Tag Archives: coal fired ironclad

Warship Wednesday March 11, 2015: The Teller of Tales

Posted on by 4 comments

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 March 11, 2015: The Teller of Tales

4607031_2_l

Here we see the white hulled training ship Tusitala under sail in the 1930s in a painting by maritime artist Joseph Arnold. At which point she was the last commercial square-rigger in American service.

Built in 1882 by the Robert Steel & Co., Greenock, Scotland, as Yard No 130, she was an iron hulled, full-rigged ship. As such, she was in that last generation of elegant windjammers that carried cargo economically around the world. She was no steamship, and relied on the wind for her forward movement.

According to a 1952 article by Roger Dudley, “In rig she was a ship in the strictest sense of the word—a three-masted vessel, square-rigged on all three masts. Her total sail area was more than 20,000 square feet; the mainsail alone being 3,200 feet and the foresail 2,600. She carried single topgallant sails below fore, main and mizzen royals.”

Named originally Inveruglas, she flew a British merchant ensign and was British Reg. No. 87394 and signal PGVL in 1883.

As Inveruglas 1884-- note the figurehead she would lose in 1917

As Inveruglas 1884– note the figurehead she would lose in 1917

Just three years later she was sold to the Sierra Shipping Co., Liverpool, and was renamed Sierra Lucena where she made regular runs from the home islands to Australia for wool and India on the jute trade.

As Sierra Lucena around 1900

As Sierra Lucena around 1900

Her British service came to an end in 1907 when, renamed Sophia, she was sold to the Norwegian shipping firm of Nielsen & Co., Larvik, Norway. The company was concerned in tramping work, but also had a steady grain trade from the River Plate to Europe.

World War I found her dodging both Allied and German warships as Norway was a strict neutral, however she did not come out of the conflict unscathed. While in the River Plate in 1917, she was ran over by a steamship that shattered her bowsprit and destroyed her figurehead. By 1921, she was laid up in Hampton Roads, with her backers unable to find suitable freights for her.

In May 1923, she was bought for a token price by the New York-based “Three Hours for Lunch Club” artists and writers association lead by Christopher Morley, and renamed Tusitala in honor of novelist Robert Louis Stevenson. The meaning is “Teller of Tales.” Stevenson was known to go by the moniker himself.

The one and only Joseph Conrad wrote a congratulatory letter to the new owners:

Joseph Conrad letter

Joseph Conrad letter

“On leaving this hospitable country where the cream is excellent and the milk of human kindness apparently never ceases to flow, I assume an ancient mariner’s privilege of sending to the owners and ship’s company of the Tusitala my brotherly good wishes for fair winds and clear skies on all their voyages. And may they be many!

“And I would recommend to them to watch the weather,” it goes on; “to keep the halliards clear for running, to remember that any fool can carry on, but only the wise man knows how to shorten sail in time … “

The writers club wanted to use the ship to cruise among the islands so loved by Stevenson, but when that proved unlikely, James A. Farrell, a former president of U.S. Steel, acquired the ship from the writers and used her on a series of commercial voyages for his Argonaut Line from New York to Honolulu via the Panama Canal, completing one of the trips in just 76 days– all under sail.

When you consider the voyage was on the order of 5,452 miles, that’s pretty respectable for a 40+ year old vessel.

Furling the royal-- four hands out on the yard passing the gaskets, by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

Furling the royal– four hands out on the yard passing the gaskets, by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

With main and mizzen royals furled and cross-jack unbent, the "Tusitala" makes the best of a fair wind (left) by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

With main and mizzen royals furled and cross-jack unbent, the “Tusitala” makes the best of a fair wind (left) by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

Outward boynd, the Tusitala's sails are set and sheeted home one by one as the tug takes her to sea, by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

Outward boynd, the Tusitala’s sails are set and sheeted home one by one as the tug takes her to sea, by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

Out on the yardarm. Two of her crew, drafted by the old windjammer's huge lower yard, are bending the main course to its jackstay, by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

Out on the yardarm. Two of her crew, drafted by the old windjammer’s huge lower yard, are bending the main course to its jackstay, by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

Out on the yardarm. Two of her crew, drafted by the old windjammer's huge lower yard, are bending the main course to its jackstay, by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

Out on the yardarm. Two of her crew, drafted by the old windjammer’s huge lower yard, are bending the main course to its jackstay, by Roger Dudley from her 1932 voyage

On these trips, she would carry 2600 tons of nitrates to the islands and bring back sugar on the return trips. In 1925, she made a sprint from Honolulu to Seattle, WA, in 16 days and 9 hours.

ttu_dsc001_000107

Shot from port bow, 1920-30s

abeam shot under U.S. flag 1920s

abeam shot under U.S. flag 1930s

Full rig

Full rig

The full-rigged ship Tusitala returning to New York with cargo from across the South Atlantic has run out of wind. The steam tug Federal No. 1 is towing, while a second tug lies along the starboard side of the ship in order to assist in the docking. Via NYT

The full-rigged ship Tusitala returning to New York with cargo from across the South Atlantic has run out of wind. The steam tug Federal No. 1 is towing, while a second tug lies along the starboard side of the ship in order to assist in the docking. Via NYT

In 1932 she was laid up, her commercial career over. Farrell sold her to the breakers six years later when maintaining her pier side at New York’s Riverside Drive wharf proved too costly.

1938 laid up

1938 laid up

However, naval purchasing agents on the East Coast came across the leaky old girl and acquired her in 1939 for $10,000 as a training ship.

Refitted at Staten Island for another $30,000 of MARAD funds, for the first time she carried an electrical system as well as a modern cafeteria and accommodations for up to 150 cadets.

Tusitala was turned over to the U.S. Coast Guard, who ran the government’s merchie training vessels at the time. Placed in commission but not given a pennant number, she was given an “unclassified” hull designation (WIX) which is the same as the current U.S. Coast Guard Training Barque Eagle (WIX-327) carries.

In May 1940 USCGC Mohawk (WPG-75) towed the sailing ship to St. Petersburg, Florida, where she was used during the conflict to instruct thousands of new merchant sailors and officers at the U.S. Merchant Service Training Station (USMSTS) there.

Oddly enough, one of her fellow training ships at St. Pete was the world’s last sailing frigate, the Danish-built Joseph Conrad.

According to the American Merchant Marine at War (www.usmm.org) :

Her masts were cropped, decks cleared of sailing gear, and she was towed into St. Petersburg to be tied up and used as a stationary training ship to augment class facilities. First classes held aboard this ship utilized the galley and mess room as class rooms for courses which included theory and practical instruction in cooking, baking, butchering, care and use of tools and equipment, sanitation, cooks and messmen duties at sea, and ship routine. In addition, there was instruction in boat drill, gunnery, physical education, regulations, customs, and traditions.

View of Training Station from the sea. Vessel on left TV Tusitala, right is the TV Vigil

View of Training Station from the sea. Vessel on left TV Tusitala, right is the TV Vigil

Cadets seen in a postcard from the USMSTC-- the stern of the white hulled Tusitala very visible to the left

Cadets seen in a postcard from the USMSTC– the stern of the white hulled Tusitala very visible to the left

Tusitala spent the war as part of the 7-ship USMM fleet at St. Pete under the overall command of CDR. G.F. Harrington, USMS, a World War I vet with some 40-years of swaying decks under his feet. During WWII, more than 25,000 mariners passed through St. Pete’s halls and tread the decks of the Tusitala.

When the Maritime Service took over all training functions from the Coast Guard after 31 August 1942 Tusitala was administratively decommissioned and transferred to Maritime Service control and operation– even though the latter had run her for two years already.

Untitled

Trainee at the United States Maritime Service training station handling a life boat in an abandon ship drill-- note the Joseph Conrad

Trainee at the United States Maritime Service training station handling a life boat in an abandon ship drill– note the dark hulled Joseph Conrad in the background. LOC image

With the war over and the facility drawing down their fleet to just a handful of ships, she was offered free of charge to the Marine Historical Association of Mystic for their museum, who instead took the Joseph Conrad as that vessel was smaller and in more seaworthy condition.

With her last chance at salvation evaporated, the old Tusitala was towed one final time across the Gulf to Mobile, Alabama in 1948, where she was scrapped. In all she saw six decades at sea under the flags of three countries while inspiring legions of artists, writers, and mariners both young and old.

Today, the former Unites States Maritime Services Training Center facility, decommissioned in March 1950, is incorporated into the University of South Florida.

While the Tusitala is no more, the Conrad remains at Mystic Seaport and is still used for training young mariners.

Specs:

Displacement: 1200 tons nominal. 1746 GRT, 1684 NRT and 1622 tons under deck
Length: 261′ long between perpendiculars (310′ overall)
Beam: 39’5″
Draft: 23’5″ depth
Engine: Nope
Rig (1883-1938) Three masts, rigged with royal sails over double topgallant and top sails, spike bowsprit after 1917. Armament: private small arms as a commercial ship, 1940-47 various gunnery tools including 3-inch and 5-inch gun mockups.

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday March 4, 2015: The Endangered D.C. Destroyer

Posted on by 3 comments

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 March 4, 2015: The Endangered D.C. Destroyer

barry break away

Here we see the Forrest Sherman-class destroyer USS Barry (DD-933) in a beautiful shot of a breakaway after refueling as provided by Jim Buttleman via Navsource.

Following World War II, the U.S. Navy had literally hundreds of very advanced Fletcher, Gearing, and Sumner-class destroyers in the fleet. In fact, many of these ships to include most of the Fletchers, were in mothballs or part-time NRF service. However, by the 1950s the Big Blue was looking for some more advanced tin cans to carry forth fleet operations and help screen the new breed of super-carriers. Four giant 490-foot Mitscher-class destroyers were completed during the Korean conflict era but the Navy thought they were too big. A smaller design, just a bit larger than the WWII Gearings but with more modern equipment was then designed– the Forest Sherman class.

Class leader DD-931 was ordered March 1951 from Bath and was the first of some 18 sisters. These 418-foot long, 4,000-ton full load greyhounds used GE steam turbines and Foster-Wheeler boilers to generate over 32.5-knots at max speed. Equipped with the a trio of the new 5″/54 caliber Mark 42 guns, they could shoot further (26,000 yards) and faster (40-rounds per minute per mount) than other destroyers in the fleet armed with the legacy 5″/38 cal guns. A quartet of 3 inch (76 mm) 50-caliber Mark 33 AAA guns were mounted instead of the previous generations Bofors and Oerlikons and the ships carried both 21-inch anti-surface torpedo tubes and Hedgehog ASW weapons.

The third ship of the class was named after “The Father of the American Navy,” Commodore John Barry. Barry, an American by way of County Wexford Ireland, was a bible-thumping catholic who commanded the early Continental and later United States Ships Delaware, Lexington, Raleigh, and Alliance in a series of combats during the War of Independence after receiving a commission signed by John Hancock. In 1797, at age 52, he received Commission #1 in the U.S. Navy at the hand of George Washington. Fittingly, Barry died while on active duty in 1803. DD-933 was named not only after this venerated gentleman of the sea but in honor of a Clemson-class destroyer, DD-248/APD-29 that was sunk by kamikazes 21 June 1945.

