Last of the Rising Sun

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Masamitsu Yoshioka, the last of Japan’s Pearl Harbor attack force, has passed at 106.

He was an enlisted navigator/bombardier on a Kate from the light carrier Soryu. He dropped a torpedo into the target ship USS Utah (AG-19), the “Forgotten Ship of Pearl Harbor” and was remorseful over that action for decades after. 

Via the Washington Post.

When Pearl Harbor came into view, black smoke was already rising from the U.S. ships hit by the first wave of Japan’s surprise attack. The crew of a Nakajima B5N2 torpedo bomber readied for its run.

The 23-year-old navigator and bombardier on board, Masamitsu Yoshioka, had practiced his part of the maneuver for months without knowing the mission. He was stunned when he was told his carrier group was part of a massive strike on American territory that included more than 300 Japanese warplanes. “The blood rushed out of my head,” Mr. Yoshioka recalled. “I knew that this meant a gigantic war.”

More here.

It is estimated that there are still around 19 American Pearl Harbor survivors. 

Plastic Perfection at 40

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How about this blast from the past from 40 years ago this month: the first (as far as I can tell) review published in the U.S. on the new Glock pistol from the October 1984 SOF, penned by the esteemed Peter G. Kokalis, one of the most underrated firearm experts of our time. Of note, this came before the gun was even imported. 

For reference, the first Glock ad was published in the U.S. in July 1986, from the pages of American Handgunner:

‘America’s Battle Cruiser’ strikes her flag

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The ninth Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, the Ingalls-built USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), was disestablished as a command on 21 September 2024, 37 years and 1 day since “America’s Battle Cruiser” was commissioned.

USS Leyte Gulf (CG 55), 27 September 2024

In those nearly four decades, she accomplished 17 deployments around the world, ranging from fighting and capturing pirates off Somalia, sending TLAMs to Qaddafi, and, just earlier this year while on Fourth Fleet orders for JIATFS, capturing a narco sub.

The self-propelled semi-submersible vessel intercepted by Leyte Gulf, April 2024 (Photo provided by the US Embassy in Georgetown)

She will be towed next month to the Navy’s Inactive Ships facility in Philadelphia, where the old girl will be retained as a Logistical Support Asset status for a few years.

Just nine Ticos are left on active service, less than one per CVBG. 

The last American cruisers are set to withdraw from service in FY27.

Thomas-Morse Hydroplane

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30 September 1918. Original Caption: “Front view Thomas-Morse type SH-4 Naval Training Hydroplane furnished the United States Navy during 1916-1917. Fitted with Curtiss OX-5, 100 H.P. aeromotor; wing spread 43ft., high speed 68 M.P.H., climb 2400 ft. in 10 minutes. Manufactured by the Thomas Morse Aircraft Corporation. Ithaca, New York. U.S.A.”

Signa Corps 165-WW-185D-63. National Archives Identifier 31485301

As detailed by Swanborough:

The SH-4 was one of the first aircraft obtained by the Navy that had practical military experience behind its design, several predecessor models having been sold to Britain in 1915-1916 by the Thomas Aeroplane Co before its merger with the Morse Chain Company to form Thomas-Morse. Fourteeen SH-4s (A134-A136, A396-A406) powered by 100 hp engines were bought by the Navy as observation and trainer types in 1917.

Of note, Thomas-Morse also sold the Navy 14 improved (using 80hp Le Rhone engines) S-4B/Cs whose armament was “principally a camera gun,” another half-dozen olive-drab painted S-5s in 1917, and its masterpiece: more than 250 MB-3/3As that would continue use with the Army, Navy, and Marines through the 1920s.

By 1929, “Tommy Plane” had been taken over by the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation. 

Capt. Kristofferson Spins Up for the Last Time

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Kris Kristofferson has 18 studio albums, 14 compilation or collaboration albums, and more than 100 acting credits, but before all that, he earned a Ranger tab, Army Avaitor Wings, and Jump Wings.

Coming from a military family– his pop was a USAAF/USAF pilot and his brother a Naval Aviator– Texas-born Kristofferson volunteered for the U.S. Army in 1960 and, commissioned a butter bar, completed helicopter pilot school at Fort Rucker.

Following overseas service in West Germany with the 8th Infantry Division, he wanted to head to Vietnam but instead was set to teach English lit at the USMA– he had a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University and earned a master’s degree– but instead resigned his commission in 1965 to pursue his musical career, a move that didn’t sit well with his family.

According to his website:

The Army assigned Kristofferson to teach literature at West Point, a duty that frightened him once he found that he’d have to turn in lesson plans, explaining to superiors exactly what he’d be teaching in class. He said, “It sounded like hell to me.”

This is JO-JO

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Happy National Coffee Day!

Official wartime caption: “Marines Serving Coffee on Guadalcanal, circa 1942. THIS IS ‘JO’—-’ JO’ the Marines’ word for coffee, and coffee is dispensed by the barrelful to our fighting men on Guadalcanal.”

From the Thayer Soule Collection (COLL/2266) at the Archives Branch, Marine Corps History Division. Also NHHC 80-G-27191

Note the coffee urns are GI trash cans, heated by gasoline (or avgas) drip burners, which were totally safe. Also note the cinched-down M1 helmets and gun belts, as Japanese attacks on Henderson Field were often and unannounced.

