Romanian Minesweeper Survives Detonation

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According to a release from the Romanian Navy, the minesweeper Lt. Dimitrie Nicolescu (DM-29) sortied from Constanţa, last Thursday, 8 September, to respond to a flash from the diving support platform GSP Falcon of a floating mine some 25 miles NE from the port.

Minesweeper Lt. Dimitrie Nicolescu (DM-29) of the Romanian Navy. She is 200-feet oal with a displacement of 790 tons and has been in service since 1987, dating back to the Cold War. She is a variant of the old Soviet Project 266M Akvamarin “Natya” type design. Note the ubiquitous AK-230 30mm mounts. (Romanian Navy photo)

However, high winds and sea state (Beaufort 7, near gale) interfered with the recovery as it kept the MCM from launching her EOD team boat. One thing apparently led to another and the mine impacted against the hull overnight and produced a small hole. The Romanians report that Nicolescu is stable and suffered no casualties and the support tug Grozavul went to the minesweeper’s assistance to shepherd her back to port.

Since most of the 28 mines recovered/destroyed in the Western Black Sea since the start of the Russo-Ukraine war have been small riverbed/coastal types, this slight damage tracks.

Most of the devices encountered so far have been Soviet M1943 MyaM-type shallow water (inshore/river) contact mines of the type licensed to both Iran (SADAF-01 type) and Iraq (Al Mara type) back in the 1980s, typically seen with very fresh Ukrainian naval markings and contact horns covered. (Romanian Navy photo)

And the guns rang out

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Traditional gun salutes honoring the late Queen Elizabeth rang out across the United Kingdom on Friday “and at saluting stations at home and abroad as the world watched on and mourned her loss.”

The 96-gun salutes, one for each of her years, typically took an average of 16 minutes to ring out in slow fire, one round every 10 seconds.

The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired the Death Gun Salute in Hyde Park from Great War-era 13-pounder Field Guns.

The King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery fire the Death Gun Salute in Hyde Park

And at the same time, it was also fired at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company (HAC) in ceremonial attire. The latter salute is fired from four 25- pounder guns located on Tower Wharf facing the River Thames.

The Death Gun Salute was fired at the Tower of London by the Honourable Artillery Company.

Meanwhile in Scotland 96 rounds also rang out from the battlements of Edinburgh Castle as 105 Regiment Royal Artillery, an Army Reserve regiment that recruits across Scotland and in Northern Ireland, fired the salute with Major Brian Robson RA in charge. They use the current 105mm light howitzer the L118 (the U.S. Army uses a modified version, the M119 for airborne and light infantry units.)

Soldiers of 105 Regiment Royal Artillery fired three L118 Light Guns at Edinburgh Castle

In Wales, salutes rang out as 104 Regiment Royal Artillery, the only Army Reserve Artillery regiment in Wales, fired their salutes amid the sunshine and showers at Cardiff Castle.

In Colchester and East Essex Cricket Club, the salutes were fired by members of 7th Parachute Regiment Royal Horse Artillery from Colchester Garrison.

The Airborne gunners of F (Sphinx) Parachute Battery 7 Royal Horse Artillery fired 96 rounds from their L118s

In York, where the salutes took place at the York Museum Gardens, Lt Col Matt Brockleby, Commanding Officer, 4th Regiment Royal Artillery, said: “This is an honor for the Regiment.”

L118s of 4 Regiment Royal Artillery fire their Gun Salute at York Museum Gardens on Friday 9 September 2022

And over in Northern Ireland, Captain Joshua McKee, of 206 Battery 105 Regiment Royal Artillery, gave the order to fire the salutes as people laid flowers outside the walls of Hillsborough Castle.

A 96 Gun salute, conducted by 206 (Ulster) Battery, Royal Artillery at Royal Hillsborough Castle, Northern Ireland.

The ship’s company of HMS Queen Elizabeth mustered on the flight deck mid-Atlantic for their own 96-gun salute and to mark the passing of “the boss.”

A Good Pilot in a Capable Plane Goes a Long Way

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On this day: 70 years ago (September 10, 1952), Captain Jesse Gregory Folmar (MCSN: 0-26438), from the “Checkerboards” of Marine Attack Squadron (VMA) 312 of the jeep carrier USS Sicily (CVE-118), shot down a North Korean (marked) MiG-15 to become the only F4U Corsair pilot to claim a MiG kill during the Korean War. After successfully engaging the MiG, Folmar was himself shot down by four other MiGs. He survived the attack and was rescued.

By Lou Drendel

The performance between the two aircraft is about 200 knots and 10,000 feet in ceiling, to the MiG’s advantage. However, Folmar, age 32 at the time, was no novice to his aircraft.

Born 13 Oct 1920 in Montgomery County, Alabama, he joined the Marines in WWII and learned his trade with the Corsair against the Japanese.

From Folmar’s Silver Cross citation for the dogfight:

When the two-plane flight which he was leading to the target area near Chinnampo was suddenly attacked by eight hostile jet interceptors, Captain Folmar immediately initiated effective defensive measures so that he and his wingman could bring fire to bear on the enemy aircraft. Aggressively maneuvering his plane to the inside of one of the attacking hostile jets, he skillfully fired a burst from his guns that ripped into the side of the jet, causing it to burst into flames and forcing the enemy pilot, with his clothing ablaze, to abandon the flaming jet which subsequently crashed into the Taedong estuary.