The Commodore still stands tall at Philly's Independence Hall.

The Commodore still stands tall at Philly’s Independence Hall.

USS Barry (DD-933) was ordered 15 December 1952 and built alongside several of her classmates at Bath in Maine, commissioning on 7 September 1956.

USS Barry (DD-933) Underway, circa 1960, after she had been refitted with a bow-mounted sonar. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

USS Barry (DD-933) Underway, circa 1960, after she had been refitted with a bow-mounted sonar. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

She soon was deployed far and wide, conducting port calls with the fleet in South America and Europe before a refit in 1959 that saw her Mk. 25 torpedo tubes removed, new Mk.32 ASW tubes installed, and an advanced SQS-23 sonar fitted.

This made her one of the most advanced platforms in the Atlantic Fleet when the Cuban Missile Crisis kicked off.

Can you say pucker-factor?

Can you say pucker-factor?

Barry lived through that terror-inducing operation, making her own footnote in history when she investigated the Soviet-flagged merchantman Metallurg Anosov, coming close enough to photograph deck cargo. She also kept tabs on C-19, a Soviet Foxtrot-class diesel sub.

Following Cuban service, she led DesRon 24 to Vietnam. There in Southeast Asian waters she spent much of 1965-66 on plane duty watching for crashed naval aviators and alternated this with coastal naval gunfire support of Marine, 1st Cav and ARVN units ashore. Barry fired more than 2200 5-inch shells into Viet Cong and NVA positions with the aid of spotters, receiving two battle stars for her service.

USS Barry (DD-933) at sea after completion of her conversion to ASW configuration, location unknown. United States Navy, Official. Note the 5-inch mount replaced by the ASROC box.

USS Barry (DD-933) at sea after completion of her conversion to ASW configuration, location unknown. United States Navy, Official. Note the 5-inch mount replaced by the ASROC box.

In 1967, another refit saw her ditch a 5-inch mount for a new-fangled ASROC launcher as well as new electronics. The MK-112 “Matchbox” launcher held eight 1100-pound RUR-5 Anti-Submarine Rockets each with a Mk.46 torpedo or a W44 Nuclear depth bomb attached. A below-deck magazine, in the same compartment that held 600 5-inch shells for the mount, was replaced by magazine for another 8 rockets.

Barry then changing her homeport to Athens, Greece. There she had a ringside seat for another Red Banner Fleet v. U.S. Navy standoff in 1973 when the Soviets came eyeball to eyeball in the Med with NATO forces during the Yom Kippur War.

Moving back to CONUS with a homeport in Boston, Barry saw a yearlong overhaul that ended March 1981 that included, among other improvements, the ability for her ASROC to fire Harpoon anti-ship missiles.

Although fresh and ready, she and her sisters were rapidly retired in the early 1980s to make room on the Naval List for the new Spruance-class destroyers. On 5 November 1982, Barry was decommissioned just 19 months after refit and towed to Philly’s red lead row where she was stricken January 31, 1983.

By the end of 1983, 16 of her sisters were mothballed with only USS Edson (DD-946) remaining active until 1988.

Barry, in large part due to her recently reconditioned appearance and storage close to the nation’s capital, was given a reprieve from the scrappers and towed to Washington Navy Yard in May 1983. Used as a floating museum ship maintained by the Navy, she has been used for hundreds of change of command, retirement, and re-enlistment ceremonies for maritime personnel in the D.C. area for the past 32 years.

"A port bow view of the decommissioned destroyer BARRY (DD-933) being towed to the Washington Navy Yard by the fleet tug USNS APACHE (T-AF-172). The BARRY is to be docked permanently at Pier 2 and will be opened to the public as a museum." 1983 U.S. Navy Photo DN-ST-84-02636 by PH3 Dixon.

“A port bow view of the decommissioned destroyer BARRY (DD-933) being towed to the Washington Navy Yard by the fleet tug USNS APACHE (T-AF-172). The BARRY is to be docked permanently at Pier 2 and will be opened to the public as a museum.” 1983 U.S. Navy Photo DN-ST-84-02636 by PH3 Dixon.

Open to the public nine months a year, she sees over 9,000 civilian visitors to the Navy Museum annually.

Barry on display

Barry on display

If you do the math on that, more than a quarter million people have walked her decks as a museum ship since the Reagan-era while her decks and bridge have been the setting for film and TV series. Her ASROC magazine is now a vistor’s center.

Every Halloween for the past several years she turned into “Ghost Ship Barry” for the sake of the kids.

Ghost-Ship-Barry

Now, with the new Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge being built, the ship would be trapped in the Anacostia River after October 2015, and in response, the Navy intends to tow the 59-year old destroyer out of the capitol and dismantle her.

WASHINGTON (Aug. 21, 2014) The Pride of Baltimore II hosts visitors while at anchor next to Washington Navy Yard's display ship Barry on Washington D.C.'s Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. The ship, a working replica of the first Pride of Baltimore which was a privateer during the War of 1812, is hosting visitors from Aug. 20-25 in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the burning of the Washington Navy Yard and Washington D.C. in 1814. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass communication Specialist 1st Class Tim Comerford/Released)

WASHINGTON (Aug. 21, 2014) The Pride of Baltimore II hosts visitors while at anchor next to Washington Navy Yard’s display ship Barry on Washington D.C.’s Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. The ship, a working replica of the first Pride of Baltimore which was a privateer during the War of 1812, is hosting visitors from Aug. 20-25 in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the burning of the Washington Navy Yard and Washington D.C. in 1814. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass communication Specialist 1st Class Tim Comerford/Released)

Even when Barry takes her final cruise to the scrappers, her name will live on in the fleet in USS Barry (DDG-52), an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, commissioned in 1992.

Of DD-933‘s sisters, 9 were sunk is training exercises in the 1990s, 6 have been sold for scrap (including Forrest Sherman herself last December), and two, USS Turner Joy (DD-951), and Edson, are currently saved as museum ships in Bremerton, Washington and at Bay City, Michigan respectively.

Specs

Post ASW conversion via Shipbucket, McConrads, Scifibug

Post ASW conversion via Shipbucket, McConrads, Scifibug

Displacement: 4050 tons
Length:     418 ft 6 in (128 m)
Beam:     45 ft (13.7 m)
Draught:     19 ft 6 in (5.9 m)
Propulsion:     70,000 shp (52.2 MW); Geared turbines, two propellers
Speed:     33 knots (61 km/h)
Range:     4500 nautical miles (8,300 km)
Complement:    337
Armament:     (in 1956)
3 × 5 in (127 mm)/54,
2 × 3 in (76 mm)/50 twin mounts,
2 × ASW hedgehogs (Mk 11),
4 × 21 in (533 mm) Mk 25 torpedo tubes

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday Feb. 25, 2015: A Minesweeping Narcissus in Tampa

Posted on by Leave a comment

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 Feb. 25, 2015 A Narcissus in Tampa

Painting by Rob Gelhardt

Painting by Rob Gelhardt

Here we see the wooden hulled steam-powered gunboat USS Narcissus as she appeared during the Civil War. She was a needed addition to a fleet that was very much overtaxed.

When the U.S. Navy plunged headlong into the Civil War in 1861, the Navy List held the names of 90 vessels, only 42 of which, less than half, were in commissioned service. Even these ships were spread all over the world (9 were in the African Squadron, 3 in the Med, 3 in Brazil, 5 were in Japan or the East Indies, et.al) . Those ships in U.S. waters were hardly ready for modern naval combat on any scale. Compared to the giant Royal Navy who had a staggering 53 steam-powered ships of the line (that mounted between 60 to 131 guns and weighed between 2400 to 4200 tons), the largest ships in the U.S. service were five 1800-ton sail frigates which mounted but 50 guns each. Indeed, the French and Russians outmatched the U.S. Navy as well.

However, with a need to blockade some thousands of miles of coastline from Maryland to Mexico while chasing down Confederate raiders on the high seas, the force soon formed four powerful blockade squadrons as well as the Mississippi River Squadron to help strangle the South in Gen. Scott’s “Anaconda plan.”

By the end of the war in 1865, the Union Navy ballooned to 671 ships on its list and its rolls contained 84,000 sailors and another 13,000 Marines. They did this by a massive shipbuilding program in every yard north of the Mason-Dixon Line as well as taking up ships from trade.

The Narcissus was one of the latter.

Built as the civilian steam tug Mary Cook in East Albany New York to move ships out of port, she was completed in the summer of 1863. That year she was purchased by Navy buyers and, after adding a 20-pounder Parrott rifle to stern deck and a 12-pounder to her bow, the little 81-foot vessel was named, for reasons unknown, the USS Narcissus. This moniker was only used this one time in the Navy (*however a USCG buoy tender, WAGL-238, did repeat it in the 20th Century).

A rather interesting single-cylinder inverted steam engine fed by a coal boiler drove her at 14-knots, which was PT-boat fast for her day.

Commissioned 2 February 1864 at Brooklyn Naval Yard, she left for the Gulf of Mexico where she was to join Rear Admiral David Farragut’s West Gulf Blockading Squadron. The admiral’s father, George Farragut, had died at Pascagoula Mississippi in 1817 and as a young boy; David hung around New Orleans and the Mississippi Sound, which made it something of a bittersweet homecoming for him to be in charge of the squadron tasked to blockade those waters.

Farragut

Farragut

Speaking of which, the Narcissus, due to her shallow 6-foot draft, was perfect for patrolling inside the waters of the Sound. Shallow draft schooners from Pascagoula and Biloxi ran the blockade with great regularity even while the Union fleet controlled Ship Island, which closed in half of the Sound. One of the most notorious, the 180-foot blockade-runner Fox, had only just been burned by her crew while hard aground off Pascagoula’s front beach (the wreckage of which can still be seen off 11th Street at low winter tide). However, there were others to pick up the Fox‘s slack.

Within weeks, the little Narcissus was victorious. On Aug. 24, 1864 she captured the confederate schooner Oregon in Biloxi Bay while under the command of 56-year old recessed U.S. District Judge and then-Acting Ensign William G. Jones. The Oregon had scrapped before with the steamer USS New London and Farragut had long ached to either catch or sink her. So, mission accomplished.

It was just after this prize that the little gunboat was ordered to Mobile Bay, the location of some very hot action when Farragut “dammed the torpedoes.” And by torpedoes, we mean floating naval mines. It would be Narcissus’s job to become one of the first mine-sweepers in history and, as the joke goes, any ship can be a minesweeper once.

As you may have guessed she caught a mine, (we mean torpedo) right in the teeth while off the Dog River Bar in Mobile Bay in 7 December and sank in the shallow mud there. Jones reported: ”. . . the vessel struck a torpedo, which exploded, lifting her nearly out of water and breaking out a large hole in the starboard side, amidships . . . causing the vessel to sink in about fifteen minutes.”

