Some 57 years ago this month. Aden Emergency. The flight deck of the 54,000-ton Audacious-class aircraft carrier HMS Eagle (R 05) was photographed as part of Task Force 945 in the Gulf of Aden during the British withdrawal from the Aden colony in November 1967.
IWM (HU 106844)
Eagle’s deck is crowded with De Haviland Sea Vixen FAW.2s of 899 Naval Air Squadron and Blackburn Buccaneer S.1 and S.2s of 800 Naval Air Squadron. Meanwhile, following behind are the Centaur-class commando carrier HMS Albion (R 07), HMS Fearless (L10) of later Falklands fame, and the WWII-era Amphion-class submarine HMS Auriga (S69).
From the same period, drink in this beautiful shot of a Zuni rocket-armed Bucc from Eagle putting its watchful eye over the colony.
A Blackburn Buccaneer aircraft of 800 Naval Air Squadron from HMS Eagle on patrol over Aden and Khormaksar airfield, during the withdrawal of British troops on 29 November 1967. IWM A 35119
The Harland and Wolff-built Eagle, one of Britain’s two proper big deck carriers during the Cold War, was decommissioned in 1972 after just 21 years with the fleet while her sister, HMS Ark Royal, would endure until 1979. Both would have been welcome in the Falklands.
John Moses Browning was the Leonardo da Vinci of American gun making and his long relationship with Winchester, Colt, and FN changed the entire industry. The inventor of numerous “pocket pistols” of the 1900s (FN M1899, Colt 1903/1908 Pocket Hammerless, FN 1906 Vest Pocket, FN 1910) as well as the calibers they were chambered in (.25, .32, and .380 ACP), he probably did more for early 20th Century concealed carry than any other man.
One of his longest-lived designs was the well-liked FN Model 1910. A striker-fired, blowback action, single-stack .32 ACP (7+1 capacity) or .380 ACP (6+1 capacity) semi-auto with a 3.16-inch barrel, it remained in production for a solid 73 years, including military and police use in dozens of countries. Many of its traits such as the grip safety were familiar to past Browning designs. Other hallmarks, like its recoil-spring-wrapped barrel, were borrowed by later designs of the period such as the Walther PP/PPK and Makarov PM.
The M1910 proved so popular that FN produced it in a lengthened version (the M1922, which had a 4.46-inch barrel) and eventually managed to import it to the U.S. consumer market via the Browning Arms Company of St. Louis and Montreal starting in the 1950s.
The Browning Model 1955 was just a re-branded FN Model 1910. Made in Belgium, they began importation to the U.S. and Canada in the mid-1950s, hence the model number. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Then came the Gun Control Act of 1968, which, among other restrictions, placed an arbitrary list of requirements on imported firearms into the U.S. to meet a “sporting purposes” test. This included mandatory length and height requirements that left pistols such as the Walther PPK and Browning Model 1955 coming up short.
FN’s answer? Stretch the Model 1910, err, Model 1955.
This led to what is known as the Model 10 of 1971, or the 10/71.
Surplus M1911 Sales: As many of you just saw, we recently provided a detailed update on the status of this operation via social media and the CMP Forum. In summary, we assess that the CMP is still several months from resuming the sale and transfer of M1911 Pistols. Throughout this process, CMP staff members worked tirelessly implementing strengthened M1911 operations – with an increased workforce dedicated to the distribution of these pistols, all while CMP armorers continue to inspect and prepare pistols for sale.
Round four orders will be fulfilled once sales resume; followed by new orders. We have a large quantity of pistols on hand and can fulfill all round four orders and many thousands more once we resume sales. As we indicated in the previous update, after round four we will proceed with an open and continuous order process (no more rounds) and fulfill orders on a first received-first fulfilled basis.
But, don’t send in new orders in yet. We will promulgate guidance once we have a better sense of when sales will resume. We also expect the two pistols/person per lifetime limit to remain in effect for the next year. While this restriction is not codified in the law, it is guidance from the Department of the Army. The CMP will review options with the Army later in FY25. Again, we apologize for the unexpected delays within our M1911 program and are eager to once again distribute these exceptional firearms.
