THE GERMAN SCIENCE OF ARSON: INCENDIARY DISKS CARRIED BY THE KAISER’S SOLDIERS—A SPECIMEN BEFORE AND DURING IGNITION.
“It is clear that the German incendiary outrages in Belgium and France were premeditated, and German scientists devised special apparatus for setting fire to buildings. Our informant, who bought some incendiary disks from a German soldier near Antwerp, states that every man carries twenty bags, each containing about 300 disks. Mr. Bertram Blount, the analyst, found the disks consist of nitro-cellulose, or gun-cotton. They may be lit, even when wet, with a match or cigarette-end, and burn for eleven or twelve seconds, emitting a strong five-inch flame, and entirely consuming themselves. The Germans throw them alight into houses. The photographs show (1) a bag of disks as supplied to German soldiers; (2) a disk burning; and (3) a disk, actual size, before being used.”
Here we see the 257.8-foot steel-hulled steam yacht, SS Delphine, poking along the Riviera. Almost a century old, the Delphine has a rich history and played a key role in WWII.
She was the second of two yachts owned by Horace E. Dodge, who along with his brother John Dodge, were the owners of Dodge Brother Automobiles in Detroit. The car dynasty these two brothers created remains as part of Chrysler today.
In the Great Gatsby-era, Dodge commissioned this beautiful personal luxury liner from Great Lakes Engineering on the Detroit River, in Ecorse as Hull #239 (Order # 221218). Renowned maritime architects Henry J Gielow and Antoine Wille devised her design plans.
Her interior was done by Tiffany’s of New York and, when launched on April 2, 1921, was the largest yacht built to date in the U.S. and cost $2 million, which in today’s cash is about $25 million, which is still a bargain.
Ironically, Horace never saw her complete, having died from the Spanish flu in 1920.
The toast of the Great Lakes, she also made it out to the East Coast to visit Martha’s Vineyard and Manhattan for “the season,” where her guests, which enjoyed a 2:1 crew-to-guest ratio in style, attended regattas and speedboat races.
Sunk in an accident in 1926, Delphine was raised after four months on the bottom of the Hudson, once refitted, and remodeled for $750,000, put back into regular service.
By 1935, the luxurious yacht, with the Dodge family out of the car business and the Great Depression on, was docked for an extended period and owned by Anna Dodge Dillman of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, where she was a popular site for years docked at her private pier on Lake St. Clair.
With war on the horizon, the U.S. Navy came looking for gently-used but still usable hulls, Delphine was acquired by Uncle on 21 January 1942 and commissioned five months later after refit at Great Lakes Engineering’s River Rouge, Michigan yard as a gunboat with a wartime paint scheme, a pair of 3-inch guns and some .50 cals, a Marine detachment, and a new name: USS Dauntless (PG-61).
With her warpaint on
The Marine Detachment, USS Dauntless (PG-61) – mid-1942
Why the Marine detachment on a slow gunboat? Well, she was tasked as the flagship for Admiral Ernest King, Commander in Chief of the U.S. Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations, that’s why.
She was gutted after the Navy acquired her in January 1942. Large, panoramic windows in her hull were replaced with portholes. Much of the boat deck was ripped out to accommodate six self-launching life rafts, and the aft promenade deck was cut away for an anti-aircraft gun. The superstructure was extended forward some 10 feet to accommodate more crew bunks, and .50-caliber machine guns were added, six in total. New masts were installed, one with new radar. A larger searchlight was placed on top of the pilothouse.
Inside the hull, the dining room became a radio room, pantry and officers’ wardroom. The guest staterooms on the lower deck were subdivided into 10 smaller officers’ staterooms. The ship was wired for electricity, and air conditioning was installed.
To complete the conversion, Delphine was dipped in the colors of war—gray/green/blue camouflage paint—and designated Naval Gunboat PG 61 (patrol gunboat), the USS Dauntless. Dauntless arrived at the [Washington] Navy Yard on June 16, 1942, and was moored to Pier 1. On June 17, King’s flag was broken and he moved aboard.
