Dutch Lawn Darts

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Over 2,500 Lockheed F-104 Starfighters were constructed across 30 years between 1954 and 1984– a lengthy run only bested in recent years by the F-16 and F-15 series. Of these, some 949 F-104G variants were built under license for West Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy by the ARGE consortium in Western Europe of which the Dutch firms of Fokker and Aviolanda were major partners.

F-104G starfighter diagram, April 1999 Flight magazine

In all, the Koninklijke Luchtmacht (Royal Netherlands Air Force) operated no less than 120 F-104Gs including 95 8000-series Fokker-built models and 25 Italian Fiat-built 6000-series birds, augmented by 18 Lockheed-built 5000-series two-seat TF-104G trainers in five squadrons (306, 311, 312, 322, and 323) in a mixture of recon, fighter bomber, and interception roles.

First ordered in 1959, the initial airframes started to trickle in by 1962 and they would remain in service until 21 November 1984, chalking up over 345,000 cumulative hours.

Drie Lockheed F-104 Starfighters van vermoedelijk 312 Sqn bevinden zich in een steile klim boven de wolken. NIMH 2157-048-021

Fokker F-104G Starfighter D-8098 of No. 322 Sqn at Leeuwarden. NIMH 2157_016018

The Fokker F-104G Starfighter with registration number D-8319 of No. 323 Squadron in a dive between the villages of Lies (right) and Formerum (left). Note the center double AIM-9 Sidewinder rail arrangement. NIMH 2039-02-01-01

Three Fokker F-104G Starfighters (D-8318, D-8061, D-8244), above the Air Force Electronic and Technical School (LETS) in Schaarsbergen, November 1983. The bottom two are marked to No. 312 Squadron of Volkel Air Base. NIMH 2156_023496

Early USAF F-105 FH-436; British Gloster Javelin XH771, Netherlands F-104G, D-8060 Canadian CF-104, 815 Belgian F-104G, FX07 German F-104G, DA+243 French Mirage IC 2-EI, Operation Seven-Up an international formation flown to mark the 13th anniversary of Allied Air Forces Central Europe on April 2nd 1964, taken at Voelkel. NIMH 2157_130-018

In the 1970s, they started to use the excellent Dutch-Italian-designed NVOI Orpheus Recce pod, which included five high-speed daylight cameras and an infrared scanner, for photo recon work.

Fokker RF-104G Starfighter D-8273 of No. 306 squadron with Orpheus pod (no.28), circa 1983. NIMH 2157_052451

A well-mustachioed Dutch recon pilot of an RF-104G of No. 306 Squadron preparing for a mission a Volkel. Note the squadron emblem on his helmet: a giraffe with the numbers 3-0-6 and a piece of film. Circa 1978. NIMH 2157_054096

A Lockheed RF-104G Starfighter from 306 squadron with a Giraffe in the cockpit, October 1974. NIMH 2157_050643

Dutch F-104G Koninklijke Luchtmacth RF-104G “D-8145” 306th Squadron, Volkel A.B. in 1978 markings via the Italieri kit

Replaced by early (Block 5) Fokker-built F-16A/Bs in the early 1980s, the last Dutch F-104s were flown by “The Sons of Bonzo” in No. 312 Squadron out of Volkel.

A Fokker F-104G Starfighter (D-8114) of No. 312 squadron with a General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon (J-232 #78-0232) of No. 323 squadron in the foreground with a target tow modification under the wing, circa 1984. NIMH 2157_063-013

The farewell flight of the last five No. 312 Squadron Starfighters over the Netherlands on 21 November 1984: three Lockheed-built TF-104 two-seaters (D-5804, D-5803, and D-5810) and two Fokker-made F-104 (D-8063 and D-8258) single-seaters, all camouflaged, fly in formation at low altitude. NIMH 2157-048-007

Same as above, 2157_048-008

Correspondingly, The Sons of Bonzo will be the final Dutch F-16 squadron, with the last Viper replaced by F-35s in the coming months.