AMC classes restarting
The Advanced Maintenance Class (AMC) is a three-day course in Anniston, Ala., for those who wish to take their passion for the timeless M1 Garand rifle to the next level. Set within CMP’s Custom Shop, the AMC offers participants the chance to receive unparalleled, one-on-one training from experienced CMP armorers on headspace, barrel installation, component function, maintenance, and more – all absorbed as students construct personal rifles from CMP’s arsenal of authentic M1 Garand parts.
Additionally, students will receive a guided visit to the CMP South Store and Talladega Marksmanship Park to view the grounds and fire their newly crafted rifles from the course.
Due to the popularity of the classes, registration for the AMC will be based on a random drawing. Registration for the random drawing will be open from Nov. 1 to Dec. 31. Registering for multiple classes is permitted, but no applicant will be selected for more than one slot. Former AMC participants are welcome to sign up for 2025.
110 years ago this week, 3 November 1914. Admiral Maximilian von Spee’s victorious German East Asia Squadron (Ostasiengeschwader) basking at anchor in Valparaiso, Chile just a few days after the Battle of Coronel, which delivered the Royal Navy its first major naval defeat at sea via surface engagement since the War of 1812 (when the 20-gun brig USS Hornet under the command of James Biddle captured the 19-gun brig-sloop HMS Penguin off Tristan da Cunha after a well-fought battle on 23 March 1815).
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 59638
The German ships are in the distance, with the 13,000-ton armored cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the lead, followed by the 4,900-ton Königsberg-class light cruiser Nürnberg. Watchful Chilean Navy warships in the middle distance include (from left to right): cruisers Esmeralda, O’Higgins, and Blanco Encalda along with the old (commissioned 1890) ironclad battleship Capitan Prat.
November 4, 1914. Valparaiso. Scharnhorst 3 days after the Battle of Coronel. She is taking on provisions
While Von Spee could take on water and limited provisions and patch their damage from the running fight at Coronel, they could never replace the shells they expended in the scrap with RADM Sir Christopher Cradock’s outclassed and out-fought squadron.
The light cruisers SMS Leipzig and Dresden are not present in the above photos of Von Spee’s force. Post-Coronel, they had escorted the Ostasiengeschwader’s collier train to remote Mas a Fuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island) in the Juan Fernández Archipelago, where the squadron would gather on 6 November.
The decrepit Bussard-class light cruiser SMS Geier, too slow to tag along with Von Spee’s force was already long out of the game. After surviving 11 weeks on the run as an independent unit she had been interned under American guns at Hawaii on 17 October.
Likewise, thehilfskreuzerCormoran, which was the captured 3,400-ton Russian freighter SS Ryazan with a crew from the old Bussard-class cruiser SMS Cormoran and the stricken survey ship SMS Planet, was quietly poking around the Western Pacific and would eventually present herself to American custody at Guam on 14 December 1914.
Dresden’s sister, SMS Emden, is also missing from the above images. She was just six days away from her final engagement with the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney, some 9,500 miles away off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. But that is a whole different story.
The Royal Marines were founded on 28 October 1664, under Charles II, as the Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot. Some 5,820 strong (authorized) they are one of the most professional and pound-for-pound elite amphibious forces on the planet, despite the fact they have been in steady decline when it comes to sea lift for the past 40 years.
Happy 360th! Of note, the Admiralty got Henry Cavill to narrate the birthday recruiting ad, which is very motivational.
And in a show of support from their junior “brother corps” across the Atlantic, the USMC issued a congratulations message.
The Marines will celebrate their 249th on 10 November.
And, since you came this far, be sure to check out this great short doc from NATO showing off Marines at play in Norway, their home away from home since 1940. The Finns and Swedes joined in this year.
The terms “silencer” and “suppressor” are used interchangeably in the firearms community, and we are here (hear?) to tell you the story of how this came about and which term is more correct.
