One last laugh with Billy Waugh

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You may have previously heard that ARSOF legend, Retired SGM Billy Waugh, recently packed his duffle for the last time at the age of 93. His military career spanned 30 years from Korea to Vietnam, joining the Army in 1948 (after an unsuccessful attempt to join the Marines at 15 during WWII to make the final push on Japan).

Once retired, in 1977 he joined the CIA’s paramilitary guys and, among other places, took part in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom– in his 70s. While most of his agency work is lost to history, he for sure took part in operations against Quadaffi’s Libya, the Soviets, and in chasing Carlos the Jackal.

In noting his death, the 1st Special Forces Command said Waugh had “inspired a generation of special operations.”

There are three services planned:

12 May: Fairview Cemetery, Bastrop, Texas: There will be a small, private, gathering of family and close friends to spread a small amount of BIlly’s ashes at the Waugh family plot. Billy’s parents, infant brother, and sister are buried there.

27 June: A large memorial, organized by SOCOM, will be held at MacDill AFB. Location and time not provided yet.

22 July, 11:00: Jumping of the ashes. Billy requested that his ashes be HALO jumped and scattered by the HALO team. The time is not known yet, but it will be at Raeford Drop Zone, Raeford, North Carolina.

Sub $1M Freedom Fighter Up for Grabs

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Just going to come out and say it: if you are ever in Arizona, you have to check out the Pima Air & Space Museum, which has some 400 aircraft on display. I spent two days there, filming shorts for GDC, with a concentration on aviation gunnery, and one of the planes I spent some time with is the somewhat unsung F-5 Freedom Fighter, which is still in somewhat limited service around the globe despite the fact that the youngest one is still well over 30.

I mean, just look at it:

Two seater F-5B-50-NO, SN 72-0441, is dressed in the colors of the 425th TFTS which she flew with until 1989, including conversion to a GF-5B. Chris Eger photo

In related news, I saw last night where Code 1 Aviation in Illinois just listed a circa 1968 Northrop F-5A (SN 1009, FAA Reg N685TC) for sale, at a cool $950K.

Code 1 photo

Code 1 photo

She had been built originally for the Royal Norwegian AF as 89108 and later came to the States, being registered with the FAA in 1990. Of interest, the Norwegians, who fielded no less than 108 of the type, kept their F-5s flying as late as 2007.

From the ad:

This is a beautifully-restored, well-equipped example of Northrop’s versatile, lightweight, supersonic fighter thats still serving in several nations. With a maximum speed of over 700 knots, a maximum climb rate of over 30,000 feet per minute, and a ceiling of 51,000 feet, the F-5 is not for the faint of heart. But it is a surprisingly simple, reliable jet that can be your ticket to the rarified world of the fighter pilot.

Too bad the gun compartment is missing its twin Ford-built M39A2 20mm revolver cannons– but it does give the owner a potential cargo/baggage compartment. Code 1 Photo

Introduced in 1953, the M39 was the standard gun armament of the F-86H model Sabre, the F-100 Super Sabre, the F-101A/C Voodoo, and the F-5 series, effectively bridging the gap between the .50 cal M2/M3 guns of WWII and Korea and the subsequent M61 Vulcan. 

It was dubbed a revolver system as, although it was a single barrel, it used a chute-fed five-chamber cylinder to up the rate of fire to 1,500 rpm while allowing for better heat dissipation and less potential for a cook-off. Meanwhile, the Colt Mk 12 20mm cannons used at the same time by the Navy and Marine Corps on the F4D Skyray, F3H Demon, A-4 Skyhawk, F-8 Crusader, F-11 Tiger, and early A-7 Corsairs, were less reliable as its feeding mechanism was prone to jam under G-loading during high-speed dogfighting maneuvers. Chris Eger photo

G-Town 87s and TPSBs

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Took my dogs for a sunset walk around Jones Park in Gulfport the day or so before leaving for my latest Guns.com filming trip to Arizona, and grabbed a couple of snapshots.