While Jones and the crew, which suffered no losses, were reassigned around the squadron, the Narcissus was raised for salvage. She was at Pensacola Naval Station when the war ended, undergoing repairs. Made seaworthy, she received her last crew.

She wasnt the last Union steam tug/minesweeper to hit bottom in Mobile Bay. On 12 April, the day Mobile finally surrendered, USS Althea struck a torpedo in the Blake River and sank while dragging primitive sweep gear in an effort to clear the channels of explosive devices. Like Narcissus, she was raised and repaired.

The two battered tugs were ordered to the East Coast for decommissioning and disposal. The two unlucky ships became separated off Tampa, Florida in a storm on the night of Jan. 3/4, 1866.  It was then that Althea grounded on a sandbar and the two ships exchanged signals in the howling wind and rain but when the dawn came, the Althea, after working herself free, only found bodies and floating wreckage of her companion.

history1

It is believed that Narcissus, under Acting Ensign Isaac S. Bradbury and with a 28-man crew, hit a shifting bar 1.5 miles northwest of Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay and her boiler exploded, destroying the vessel. No living crew members were ever recovered.

Although her war was short, the hardy tug survived a rebel torpedo, supported the capture of Fort Morgan, helped close off the Mississippi Sound, and in the end gave her charges over to the sea in what could be taken as some of the last casualties of the Civil War.

narcissusmap

Her wreck has always been known to some extent, lying in pieces along the sandy bottom off Tampa in just 15 feet of water. Texas A&M extensively mapped the site in 1999, however, most relics of the vessel are long since gone, ether carried away by divers over the years or by Union troops who salvaged her cannon and anything else useable back in the 1860s.

An easy and popular dive due to the shallow water, she became the state’s 12th underwater archaeological preserve last month in partnership with the U.S. Navy who still owns the wreck and the Florida Aquarium.

Florida’s Underwater Archeological Preserves and the Florida Aquarium maintain excellent relics to include sheathing, lanterns, and other items that were recovered. Her rare steam engine, anchor, and screw rest remarkably intact along the ocean floor.

nar wreck

On Jan. 15, 2015, the inshore construction tender USCGC Vise (WLIC-75305), dropped a reef ball monument on the site of USS Narcissus

As for former U.S. District Judge and former U.S. Navy Acting Ensign William Giles Jones? He liked Mobile Bay so much that he remained there after the war and took up private practice as a lawyer, dying at age 80. Althea, the Narcissus‘s traveling companion, was sold in December 1866 in New York and remained in service as a commercial tug until the turn of the century.

Specs

Displacement: 101 long tons (103 t)
Length:            81 ft. 6 in (24.84 m)
Beam: 18 ft. 9 in (5.72 m)
Draft: 6 ft. (1.8 m)
Depth of hold: 8 ft. (2.4 m)
Propulsion:      Steam engine
Speed:             14 kn (16 mph; 26 km/h)
Complement: 19 officers and enlisted
Armament:      1 × 20-pounder Parrott rifle, 1 × heavy 12-pounder

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday Feb. 18, 2015 Marshal Massena of Gallipoli

Posted on by Leave a comment

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 Feb. 18, 2015 Marshal Massena of Gallipoli

Click to bigup

Click to bigup

Here we see the Charles Martel-class pre-dreadnought battleship of the Navy of the French Republic, Marshal André Masséna. Just about one of the coolest late-19th century warwagons, she is a classic of Edwardian naval tumblehome hull architecture.

This 11,000-ton, 369-foot warship today would be classified as a cruiser or even a Zumwalt-class destroyer, but in 1892, she was an ass kicker. An incredibly complicated system of two dozen Lagrafel d’Allest water-tube boilers fed manually by coal pushed three triple expansion engines that could propel her and her near sisters at about 17-ish knots, which was pretty good for the day.

in port

in port

If she had to fight, a pair of 12”/40 caliber (305mm) Modèle 1893 guns, mounted in single turrets fore and aft, could hole an enemy ship with a 770-pound AP shell out to 13,00 yards. These were backed up by another pair of 10-inch guns, 16 smaller mounts and, like most battleships of the era, had submerged torpedo tubes. She was made to be able to slug it out, being fitted with up to 18-inches of steel plate armor.

A great overhead shot. Note the armarment plan, with the two 12-inchers fore and aft and two single 10-inchesr port and starboard.

A great overhead shot. Note the armament plan, with the two 12-inchers fore and aft and two single 10-inchesr port and starboard.

Laid down at Ateliers et Chantiers de la Loire in 1892, she was named after André Masséna, Duc de Rivoli, Prince d’Essling, one of Napoleon’s original 18 Marshals. Of course Massena turned his back in little N when the Bourbons came back to power and kept it turned during the 100 Days, but hey nobody is perfect.

The namesake battleship was commissioned in June 1898, after five years on the builder’s ways. Coming out during the Spanish-American War, in which most of the ships in combat were armored cruisers smaller and less heavily armed than Masséna, her design was felt validated.

French pre-dreadnought battleship Masséna, alongside one of her sisters

French pre-dreadnought battleship Masséna, alongside one of her sisters

She spent the next decade in happy peacetime maneuvers, gunnery trials, and practice. However, by 1908 a funny thing happened. You see after the Russo Japanese War of 1904-05, dreadnoughts of her type were hamburger. In fact, four Russian Borodino-class battleships, themselves actually more modern versions of the Masséna and her sisters, lasted just minutes in combat. With the all-big-gun HMS Dreadnought being commissioned in 1906, she was further made obsolete.

image224

Masséna was sitting in French mothballs when World War One erupted and she was eventually dusted off. Even old battleships are useful in a Great War after all. She was to be used to help force the straits to the Bosporus during the Gallipoli Campaign in late 1914 along with her recently recalled sisters.

Note the hull shape

Note the hull shape

There, Bouvet, one of these sisterships struck a mine and sunk in just two minutes during operations off the Dardanelles on 18 March 1915. That was indicative of campaign. When that whole thing unraveled, Massena, the 17-year-old bruiser was scuttled in shallow water and used as a breakwater to help evac the ANZAC/French forces in 1916. In 1923, the postwar French Naval Bureau sold the hulk, which they still technically owned, to breakers for scrap.

Her three surviving near sisters in French service, Charles Martel, Jauréguiberry, and Carnot, were out of front line service after Gallipoli and scrapped before the next war, the class forgotten.

As for Masséna himself, his sabre is on display at the musée d’Art et d’Histoire de Neuchâte

Specs

Charles Martel class line drawing as commissioned. Image from Shipbucket

Charles Martel class line drawing as commissioned. Image from Shipbucket

Displacement: 11,735 tons (11,550 long tons)
Length: 112.65 m (369 ft. 7 in)
Beam: 20.27 m (66 ft. 6 in)
Draft: 8.84 m (29 ft. 0 in)
Propulsion: Three triple expansion engines
Speed: 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Complement: 667
Armament:
2 × 305 mm/40 (12 in) Modèle 1893 guns
2 × 274 mm/45 (10.8 in) Modèle 1893 guns
8 × 138 mm/45 (5.5 in) Modèle 1888 guns
8 × 100 mm (3.9 in) guns
4 × 450 mm torpedo tubes (submerged)
Armor:
Belt: 450 mm (18 in)
Turrets: 400 mm (16 in)
Conning tower: 350 mm (14 in)

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday Feb 11, 2015: Of Cyclops and Covered Wagons

Posted on by 7 comments

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, Feb 11, 2015: Of Cyclops and Covered Wagons

Click to big up

Click to big up

Here we see the U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier in 1924 with a dozen early biplanes on her deck, the one that started the whole shebang of sea-going Naval Aviation in the Western Hemisphere: the converted Proteus-class collier USS Langley (CV-1) nee USS Jupiter (AC-3).

One cold harsh realization that the original Global Force for Good,–Teddy Roosevelt’s 1908 Great White Fleet– came to know during its round-the-world sortie, was that a large force of battleships and cruisers needed huge, dedicated coal-carriers to keep the fleet moving. You see those water tube boilers of the day had to have a steady stream of the black stuff to make steam or the whole thing was dead in the water.

That’s when the Navy decided to ask for a quartet of new, purpose-built, colliers. Operated by the Naval Auxiliary Service, the forerunner of the MSC of today, these would be unarmed, civilian-crewed ships, owned by the government and under Navy orders.

Like class leader USS Proteus laid down in 1911 at Newport News, the four colliers would have names drawn from Greek mythology. Sisterships, Cyclops, Nereus, and Jupiter were likewise named and ordered at the same time. Nereus would be constructed at Newport News alongside Proteus while Cyclops was built at Cramp in Pennsylvania. Jupiter, our subject was laid down on 18 October 1911 at the Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California.

USS Jupiter in the Mare Island Channel, 7 April 1913 (Commissioning Day). The collier USS Saturn is aft of Jupiter Navy Yard Mare Island photo # AC 3 001-4-13 via Navsource

USS Jupiter in the Mare Island Channel, 7 April 1913 (Commissioning Day). The collier USS Saturn is aft of Jupiter Navy Yard Mare Island photo # AC 3 001-4-13 via Navsource

These 522-foot long ships, built at a bargain price of $1 million a pop, they could tote 11,800 tons of coal and 1,125 ton of oil in six holds. They were made distinctive by their seven tall A-frame towers, standing five stories above deck (remember this later) that allowed coal or oil to be moved via a complicated series of 24 winches and 12 cable-ways to vessels along either side. In tests with the battleship Wyoming, it was found that one of these colliers could transfer 217 tons per hour if needed, which was pretty efficient.

They could also carry 8,000 tons of dry cargo in place of coal and small amounts of men from place to place. As such, they proved handy as a sort of low-budget federal shipping service for the government.

Post card of USS Jupiter moored pier side, probably at Mare Island Navy Yard, sometime about the time of her completion in 1913. Robert M. Cieri via Navsource

Postcard of USS Jupiter moored pier side, probably at Mare Island Navy Yard, sometimes about the time of her completion in 1913. Robert M. Cieri via Navsource

Jupiter was commissioned on 7 April 1913 and, like her three sisters, proved yeoman service to the fleet both in the days leading up to WWI and in the war itself. By 1916, the Navy had directed that these ships be crewed by actual naval personnel, and they picked up a quartet of 4-inch popguns for self-defense. Jupiter did her duty when the Great War came and coaled the U.S. Atlantic Fleet on both sides of the pond, seeing service in dangerous U-boat-infested waters without a hitch.