Going back to the 19th century, “devices for the lessening the noise of firearms” were patented as far back as 1894. However, it wasn’t until Hiram Percy Maxim, a man uniquely obsessed with making loud things quiet for the sake of hearing protection, that the first trademarked “Silencer” (big S) came about in 1909.
Dr. Shush
Why was Maxim interested in hearing protection? A big part of this was because his father, Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, generally regarded as the inventor of the modern belt-fed machine gun, went quite deaf after long periods of exhibiting his guns for interested clients sans ear protection.
Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim seen showing Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII, around his gun, and depicted in a 1904 caricature.
The junior Maxim began working on his acoustical mufflers in 1902 and by 1909 started securing a series of patents on “Silencer” and “Silent firearm” devices. His Connecticut-based company first was branded as the Maxim Silent Firearms Company, and later the Maxim Silencer Co.
Maxim, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, even marketed himself as “Dr. Shush.” Following in his father’s footsteps, he was his own best spokesman for his products and stressed how they made shooting safer and more enjoyable.
Maxim was a showman. (Photos: SilencerCo)
He successfully landed a series of large newspaper interviews in 1909.
The allure of a “noiseless gun” was sure to draw headlines. (Photos: Library of Congress, Chronicling America newspaper archive)
The company sold not only a series of Silencers but also couplings to attach them to barrels and instructions for gunsmiths and hardware shops to thread barrels for the screw-on devices, interestingly advocating a rather fat (by today’s standards) 20-thread pattern. Silencers could be purchased by mail order for $5, about $160 in today’s inflated dollars.
Were Maxim’s designs truly silent? Not at all, but it was great branding, especially when he had to fight for market share against a crowded field of contemporary competitors. Matthew Moss, writing for Small Arms Review, notes at least nine inventors at the time (Harry Craven, Anthony Fiala, Charles H. Kenney, Herbert Moore, Robert A. Moore, Eugene Thurle, R.M. Towson, Andy Shipley, James Stinson, et. al) were seeking patents for similar devices, with several ultimately going on to market them with mixed success.
There are few period tests between these 1910s-era firearm mufflers. The Army’s Ordnance Bureau, which ordered 100 of Maxim’s devices and 100 from Robert A. Moore’s firm for tests on the M1903 Springfield, preferred the former, noting that “it was possible to give perfectly audible instructions when the Silencer was used.” It was estimated to have reduced noise by as much as two-thirds. Given the technology of the era, that had to be what could best be described as a wild guess.
World War I era cutting edge: M1903 Springfield with the M1913 Warner & Swasey Musket Sight mounted. It also mounts a Maxim Model 15 “Government Silencer,” October 1918. The Army maintained its stocks of Silencers until 1925. (U.S. Army photo via National Archives)
Common Vernacular
In the end, Maxim’s Silencer (which wasn’t silent), won the marketing war and emerged as the Dr. Pepper among a crowd of Mr. Pibbs. Teddy Roosevelt used one to quietly zap tin cans around the yard without disturbing the neighbors and exchanged personal correspondence with the inventor. Period cartoons even gagged about noisy diners being offered “Maxim Soup Silencers.”
Maxim’s company went on to market Silencers for motorboats and automobiles on much the same principle.
Maxim upsized his Silencers for other applications.
The public had so associated the Silencer with firearm report moderators by 1934 that the National Firearms Act hearings – which largely started as an effort to ban most guns in the country, including all common pistols and revolvers – used the term no less than eight times. While handguns escaped the government regulation, silencers (little “s”) did not. Never being banned outright on the federal level, they were instead hit with a $200 tax, which adjusts out to $4,800 in today’s terms. The silencer term, enshrined in 1934, is still on the books in the U.S. Code, retained in the 1968 Gun Control Act, and used by the ATF today – an organization that was only established in 1972.
In the meantime, the repressive tax largely killed the American suppressor industry until the 1970s, when companies like Mitch Wer-Bell’s SIONICS and Dr. Phil Dater’s AWC (now Gemtech) began quietly (see what we did there?) operating. By then the stifling NFA tax, frozen at $200 since the Depression, had been whittled down to a more manageable outlay thanks to the federal government’s habit of printing fiat currency in an economic pinch after Nixon ended the gold standard.
