Category Archives: World War Two

Fidem Servo

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Some 80 years ago this month.

Original caption: “Christmas tree and Howitzers form the holiday theme of Battery C, 599th Field Artillery Battalion, Camp Joseph T. Robinson, Arkansas, Dec 1943.

“We guarantee Christmas spirit American style.” From left to right: Pvt. Lewis Cox, Pvt. Charles Dunnings, Cpl. Alfonso Swain, Pvt. Homer Lee Johnson, Pvt. Frank Black, Pvt. Alexander Jones, Sgt. Willie Wright, Pvt. Dumas E. Bennett, Pvt. Amos Smith, Pvt. Henry Bowman, Pvt. David Swayze, Pvt. John Coles, Pvt. Wesley Douglas, Sgt. Albert Sawyer.”

Signal Corps Photo 111-SC-167469. National Archives Identifier 148727112.

Note their M1 (M116) 75mm pack howitzers, a fine light gun that only weighed 1,400 pounds and remained in service through Grenada.

The “red legs” are outfitted in heavy M1939 wool greatcoats, M1 helmets sans covers, and M38 field leggings (spats). Besides the howitzers and a tripod-mounted M1919 under the tree, the cannon-cockers are armed with Great War vintage 30-06 caliber M1917 “American Enfields.”

Note the potbellied appearance and distinctive sights of the M1917s on this inset.

For reference, the 599th Field Artillery Battalion was part of the organization of the segregated “Buffalo Soldiers” of the 92nd Infantry Division.

Shipped overseas in September 1944, nine months after the above image was snapped, the 92nd fought in Italy in the North Apennines and Po Valley campaigns, frequently against crack German and Italian mountain troops, and are remembered in the book and film Miracle at St. Anna.

In all, the 92nd suffered no less than 2,997 battle casualties during its eight months in the ETO. At least 50 of them are still unaccounted for somewhere in the Italian countryside.

The 599th’s motto is Fidem Servo (“I keep the faith”)

Owen in the RVN

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Some 56 years ago this month:

“December 1967. Nui Dat, South Vietnam. 15233 Sergeant Reg Matheson of Hammondville, NSW, a member of 103 Field Battery, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), with his gun near a sandbagged area at the 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) base.”

Photo by Michael Coleridge via the Australian War Memorial COL/66/0959/VN

Note Sgt. Matheson’s distinctive top-fed WWII-era Owen Mk 2/3 Machine Carbine (submachine gun).

Designed by 24-year-old Pvt. Evelyn Ernest Owen, with 2/17 Battalion of the Australian Army, the gun can generally be regarded as Australia’s STEN and was placed into wartime production in 1943 with some 40,000 produced. 

Production Owen Mk 1 painted in green and yellow camouflage for use in jungle fighting. The pistol grips are black plastic and the butt is wood. The 33 round 9mm magazine didn’t last long at the guns ripping 700 rounds per minute rate of fire — but “Diggers” would carry lots of spare mags to keep it stoked.

 

Late model Owen Mk 1/43 SMG complete with canvas sling mounted on the left-hand side. The butt is the skeleton frame type with a clip for an oil bottle — similar to the one found on the U.S. M1A1 Carbine.

 

The WWII era guns were refurbished at the Australian Lithgow Small Arms factory in the 1950s, which included stripping away the camo and giving them new MkIII style barrels and a safety catch. This is a good example of the latter type of “improved” Mk2/3 Owen.

As well documented in images online at the AWM, the 9mm Owen continued to see much front-line use in Korea, augmenting the bolt-action .303 Enfield with the Diggers against the Norks and Chinese “volunteers.”

20 September 1952, Korea. Informal portrait of 2400799 Private Bruce Grattan Horgan, 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR), standing near a trench on Hill 187. Pte Horgan is armed to go on a summer night fighting patrol, which usually consists of 15 men. His armament consists of a 9mm Owen sub-machine gun, seven magazines each holding 33 bullets, and four M36 Mills bomb hand grenades. AWM P06251.002

Owens remained in service with the Australians well into the 1960s– with Vietnam being its last hurrah, serving alongside M16s and inch-pattern semi-auto FALs– then they were replaced by the very Owen-like F1 submachine gun, which was in turn replaced by the Steyr F88 in the 1990s.
 

AWM caption: “Nui Dat, South Vietnam. 1966. A Signal Corps linesman with a 9mm Owen Machine Carbine (Owen Gun) on his back, climbing a rubber tree at 1st Australian Task Force (1ATF) Base.”

Wildcat Screech

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80 years ago today, we see a tragedy in slow motion, with General Motors FM-1 Wildcat, BuNo# 46744, code L12, skidding to a rough landing across the flight deck of the escort carrier USS Manila Bay (CVE 61) with her landing gear stripped away, 16 December 1943.

U.S. Navy photo in the National Archives 80-G-372820

80-G-372821

80-G-372822

80-G-372823

The above event occurred while the newly commissioned Casablanca-class jeep carrier was conducting air group training during her shakedown cruise with VC-7 and VC-66 off the coast of San Diego. Amazingly, the young pilot, Ensign E.C. Cech, survived the crack-up with minor injuries. 

From her accident report of the incident:

Still, the accident didn’t slow down Manila Bay on her rush to the front lines. By 22 January 1944, the carrier would tote VC-7 to bomb and strafe enemy positions on Kwajalein Island.

Ultimately, Manila Bay gave hard service for received eight battle stars for World War II service in just under 19 months.

Decommissioned in Boston on 31 July 1946, she was mothballed for 12 years and sold for scrap in 1958.

