Haunting images of a dying ship

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Iconic shot of the Endurance lit by flares at night. Photo by Frank Hurley 1914-1917.Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Iconic shot of the Endurance lit by flares at night. Photo by Frank Hurley 1914-1917. Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Designed by Ole Aanderud Larsen, the 144-foot long three-masted barquentine Endurance was built at the Framnæs shipyard in Sandefjord, Norway and fully completed on 17 December 1912 for a singular purpose– to carry Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition to that frozen continent. Initially christened Polaris, her name was changed before delivery– an act that many old salts see as bad luck.

At onset of her delivery, the Times of London noted, Endurance was “built specially for work in Polar seas,” adding that “in an ice-coated sea there can be no turbulent waves which are the causes of so many disasters in warmer zones.”

Well, we all know what happened to the poor vessel, crushed by ice, causing her to sink three years later in the Weddell Sea off Antarctica.

Now, some 100 years after Endurance’s sinking the Royal Geographic Society has mounted the Enduring Eye: The Antarctic Legacy of Sir Ernest Shackleton and his photographer Frank Hurley, an exhibition of newly digitized images that provide incredible detail to the day-to-day life of the group of adventurers and survivors.

After 80 years of storing the original glass plate and celluloid negatives, RGS along with the Institute of British Geographers (IBG) has digitized over 90 images for the public. Due to enlargement, the photos reveal detail that had not been previously seen, like in the image of six crewmen huddled around the fire below. Previously, only five men were visible in the image, but after digitization it is now possible to make out a sixth man through the thick smoke of the flame.

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Photo by Frank Hurley 1914-1917. 5.Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Photo by Frank Hurley 1914-1917. 5.S ingle use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Wearing full polar clothing and gathered under the bow of the ship, photographed and filmed by Frank Hurley, probably on 1 September 1915. Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Wearing full polar clothing and gathered under the bow of the ship, photographed and filmed by Frank Hurley, probably on 1 September 1915. Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Ernest Shackleton at Ocean Camp. Glass Plate NegativePhoto by Frank Hurley.Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Ernest Shackleton at Ocean Camp. Glass Plate Negative Photo by Frank Hurley.Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

Single use permission from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers

If you want to explore the newly digitized images in person, make sure to catch the Enduring Eye which runs through February 28, 2016 at the Royal Geographic Society in London. The exhibition will then have a voyage of its own and travel to the US, Canada, and Australia.

As for Endurance, since 1967, the Royal Navy’s Antarctic patrol vessel has traditionally carried the name Endurance as a sign of respect.

Christmas 1941, Hong Kong

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As it is already Christmas across the International Date Line, take this into perspective.

1941 12 19 Hong Kong, Counter-Attack at the Wongneichong Gap by Giuseppe Rava

1941 12 19 Hong Kong, Counter-Attack at the Wongneichong Gap by Giuseppe Rava

On this day in 1941, the Hong Kong Garrison was mounting a doomed defense against the might of Japan. Heavy among the embattled defenders, outnumbered nearly 4:1 by the attacking Japanese was “C Force,” a group of some 2,000 Canadians consisting of a brigade headquarters and a battalion each of the Royal Rifles of Canada from Quebec and Winnipeg Grenadiers from Manitoba. The below from the Toronto Star Weekly, 21 December 1961.

canadian christmas hong kong 1941

“It was the morning of December 25, 1941, in Hong Kong. The sun shone bright and warm. Along the road bordered with blood-red flowers strolled a Canadian soldier, steel helmet perched on the back of his head and singing at the top of his voice. Fellow soldiers taking cover in the basement of a house shouted at him, “Take cover – get off the road!” The Canadian shouted back, “It’s a lovely day and it’s Christmas morning.” Then he picked up his song and continued to stroll along the road, to disappear forever.”

“Who he was, where he came from and what eventually happened to him, the survivors of the Winnipeg Grenadiers who had shouted out to him never did learn. But the unreality of this occasion – the casual, singing soldier strolling along, oblivious to the earth-shaking explosions or the hills of Hong Kong which at that moment were a mass of roaring flames – did not unduly amaze them. It was, so they thought, merely an appropriate part of the greater unreality which was the battle of Hong Kong itself. This does not mean that there was anything unreal about the savage fighting that had gone on for 18 days as 14,000 Canadian, British and Indian troops attempted to hold off 60,000 experienced, superbly trained Japanese troops. ”

Both the Royal Rifles and Winnipeg Grenadiers were rebuilt.

remember hong kong

Of men and steel

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1911 battle of bulge

“Today I held hell in my hands,” said a firearms buff who came across a battered 1911, pockmarked from its wartime service before it was recovered from a World War II battlefield.

Some 71 years ago this week, Hitler launched the last great German offensive through the densely forested Ardennes region near the intersection of the eastern borders of  Belgium, France, and Luxembourg.