Lead Ship, Dreadnought Battleship USS South Carolina pictured conducting experimental coaling at sea with Collier USS Cyclops while underway in April 1914. Two 800 lb bags of coal were moved at once by the line between the vessels

Speaking of dangerous, her sister ship, USS Cyclops, carrying the United States Consul-General to Rio, Alfred Louis Moreau Gottschalk among her passengers, as well as 231 crew and an overloaded cargo of manganese, went missing somewhere between Barbados and Virginia in March 1918. This disappearance was blamed at the time on U-boats, or possibly a fierce storm that swept through the Virginia Capes. Other theories included the possibility that her German-born Captain may have done something with her, and, later Bermuda Triangle advocates have advanced all sorts of crap claims ranging from UFOs to magnetic shifts. Other more plausible reasons include the ship’s very high messianic height (have you seen those derrick towers!?), the numerous huge hatches on deck, and low freeboard (just 8-feet when fully loaded) leading to unsafe conditions in rough seas.

Cyclops has never been found although at least one Navy diver, Dean Hawes in 1968, descended on a large hulk lying in 180 feet of water about 40 nautical miles northeast of Cape Charles, that is thought to have been the Cyclops. The ship has been an ongoing topic for Clive Cussler and his NUMA crew, even making it into a rather entertaining Dirk Pitt novel that I read back in 7th grade…and again in 10th…

25149Anyways, back to Jupiter.

With the war over and the Navy moving to oilers rather than colliers, Jupiter was surplus. In fact, her surviving sisters Nereus and Proteus were laid up on red lead row for good. That fate was almost shared by Jupiter, who was decommissioned on 24 March 1920, except that she was converted to use as the U.S. Navy’s first, albeit experimental, aircraft carrier.

In 1922, she reemerged from the Norfolk Navy Yard dubbed USS Langley after aviation pioneer Samuel Pierpont Langley. Gone were her huge towers, her topside now covered with a wooden flight deck for aircraft. As such, she took on the nickname of “The Covered Wagon.”

USS Langley (CV-1) early in her career (note single stack to port). Photo is stamped on back: "Chief of Information. Navy Department. Washington, 25 D.C." Photo by Jim Bulebush via Navsource

USS Langley (CV-1) early in her career (note single stack to port). Photo is stamped on back: “Chief of Information. Navy Department. Washington, 25 D.C.” Photo by Jim Bulebush via Navsource

With her huge derricks removed and topside weight reduced, she shed some 5,000 tons and could float in water some five feet more shallow. She also picked up a couple knots in speed without all that bulk. In addition to her flight deck, she was fitted with an elevator and catapult as well as a carrier pigeon house on the stern. Her old 4″/50s were replaced by newer 5″/51s and her holds were converted to berthing for up to 500 bluejackets and air wing members as well as bunkering for avgas and lubricants.

An image taken from a departing biplane, Aug 03, 1923 of the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier. NARA Photo 520639

An image is taken from a departing biplane, Aug 03, 1923, of the U.S. Navy’s first aircraft carrier. NARA Photo 520639

USS Langley, 1923, showing off those fine collier lines!

1931 Jane’s, showing a plan for the carrier Langley

Holy built-up, Batman! January 1930 photo shows USS Langley (CV 1) in drydock 2 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard

For the next 15 years, Langley served as the cradle of U.S. Naval aviation, with most of the service’s pre-WWII aviators learning their trade on her humble decks. In fact, she was the only carrier in the fleet, not to mention the hemisphere, until late 1927. She conducted several important firsts including launching and recovering the first Navy’s first rotary-wing aircraft, a Pitcairn XOP-1 autogyro, on Sept. 23, 1931.

Inside the hangar of USS Langley, CV-1

Hangar of the USS Langley, circa 1920. She could carry as many as 42 aircraft, 30 being the average. The larger plane in the foreground is a Douglas DT torpedo bomber, with its wings removed. Other aircraft are Vought VE-7s.

Had there been no Langley, there likely would have been no Lexington, Yorktown, or Enterprise air wings in 1942. Further, five of her skippers went on to become admirals.

"Fleet Plane Carrier on Night Maneuvers," circa 1925. Robert M. Cieri/ Thomas M. McDermott via Navsource.

“Fleet Plane Carrier on Night Maneuvers,” circa 1925. Robert M. Cieri/ Thomas M. McDermott via Navsource.

Still, at the end of the day, Langley was just a collier by any other name and a slow one at that. In 1936, she was stripped of her fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes, reclassified as a seaplane tender (AV-3) and her deck cut back to less than half its former length.

USS Langley (AV-3) at anchor in 1937, near NAS Coco Solo Panama. The aircraft over flying Langley are Consolidated PBY-2s from Patrol Squadron Two (VP-2). US Navy photo via Navsource

USS Langley (AV-3) at anchor in 1937, near NAS Coco Solo Panama. The aircraft overflying Langley are Consolidated PBY-2s from Patrol Squadron Two (VP-2). US Navy photo via Navsource. Note the half-length deck.

When WWII started, she was forward deployed to the Philippines and dodged incoming Japanese planes on the very first day of the War in the Pacific. Escaping the PI by the skin of her teeth, she worked her way south to the Dutch East Indies where she was used by the Army to deliver a load of 32 Curtiss P-40 Warhawks of the 13th USAAF Pursuit Squadron to Java.

However, the Japanese caught up to the old girl and on 27 February 1942, left her dead in the water off Java with five bomb hits turning her into an inferno and taking 16 of her crew to the deep. Nine 4-inch shells and two torpedoes from the destroyer USS Whipple (DD-217) finished her off after her crew was offloaded to prevent her from falling into enemy hands.

Most of her crew was rescued by the fleet oiler USS Pecos (AO–6) but tragically were lost when that ship was sunk by Japanese air attack from the carriers Kaga and Soryu, 1 March.

Her sisters Nereus and Proteus? As it turned out, Langley/Jupiter outlived them both.

They were struck from the Naval List in 1940 after spending nearly two decades in mothballs. The Navy just didn’t need any colliers or, for that matter, cargo ships with corrosion and engine issues. The two were sold to Saguenay Terminals Ltd. of Montreal, Quebec on March 8 and 10th, 1941 respectively, and operated in the Canadian Merchant Navy during World War II. In the ultimate in Theremin music soundtracked creepiness on the high seas, both of these ships, like the Cyclops before them, disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle area within three weeks of each other. M/V Proteus left St. Thomas, USVI with a load of bauxite to be turned into aluminum bound for Maine on Nov. 23, 1941. M/V Nereus left the same port, with the same cargo, for the same destination, on Dec. 10th.

Neither was seen again.

While the three colliers are somewhere in Poseidon’s Bermuda flotilla, Langley‘s wreck is some 75 miles south of Tjilatjap, Indonesia while a very well-done model is on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum, Pensacola, Florida. Her name was later carried by the USS Langley (CVL-27), an 11,000-ton Independence-class aircraft carrier that served the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947. Since that ship was stricken in March 1963, there has not been a Langley on the Naval List.

She is remembered as the Covered Wagon

She is remembered as the Covered Wagon

 

Specs

As collier:

Displacement: 19,000 long tons (19,000 t) full
Length: 522 ft. (159 m)
Beam: 63 ft. (19 m)
Draft: 27 ft. 8 in (8.43 m)
Speed: 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement: 13 officers, 91 men, all civilians, bunks for 158
Armament:     4-4″/50 (Fitted 1916/17)

Specs: As Aircraft Carrier

Displacement:
13,900 long tons (14,100 t)
Length: 542 ft. (165.2 m)
Beam: 65 ft. 5 in (19.9 m)
Draft: 24 ft. (7.3 m)
Installed power: 7,200 shp (5,400 kW)
Propulsion:     General Electric turbo-electric transmission
3 × boilers
2 × shafts
Speed: 15.5 kn (17.8 mph; 28.7 km/h)
Range: 3,500 nmi (4,000 mi; 6,500 km) at 10 kn (12 mph; 19 km/h)
Complement: 468 officers and men
Armament:     4 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns
Aircraft carried:  up to 55 in tests. Typically, 36 embarked. As seaplane tender after 1936, would be responsible for 10-20 flying boats
Aviation facilities: 1 × elevator
1 × catapult

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday January 28, 2015 the Tsar’s Panther

Posted on by 3 comments

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, January 28, 2015, the Tsar’s Panther

Russian submarine Pantera, note four drop collars and two deck guns

Russian submarine Pantera, note four drop collars and two deck guns

Here we see the His Imperial Russian Highness’s Ship Pantera (Panther), a Bars-class submersible that ended up being the most successful Soviet ship of the World War I-era and to this day holds the all-Russian record for warship ‘kills.’

The Russians were quick to develop submarines, with their own early Nikonov ‘Barrel Sub’ predating the American Colonial ‘Turtle‘ by nearly a century.

Russian sub design from 1834...

Russian sub design from 1834…

When Mr. Holland’s working submersibles came out, the Tsar’s navy ordered several and by 1903 Naval architect Ivan Grigoryevich Bubnov, then 32, had designed the first all-Russian combat capable submarine, the 64-foot Delfin (Dolphin) which was rushed to the Pacific just in time for an uneventful role in the Russo-Japanese War.

Delfin-- all 64-feet of Russian U-boat

Delfin– all 64-feet of Russian U-boat. She only proved dangerous to her own crews.

Well the Delfin, being a gasoline-powered boat, suffered from explosive fumes and sank at least twice in her career. This sub also took up to a dozen minutes to submerge, which was less than ideal.

Naval architect Ivan Grigoryevich Bubnov. The sub in the background was his one-off Akula

Naval architect Ivan Grigoryevich Bubnov. The sub in the background was his one-off Akula (Shark). She was the world’s submarine capable of firing a multi-torpedo volley with five torpedoes. During the war, she attacked the old Küstenpanzerschiffe SMS Beowulf and in turn was sunk by a German mine.

Well between 1904-1914, Bubnov was given free rein to develop submarines, which he did; producing 11 steel sharks for the Tsar spread across four different classes, each an improvement on the last. The Russians also bought 23 German, Italian and American-built subs outright, which the design bureau crawled through and took notes from.

By early 1914, the seminal Tsarist naval design for submarines was developed, that of the 233-foot long Bars (Snow Leopard) class.

Pantera sistership Submarine Lioness note extensive drop collars and deck guns

Pantera sistership Submarine Lioness note extensive drop collars and deck guns

These 24-ships carried an impressive dozen 18-inch torpedoes including four launched from internal torpedo tubes and 8 carried in external Drzewiecki drop collars. The use of drop collars, which carried a torpedo in a cradle outside of the hull and was launched from that position, was unique to Tsarist and some French subs. It was the brainchild of Stefan Drzewiecki who, before Bubnov came along, had designed a group of human-powered (think CSS Hunley) submarines.

Emperor Nicholas II is listening to the report of the Russian captain at the Baltic shipbuilding and mechanical factory

Emperor Nicholas II is listening to the report of the Russian captain at the Baltic shipbuilding and mechanical factory

For action on the surface, a small 3-inch deck gun was mounted, as were a few smaller mounts. Unlike many subs of the day, the Bars-class was relatively fast, able to break 18-knots on the surface. Better yet, they could submerge within about 90 seconds if the 33-man crew was trained enough (more on this later.)