While Captain Folmar was maneuvering his aircraft to ward off another attack, his plane was hit and severely damaged by hostile fire, forcing him to parachute. With the hostile jets continuing to make firing runs, he landed in the water from which he was rescued by friendly forces.

By his indomitable courage, outstanding airmanship, and gallant devotion to duty, Captain Folmar was directly responsible for the complete destruction of a hostile jet aircraft and contributed materially to the safe return of his wingman, thereby upholding the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.

Folmar died in 2004, aged 83, and is buried in Foley, Alabama. 

For reference, the Marines’ “tally sheet” for Korea, showing Folmar as both the last Corsair victory and the only one of a prop plane against a jet.

Shilling’s photo ‘Hawk

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What a great original 80-year-old color photo of the American Volunteer Group “Flying Tigers” posing on one very special aircraft.

A group of AVG pilots poses for the camera. Erik Shilling is on the nose, William Bartling is next, with Frank Adkins is in the cockpit. Charles Bond and Robert Little are standing on the ground, Joe Rosbert and George Paxton are on the wing. The photograph was taken at Kunming on 11 APR 1942 by LIFE photographer Clare B. Luce. Luce was elected to Congress later that year and the photo would appear in the magazine in July, after the Tigers had been disbanded.

The “Blue Lipped” KMT Chinese-marked Tigers’ P-40 Warhawk above is Eriksen Emerson Shilling’s unarmed photo recon aircraft. It had been stripped of its guns and extra weight, then fitted with a 20-inch Fairchild camera in the baggage compartment behind the cockpit. Among other vital missions, Shilling had documented over 90 Japanese military aircraft on airfields around Bangkok at a time when Thailand was considered neutral.

While it took stones to fly against the much more numerous Japanese air forces in 1942 China-Burma, to do it sans armament was even more so.

The Flying Tiger pilots posing are the blonde Shilling (age 26 at the time), ace Bill Barthing, ace and future USAF MGen. Charles Bond, ace Frank Adkins, double ace Robert Laing “Bob” Little, ace Joe Rosbert, and the downright “elderly” paymaster George “Pappy” Paxton.

The same group was shown with Shilling (in a brown jacket and the same blue shirt) along with a uniformed Bartling, Paxton, Rosbert, and Adkins in a photo listed as being taken the next month but could have been the same day.

A group of “Hell’s Angels” pose for the camera in front of Charles Older’s #68 P-40 at Yunnan-yi on 28 MAY 1942. They are (sitting) Robert Smith, Ken Jernstedt, Bob Prescot, Link Laughlin, and Bill Reed. Standing are Erik Shilling and Arvid Olsen.

The photos were taken shortly before the AVG became the new, by-the-book, 23rd Fighter Group, which may account for Shilling wearing a blue shirt and no uniform.

Rather than join the 23rd FG, Shilling– who had served in the USAAF from 1938-41 and helped pioneer aerial recon at the time– opted instead to remain a pseudo-civilian and, along with several other Tigers, signed up with the China National Aviation Corporation (CNAC), the Pan Am-KMT operation moving supplies from India to Free China over the Himalayas.

Of note, just five of Chennault’s pilots (and 19 ground crewmen) went to the 23rd FS in July 1942 while at least 16 pilots, Shilling included, elected to go CNAC instead. The Regular Army life did not appeal to men who had already had it and went for something more exotic. 

Other volunteers went back to the states to see what they could find there, with the nation now officially in the war. These included a hard-drinking Marine first lieutenant by the name of Gregory Boyington who had resigned his regular commission in August 1941 as he was leaving for China with an unrealized understanding “that I would be reinstated without loss of precedence when I returned to United States Service.”

As for Shilling, he would go on to make no less than 350 dangerous trips over “The Hump” in WWII and go on to fly post-war for Chennault’s (paid for by the CIA) Civil Air Transport (CAT) line, delivering agents and supplies to places off the record throughout the Korean War and into Dien Bien Phu. CAT would, of course, go on to become Air America.

Meanwhile, Shilling would return to the U.S. in the 1960s and turn to a quieter, less-spooky life, passing in his mid-80s. 

More on Boyington later.

So long, Liz

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Unless you have been under a rock for the past 24 hours, we have witnessed the end of the second Elizabethan age as Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at Balmoral, Scotland, aged 96. Born early in one century and laid to rest well into another, she was crowned the same year Edmund Hillary ascended Mount Everest and an unsteady truce neared in the Korean War. Since then, she saw 14 U.S. Presidents, met with 15 Prime Ministers (Churchill was in office when she was coronated!), and saw the last leader of the Soviet Union buried.

I’m not here to eulogize, and indeed around the world lots of leftists and know-nothings, who bemoan everything British– without noting the ascendance of guys like Idi Amin/Yoweri Museveni, Robert Mugambe, and Yahya Jammeh to fill the vacuum the old Empire left behind– are celebrating her passing like a bunch of ghouls.

What I am going to do is point out her WWII military service, and the fact that she served at least 80 years continuously in the military.

Per the IWM:

queen eliz

During the Second World War, King George VI was reluctant to let his daughter – and heir – join any of the organisations that women could serve in during the war. However, in February 1945, Princess Elizabeth was allowed to join the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS). Second Subaltern Elizabeth Windsor, as she was known, was part of Number 1 ‘Beaufront’ Company and trained as a mechanic and truck driver in Surrey. Her classes included practical maintenance, mechanics theory and map reading. She told a friend, “I never worked so hard in my life. But I enjoyed it very much.” The princess graduated as a fully qualified driver, but the war ended before she was able to make practical use of her new skills

She remained a Junior Commander, Women’s Royal Army Corps after the war, rising to Captain by 1952 with semi-regular periods of service.