Codenamed “Operation Watch on the Rhine” over 200,000 Germans, including some of the most crack units remaining in the Army at the time, fell upon just 80,000 American troops, including many units such as the 101st Airborne, who were under strength following heavy losses and looking forward to some time in a “quiet area” to regroup.

While the German offensive gained ground at first, eventually reinforcements– including  Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr.’s Third Army–were rushed to the scene and counterattacked.

However, for the men trapped inside the “bulged” salient from St. Vith to the week-long Siege of Bastogne, it was a white hell of exploding trees and German panzers that those who survived never forgot.

The pistol examined by Daniel ED MacMurray IV, marked with a yellowed tag that reads, “Colt pistol picked up after battle at Bastonge Dec. 1944,” is battered with shrapnel wounds across the top of the slide, muzzle and grip including several that penetrated deep into the steel.

More images and the rest of the story as Mr. Harvey said, in my column at Guns.com

Israel retires their last A-4s

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Ed Heinemann’s “Tinker Toy Bomber”, the go-cart-like Douglas A-4 Skyhawk was a child of the 1950s and so good at what it did almost 3,000 of them were made. Although the U.S. military put these little scooters in the boneyard for good in 2003, the largest export customer for Skyhawks was Israel, who picked up more than 300 of the attack plane starting in 1967– dubbed Ayit (Hebrew: עיט‎, for Eagle).

Put to good use in Yom Kippur War in 1973 where Skyhawk aircrews took off to about 1000 operational sorties in the southern front– saving the day there by most accounts– and over Syria and Lebanon in the 80s and 90s, the type has slowly been replaced in service as a combat aircraft with the F-16 by 2008 and now, by the Alenia Aermacchi M-346 Master in a training role.

The last Israeli A-4s were retired this month.

israeli a4 retirement skyhawk

“Ayit pilots marked great historical events in the history of aerial combat,” Air Force Commander Amir Eshel said, “Many of the force’s achievements are the outcome of the combination between the small plane and the greatness of its pilots.”

This leaves Brazil, who operates a dozen highly modified ex-Kuwaiti A-4s for use off thier 1960s-era Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier NAe São Paulo (A12), as the last Scooter drivers in service. They are expected to remain operational until 2025.

Warship Wednesday Dec.23, 2015: The lost jewel from Bizerte

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Here at LSOZI, we are going to take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1859-1946 time period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all of their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places. – Christopher Eger

Warship Wednesday, Dec.23, 2015: The lost jewel from Bizerte

960x633

960×633

Here we see the French Émeraude-class diesel-electric submarine (Sous-Marin) Turquoise (Q46), captured by the Turks, in a dry dock undergoing repairs in Constantinople, 1916.

The French got into the submarine business about the same time as the Americans, launching Admiral Simeon Bourgois’s Plongeur in April 1863.

Before the turn of the century, the Republic had flirted with a half dozen one-off boats before they ordered the four boats of the Sirene class in 1901 followed quickly by another four of the Farfadet-class, the two Algerien-class boats, 20 Naiade-class craft in 1904, Submarines X, Y and Z (not making it up), the two ship Aigrette-class and the submarine Omega.

All told, between 1900-1905, the French coughed up 36 submersibles spread across nine very different classes.

After all that quick learning curve, they proceeded with the Emeraude (Emerald) class in 1903. These ships were an improvement of the Faradet (Sprite) class designed by Gabriel-Émile-Marie Maugas. The 135-foot long/200-ton Faradet quartet had everything a 20th Century smoke boat needed: it was a steel-hulled hybrid submersible that used diesel engines on the surface and electric below, had 4 torpedo tubes, could dive to 100~ feet, and could make a stately 6-knots.

Farfadet-class boat Lutin (Q10), leaving port in 1903.

Farfadet-class boat Lutin (Q10), leaving port in 1903.

While they weren’t successful (two sank, killing 30 men between them) Maugas learned from early mistakes and they were significantly improved in the Emeraudes. These later boats used two-shaft propulsion– rare in early submarines–and were 147 feet long with a 425-ton full load. Capable of making right at 12 knots for brief periods, they carried a half dozen torpedo tubes (four in the bow and two in the stern). They also could mount a machine gun and a light deck gun if needed.

Again, improvements!

Profile of the Emeralds surfaced.

Profile of the Emeralds surfaced.

Class leader Emeraude was laid down at Arsenal de Cherbourg in 1903 followed by sisters Opale and Rubis at the same yard and another three, Saphir, Topase, and the hero of our story, Turquoise, at Arsenal de Toulon in the Med.

Launching 1908

Launching 1908

Turquoise was commissioned on 10 December 1910 and, with her two Toulon-built sisters, served with the French Mediterranean Fleet from the Submarine Station at Bizerte.

