Last year Remington debuted their new Tac-14 NFA-compliant non-shotgun “firearm” complete with a 14-inch barrel and bird’s head Shockwave pistol grip. I was the first outdoor writer to get to see it and have one of the first couple made. Overall, I found it pretty neat.
Now, fast forward about 18 months and Remmy has a new take on the same concept. Chopping down their V3 semi-auto shotgun line (which replaced the venerable 11-48/1100/1187 autoloader series), they now have the Tac-13, which was quietly released this week.
Standard with a Shockwave grip and a 13-inch light contour cylinder bore barrel while keeping an overall length of just 26.5-inches, Remington bills the new gun as a compact personal protection piece and has a 5+1 capacity.
MSRP is $915, which will probably translate to an over-the-counter-price at your local retailer of about $699.
For comparison, Black Aces Tactical in Florida has been selling 4+1 capacity vintage 1100s chopped down to use a 12-inch barrel for $499, so there is that.
Warship Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018: Father goose and his guard fish
National Archives 80-G-13551
Here we see a Japanese merchant steamer wallowing in the Pacific off the Home Islands in September 1942 after taking a torpedo from the subject of our tale today, the Gato-class submarine USS Guardfish (SS-217), whose periscope the image was snapped through. One of the most successful submarines of WWII, she earned 11 battle stars and two Presidential Unit Citations across a full dozen war patrols— and saved a small village worth of Coastwatchers.
One of the 77 Gatos cranked out by four shipyards from 1940 to 1944 for the U.S. Navy, they were impressive 311-foot long fleet boats, diesel-electric submarines capable of extended operations in the far reaches of the Pacific. Able to swim an impressive 11,000 nautical miles on their economical power plant while still having room for 24 (often cranky) torpedoes. A 3-inch deck gun served for surface action in poking holes in vessels deemed not worth a torpedo while a few .50 and .30-cal machine guns provided the illusion of an anti-aircraft armament. A development of the Tambor-class submarines, they were the first fleet boats able to plumb to 300 feet test depth, then the deepest that U.S. Navy submersibles were rated.
Our hero, Guardfish, was the first U.S. Navy ship to carry the name of the “voracious green and silvery fish with elongated pike-like body and long narrow jaws,” as noted by DANFS.
USS Guardfish (SS 217), ship’s insignia probably dates from WWII. NHHC Photograph Collection, NH 67779-KN (Color).
Built by Electric Boat Co. of Groton, Conn., she commissioned 8 May 1942, five months and a day after Pearl Harbor, EB’s 144th submarine for Uncle.
Bow view at rest of the Guardfish (SS-217) at the Electric Boat Co., Groton, CT., 19 April 1942, three weeks before commissioning.
She was the first of the so-called “Mod 1A” Gatos, as described by Floating Dry Dock.
Starting with Guardfish, EB shortened the forward to aft length of the covered navigation bridge on their boats. This change was incorporated into production several months prior to the war starting so it may have been economically driven, rather than by operational feedback from the fleet. Compare the photo below of Guardfish with that of Growler above and the difference becomes readily apparent. Shortening the navigation bridge also eliminated several of the round portholes that were used by the helmsman. Manitowoc incorporated this change in their very first boat, with construction of Peto starting ten weeks after that of Guardfish.
By 22 August, she was in the Pacific and on her first war patrol, the inaugural U.S. submarine to poke around off Honshu in the Japanese Home Islands. In a two-week period, she made 77 contacts, scratched an armed trawlers and at least five Japanese freighters– including three in a single day. Evading escort vessels, Guardfish sank 5,253-ton Kaimei Maru and 1,118-ton Tenyu Maru. The Chita Maru, a 2,376-ton freighter, retreated and anchored in Kinkasan Harbor. In one of the war’s longest torpedo shots, Guardfish sank the Chita Maru from over three nautical miles (7,500 yards) out, which is pretty good for unguided torps. This was the year after serious depth flaws in U.S. torpedoes had finally been proven and properly fixed. Returning to Midway to complete her first war patrol, the exploit earned her first Presidental Unit Citation.
80-G-13547
80-G-13550
80-G-13552
80-G-13553
Her second patrol only yielded one merchant ship while her third, switching to the Bismarck Archipelago on her way to Australia, netted the 1,390-ton Japanese Patrol Boat No.1 and the 1,600-ton destroyer Hakazein January 1943.
She took a licking on her 3rd patrol when she unsuccessfully attacked a large convoy near Simpson Harbor on the surface but was driven off by concentrated shore fire and escort attacks. Over a two day period from 11-12 February 1943, the Japanese destroyers Makigumo, Hayashio, and Oyashio plastered her with literally every depth charge they had, only stopping their combined attack once they were out of ASW weapons. When Guardfish made Brisbane on the 15th for repairs it was determined she suffered at least 8 direct hits.