Like all monarchs and members of the Windsor family, she kept up her military obligations, and for the past 70 years, from 6 February 1952 through 8 September 2022, was Commander-in-Chief of the British Armed Forces. As such, it is possible she inspected more troops than any leader in history.

RoyalLadiesMilitaryUniformQueenElizabeth

On Elizabeth’s sixteenth birthday, 21 April 1942, she was appointed Colonel of the Regiment of the Grenadier Guards and promptly inspected them in her first solo appearance. It was a responsibility she took seriously, after all, a war was on and some of the men were shipping out to North Africa shortly. 

She would inspect “her” Grenadiers as well as the Paras just prior to D-Day. 

Princess Elizabeth inspecting the 2nd (Armoured) Battalion Grenadier Guards, 5th Guards Armoured Brigade, Guards Armoured Division, at Hove in East Sussex, England prior to DDay – May 1944. IWM – Malindine E G (Captain) Photographer. © IWM H 38532

Princess Elizabeth visits British Airborne Troops prior to DDay May 1944 IWM H 38603

Ultimatley, she was named Colonel-in-Chief of the: Royal Australian Engineers, Royal Australian Infantry Corps, Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps, Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps, le Régiment de la Chaudière, 48th Highlanders of Canada, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders of Canada (Princess Louise’s), Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery,  Governor General’s Horse Guards, King’s Own Calgary Regiment, Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers, Royal 22e Régiment, Governor General’s Foot Guards, Canadian Grenadier Guards, Carleton and York Regiment, Canadian Guards, Royal New Brunswick Regiment, Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps, Calgary Highlanders, Wellington Regiment, Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps, The Life Guards, Royal Horse Guards, Coldstream Guards, Scots Guards, Irish Guards, Welsh Guards, Royal Regiment of Artillery, Corps of Royal Engineers, Royal Tank Regiment, Malawi Rifles, Blues and Royals (Royal Horse Guards and 1st Dragoons), Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, Corps of Royal Military Police, Queen’s Gurkha Engineers,Queen’s Royal Lancers, Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, Royal Welsh, Royal Regiment of Scotland, Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment.

As well as the Air-Commodore-in-Chief of the Territorial Air Force of New Zealand, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, Royal Air Force Regiment, Royal Observer Corps; Captain-General of the Honourable Artillery Company, Commandant-in-Chief of the Royal Air Force College, Countess of Ranfurly’s Own Auckland Regiment, et.al…

She was tied to the Forces in both public and private in every way, and it could be argued her primary job since the age of 16 had been that of a service member. 

Special ties to the Fleet

Elizabeth was closely associated with the Royal Navy. After all, she was the daughter, wife, and mother of naval officers.

She was also a battleship sailor, having embarked on HMS Vanguard in 1947 for the Royal Cruise to Africa. She was familiar with the Royal Navy’s final (and largest) dreadnought, having christened her in 1944 while still Princess Elizabeth– the first time her standard was broken out on an RN vessel.

She also became possibly the only Queen in history with a Shellback certificate, as she took part in the traditional festivities upon Crossing the Line. 

Elizabeth participated in the traditional line-crossing ceremony and was initiated into the Kingdom of Neptune. Elizabeth was a good sport but was excused from a few of the harsher hazings meted out to Pollywogs

She even got in some target practice from Vanguard’s decks in 1947 and was reportedly a good shot. Of note, while I have seen several images of her with a rifle, I have never seen her use eye or ear protection– and tough old bird indeed.

The 1953 Spithead Review, while smaller than some that came before, was the largest gathering of British warships that has not been surpassed since– and likely never will. Of note, Vanguard would grace the cover of the official commemorative as flagship.

The 1953 Spithead Coronation Review.

She also sponsored five other warships and submarines including the new carrier that holds her name, HMS Queen Elizabeth (R08), the largest British warship ever built, and attended her christening in 2014. A bottle of fine Scotch from the 240-year-old Bowmore Distillery was broken across the carrier’s bow via an actuator that the Queen controlled via a push button. 

In remembrance

Now, across the corners of the Commonwealth, there will be celebrations of her passing– heck, Biden has ordered all federal ensigns half-masted. The most notable, besides the looming pageantry of her state funeral, will be “Death Gun” 96-gun salutes fired from Cyprus to Sydney.

As noted by the New Zealand Army: 

𝗗𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝘂𝗻 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗮𝗷𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗮𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗵 𝗜𝗜, 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁, 𝟵 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝘁 𝟲.𝟬𝟬𝗽𝗺
 
We will fire a Death Gun Salute marking the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the Wellington waterfront this evening.
 
16 Field Regiment will fire 96 rounds – one round for every year of Her Majesty’s life. The Death Gun Salute will commence at 6pm. The salute is expected to last at least 16 minutes. 
 
Given the length of time the gun salute will take to conduct, it is recommended that hearing protection is worn by those planning to attend.

Recon by Colt

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55 Years Ago Today.

Original Caption:

On 8 September 1967, PFC Michael J. Mendoza (Piedmont, CA) uses his M16 rifle to recon by fire. Earlier, the company received sniper [fire] from the valley below. His company; Company “A”, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry, 101st Airborne Brigade [Division], was moving to a mountain top to secure a landing zone. This was mission was a part of Operation “Cook” conducted in Quang Ngai Province, Republic of Vietnam. Mendoza was also known for his helmet graffiti “Goin-home!! California”.