In all some two dozen were built, 18 by the Baltic Shipyard, St. Petersburg or Noblessner Yard, Reval (Estonia) for use by the Baltic Fleet, and another half dozen by the Nikolayev Navy Yard for use on the Black Sea.

The thing is, Russia’s submarine crews, being new to the game, were very inexperienced.

After all, when these 24 new subs came out, they more than doubled the Russian underwater fleet, which had only existed for a scant decade. In fact, many of the older boats were laid up to help provide crews while sailors were often cross-decked to help fill out rosters just before a patrol. There just was not the wealth of operational experience for these new craft. They did, however, have one of the world’s first submarine tender/rescue ships, the catamaran Volkov (which is still in service a 100-years later).

When WWI broke out, these ships sortied against the German fleet (in the Baltic) and the Turks (in the Black) but didn’t chalk up many victories. The Russians only pulled off 14 combat patrols in 1914, which resulted in no kills.

When several British E-class subs snuck into the Baltic and set up operations, and the Russian officers started emulating the Brits, even going out on (successful) RN patrols sinking German steamers off Sweden, things grew more aggressive. This led to no less than 50 (unsuccessful) torpedo attacks on German cruisers SMS Lubeck, Pillau, and Konigsberg without a hit. However, the Bars-class was modified to carry eight M-08 sea mines on deck and as such helped expand the mine belt in the Baltic.

1916 was a better year for the Bars-class, with the Volk (Wolf) sinking at least four small steamers on the Sweden-to-Germany ore run while the Vepr (Boar) took a fifth. It was in this “Golden Age of Tsarist Submarine ops” that Pantera was commissioned. She conducted only three short combat patrols that year before being iced in at Revel.

Pantera, note large vent for running diesel on surface and only one deck gun (the 75mm) a smaller 37mm gun was fitted later.

Pantera, note large vent for running diesel on the surface and only one deck gun (the 75mm) a smaller 37mm gun was fitted later.

The year 1917, which led to a revolution in Holy Russia, found the Bars-class subs flying red flags from their towers, but still kinda operational. In June of that year, Pantera became the only Russian submarine to be attacked by an airship, when a German naval Zeppelin saw her on the surface and dropped a couple smallish bombs that slightly damaged her.

These boats had to be careful, as they had not a single watertight bulkhead, which meant that any hole in the casing was fatal.

“Volk” (“Wolf”) and “Bars” (“Leopard”) iced in at Reval, 1916.

“Volk” (“Wolf”) and “Bars” (“Leopard”) iced in at Reval, 1916. Note the lack of torpedoes in drop collars. An enduring problem with the Russian Baltic fleet is that they are locked into their harbors from December-March.

While these subs were getting better, the class paid a heavy butcher’s bill in turn.

While on combat patrols, the Bars herself was lost 25 May 1917, as was sistership Lvitsa (Lioness) just three weeks later; the first to German surface ships, the second by mines. Edinorog (Unicorn) was lost to a mine while trying to avoid oncoming German Army troops in the general collapse on the Eastern Front in Feb. 1918.

Speaking of advances, all six Black-sea Bars boats were captured by the Germans at the time at their slips in Odessa. Turned over to the British at the end of WWII and then given to the White Russian forces, four were scuttled when the White evacuated Odessa to the oncoming Red Army in 1919 and shipped out two last survivors, Utka (Duck) and Burvestnik (Petrel) to French-controlled North Africa where they remained a fleet in being until 1924 when their benefactors ordered them scrapped.

Pantera submerging.

Pantera with her decks awash. Very good view of her two guns, 75mm forward, 37mm high-angle aft. A third smaller deck gun is located on her sail area.

Back in the Baltic, when 1918 came, Pantera, like the rest of the survivors of her class in the Baltic, was sitting frozen in the ice at Kronstadt. There, they remained largely inoperable while their crews were plundered for volunteers to fight in the ongoing Russian Civil War on the side of the Reds. Of the dozen or so now-Soviet subs at Kronstadt when the spring thaw of 1919 came, just two, Pantera and the steamer-killer Volk, were capable of putting to sea.

And they did just that when the Royal Navy came steaming into the Gulf of Finland as part of the Allied Intervention in the civil war.

Sortieing in late July, the red banner submarine of the people’s navy came across His Majesty’s Submarine, E-40, and traditionally, was unsuccessful. However, on 31 August 1919, Pantera stalked two British warships, including the brand-new 1300-ton Admiralty V-class destroyer HMS Vittoria (F-96) off the island of Seiskari in the Gulf of Finland.

Vittoria

Vittoria

Hunting the British ship, she spent 28 hours underwater before getting close enough to Vittoria to spit two torpedoes from her bow tubes. One hit her mark and Vittoria blew up then went down in 75 feet of water– extremely shallow for submarine operations.

The sinking of the HMS Vittoria

The sinking of the HMS Vittoria

This was the first warship sunk by a Russian submarine and no less than 18 members of the crew, over half, were decorated. This included 24-year old commander Alexander Bakhtin, who cut his teeth on the Volk sinking steamers during the Great War, and 25-year old engineer Aksel Ivanovich Berg, who served with the British E-class subs. Bakhtin, who fell out of favor in the 1920s, died an early death after five years in the gulag while Berg died as a retired Admiral in 1979, a noted scientist who made advances in radio communications, microelectronics, and cybernetics.

The boat herself, renamed Kommisar (hull #5), was awarded the Order of the Red Banner, and kept as a training vessel in the Baltic Fleet. She was rebuilt in 1924, losing her drop collars and picking up a more modern above deck structure as did seven of her sisters.

Pantera after refit.

Pantera after the refit.

She remained as a training ship in the Baltic Fleet into the late 1930s, treasured for her role in the Civil War, while her remaining sisters were scrapped. As such, she was the first Soviet submarine equipped with a then-experimental passive sonar array.

Pantera-crew 1935. At the time she was the last operational Tsarist-era submarine and the 'grand old lady' of the fleet

Pantera-crew 1935. At the time she was the last operational Tsarist-era submarine and the ‘grand old lady’ of the fleet

Largely hulked during WWII where she served as a battery charging barge for newer subs, she remained afloat until at least 1955 when she was scrapped after nearly 40-years of service to Tsar Nicholas, Lenin, and Stalin– all of which she outlived!

Her and her class, however, were recognized by the Soviets as being the basis for their enormous submarine fleet.

Evolution of Soviet subs from 1914-1955 with Bars-class at top

Evolution of Soviet subs from 1914-1955 with Bars-class at top

In 2007, Bakhtin, now famous decades after his death in obscurity, had a plaque installed in St. Petersburg that celebrates both him and the Pantera. The latter’s name was reissued to a modern submarine, an Akula-class SSN, hull number K-317. That very dangerous vessel is still part of the Russian Northern Fleet.

Bakhtin marker, which also serves as a monument to Pantera

Bakhtin marker, which also serves as a monument to Pantera

And the Vittoria? She was given as a gift to Finland, whose territorial waters she rests in, by the British government in the 1920s, but the Finns passed on salvaging her. In 2013, a Russian diving club found her broken hull and left a marker.

Specs:

Displacement: 650 tons surfaced, 780 tons submerged
Length: 68 m (223 ft. 1 in)
Beam: 4.5 m (14 ft. 9 in)
Draft: 3.9 m (12 ft. 10 in)
Propulsion: Diesel-electric
2,640 hp diesel
900 hp electric
2 shafts
Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h) surfaced
9 knots (17 km/h) submerged
Range: 400 nmi (740 km)
Complement: 33
Armament: 1 × 75mm (3.0 in) gun
1 × 37 mm (1.5 in) AA gun
4 × 457 mm (18.0 in) torpedo tubes
8 × torpedoes in drop collars (later removed)

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday January 28, 2015: The Lucky Okie

Posted on by 6 comments

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 January 28, 2015: The Lucky Okie

Life Magazine cover 1965 1024

Here we see the forward 6″/47 (15.2 cm) Mark 16 mount of the Cleveland-class light cruiser (guided missile) USS Oklahoma City (CL-91/CLG-5/CG-5) dropping it like its hot on the heads of Viet Cong forces, “somewhere off the coast of South Vietnam,” in an August 1965 LIFE Magazine cover. At the time the 21-year old Okie Boat, as she was known, was one of the last WWII-era ‘gun cruisers” still afloat but she had been brought into the Atomic-era as a hybrid missile slinger and for nearly a generation served as the “Fighting Flagship” of the U.S. Navy’s Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific, often coming in close just like this to rain fire and brimstone when called.

She was part of the large and successful USS Cleveland (CL-55) class of light cruisers during WWII. Originally planned to be some 52-ships strong, 9 were carved off to become USS Independence class light carriers, while about half of the others were canceled as the end of the war was fast approaching. These were mighty “10,000-ton” designed light cruisers capable of making 32-knots while cruising some 14,500 nm at half that to reach those out-of-the-way Pacific battlegrounds without stopping for gas.

USS Oklahoma City (CLG 5) View of the ship's 6"/47 guns. Photograph was received in August 1972 and was probably taken during naval gunfire support operations off Vietnam earlier in that year as the paint on the gun barrels is charred and blistered from the heat of firing. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98680.

USS Oklahoma City (CLG 5) View of the ship’s 6″/47 guns. Photograph was received in August 1972 and was probably taken during naval gunfire support operations off Vietnam earlier in that year as the paint on the gun barrels is charred and blistered from the heat of firing. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 98680.

Packing a dozen Mk.16 guns in four triple turrets each protected by 6-inches of armor themselves) these rapid-fire guns could bring an incredible amount of pain to enemy warships and land forces in a short time. As noted in prewar tests with these mounts, during gunnery trials in March 1939, USS Savannah (CL-42) fired 138 6-inch rounds in one minute. When you keep in mind that each of these guns fired a 130-lb. shell to 26,118 yards at maximum elevation, that’s pretty strong medicine. To augment this, these ships also carried a dozen 5-inch DP guns as well as an impressive AAA suite.

USS Oklahoma City (CL 91) Underway in the Delaware River, while operating out of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 9 April 1945. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland. Collection of James C. Fahey. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 95753.

USS Oklahoma City (CL 91) Underway in the Delaware River, while operating out of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 9 April 1945. Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland. Collection of James C. Fahey. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center #NH 95753.

Oklahoma City (as CL-91) was laid down 8 December 1942 by the Cramp Shipbuilding Co., Philadelphia, Pa. She was finally commissioned 22 Dec. 1944, with just nine months left in the World War. Rushing to the Pacific, she joined Carrier Task Group 38.1 by June 1945 and saw some hot service off Okinawa and in Japan’s home waters just before the end of the war. In the first of a stream of luck, she suffered no wartime casualties and won a battle star for her service.

With a surplus of ships and a shrinking Navy, the gently used cruiser was mothballed 30 June 1947 where she sat for the next decade, often surrounded by her sisterships.