She repeated the bad luck of the Farfadet-class predecessors and in 1913 lost an officer and several crew swept off her deck in rough seas.

Turquoise-ELD

When war erupted in 1914, the jewel boats soon found they had operational problems staying submerged due to issues with buoyancy and were plagued by troublesome diesels (hey, the manufacturer, Sautter-Harlé, was out of business by 1918 so what does that tell you).

Turquoise_xx_4a

To help with surface ops, Topase and Turquoise were fitted with a smallish deck gun in 1915.

Saphir probably would have been too, but she caught a Turkish mine in the Sea of Marma on 15 January trying to sneak through the straits, and went down.

Topase and Turquoise continued to operate against the Turks, with the latter running into trouble on 30 October 1915. Around the village of Orhaniye in the Dardanelles near Nagara there were six Ottoman Army artillerymen led by Corporal G Boaz Deepa who spotted a periscope moving past a nearby water tower.

Becoming tangled in a net, the submarine became a sitting duck. With their field piece, they were able to get a lucky shot on the mast, and, with the submarine filling with water, she made an emergency surface.

French submarine captured at Dardanelles by Charles Fouqueray

There, the six cannoneers took 28 French submariners captive and impounded the sub, sunk in shallow water.

Turquoise’s skipper, Lt. Leon Marie Ravenel, was in 1918 awarded the Knight of the Legion of Honour as was his XO. These sailors suffered a great deal in Turkish captivity, with five deaths.

German propaganda postcard, note the Ottoman crew and markings

“Das frühere französische U-Boot Turquoise welches von den Türken gefangen genommen wurde und jetzt als Mustedjb oubaschi in türkischen Diensten steht.” (The former French submarine Turquoise which was captured by the Turks and is now in Turkish service as Mustedjb oubaschi.) Paul Hoffman & Co. postcard in the NYPL collection

The Turks later raised the batter French boat and, naming her Mustadieh Ombashi (or Müstecip Ombasi), planned to use her in the Ottoman fleet.

The news of her capture and use under new management flashed through the Central Powers. This is from the Austrian archives:

“Französische Unterseeboot Turquoise” via Osterreichisches Staatsarchiv

Ottoman Uniforms reports her conning tower was painted with a large rectangle (likely to be red), with the large white script during this time.

Via Ottoman Uniforms

Via Ottoman Uniforms

However, as submariners were rare in WWI Constantinople, she never took to sea in an operational sense again and in 1919 the victorious French reclaimed their submarine, which they later scrapped in 1920.

Her wartime service for the Turks seems to have been limited to taking a few pictures for propaganda purposes and being used as a fixed battery charging station for German U-boats operating in the Black Sea.

As for the last Bizerte boat, Topase, she finished the war intact and was stricken on 12 November 1919 along with the three Emeraudes who served quietly in the Atlantic.

Turquoise/Mustadieh Ombashi has been preserved as a model, however.

cg3578fh

If you have a further interest in the submarines of Gallipoli, go here.

Specs:

1884x1543

1884×1543

Displacement 392 tons (surfaced) / 427 (submerged)
Length, 147 feet
Bean 12 feet
Draft 12 feet
No of shafts 2
Machinery
2 Sautter-Harlé diesels, 600hp / electric motors (440kW)
Max speed, knots 11.5 surfaced / 9.2 submerged
Endurance, nm 2000 at 7.3kts surfaced / 100nm at 5kts submerged
Armament:
6×450 TT (4 bows, 2 sterns) for 450mm torpedoes with no reloads
1x M1902 Model 37mm deck gun, 1x8mm light Hotchkiss machine gun (fitted in 1915)
Complement 21-28
Diving depth operational, 130 feet.

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship you can find http://www.warship.org/membership.htm

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.

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Everything you wanted to know about Garand rebuilds

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The always knowledgeable Bruce Canfield has a great piece over at American Rifleman on field and arsenal care of the M1 while in U.S. service to help better illustrate just what happened to these guns.

m1_lede

When M1 rifles were received by an ordnance facility for overhaul, they were unpacked, serial numbers recorded and the arms were degreased as necessary. They were broken down into the major groups; stock group, barrel group and trigger group. The metal parts, except the barrel, were removed and set aside for inspection and gauging. The wooden components were inspected and repaired, refinished, or discarded as necessary. Barrels and receivers were inspected and gauged to make sure they were within “specs.” Any barrels that proved unusable–due to substantial pitting, wear or excessive throat erosion–were removed from their receivers and scrapped. Receivers passing inspection were refinished (reparkerized) as required. The other metal components were inspected and gauged. Parts passing inspection were placed in storage bins for subsequent use. Superseded (obsolete) components were replaced, and those that required modification for continued use were altered as necessary.