By Sp5 Robert C. Lafoon, Department of the Army Special Photo Office. National Archives Identifier:100310264

Note PFC Mendoza’s early model (XM16E1) M16 with its heavily-scarred plastic furniture, at least three casings in air, and brass being pushed into the chamber by the BCG. These guns had most of the externals seen on the later M16A1s (3-prong FH, triangular handguards, forward assist, and A1 sights) but did not have a chrome-lined barrel/chamber. These were fielded to airmobile units such as the 101st around mid-1965 before the A1 was standardized. Note there is no brass deflector and the “fence” around the mag release is very shallow, with users of these rifles often complaining they would accidentally eject a mag when going to close the dust cover.

While there are a dozen Mendozas listed from PFCs to a light colonel among the more than 58,000 named on The Wall, our particular PFC is not among them, so at least he seems to have made it back home to California. 

As noted on the Vietnam Veteran’s page for the 2nd/502nd: 

The 2nd Battalion of the 502nd Infantry Regiment (often referred to as the ‘O Deuce’) was part of the 1st Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. The 1st Brigade of the 101st was one of the first major units in Vietnam – arriving by boat in July 1965. The O Deuce was on that boat as part of the 1st Brigade, and remained in Vietnam until 1972. The historical average “time in combat” for WWII Infantry Soldiers was 40 days, and in Vietnam they give 240 days as the norm or average. In the O Deuce the norm was much closer to 330 days – in a 365 day tour. We lived “in the bush”, and saw the “rear area” for only a couple of days at a time, often a month or more apart.

After 60 years you’re still the most beautiful ship in the world

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As we covered in a past Warship Wednesday on the Italian Navy’s historic nave scuola (training ship) Amerigo Vespucci (A5312), according to legend, while sailing in the Med in the 1960s, the 80,000-ton Forrestal-class supercarrier USS Independence, on a deployment with the Sixth Fleet duty in support of President John F. Kennedy’s firm stand on the newly-established Berlin Wall, came across a strange tall ship at sea.

The carrier flashed the vessel, Vespucci, with the light signal asking, “Who are you?” The answer, “Training ship Amerigo Vespucci, Italian Navy,” came back. Independence was said to have replied, “You are the most beautiful ship in the world.”

AMERIGO VESPUCCI Italian Training Ship, Sails past USS INDEPENDENCE (CVA-62) in the Mediterranean, 12 July 1962. The Navy later used this image on recruiting posters and advertising in the 1960s and 70s. USN 1061621

Well, in a salute to that exchange, the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) transited the Adriatic Sea alongside Vespucci on 1 September to commemorate the (just passed) 60th anniversary of the 1962 meeting between Indy and Italy’s senior national vessel.

As related by the Marina Militare, the signal from the big American flat top remained very similar: “Amerigo Vespucci, after 60 years you’re still the most beautiful ship in the world”

The Navy also marked the Bush’s 25 August passage through the Strait of Gibraltar with a nice time-lapse video. 

Of note, the GHWBCSG is comprised of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 7, Destroyer Squadron 26, and the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55).

“The GHWBCSG is on a scheduled deployment in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of operations, employed by U.S. Sixth Fleet to defend U.S., allied and partner interests.” 

Speaking of carrier news…

In case you missed it, the Indian Navy’s third aircraft carrier– after the Kiev-class INS Vikramaditya (ex-Admiral Gorshkov) and Centaur-class INS Viraat (ex-HMS Hermes)– and first to be indigenously built, the brand new INS Vikrant (R11), was commissioned last week on 2 September after a 23-year planning and construction period.

The new $3 billion (which is a bargain compared to a $13 billion Ford-class CVN) carrier runs 860 feet overall and hits the scales with a 45,000-ton displacement, making her roughly the size of an old Essex-class fleet carrier of WWII or a current LHA/LHD but sans landing equipment. Using a COGAG suite of four LM2500 gas turbines– the same as an Arleigh Burke— she can make 30 knots. 

She actually compares well to the new $7.4 billion 65,000-ton British Queen Elizabeth class carriers, although it should be pointed out that the QEs operate F-35s (if they ever get enough of them). 

The Indian carrier’s armament is Italian/Israeli/Russian, electronics are from all over Europe, and her air group (for now) will be 30-ish STOBAR ski-jumped MiG-29Ks and a few Kamov Ka-31 ASW helicopters. However, this is set to change as the Indians are receiving MH-60Rs from the U.S. and it is between Dassault Rafale-M and the F-18E/F (with odds going towards the cheaper French option). 
 
Boeing recently completed ski jump tests with a Super Hornet loaded with two 500lb laser-guided bombs, AIM9Xs, and AIM-120s.
 

Ruger goes back to the AR-10, but lightly

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Ruger this week took a pause to fill the gap left in its lineup since the SR-762 was discontinued and introduced the sub-7-pound SFAR.

The new Ruger Small-Frame Autoloading Rifle is more appropriately described as a .308 Winchester-chambered AR-15 rather than a true AR10 as its barrel and bolt are roughly the same size overall as the company’s AR-556 series and accepts standard AR-15 trigger groups, receiver end plates, charging handles, pistol grips, and adjustable stocks. Ruger has hit the ground running with the new rifle available in both a 16-inch (6.8 pounds) and 20-inch (7.3 pounds) format.

By comparison, Ruger’s last .308 semi-auto, the SR-762 carbine was a two-stage piston-driven gun with a 16.1-inch barrel that hit the scales, unloaded and sans optics, at a beefy 8.6 pounds. It was discontinued in 2018.