Sadly, as in many others, the F-014 in Dutch service had a terrible safety record, with no less than 43 written off while in service to the Queen.

For more images of the Starfighter in Duch service, the NIMH has over 800 of them digitized or about six for every airframe they flew.

The Last American Dreadnought

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How about this amazing original Kodachrome, snapped 80 years ago today, showing the Iowa-class fast battleship, USS Missouri (BB-63) commissioning ceremonies, at the New York Navy Yard, on 11 June 1944. Photographed looking aft from atop her Number Three triple 16-inch/50 Mark 7 gun turret.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph 80-G-K-3858, now in the collections of the National Archives.

And the view from the stern with 16-inch gun turret Number Three in the foreground shows crewmen and other attendees saluting the colors, as the ship is placed in commission.

Note the SG surface-search radar antenna atop both mainmasts and the circular antenna for the SK-2 air-search radar on the foremast. Also visible are two Mk 37 gun directors with Mk 12 fire control radar for the 12.7 cm artillery and the Mk 38 gun director with Mk 8 fire control radar (“hedgehog”) for the 40.6 cm artillery.USN photo # 80-G-345692

The last of her class completed (Wisconsin, BB-64, had already commissioned two months prior on 16 April 1944), Missouri would spend the rest of the year in shakedown and spent Christmas Eve ’44 on Pearl Harbor’s Battleship Row on her way to the West Pac to get in the show. Just over eight months past that holiday, Missouri would host the formal Japanese surrender to the Allied Powers in Tokyo Bay, ending the conflict.

Some eight battle stars (three for WWII, five for Korea) later, she was decommissioned for the final time on 31 March 1992.

Opening to the public in 1999, she has been standing guard over the USS Arizona on Battleship Row for the past 25 years.

The Mighty Missouri Painting, Acrylic on Illustration Board; by Robert Adam Malin; 1998; Framed Dimensions 22H X 32W NHHC

SoDak Class Camo Profiles

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Recently spotted while wandering around the Alabama Battleship Memorial Park on Mobile Bay.

Thought some of you guys who are scale modelers or just general naval history buffs, would find it of interest and should generally cover not only USS Alabama (BB-60), but also her sisters USS South Dakota, Indiana, and Massachusetts. 

Click to big up 3449×3424

Welcome Big Wave Dave

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The new 158-foot Sentinel (Webber) class cutter USCGC David Duren (WPC-1156) sailed into their new homeport of Astoria, Oregon, and became the first Fast Response Cutter to be homeported in the Pacific Northwest.

In doing so, she crossed the Columbia River Bar, known to mariners as the “Graveyard of the Pacific,” escorted by a quartet of 47-foot Motor Lifeboats from the famed National Motor Lifeboat School located in Ilwaco, Washington, making a series of great images.

Photos by Chief Warrant Officer (Ret.) Tom Molloy:

As noted by the USCG:

The cutter is named after Master Chief Petty Officer David Duren, a distinguished Coast Guard Surfman.
During his service in the Pacific Northwest, Duren used his Surfman skills and bravery to save many lives, earning the nickname “Big Wave Dave.”

Considered perhaps the finest boat driver in the history of the modern Coast Guard, he is remembered by his shipmates and mentees not only for his expertise in seamanship, but also for his leadership and character. Between 1979 and 1983, Duren deployed on search and rescue cases more frequently than any other officer-in-charge and, in one year, executed over 250 cases. During this tour, Duren received two Coast Guard Medals for exceptional heroism, and the Douglas A. Munro Inspirational Leadership Award. Perhaps more remarkable was the fact that the personnel under his watch at Depoe Bay earned a total of 24 medals and awards.

The legacy of Duren’s incredible bravery and dedication will live on through the missions performed by this new cutter for years to come.