Much, much more detail here.

Farewell, Boutwell

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Another 378 is being sent to pasture with the looming retirement and decommissioning of USCGC Boutwell (WHEC-719), who returned from her final patrol last week, a 41-day run around the Bearing Sea.

Based out of San Diego and named for Grant’s Treasury secretary, Boutwell was laid down in 1967 during a very different time in history than we know now.

(5676 × 4580)

(5676 × 4580)

The 3250-ton Hamilton-class cutter has put in 47 years of hard service that included standing by the disabled Soviet H-2 nuclear-powered submarine in 1972, the Prinsendam ocean liner rescue in 1980, the crazy Orca incident,  shelled the Fukuyoshi Maru No. 85 ghost ship under the waves with her 5-inch deck gun (back when the USCG had 5-inch guns), and spent much time on six-week long Alaska Patrols during which she conducted surveillance operations and enforced international treaties and U.S. laws during the heart of the Cold War– often tracking multiple Soviet sonar contacts at the same time (back when the Coasties ran ASW).

More on her long and illustrious service here

She is scheduled to be modified and handed over to the Philippine Navy in coming months.

Although 36 cutters of this class were originally planned, only 12 were ever built. So far six Hamiltons have been retired and passed on to Allied navies including The Philippines who operate Gregorio del Pilar (ex-Hamilton) and Ramon Alcaraz (ex-Dallas), the Nigerians who run Okpabana (ex-Gallatin) and Thunder (ex-Chase) and the Bangladesh Navy with their Somudro Joy (ex-Jarvis) and Somudro Avijan (ex-Rush).

Boutwell‘s decommissioning will leave the USCG with only Mellon, Sherman, Morgenthau, Munro and Midgett in service (for now) from this vintage line.

Fair winds and full sails, Boutwell.

090210-N-4774B-017 SINGAPORE (Feb. 10, 2009) A full moon rises above the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Boutwell (WHEC 719) at anchor at Changi Naval Base, Singapore. Boutwell is part of the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group and is on a scheduled deployment to the western Pacific Ocean supporting global maritime security. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Barker/Released)

090210-N-4774B-017 SINGAPORE (Feb. 10, 2009) A full moon rises above the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Boutwell (WHEC 719) at anchor at Changi Naval Base, Singapore. Boutwell is part of the Boxer Expeditionary Strike Group and is on a scheduled deployment to the western Pacific Ocean supporting global maritime security. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Daniel Barker/Released)

Vickers Tactical drops limited run of Gen 3 RTF2 Glocks

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Partnered with Lipsey’s, Larry Vickers has talked Glock into another limited run of RTF2 two-tone grey Glock 17 and 19 pistols that bring back a rare and now much-sought after crowd pleaser.

What is RTF2?

In 2009, Glock came out with an updated version of their gun that featured better ergonomics named the “Rough Texture Finish, Version 2,” or commonly just called RTF2.

Besides the texture, along the slide, a set of scalloped cutouts replaced the strait up and down slide serrations that had been a facet of the Glock since its introduction in the 1980s. These cutouts were shaped like thumbnails and were instantly but dubbed ‘fish gills’ by those who encountered them.

Besides the slide, the entire lower frame grip surface area was stippled in fine lines. These lines worked like non-skid and gave the gun an almost instant tackiness when picked up, eliminating complaints from those who contended the Glock sometimes got slippery when wet.

While some complained that the new grip was too abrasive to their sensitive hands, many shooters took immediately to the RTF2. The Gen 3 pistols were the pinnacle of the designs to that point, incorporating lessons learned from twenty years of making the polymer guns. That, coupled with the radical new grip offered by the RTF2 seemed a winning combination and the texture was soon seen on the 17, 19, 21SF, 22, 23, 31 and 32.

Nevertheless, that wasn’t the case as the RTF3 and finally much more subtle RTF4 series of less aggressive truncated pyramids became standard on the Gen 4 Glocks when they were introduced.

Then there was trouble in paradise.

In late 2010, Glock stated though channels they would only sell RTF 2 Gen 3s (though without the gills) through law enforcement channels in the future as they weren’t selling well to the non-law enforcement market, but were still viable in the cop market.

Last November Larry Vickers and Lipseys announced that they would release a limited run of 5000 new RTF2 Gen 3s in FDE (is that enough abbreviations for you, or do you want more?) split between G17 and G19 models which shows at least that these guns were still in some form of production even after being “replaced” five years ago.

Now they are back and better than ever

Announced Dec. 15 by Lipsey’s and dropped on Larry V’s social media account, cause Larry is that kinda guy, these guns are a direct answer to how popular last year’s 5K run was. Moreover, these have lots of goodies.

rtf2 glock vickers (5)

Read the rest in my column at Glock Forum

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