USCG Keeping Tabs on Chinese Icebreaker off Alaska

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The U.S. has long been trying to establish an Extended Continental Shelf in seven offshore areas: the Arctic off Alaska, the Atlantic (east coast), the Bering Sea, the Pacific (west coast), the Mariana Islands, and two areas in the Gulf of America (Gulf of Mexico).

While past the 200nm EEZ, the U.S. ECS seabed stretches as much as 400 miles offshore, protecting exclusive drilling and mining rights in those waters. It’s a real thing under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), and the U.S. has been actively mapping these ECS areas since 2003.

And inside our claimed area was recently found the China-flagged research ship Xue Long 2 (Snow Dragon 2), which, at 14,300 tons, is China’s first domestically-built polar research vessel, and only entered service in 2019.

The advanced Finnish-designed vessel, operated by the state-owned Polar Research Institute of China, can accommodate 90 crew and scientists and has helicopter/UAV facilities as well as extensive survey capabilities.

A Coast Guard C-130J Hercules aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak detects and responds to the China-flagged research ship Xue Long 2 on the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) in the U.S. Arctic, approximately 290 NM north of Utqiagvik, Alaska, July 25, 2025. The C-130J aircraft was operating under the Coast Guard Arctic District’s Operation Frontier Sentinel, which is designed to meet presence with presence in response to adversary activity in or near Alaskan waters. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Air Station Kodiak)

Same as above

As noted by the USCG PAO:

The U.S. Coast Guard detected and responded to the China-flagged research ship Xue Long 2 on the U.S. Extended Continental Shelf (ECS) in the U.S. Arctic, approximately 290 NM north of Utqiagvik, Alaska, on Friday.

A Coast Guard C-130J Hercules fixed-wing aircraft from Air Station Kodiak responded to the Xue Long 2, an icebreaker operated by the Polar Research Institute of China, and 130 NM inside the ECS boundary.

The U.S. has exclusive rights to conserve and manage the living and non-living resources of its ECS.

“The U.S. Coast Guard, alongside partners and other agencies, vigilantly monitors and responds to foreign government vessel activity in and near U.S. waters to secure territorial integrity and defend sovereign interests against malign state activity,” said Rear Adm. Bob Little, Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard Arctic District.

The C-130J aircraft was operating under the Coast Guard Arctic District’s Operation Frontier Sentinel, which is designed to meet presence with presence in response to adversary activity in or near Alaskan waters.

Echoes of TF 37 & TF 38

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Some 80 years ago today, carriers of the British Pacific Fleet, organized as TF 37, sailing under the command of ADM Bull Halsey’s U.S. Third Fleet, teamed up with the American carriers of TF 38 to strike targets in the Japanese Home Islands, softening them up for the looming Operation Olympic invasion to begin in November 1945.

It was the end of what was left of the Emperor’s fleet.

Raids on Japan, July 1945. Japanese battleship Haruna under attack by American and British carrier planes in Kure Bay, Japan, July 28, 1945. U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-490226

Raids on Japan, July 1945. Japanese battleship Haruna under attack by American and British carrier planes in Kure Bay, Japan, July 28, 1945. U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 80-G-490224

The British task force under VADM Sir Bernard J. Rowlings had four armored carriers (HMS Formidable, Victorious, Implacable, and Indefatigable) loaded with 15 FAA squadrons of Corsairs, Fireflies, and Avengers. They were escorted by a battleship (HMS King George), seven cruisers, including hulls from the Royal Canadian Navy and Royal New Zealand Navy, and 20 destroyers (six of which were from the Royal Australian Navy).

For those curious, at the same time, VADM John S. McCain’s TF 38 included over a dozen “Sunday Punch” toting Essex-class fleet carriers, another seven Independence-class CVLs, eight fast battleships (including the entire SoDak class), 24 cruisers, and almost too many tin cans to count.

Fast forward to the past few days, and, as part of Talisman Sabre ’25, American and RN carriers sailed together again, backed up by ships from the RCN, RAN, and now joined by a Norwegian.