Delivered by Bollinger in March– the 182nd vessel built for the USCG by the yard and the 56th FRC delivered– Duren is scheduled to be commissioned in late June.

In related news, the USCG exercised a contract option to award Bollinger two additional FRCs in late May. This announcement brings the total number of FRCs awarded to Bollinger up to 67 vessels since the program’s inception.

Good Luck and Godspeed, Gen. Anders

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Rest in peace, Maj. Gen. (ret.) William “Bill” Anders (USNA 1955), who passed away last Friday in San Juan Islands, Washington state, at the age of 90.

Apollo 8 was the first manned Saturn V mission, and the first to orbit the moon

(27 Dec. 1968) — “The Apollo 8 crew stands in the doorway of a recovery helicopter after arriving aboard the carrier USS Yorktown, the prime recovery ship for the historic Apollo 8 lunar orbit mission. Left to right, are astronauts Frank Borman, commander; James A. Lovell Jr., command module pilot; and William A. Anders, lunar module pilot. Apollo 8 splashed down at 10:51 a.m. (EST), Dec. 27, 1968, in the central Pacific approximately 1,000 miles south-southwest of Hawaii.” (NASA Photo S69-15737 )

Of the Apollo 8 Astronauts, only Jim Lovell now remains.

Born in 1933, Bill began his career as an Air Force pilot and, earning a master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1962, Major Anders was selected two years later to join NASA’s astronaut corps, serving as backup pilot for the Gemini XI and Apollo 11 flights, and lunar module pilot for Apollo 8– among the first man to orbit the moon, which he accomplished as a “space rookie” at age 35.

He later served as chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ambassador to Norway, and served on the board of General Dynamics.

Of the Apollo Astronauts who only flew to the moon, Biloxi’s Fred Haise, and Lovell are the last two among us. Only four moonwalkers are left, David Scott, Charles Duke, Harrison Schmitt, and Buzz Aldrin.

Ad Astra.

Hornet at 50

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Some 50 years ago today: The first Northrop YF-17 Cobra prototype made its first flight on 9 June 1974, with Northrop’s Chief Test Pilot, Henry “Hank” Chouteau, at the controls. The flight ran 61 minutes, reaching an altitude of 18,000 feet, and clocked a maximum speed of 610 miles per hour in the clear skies above Edwards AFB.

Photo: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution

YF-17 chief test pilot Hank Chouteau, left, shakes hands with the Northrop CEO, T.V. Jones. Chouteau logged more than 7,300 flight hours in more than 80 models of aircraft and, having flown F-51s in Korea and F-5s in Vietnam, called the YF-17 a fighter pilot’s plane. (Photo credit: Northrop Grumman)

The aircraft, a single-seat all-weather interceptor powered by a pair of General Electric YJ-101s, was Northrop’s initial entry into the US Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter (LWF) technology evaluation program but would lose out when compared to the YF-16.

Via the March 1974 issue of Air Enthusiast International, click to big up

However, it would later morph into the carrier-capable Navy Air Combat Fighter (NACF), the GE F-404 powered F/A-18 Hornet multirole fighter and attack aircraft, which would be adopted in 1978 with the first production aircraft delivered on 12 April 1980.

The same aircraft, now in Navy colors, was operated by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in May-July 1976 for a series of drag studies. NASA Photo Collection

The above aircraft, 72-01569 (MSN 1), had been rolled out on 4 April 1974 and passed on to the Navy as Bu. No 201569.

It was later retired and is currently in the collection of the Western Museum of Flight at the old Torrance, California airport.

It currently wears a now proudly displays a rather fictitious paint scheme as well as the emblem of the Navy Fighter Weapons School.

Its only Cobra sister, 72-01570 (MSN 2), flew in August 1974 and was exhibited for a couple of years marked as the “F-18 Prototype.” In the collection of the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pensacola since at least 1989, it has been on exhibit at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park since 1996.