Her 11-page War History is in the National Archives. 

As for Ensign Cech, I can’t find anything on him. 

Red Tails and Immortals Share a Ride for First Time

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The Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm’s 809 Naval Air Squadron, “The Immortals,” have been shuttered since 1982, after being stood up to fly Sea Harriers from HMS Invincible during the Falklands.

Before that, they operated the Blackburn Buccaneer from RAF Lossiemouth– as well as from the decks of HMS Ark Royal, HMS Hermes, and HMS Eagle— in the 1960s and 1970s including a famous show of force over Belize in 1972 to deter Guatemalan threats.

British Buccaneer XT283 of 809 Squadron arrives aboard HMS Ark Royal. Museum of Science, by Michael Turner, 1972

Going even further back, they operated Sea Venoms aboard HMS Albion in 1956 during the Suez Crisis while in WWII they flew Fairey Fulmars from the Med to North Russia and Seafires covering the Torch, Avalanche, Dragoon, Dracula, and Zipper landings from Casablanca to Malaya.

This week, 809 NAS became the first Royal Navy squadron to stand up to operate the F-35 Lightning.

The recommissioning sees the number of UK squadrons operating the Lightning expand to four, two front-line– the Dambusters of 617 Sqn plus 809 NAS– along with 207 Sqn (Operational Conversion Unit) and 17 Test and Evaluation Sqn.

As noted by the RN:

Of the more than 100 historic Fleet Air Arm units whose numbers are currently dormant, 809 was selected more than a decade ago as a F-35 Lightning formation, largely due to its illustrious history as a strike and attack squadron having received battle honours from operations in the Arctic, Mediterranean, Burma, Suez and South Atlantic over a 41-year period.

The Venerable Andrew Hillier addresses guests and personnel from RAF Marham on parade for the 809 Naval Air Squadron Recommissioning Ceremony. A second frontline F-35B Lightning stealth fighter squadron has been stood up at RAF Marham. 809 Naval Air Squadron, known as the Immortals, has a long and distinguished history and has been recommissioned as the nation’s second front-line fighter unit operating the F-35B Lightning stealth fighter. At the parade at RAF Marham, Norfolk, Commander Nick Smith formally received the Squadron Crest from his predecessor, Cdr (Ret’d) Tim Gedge, close to 41 years to the day since 809 NAS decommissioned as a Sea Harrier squadron.

While British industry will build 15 percent by value of each of the more than 3,000 planned F-35s, by 1 May 2023, the UK had only received 31 of the planned 48 F35-Bs from its Tranche 1 initial order. A subsequent Tranche 2 order will bring an additional 27 aircraft, totaling 74, down from the originally planned 138. The RAF owns all of these STOVL birds and lets the RN operate some.

Redtails receive F-35s

Meanwhile, the “Red Tails” of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 187th Fighter Wing, of the Alabama Air National Guard, out of Dannelly Field, Alabama, last week received its first F-35s, becoming only the third ANG unit slated to transition to fifth generation fighter.

An F-35 Lightning II parked on the flight line at Dannelly Field, on December 6, 2023. The 187th Fighter Wing received their first aircraft from Luke AFB, Ariz., and will begin transitioning to their new mission. Photo by 1st Lt. Michael Luangkhot

Of course, the 100th FS, dating back to December 1941, is one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen squadrons of WWII.

USAAF armorer of the 100th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, 15th U.S. Air Force checks ammunition belts of the 12.7 mm machine guns in the wings of a North American P-51B Mustang in Italy, ca. September 1944.

Flying P39s then P-40s, P-47s, and finally P-51 Mustangs during the war, the 100th became first a tanker squadron (in 1953) then transitioned to a training squadron in 1999 before chopping to replace the 160th FS in 2007, driving fighters again, this time F-16s.

187th Fighter Wing, the Alabama Air National Guard unit at Dannelly Field ANGB in Montgomery, deployed to Romania in August 2012 to participate in Dacian Viper 2012, a three-week joint exercise with the Romanian Air Force.

They hung up their Vipers earlier this year and will receive 20 F-35s between now and 2026 when they will be fully staffed.

The word is, a paint job is inbound.

Warship Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023: An Everlasting Pansarbat

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Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places. – Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023: An Everlasting Pansarbat

Swedish Marinmuseum photo D 15043

Above we see the Aran-class pansarskepp HSvMS Manligheten of the Royal Swedish Navy as she pokes around Europe in the summer of 1937 while on a midshipman’s cruise. Note her distinctive funnel flash and forward superstructure arrangement which differentiated the “coastal battleship” from her three sisters.

She is 34 years young in the above image– launched some 120 years ago this month in fact– but still looks clean and neat. It should come as no surprise that Manligheten would continue to be afloat and in use in one form or another until just a few years ago.

The Aran class

Just after Swedish-born engineer John Ericsson had introduced the ironclad turret warship in 1862 when he lent his genius to the USS Monitor, his homeland soon ordered two classes of iron-hulled coastal monitors to counter Baltic Sea rival, Imperial Russia, as the Tsar was upgrading his own fleet with American-designed monitors. However, by the 1880s, those aforementioned vessels were almost considered quaint by rapidly evolving naval technology.

To reboot their fleet from the first-generation ironclads to steel warships, the Swedes in 1883 placed an order for the 3,050-ton, 248-foot HSvMS Svea for 1.24 million kron, followed by her two half-sisters, HSvMS Göta and HSvMS Thule. Carrying large (10-inch) main guns and swathed in as much as 10 inches of armor plate, they were rightly considered something of a coastal battleship or slow protected cruiser for their period.