While many of her sisters never saw active service again, the Okie was far luckier. In 1957, she began a three-year conversion to a guided missile cruiser to fire the gigantic Talos long-range surface-to-air missile system. Two of her sisters, Galveston (CL-93/CLG-3) and Little Rock (CL-92/CLG- 4), both ironically also built by Cramp, were similarly converted. This conversion consisted of removing the two aft 6-inch mounts and their magazines to make room for the two-armed bandit Talos system and a below-deck magazine for 46 of the comically large (38-foot long 7800-pound) Bendix RIM-8 missiles. These beasts, to include a RIM-8D W30 nuclear-warhead version, could make Mach 2.2 and reach out to 100 nm– that made them among the best SAMs of the era.

Talos missiles on CG-5 USS Oklahoma City 1979. These things are huge!

Talos missiles on CG-5 USS Oklahoma City 1979. These things are huge! Photo Courtsey of then-ET1 John Andresen. His blog is yokosukasasebojapan.wordpress.com

Forward of the bridge, the No.2 6-inch mount was replaced by a twin 5-inch DP to help offset the weight of all the added surface search radars, fire control directors and commo gear. Much of her WWII armament, such as the 20mm guns, and gear were ditched. Gone were her seaplanes, which had been retired a decade earlier anyway, and their catapults, replaced by deck space and refueling facilities for naval helicopters. Below decks, she (and Little Rock) was given extra room and facilities to support a fleet flag operation.

All these extras pushed the boat to some 14,000-tons, which included additional ballast to help fight that 113-foot above deck height, all of which resulted in awful hogging in high seas and an increased draft to the near battleship-worthy 26-feet of seawater.

Underway, Showing general details of missile conversion rebuild

Underway, Showing general details of missile conversion rebuild

Port bow view while underway, date and location unknown photo by Charles Lamm via navsource

Port bow view while underway, date and location unknown photo by Charles Lamm via Navsource. Note the twin 5-inch mount forward and the huge radar masts.

Recommissioned 7 Sept 1960, she became 7th Fleet flagship at Yokosuka, Japan that Christmas Eve. It was a job she would keep for much of her second career.

From the Gulf of Tonkin include in August 1964 to the evacuation of Saigon in April 1975, she spent the majority of those ten+ years somewhere between the coastline of Vietnam, delivering gunfire support, and Yankee Station, providing air defense for the carriers stationed there.

Six inch 47 caliber guns in action, date unknown photo by Craig Chaddock

Six inch 47 caliber guns in action, date unknown photo by Craig Chaddock

 

USS Oklahoma City 6 Inch Guns firing. Photo From Okie Boat.com

USS Oklahoma City 6 Inch Guns firing. Photo From Okie Boat.com

While Talos missiles splashed three North Vietnamese MIGs during the conflict, these came from other cruisers and not the Okie boat. She herself survived an attack by two MIG-17s on 19 April 1972.

Her missiles did draw some significant blood however when she conducted the first surface-to-surface war shot in Navy history, destroying a NVA air control radar with a Talos RIM-8H anti-radar homing missile from fifty miles offshore.

Port quarter view, underway in Sydney Harbor, Austrailia, late 1970s Barry A. Seward via navsource

Port quarter view, underway in Sydney Harbor, Australia, late 1970s Barry A. Seward via Navsource. Note the Sea King on her pad.

In all she earned 13 battle stars for Vietnam and by 1975, at age thirty, the lucky penny was well-worn but, with all of the other big gun ships of her era turned to scrap or laid up, she was an interesting niche. However, even having the 6-inch hood ornament only went so far.

USS Oklahoma City CG-5 visiting Singapore in 1979. The old girl was the ultimate flag-waver around the Western Pacific from 1960-79

USS Oklahoma City CG-5 visiting Singapore in 1979. The old girl was the ultimate flag-waver around the Western Pacific from 1960-79. Note how small the huge 55-foot long SH-3H Sea King helicopter looks when compared to the Talos launcher on her stern . Courtsey of then-ET1 John Andresen. His blog is yokosukasasebojapan.wordpress.com

Her class had all been decommissioned by 1976 and her Talos missile system, designed in the 50s, was an Edsel in a world of AMC Pacers. Oklahoma City‘s last designation, applied at this time, was to simply drop the “L” from her hull number, making her CG-5.

Moored at Pearl Harbor, HI, 18 October 1979 with friendship lights lit. The "Okie Boat" was on her way to San Diego for decommissioning after serving as Flagship of the Seventh Fleet for eleven years. This picture was taken from the roof of the old Enlisted Barracks, which has since been torn down. Photo by Tom Bateman via Navsource.

Moored at Pearl Harbor, HI, 18 October 1979 with friendship lights lit. The “Okie Boat” was on her way to San Diego for decommissioning after serving as Flagship of the Seventh Fleet for eleven years. This picture was taken from the roof of the old Enlisted Barracks, which has since been torn down. Photo by Tom Bateman via Navsource.

She had one more thing to before being decommissioned.

A view of a Talos surface-to-air guided missile, moments after being launched from the starboard side of the guided missile cruiser USS OKLAHOMA CITY (CG 5) at the Pacific Missile Test Range. This is the final firing of the Talos missile by the United States Navy conducted on 1 Nov 1979 National Archive# NN33300514 2005-06-30 by PH1 DAVID C. MACLEAN.

A view of a Talos surface-to-air guided missile, moments after being launched from the starboard side of the guided missile cruiser USS OKLAHOMA CITY (CG 5) at the Pacific Missile Test Range. This is the final firing of the Talos missile by the United States Navy conducted on 1 Nov 1979 National Archive# NN33300514 2005-06-30 by PH1 DAVID C. MACLEAN.

By 15 December 1979, she was decommissioned, the last WWII-era cruiser in the U.S. Navy on active service, and remained in mothballs for twenty years, contributing many of her parts to help recondition WWII era museum ships around the country.

She spent 1979-99 in layup on red lead row. It was speculated by the Lehman-Reagan Navy of the 1980s of reactivating her for a third tour but funds were never allocated. After 1989 ,with the Cold War over, it became open season on the salvage of minor parts for museum donation that went to help outfit her sister Little Rock as well as the USS Missouri.

She spent 1979-99 in layup on red lead row. It was speculated by the Lehman-Reagan Navy of the 1980s of reactivating her for a third tour but funds were never allocated. After 1989 ,with the Cold War over, it became open season on the salvage of minor parts for museum donation that went to help outfit her sister Little Rock as well as the USS Missouri.

Finally, she was towed to deep water in February 1999 and subjected to a series of target shoots by U.S. and Allied fleets.

The battered 44-year old was sent to the bottom by a final merciful SUT torpedo coup de grâce from the South Korean Navy Chang Bogo Type 209/1200 Submarine Lee Chun (SS-062) on 26 March 1999. Let us face it; she belonged in the 20th Century and it was better this way than to have her turned to scrap.

Under attack and taking water, her keel is broken

Under attack and taking water, her keel is broken

Broken in two and headed to the bottom.

Broken in two and headed to the bottom.

The memory of the “Fighting Flagship” is maintained by the Okieboat website as well as the USS OK City Association.

As for her sisters, most of them had been long scrapped in the 1950s and 60s. Only three survived into the disco era, USS Springfield (CL-66/CLG-7/CG-7) who was decommissioned in 1974 and sold for scrap in 1980, USS Providence (CL–82/CLG-6/CG-6) who shared the same fate and timeline, and USS Little Rock (CL-92/CLG-4/CG-4) who was decommissioned in 1976 and is now a museum ship at Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park.

USS Little Rock, the only ship of her kind that was given the same conversion as the OKC. She is a museum ship in Buffalo New York. Photo by Wiki

USS Little Rock, the only ship of her kind that was given the same conversion as the OKC. She is a museum ship in Buffalo New York. Photo by Wiki

Please visit her if you have a chance.

Specs

As commissioned, WWII, Image by Ship Bucket http://www.shipbucket.com/images.php?dir=Real%20Designs/United%20States%20of%20America/CL-55%20Cleveland%201942.png

As commissioned, WWII, Image by Ship Bucket

At end of service post missile modification Image by Ship Bucket http://www.shipbucket.com/images.php?dir=Real%20Designs/United%20States%20of%20America/CG-5%20Oklahoma%20City%201978.png

At end of service post missile modification Image by Ship Bucket

Displacement: 10,000 designed, 14,100 full load final
Length: 610 ft. 1 in
Beam: 66 ft. 2 in
Draft: 24 ft. 10 in, 26+ post conversion
Height above waterline: 113 feet
Propulsion: Four Babcock & Wilcox, 634 psi boilers
Four GE geared steam turbines, 100,000 hp (74,570 kW) total, 4 shafts
Speed: 32.5 as designed, 31.6 knots post conversion, 25 post-1975
Complement: 992 designed, 1255 actual (WWII) 1,426 post conversion
Armament (as completed):

12 Mk.16 6 inch guns (4 × 3)
12 5 in/38 cal gun (6 × 2)
28 40 mm Bofors guns (4 × 4, 6 × 2)
10 20 mm Oerlikons cannons
Aircraft carried: Four seaplanes launched from two catapults

(Post Conversion)
• 3 × 6 in (152 mm) guns in 1 Mark 16 turret
• 2 × 5 in/38 cal guns in 1 Mark 32 mount
• 1 × twin-rail Mark 7 Talos SAM launcher, 46 missiles
Aircraft carried: Kaman SH-2B Seasprite (1964–1972) SH-2H Sea King (1975–79) helicopter (Call Sign: Blackbeard 1)

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday January 21, 2015: A Teutonic Heavy in two World Wars

Posted on by One comment

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 January 21, 2015: A Teutonic Heavy in two World Wars

url
Here we see the a pre-WWI image of the Deutschland-class Linienschiff SMS Schleswig-Holstein, the last predreadnought battleship of the Kaisherliche Marine of Imperial Germany as she sails with a serious bone in her teeth and heavy coal smoke from all three of her stacks.

Kaiser Wilhelm II, that oh so malfeasant warlord of almost comic proportions, was enamored with the concept of producing a naval force second to none as a matter of national prestige. Taking the small coastal defense navy of the late-19th century, whose primary focus was to prevent British landings on the German North Sea coast and send the occasional gunboat to African, American and Asian ports to wave the flag, ole Willy set a course to build a first class High Seas Fleet to challenge Britannia (and anyone else) for worldwide mastery of the waves.

1909 naval race puck battleship

One of the initial rungs on this ladder was to order construction of the five Deutschland-class battleships in the early 1900s.

The Five Deuschland class battle-wagons leading the fleet, 1908

The Five Deutschland-class battle-wagons leading the fleet, 1908

These hardy ships, when designed, were mammoth 418-foot vessels of some 14,200-tons. Heavy and beamy, they needed some 26 feet of water to float while mountains of coal required teams of stokers working round the clock to shovel into her 12 steam watertube boilers to feed her trio of 5600 ihp expansion engines, one for each shaft. At top speed, they could be expected to push 18-knots, which was not terribly fast but they weren’t designed to run– they were designed to fight.