In the double carrier formation was: the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73), Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls (CG 62) [ex-Chancellorsville], the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Shoup (DDG 86), the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier HMS Prince of Wales (R09), the Daring-class air-defence destroyer HMS Dauntless (D33), the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Tide-class tanker RFA Tidespring (A136), the Royal Australian Navy Hobart-class air warfare destroyer HMAS Sydney (DDG 42), the Royal Norwegian Navy Fridtof Nansen-class frigate HNoMS Roald Amundsen (F311), and the Royal Canadian Navy’s Halifax-class frigate HMCS Ville de Québec (FFH 332).

Assembled airwings included CVW5’s F-18E/F Rhinos, EA-18G Growlers, F-35Cs, Hawkeyes, and CMV-22 Ospreys; along with 18 British F-35B fighters—from the RAF 617 Squadron “Dambusters” and the 809 Naval Air Squadron “Immortals”— plus some cross-decked F-35Bs of the VMFA-242 “Bats” and Merlin Mk 2s on PoW, Wildcat helicopters from the British escorts, Cyclones from Ville de Québec, an NH90 from Roald Amundsen, and assorted MH-60s from both the Navyair and RAN.

Spanish frigate ESPS Méndez Núñez, which is deployed with the PoW group, has temporarily detached and is forward-deploying towards Japan.

(U.S. Navy photos by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kaleb C. Birch)

U.S. Navy aircraft, attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, fly over the U.S. Navy George Washington Carrier Strike Group, as it participates in dual carrier operations alongside the U.K. HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group while underway in the Timor Sea, as part of Talisman Sabre, July 18, 2025. 

U.S. Navy George Washington Carrier Strike Group participates in dual carrier operations alongside U.K. HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group while underway in the Timor Sea, as part of Talisman Sabre, July 18, 2025. 

U.S. Navy aircraft, attached to Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, fly over the U.S. Navy George Washington Carrier Strike Group, as it participates in dual carrier operations alongside the U.K. HMS Prince of Wales Carrier Strike Group while underway in the Timor Sea, as part of Talisman Sabre, July 18, 2025. 

Norwegian warship HNoMS Roald Amundsen

HMS Prince of Wales.

Ships front to back: Norwegian warship HNoMS Roald Amundsen, HMS Prince of Wales, Australian warship HMAS Sydney, with an F-35B taking off from HMS Prince of Wales.

Left to right: Norwegian warship HNoMS Roald Amundsen, HMS Prince of Wales, RFA Tidespring, Australian warship HMAS Sydney, HMS Richmond.

18th July 2025 – (Front/Rear) Australian warship HMAS Sydney and American warship USS Shoup.

Top to Bottom – United States Aircraft Carrier, USS George Washington, and UK Aircraft Carrier, HMS Prince of Wales.

Canadian Warship – HMCS Ville de Quebec.

Top to Bottom – United States Warships USS Robert Smalls, USS Shoup, and British Ship RFA Tidespring.

How about those HUGE national ensigns! Top to Bottom – Canadian Warship HMCS Vill De Quebec and Norwegian Warship HNoMS Roald Amundsen.

UK Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales.

18 July 2025 – US F/18 launches from US Aircraft Carrier, USS George Washington, as it sails alongside HMS Prince of Wales

Left to right – American aircraft carrier, USS George Washington, British Aircraft Carrier HMS Prince of Wales, Canadian Warship HMCS Ville de Quebec, Norwegian Warship HNoMS Roald Amundsen, United States Warships USS Robert Smalls, USS Shoup, Australian Warship HMAS Sydney, British ship RFA Tidespring, and British Warship HMS Dauntless.

HMS Prince of Wales arrived at the Australian naval base, HMAS Coonawarra, on 23rd July, making her the first Royal Navy carrier to visit Oz since 1997 when the Harrier carrier HMS Illustrious docked at Fremantle as part of the Ocean Wave deployment.

Talisman Sabre is scheduled to run through August 4.

The Glock G26X is Real. The GS 26X is Coming.