This pansarbarten/pansarskepp concept was well-liked by the Swedes, who ordered another three-ship class, the Oden-class pansarskepp-type coastal defense ships (3445 tons, 2-10 inch guns, 9.5 inches armor, 16.5 knots) which were completed in 1899 and the one-off HSvMS Dristigheten (Audacity) which was basically an improved Oden with better armament.

Then, with lessons learned around the world that came from the Spanish-American War, the four-ship Äran class was ordered.

Made of all riveted steel in a 287-foot hull with 11 watertight sections, they were the heaviest Swedish warships at the time of their construction, hitting the water at 3,700 tons due to a belt that ran as thick as 7 inches of Krupp armor (as opposed to Harvey nickel-steel in the previous ships). Able to float in just 16 feet of water at a maximum load, they could hug the shoreline where larger battlewagons could not tread and still make 17 knots on an engineering suite that included 8 coal-fired Yarrow boilers and two Motala 3-cylinder triple-expanding steam engines.

The four members of the class were Äran/Eran/Aeran (Honor), Wasa/Vasa (in honor of several former Swedish ships of the line), Tapperheten (Bravery), and Manligheten (Manhood). To speed up construction as tensions were high with Norway at the time, they were completed at three different domestic yards– Lindholmen shipyard in Gothenburg (Äran), Finnboda shipyard in Stockholm (Wasa), and Kockum’s Mekaniska Verkstad in Malmö (Tapperheten and Manligheten). Approved in the Riksdag in 1899 (first three) and 1901 (Manligheten), all had entered service by 1904.

Launching of the Swedish coastal defense ship Wasa at Finnboda in 1901

Navy Yard Karlskrona with Pansarskepp Manligheten, Tapperheten, Wasa

While the earlier Sveas carried two Armstrong 1880s BL 10-inch guns, and the Odens two French-made 8.3″/42cal Canet m/94A guns, these new Äran-class pansarbarten would be equipped with a longer locally made 8.2″/45 m/98 gun produced by Bofors Gallspanz and trialed on Dristigheten. As noted by the 1914 Janes, these Swedish 8.2s could fire a 275-pound AP shell on a blend of special Bofors-made nitro-compound that was capable of penetrating 9.5 inches of armor at 3,000 yards. The maximum range was 11,000 yards due to the limited 12-degree elevation limits on the turret. The rate of fire was about one round per minute.

Here, the bow mount on Manligheten shows off one of her 8.2″/45 m/98s. The 21 cm kanon M/98 was made by Bofors and they were the standard main battery for Dristigheten, the four Ärans, and the circa 1905 one-off HSwMS Oscar II. Fo62130A

The secondary battery was another Swedish naval favorite, the 15,2 cm kanon (6″/45) m/98. Introduced in 1898 on Dristigheten, they would be used on the Ärans as well as the large minesweeper/training ship HSwMS Älvsnabben (M01). The Ärans would carry six of these guns in armored single-mount turrets, divided three on each broadside– a departure from casemated secondaries in previous Swedish pansarbarten. They were capable of firing a 101-pound shell to 10,000 yards at a rate of up to 7 shots per minute.

Dragning av en 15 cm kanon Manligheten Fo199419

The tertiary battery was 10 57mm/48 cal kanon m/89 guns. Made domestically by Finspongs bruk under license by Maxim-Nordenfeldt, these were QF guns that could fire 6-pounder shells out to 6,000 yards as fast as 35 rounds per minute as long as the passers and hoists could keep up. These were typically described as anti-torpedo boat guns in their era.

Manligheten Pansarskepp salute with 57mm ssk M89 mount. Note the 4,800-ton pansarkryssare or armored cruiser, HSvMS Fylgia in the background. Fo192889

Besides the mounted gun armament, the class carried a pair of m/1899 18-inch Armstrong torpedo tubes below the waterline for a dozen Whitehead m/93 and m/03 torpedoes while each of their two embarked 28-foot steam sloops could carry spar torpedoes and a one-pounder 37mm m/98B gun.

The Aran class, 1914 Jane’s

How the Arans stacked up against the rest of Sweden’s coastal battlewagons, via the 1915 Brassy’s.

Meet Manligheten

Laid down at Kockum’s behind her sister Tapperheten, Manligheten was launched on 1 December 1903. Her honorable name had been used by the Swedish Navy by a circa 1785 64-gun ship-of-the-line that had fought in Gustav III’s Russian war in 1788-80– blockading Viborg– as well as in the naval battles during the Finnish War of 1808–1809 and was only disposed of in 1864.

Manligheten was commissioned on 3 December 1904, the last of her class to join the fleet. A happy ship, she, along with her three sisters, formed the 1st Pansarbåtsdivisionen in 1905.

Pansarbåtseskader in Karlskrona i July 1906 showing Oden, Aran, Thule, Manligheten, Gota, Niord, and Svea. D 8868

Pansarbåten Manligheten år 1907 D 1391

She sailed in the summer of 1912, along with the cruiser Fylgia and the larger pansarbat Oscar II to bring King Gustav V and his family to Pitkepaasi outside Viborg for a meeting with the Tsar of Russia and his family to Russia.

HSvMS Fylgia, Manligheten, and HSvMS Oscar II in the 1912 painting by Johanson Arvid now in the Sjöhistoriska museet collection (Accession O 10597) celebrating the Swedish squadron’s return to Stockholm after the visit to Russia outside Viborg that summer. Salutes are being fired and King Gustav V and Queen Victoria are disembarking from a steam sloop.

War!

