Second-Hand Hi-Power

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80 years ago this week. Original wartime caption passed as censored: “Moostdijk, Netherlands, 11 November 1944. Sgt. Laughlin, of Motherwell, is the section leader of the advance section of the Royal Scots and is a dead shot with the German revolver he has “collected” for self-defense since his arrival in Holland.”

Photo by Sgt. Laing, No. 5 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit. IWM B 11761

Of course, the “revolver” is a latter production FN (Browning) Hi-Power with a more basic rear sight rather than the adjustable tangent sight. As the typical sidearm for most of the Commonwealth’s foot soldiers was the S&W Victory model, Enfield No. 2, or Webley Mk IV, all of which offered just six rounds of anemic .38/200 lead heads, the 13+1 shot 9mm Hi-Power was an upgrade for sure, especially if it had a couple of extra magazines on hand.

Gratefully for all involved due to the good sergeant’s trigger discipline, the hammer is down so NDs aren’t on the immediate menu.

Navy Revisiting Heritage and Tradition this week

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Two ship commissionings in the news show some decent salutes to those who have sailed into history in days prior.

In New York on Saturday– one day shy of the USMC’s 249th birthday– the Navy commissioned the second destroyer to carry the name of GySgt John Basilone, DDG-122.

Why New York? Basilone was born in Buffalo and grew up in Raritan, New Jersey, just 45 minutes away from the Big Apple.

During Basilone’s service on Guadalcanal, he led two machine gun sections of the 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, where he used his detachment’s M1917 water-cooled Browning machine guns and an M1911 .45 Government Issue pistol to great effect to break up a Japanese charge of some 3,000 Japanese against his emplacement. The feat earned him the nation’s highest military decoration and was depicted in 2010’s “The Pacific.”

His Medal of Honor citation, from his public file in the National Archives:

Basilone. He was posthumously honored with a Navy Cross for his actions on Iwo Jima, making him the only enlisted Marine in WWII to earn both of the service’s two highest honors.

In 1945, the Navy named a destroyer after Basilone, and in 1948, a life-sized statue of him was installed in his enlistment hometown of Raritan, New Jersey.

The new USS John Basilone’s battle flag includes a pair of crossed M1917s inside the Blue Diamond shoulder patch of the 1st Marine Division.

The Battle Flag is on the portside yardarm. (Photo: General Dynamics)

As detailed by the Navy, “These words characterize the life and service of Gunnery Sergeant Basilone, honor his legacy, and charge future generations of Selfless Warriors to sharpen their spears, take a stand, and move forward.” (Photo: General Dynamics)

Once commissioned, the USS Basilone will be part of the Atlantic Fleet. If she has anything like the service life shown in the rest of her class, she will only retire around 2064.

‘Old Ironsides’ Assist

Meanwhile, up the coast from NYC in Boston, the 27th Littoral Combat Ship, the future USS Nantucket (LCS-27) is set to commission on 16 November at the historic Charlestown Navy Yard. The 14th Freedom-variant is the fifth navy warship to honor “the rich heritage of the people of Nantucket and the maritime legacy that the island represents.”

The first was a Civil War-era Passaic-class monitor known for giving hard service at Charleston and Morris Island while the second and third served in the Great War on coastal service.

The monitor USS Nantucket, seen in her post-war configuration. Loaned to the North Carolina Naval Militia in 1895, she was somewhat fancifully recommissioned for Spanish-American War service and only sold for scrapping in 1900. NH 66760-A.

The fourth, a 177-foot steel-hulled Alert-class gunboat (PG-23) commissioned in 1876, carried the name Nantucket as a training ship for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy from 1918 through 1942.

USS Nantucket (PG-23), formerly USS Ranger and USS Rockport, was then loaned to the State of Massachusetts for use at Massachusetts Nautical School. Courtesy of Mr. Gershone Bradford. NH 500

Fittingly, PCU Nantucket (LCS-27) is tied up near the USS Constitution this week as she awaits entrance to the fleet.