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The concept of the “Glock 26X” has been around for a while and is a favorite “hack” of the 80 percenters and 3D printing enthusiasts. The issue is that the G43X, while a great gun, is somewhat snappy due to its short grip. Additionally, aftermarket magazines that increase the capacity to 15+1 shots can sometimes compromise performance. Further, the standard G26, the famed “Baby Glock,” while a classic some 30 years on the market, is a bit stubby while also having an overly chunky grip that doesn’t allow more than 2-3 fingers, depending on hand size.

Enter the G26X, which combines the best features of the Glock 43X, 19, and 26 into one ideal EDC handgun. Built on the Glock 26 platform, it has an extended grip to match the length of a Glock 19, allowing the use of standard double-stack G19 magazines. The overall profile mirrors the Glock 43X, but with full OEM double-stack Glock magazine compatibility. It also features the same accessory rail as the 43X, making it compatible with subcompact weapon lights.

Lenny and the gang over at the Glock Store are building the loaded (serialized) frame, just add the G26 loaded slide and mags. All generations of Glock 26, 27, and 33 slides fit and function.

It is supposed to ship starting in September with a $150 ask.

Vale, Vestal

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HMS Vesta (J215) IWM FL 21022

Some 80 years ago today, on 26 July 1945, the humble 255-foot Algerine-class minesweeper HMS Vestal (J215) earned two unenviable distinctions.

As part of Operation Livery, while about 55 nautical miles south-west of Phuket, Siam, clearing enemy minefields as part of Force 63, she was hit by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft that killed 14 of her 130-member crew and left her too damaged for economical repair. That afternoon, in 72 meters of water and unmanned, she was finished by gunfire from R-class destroyer HMS Racehorse (H 11).

Vestal, ship loss:

  • CUTHBERTSON, Robert A, Act/Leading Stoker, P/KX 109403, MPK
  • FRENCH, William, Stoker 1c, P/KX 710345, DOW
  • GOODY, Henry A, Stoker 1c, P/KX 88619, MPK
  • HOPGOOD, Leslie R F, Stoker 1c, P/KX 152396, MPK
  • JORDAN, Jack, Stoker 1c, P/KX 600989, MPK
  • KING, Frank W, Leading Wireman, C/MX 97190, MPK
  • MCLEOD, Henry N, Act/Petty Officer Stoker, P/KX 89871, MPK
  • OAKLEY, Roy C, Stoker 1c, P/KX 160385, MPK
  • PALING, Maurice J, Engine Room Artificer 4c, P/MX 117299, MPK
  • STUBBS, James, Act/Engine Room Artificer 4c, P/MX 79900, MPK
  • TILLING, Alfred W J, Engine Room Artificer 3c, P/MX 59689, MPK
  • WALKER, Percy, Able Seaman, P/JX 189030, MPK
  • WILSON, Derrick B, Act/Leading Stoker, P/KX 137209, MPK
  • WOOD, Stanley, Cook (S), C/MX 536782, DOW

This made Vestal the sole British ship to be sunk by a kamikaze attack and the final Royal Navy ship to be lost in the Second World War. Further, the clearing operation by Force 63, which returned to Ceylon after Vestal’s loss, was the last offensive operation by ships of the British Eastern Fleet.

Vestal has since become a destination of sorts for respectful Trimix divers.

Olga and the Gang’s Borneo Vacation

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Balikpapan Operation: “Olga,” a Royal Australian Air Force No 4. Squadron Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Boomerang interceptor, serial A46-121 coded QE-N, is shown parked on Sepinggang Airstrip, Netherlands East Indies. 25 July 1945. Only three weeks prior, the strip had been under Japanese control– and the Australians had already been flying from the site for two of them!