What About the Term Suppressor?
In today’s terms, “suppressor” has largely supplanted and replaced “silencer” in use, starting with patents filed in the 1980s. The term is more correct as, while the devices moderate and reduce the sound signature of a muzzle report, they do not remove it. In most cases, despite what Hollywood would lead us to believe, while suppressors paired with subsonic ammunition that removes the “crack” of a projectile breaking the sound barrier can be made hearing safe, you can still hear the gunshot, albeit muted.
As detailed by the American Suppressor Association, suppressors typically “reduce the noise of a gunshot by an average of 20 to 35 decibels, which is roughly the same as earplugs or earmuffs.”
Even the most effective suppressors, on the smallest and quietest calibers (.22 LR), reduce the peak sound level of a gunshot to between 110-120 dB. To put that in perspective, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), that is as loud as a jackhammer (110 dB) or an ambulance siren (120 dB). For normal caliber handguns and rifles, suppressed sound levels routinely exceed 130 dB, just shy of OSHA’s “hearing safe” threshold of 140 dB.
For reference, check out this Taurus TX22 with a SilencerCo Switchback, one of the better rimfire cans on the market, firing standard velocity .22 LR ammunition.
It’s quieter, but you can still hear it.
In addition to noise abatement and hearing protection, the use of a suppressor can also help with firearms training, especially as it curbs the traditional “crack” to a more manageable “pop.”
Is it a “silencer?” Not really.
Is it a “Silencer?” Only if made by Mr. Hiram Percey Maxim’s Silencer Company.
Is it a suppressor? Yup.
So in other words, to turn a phrase, a Silencer is a suppressor but a suppressor is not a silencer, despite what the media says about potatoes.
200304-N-NK931-1001 PHILIPPINE SEA (Mar. 4, 2020) Landing Signalmen Enlisted (LSE), assigned to the Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52), directs night flight operations of an MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter, assigned to the “Saberhawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77, during the U.S.-Japan Bilateral Advanced Warfighting Training exercise (BAWT). (U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Samuel Hardgrove)
The SECNAV this week announced he has given the green light to keep operating yesterday’s destroyer tomorrow.
The idea is to squeeze another 48 ship years out of 12 early Flight I Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers, pushing each beyond their 35-year expected service life.
The oldest hull, the Ingalls-built USS Barry (DDG-52), left Pascagoula in 1992 and was set to retire in FY28 at age 36, and will instead be stretched out to FY31. The newest, USS The Sullivans (DDG-68), which left Bath in 1997 and was scheduled to head to mothballs in FY32, will instead linger until FY35.
There will be no extensive service life extension program for these ships, just the determination “to maximize the service life of each ship before it required another extensive and costly docking availability.”
The feeling is that this is a move that had to happen, rather than a move that the Navy wanted to happen. After all, these early short-hull Burkes are really nowhere near the same capability as their recent Flight IIA and Flight III sisters, which really should have been designated different classes.
While not addressed, you can be sure this early raiding of the future mothball fleet is due to the inexcusable delays in the Constellation-class multi-mission guided-missile frigates, which was supposed to take a proven off-the-shelf (Italian FREMM) program and make it here in the states to speed up the acquisition process, at least until Big Navy got involved and wanted to change every compartment. The program is currently at least three years behind schedule and you can bet that will lapse even further as the first ships have to be rebuilt after initial trials.
The CNO rubber-stamped the DDG 52-68 extension as one would expect of a good CNO, saying:
“Today’s budget-constrained environment requires the Navy to make prioritized investments to keep more ready players on the field,” said Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti. “The Navy is actively pulling the right levers to maintain and grow its Battle Force Inventory to support the United States’s global interests in peace and to win decisively in conflict.”
