.

FHM-159181

FHM-194501

They were interned at the Jægersprislejren until 31 October and then paroled, with most of the men going on to join the local resistance movements alongside the Freedom Council and donned their uniforms again during the final days of occupation, girded by both homemade STEN guns and weapons dropped via the SOE and OSS.

Perhaps the most important contribution the Danish Resistance had to the war was to smuggle acclaimed Danish physicist Niels Bohr out of the country to Sweden, where the RAF further extracted him to England and then to the U.S. where he met with Oppenheimer’s crew on the Manhattan Project. While Bohr only made minimal contributions to The Bomb, he did shed light for Opie and the gang on just what German big brain Werner Heisenberg was working on for Hitler– the two had met in Copenhagen in 1941— and importantly that he was doing it wrong– one of the most unsung kernels of strategic intelligence in WWII. 

Flash forward to May 1945

The Hæren effectively reformed in the streets and countryside on 4 May 1945, when upwards of 20,000 armed Danes took their country back.

Old helmets and uniforms were taken out of attics, and new guns added to old stocks carefully put away, as “The Day” had come. 

Meeting of Danish Resistance fighters in a farm in Rødvore just after the Freedom message aired on the BBC at 20:35 pm on the 4 of May 1945. (DINES BOGØ)

Rally of Danish Resistance fighters (Rødvore company) in the periphery of Copenhagen, days after the Freedom declaration of the 4th of May 1945. (DINES BOGØ)

Danish resistance fighters leading collaborators to the courthouse in Copenhagen, following the liberation of Denmark in May 1945. The resistance fighters are wearing black-painted Danish Army M23/40 Staalhjelms (without the front emblem) and are all armed with 9mm Swedish M37/39 Suomi pattern submachine guns.

Members of the Danish Resistance Movement (den danske modstandsbevægelse) photographed in Kalundborg in 1945. They are armed with Swedish-made 9mm Kpist M37/39 submachine guns (licenced-made variants of the Finnish Suomi KP/-31) and are wearing M23/40 Staalhjelms.

Freedom fighters in Aalborg after the liberation on 5 May 1945 FHM-238616

German soldiers surrendered to Danish Resistance FHM-218347

Danish resistance Frederiksberg Castle. Note the mix of Army, Navy, and police uniforms, helmets, and arms. FHM-320918

Battles in Odense 5 May 1945 FHM-239539

Resistance groups from Kulhuse, Kyndby, and Strandgården reoccupied the Jægersprislejren, on 6 May 1945, two days before VE-Day, and fired a salute on the parade ground as the Dannebrog was raised once again.

Today, the total strength of the Danish Army is approximately 9,000 professional troops, excluding conscripts undergoing basic training which brings total active strength to nearly 23,000, bolstered by some 60,000 reserves. Meanwhile, the Danish Home Guard counts some 40,000 members.

Training continues to be held at the Jægersprislejren.

Growing Hell..ion

Posted on by Leave a comment

Springfield Armory has been importing its American take on the Croatian-made VHS2 5.56 NATO chambered bullpup carbine for a minute, and now they have expanded the lineup to include both 18- and 20-inch variants, really growing the family.

The HS Produkt VHS is a legit combat rifle, already seeing some real-life service around the globe in some very armpit-quality places even though it is only about 15 years old. The improved second-gen VHS2, which was introduced back in 2013, first came into the U.S. in early 2022 as a semi-auto version with enough Section 922 tweaks (BCM Gunfighter grip, Magpul mag, etc.) to make it compliant.

The standard 16 inch model, which I reviewed in 2022

Debuted over here as the Springfield Armory Hellion with a 16-inch barrel, it has gained a reputation as a reliable, easy shooting, accurate, and feature-rich (user-adjustable gas system, fully ambidextrous, 5-position collapsible stock, swappable ejection port, excellent flip up iron sights on a full Pic rail, etc.) bullpup, outclassing a lot of the competition such as the Tavor, AUG, and FS 2000.

I have put upwards of 2K rounds through one on a T&E and loved it enough to buy it.

Well now, Springfield has introduced two new variants that share every feature and only change with the barrel length and type.