U.S. Air Force Number 63247AC, NARA 342-FH-3A31731-63247AC

A second shot of Olga is in the Australian War Memorial

The Boomerang behind “Olga” appears to have a stylized traditional Aboriginal boomerang piece of nose art painted on the left side of the fuselage. In the background is another CAC Boomerang and a CAC Wirraway aircraft, coded ‘QE-U’, the serial number is obscured. (Donor: Museums and Art Galleries of the N.T., AWM P00630.007)

Located along the Vasay highway about 12 miles northeast of the strategically important Balikpapan Refinery, Sepinggang was originally constructed by the Dutch for the protection of the fields. Occupied by the Japanese in February 1942, by 3 July 1945 the strip was under new management for the third time in as many years after being almost completely destroyed by USAAF B-24s dropping 500 and 1000 lb. bombs over the first half of 1945.

Allied engineers were quick to make improvements, with the easiest fix being building a new strip across the road.

As detailed by the Australian Naval Institute:

The squadrons of No 61 Airfield Construction Wing RAAF were landed on 6 July, two days behind schedule, although they commenced work immediately. They managed to repair the damage at Sepinggang, with its 3,000-foot runway, and it became fully operational on 15 July, eight days later than originally planned.

August 1945. “Construction of Sepinggang fighter strip across the road from Sepinggang strip. Heavy equipment was used in the leveling area and hauling was sent to fill low spots. Note the typical Japanese pillbox in the center of the photo. This pillbox was uncovered and was being removed by blasting.” (U.S. Air Force Number 63290AC)

Besides the Boomerangs, Spitfire Mk.VIIIs of the RAAF’s No. 452 Squadron and P-40N Kittyhawk Mk.VIs of No. 80 Squadron moved into the strip, flying CAP and CAS missions until VJ Day and then transitioning to conducting pacification operations through the end of the year.

Balikpapan, Borneo. 15 July 1945. First RAAF fighter aircraft at Sepinggang airstrip prepare for action. Technicians were at work preparing these spitfire aircraft, code GY-G, GY-E, of No. 452 Squadron RAAF to meet Japanese raiders a few minutes after the aircraft had landed. AWM OG3042

Balikpapan, Borneo Spitfire Mk.VIIIs of No 452 Squadron, Sepinggang, NARA

The last RAAF airman killed in offensive operations in WWII was 22-year-old 80 Squadron Flight Sergeant Eldred “Ted’ Quinn” shot down by Japanese ground fire on 9 August over enemy positions at Sanga Sanga, Borneo.

The Allied, followed by the Dutch, eventually left and in 1960 handed Sepinggang over to the Indonesians. Today the field is the Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Sepinggan Airport.

You can almost smell the glue from here

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If you grew up like I did, the names Testors, Revell, and Tamiya were commonly encountered on your desk.

Founded by Yoshio Tamiya in 1946 as a small sawmill and lumber concern, the company started using scrap wood to craft scale models, which grew so popular that, by 1953, the company pivoted into a full-time model maker.

In 1960, they switched to plastic, and their first release in that medium was a 1:800 model of the battleship Yamato.

In the 1960s, Tamiya perfected the concept of box art, with Shigeru Komatsuzak’s and later Masami Onishi’s superb works bringing the models alive before the box was even opened, and set the stage for what would become the standard.

In 1966, Yoshio’s son, Shunsaku, began a regular series of pilgrimages to places like Aberdeen Proving Grounds and the Royal Tank Museum in Bovington to visit the company’s subject armored vehicles up close and personal, making detailed drawings to make sure future portrayals were correct.

Shunsaku became chairman of Tamiya in 1977. This week, he passed at age 90.

Thank you for your help over the years, sir.

The DOD’s 1981 Handgun Holdings

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According to the House Subcommittee on Investigations at the time, in July 1981, there were 412,339 .45 caliber pistols and 127,745 .38 caliber revolvers in the inventories of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.

The last procurement of the .45 caliber pistol occurred in 1945. Since that time, the existing inventory has been maintained by rebuilding and reconditioning the worn weapons. Department of Defense witnesses testified that $1.5 million is currently budgeted for the procurement of replacement components for those handguns. They also testified that “field reports indicate that it is reaching the end of its maintainable life.”

The NYT, the previous month, gave the figure as a slightly different 418,000 .45s and 136,000 .38s, which may include guns in USCG inventory not otherwise captured by Navy figures.