It was while operating out of Australia that Guardfish, in the summer of 1943, came to the aid of the Coastwatcher program.
Coastwatchers
A local wireless telegraphist operator operating an AWA 3BZ teleradio at Segi Coastwatchers station, British Solomon Islands. [AWM 306814]
Established to monitor the operations on Australia’s far-flung outer territories as well as in the British-controlled Solomons chain (itself seized from the Germans in WWI), the Royal Australian Navy’s Coastwatcher program proved a godsend to the Allies when these remote atolls and green archipelagos became prime real estate in 1942. In all, some 600 Coastwatchers and their native police and tribal allies provided yeomen work spotting Japanese planes and vessels. Arguably, had it not been for their intelligence gathering ability behind the Japanese lines, the Guadalcanal Campaign would have been a lot harder if not impossible.
As Halsey said later, “The Coastwatchers saved Guadalcanal and Guadalcanal saved the Pacific.”
Bougainville, Solomon Islands. c. 1944-02. Group portrait of Coastwatchers and native police, some of whom are armed with rifles. Fourth back row, left to right: two native policemen; Flight Lieutenant J. A. Corrigan, RAAF; Lieutenant (Lt) J. R. Keenan, RAN; Lt J. H. Mackie, AIF; Captain R. C. Cambridge, AIF; Sergeant (Sgt) G. McPhee, AIF; Corporal (Cpl) N. D. Thompson, AIF; Sgt T. R. Aitkin, AIF; Corporal (Cpl) E. D. Otton, AIF. (Naval Historical Collection) (Formerly Y007) AWM
The best-known Coastwatcher reference in the U.S. is Father Goose, the tale of Walter Ecklund, a boozy American beachcomber played by Cary Grant who is shanghaied into the program and later inherits a group of female students and their French schoolmarm. [Spoiler] Threatened by encroaching Japanese patrols, they are all saved at the last minute by an American submarine (we are getting to that later).
Besides operating the teleradio “tip line” that allowed the Cactus Air Force and Halsey’s South Pacific command to repeatedly jump incoming waves of Japanese aircraft and tin cans of The Tokyo Express coming down The Slot, the Coastwatchers shepherded downed Allied aircrews and shipwreck survivors.
Amazingly, some 165 crew of the St. Louis-class light cruiser USS Helena (CL-50) lost at the Battle of Kula Gulf, 6 July 1943, were rescued and cared for by Coastwatchers Henry Josselyn and Robert Firth along with Methodist Missionary Rev. A.W.E. Silvester and the natives of Vella LaVella until they could be picked up by a fast destroyer convoy under the cover of night.
Lt. (JG) John F. Kennedy, and the survivors of PT-109, sliced in half by a Japanese destroyer, were saved by native Coastwatchers Biaku Gasa, Eroni Kumana and Reginald Evans.
The Coastwatchers also actively fought on occasion, disappearing Japanese patrols that stumbled across them, vowing to kill every man lest they be betrayed, always making sure to bring the captured guns and munitions back.
New Georgia, Solomon Islands. 1943-03. Part of the Coastwatchers arsenal of the United States and captured Japanese weapons held by Captain D.G. Kennedy, British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force at his Segi (Zgj5) Station. The weapons include a quantity of Springfield M1903 Rifles, leaning against the wall, two Japanese Type 92 heavy machine guns (Woodpeckers) on stands, a Browning M1919A4 .30 caliber air-cooled medium machine gun on its tripod and two Browning M1917A1 .30 caliber water-cooled medium machine guns leaning against the wall. (Naval Historical Collection) (Formerly Y082) AWM
A few Japanese were taken alive and, with captured airmen of the Emperor, guarded and shipped out to Australia.
An armed guard of native scouts trained and commanded by Captain D.G. Kennedy escorts a captured Japanese pilot into captivity at the Segi coastwatchers station on New Georgia in March 1943
That’s where PBYs and submarines came in, frequently landing new coast watching teams, as well as evacuating recovered Allied sailors and airmen, and EPOWs.
