Alamo’s 16 pounder heads home

Posted on by Leave a comment

A large cannon that has not been on display at the Alamo battlefield since 1908 is restored and is now back home.

Thought to be an 18-pounder (although later theorized to be about a 16-pounder with a 5.2-inch bore), the gun was believed used during the iconic 1836 battle but the years had not been kind to the artillery piece. As part of a project with the Texas A&M Conservation Research Lab in College Station that has rejuvenated a number of guns in the Alamo’s collection, the final cannon, also the largest, was returned last week.

In the above ceremony, the gun is handed over from an honor guard of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets to a living history group from the Alamo and among the speakers is another Texas icon, Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell.

Below is an interview with Dr. Bruce Winders and Texas A&M’s Dr. Jim Jobling about the conservation process on the gun, which involved lengthy soaking it in sodium hydroxide to remove decades worth of corrosion and protect the original iron. Then the whole cannon gets boiled in a rinse and coated in tannic acid– in effect rebluing the gun. Then comes industrial paint to protect it.

Get your CMP 1911 order forms in the mail TODAY

Posted on by Leave a comment

The government-chartered non-profit will begin accepting orders in a one-month window spanning between Sept. 4 and Oct. 4 only for the 8,000 vintage handguns they have in stock. Packets postmarked outside those dates will not be accepted.

The day after the window closes, all of the qualifying names will be fed into a Random Number Generator and CMP staffers will start making calls. A similar random draw was used in part to sell a small quantity of M1 Carbines the group put up for grabs in 2016.

The seven-page packet, split between forms and instructions, requires a signed copy of an FFL for where the gun will be shipped. Other requirements include showing proof that the individual is an adult U.S. citizen legally able to possess firearms. There is also a mandate to prove membership in a CMP-affiliated organization and, for those under 60, proof of marksmanship-related activity. The latter can be satisfied with items such as a copy of a concealed carry permit, military service records or proof of participation in a shooting competition.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Looking for a deal on a cheap AK or thousand?

Posted on by Leave a comment

A U.S. Navy destroyer operating as part of the 5th Fleet came across a stateless dhow in international waters and subsequently discovered a few guns.

CENTCOM currently says the source of the AK cache is “unknown”

According to a release from U.S Naval Forces Central Command, the USS Jason Dunham (DDG 109) encountered the vessel last Monday and, boarding the inoperable small craft the following day, discovered the weapons hidden under packages. In all, Dunham’s visit, board, search and seizure team cataloged more than 1,000 AK47 pattern rifles, most shown wrapped in plastic sleeves stored inside green bags.

The Kalash were hidden under all this crap

Stateless dhow with RHIBs and Dunham showed for scale.

 

Enjoy your Labor Day

Posted on by Leave a comment

Hopefully, you have the day off. If not, proceed accordingly, setting your own level of commitment.

Description: Photo #: NH 106077 Collection of Chief Quartermaster John Harold. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph.

“Caught Napping” In a coil of mooring line, on board a U.S. Navy battleship, circa 1907-1908. This view may have been taken during the Great White Fleet World cruise.

The Big I gets a well-deserved rest, 120 years ago today

Posted on by Leave a comment

Here we see America’s first seagoing battleship, USS Iowa (BB-4) entering dry dock September 1, 1898, for peacetime maintenance and repair shortly after her first wartime service.

You see hostilities were halted just 18 days prior to this image being taken, with the signing in Washington of a Protocol of Peace between the United States and Spain. During said conflict, Iowa served in Sampson’s blockade and was key in the Battle of Santiago de Cuba.

It was to be the highlight of her career.

As noted by DANFS:

She served along the West Coast until February 1902, when she began a year with the South Atlantic Squadron.

Iowa‘s return to the U.S. Atlantic Coast in early 1903 was followed by an overhaul and, from late 1903 until mid-1907, active service with the North Atlantic Fleet. She was then placed in reserve, recommissioning in May 1910 after a modernization that gave her a new “cage” mainmast. The next four years were spent on training service, including taking Naval Academy Midshipmen to European waters . Again out of commission from May 1914 until April 1917, Iowa was employed during the First World War as Receiving Ship at the Philadelphia Navy Yard and as a training and guard ship in the Chesapeake Bay region.

Decommissioned at the end of March 1919, the now thoroughly-obsolete Iowa was renamed Coast Battleship No. 4 a month later in order to free her name for use on the new South Dakota class battleship BB-53 [which was never built]. In 1920 the old warrior was converted to the Navy’s pioneer radio-controlled target ship. While serving in this role, she was sunk by the guns of USS Mississippi in March 1923.

Brass and cold efficiency

Posted on by Leave a comment

A Vickers machine gun clinometer sight Mark III, marked Marked No. 53

Note the adjustment for depression and elevation as well as the spirit level.

Manufactured in 1918 by Troughton & Simms, such sights were used to find the angle of elevation on sustained-fire water-cooled machine guns popular from the Boer War through the 1960s.

 

Vickers machine gun emplacement in a sangar, North West Frontier Province between the wars. The pouches on the back on the No. 2 (with his hand up) are for clinometer and the foresight bar deflector – seldom seen in the field. The headdress of British Indian troops was normally the khaki puggaree which varied by the soldier’s religion–Muslims with a pointed kullah skullcap inside the puggaree and Sikhs with a more open version that allowed their uncut hair to remain in a bun atop their head, while most Hindu troops wore a simple turban. Photo via British Empire Uniforms 1939-45.