YF-17(F/A-18) Prototype 72-01570 (MSN 2), Bu.No 201570 at USS Alabama Memorial Park, beside the USS Drum in the background. Note the Bicentennial flash on the tail, the Cobra program emblem on the nose, the GE logo on the body, and “Hank Chouteau” under the cockpit. The aircraft to the left is a Vietnam-era F-105B-1-RE 54-0102, an early Thunderchief test bird that spent most of her life at Edwards and in NASA’s hands before retiring to Brookley AFB and then the Alabama park. Photo by Chris Eger

They Kept Coming: D+1 and Beyond

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More than 150,000 Allied troops from the U.S., Britain, Canada, Free France, and Norway made it ashore on D-Day– suffering some 12,000 casualties.

However, with the beachheads firmly secured, they kept coming.

The build-up of Omaha Beach. Reinforcements of men and equipment moving inland, D+2, 8 June 1944. Original caption: “Roadways appear as if by magic as long lines of men and materiel stream ashore at a beach in northern France. With the beach situation well under control, there is an increasing flow of troops and supplies to reinforce the units now in combat. 8 June 1944.” Note the heavy guns, mobile cranes, DUKWs, and other vehicles on the beach roads; the former German pillbox in the lower left; LCTs unloading at low tide; and shipping offshore. USS LCT-572 is at left, broached at the high tide line. Signal Corps Photo SC 193082

By the end of D+5, 11 June, more than 326,000 Allied troops had crossed the Channel, along with 50,000 vehicles and more than 100,000 tons of equipment.

Speaking to this immediate buildup, which would lead to the liberation of Paris by August, Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Atkinson has the excellent below program from the National WWII Museum (formerly the D-Day Museum). If you have a spare hour, it makes a good listen.

A Print Icon Returns…

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Growing up in the 1970s and 80s, my grandfather had lasting subscriptions to three preeminent periodicals that every southern gentleman of the day was familiar with: National Geographic, Playboy, and Field & Steam— and I dearly attempted (and usually failed in the case of Mr. Hefner’s publication) to get my hot little hands on both the current issue and stacks of back issues haunting the ponderosa.

However, print is all but dead. Hefner passed in 2017 (long after he lost control of his magazine), in 2020 Field & Stream (and sister Outdoor Life) ceased publication of its print edition, and Nat Geo followed suit in halting the sale of its print magazine earlier this year.

Well, it looks like F&S at least may be trying to make a comeback.

Hitting the streets this month is a glossy 10×12 160-page print edition of Field & Stream, with a very familiar feel to it.

From the presser:

The inaugural 2024 Field & Stream Journal, officially out on June 5th, features a rich mix of stories, including a horse-packing adventure in British Columbia; personal essays of fathers and sons and their mutual love for wild places; a ranking of the best top-water lures ever; and trout-fishing tips for this summer’s cicada invasion. Eric Church also shares a tale of his own in the first installment of his brand-new F&S column, “Church Country.” His story, titled “Seed Ticks,” recounts the first time he visited the property where he would eventually build a fishing cabin. The humorous—and, at times, nail-biting—yarn takes readers on an outdoor adventure with his wife and father-in-law, complete with a car chase, jungle survival, and a full-fledged war on microscopic bloodsuckers.

For those interested, subscriptions will be a hefty $45 for two issues on a biannual publication schedule (Spring and Fall) or single copies for $25 plus shipping. Digital will be $15.

The Short-Lived (Shorter Than You’d Think) Browning Classic Hi-Power

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John Browning’s swan song handgun design, the Hi-Power, had reached its zenith by the mid-1980s, and a special run from that heyday is breathtaking. 

Mr. Browning filed patents in 1923 for what would become the Hi-Power just three years before he died in Liege, Belgium, his workshop at FN left empty. This final concept pistol, finished by Belgian firearms designer Dieudonné Saive– the man from whose mind later sprung the FN FAL– entered production in 1935 and would remain a staple of the company until 2018 when it was discontinued. 