As you can see in the article, even then, the Army speculated on selling the surplus guns to the public via the CMP (at the time run by the Army directly under DCM).

Of course, it would take four years before Beretta 92F became the M9 and 37 years before CMP sold the first batch of surplus 1911s to the public in 2018, but I digress.

Ravioli tank

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Some 85 years ago this week. North Africa. The Western Desert Campaign, fighting near the Libyian Wire Line.

Official period caption: “On the battlefield at Ghiba [Nezuet Ghirba?]. An abandoned Italian Fiat Ansaldo CV33 light tank pictured on the Libyan frontier, left behind after a battle with British armored cars, 26 July 1940.”

Photo by No. 1 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit, IWM (E 396)

Developed from the British Carden Lloyd Mark VI tankette, the above armored vehicle is an upgraded Carro Veloce 33 model dubbed the L3/33 in Italian service, judging from its twin Fiat Model 14 8mm machine gun rig and 3,200 rounds ready, which differentiates it from the original CV-33 standard which only packed a single 6.5mm LMG.

Just 2.7 tons, the Italians purchased over 2,500 of these small vehicles, followed by another 1,200 very similar L3/35s, which were slightly heavier as they utilized marginally thicker but easier-to-apply bolt-on armor rather than riveted armor.

While they could make 25 mph on their tiny 43hp Fiat-SPA CV3 engine, and proved useful in the  Abyssinian War, Spanish Civil War (with Franco), in the occupation of Albania and the Greco-Italian War, North Africa proved to be a whole ‘nother story as they could be knocked out by even the man-portable .55 caliber  British Boys anti-tank rifle.

The Italian tankette Carro Veloce CV35

Italian Bersaglieri and L3 33 tankettes attacking Greek positions on the Albanian front, 1940-1941.

Greek soldier sitting on a disabled L3 33 Italian tankette during the invasion of Greece, 1940

Italian lieutenant sitting on his L3 35 tankette in Val Stretta, on the border between Italy and France, June 1940, note the twin 8 mm machine guns

Three-tone camouflaged Italian-made Ansaldo-Fiat 35M tankette in the WWII Hungarian Army, shown on an obstacle

They typically finished the war in second-line constabulary units, fighting partisans in the Balkans and the unruly areas behind the Eastern Front. By 1943, Allied troops were only encountering them while advancing into new areas.

82nd Airborne paratroopers, Sicily, code-named Operation Husky, began on the night of July 9, 1943. “All Americans” seen here with captured Italian tankettes

And, as they were made in serious quantity, they continue to show up in odd places.

Fiat L3 35 light tank tankette found in Iraq.

Texas closer to coming home; Pelican Island in trouble?

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The Battleship Texas Foundation announced this week that it has finalized an agreement with the Galveston Wharves Board securing Pier 15 as the two-world-wars champ’s future new home.

They still have lots of steps to accomplish in the next several months to move the ship from the yard and make her ready to open to the public in 2026:

  • Final engineering of the mooring system
  • Permitting by the US Army Corps of Engineers and other regulatory bodies
  • Dredging the Pier 15 berth
  • Finalize plans for shoreside facilities
  • Construction of the moorings and other infrastructure

Even then, the (re)birth of the new Texas naval museum site may be the death of another.

The battlewagon’s old home, in the mud pond of the San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site, was a good 45 minutes away from Galveston– an hour in Houston traffic.

The new site will be just 7 short miles from Pelican Island, the home since 1971 of the Galveston Naval Museum, a small and unsung facility that hosts one of the last remaining Edsall class destroyer escorts, USS Stewart (DE-238), and the “Lucky Lady,” USS Cavalla (SS-244)— the Gato class fleet boat best known for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shokaku, one of the last Pearl Harbor attackers run to ground. She carries a streamlined SSK conversion superstructure from her Cold War service.