If you think 11-inch guns are puny, take a closer look

If you think 11-inch guns are puny, take a closer look

Four 11-inch (280mm) L/40 guns in two twin turrets capable of hurling a 500-lb. shell some 20,000-yards. This was backed up by 14 6.7-inch secondary and respectable 22 88mm tertiary battery pieces gave her a punch far in excess of any 1900-era cruiser that could catch up to her while up to 11-inches of cemented Krupp armor helped protect her from large caliber hits from English battlewagons of the day (and by day we mean 1901).

Note her three funnels

Note her three funnels

Ordered from Germaniawerft, Kiel, 11 June 1904, just after the outbreak of hostilities between the Tsar of Russia and the Empire of Japan, the last of five ships of the class was given the name Schleswig-Holstein, after the land captured from Denmark in 1864, during her christening on 17 Dec. 1906. In departure from the typical Prussian fashion, she was commissioned by a woman, the German Empress Augusta Victoria, but still in front of an all-male audience that included her hubby, the Poseidon of the Baltic Adm. Tirpitz with his great beard, and the good Herr Krupp himself.

However, even before she was to be completed on 6 July 1908, the brand-new Schleswig-Holstein was woefully obsolete.

The Russo-Japanese War had shown the folly of 1900s era battleship design limits and around the world, modern navies were taking these lessons and using them to produce improved, all-main gun fast battleships such as the HMS Dreadnought which could outrun, outfight, and outmaneuver legacy ships such as the German Deutschland-class. Worse, ships that made the Dreadnought herself look like small fry were already on the drawing boards from Tokyo to Washington, London, Paris, and St. Petersburg.

As such, the group was largely put out to pasture by the very navy that championed them only scant months before, ridiculed as being able to only last “five minutes” in combat against the modern British ships.

Schleswig-Holstein‘s peacetime pre-WWI service was uneventful and when the guns of August came in 1914, the six year old warship was, along with her four sisters Deutschland, Hannover, Pommern, and Schlesien, along with the even slower Braunschweig-class predreadnought SMS Hessen, part of the II Battle Squadron of the High Seas Fleet, which despite its grand name was largely relegated to coastal defense.

In December 1914, they sailed as part of the raiding force that bombarded the English coast and made a few pushes into the North Sea in 1915. Then, at Jutland, the slow Deutschland-class ships hampered Scheer’s tactics and they often had to fall out of line, risking being left behind several times during that epic naval clash. In the battle, Schleswig-Holstein, a midget wrestler in the middle of an MMA competition, fired only a dozen or so shells and luckily suffered only one minor hit (from a 12-inch gun on HMS New Zealand) on her topside in return.

German Navy's battle ship SMS Schleswig-Holstein fires a salvo during the Battle of Jutland

German Navy’s battle ship SMS Schleswig-Holstein fires a salvo during the Battle of Jutland

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Obedient, ending the battle, dispatched her sister, SMS Pommern, in a hail of torpedoes at 0315. She was the only battleship lost in the engagement for either fleet and took her entire crew to the bottom.

Following Jutland, Schleswig-Holstein, along with her remaining sisters, were unceremoniously withdrawn from fleet service. Her sailors, needed to operate U-boats, were largely reassigned, and the ship was tasked with berthing, guard ship, and submarine tender duties for the rest of the war.

As the German Imperial fleet went apeshit in the last weeks of WWI and raised a red flag from the masts of its ships, the old battleships were left behind when the bulk of the fleet was interned by the Allies at Scapa Flow. As part of the draconian Versailles Peace Treaty, the magnanimous Allies let the new Wiemar government keep eight old ships, four of the Deutschland-class and four of the even more obsolete Braunschweigers. These ships served in one form or another the new German Reichsmarine.

Post refit, note the two funnels, one for oil fired boilers, the second for coal. The fact that she could move around on domestic coal during WWII kept her in service when other oil-fired ships were laid up.

Post refit, note the two funnels, one for oil fired boilers, the second for coal. The fact that she could move around on domestic coal during WWII kept her in service when other oil-fired ships were laid up.

In the Kiel Canal post-refit

In the Kiel Canal post-refit

Overhead shot 1930s

Overhead shot 1930s

Class leader SMS Deutschland was retired 1920 and scrapped, in favor of keeping a fifth Braunschweiger while Hannover was kept as fleet flag for a couple years before her lay up in 1927 along with the Braunschweigers, leaving the fleet very short of capital ships.

Schleswig-Holstein was then reboilered with a hybrid coal/oil suite, and modernized, as much as the cash-strapped Germans could afford, to become fleet flag following her this refit 31 January 1926.

Das deutsche Linienschiff SMS Schlesien im Panama-Kanal 1938 sister to Schleswig-Holstein. These ships got around a good bit in the 1920s and 30s

Das deutsche Linienschiff SMS Schlesien im Panama-Kanal 1938 sister to Schleswig-Holstein. These ships got around a good bit in the 1920s and 30s

For the next decade, the old ship and her similarly refitted sister Schlesien were the pride of the tiny but efficient German fleet, and traveled the world on goodwill missions including visits in many former enemy ports. They had to, being the last two operational Teutonic battleships on Earth at the time.

Looking from the German battleship Schleswig Holstein on Arkansas (BB-33) arriving in Kiel, Germany. Note German sailors standing at attention, 5 July 1930

Looking from the German battleship Schleswig Holstein on Arkansas (BB-33) arriving in Kiel, Germany. Note German sailors standing at attention, 5 July 1930

On 22 September 1935, at age 27 and with a World War, a revolution, and a peaceful generation of summer cruises behind her, Schleswig-Holstein was relieved of her flag duties and turned into a training ship for naval cadets in the new Kreigsmarine, some 175 of which would make up her crew.

Linienschiff "Schleswig-Holstein" 1939 boarding Marines...

Linienschiff “Schleswig-Holstein” 1939 boarding Marines…

In 1939, with tensions escalating between Poland and Hitler’s Germany, Schleswig-Holstein was dispatched to protect German interests in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdansk) after commemorating the 25th anniversary of the WWI loss of the old Imperial cruiser SMS Magdeburg to the Russians. Upon docking, she was pushed to within 150-meters of the Free City’s border with Poland (cue ominous music).

It was there, at 04:47 on 1 Sept 1939, she fired the first rounds of World War II when she opened up on the Polish customs house and ammo depot at the Westerplatte to cover the assault of a force of 225 marines of the Marine-Stoßtrupp-Kompanie under Lieutenant Wilhelm Henningsen on the ersatz defenses.

This action as described by her deck logs :

0447: Open fire!
0448-0455: Eight 280mm heavy artillery shells and fifty-nine 150mm light artillery shells hit the southwestern section of the Westerplatte wall – not to mention 600 rounds from C30 machine-guns. The battleship approaches the target with her bow directed slightly against the slope of the docks, the tug Danzig at her stern. Numerous harbor buildings are hit and set ablaze.
0455: Suddenly two or three breaches in the wall can be seen. Hold fire! Red rockets!
0456: The assault company commences its attack. Soon explosions can be heard from the right wing, where the railway gate has been destroyed. Machine-gun fire is heard from Westerplatte, some rounds passing over the battleship’s bridge.

 

The conflict begins" portrait of Schleswig-Holstein firing the opening shots of the Second World War on the Westerplatte, Gdansk, Poland on September 1, 1939. (Photo courtesy of Sejar Bekirow and www.sejar-kunst-malerei.de via Maritime Quest)

The conflict begins” portrait of Schleswig-Holstein firing the opening shots of the Second World War on the Westerplatte, Gdansk, Poland on September 1, 1939. (Photo courtesy of Sejar Bekirow via Maritime Quest)

German battleship Schleswig-Holstein is bombing a Polish military transit depot at Westerplatte in the Free City of Danzig

German battleship Schleswig-Holstein is bombing a Polish military transit depot at Westerplatte in the Free City of Danzig

0447 hours Schleswig-Holstein opened fire at the Polish positions on the Westerplatte starting WWII

0447 hours Schleswig-Holstein opened fire at the Polish positions on the Westerplatte starting WWII

Following her week-long support of the attack on the Westerplatte, and joining her sister Schlesien in bombarding other Polish army positions for a few weeks, Schleswig-Holstein was withdrawn and used next in the invasion of Denmark, where she lay off Copenhagen on April 8/9, 1940, ready to deliver rounds from her battery onto the city if needed. She wound up not firing a shot and the German flag flew over the capital by lunch of the next day.

Linienschiff "Schleswig-Holstein" off Denmark April 9, 1940

Linienschiff “Schleswig-Holstein” off Denmark April 9, 1940. Embarrassingly, she ran aground

The rest of the war, as in the first, passed uneventfully for Schleswig-Holstein. She was relegated to the Eastern Baltic where she received extra AAA batteries to help defend herself against air attack, and served once more as a training ship. Speaking of air attack…

The old girl camo'd up late in WWII

The old girl camo’d up late in WWII to better help against air attack.

Of the 37 battleships (to include WWI-era predreadnought and coastal defense panzerschiffs) sunk in combat during World War II, most were sent to the bottom by air attack. These included a club of 11 that were scratched while in harbor of which the old Schleswig-Holstein, was a member. Her war ended when she was holed by a flight of RAF bombers in Gdynia Harbor on December 19 1944, settling to the bottom in 40-feet of water after suffering 28 killed and 53 were wounded. As such, she was one of the last German capital ships afloat.

Settled on the bottom of Gdyna harbor, Oct. 1945

Settled on the bottom of Gdyna harbor, Oct. 1945

Only the German pocket battleship Admiral Hipper, sunk by RAF bombers in Kiel, April 9 1945 with loss of 32 crew, and Schleswig-Holstein‘s Imperial sister Schlesien, sunk by mine and Soviet bomber attack and then scuttled near Swinemunde in the Baltic, May 5 1945, outlived her on the Kreigsmarine’s Naval list. The only German battlewagon to arguably survive the maelstrom was the pocket battleship Lutzow that was sunk by the Russkies as a target after the conflict.

Schleswig-Holstein-Tallinn-1947

Schleswig-Holstein-Tallinn-1947 under a Soviet flag.Note her topside damage

However, don’t count an old German battlewagon out. Schleswig-Holstein was raised by the Soviets, towed to Tallin where she sat for two years as a floating warehouse, and was then towed to the shallows near the island of Osmussar off the Estonian coast. There, she was regularly pounded by Soviet air and naval forces as a target ship for another twenty years and her superstructure remained above water into the 1970s.

Today she sits in shallow water and is a dive attraction, although she is littered with live German 280mm shells.