The ship saw the epic course of the naval war planned and coordinated from her secure and spy-proof wardroom and, in November 1943, secretly shuttled 19 members of FDR’s War Department down the Potomac to the USS Iowa in the Chesapeake Bay, which then crossed the Atlantic to the Tehran Conference war talks.
A different kind of beautiful
The Navy liked her so much they kept the old girl around for a year after the war ended, and finally struck her on 5 June 1946, returning her to Ms. Dodge’s custody who quickly sent her to a refit at Great Lakes Engineering (one of the last jobs performed by the yard before it was shut down) to restore Delphine to her pre-war condition, keeping only the navy siren and 9 hash marks on her stack from her wartime service.
Note the hash marks on her funnel
In 1968, she was donated by the Dodge family to the Seafarers Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship (SHLSS) in Piney Point, Maryland where she served as a training ship for merchant seamen under her WWII-era Dauntless name until 1986.
Then over a ten-year period, she changed hands a few times and, aging and in poor condition, was towed to Bruges, Belgium for a six-year restoration in 1998.
Since 2003, after being rechristened to her original name by no less a personality than Princess Stephanie of Monaco, she has been in regular service along the Riviera as a yacht for charter under Portuguese flag– while being up for persistent sale.
Although pushing 95 years of age, she has SOLAS, MCA, MARPOL, and RINA (Registro Italiano Navale) certifications.
Below is the $40 million asking price 2010 sale video of the Delphine, in which the craft was listed as having the following amenities:
SS Delphine is able to accommodate up to 12 guests, at anchor and in port up to 180 guests. Life aboard is luxurious. Each guest suite has its own en-suite bathroom; TV (flat screen in the two VIP rooms), valuable safe, mini bar, stand-alone music system and telephone enabling both intercom and satellite use. The public areas of the yacht have independent music systems that can be interconnected for parties. In the smoking room WIFI is available. Besides DVD’s there is also Playstation 2 available in the Delphine Lounge; and this on a flat screen TV. There is also a ¾ concert Steinway piano and a Disklavier Yamaha piano; and on request, a lounge bar pianist can be arranged as part of the crew.
Delphine appeared notably for her five minutes of on-screen fame in the movie The Brothers Bloomstarring Rachel Weisz and Adrian Brody in 2008, with most of the first act taking place on her decks.
She rents for some 50,000 euros per day and is listed in the top 100 superyachts of the world. Her official registry port is Madeira and her home port is Monaco, France.
(1942)
Displacement 1,950 t.
Length 257′ 7″
Beam 35′ 2″
Draft 16′ 3″
Speed 16 kts.
Complement 135
Armament: Two 3″/50 dual-purpose gun mounts
Propulsion: Three 250psi Babcock and Wilcox boilers, two 3,000ihp vertical quadruple expansion Great Lakes Engine Works engines, two shafts
(Current)
LOA: 257.8ft / 78.5 m.
Beam: 35.5ft / 10.8 m.
Draft: 14.6ft / 4.5 m.
Gross ton: 1342
Power: 2x quadruple steam expansion engines, each 1500HP
Maximum speed: 12 knots
Cruising speed: 8 to 9 knots
Cruising radius: 3600 miles
Fuel consumption: 600 liters per hour at cruising speed, 1000 liter a day for the generators.
Guests: 12. This is in 11 double beds of which two are king-size VIP rooms and 4 in one cabin with bunk beds. All cabins have the same comfort and have a fully equipped bathroom.
Crew: 21 in standard conditions maximum 28 on extra request.
Flag: Madeira, Portugal
Classification society: RINAVE, Portugal classed as a commercial yacht.
The ship has ISM and ISPS code implemented.
Navigation system equipped for A1+A2+A3 zone
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/
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.