Nijmegen Ducks

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80 years ago today: American DUKWs transport supplies to waiting British troops and American paratroopers across the River Waal at Nijmegen, Holland, the day after German frogmen of Marine Einsatzkommando (MEK) 65 dropped the East-West bridge’s central span via floating mines, 30 September 1944

Midgley, A. N. (Sergeant), No. 5 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit, IWM B 10435

Same as above, IWM B10434

During the war, the Arsenal of Democracy cranked out over 21,000 of this six-wheel-drive amphibious modification of GMC’s 2+1⁄2-ton CCKW “Jimmy” trucks.

With a 7-ton curb weight, they were capable of 50 mph on paved roads and 6 knots in the water via its stern propeller and could carry 24-ish troops or as much as 5,000 pounds of payload while operated by a single driver.

DUKW Amphibious vehicles in the canals of Venice, Italy, during World War II. c. May, 1945

They remained in service post-war well through Korea while Allies such as France (Indochina), Britain (Malaya/Borneo), and Spain (Africa) would keep them in service into the 1980s.

DUKW of the Spanish Infantería de Marina in a Madrid parade, late 1960s

Make that, Mr. Charles

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Some folks like to throw rocks at the F-35 Charlie, the carrier variant of the Lightning II fighter aircraft. However, these recent images of a ‘Salty Dogs” VX-23 F-35C carrying twin 200+nm range AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASMs) and self-defense Sidewinders are just outright sexy.

NAS PATUXENT RIVER, Md. — An F-35 Lightning II test pilot conducts flight test Sept. 10 to certify the carrier variant of the fighter aircraft for carrying the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM).

As part of ongoing integration efforts, the Pax River F-35 Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF) team flew two days of test flights to evaluate flutter, loads, and flying qualities with two AGM-158 loaded on external stations. LRASM is a defined near-term solution for the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) air-launch capability gap that will provide flexible, long-range, advanced, anti-surface capability against high-threat maritime targets.

The Pax River ITF’s mission is to effectively plan, coordinate, and conduct safe, secure, and efficient flight tests for F-35B and C variants, and provide necessary and timely data to support program verification/certification and fleet operational requirements.

In related news, the Marines are currently validating the AGM-158A JASSM on a legacy (30-year-old) F/A-18D Block 44 Hornet assigned to the “Red Devils” of VMFA-232 at MCAS Miramar earlier this month. Of note, NAVAIR already worked it out for the bigger Rhino back in like 2016.

U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 232, Marine Aircraft Group 11, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, and Marine Aviation Logistics Squadron 11, MAG-11, load an AGM-158A joint air-to-surface standoff missile on an F/A-18 Hornet assigned to VMFA-232 during the AGM-158A validation and verification at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, Aug. 27, 2024. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Jennifer Sanchez)

The presser included this:

Marine Corps strike fighter platforms are postured to acquire long-range, maritime strike capabilities with the inclusion of the AGM-158B joint air-to-surface standoff missile extended range and AGM-158C long-range anti-ship missile on the F-35B/C weapons integration roadmap.

“The JASSM not only surpasses the capabilities of any other weapon currently in the Hornet’s extensive weapons portfolio but also the Marine Corps at large,” Kirby said. “This added capability will greatly increase 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing’s ability to support the joint force and enable greater freedom of maneuver across all operational domains.”

Lakota Sardines

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Fort Novosel (formerly “Mother” Rucker), spanning more than 60,000 acres of rural dark space across Southeastern Alabama about an hour or so from Tallahassee, has over 600 operational helicopters.

Think about that.

That is a figure just about equal to the entire Marine Corps’ inventory (active and reserve, spread from Okinawa to North Carolina), or about three times that of the USAF (likewise, active and reserve, all around the globe). Novosel may be the busiest helicopter base on the planet, even swamping Cambell which has the 101st ABN (280 helos) and the bulk of the Nighstalkers of the 160th SOAR (150 birds).

And that isn’t even counting the 250-odd static aircraft in the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence (museum) which I had the privilege to visit and film at last year.

With so many airframes and Cat 4 Hurricane Helene inbound, threatening 140 mph winds, it was all hands on deck at Novosel the past couple of days stacking the hangars at the complex’s assorted Army Airfields and Heliports like sardines.

From the looks of it, most are UH-72A/B Lakotas (U.S.-built Eurocopter EC145s).

Here’s to hoping everyone makes it through this.

Keep safe, folks.

Antietam, departing

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USS Antietam (CG-54) earlier this week conducted a “dead-stick” berthing shift from the Penalty Box to Pier M-1 of Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam.

This is the pier where her Decommissioning Ceremony will be held on Friday. She just wrapped up a 96-day inactivation availability which consisted of a “series of system deactivations to include the ship’s refrigeration, sewage collection, and fire-fighting systems.”

She is still gorgeous

The eighth Tico, Antietam completed construction at Pascagoula in 1987 while The Gipper was still in office and was one of the first vessels to take part in Operation Desert Shield, arriving as the AAW boss with the Indy CVBG. She earned a Navy Unit Commendation and Southwest Asia Service Medal for the operation.

She would return to the Gulf for OIF and go on to earn no less than four Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations in her nearly 40-year career.

Once she is gone, retained for a time as a reserve asset, there will be just nine Ticos left in service– for now.

The final American cruiser is slated to leave the fleet in FY 27.

If no Ticos are preserved as museum ships, it will be a great shame. 

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