Of course, you have the replica Ship Island Lighthouse, which doesn’t look that bad at night.

Then, looking at the boatshed at Station Gulfport, a pair of 87-foot Maritime Protector-type patrol boats: U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Moray (WPB 87331) out of Grand Isle and the USCGC Tiger Shark (WPB 87359), right before the latter shoved off for a patrol through the Chandeliers.

Also note the six-pack of 32-foot transportable port security boats, complete with .50 cals and M240s mounted. These gray sharks are used by the USCG’s eight port security units, and the USCGR’s PSU 308 is stationed on land in the Kiln and often uses Station Gulfport for their sea-going home during training evolutions.

Form 1 Assist Update

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Sorry about missing Warship Wednesday, yesterday, guys, as I am on the road with work and it is proving more time-consuming than I had expected. So much for my plan to write a WW while at the hotel at night. 

However, I have an update on those Form 1 SBR-making applications through Silencer Shop. The cut-off by SiShp was supposed to be 26 April, but they have just extended their eForms engine deadline to start a new form for another 20 days, through 17 May.

Not saying you need to register anything, we are all big boys and girls here. But if you did, and didn’t feel good about doing eForms alone, SiShp is an option for the next few weeks.

How a John Wayne Movie Sparked Modern Suppressors

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I’ve been in the gun industry off and on for some 25 years, spanning from working the counter at a small-town FFL in my early 20s to full-time writing and editing. In that time, I’ve met some really smart and pioneering guys in the gun world, such as Mark Serbu and Jim Tertin.

However, probably the biggest brain guy in the gun industry in terms of suppressors is Dr. Phil Dater, MD, founder of Gemtech and a man considered by many in our industry to be the modern-day godfather of silencers.

Dater back in the day

Jake Kunsky, who developed quiet products for NEMO Arms, Gemtech Suppressors, Smith & Wesson, and Maxim Defense and now runs JK Armarment, recently sat down with the gun world’s “Dr. Phil” — now 86– and talked about a wide range of subjects for an hour.

Topics include

  • Where Gemtech got its name?
  • How Dr. Dater, a Radiologist by training, brought silencers out of nearly a century of obscurity?
  • How a microphone’s diaphragm affects decibel measurement?
  • What arguably the most experienced man in the industry thinks about various methods of measuring silencer performance?
  • How military and consumer requirements for a silencer differ?
  • Why the ATF Form 4 approval process took only a few weeks back in the 70s?
  • How John Wayne inspired the modern silencer renaissance?

If you have an hour and are interested at all in gun culture or suppressor history, check it out.

Chassis No. 542

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Some 105 years ago today, after helping to break the British lines at Villers-Bretonneux, German A7V (Abteilung 7 Verkehrswesen) tank No. 542, better known as “Elfriede,” to the crew manning her, was overturned in harsh terrain and abandoned. This happened on 24 April 1918.

She was eventually captured and recovered

Elfriede was lost during the first recorded tank-vs-tank battle in history, where three A7Vs ((including 561, “Nixe,” and 506, “Mephisto“) faced off with three British Mark IVs (two female machine gun-armed tanks and one male with two 6-pounder guns).

Elfriede went on to become one of the most photographed of her type.

As detailed by Brooklyn Stereography:

A month later, a British unit managed to right the tank, which remarkably, was still in operational condition. After Armistice, Elfriede was put on display at the Place de la Concorde in Paris. Two stereoviews of Elfriede wound up in A.O. Fasser‘s collection – though he had returned to America by the time these were taken:

Elfriede at the Place de la Concorde, sometime in late 1918 or early 1919. Stereoview on 6×13 cm glass diapositive from the Fasser Collection, courtesy of the Jordan/Ference Collection.