Nearing their 50th Anniversary, Warship International, the written tome of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in their sweep and subject.
I filmed this in 1986, while on board the USS America, in the Mediterranean Sea. The jet jocks came up with this great plan to drop off three colored/greased up pigs, onto the flight deck of our relieving carrier, the USS John F Kennedy. We used the excuse that we had some official paper work to drop off. They never saw it coming! LOL Near the end, we ask for permission to do a “low pass up your port side,” to which, the Kennedy airboss responds, “Negative!” These were good times .LOL
And: This was in ’86. I was with HS-11 the helo squadron who did this off of the USS America. I know we dealt with multiple carriers that deployment: Coral Sea, Saratoga, JFK. We did El Dorado Canyon (op) and a few others that I can’t remember. You are right that this was the JFK and it was during the Med outchop.
Let’s visit that bane of competition shooters, law enforcement qualification courses, and ‘operator’ training schools. That’s right, the tactical reload.
What is it?
To put it country simple, a tactical reload is removing a magazine from your firearm (rifle or pistol) that you have fired some rounds from (but not all) and replacing it with a full magazine. You then keep the partially loaded magazine as a spare. This is different from an emergency reload where you are dropping an empty mag to the ground, then slamming home a full one in its place and charging the firearm.
Why use it?
In theory, the concept is that during a lull in a gunfight, such as while hiding behind cover/concealment and/or no active threats are engaging you, you pop out the mag you are working on and insert a fresh one. This allows you to resume the engagement with a fully loaded firearm.
The practice, this is at best a military or tactical team tactic that is practiced in fire-team sized groups, with 2-3 members returning fire or actively covering, while 1-2 members are reloading. In a personal defense scenario, private security, or solo law enforcement setting where you are alone, it is not as much of a viable option.
About the only exception to this may be for if you have a gun with a very short magazine capacity (say an LCP or LC380) and you get a few rounds off then want to top off to be ready for if the situation evolves from there.
(You have to practice swapping those mags around and seriously train for this before ever attempting to do so in the real world. In practice, its best to use an unloaded weapon and empty mags or mags filled with snap caps– and then still keep the muzzle in a safe direction and your finger off the trigger)
Personnel from Fort Drum in upstate New York are asking the public to keep an eye peeled for a lost inert training missile that fell from an Apache gunship over points unknown last Friday as it was headed to an airshow.
The device, a dummy version of the Hellfire anti-tank missile dubbed the M36 Captive Flight Training Missile, is just over five feet long and weighs 100-pounds.
Like most Army ordnance of the non-explosive training variety, it has blue stripes that are a clue to EOD/UXO types that it is less likely to spontaneously disassemble when moved and base officials advise it is not a threat.
If you see it, Call Drum or your local police.
Betcha a dollar some kids find it in 2055 and the world melts down for 24 hours
In the 1950s Smith and Wesson gave the Colt Detective Special a run for its money when they introduced the J-frame snub, and the Airweight 642, building on that legacy, has been one of my favorite carry guns for decades.
Snubby 101
In the 1920s, a new wave of Prohibition criminals such as John Dillinger, Machinegun Kelly, and Clyde Barrow captured the public’s imagination. They also scared the crap out of law enforcement. With these criminals being equipped with high-powered Thompson subguns bought over the counter, coupled with weapons stolen from National Guard armories, law enforcement needed to upgrade their sidearms. Plainclothes detectives either had to carry full sized revolvers or pistols, or were forced to tote small and ineffective European revolvers in tiny calibers such as the Velo Dog. What they needed was a handgun capable of being carried concealed, yet still chambered in an effective caliber.