Across that 83-year run, the Hi-Power, like any firearm platform, evolved through several generations with the Belgian-made T and C-series pistols of the 1960s and 70s often regarded as the high water mark of the design. By the late 1980s, the Belgian-made/Portuguese-assembled guns shipped with a magazine safety which typically meant a gritty trigger, a much plainer finish, and plastic grips.

To celebrate the Hi-Power, which was coming up on its 50th year of production in 1985, FN produced the Browning Classic series which included engraved “1 of 5,000” pistols and gold-inlayed “1 of 500” pistols, with some set aside for sale in limited three-gun sets with similarly engraved Auto-5 and a Superposed Superlights. However, actual production numbers fell short of the monikers, with less than 2,850 engraved Browning Classic Hi-Powers of all types constructed between 1984 and 1986.   

The standard “1 of 5,000” Classic Hi-Powers featured multiple engraved scenes and fine leaf, floral pattern scroll with black background along both the slide and frame, a special silver-gray “French” finish, presentation walnut grips, a gold trigger, and a matching walnut presentation box. The engraving, which included a portrait of Mr. Browning, was signed by the in-house engraver on the bottom right of each slide.

Check out this one that recently came through the Guns.com warehouse. 

Omaha Dog White

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The hand-drawn map shows the exit path of the first troops, 0855 hrs, on Omaha Beach, 6 June 1944. This sketch is illustration 19a from the 29th Infantry Division‘s combat narrative by 1Lt. John T. “Jack” Shea.

National Archives Identifier 6922052

The Massachusetts-born Shea, attached to the HHC of the 29th ID, earned a Silver Star on D-Day, hitting a still scorching hot beach with a part of the 116th Infantry Regiment in the second wave, approximately one hour after H-Hour. He was far from alone. In all, the men of the 29th would earn no less than 854 Silver Stars during the war, in addition to a pair of MoHs and 6,308 Bronze Stars. 

The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Silver Star to First Lieutenant (Infantry) John T. Shea (ASN: 0-445928), United States Army, for gallantry in action while serving with the 29th Infantry Division. On 6 June 1944, during the initial assault on the beaches of Northern France, First Lieutenant Shea voluntarily joined a reconnaissance party which entered, from the rear, the heavily defended beach exit at Vierville-sur-Mer to determine the enemy dispositions at that place. Although exposed to enemy observation and fire from fortified positions in the hills overlooking the beach exit, and to friendly naval gunfire which was being directed against the enemy positions at or near this beach exit, this patrol accomplished its mission, obtained much valuable information, and captured prisoners. In his active participation in this successful and hazardous reconnaissance, without regard for his own safety, First Lieutenant Shea demonstrated a high degree of courage which reflects great credit on himself and the military service.

D-Day Dress, Platoon Leader. This item is illustration 20a from the 29th Infantry Combat Narrative by Lieutenant Jack Shea.

National Archives Identifier 18558249

Shea was the aide de camp to Maj. Gen. Norman Daniel “Dutch” Cota (the 29th’s assistant division commander) from November 1943 until 22 July 1944 when he was wounded at St. Lo. Cota, never one to shrug off personal combat, is often credited with inadvertently creating the Rangers’ motto, when, bumping into Col. Max Schneider, commander of the 5th Ranger Battalion, on the beach at D-Day, Cota asked, “What outfit is this?” Someone yelled, “5th Rangers!” Cota replied, “Well, God damn it, if you are Rangers, then get up there and lead the way!”

Shea, who had a background was journalism before the war and filed perhaps the most detailed first-hand account of combat from Omaha Beach with the 29th ID, was later attached to the Army’s Historical Division until he left the military in 1947.

He survived the war and passed in 1984.

Of note, the 29th ID suffered 28,776 casualties during 242 days of combat in WWII.

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