The Great War, with Sweden’s strictly enforced armed neutrality (Neutralitesvakten), saw the Arans were slightly modified in 1916, trading out a couple of their low-angle 57mm 6-pounders for some newer Lvk m/1924 models with increased elevation, meant for AAA and balloon busting.

Manligheten. Note her searchlights and mast arrangement. Fo197006A

As easy interbellum

In 1920, Manligheten took a cruise to Amsterdam, the first trip outside of Scandinavia by a Swedish coastal battleship since the summer of 1913.

In the mid-1920s, a refit saw new boilers installed including two oil-fired and six coal-fired. By this time, two further low-angle 6-pounders had been landed, replaced by two 25mm AAA guns– one on the top of each 8.3-inch turret.

25 mm automatkanon on aft turret Manligheten. This photo was during her WWII era. Fo199420

Pansarskeppet Manligheten D 14983_21

Manligheten i Oban MM01497

Manligheten Pansarskepp MM01485

Sisters Tapperheten and Manligheten, once completing their mid-life refit, would undertake two back-to-back European goodwill tours during the summers of 1926 (Amsterdam-Portsmouth-Guernsey-Vlaardinggen) and 1927 (Plymouth-San Sebastian-Bilbao-Rotterdam).

Swedish pansarskeppet Tapperheten and Manligheten in San Sebastian, Spain, during the long voyage they undertook together in 1927. Fo229219

Aran class Swedish coastal battleships Janes 1931

Besides her typical spate of peacetime drills and exercises, followed by iced-in winters, Manligheten survived a grounding in 1930 and was tapped for another European deployment in the summer of 1937. This latter trip, with port calls at Amsterdam, Newcastle, Rouen, Cardiff, Oban, Trondheim, and Memel, was her only solo tour and she embarked 90 officer cadets. It was largely followed by a repeat trip in the summer of 1938. By then, she carried both a pair of 25mm/58 cal Bofors m/32 AAA guns and 37mm Bofors as well. 

Manligheten in Memel Lithuania July 25, 1938. Note the 37mm AAA guns arrayed behind the 8.2-inch mount (with a covered 25mm gun atop) and four forward-facing 6-inch turrets. MM01502

Swedish Sweden Aran Class Coastal Defence Ship HSwMS Manligheten Queen Alexandra Docks Cardiff to Coal,1937

John Grantham, Lord Mayor of Newcastle on board the visiting Swedish warship Manligheten, 5 June 1937 TWAM ref. DF.GRA53

Swedish Aran Class Coastal Defence Ship HSwMS Manligheten at the Queen Alexandra Docks, Cardiff to coal, 1937

Swedish Aran Class Coastal Defence Ship HSwMS Manligheten at the Queen Alexandra Docks Cardiff, 1937. Note her large steam launch, covered to the left

That’s no joke

Blindfolded Boxing in Öresund on board Manligheten 1938 MM01487

A close-up of the above (MM01487). Check out those expressions.

Manligheten at sea 1938 MM01499

War, again

Then came World War II and, with Sweden seriously isolated and pressured by the Germans, stepped up her Neutralitesvakten as much as possible.

However, by this time the 40-year-old Arans were in rough shape. Tapperheten had been laid up in a sort of reserve capacity since 1928 while Aran was likewise mothballed in 1933. Wasa, which had not been refitted since 1924, was found to be in such poor condition that she was decommissioned in 1940 and rebuilt for use as a decoy target ship.

Manligheten, in the best material condition, retained her original 8.3-inch and 6″/45 guns as well as her pair of 25mm/58 cal Bofors m/32 AAA guns, but landed all of her old 57s in favor of a battery of four 57mm Bofors Lvk m/1924s, two 40mm/56 cal Bofors m/36s, and a pair of 8x63mm Browning Kulspruta Lvksp m/36 water-cooled heavy machine guns. Her torpedo tubes were retired. This armament package, along with topside changes, a single and more streamlined mast, camouflage, and recognition stripe, greatly changed her appearance.

H.M. Pansarskepp Manligheten WWII D 14983_23

Trainees on Manligheten note 40mm Bofors Fo196844

Pansarbåt Manligheten WWII Fo124AB

Tapperheten and Aran likewise received the same modernization.

Manligheten was, notably, a flagship for the task force searching for the lost Swedish Draken class submarine HSvMS Ulven (Wolf) in April 1943, which had been sunk by a mine.

Battleship Manligheten. On the West Coast on 20 Apr. 1943 Fo89732A

Two Swedish minesweeping trawlers (Minsvepare) and Pansarskepp Manligheten, during the search for the submarine Ulven. Note the false bow and wave painted on her hull. Fo125AB

1945: The 1,500-ton Sveabolaget-owned cargo ship turned auxiliary cruiser (hjälpkryssaren) Fidra (Hjkr 10), pansarskeppet Manligheten, 1,200-ron Gothenburg-class destroyer leader (stadsjagare) Karlskrona (J8), and the 685-ton coastal destroyer (kustjagare) Mode (29). Marinmuseum IV1025

Gothenburg Squadron summer 1946, sans white recognition stripe. HMS Manligheten MM01373

The 1946 Jane’s listing for the three active members of the class (Wasa was a target ship by 1940).

Following the end of the war, Aran and Tapperheten were withdrawn from service on 13 June 1947 and scrapped, while the hulked target ship/decoy Wasa experienced a similar fate.

Manligheten was the last of her class in commission, withdrawn from service on 24 February 1950. She was partially scrapped in 1952-53 at Karlskrona.