Max Cherry’s old-school Colt Dick
Colt, looking to cash in in this need introduced the Detective Special in 1927. Taking their 1908-vintage Police Positive revolver, a double-action revolver constructed with a carbon steel frame and six-shot swing out cylinder, it was equipped with a “Positive Lock” safety that prevented the firing pin from hitting the primer unless the trigger was deliberately pulled, they created a new gun. With the Positive’s proven design that was already popular both with law enforcement and civilians, Colt streamlined and shrunk it down until it was only 6.75-inches overall length with a 2-inch barrel. Weighs with fixed sights and wooden grips was just 21-ounces.
Smith steps in
Colt’s gun sold very well for two decades and became a favorite of bank tellers, shop keepers, postal clerks, travelers, and of course, detectives. So much so that in 1950 Smith and Wesson debuted their J-frame Chief’s Special (still around as the Model 36), with comparable specs to the Colt Detective.
The next year, to trim down the weight, Smith introduced the Model 37 Airweight with an aluminum frame and cylinder then, to compact the gun further, the shrouded hammer Centennial came out in 1952.
Finally, in 1990, the gun that is the subject of this piece, the Model 642, a Centennial (enclosed hammer) Airweight (aluminum frame) was debuted.
And mine, carried for the past 20 years, has a bit of wear to it.
For those of you unclear on just what the ‘417 is, think of a short-stroke piston AR-10 with a few modern updates and capable of using the same 20-round mag used by the old-school G3 battle rifle if you run out of the groovy clear polymer ones it comes with.
Come to think of it, why did they get rid of the G3 anyway?
NASA is seeking names to load up on their InSight Mars lander planned for launch in March 2016. Yes, you can send your name at cut rate prices (free) to the Martian wilderness.
Today we think that the current generation of shooters practically invented super modified combat carry guns. Then comes the shock when we stumble across something like the 1960s ASP 9 and we realize, all we have been doing is just building a better mousetrap.
Never heard of the ASP 9? Well my friends, this story begins with one Mr. Paris Theodore of Seventrees Ltd, and the time was the 1966.
Who was this man?
Paris Theodore was the product of New York in the 1950s. The son of a vaudeville dancer and an art professor, he grew up on and off Broadway. After disappearing and allegedly working for shadowy government agencies for a few years, in 1966 at the age of 23, he started Seventrees Ltd, which specialized in custom and semi-custom holsters.
From his shop on West 39th Street in New York, he made several radical departures from the standards of the time, filing more than a dozen patents on new concepts. His work used hand boning to fit the exact pistol, for the express purpose of reducing wear and simultaneously retaining the pistol. He also pushed for muzzles that extended beyond the holster; and molded front sight protection, industry standards in many cases today. Nevertheless, he was much more than a holstersmith.
You see, behind a safe in his holster shop, he made clandestine firearms for a number of government agencies. These included 22 pen guns, cigarette lighter guns, a clipboard for the FBI that could fire live rounds, and briefcase guns. In his spare time, he invented the Quell shooting system, a reactive point-shooting technique that concentrated on central nervous system shots using muscle memory.
In the late 1960s, he was approached by those unknown and asked to make a very special gun. One that could be used overseas where 9mm was readily available. A gun that could be carried concealed but when put into service could win a gunfight. This gun became known as the ASP 9.
These things are used for oceanography data collection and have even crossed the Atlantic (in 221 days, no one said they were fast!). They work by adjusting their buoyancy to create forward movement but usually have a set of wings. Kind of like one of those cereal-box submarines that you had as a kid, but without the need for baking soda. Their commo is via satellite.
But the funny thing is, it took the Chinese 3 years to figure out its not theirs…or at least three years to make the statement known.
When Huang Yunlai from Hainan province found a one-meter-long, torpedo-like device while fishing 3 years ago, he took photos of it and informed the province’s National Security Bureau immediately. Experts preliminarily concluded it was suspicious and brought it back for further analysis.
It is now confirmed that the unmanned underwater machine, disguised to look like a torpedo, is an intelligence device capable of taking pictures with fiber-optic and satellite communication. It was secretly placed in the water by a foreign country to obtain information on the Chinese navy fleet’s operations at sea.