The new SFAR comes in both 16 and 20-inch models, both in the 7-ish pound range. You know I got one coming for a review…

They share much of the same features, including CNC-machined 7075-T6 receivers, cold-hammer-forged barrels with 5R rifling and 5/8-24 TPI muzzle threads, a four-position regulated gas block, a two-port Boomer muzzle brake (you know that’s gonna be loud), and a free-floated handguard with M-LOK slots. They also come standard with Ruger’s Elite 452 trigger billed as having a smooth, crisp 4.5-pound two-stage trigger pull.

Both accept SR-25 pattern mags and ship with a 20-round Magpul PMAG while a Magpul MOE SL stock and MOE grip are installed.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Warship Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022: Come Hell or Low Water

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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, Sept. 07, 2022: Come Hell or Low Water

U.S. Army Photo 111-CCV-113-CC43650. National Archives Identifier: 100310246

Above we see the Benewah-class self-propelled barracks ship USS Colleton (APB-36), some 55 years ago this month on 24 September 1967, moored in South Vietnam’s My Tho River. A collection of floating piers and docks sister the big, armored converted LST, to her small craft brood of the Mobile Riverine Force. Alongside her are at least 10 LCM-6 landing craft converted to Armored Troop Carriers (aka “Tango” boats), four CCB (aka “Charlie” boats) communication/control monitors, and a helicopter-pad equipped Aid Boat. Note the quad 40mm Bofors fore and aft on Colleton along with two 3″/50s flanking her helicopter pad as well as her location near shore.

Colleton had to be one of the most formidable vessels to even be labeled a “barracks ship” and these days would pull down the designation of an Expeditionary Sea Base, although she was much better armed.

About those APBs…

The Old Navy’s primary receiving ship/barracks ships, based at naval stations and shipyards to house blue jackets between homes, were usually just hulked warships, their topsides covered over by dormitories. 

U.S. Navy frigate, USS Constitution, photographed while serving as a receiving/barracks ship in Boston, circa 1905. Detroit Photographic Company, circa 1891-1912. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

USS Chicago (IX-5) at Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, October 20, 1926. Chicago was originally commissioned in 1889 as a protected cruiser was classified as CA-14 in 1920 and became a barracks ship at Pearl Harbor after decommissioning in 1923. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-1010827

With the U.S. military swelling to a multi-million man force in WWII– much of it to be sent far overseas into often remote areas such as isolated Pacific islands with no infrastructure– the Navy quickly realized that barracks ships would be needed. Soon, starting in FY 1942, a class of 40 non-self-propelled Barracks Ships (APL hull numbers) were begun. Dubbed the APL-2 and APL-17 types, they were simple 2,000-ton, 260-foot, covered barges with a two-story barracks built on top.

APL-17, under tow to her next location, 8 October 1944. Able to accommodate 500 or so troops or sailors, these barracks barges had three generators for lights, cooling, and amenities but no engines and a 71-man crew made up primarily of Ship’s Servicemen– Barber (SSMB), Laundryman (SSML), Cobbler (SSMC), and Tailor (SSMT)– rates along with a few engineering rates and GMs. For defense, as they were to be forward deployed, was a battery of 20mm Oerlikons on the roof and some M1919 mounts to cover the water. 

Midway into the numbering sequence for the APLs, starting with APL-35 and running through APL-40, it was decided to create a run of larger, self-propelled barracks ships. These would become the Benewah-class authorized as APL-35 (soon morphed to APB-35) and 15 sisters soon following.

To avoid reinventing the wheel, the Benewahs were all 4,000-ton, 328-foot, LST-542-class landing ship tanks, or AKS-16 class general stores issue ships (which used the same hull and machinery). They were able to steam at 12 knots and had a decent self-defense capability including two twins and four single 40mm/60 Bofors as well as a mix of smaller cannon and machine gun mounts. Gone was the landing and beaching gear and added was a double-deck troop accommodation for 28 officers and 275 enlisted as well as galley and recreation facilities for those embarked as well as the 137-man crew.

For a time still termed APLs then “LST (Modified)” they eventually became APBs by the time they joined the Navy List.

Ten of the class were quickly converted to APBs post-commissioning while still at their builders including USS Wythe (APB-41) (ex-LST-575), Yavapai (APB-42)(ex LST-676), Yolo (APB-43)(ex LST-677), Presque Isle (APB-44)(ex LST-678), Accomac (APB-49)(ex LST-710), Cameron (APB-50)(ex LST-928), Blackford (APB-45)(ex AKS-16), Dorchester (APB-46)(ex AKS-17), Kingman (APB-47)(ex AKS-18), and Vanderburgh (APB-48)(ex AKS-19). These ships made it to the fleet first and some were sent into the thick of the action by 1944.

USS Yavapai (APB-42) at anchor off the coast of Okinawa in the summer of 1945. Note the magnificent view of a DUKW six-wheel amphibian in the foreground. Photo from the NARA US Army Air Force photo collection.

This left Benewah, Colleton, Marlboro (APB-38), Mercer (APB-39), and Nueces (APB-40) to be built as barracks ships from the keel up rather than converted.

USS Mercer (APB-39) and USS Marlboro (APB-38) under construction at Boston Navy Yard, 3 January 1945. Note the two-level superstructure running nearly the entire length of the ship with the pilot house onthe  top forward. The destroyer at the top is USS Babbitt (AG-102) and across the channel, there is probably a British battleship. NARA Identifier NA 38329801

However, this meant that the five-pack of fresh-built Benewahs, Colleton included, were only completed post-VJ-Day.