During its time on display, barricades were in place to prevent visitors from vandalizing Elfriede, taking souvenirs, etc. However, soon after, it was taken away and tested out. At this point it was covered in graffiti, as seen in a film taken by the French government to display the tank in motion. Its history between 1919 and 1940 is shaky – there is documentation in 1940 that mentions that it had been scrapped. But when was it scrapped? So far, no information on this is forthcoming. Most A7V tanks were scrapped in 1919 for their steel, and most historians believe that Elfriede was as well. But without documentation, it’s possible that the tank had some second life for another 21 years!

Only about 20 A7Vs were made and, while it appears that 18 of them were captured by the victorious Western allies, the only confirmed chassis remaining is, ironically, Elfriede’s old buddy from the Villers-Bretonneux tank scrap, Mephisto, which was captured by the 26th AIF Bn and is preserved in the Queensland Museum and dubbed by the Australian War Memorial, “The Rarest Tank in the World.”

 

About that Pistol Brace Form 1 thing

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Ok, guys, if you don’t have a pistol brace, skip this one.

If you are one of the estimated between 10 million and 40 million Americans that may own a large format pistol with a stabilizing brace installed– which the ATF has arbitrarily said is now an illegal unregistered short-barreled rifle– and unsure what to do next, read on.

First, you have four choices.

  1. You can remove the brace and make it to that it cannot be reinstalled.
  2. You can turn over the firearm to the ATF for destruction
  3. You can convert it to a full-on rifle, complete with a barrel at least 16 inches long, and just slap a real stock on it.
  4. You can register it in accordance with the NFA as an SBR. For the latter, the ATF has been magnanimous enough to waive the $200 making tax.

As for me, I have several of these braced pistols and, while many would advocate non-compliance, that isn’t really a thing for me as I have several articles and videos floating around going back to 2012 with me using said items. Thus, I have a much higher visibility than most when it comes to this stuff.

Not to get too personal, but I have done a mix of the above options including Nos. 1, 3, and 4.

If you are curious about just how to go about getting your “free” SBR, which comes with a raft of future restrictions and isn’t an option for those in NJ, NY, CA, RI, HI, MD (if OAL is less than 29″), DE (Wilmington only), and DC, it isn’t that complicated to pull off.

I did my amnesty Form 1s via Silencer Shop, which charges $50 per form submission, but includes the fingerprint service via their kiosks (which are everywhere, I had like 8 in my small city of 50,000 alone), review of your form prior to submission by people who do it every day, an engine that files it all via ATF’s archaic eForms GUI, and a program that automatically notifies the local CLEO. A portion of that fee also goes to 2A groups to help fight such things.

It was an easy process and I have multiple forms now pending ATF approval.

The bad news is, “Due to popular demand and to ensure all forbearance applications are successfully submitted prior to the ATF’s May 31, 2023 deadline, the last day to start a tax-exempt Form 1 through Silencer Shop will be April 26, 2023. No new tax-exempt Form 1 services will be offered after this date.”

For more info on how it’s done, check out this video:

For those who are either too late to start a form via Silencer Shop or would just rather keep the $50 fee, Fudd Busters (who is a firearms attorney but not Your firearms attorney), has a step-by-step video on how to use ATF eForms to do a Form 1 for a pistol brace/SBR.

Remember, you have until the end of May.

Montevideo Maru, found

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Class leader USS Salmon (SS-182) running speed trials in early 1938. Note the S1 designator. NH 69872

As covered in past Warship Wednesdays, the hard-charging Salmon-class fleet submarine USS Sturgeon (SS-187), under command of LCDR William Leslie “Bull” Wright (USNA 1925), a colorful six-foot-three cigar-chomping Texan, made a name for herself in the early days of the Pacific War. After an early attack on a Japanese ship just after Pearl Harbor, she flashed “Sturgeon no longer virgin!”