The new models include an 18-inch and a 20-inch, the latter with a ribbed forward section for enhanced cooling as well as an integrated bayonet lug (with the company promising compatible bayonets on the way). Springfield points out that the 20-inch model sports a similar configuration to that of the Croatian Army’s VHS-D2, a super accurate designated marksman version of the VHS-2.

16, 18, and 20…

Hellion 18-inch model

Hellion 20-inch model. Note the ribbed barrel and bayonet lug. Springfield says this model is a ringer for the VHS-designated marksman rifle

 

Hellion 16

Hellion 18

Hellion 20

Barrel Length:

16 inches

18 inches

20 inches (includes bayonet lug)

Overall Length:

28.25 – 29.75 inches

30.25 — 31.75 inches

32.25 — 33.75 inches

Weight:

8 pounds

8 pounds, 3 oz

8 pounds, 6 oz

MSRP:          

$1,999

$2,016

$2,031

 

The neat thing is that the price point is practically the same, and, while some other Springfield platforms (looking at you, Prodigy) have gotten some downright mixed to bad reviews, it seems like everyone kind of likes the Hellion.

Time will tell.

Coastie 154s Keep Chugging in the West Pac

Posted on by 2 comments

At a time when China is applying a lot of soft pressure to make friends in places like the Solomon Islands (won with $730 million in financial aid) important strides are being made with a hardscrabble trio of new U.S. Coast Guard cutters roaming West from their home in Guam, where they have been pulling 8,000-mile patrols lasting as long as six weeks, which is impressive for 154-foot patrol craft. 

From USCG Pacific Area PAO:

U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam’s Fast Response Cutters conducted four patrols over 44 days, enhancing safety and prosperity in the Pacific Islands region while combatting illicit maritime activity, including illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing and the illegal and unsafe transport of passengers.

Lt. j.g. Sims and Ensign Salang welcome the Marine Corps Detachment in Chuuk for Operation Koa Moana aboard the USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143) for a tour while visiting Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia, on July 28, 2023. The crew conducted a patrol in FSM in support of Operation Rematau. (U.S. Coast Guard photo)

The crews of USCGC Frederick Hatch (WPC 1143), USCGC Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139), and USCGC Oliver Henry (WPC 1140):

  • Conducted seven boardings and five observation reports.
  • Completed over 20 training evolutions.
  • Qualified 18 new shipboard members.
  • Supported the investigation into the transport of 11 people aboard an overloaded vessel transiting to Guam from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on an illegal charter following their rescue by DoD partners.
  • Supported operations such as Operation Blue Pacific, Operation Rematau, Operation Nasse, and Operation Koa Moana.
  • Operational Achievements and Highlights
  • USCGC Frederick Hatch (June 21 – July 2 and July 18 – Aug. 3): Enhanced international relations, streamlined boarding processes, qualified new personnel, and improved communication with FSM Maritime Police.
  • USCGC Myrtle Hazard (July 3 – 16): Strengthened connection with CNMI, ensured maritime law enforcement presence in less patrolled areas, and enhanced collaboration with customs and public safety departments.
  • USCGC Oliver Henry (July 18 – 23): Increased U.S. presence, enforced fishing regulations, and fostered crew readiness with weapons proficiency and collaboration.

Myrtle Hazard has also been invited by Papua New Guinea (PNG) to join their lead in maritime operations to combat illegal fishing and safeguard maritime resources during August 2023. This comes after Oliver Henry became the first U.S. Coast Guard Fast Response Cutter to call on port in Papua New Guinea during their southern expeditionary patrol in the fall of 2022 to build relations, conduct engagements, and resupply and the two countries inked a security agreement a couple of months ago.

The crew of the USCGC Myrtle Hazard (WPC 1139) arrive in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea on Aug. 20, 2023. The U.S. Coast Guard is in Papua New Guinea at the invitation of the PNG government to join their lead in maritime operations to combat illegal fishing and safeguard maritime resources following the recent signing and ratification of the bilateral agreement between the United States and Papua New Guinea. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Chief Warrant Officer Sara Muir)

Via USCG:

This collaborative effort marks the first time a joint patrol effort will be executed at sea since the signing and ratification of the recent bilateral defense agreement between PNG and the United States, which allows the U.S. to embark ship riders from PNG agencies aboard the ship to conduct at sea boardings on other vessels operating in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) under their national agency authority. This is the U.S. Coast Guard vessel deployment first announced during Secretary of Defense Austin’s engagement with Prime Minister James Marape in July.