Speaking of which, Colleton, authorized, on 17 December 1943 as Barracks Ship (non-self-propelled) APL-36 and later reclassified to APB-36 on 8 August 1944, was laid down, on 9 June 1945 at Boston Naval Shipyard and “completed” in September 1945. As she wasn’t needed, she was never commissioned and was placed immediately in reserve at Boston, her bunks never slept in, an ensign never flown from her. She would slumber for 22 years, just in case.

She earned her name from the county and river in South Carolina, near the vital entrance to Port Royal.

Preliminary chart of Port Royal entrance. Beaufort, Chechessee, and Colleton Rivers, South Carolina From a trigonometrical survey under the direction of A. D. Bache, Superintendent of the survey of the coast of the United States. Triangulation by C. O. Boutelle, Assist. Hydrography by the parties under the command of Lieuts. Commdg. J. N. Maffit and C. M. Fauntleroy, U.S.N, Assists. Courtesy of the Library of Congress Geography and Map Division: G3912.P62 1862. U5 CW 389.2

Good Morning, Rat Sung Special Zone!

On 1 April 1966, Naval Forces, Vietnam, was established to control the Navy’s units in the Army’s II, III, and IV Corps Tactical Zones. This eventually included the Coastal Surveillance Force (Task Force 115), River Patrol Force (Task Force 116), and Riverine Assault Force (Task Force 117). The latter unit formed the naval component of the joint Army-Navy Mobile Riverine Force.

Patterned after the French naval assault divisions, or Dinassauts, which performed well in the Indochina War from 1946 to 1954, the MRF consisted of an Army element– 2d Brigade, 9th Infantry Division (augmented by the 3rd Brigade after mid-1968), and a Navy element– River Assault Squadrons 9 and 11 along with River Support Squadron 7– under COMUSMACV’s overall direction.

The “Old Reliables” of the 9th Infantry Division were reactivated on 1 February 1966 and arrived in Vietnam on 16 December 1966 from Fort Riley, Kansas, and would spend most of their time “in-country” with wet boots, motored around the Vietnamese river complex via the Navy.

Original Caption: 26 September 1967, My Tho River, Republic of Vietnam: “Soldiers from the 9th Infantry Division’s ‘Riverines’ assault a heavily wooded area. The Soldiers were brought to the beach head by an Armored Troop Carrier landing craft.” Note the CAR-15 (XM-177) in the hands of the platoon leader, the Marlboros and bug juice in the bands of their M1 helmets, and the general lack of shirts/blouses. U.S. Army photo 111-CCV-113-CC43676, NARA 100310250

As detailed in By Sea, Air, and Land » Chapter 3: The Years of Combat, 1965-1968 from The Navy Department Library:

Each 400-man assault squadron, divided further into two river assault divisions, marshaled a powerful fleet of five monitors. Each monitor was protected with armor and equipped with .50 caliber, 40-millimeter, and 20-millimeter gun mounts, two 40- millimeter grenade launchers, and an 81-millimeter mortar. Another two or three similarly armed and armored craft served as command and control boats. A total of 26 Armored Troop Carriers that mounted .50-caliber machine guns, rapid-fire grenade launchers, and 20-millimeter cannons transported the Army troops. Also installed on the former amphibious landing craft were helicopter landing platforms. A number of craft mounted flame throwers [dubbed “Zippo” boats] or water cannons [dubbed “Douche” boats] to destroy enemy bunkers. A modified armored troop carrier functioned as a refueler for the river force. Beginning in September 1967, to augment the firepower of these converted landing crafts, each squadron was provided with 8 to 16 newly designed Assault Support Patrol Boats for minesweeping and escort duties.

By the end of 1967, each river assault squadron contained 26 ATCs, 16 ASPBs, five Monitors, two CCBs, one Aid Boat, and one refueller (a modified LCM).

An Assault Support Patrol Boat (ASPB) of Task Force 117 moves slowly up the outboard side of an Armored Troop Carrier (ATC). The ATC is sweeping for Vietcong command detonated mines during a Mobile Riverine Force search and destroy mission. The boats are assigned to River Assault Flotilla One, 16 December 1967. USN 1132289

Army infantrymen of the Second Brigade, Ninth Infantry Division return to a U.S. Navy Armored Troop Carrier (ATC) of River Assault Flotilla One, Task Force 117, after conducting a reconnaissance in force mission in the Rung Sat Special Zone in October 1967. USN 1132292

A group of riverine craft consisting of ASPB and Armored ATCS makes a firing run on a suspected enemy position. The craft is part of Commander Task Force 117. K-74760

However, the MRF needed mother ships, and the first, USS Whitfield County (LST 1169), clocked in to support River Assault Squadron 9 at Vung Tau in January 1967. The utility of this put the Navy on a course that would bring its APBs out of mothballs and sent them  to Southeast Asia

Converted to provide a mobile operating base for river patrol squadrons and serve as a command ship in support of Amy infantry battalions, Colleton was finally commissioned on 28 January 1967, at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard.

Colleton’s ultimate conversion included upgraded habitation amenities, a large amidship helicopter pad for supporting aircraft (primarily Army and Navy UH-1s), expanded 18-bed sick bay facilities, and some quickly installed electronics and commo gear. Her WWII-era guns, well-greased but never fired, were put back in service as threats from Viet Cong sappers and NVA PT boats were a real thing.