Paging Mr. Bond: The PPK in .32 is Back (and it finally works)

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Walther has reached into the vault to bring back one of its most classic designs, now refined and ready for a new century. Like a spy in from the Cold, the PPK in .32 ACP has returned unexpectedly, and we have the debrief.

The background of the gun is well established. In a nutshell, Fritz Walter, the heir to the famed Carl Walther rifle works, moved in the early 1900s to expand the company into handguns with a line of simple blowback pocket pistols to compete with models like the Colt Vest Pocket and Pieper Bayard. Moving to more advanced designs using a workable single-action/double-action trigger system by the 1920s, the Polizei Pistole, or PP series, soon became a smash hit, despite it being twice as much as the company’s earlier models.

While not the first DA/SA handgun on the market, the PP was much more successful, and soon an abbreviated version pitched as a detective’s gun, the Polizei Pistole Kriminal, hit the catalog in 1930. With a 3.25-inch barrel and offerings in not only .32 ACP (the original PP’s bread and butter) but also spicier .380 ACP, which was then and still is seen as big medicine for European LE types, the sleek, almost Art Deco, PPK soon filled holsters and desk drawers.

The Walther PP/PPK has some serious history to it. (All Photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

A huge driver for the gun came from pop culture. While the Walther PP series appeared on screen in films as early as 1938, it was the James Bond film franchise that kicked the pistol into the stratosphere. Sean Connery’s Agent 007 was first issued a Walther in 1962’s “Dr. No” to replace his favored .25 ACP Beretta.

It would continue as his standard through his six-film run and go on to be picked up off and on by successive generations of Bonds.

The pistol is iconic, and in many cases can be a work of art, as shown here at the Walther factory in Ulm, Germany.

By 2013, with the market demand for the .32 waning in favor of the .380, Walther put the models chambered in the smaller caliber to bed.

Now, with improvements in bullet and propellant design leading to the resurgence of 9mm over .40 caliber, and .380 seen as the new 9mm, and .32 seen as the new .380, the stubby little round is much more popular these days.

So, it should be no surprise that Walther is bringing the “old” caliber back for both the PPK and the PPK/S, in stainless and black variants. We have been testing one for the past couple of months.

More in my column at Guns.com.

Remember to thank your Veterans and wear your poppies today

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No further posts today.

Official wartime caption: “Pvt. James L. Poust, Hughesville, Pa., displays a mud-covered face after having carried wounded men over mired and muddy roads of eastern France, 13 November 1944.”

U.S. Army photo SC 196551-S.

Island Hopping

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80 years ago this week. 9 November 1944. Official wartime caption: “Jet-Propelled Take-off for Mariner, South Pacific – As the massive, bi-motored Martin mariner rises into the air, streams of smoke are ejected from the rockets situated under the wings. Jet propulsion is being more and more widely used to assist in speedy take-offs for more cumbersome planes. This picture was taken at a Pacific base by the new power-driven, portable K-25 camera.”

Official US Navy photo via the James Allison Collection, MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History

Keep in mind just the immense size of the PBM Mariner: 118-foot wingspan, 79 feet in length, 27 feet in height, and 25 tons in weight. Only one is left in the U.S., BuNo. 122071, located at the Pima Air & Space Museum.

I was able to take a peek at her last year and she is just… gigantic.

About the closest thing I can equivalate the above JATO shot to is seeing “Fat Albert,” the USMC KC-130 support Hercules attached to the Blue Angles, doing its dramatic JATO-STO maneuver, in which the 70-ton aircraft hops 500 feet up in about three seconds.

Golden Hull Numbers

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The inshore construction tender USCGC Smilax (WLIC 315) celebrated her 80th anniversary during a ceremony attended by current and former crewmembers in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina this week.

USCGC Smilax (WLIC 315), 2023. (USCG photo)

Commissioned 1 November 1944 during World War II, the 100-foot Smilax is the oldest active Coast Guard cutter, recognized as the “Queen of the Fleet,” a title she has held since 2011 when the fellow WWII vet, USCGC Acushnet (WMEC-167)/ex-USS Shackle, was decommissioned after 67 years of service.