The Coast Guard has ordered 65 Sentinel (Webber)- class Fast Response Cutters (FRCs) to date.

With the recent commissioning of USCGC Patterson (WPB 1153) in Portland Maine earlier this month–the fourth of six FRCs to be stationed in Boston– 53 FRCs are in service: 13 in Florida; seven in Puerto Rico; six in Bahrain with PATFORSWA; four each in California and Massachusetts; three each in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii, Texas and New Jersey; and two each in Mississippi and North Carolina. Future FRC homeports include Astoria, Oregon; and Kodiak and Seward, Alaska.

At least one more FRC will be sent to Guam, where she will no doubt be put to good use. 

LTJG Bob Barker, Corsair Jock

Posted on by One comment

The late Robert William “Bob” Barker, who was the brightest part of staying home sick as a kid, also did his bit as part of the Greatest Generation.

Bob enlisted in the Navy Reserve Aviation Cadet (AvCad) program in November 1942 at age 18 while attending Drury College in Springfield, Missouri on a basketball scholarship. 

He trained at 11 locations including eight Navy air bases on six different types over the next three years:

  • William Jewell College – Liberty, Missouri: 6th Battalion Cadet ground school and athletic training.
  • Ames, Iowa—Iowa State University: Taylorcraft L-2 Grasshopper flight training.
  • University of Georgia: Preflight School and Navy Basketball Team.
  • Millington Naval Air Station- Memphis, Tennessee: Stearman NS2 Biplane Training.
  • Corpus Christi, Texas Naval Air Station: Completed flight training and received Commission as a Navy Ensign.
  • Cabaniss Field Texas: Vultee BT-13 Valiant Training.
  • Beeville, Texas: SNJ Texan flight training.
  • DeLand Naval Air Station—DeLand, Florida: FM2 Wildcat flight training (during his honeymoon)
  • Great Lakes Naval Air Station—Lake Michigan: Carrier landing qualifications on USS Wolverine (IX-64)— the infamous paddlewheel “Covered wagon of the Great Lakes.”
  • Banana River Naval Air Station: Gunnery runs on U.S. Navy Mariner aircraft to train their crews.
  • Goose Island Michigan: F4U Corsair training with VF-97 and advancement to Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG).

He was in line to be deployed to the Pacific to fight the Empire in August 1945 when the whistle was blown.

As Barker summed up:

“I was a Naval Aviator, a Fighter Pilot. I completed all facets of my training, including my qualifying landings on a carrier. I was all ready to go, and when the enemy heard that I was headed for the Pacific, they surrendered. That was the end of World War II.”

Demobilized in November 1945, he remained in the inactive Naval Reserve until 1960.

You will be missed, sir.

And, with that, I’ll leave you with one of his greatest three minutes, which he filmed at a spry 73.

Death of a U-boat, Williams vs Maus

Posted on by Leave a comment

Some 80 years ago this week, in the North Atlantic west of the Canary Islands, the German Type IXC/40 U-boat, U-185 (Kptlt. August Maus), with 31 waterlogged survivors of the lost U-604 aboard, met her end at the hand of depth charges dropped from Willie 9, a TBF Avenger aircraft of VC-13 from the deck of the Bouge-class escort carrier USS Core (CVE-13).

The event was chronicled by Core’s airwing.

The explosion caused by Lt. Williams’ two exploding depth charges dropped on a German submarine, U-185. The bow of the submarine protrudes from the bottom of the explosion. Incident #4082. Released August 24, 1943. Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-77195

German submarine, U-185, sinking after the combined attack of several aircraft from USS Core (CVE 13), principally from two depth charges from an Avenger piloted by Lieutenant R.P. Williams, USNR. Incident #4082. Released August 24, 1943. Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-77196

In all, U-185 went down with 29 dead (including 14 men from U-604) while 22 survivors were rescued and eventually became POWs.

German survivors from the German submarine, U-185, in the water after being sunk by aircraft from USS Core (CVE-13), piloted by Lieutenant R.P. Williams, USNR, August 24, 1943 They were in the water for six hours before being picked up by destroyer. Incident #4082. Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-77198

Submarine survivors of U 185 and U 604 resting on the flight deck of USS Core (CVE 13). Released August 24, 1943. Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-77202

From Core’s war diary, a very matter-of-fact entry for that Tuesday morning: 

Core had a particularly effective “hunter-killer patrol” in the late summer of 1943.