The ill-fated team of Coastwatchers on the U.S. Submarine DACE, about to be landed at night on the beach near Hollandia, New Guinea. They were ambushed, and all killed shortly after landing. Back Row: Private (Pte) Phil Jeune, Lieutenant (Lt) Ray Webber, Captain G.C. (Blue) Harris, Pte Jack Bunning, Gregory Shortis, Sergeant (Sgt) Launcelot (NEI Interpreter), Sgt Ron (Percy) Cream (Developed Malaria and Stayed on Board); Front Row: Private Mariba, Sgt Yali, Able Seaman Julius McNicol,DSM, Sgt Buka, Sgt Mas. (Donor J. Shortis) (Another Copy, From the Naval Historical Collection, Formerly at Y014/02/02)
One such Coastwatcher was the ‘overage, undersized, slightly deaf, a bit shortsighted’ Sub. Lieut Paul Mason, RANVR:
This guy. The long-running joke is that the reserves used wavy lines for sleeve rank as the upstanding men who served on the list did not want anyone to make the dreadful mistake that the Navy was their full-time job! As for Mason, he originally was enlisted as a petty officer and later elevated to sub-lieutenant.
Based on Malaita Hill near the southern coast of Bougainville, Mason had been in the Solomons most of his life. Described by Walter Lord in his book on the Coastwatchers entitled Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons, the author wrote that “At first glance, Paul Mason looked like a bank clerk who had somehow strayed into the jungle. He was small; his mild blue eyes seemed to abhor violence, and he had a self-effacing diffidence that would seem far more appropriate in an office than in the bush.”
However, Mason was famous for his exploits on Bougainville, spending 17 months calling in Japanese bomber raids headed towards the Allies– at times giving them as much as two hours’ warning– while remaining one step ahead of the Japanese. Dealing with the double-crosses and betrayal, he narrowly avoided Japanese troops hunting for him, becoming a pied piper for still-loyal Solomans native police, Chinese refugees, Australian commandos in the area, and even other Coastwatchers– Jack Keenan, Eric Robinson, and Jack McPhee– chased out of their areas.
Needing emergency evac, Guardfish was sent in to collect Mason’s group at Atsinima Bay on the evening of 24 July 1943. Inching close into the bay with pre-1914 German charts, Guardfish surfaced at dark and inflated eight rubber boats, sending the rescue craft ashore.
From Lonely Vigil:
On the beach, the evacuees watched with mounting excitement as the little flotilla shot the breakers and spun ashore. In half an hour the first boats were loaded and, on their way, out again. Now they were even harder to row and one capsized in the surf. Righting it the men clamored back in, grunting and cursing but with no loss except an officer’s cap that floated away in the night.
On the Guardfish, [Lt.Cdr. Norvell Gardner] “Bub” Ward watched incredulously as the motley collection of Australians, Chinese, natives, men, women, and children swarmed aboard. “We gathered a bit more of a crowd than we’d anticipated,” Paul Mason explained, adding apologetically, “There are still some more on the beach.” When the submarine finally headed to sea, a total of 62 evacuees were jammed aboard.
On 28 July, Guardfish swooped in and picked up another 22 Coastwatchers, natives, police and scouts from a coastal plantation at Kuuna.
Later, squeezing in a couple more war patrols, Guardfish found time to sink the Japanese transport ships Suzuya Maru and Kashu Maru before 1943 was up.
Then, on 27 October, in the conclusion of the Coastwatchers’ war she landed two U.S. Marine officers, six Coastwatchers– including three that she had picked up in July– and 40 Bougainville native scouts near the mouth of the Laruma River close to Cape Torokina, returning them to the same island they had been chased from so they could again work against the Japanese, providing crucial intelligence for the landing at Empress Augusta Bay in November.
Mason’s unexpected return in November 1944 impressed locals, wavering in their opposition to the Japanese, with his possible indestructibility. He recruited a small partisan band which terrorized the enemy and was credited with a record body count of 2,288. Always he put his scouts’ welfare before his own. His daring rescues were notable for the care taken of former prisoners, especially missionaries, and the lack of vindictiveness towards collaborators. His continued wrangling with headquarters over supplies and the deficiencies of regular soldiers probably led to his transfer home in May 1945 before final victory.
Mason received a DSC for his efforts. He later died in 1972.
Back to Guardfish.
Her role with the Coastwatchers over, she continued her war, sinking the Japanese destroyer Umikazeoff the southern entrance to Truk Atoll in 1944, and at least five other Japanese merchant ships, earning her second nod from the President for her 8th Patrol.
Sadly, she also claimed the Anchor-class salvage ship USS Extractor (ARS-15)in January 1945 in a case of mistaken identity while on her 10th patrol, though DANFS points out that “Guardfish succeeded in rescuing all but 6 of her crew of 79 from the sea.”
Guardfish finished the war on lifeguard duties, picking up two downed aviators off Saipan in March 1945.