The crewmembers of the USCGC Smilax (WLIC 315), Coast Guard Queen of the Fleet, take a moment for a group photo, Nov. 7, 2024, during the 80th Anniversary celebration of the cutter held in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina. The celebration hosted multiple former crewmembers of the Smilax and current crewmembers provided tours of the cutter as well. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Jonathan Lally)

As detailed by the USCG:

The Smilax was built in 1943 by Dubuque Boat & Boiler Works in Dubuque, Iowa. When most other ships were being built in 40 days, Smilax was built over the course of a year and cost approximately $194,238, making her the most expensive ship in its class.

She was originally homeported in Fort Pierce, Florida but moved to a new homeport in New Smyrna Beach, Florida from June 1, 1954, to Nov. 9, 1965.

After being fitted with new engines and receiving a 70-foot barge, the Smilax was re-classified as a WLI-315, making her an inland buoy tender responsible for short-range ATON along the coastal and inland waterways, particularly in shallow waters or areas where larger tenders cannot reach.

She moved to a new homeport in Brunswick, Georgia on Nov. 9, 1965, before being re-classified again as a WLIC on Oct. 1, 1979. As a WLIC, or inland construction tender, the Smilax became responsible for constructing, repairing, and maintaining fixed ATON within inland waterways. It remained there until July 1999, when she moved to her current homeport in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina.

“One ship, one crew, everything says Smilax and they all work together,” said retired Chief Warrant Officer Scott McAloon, former commanding officer of the Smilax, from 2010 to 2014. “Everybody’s dirty in a set of coveralls, and it’s just such a fun ship to be part of. These construction tenders, they will humble you. From ship driving to getting out on the deck and working, it’s a real special thing.”

Smilax plays a crucial role in maintaining navigation aids in Oregon Inlet, Hatteras Inlet, Ocracoke Inlet, and Beaufort Inlet. She oversees 1,226 fixed aids and 26 buoys across the Outer Banks to ensure safe passage for various types of vessels. She also operates a 70-foot barge equipped with a crane capable of lifting heavy aids, making her well-suited for the shallow and shifting waters of the region.

By comparison, the oldest active-duty ship in the Navy (besides the floating museum ship USS Constitution) is the 7th Fleet flagship USS Blue Ridge (LCC-19).

Blue Ridge’s keel was laid on 27 February 1967, and she was commissioned on 14 November 1970. Her rich history includes commanding Operations Eagle Pull and Frequent Wind during the Vietnam War, receiving the Humanitarian Service Medal in 1984 for rescuing Vietnamese refugees during Operation Boat People, performing a nine-and-a-half month deployment as flagship for U.S. Naval Forces Central Command during the Persian Gulf War, and rushing supplies and relief to Japan during Operation Tomodachi.

She became the oldest in the fleet in 2014 when the USS Denver (LPD-9) was decommissioned after 46 years of service.

Like Smilax, Blue Ridge is also still hard at work, having recently wrapped up her longest summer patrol in five years, a 77-day, 10,000-nautical-mile West Pac cruise with stops in Malaysia, Palau, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

And she carries golden anchors, albeit to denote her regular retention awards. After all, duty in Yokosuka is pretty sweet.

240820-N-CV021-1063 YOKOSUKA, Japan (Aug. 20, 2024) The U.S. 7th Fleet flagship, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), returns to Commander, Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Aug. 20, after completing a two-and-a-half month scheduled patrol around the Indo-Pacific region. The Blue Ridge is the oldest operational ship in the Navy and routinely operates with allies and partners in preserving a free and open Indo-Pacific region. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Alexandria Esteban)

Beat the Rush!

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Summer of 1910, Cordova, Alaska: An armed naval landing party dispatched from the U.S. Revenue Service Cutter Rush— which is seen in her gleaming white and buff livery tied up to the pier behind the group. It should be noted that during this period in the Territory’s history, the USRCS served largely the same role as the Army’s horse cavalry during the settlement of the Old West, being typically the only armed federal force in most of the region. 