Manligheten Skrotningar scrapping 1953 V5515

Manligheten Skrotningar scrapping 1953 V5516

While her guns (more on this below), superstructure, and machinery were removed, Manligheten’s welded-up armored hull, under the shortened name “MA” proved sturdy enough to continue service as a floating pontoon dock at the new Gullmarsbasen naval base in remote Skredsvik on the country’s west coast, where she served as a base for the minesweepers stationed there in the 1950s and the mothballed destroyers HSvMS Göteborg (J5) and HSvMS Stockholm (J6) in the 1960s.

It was planned to tow the old girl around the country for use as a Krigsbro (ersatz war bridge) if needed during WWIII.

In 1984, ex-Manligheten/MA was disposed of by the Swedish military after 80 years of service and sold commercially for continued use as a floating dock, a role she would continue until 2015, hosting tugs for the Switzer group at Lahälla in Brofjorden. It was only afterward that she was sold to the breakers. 

Manligheten’s hull in Lahälla in Brofjorden in Bohuslän in 2011. The ship’s hull then functioned as a berth for tugboats. Preemraff can be seen in the background. Photo via WikiCommons

Arming coastal outposts

The main and secondary armament from Oscar II, the three Svea class, and the four Aran class pansarskepp were extensively redeployed around the country in the 1940s ashore as kustartilleripjäs (coastal artillery piece) for use by the five coastal artillery regiments (kustartilleriregemente)– KA 1, Vaxholms; KA 2, Karlskrona; KA 3 Gotlands, KA 4, Älvsborg; KA 5, Härnösands. These included eight 210mm guns in three batteries and 22 152mm guns in nine batteries. In all, they would remain in operation (typically held in readiness for use by reserves upon mobilization) until the late 1960s in the case of the 210s and 2001(!) when it came to the 152s.

One of the three 152mm guns of Battery Trelge (TG), manned by KA3 in wartime, remained in materiel readiness a bit into the 1980s. Even these old guns, manned by a dozen reservists, could still crank out 101-pound shells at 7 shots per minute to a range of 23,000 yards. The cage around it is for camouflage netting. GFM.001870

21 cm kanon m/98A

  • Hamnskär (3 pj) HS KA1 Discontinued 1962, (last firing 1962).
  • Hultungs (3 pj) HG KA3 Discontinued 1964 (last firing 64), Decommissioned 1968.
  • Öppenskär (2 pj) ÖS KA2 Discontinued 1959, Decommissioned 1965.

15,2 cm kanon m/98E i 15,2 cm vallav m/38 (15,2 cm pjäs m/98E-38)

  • Korsö (2 pj) KO/KO1 KA1 Decommissioned 1992.
  • Korsö (2 pj) KO/KO1 KA1 Decommissioned 1992.
  • Söderarm (2 pj) SA/SA1 KA1 Replaced by 12/70, last KFÖ 1968.
  • Mellsten (3 pj) M1 KA1 Replaced by 12/70.
  • Bungenäs (3 pj) BN KA3 Replaced by 15/51, Decommissioned 2001.
  • Trelge (3 pj) TG KA3 Discontinued 1978/79, Decommissioned 1999.
  • Lungskär (3 pj) LR KA2 Discontinued 1978/79, Decommissioned 1999.
  • Trelleborg (Dalköpinge) (1 pj) TE/TE1 KA2 Replaced by 12/70.
  • Holmögadd (3 pj) HD/HO1 KA5 Replaced by 12/70, Decommissioned 1980.

The coast artillery augmented these static gun batteries with S.11 rockets (RBS- 52) and locally made RBS-15s as well as 24 Bofors 120mm R Kapj 12/80 KARIN mobile guns and 30 12/70 single ERSTA emplacements— the latter two based on the excellent domestically produced Haubits FH-77 field howitzer– in the 1980s.

The 120mm 12/70 ERSTA emplacements and 12/80 KARIN mobile guns had a rate of fire of up to 16 rounds per minute and a range of 32 kilometers. They were only withdrawn in 2000. 

The last Bofors guns were fired on 26 September 2000 and the units disbanded by October 31 of that year, rebranded as amphibious troops (amfibiebataljonen).

Today they use portable Hellfire launchers, designated the RBS-17.

Swedish Älvsborgs amfibieregemente coast ranger RBS-17 Sjömålsrobot 17 Hellfire

A few 210s and 152 from the old battlewagons remain as museums, for instance, these at the Gotlands Försvarsmuseum

A 21 cm pjäs m98, removed from its emplacement. This was formerly a Pansarbåt gun.

Epilogue

When it comes to enduring relics, Manligheten’s 54×82 inch stern ornament is preserved at the Marinmuseum as well as some other items.

There is also some maritime art, such as the painting by Arvid above, and period postcards that remember the ship in better times. 

The Swedish Navy has not christened a third Manligheten.

Ships are more than steel
and wood
And heart of burning coal,
For those who sail upon
them know
That some ships have a
soul.

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Hawaii Cruiser Cluster, 80 Years Ago

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Eight cruisers, including some of the most decorated and famous of the Pacific War, just taking a break before getting back to the push to Tokyo.

Via Haze Grey History:

“A cluster of cruisers moored in Pearl Harbor, on 12 December 1943, after returning from the Tarawa invasion. The berths shown, near to far, are C-3, C-4, C-5, and C-6 for the cruisers, plus X-6, X-7, X-8, and X-9 in the background.