Guardfish at the close of the war. Photo courtesy of David “Hutch” Hutchinson, MOMM 1st Class, SS 217 via Paul S. Hobbs, Submarine Veteran ET1 (SS), Thomas Jefferson SBN 618. Via Navsource
Decommissioned at New London on 25 May 1946, two years later Guardfish was one of 28 Gatos preserved as pierside trainers (sans propellers) for Naval Reserve personnel to hold their weekend drills, the last service of this great class. She continued in this role until struck from the Navy List 1 June 1960.
USS GUARDFISH (SS-217) Serving as naval reserve training submarine at New London, Connecticut, circa the 1950s. Courtesy of D. M. McPherson, 1974 Catalog #: NH 81356
USS Dogfish (SS-350) and USS Blenny (SS-324) sank her with the newly-developed Mk-45 torpedoes off New London 10 October 1961.
She was commemorated in an episode of The Silent Service, with her Presidential Unit Citation-winning Honshu patrol the subject of the dramatized short, that includes a horse story.
Other Gatos lived on, although an amazing 20 were lost in the Pacific during WWII. The last two Gato-class boats active in the US Navy were USS Rock (SS-274) and Bashaw (SS-241), which were both decommissioned on 13 September 1969 and sold for scrap. Nine went to overseas allies with the last, USS Guitarro (SS-363) serving the Turkish Navy as TCG Preveze (S 340) in one form or another until 1983.
A full half-dozen Gatos are preserved in the U.S. so please visit them when you can:
USS Cavalla is at Seawolf Park near Galveston, Texas USS Cobia is at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin USS Cod is on display in Cleveland USS Croaker is on display in Buffalo, New York USS Drum is on display on shore at Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama USS Silversides is on display in Muskegon, Michigan
The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those interested in warships.
With more than 50 years of scholarship, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.
PRINT still has its place. If you LOVE warships you should belong.
Sniper teams from eight NATO countries recently visited Austria to use the Alps for some specialized training at Austria’s Hochfilzen Training Area. In such a beautiful part of Europe, the released photos from the event look like they came right from a postcard, but with a bonus sniper team inserted.
Norwegian Army Telemark Battalion sniper team takes aim at targets across a valley. Note the Barrett MRAD. (U.S. Army Photo)
From the current 122-page Profile of the United States Army, just released (click here) below are some of the more relevant maps showing, among others, the locations of the 10 active divisions, 8 National Guard divisions, and other USAR units and commands.
Keep in mind that when the Cold War ended in 1990, there were 18 active divisions (although seven were two-brigade units with “round out” enhanced readiness Guard brigades) alone, as well as 10 full-strength Guard divisions and 9 independent active-duty, 3 USAR, and 15 Guard combat brigades (not counting round out units). But then again, FY89 funded 770,000 active component personnel, which is a good bit more than what we have today.
Dig the M1 carbines and tiger stripe camo. Hallmarks of the mid-1960s Mike Force units.
Official caption:
Skull and Crossbones on the Cambodian border. Two leaders of a special South Vietnamese government platoon, identified by the Skull and Crossbones kerchief they wear, lead [a] group along a canal that marks the Cambodian border in the Plain of Reeds west of Saigon. The special outfit undertakes terrorist actions against the Viet Cong villages.
Both the Vietnamese Rangers (Biệt Động Quân) and Special Forces (Lực Lượng Đặc Biệt) used tigerstripe as did the “Sea Tigers” of Republic of Vietnam Marine Corps (TQLC) and Green Beret-organized CIDG units.
Of the latter, Mike (Mobile Strike) Force units, recruited from Hmong, Nung, and Montagnard peoples, often used Jolly Rogers in their locally-made insignia and “M.F.” patches.
When it comes to moving guys to the front, you take what you can get as far as Motor-T is concerned. This goes back to the days of the out-sized mythos of the “Renault Taxi de la Marne,” the 600 Paris cabs requisitioned by Gen. Joseph Gallieni in early September 1914 to move about 5,000 men from the railheads in the City of Lights to the front, some 30 miles or so to the North.
While not key to the battle, you still see troops rushing about in civy transpo from time to time. These are among a few of the more humorous.
A car pulls a mortar that belongs to the Free Syrian Army fighters, toward the front line where clashes with forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad are taking place, in Binnish in Idlib province March 13, 2013. Picture was taken March 13, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Kaddoor/Shaam News Network/Handout
Serbian mechanized infantry on the move, 1993.
Renault with five Belgian paratroopers rushing about in Kolwezi, Zaire in 1978. Note the FALs
Last week Sig made official the news of their newest M400 series AR– the “premium entry-level rifle” Tread— which includes a line of branded accessories to go along with factory-standard features. As such, they seem to be aiming at the sub-$1K AR market now dominated by Ruger, PSA, and others and are bringing the features to do it.