As detailed by Breaking Defense, the ships and their associated life extensions included in the announcement are:
USS Barry (DDG-52) – three years – FY28 to FY31
USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) – five years – FY28 to FY33
USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) – five years – FY29 to FY34
USS Stout (DDG-55) – five years – FY29 to FY34
USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) – five years – FY29 to FY34
USS Laboon (DDG-58) – five years – FY30 to FY35
USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60) – five years – FY30 to FY35
USS Stethem (DDG 63) – one year – FY30 to FY31
USS Carney (DDG-64) – one year – FY31 to FY32
USS Gonzalez (DDG-66) – five years – FY31 to FY36
USS Cole (DDG-67) – five years – FY31 to FY36
USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) – three years – FY32 to FY35
Official caption, November 1944, Holland: “The Germans installed this gun in the bandstand at Nieuland [Nieuwland], near Middelburg, to cover the crossroads in the town.”
Goodchild A (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer IWM CL 1519
The gun appears to be an 8.8 cm Pak 43/41 anti-tank gun, the famed “German 88,” likely of the newly formed Artillerie-Regiment 170 (Oberst Franz A.M. Lex). Nieuwland was liberated by the 52 (L) Reconnaissance Regiment, of the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division, as part of Anglo-Canadian joint Operation Infatuate, the amphibious landing that gave Allies shipping access to Antwerp docks.
Since you came this far, below is a period USAAF training film on the 88, at least in its AAA role.
Much like the long-discontinued Taurus Model 80 and Rossi Model 68, guns now some 30 years out of production, the Heritage Roscoe is a simple and rugged .38 revolver that looks good and doesn’t break the bank.
It has the look and feel of a vintage S&W J-frame but without the cost – and, unlike a classic Smith or Colt Dick, you can take it to the range and beat on it without losing any collector value. Plus, it has some modern features you didn’t find in those guns such as the transfer bar and heavy barrel profile.
The 3-inch variant runs an inch or so longer than a snub gun, giving a longer (4.97-inch) sight radius while wringing more velocity from the ammo used – all while being very concealable.
You can always get one and turn it into a budget Fitz Special, which seems like a great choice if looking for that.
Is it the best .38 for concealed carry or personal defense compared to more modern designs with shrouded hammers, better triggers, options for adding optics, and weight savings via the inclusion of aluminum and polymer? Not even close, but it can still clock in when needed.
It is no slouch in terms of practical accuracy and is rated to run .38 +P on occasion.
It’s nice to see the Heritage time travel with the Roscoe, which is a bit of fresh air, albeit with a twinge of cigar smoke to it.
This seems like a great time to mention when a 110-foot subchaser dressed up like a 495-foot Bogue-class escort carrier some 80 years ago.
Yup, we are talking about Operation Swiss Navy’s USS SC-449.
Submarine chaser SC-449 disguised as the escort carrier USS Bogue (CVE-9), February 1945. Note the relative size of the men on the stern., via Navsource
SC-449 was one of three Submarine Chasers built in a design competition. Built as an experimental SC design she had 50 percent more stability than the production models that were built. In early 1945, she was selected by the Navy to be converted into a mock Escort Carrier (CVE) to be used in the invasion of the Japanese homelands (Operation Swiss Navy). Her deck was stripped and rebuilt with plywood to look like a CVE. The Navy liked what they saw but she was very top-heavy, so they shelved that idea, plus the atom bomb put an end to these plans.
Christopher C. Wright wrote about this in Warship International, Vol. 45, No. 1 (2008).
SC-449 was converted at Ocracoke, North Carolina, into a “deception ship” in a 1:46 scale CVE 9 configuration in November 1944. After a few months of testing, the vessel was reconverted in March 1945 at Norfolk Navy Yard back to its original configuration.
This series of photos is of the modified SC-449, part of a classified deception project by Amphibious Force Atlantic Fleet.
These photographs were taken on 18 November 1944. The aerial views are a few samples of those taken at 200 ft, 500 ft, 1000 ft, and 2000 ft. NARA collection.
Decommissioned after the war, she went on to work for Texas A&M’s Marine Department, served as a quarters boat for dredge crews, and finally as a yacht before she was scrapped in 1974.