Photo from the Admiral Furlong Collection in the Hawaiʻi State Archives

At berth C-3 are a trio of New Orleans-class cruisers, with USS Minneapolis (CA-36) nearest, New Orleans (CA-32) in the middle, and San Francisco (CA-38) outboard in the distance. Berth C-4 serves USS Indianapolis (CA-35) with Baltimore (CA-68) along her port side. Santa Fe (CL-60) and Mobile (CL-63), the original “Mighty Mo,” are at C-5. The Atlanta-class cruiser Oakland (CL-95) has C-6 entirely to herself.
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USS Phelps (DD-360) is at berth X-6, with the destroyer tender Prairie (AD-15) next at X-7. Though not readily visible, the destroyers MacDonough (DD-351), Maury (DD-401), and Mullany (DD-528) are nested alongside. Morris (DD-417) and Bache (DD-407) populate berth X-8. The assault transport Gemini (APA-75) rounds out the photo at the upper left, sitting at berth X-9.
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It’s interesting to note the anti-torpedo protection in this section of the anchorage. Nets surround berths C-3, C-4, C-5, and X-7 – basically any cruiser berth with multiple ships, and the destroyer tender nest. By the lack of netting at C-6, Oakland was apparently not deemed to be as inviting of a target as the more versatile heavy and light cruisers to starboard.”
–

Poncho of the High Seas

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Some 80 years ago today: Poncho, the mascot of USS White Plains (CVE 66), 11 December 1943 as the ship conducts her shakedown cruise between Astoria and San Diego. In the background, note the jeep carrier’s sole 5″/38 open-mount gun.

NARA 80-G-384069

The Casablanca-class escort carrier was a “Kaiser Coffin” built in Vancouver in just 277 days from laydown (11 February 1943) to commissioning (15 November 1943).

Before the end of the year, she had wrapped up her shakedown and was back at sea, bound for Kiribati with 333 passengers from VC-66, Marine Air Warning Squadron (AWS) 1, and Marine Night Fighter Squadron (VMF (N) 531. She then picked up 39 aircraft of VMF-113 and VMF (N)-532, and 398 Marines bound for Tarawa, where she launched her first aircraft: Vought F4U-1 and F4U-2 Corsairs bound for shore.

USS White Plains (CVE-66) in San Diego harbor, California, circa April 1944. She is being assisted by the harbor tug Wenonah (YT-148). White Plains is painted in Camouflage Measure 33, Design 10A. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) collections, #80-G-302258.

It wasn’t until April that White Plains shipped to the war proper with an airwing of FM-2 Wildcats and TBM-1Cs to take part in Operation Forager– the landings in the Marianas Islands. She would continue her service in the Phippilipines– serving with Taffy 3’s CarDiv 25 at Samar, as well as Operation Iceberg—the invasion of Okinawa.

White Plains received five battle stars during World War II and the Presidential Unit Citation for her part in the Battle off Samar.

Postwar, White Plains was decommissioned on 10 July 1946 and, after a dozen years in the reserve fleet, was sold for scrapping.

No word on what became of Poncho the sea dog.

Warship Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023: One Hearty Brazilian

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Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places. – Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023: One Hearty Brazilian

Photo by LT CH Parnall, Royal Navy official photographer, IWM A 20897

Above we see a scene from the life of the modified H-class destroyer HMS Hesperus (H57), some 80 years ago today on 6 December 1943, with Ordinary Seaman P. S. Buckingham, of Norwich, freshening up the ship’s record of U-boat kills on the side of the wheelhouse as the greyhound was docked at Liverpool.

While many ships would see their scoreboard whittled down greatly following post-war analysis, Hesperus went down in the books as going five for five.

The H-class

The British Royal Navy would order some 27 assorted “G”, “H” and “I” Class destroyers between 1934 and 1936 as part of the rearmament to safeguard against the growing German, Italian, and Japanese fleets in the uneasy peace leading up to WWII. They were slight ships, of just 1,800 tons and 323 feet overall length with a narrow 33-foot beam, giving them a dagger-like 1:10 length-to-beam ratio. With a speed of 35 knots and a 5,000 nm range at half that, they could keep up with the fleet or operate independently and had long enough legs for North Atlantic convoy work, should such a thing ever be needed in the future.

The differences between the three classes were primarily in engineering fit, minor superstructure changes, and armament. They were typically fitted with a quartet of QF 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mk IX guns, a few AAA mounts, between 8 and 10 anti-ship torpedo tubes, and depth charges for ASW work.

HMS Grenade (H86), a G-class destroyer. Note her layout which was like all her sisters. Grenade would be sunk in May 1940 off Dunkirk by German Stukas.

The 27th and last of the type delivered to the RN from the ships the Admiralty ordered was HMS Ivanhoe (D16) on 24 August 1937, completing the classes built out in just four years, which is not bad for peacetime production.

The G/H/Is would prove so successful of a design that the British exported it, accepting prewar orders for 19 ships for overseas allies: Argentina (seven Buenos Aires class ships delivered in 1938), Greece (two Georgios class delivered in 1939), Turkey (four desperately needed Inconstant class delivered in 1942, largely to keep Istanbul friendly at a crucial time in the war) and a half-dozen Jurua-class tin cans for the Brazilian Navy…that’s where Hesperus comes in.

Meet Hesperus

The Brazilian Navy in early 1938 ordered six modified H-class destroyers, spread across the Vickers, White, and Thornycroft yards. They would be named Jurua, Javary, Jutahy, Juruena, Jaguaribe, and Japura after rivers and towns in Brazil. Construction proceeded along nicely, and all were christened with their intended names by visiting dignitaries from the Latin American country and afloat in the summer of 1939.

Then, with the war in Europe, London made a deal to purchase the six nearly complete Juruas from Rio while they were still fitting out in a deal that would include providing assistance and plans for Brazil to build another six H-class destroyers domestically at the government’s Ilha das Cobras shipyard.