The Tread is an optics-ready, aluminum frame rifle with a mid-length gas system, 1-in-8-twist 16-inch stainless barrel, and free-floating M-LOK handguard. Added to this are a single-stage polished/hard-coat trigger, ambi controls, and a Magpul SL-K 6 position telescoping stock.
See the Gadsden-esque logo?
Then comes the promised user-configurable accessory line to include a 13-inch and 15-inch M-LOK handguard, ROMEO 5 Optic, adjustable flip-up sights, ambi charging handle, three chamber compensator, M-LOK front sight adapter, as well as M-LOK hand-stop and vertical grip kits.
Not bad for a gun that is running for $799 at a number of retailers. Pretty tough to build your own for very much less than that.
SAN FRANCISCO (Sept. 30, 2018) Marines and Sailors aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) pass under the Golden Gate Bridge to participate in San Francisco Fleet Week 2018, Sept. 30, 2018. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Jacob A. Farbo/Released)180930-M-HD015-0025
Below is a fairly decent 5-minute tour of the Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) explaining the ship’s capabilities, systems and a brief history. Bonhomme Richard was in port as part of San Francisco Fleet Week. Sadly, they don’t show the cramped Marine berting areas or cover the self-defense systems. Also, there is no LCAC/LCU presence in the well deck or MV-22/CH-53/AV-8s in the hangar deck, but it still has a good look.
For a peak at a berting area, here is the USMC Cribs edition of the Green-side area of USS Green Bay (LPD 20), a San Antiono-class LPD also built at Ingalls that is very similar.
Here we see “The Highest Possible Courage,” by John D. Shaw, courtesy of the U.S. National Guard Bureau. It depicts the last moments of 2LT Erwin Russell Bleckley, the first of three National Guard aviators to receive the Medal of Honor during the 20th Century. They gave the medal to his family.
A Wichita bank teller by trade, Bleckly joined the Kansas Guard in June 1917, aged 22, and soon found himself attached to the federalized 130th Field Artillery, which was part of the newly-formed 35th Infantry Division. Volunteering to be seconded as an artillery observer to the 50th Aero Squadron once “Over There” in France, he was in the air in a DH-4 attempting to locate and resupply by air the famous “Lost Battalion,” some 554 men of the 77th Infantry that were trapped by German forces in the Argonne over the first week of October 1918.
Bleckley’s MOH citation:
2d Lt. Bleckley, with his pilot, 1st Lt. Harold E. Goettler, Air Service, left the airdrome late in the afternoon on their second trip to drop supplies to a battalion of the 77th Division, which had been cut off by the enemy in the Argonne Forest. Having been subjected on the first trip to violent fire from the enemy, they attempted on the second trip to come still lower in order to get the packages even more precisely on the designated spot. In the course of his mission the plane was brought down by enemy rifle and machine gun fire from the ground, resulting in fatal wounds to 2d Lt. Bleckley, who died before he could be taken to a hospital. In attempting and performing this mission 2d Lt. Bleckley showed the highest possible contempt of personal danger, devotion to duty, courage, and valor.
As noted by the Guard, “Goettler was dead when the French troops reached him. Bleckley died before the French could evacuate him to a medical aid station. However, his notes from the mission narrowed the search area where the trapped soldiers might be found.”
Of the Lost Battalion, only 194 walked out unwounded after a relief force linked up with them on October 8.
While the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington is a hallowed place, established in 1921 with the Unknown Soldier of the Great War and guarded in all weather 24/7/365 since 1937, it has few tie-ins to the nation’s conflicts before the 20th Century. That is about to change in a small but interesting way.
On 18 October, four specially-made ceremonial Sig Sauer M17s will replace the current M9 Berettas carried by the Tomb Guard Platoon’s NCOs (Sentinels carry the M14, and that is not going to change).
These new sidearms are extremely interesting pieces with a non-railed aluminum grip module rather than the M17 (P320)’s standard polymer frame, a high-polish stainless steel slide, wood grip inserts, a 21-round 9mm magazine, and lots of other features.
(Photo: Sig)
Take a closer look at those grip inserts:
They contain the Distinctive Unit Insignia for the 3rd Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard), parent unit of the platoon.
The wood itself? It comes from the decking of the protected cruiser USS Olympia (C-6/CA-15/CL-15/IX-40), the former flagship of Commodore Dewey in the Spanish-American War that later brought home the Unknown Soldier of World War I in 1921.