Per DANFS:

Core’s second hunter-killer patrol, from 16 August to 2 September 1943 netted her planes U-86 on 24 August in 27-09′ N., 37-03′ W., and U-185 the same day in 27-00′ N., 37-06′ W. Putting to sea again 5 October in TG 21.15, Core’s planes sank U-378 on 20 October in 47-40′ N,, 28-27′ W. She returned to Norfolk 19 November.

USS Core (CVE-13) underway in the Atlantic, probably on 10 October 1943. The wing of the plane from which the photograph was taken is in the foreground. Note also that the planes of her air group are painted white and gull grey to make it difficult for U-boats to see against the sky. Core would continue to serve after the war as an aircraft transport, taking helicopters to Vietnam. She was scrapped in 1971. NH 106565

As for the good Kapitänleutnant August Wilhelm Hugo Maus, he had claimed some 70,000 GRT in tonnage while he was active and earned a Knights Cross while in American custody. Speaking of which, he and five other U-boat officers were able to escape from the lightly guarded POW camp at Papago Park, Arizona on 12 February 1944 but was soon after recaptured in Tucson. Maus later helped dig a tunnel that allowed 25 POWs to escape on the night of 23-24 December 1944, but he elected to remain behind due to an injury. He was eventually repatriated and died in Hamburg in 1986, aged 81.

The splasher of Maus’s boat, LT Robert Pershing Williams, then a 26-year-old Naval pilot hailing from Snoqualmie, Washington who formerly had flown an SBD dive bomber with Bombing Two from USS Lexington (earning a Navy Cross) during the Battle of Coral Sea, flew against U-185 with Morris C. Grinstead, Aviation Radioman, First Class, U.S.N., 21, of Letts, Iowa and turret gunner Melvin H. Paden, Aviation Machinist’s Mate, Second Class, U.S.N., 19, Route 4, Box 17, Salinas, California. The action earned Williams a second Navy Cross.

Acclaimed cartoonist, Wood Cowan used his story to help sell War Bonds.

Williams outlived Maus, and passed in 1997, aged 79.

Tossing ASW back on the 378s

Posted on by One comment

USCGC Mellon (WHEC 717) sits in full dress at the pier before a decommissioning ceremony in Seattle on Aug. 20, 2020. USCGC Mellon was a High Endurance Cutter homeported in Seattle and served as an asset in completing Coast Guard missions around the world for 52 years. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael Clark)

The Hamilton class of Coast Guard cutters served the USCG well for over 50 years, including most working the Market Time gun line off Vietnam as well as standing toe-to-toe with the Soviet Navy in the Cold War.

Equipped from the beginning as a patrol frigate, they entered service starting in 1967 with a 5″/38 DP mount and an ASW suite that included the AN/SQS-38 sonar and Mk32 torpedo tubes for launching lightweight ASW torpedoes, first the Mk44, then the Mk46. They had to requal for both surface warfare and ASW every year and often bird-dogged Russki subs, especially off New England and in Alaska waters.

1972 Hamilton-class USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) close aboard a Soviet Submarine. USCG Historian’s Office. 230802-G-G0000-102.

During the late 1980s and early 1990s the Hamiltons a FRAM program that replaced the 5″/38 gun with the MK 75 76mm OTO, upgraded the MK 32 Surface Vessel Torpedo Tubes to Mod 7, installed MK 36 SRBOC launchers and the AN/SLQ-32 electronic warfare suite, added a CIWS and Harpoon capability, and upgraded the cutters’ air and surface search radars. This came in tandem with the ability to operate a Navy LAMPS I (Sea Sprite) helicopter should they need to clock in as convoy escorts.

Then, in 1996, the USCG got out of the ASW biz, pulling its tubes and sonar suites. Everyone figured it would never be needed again. After all, the world was at peace and sub-busting was so WWII.

In recent years, the Coast Guard retired all 13 of its long-serving Hamiltons and Uncle Sam has since gifted them to overseas allies. This included three sent to the Philippines– the former USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715), renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar (PF-15); USCGC Dallas (WHEC-716) renamed BRP Ramon Alcaraz (PF-16), and USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719) as BRP Andres Bonifacio (FF-17).