From the Mobile Riverine Force Association:

After a complete paint job (green Army olive drab), several hundred square feet of bar armor was fabricated to cover the bridge and operations area. This had to be constructed entirely by ship’s company from angle iron and ½-inch steel bars. The month of May [1967] also saw the installation of 8-50 caliber and 12 7.62mm machine guns to the armament of the ship. She also acquired three ammo pontoons to be used as a mooring place for the small boats of the River Assault Squadrons and as assembling points for troops about to be embarked in the Armored Troop Carriers (Tango’s).

She was soon joined by Benewah who had been laid up at Green Cove Springs, Florida since 1956, and the ship was recommissioned, on 26 February 1967 and sent to Vietnam.

USS Benewah (APB-35). In the Soi Rap River, the BENEWAH lies at anchor with her assault ships nesting alongside, 24 October 1967. K-41574

USS Colleton (APB-36) with a full dozen Armored Troop Carrier LCM-6 conversions– including one outfitted as an Aid Boat– alongside while in the Mekong Delta. L45-55.02.01

Mekong Delta, Republic of Vietnam. Soldiers of the joint U.S. Army-Navy mobile riverine force get a “hosing down” to remove Mekong Delta mud as they return to their floating home base, a self-propelled barracks ship, after completing a mission during Operation Coronado Nine. Photographed by PH1 L.R. Robinson, December 1967. 428-GX-K42765

“Mother Ship: the USS Colleton’s bow, quad 40mm gun mount, loaded and fully manned during the ship’s movements up and down the Delta. It was also partially manned from 6 PM to 6AM every night at anchor. Three different crews taking shifts. We slept in the gun mount when we were able. Most nights we were usually awake and firing, off and on, in support of Army infantry. Sleep was not an option then.”– Dennis Noward

As detailed in Riverine Warfare, The U.S. Navy’s Operations on Inland Waters:

By late May 1967, the five ships that formed the initial Mobile Riverine Base had arrived in the Delta. These include two self-propelled barracks ships, the USS Benewah (APB 35) and USS Colleton (APB 30); a landing craft repair ship, USS Askari (ARL 30); the barracks craft APL 26; and a logistics support LST assigned on a 2-month rotational basis by Commander Seventh Fleet.

These five ships provided repair and logistic support, including messing, berthing, and working spaces for the 1,900 embarked troops of the 2d Brigade, and the 1,600 Navy men then assigned to TF-117. Benewah served as the Mobile Riverine Force flagship. By mid-June, 68 boats had joined the force and others arrived every few days (the full complement of 180 river assault craft was reached in 1968).

Thus, beginning June 1967, it was possible to conduct six to eight search and destroy missions per month, each lasting 2 or 3 days. (A number were joint United States-South Vietnamese.) On each of eight separate operations during the year, more than 100 Viet Cong were killed.

Sisters Mercer (also laid up in Green Cove Springs) and Nueces (laid up in Orange, Texas since 1955) would soon follow by 1968.

USS NUECES (APB-40) commissioning ceremony at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, 3 May 1968. Note the 40mm Bofors mount. USN 1132322

PBR alongside USS Colleton APB-36, near Dong Tam, 1969

USS Colleton -APB-36 and her cluster of river boats. Mekong Delta-1969. Note, that the photo has been reversed.

PBRs alongside USS Colleton APB-36 Near Dong Tam 1969

The four barracks ships, augmented by a rotating force of LSTs (Caroline County, Kemper County, Vernon County, Washtenaw County, Windham County, Sedgwick County, and the aforementioned Whitfield County), and supported by the landing craft repair ships USS Askari (ARL-30) and Satyr (ARL 23) and a couple of yard tugs, would form the hard nucleus that the MRF would operate from throughout 1967 through 1969.

Notably, Colleton was the only one of her sisters outfitted as a pseudo-hospital ship. Arriving in the theater just days before the Tet Offensive, she managed 890 combat casualties from 29 January 1968 to May 1968 alone. Of these patients, 134 were admitted to the ship’s ward, and 411 evac’ed after stabilization.

Seaman Arthur Melling, the coxswain of Monitor 92-1, is loaded onto a “dust off” medevac Huey from an Aid Boat LCM after he was wounded. Helicopters could evacuate wounded MRF Sailors and Soldiers to medical care in a matter of minutes. Melling was evacuated to USS Colleton (APB 36) which had an operating room and medical facilities. Putting flight decks onto Armored Troop Carriers to turn them into Aid Boats was another example of adapting equipment to the demands of the battlefield. Official U.S. Navy photo (XFV-2530-B-6-68)

Then came the policy of Vietnamization, which aimed to reduce American involvement in the country by transferring all military assets and responsibilities to South Vietnam. With that, the MRF soon changed hands, and, with “the locals” taking over its tasks, the MRF faded away and its support ships went home.

The riverine craft of commander Task Force 117 is moored alongside the self-propelled barracks ship USS Colleton (APB-36) pending the ceremony in which the craft will be turned over to the Republic of Vietnam at Dong Tam. The photo was taken on June 14, 1969. K-74723

Armored Troop Carrier (ATC) with the current U.S. crewmen and the Vietnamese future crewmen aboard await the word to lower the U.S. Flag and raise The Republic of Vietnam Flag during ceremonies in which the Riverine task force 117 craft are to be turned over to the RVN at Dong Tam.The photoo was taken on June 14, 1969. K-74731

OG-107 clad Navy personnel of Commander, Task Force 117, stand in formation during ceremonies in which their riverine craft was turned over to the Republic of Vietnam Forces, in July 1969. Taken at Dong Tam, Republic of Vietnam. Note the insignia patch of River Assault Division 111, on the shoulder of the nearest man with the motto “Come Hell or Low Water” and the rocker “Mekong Marauders.” K-74726

The four barracks ships earned no less than a combined total of 27 campaign stars for Vietnam War service in addition to seven Combat Action Ribbons, a Presidential Unit Citation, seven Navy Unit Commendations, and one Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation. To this were added a host of RVN awards and decorations including multiple Gallantry Crosses and Civil Action Medals. Not bad for floating hotels.