They also have the sail of the Sturgeon-class hunter-killer USS Tautog (SSN-639) and the still very WWII-esque Fleet Snorkel-converted conning tower of the Balao-class fleet boat USS Carp (SS-338), making the museum one of the few places where one can see the difference between three different submarine classes spanning from 1941 to 2005.

The move of Texas to Galveston could be a boon to the smaller ASW-focused museum nearly next door, with visitors coming specifically to see the battleship, then hitting the destroyer-sub museum as a side quest. I wish this to be the case.

However, I can vouch for the rapid decline in interest by a family accompanying dad to see old warships in humid southern seaports, and the side quest may end up being a quest too far. Warship museum burnout can be a thing.

That just leaves Stewart and Cavalla to possibly see their would-be visitors cannibalized by the much more impressive (and better located) Texas. Could you have taken the USS Drum seven miles from the USS Alabama and run it as a viable separate museum? I doubt it. Plus, as both of the Pelican Island vessels have been ashore for years, moving them closer to Texas to combine the museums is also likely a logistical no-go.

Again, I hope the latter is not the case.

Visit them while you can, please!

Shandong hits 10,000

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Chinese state media has been puffing out the fact that the PLAN’s new flattop, Shandong (17), has achieved a significant milestone, hitting “nearly 10,000 sorties” since her commissioning in December 2019, just over five and a half years ago.

Shandong also recently called at Hong Kong, along with the destroyer Zhanjiang and frigate Yuncheng, to celebrate the anniversary of the handover from British control.

With part of her airwing on deck, the PLAN opened the ship to thousands of carefully screened local visitors, giving a good view of this rare carrier, the pride of the ChiCom fleet. Of note, the last American flattop to be allowed to call at Hong Kong, one of the best libo ports in the world, was USS Ronald Reagan in 2018.

That “nearly 10,000 sorties” claim on Shandong is pretty significant. A figure of about five sorties per day, every day, since joining the fleet.

The 70,000-ton Type 002 STOBAR carrier uses Shenyang J-15 STOVL jets, which take off via a ski jump and are recovered, like her Changhe Z-18 and Harbin Z-9 helicopters, vertically. As she only has a 30-aircraft wing, less than half the amount of aircraft found in a full-strength U.S. Navy CVW, that is a bit over 300 sorties per airframe in 68 months. Of course, we don’t know if the “10,000” figure is both a launch and a recovery or is either a launch or a recovery on its own, but you get the idea.

To compare how many sorties that is, USS Kitty Hawk (CVA-63) hit her 10,000th arrested landing (trap) on 7 January 1963, which was just 618 days after her commissioning on 29 April 1961. This doesn’t cover cats and launches.

The 11,000-ton Independence-class light carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30) flew 11,120 combat sorties (on 309 offensive missions) in 471 days of combat during WWII– with a 30-aircraft airwing!

USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) celebrated her 60,000th arrested landing on 28 April 1966, just shy of her 5th commissioning anniversary. She saw her 10,000th strike mission flown over Vietnam the next day. During 1995, with a smaller airwing than in 1966 and at a time of (relative post-Cold War) peace, Enterprise recorded 6,879 fixed wing aircraft traps, (5,250 day and 1,629 night), together with 760 helo landings, (599 day and 161 night), facilitating over 600 pilot qualifications– and that doesn’t cover the cats and launches.

The 60,000-ton USS Coral Sea (CV-43) saw over 16,000 cats and 10,800 strikes just during her epic 331-day 1965 Vietnam deployment alone.

Even with all of the publicly acknowledged problems with the new EMALS and AAG systems on the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), she marked her 10,000th cat and trap on 25 June 2022, just shy of her fifth birthday, with the vessel in limited post-delivery tests and trials during much of that time.

The Navy has publicly posted that the Nimitz-class has a daily sortie rate of 120 aircraft (240 under 24-hour surge), while the Ford-class has a daily sortie rate of 160 aircraft (270 under 24-hour surge). Meanwhile, the Royal Navy’s smaller STOVL Queen Elizabeth-class carriers are reported to be able to run 72 (surge 115) per day when carrying a full wing of F-35s.

And the beat goes on.

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