Rather than a fit for four 4.7-inch guns, these six former Brazilian destroyers in British service would carry only three with the extra deck space freed up to be used for more depth charges– capable of toting as many as 110 ash cans across three rails and eight throwers. They would enter service between December 1939 and June 1940 as the Havant class (Havant, Handy, Havelock, Hearty, Highlander, and Hurricane) keeping with the “H” class naming sequence.

Our subject, the former Brazilian Juruena, was at first dubbed HMS Hearty on 15 January 1940 and then became the first of HM’s warships to be named Hesperus on 27 February 1940 in honor of the Greek name for the planet Venus in the evening, son of the dawn goddess Eos, and half-brother of Phosphorus– the latter the name for the same planet in the morning. This latter name change came to avoid confusing HMS Hearty with near-sister HMS Hardy (H87) in signals.

War!

In March 1940, after a rushed shakedown, Hesperus was assigned to convoy escort duty in the Northwest Approaches, a duty that would take up most of her wartime experience. In all, she would serve on no less than 74 crossings from Convoy AP 001/3 in April 1940 to Convoy MKF 042 in April 1945.

Hesperus underway at sea, resplendent in her war paint. IWM A 7101

In this work, Hesperus made five (two shared) high-profile confirmed “kills” on Donitz’s steel sharks inside of 18 months:

  • Type VIIC U-208 (Oblt. Alfred Schlieper) on 7 December 1941, west of Gibraltar, shared with sister HMS Harvester.
  • Type VIIC U-93 (Oblt. Horst Elfe) on 15 January 1942 north-east of Madeira
  • Type VIIC U-357 (Kptlt. Adolf Kellner) on 26 December 1942, north-west of Ireland, shared with HMS Vanessa
  • Type IXC/40 U-191 (Kptlt. Helmut Fiehn) on 23 April 1943, south-east of Cape Farewell, Greenland
  • Type IXC/40 U-186 (KrvKpt. Siegfried Hesemann) on 14 May 1943, northwest of the Azores.

She plucked Oblt. Elfe and 40 survivors from U-93 out of the water and delivered them ashore at Gibraltar to finish their war in a POW camp, providing useful intelligence when interrogated. U-357 went down with only six survivors fished from the drink by the British. Meanwhile, U-208, U-191, and U-186 went down with all hands.

Waterlogged survivors of U-93 leaving HMS Hesperus at Gibraltar on 16 January 1942. IWM A 8116

Prisoners from the U-boat, likely U-357, disembarking from HMS Hesperus at Liverpool. Note the rope stays used by the guards as clubs. IWM A 13978

The fight with U-357 was particularly rough, ending on the surface with the boat electing to fight it out after depth charges and Hesperus finishing her off by ramming– the oldest of ASW techniques.

HMS Hesperus entering Liverpool harbor, on 28 December 1942, showing damage to her bows caused by ramming U-357. IWM A 13987

Same as the above, IWM A 13986

In addition to her ASW work, Hesperus also took breaks from her convoy work to escort HMs battlewagons and carriers including HMS Resolution and HMS Ark Royal to Norway (in a campaign that also saw Hesperus ferry men of the Scots Guards ashore at Bodo in May 1940).

She would again team up with Ark Royal for the Malta relief convoys in 1941 (Operations Tiger and Splice) and as a screen for the battlecruiser HMS Renown during the hunt for the Bismarck. She screened the Churchill-carrying HMS Prince of Wales to Newfoundland for him to meet with FDR in August 1941.

Kodachrome of HMS Hesperus H57 in Canadian waters, circa 1942. Library and Archives Canada MIKAN 4821059

Aerial photo of HMS Hesperus, September 1942. Note her extensive depth charge fit. IWM A 20376

In May 1945, with the endgame in Europe, she escorted surrendered U-boats from Lochalsh to Loch Foyle for disposal as part of Operation Deadlight then, on the 29th, headed back to Norway to assist with the demobilization of German troops there.

By mid-June 1945, she was tasked with supporting aircrew training, a role that meant she was an OPFOR for coastal command bombers and patrol planes. She endured this until May 1946 when she was reduced to Reserve status at Rosyth.

Hesperus, post-war, sans camouflage and most of her depth charges. IWM A 30688.

Nominated for sale and, after removal of equipment and stores, laid up at Grangemouth awaiting demolition, ex-Hesperus was broken up there in May 1947 by G W Brunton.

End of a U-boat by Norman Wilkinson via Royal Museums Greenwich, depicting a GHI-type destroyer next to a German U-boat in its death throes amid a convoy– a sight seen by Hesperus and her sisters many times. 

As for her 27 British, two Greek, and six British via Brazil sisters that saw combat, a whopping 25 were lost during the war to assorted causes, most in direct combat with the Germans.

The 10 battle-scarred survivors were either, like Hesperus, scrapped almost immediately post-war or transferred abroad for further service (Garland to the Dutch, Hotspur to the Dominican Navy).

The last G/H/I afloat were the Buenos Aires-class destroyers in Argentine service, scrapped in 1973, with their Turkish sisters preceding them. None of the class members endure or are maintained as museums.

Epilogue

At the helm of Hesperus for three of her U-boat kills was CDR Donald George Frederick Wyville MacIntyre, DSO, RN. He would add two Bars to his DSO and a DSC to his coat before his tour on Hesperus was over. He had been her plank owner skipper and commanded her for the first year of her war, including the Norway campaign, but had taken a break from the ship to command HMS Walker (D 27) in 1941– during which he was responsible for sinking two of Germany’s foremost U-boat aces, Otto Kretschmer and Joachim Schepkle aboard U-100.