Two Gregorio del Pilar-class frigates (former Hamilton-class cutters) of the Philippine Navy during naval exercises with the US Navy 

And, it seems the Philippine Navy is fitting them for ASW once more, with ELAC SONAR GmbH, a German supplier of hydroacoustic systems, announcing recently that it completed sea acceptance tests of the HUNTER 2.0 hull-mounted sonar for the class.

The company notes:

HUNTER 2.0 is a hull-mounted sonar carrying out anti-submarine warfare (ASW) in active and passive modes in shallow and deep waters for panoramic detection of submarines and other objects.

As for teeth, the PI last year contacted with the UK SEA firm for its Torpedo Launcher System (TLS) for a class of corvettes being built in South Korea. It is not a stretch they could add a few more to the contract for the old Hamiltons, and in fact, the presser at the time said clearly: “The contract follows the successful delivery of SEA’s TLS for the Philippine Navy’s frigates.”

SEA’s TLS is a weapon-agnostic, close range and rapid-reaction system capable of firing a variety of NATO-compatible standard light weight torpedoes, including the US Mk44, Mk46 and Mk54 torpedoes, UK Sting Ray, Italian A244S, French MU90 and the Korean Blue Shark.

Euro But Not Trash: The Cold War Vintage CZ 75 ‘Pre-B’ 9mm

Posted on by Leave a comment

While guys who dig CZs these days often like to think of themselves as mysterious and edgy, back in the chilliest days of the Cold War, picking up a CZ 75 was tougher than you’d think. 

A product initially of Communist-controlled and Moscow-allied Czechoslovakia, as I’ve covered dozens of times in the past, the CZ 75 first hit the market in Europe in 1975, hence the name. While nothing in the design was new – every feature had already appeared in a production gun somewhere – the combination of its internal slide rail design (similar to the SIG P210) with a 15+1 shot detachable 9mm magazine (Smith & Wesson Model 59), double-action/single-action trigger system (Walther P-38), and a linkless cam locking system (Browning Hi-Power) yielded a very sweet shooting pistol with a decent capacity that could be seen as a legitimate target or “combat” handgun, especially for its day. 

A second-generation 1986-vintage CZ 75 “Pre-B” with all matching serial numbers and zero import marks. (Photo: Chris Eger)

CZ 75s were known in the U.S. – they even popped up in that 1984 classic “Red Dawn” in the hands of dastardly commie airborne forces in the opening action sequence. The thing is, as there was plenty of bad blood between the U.S. and Warsaw Pact countries in the 1970s and 80s, it was fairly hard to get a CZ 75 in the States. 

This meant that most in that period came in via two narrow and now historically ironic sources: from Canada through a company called Pragotrade, and via American servicemembers/businessmen who bought them in Western Europe back when gun laws over there were a lot less draconian.

The latter is where I think this gun came from, as it doesn’t have any import marks but does have what seem to be factory-installed adjustable LPA target sights, which would make it a ringer for CZ 75s sold commercially in Britain in the mid-1980s. 

For instance: Czech out this ad from Edgar Brothers, a big UK-based gun distributor that is still in business – although not in the handgun market for the past 25 years. 

Now, that gun looks familiar…

More in my column at Guns.com.

The Great Submarine Mess Decks Utensil Heist

Posted on by One comment

180202-N-ND254-0451 BANGOR, Wash. (February 2, 2018) The Gold Crew of the Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine USS Alabama (SSBN 731) returns home to Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor following a routine strategic deterrent patrol. Alabama is one of eight ballistic missile submarines stationed at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor, providing the most survivable leg of the strategic deterrence triad for the United States. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nancy diBenedetto/Released)

Dave Chetlain over at The War Horse has this great tale from the Boomers:

“Hey, Eeyore, we need to do something big,” Jim Gover said, using my nickname since we couldn’t use our real ones in sonar for security reasons.

We were on day infinity of submarine patrol and my partner in mischief Jim Gover was about to get me in trouble again.

“We are 400 feet under the water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with 24 Trident C-4 missiles pointed at the Soviet Union,” I responded. “Isn’t that big enough?”

“No, you idiot. I’m talking about something really important—a big prank.”

The rest after the jump.

« Older Entries Recent Entries »