It was on her fourth patrol that she came across the 7,266-ton, twin-screw diesel motor vessel passenger ship MV Montevideo Maru which had been used by the Imperial Japanese Navy as a troop transport in the early days of the war, supporting the landings at Makassar in February 1942 and was part of the Japanese seizure of New Britain.

Via ONI 208J.

Sailing on 22 June unescorted for Hainan Island off China, Montevideo Maru ran into Sturgeon eight days later. Our submarine pumped four fish into the “big fella” in the predawn hours of 1 July, after a four-hour stalk, with young LT Chester William “Chet” Nimitz Jr. (yes, that Nimitz’s son) as the TDC officer.

Tragically, in what is now known as the “worst maritime disaster in Australian history,” Montevideo Maru was a “Hell Ship,” carrying more than 1,000 prisoners of the Japanese forces, including members of the Australian 2/22nd Battalion and No.1 Independent Company of the incredibly unlucky Lark Force which had been captured on New Britain.

All the prisoners on board died, locked below decks. Of note, more Australians died in the loss of the Montevideo Maru than in the country’s decade-long involvement in Vietnam.

Sturgeon, of course, was unaware that the ship was carrying Allied POWs and internees.

DANFS does not mention Montevideo Maru‘s cargo.

Four days later, Sturgeon damaged the Japanese oiler San Pedro Maru (7268 GRT) south of Luzon, then ended her 4th war patrol at Fremantle on 22 July.

Sturgeon earned ten battle stars for World War II service, with seven of her war patrols deemed successful enough for a Submarine Combat Insignia.

Bull Wright, who earned a Navy Cross for his first patrol, never commanded a submarine again– perhaps dogged over the Montevideo Maru, or perhaps because he was 40 years old when he left Sturgeon— and he retired quietly from the Navy after the war as a rear admiral. Although a number of WWII submarines and skippers with lower tonnage or fewer patrols/battle stars under their belt were profiled in the most excellent 1950s “Silent Service” documentary series, Bull Wright and Sturgeon were noticeably skipped.

Now, Montevideo Maru has been discovered in her resting place off the Philippines. An expedition team, led by Australian businessman, maritime history philanthropist, explorer, and director of not-for-profit Silentworld Foundation, John Mullen, found the hell ship’s wreck earlier this month.

Happy Saint George’s Day!

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This 23 April is roughly the 1,720th anniversary of the execution of a Roman Army Officer, George of Lydda, so condemned by Emperor Diocletian for not renouncing his religious faith. In addition to being venerated across Europe, both Eastern and Western, Saint George is the only saint depicted fighting on horseback– slaying a dragon at that.

Saint George Killing the Dragon c. 1434, Bernat Martorell

Thus he is the patron saint of Cavalrymen and now modern Tankers and Scouts, going back at least to 1917.

Great War BEF commander, Field Marshal Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig, KT, GCB, OM, GCVO, KCIE, a polo enthusiast who began his career as a lieutenant into the 7th (Queen’s Own) Hussars on 7 February 1885, slaying the Hun Dragon from his mount on a Mark V tank, Punch 1917

So for all those horse soldiers past and present– the cossacks, cuirassiers, dragoons, chasseurs, hussars, spahis, uhlans, lancers, jäger zu pferde, and mounted rifles, as well as those riding tracks and wheels today, raise a glass!

Snipers, up, eh

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80 years ago today: An unidentified infantryman of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division, who is armed with an Enfield P14 sniper rifle and scope, taking part in a sniping-stalking-camouflage training course, England, 23 April 1943.

Note the skrim and balaclava. Library and Archives Canada, MIKAN 3596209

Another image from the same day. Much more skrim and balaclavas.

Of course, the Canadians had a rich sniper history going back to the Great War, and continue to have one to this day.

One of the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division’s more storied regiments was the Montreal-based Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada.

Below, if you have time to kill (see what I did there?), a great little doc on the Black Watch snipers in WWII, including interviews with four of the gentlemen on the sharp end. 

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