The concept was used by all sides with such guns. Below is a 1914-ish German Spandau crew in a defilade position ready to hose down attackers from comparative safety, via clinometer.

We build, we fight,

Posted on by Leave a comment

This is why Seabees hate Camp Shelby:

Remember, at Shelby, you can always use your E-tool as a paddle. (U.S. Navy photo 180820-N-ZI635-258 by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class George M. Bell/Released)

Offical caption: “CAMP SHELBY, Miss. (Aug. 20, 2018) Seabees stand inside their fighting position during Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133’s field training exercise (FTX) at Camp Shelby. FTX provides a robust training environment where Seabee forces plan and execute multiple mission essential tasks including convoy security, force protection, and camp buildup prior to deployment.”

Spread out across 130,000 acres of Mississippi pine forest, gumbo mud swamp and Afrika Korps POW camp carved out of even more rugged DeSoto National Forest, Shelby is the largest state-owned training center in the country and I have spent much time there. Established during the Great War, the famous 38th Infantry “Cyclone” Division formed there before deploying to the Western Front. During WWII the even more famous 442nd RCT and 100th “One Puka Puka” Bn trained there before heading to eternal glory in Europe at places like Hill 140, Castellina and Vosges Mountains.

Since then, Guard units from around the Southeast trained there for the Sandbox– as well as the Gulfport-based Seabees, who attend regular FTXs there among the WWII Q-huts and hummingbird-sized mosquitos.

However, the base does have a great museum on site, open to the public, and you don’t even have to get your feet dirty to check it out.

Mine closure

Posted on by Leave a comment

Yup, seems to be a MKB training mine that was left unswept after an excercise 13 years ago that caused the hubub around Seattle this week.

From U.S. Navy Region Northwest:

The Navy conducted additional analysis on Tuesday’s incident involving an unknown mine in the Puget Sound and subsequent detonation at 8 p.m.

It was determined the mine was from an exercise Naval Undersea Warfare Command, Keyport conducted in 2005. This exercise was an opportunity for academia to demonstrate various Unmanned Underwater Vehicles and their capability to detect underwater objects and avoid submerged obstacles.

During this exercise, inert training mines were placed in areas between Brownsville, Keyport, and Bainbridge Island. Only a small number of the training mines were positively buoyant. Not all training mines were recovered.

It has been confirmed the device destroyed Tuesday was a positively buoyant, inert training mine used during the 2005 exercise.

In order to avoid similar incidents in the future, the Navy will survey the exercise areas and recover any remaining positively buoyant mines.

By request of the State of Washington in the interest of public safety, Navy Explosive Ordnance personnel safely disposed of the device that appeared to be a dated military mine in waters between Keyport and Bainbridge Island, Washington.

The device was detonated at 8:04 p.m. (Tuesday).

The detonation did not create a secondary explosion which indicated the device was inert.

The Navy thanks the following partner agencies for their support in the response: The U.S. Coast Guard, the Suquamish Tribe, State of Washington, Kitsap County, and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.

Nothing beats a good cup o’ joe, 70 years ago today

Posted on by One comment

National Museum of the U.S. Navy photo 80-G-707294

Coffee time on board USS Coral Sea (CVB-43). Fireman Apprentice Harold E. Dillahunt enjoying a cup of coffee while checking the boilers in the ship’s fire room, 30 August 1948.

Coral Sea, along with her two sisters FDR and Midway, at the time of Dillahunt’s java intake were the largest aircraft carriers in the world and would remain as such until USS Forrestal was commissioned in 1955, though Coral Sea would remain in the fleet until 1990, putting in an impressive 42-years.

Mystery contact mine pops up near Seattle marina

Posted on by Leave a comment

So there was a certain pucker factor this week when this bad boy showed up.

The device found drifting Tuesday afternoon near the Port Brownsville Marina in Kitsap County. The Coast Guard established a 1,500-yard safety zone around it. (Tom Matsuzawa / KIRO 7)

As reported by the Kitsap Sun, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said the object was reported at about 2 p.m. Tuesday, first noticed by conservation officers.

“The Navy says initial inspection of the moored mine showed it had decades of marine growth. At about 5 p.m., Navy divers secured a long line to the device and began towing it with a small boat. By 8:15 p.m., officials said it had been detonated without incident.”

Described as an inert practice mine of unknown origin with decades of marine growth, the Navy is investigating the backstory of the device but you can be sure the local MIUWU guys have assholes the size of cheerios.

For reference, training mine, below. These were based on the old WWI/II-era spherical Mk 5, a moored Hertz-horn (acid) contact mine, and the Mk 6, a smaller antenna type with a Hertz backup. The USN still had quantities of these live mines on had as late as the 1980s and practice casings, as you see here, are still in use:

970215-N-3093M-001 Aviation Ordnanceman 1st Class David Ahearn (Diver) attaches an inert Satchel Charge to a training mine, during exercises in waters off Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. U.S. Navy Photograph by Photographers Mate 2nd Class Andrew Mckaskle (Released Sept. 12, 2012)

« Older Entries Recent Entries »