Colleton transited back home, arriving at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for decommissioning in December 1969. Back in mothballs at Bremerton for a few years, she was struck from the NVR in 1973 when it became apparent that she would not have to return to Vietnam, and was sold for $172.226.62, to American Ship Dismantler’s Inc. of Portland, Oregon, for scrapping.

As for the 9th ID, they incurred 2,624 causalities in Vietnam and were brought home and inactivated in 1970 with the Vietnamization of the MRF, then reactivated in 1972 then served as a state-side equipment testing unit at Ft. Lewis, Washington until 1991. There are 10 Soldiers of the 9th ID or its component units in Vietnam still listed as missing in action, some vanished during MRF operations.
 
For more on the arrival and first year of the 9th ID in Vietnam, see George L. MacGarrigle’s Combat Operations: Taking the Offensive, October 1966–October 1967, The United States Army in Vietnam (Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army, 1998), 14–15, 117. 

Epilogue

The U.S. Navy has only had a single USS Colleton on its list and as far as I can tell there is little in way of relics around from her life.

As noted by the MRF Assoc, “She was a good ship and will always be remembered by all who served and lived on her in Vietnam, Navy and Army alike.”

Of her sisters, they would prove to be extremely hard to kill indeed. The pair of APBs that arrived in Vietnam to support the MRF in 1968, Nueces and Mercer, once they left Southeast Asia, they only made it as far as Japan and are still there. Nueces is still in Yokosuka while Mercer is in Sasebo, providing berthing and messing assistance to U.S. Forces Japan. Of course, they long ago landed their guns and were officially decommissioned in 1970, redesignated APLs as they are no longer self-propelled.

APL-39, ex-Mercer, moored at SRF Det., Sasebo Japan, 13 December 2012. (By Bob Gregory, Dep Requirements & Special Programs Officer, COMPACFLT N43, via Navsource) and APL-40, ex-Nueces, moored pier side, at Ship Repair Facility Yokosuka, Japan, date unknown. US Navy photo.

Specs:

Displacement 2,189 t., 4,080 t.(fl)
Length 328 feet
Beam 50 feet
Draft 11′ 2″
Fuel Capacity: Diesel 2,975 Bbls
Propulsion: 
two General Motors 12-567A Diesel engines
double Falk Main Reduction Gears
five Diesel-drive 100Kw 120V/240V D.C. Ship’s Service Generators
two propellers, 1,800shp
twin rudders
Speed: 12 kts.
Complement: 
Officers 12
Enlisted 129
Berthing Capacity:
Officers 26
Enlisted 275
Armament (1945)
four single 40mm AA gun mounts
two twin 40mm AA gun mounts
twenty .50 and .30 cal machine guns

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So long, frigate busters

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Back in the 1970s, the Icelandic Coast Guard (Landhelgisgæsla Íslands) faced off with the much-larger (and NATO-allied) Royal Navy over fish in what has become known as the Cod Wars. Of course, it wasn’t just a fish issue, as the primary reason was the extension (with UN tacit agreement) of Iceland’s EEZ from 13 to 50 and then finally 200 miles out from shore. With British (and West German) trawlers refusing to accept the new limits and the ICG heading out to cut trawls (they sliced off no less than 82 nets), the RN sent successive waves of patrol frigates up to safeguard the fishing boats.

This, naturally, led to 1,500-ton ICG gunboats and 3,500-ton British frigates trading bows.

The two legends of the ICG from this era were the Danish-built Ægir and Tyr, equipped with an ancient 57mm M1896 hand-loaded low-angle deck gun and ice-reinforced hulls. Ægir specifically cracked hulls with HMS Scylla (7 June 1973) and HMS Lincoln (22 September 1973) while the late-arriving Tyr counted coup on HMS Salisbury and HMS Tartar (1 April 1976) as well as HMS Falmouth (6 May 1976), with the latter incident almost rolling the smaller Icelandic ship.

HMS Falmouth rams Icelandic Coast Guard Tyr May 6, 1976, taken from the Tribal Class Frigate HMS Tartar (F133)

We’ve covered Ægir and Tyr in great detail, as well as the Cod Wars, but now comes the end of the story. While the British long ago disposed of their Cod War-era frigates, Iceland has now done the same. Ægir, who retired in 2015 but was retained as a pierside trainer while ostensibly for sale, and Tyr, who retired earlier this year, have now been sold, their place was taken by the newer and more modern Freyja and Thor.

This occurred after the country’s beancounters pointed out that Ægir has racked up 37 million ISK (about $260K) in dock costs since she has been retired and is contributing little to the ICG’s mission other than being an unofficial (and unopen) museum piece and Tyr has recently joined her in mothballs.

In the end, they were sold to Fagurs ehf, a local shipping company, for 51 million ISK ($360K). Whether or not Fagurs uses them for anything but scrap remains to be seen but there has been some conjecture that Tyr, the better maintained and younger of the two, could find herself in the polar tourist trade.

The ICG held a disposal ceremony for the pair on 15 August.

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