Photo by: U.S. Coast Guard Historian’s Office, VIRIN: 221215-G-G0000-109.

With a typical complement of eight officers, a USPHS surgeon, and 40 ratings, you are looking at a big hunk of the 175-foot cutter’s manpower. Note a boxcar of the short-lived Copper River Railway, a line that only ran from the copper mines at Kennecott to Cordova.

Of interest, besides the Navy-pattern jumpers, leggings, and dixie cups, the “Revenuers” are armed with Army Krag pattern .30-40 caliber bolt-action rifles and clad in SpanAm period USMC Mills cartridge belts, sans suspenders, as better seen in this inset:

The Marines had used the 12-pocket M1895 belt for the old clip-fed straight-pull Lee-Navy 6mm rifle, which was retired by the Navy in 1907.

The circa 1895 belts, originally black, aged to more charcoal and then gray tone, especially after long periods in salt air

The 4th Revenue Cutter named after Richard Rush, John Quincy Adams’s Secretary of the Treasury, our 300-ton hermaphrodite steam schooner was built in 1885 by Hall Brothers of San Francisco for $74,000.

The service, always pinching pennies, recycled the old boiler and 400 h.p. compound-expansion steam engine of the previous 140-foot circa 1874 cutter of the same name, of which she was officially a “reconstruction.”

U.S. Revenue Cutter Rush rides at anchor off Seattle in the early 1900s

Stationed on the West Coast, she roamed the next 27 years from Alaska– where she typically made an annual summer Bearing Sea Patrol– to Washington and California where she cruised during the winter.

Her service included operating under Navy control during the Spanish-American War– when she likely picked up the Krags for her small arms locker to augment her trio of 6-pounders. During the conflict, Rush served with the understrength Pacific Squadron protecting vessels traveling between San Francisco and the Klondike gold fields.

As detailed by the USCG Historian’s Office:

She became famous for her dogged pursuit and prosecution of seal poachers who quickly learned that if they wanted to get in a large hunt, they’d have better “Get there ahead of the Rush!”. The term is also “Get there early to avoid the Rush” and “Beat the Rush“, but all date back to this single ship and the work of her crews in Alaskan waters.

She retired in 1912 and sold to the Alaska Junk Company for $8.500 on 22 January 1913.

The later USCG would recycle the name Rush two additional times, for a Prohibition-era 125-foot “Buck and a Quarter” (WSC-151) that would continue to serve until 1947 including WWII service as a subchaser, and the Hamilton-class 378-foot cutter (WHEC-723) which commissioned in 1969 and continued to serve until 2015 including stints off Vietnam where she delivered naval gunfire support to troops ashore and interdicted weapon-carrying North Vietnamese junks.

USCGC Rush (WHEC-723)

Just days short of 60 Years in the SSBN Program…

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Norfolk Naval Shipyard on Wednesday announced they have successfully completed the inactivation of the Moored Training Ship Sam Rayburn (MTS 635), an evolution that included prepping the boat for towing to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility in spring 2025.

What is a MTS?

Long the last remaining boat of her class still afloat, the MTS 635 was originally commissioned 2 December 1964 as SSBN-635, part of the James Madison-class of Cold War-era fleet ballistic missile (FBM) submarines.

USS Sam Rayburn (SSBN-635) c. 1964, with her missile hatches showing their “billiard ball” livery

A member of the famed “41 for Freedom” boats rushed into service to be the big stick of mutually assured destruction against the Soviets, Rayburn was named for the quiet but determined WWII/Korea War speaker of the House, Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn.

After carrying Polaris SLBMs on a rotating series of deterrent patrols from the East Coast and Rota, Spain, Rayburn had her missile compartment removed in 1985 as part of the SALT II treaty and decommissioned, transitioning to her role as an MTS.In the meantime, all of her sisters were disposed of through recycling by 2000, leaving Rayburn to linger on in her training role. Similarly, MTS Daniel Webster (MTS-626), originally a Lafayette-class FBM decommissioned in 1990, has been in the same tasking.