MacIntyre would retire from the RN in 1955 after a 33-year career, and pass in 1981, aged 77.

Oh yes, remember Kapitänleutnant Horst Elfe, of U-93? He was the sole U-boat skipper to survive a brush with Hesperus, and survived the war as well by nature of his time as a POW in Canada which only ended in 1947 and included the “Battle of Bowmanville.” He died in Berlin in 2008, aged 91.

Elfe went on eight patrols, four as a skipper, without sinking a ship. He became a noted steel executive in Germany after the war.

HMS Hesperus had been “adopted” by Yeovil and District in its National Savings “Warship Week” that began on 28 February 1942, in which the building cost, more than £300,000 was raised.

The town has a plaque carried aboard the ship during the war as well as her final white ensign in the tower of St John’s church.

War artist William Dring visited Hesperus during the war and painted several pastels of her crew at work.

Engine Room Artificer W Wakefield wearing overalls, turning a large wheel in the engine room. Behind him are two other colleagues at work. IWM ART LD 3536

She is also remembered in modern maritime art.

Jones, C.; HMS ‘Hesperus’; Poole Museum Service; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/hms-hesperus-60183

HMS Hesperus, by Dion Pears

Thus far, the RN has chosen to not reissue the name “Hesperus” to a second ship, which is a shame.

Ships are more than steel
and wood
And heart of burning coal,
For those who sail upon
them know
That some ships have a
soul.

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship you can find. http://www.warship.org/membership.htm

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Frogskins, Reisings, and War Bonnets

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These 80-year-old images are for your perusal.

Official caption: Navajo Code Talkers on Bougainville, December 1943 (left to right, front row): Pvt Earl Johnny, Pvt Kee Etsicitty, Pvt John V. Goodluck, and PFC David Jordan. Rear row, left to right: Pvt Jack C. Morgan, Pvt George H. Kirk, Pvt Tom H. Jones, Cpl Henry Bake, Jr.

Note the H&R-made Reising M50 HR submachine gun and newly-issued M1 Garands, two with 1907 bayonets affixed. From the Photograph Collection (COLL/3948) at the Marine Corps Archives and Special Collections

USMC Navajo Code Talkers, Bougainville, December 1943, Note the compact Reising Model 55 SMG

Corporal Henry Bahe, Jr., left, and Pvt. First Class George H. Kirk, Navajo code talkers

While an estimated 420 members of the Navajo nation served in the Marines as Code Talkers, at the same time there were other members of the tribe in USMC units in other roles, while, elsewhere in the theatre, the Army’s 158th Infantry Regiment-– the “Bushmasters” — an Arizona National Guard unit that held members from at least 20 tribes, also had a sizable contingent of Navajo who were photographed at the same time.

Dec. 1943: American Navajo Indians from the Southwest United States, members of the 158th U.S. Infantry, are seen on a beach in the Solomon Islands. They are in their traditional dress for a tribal ceremony at Christmastime. From left to right are, Pfc. Dale Winney, Gallup, N.M; Pvt. Perry Toney, Holbrook, Ariz.; Pfc. Joe Gishi, Holbrook; and Pfc. Joe Taraha, Gallup. (AP Photo/U.S. Army Signal Corps)

What’s Under the Hood

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How about this amazing 80-year-old original Kodachrome.

Official caption: Essex-class fleet carrier USS Lexington (CV-18). Aviation mechanics work on the Pratt and Whitney R-2800 engine of a Grumman F6F-3 “Hellcat” fighter, during a lull between strikes on Mili and Kwajalein, circa early December 1943. [Note: Bill Surgi says this man is AMM 1/c Brannam, of VF-16. (18 May 1993 data)]

Photographed by Commander Edward Steichen, USNR. National Archives Catalog #: 80-G-K-15560

People forget just how big the R-2800 Double Wasp was.

America’s first 18-cylinder radial engine, with water injection and (later) turbo-supercharging, the R-2800 produced more than 46 kW/L (1-horsepower/cubic inch) and, in the R-2800-10 variant as used in the above Hellcat, could cough up a whopping 2,250 hp just before the red line.

Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp at the Ford Aircraft Engine Plant Dearborn, Michigan, 1942. LIFE Gordon Coster

Boxed Ford-made Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp at Brisbane Australia’s 81st Air Depot

Some 125,000 R-2800s were made between 1936 and 1960 and, besides powering all the best Navy/Marine piston aircraft of WWII and Korea (Goodyear FG-1, Vought F4U-1 and F4U-2, F6F, and the F8F Bearcat) also powered the massive P-47 Thunderbolt and was paired up to give the B-26 Marauder, AJ Savage, F7F Tigercat, and P-61 Black Widow their speed advantage.

Two R-2800s were enough to heave the behemoth Martin PBM-5 Mariner flying boat, which had a takeoff weight of 60,000 pounds, out of the water.

Commercially, it was used after the war in the Douglas DC-6A/-6B, Martin 202A, Martin 404, and Convair 340 airliners

The final “E” series R-2800-30W used a water-methanol injection and a single-stage supercharger to give the F8F-2 Bearcat a 2,500 hp powerplant– and could be tweaked to 3,100 hp. There is a good reason F8Fs were prized in air races and broke long-standing speed records for piston-engine aircraft.

1948 Grumman F8F-2P Bearcat BuNo 121710 in her Air Group 19 CAG bird livery at the National Naval Aviation Museum, with her massive R-2800-30W on a stand next to her. (Photo: Chris Eger)

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