However, all things eventually end. As the MTS role has now transitioned to a pair of recently sidelined 1970s-construction Los Angeles-class attack boats– La Jolla (SSN/MTS 701) and San Francisco (SSN/MTS 711)— Webster and Rayburn are ready for razor blades.

Today, she looks pretty rough, as one would imagine.

Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) successfully completed the inactivation of the Moored Training Ship Sam Rayburn (MTS 635) Nov. 6, marking the Navy’s first inactivation of a Moored Training Ship. Sam Rayburn served at Nuclear Power Training Unit (NPTU)—Charleston for more than 30 years as a Moored Training Ship training Sailors in the operation, maintenance and supervision of nuclear propulsion systems.

And NNSY had to do lots of work to get her to look that good!

Ensuring the 60-year-old ship was ready for the voyage and storage required installing more than 250 lap plates on the non-pressure hull given several areas had experienced corrosion. Extensive welding was performed to ensure the integrity of the hull and piping systems during storage. The project team also installed and tested all required tow equipment.

Roosevelt Wins!

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Some 80 years ago today, 7 November 1944, outside of recently occupied Aachen, Germany. 3rd Armored Division men Sgt. Arnold J. Wethingston, of Indianapolis, Ind (left) and S/Sgt. Kenneth R. Peterson, of Barron, Wis., posted the highlights of the recent election results on a highway intersection.

Army Signal Corps photo SC 196293, Photographer: Sgt. Joseph A. Demarco, 165th Signal Photo Co., NARA Archives

For the record, FDR’s tough fourth presidential campaign, fought against Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey, saw Roosevelt gaining 53 percent of the popular vote, some 25 million votes, against Dewey’s 46 percent, 22 million tally. At the Electoral College, FDR secured 432 votes to Dewey’s 99.

Of course, Dewey would return to challenge FDR’s successor, Harry Truman, during the tense times of the Berlin Airlift in 1948, with similar results, despite what the papers said.

Navy to Wring out another Decade from 3 Ticos

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Following a decision to pencil whip the service lives of 12 early Flight I Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers, pushing each beyond its 35-year expected service life to gain another 48 “ship years” in total from the high-mileage Cold Warriors, SECNAV made a similar announcement that will slow roll the retirement of a trio of Ticonderoga class cruisers.

We’ve been chronicling the snuff film that is the Ticos’ departure at the same confusing time that several class members have just completed very lengthy (up to 8 years per hull) and very expensive (you don’t want to know the cost) modernizations.

That odd duality caught up to the SECNAV at just the right time when the Navy’s frigate replacement class had lapsed years behind schedule.

From the Navy:

The Department of the Navy plans to operate three Ticonderoga-class (CG 47) cruisers beyond their expected service life: USS Gettysburg (CG 64), USS Chosin (CG 65), and USS Cape St. George (CG 71). This decision adds 10 years of cumulative ship service life from fiscal year 2026 to 2029.

All three cruisers received extensive hull, mechanical, and engineering, as well as combat system upgrades as part of an extended modernization program. USS Gettysburg (CG 64) and USS Chosin (CG 65) completed modernization in fiscal year 2023 and fiscal year 2024, respectively. USS Cape St. George (CG 71) is on schedule to complete modernization this fiscal year.

Further, the Navy pointed out that Chosin recently broke new ground in the respect that she pulled off a successful VLS re-arm at sea demonstration last month. The Transferrable Reload At-sea Mechanism (TRAM) demonstration was the first time the Navy transferred missile canisters from a replenishment ship to a warship while at sea.

The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Chosin (CG 65) steams alongside the Lewis and Clark-class dry cargo ship USNS Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11) during an at-sea demonstration of the Transferrable Reload At-sea Method (TRAM) while underway in the Pacific Ocean Oct. 11, 2024. Sailors aboard Chosin used the hydraulically- powered TRAM device to load an empty missile canister into the ship’s MK 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS) while off the coast of San Diego. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Charlotte Dudenhoeffer)

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