Yes, those are unfused 280mm German shells in the racks aboard the old battleship. Image from http://o-fotografii.pl/wraki-podwodne/schleswig-holstein/ dive in 2008

Yes, those are un-fused 280mm German shells in the racks aboard the old battleship. Image from dive in 2008

Specs

 

As commissioned 1908

As commissioned 1908

As she appeared 1943

As she appeared 1943

Displacement: 13,200 t (13,000 long tons) normal
14,218 t (13,993 long tons) full load
Length: 127.6 m (418 ft. 8 in)
Beam: 22.2 m (72 ft. 10 in)
Draft: 8.21 m (26 ft. 11 in)
Installed power: 17,000 ihp (13,000 kW)
Propulsion: three shafts, three triple expansion steam engines, 12 boilers
Speed: 18 knots (33 km/h)
Range: 4,800 nautical miles (9,000 km); 10 knots (20 km/h)

Complement:
35 officers
708 enlisted men

Armament: At construction:
2 × 2 – 28 cm SK L/40 guns
14 × 17 cm (6.7 in) SK L/40 guns (casemated)
22 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 naval guns (shielded/casemated)
6 × 45 cm (18 in) torpedo tubes (submerged)

Armament in 1926:
2 × 2 – 28 cm SK L/40 guns
12 x 15 cm SK L/45 guns (casemated: removed 1940)
8 × 8.8 cm (3.5 in) SK L/45 naval guns (shielded)
4 × 50 cm (20 in) torpedo tubes (casemated)

Armament in 1939:
2 × 2 – 28 cm SK L/40 guns
10 x 15 cm SK L/45 guns (casemated: removed 1940)
4 × 8.8 cm SK L/45 anti-aircraft guns
4 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns (2×2)
Augmented 1943 with extensive flak batteries

Armor:
Belt: 100 to 240 mm (3.9 to 9.4 in)
Turrets: 280 mm (11 in)
Deck: 40 mm (1.6 in)

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday January 14, 2015: The Old Crow- Hunter Killer and Rocket Slinger

Posted on by 2 comments

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 January 14, 2015: The Old Crow- Hunter Killer and Rocket Slinger

USS Croatan (CVE-25), July 1945. Click to bg up

USS Croatan (CVE-25), July 1945. Click to big up

Here we see the converted United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) Type C3-S-A1 cargo ship USS Croatan (CVE-25) riding high in her WWII livery as a Bogue-class escort carrier. This humble little vessel was the centerpiece of a small task force of second-rate ships that kept the sea-lanes open from the U.S. to Europe during WWII– and she accounted for no less than six of Hitler’s U-boats. As the man once said, “she may not look like much, but she sure can cook.”

The MARCOM needed cargo ships literally as fast as they could be built in World War II as the Germans were sinking hundreds of them every month. To help stop the bleeding they came up with a standardized design that could be cranked out in a minimum of time by any semi-competent ship builder. This was the Liberty and later Victory type ship. However, before the war, MARCOM had designed the C-type freighters to replace elderly Hog Islander-type cargo ships left over from the 1900s.

The C3 type were well-built and effective 492-foot long, 12,000-ton cargo ships powered by two boilers feeding a steam turbine that produced a total of 8500hp and could make a relatively fast 16.65-knots. Some 465 of these freighters were built between 1940 and 1944 and used by US shipping lines as late as the 1970s– far longer than most of their Liberty and Victory class follow-ons.

Forty-Five of these freighters were converted while still in the yard starting in 1942 to become escort carriers. You see the concept was simple: complete the hull below decks, then take the topside and slap a 439×70 foot wooden flight deck over it fed by two elevators from a hangar deck below that had once been cargo holds, erect a small tower island for flight operations on the edge of the starboard amidships, add a few AAA guns for defense against air attack (4 twin Bofors 40mm, 10 20mm Oerlikons) give them a couple popguns (low-angle 4″/50 caliber Mark 9 guns taken from WWI destroyers) for defense against surface ships, and add bunks for crews, bunkerage for avgas, and space for ordnance then call it a day.

Underway in 1943, with some Avengers and Wildcats of her VC-19 composite squadron on deck. She is camouflaged in Measure 2

Underway in 1943, with some Avengers and Wildcats of her VC-19 composite squadron on deck. She is camouflaged in Measure 22

The result was a 16,620-ton mini carrier that could carry a couple dozen single-engined aircraft and launch them with the aid of two hydraulic catapults. Typical airgroup was to be 12 F4F/FM-2 Grumman Wildcats (surplus to the war in the Pacific where they had been replaced by Hellcats and Corsairs) and 9 TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. Although several escort carriers saw combat in the Pacific, the Croatan was intended for the war against the Germans.

Croatan off Washington, 1943. You can really see her freighter lines in this image of her hull

Croatan off Washington, 1943. You can really see her freighter lines in this image of her hull

Named for Croatan Sound in North Carolina, the USS Croatan (CVE-25) was laid down 15 April 1942 (tax day!) at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation of Seattle, Washington. Completed in 54 weeks, she was commissioned after brief builder’s trials on 28 April 1943 and rushed to the North Atlantic through the Panama Canal where the battle for that ocean was raging. She was an updated version of the original design, with a much better surface armament that traded in the old 4-inchers for more modern 5-inch/51 caliber guns and gave her 27 Oerlikons rather than the original 10.

Joining convoys to Europe in by summer, she exchanged blows with U-boats but did not sink any. That fall saw her shuttling Army Air Corps planes (P-40s etc.) to North Africa before returning to anti-submarine duties as the head of her own task force.

She was hell on wheels in a high sea. "Undated (probably March–May 1944) photo of an FM-2 Wildcat and TBM-1C Avengers from Composite Squadron (VC) 42 spotted on the flight deck of USS Croatan (CVE‑25) in rough Atlantic Ocean seas. National Naval Aviation Museum, photo # 1996.253.1435"

She was hell on wheels in a high sea. “Undated (probably March–May 1944) photo of an FM-2 Wildcat and TBM-1C Avengers from Composite Squadron (VC) 42 spotted on the flight deck of USS Croatan (CVE‑25) in rough Atlantic Ocean seas. National Naval Aviation Museum, photo # 1996.253.1435”

In the year from April 1944-April 1945, the Croatan hunter-killer group, made up of the carrier, her air wing and 2-3 destroyer escorts that drawn from the 1590-ton Edsall-class sisters USS Frost (DE-144), USS Huse (DE-145), USS Stanton (DE-247) and USS Inch (DE-146), was very successful.

Her aircraft would spot surfaced German submarines, mark them for attack and do what they could until the shark would submerge, then the escorts would respond as the hunters to the bird dogs, dropping depth charges until the sub, stricken and bleeding, would bob to the surface where the planes and ships would either coordinate to pick up survivors willing to surrender, or send the shark to the bottom.

The group’s victories include:

• April 7, 1944: U-856 (Type IXC/40 U-boat, 28 survivors picked up)
• April 26, 1944: U-488 (a Type XIV supply and replenishment U-boat “Milchkuh” sunk with all hands)
• June 11, 1944: U-490 (Another Milchkuh on her first patrol, all 60 hands picked up)
• July 3, 1944: U-154 (Type IXC who had taken 10 Allied steamers. no survivors)
• April 16, 1945: U-880 and U-1235 (both Type IXC/40 boats, no survivors from either)
• April 22, 1945: U-518 (Type IXC, all hands lost)

Survivors of U-490 coming up the forward elevator after being transferred from USS Inch (DE-146) on 14 June 1944. The aircraft of USS Croatan (CVE 25), and destroyer escorts USS Frost (DE-144), USS Huse (DE-145), and Inch, sank the U-boat. Source: National Archives II, College Park, MD. Photo # 80-G-270278. This elevator would be the launching pad for dozens of meteorological rockets in the 1960s when the ship was under NASA control.

Survivors of U-490 coming up the forward elevator after being transferred from USS Inch (DE-146) on 14 June 1944. The aircraft of USS Croatan (CVE 25), and destroyer escorts USS Frost (DE-144), USS Huse (DE-145), and Inch, sank the U-boat. Source: National Archives II, College Park, MD. Photo # 80-G-270278. This elevator would be the launching pad for dozens of meteorological rockets in the 1960s when the ship was under NASA control.

“The Old Crow” also played a role in the surrender of U-1228 just after the war ended.

Message from CinC U.S. Atlantic Fleet to Commander Task Group 22.5 (USS Croatan) ordering him to dispatch two DEs to intercept U-1228 (This is the message (CinCLant 091907) referred to in USS Sutton's War Diary) from U-Boat archives http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-1228SurrenderMessages.htm

Message from CinC U.S. Atlantic Fleet to Commander Task Group 22.5 (USS Croatan) ordering him to dispatch two DEs to intercept U-1228 (This is the message (CinCLant 091907) referred to in USS Sutton’s War Diary) from U-Boat archives

While Croatan‘s record sounds amazing, she actually was outdone by her class leader, USS Bogue (CVE-9), who sank an incredible 12 German U-boats and 2 Japanese submarines in her wartime service, which was, arguably, longer than Croatan‘s and did feature a larger escort group often featuring as many as 8 destroyers. Class sister Card (CVE-11) also scratched 11 U-boats from Hitler’s Christmas Card list.

Don’t let this fool you; the war against the U-boats could be very dangerous for these little carriers. Croatan‘s sistership, USS Block Island (CVE-21), was sunk by the German U-549 northeast of the Canary Islands on 29 May 1944.

Croatan finished the war as a training carrier and in Magic Carpet service, bringing boys back from France. Thought still a young craft, she was decommissioned 20 May 1946 and mothballed, her days as a warship at an end.

There she sat in the James River for a decade until the Maritime Administration dusted her off, removed her armament, manned her with a civilian crew, and reclassified her USNS Croatan (T-AKV-43), an aviation transport, on 16 June 1958. As such, she could carry 20-30 modern jets or 50-60 helicopters from port to port where they would be lifted on and off via crane. She then spent the next dozen years shuttling hundreds of USAF jets and Army helicopters to Europe, Africa and Vietnam.

In 1964-65 she was even loaned out to NASA for an interesting series of tests.

The Old Crow fitted out as a rocket launch platform

The Old Crow fitted out as a rocket launch platform. You can really see how thin her island was from this angle.

The NASA mission included firing at least 77  Nike-Cajuns, Nike-Apaches, and small Arcas meteorological rockets from her deck to study the upper atmosphere and ionosphere during solar sunspot minimum, particularly the so-called “equatorial electrojet.” These shipboard firings were part of NASA’s contribution to the International Year of the Quiet Sun (IQSY).

Night launch of a NASA sounding rocket from her deck.

Night launch of a NASA sounding rocket from her deck.

According to research from Dwayne Day of the Space Review, “During the voyage, the ship’s crew consisted of about seventy-five civil service personnel with a launch team made up of about thirty engineers and technicians from Wallops Station. The number of scientists varied from eighteen to thirty-two.”

USNS Croatan (T-AKV-43). The U.S. Naval Ship Croatan being used by NASA as a sea-going launch platform for sounding rockets. Launchers for Nike-Cajun and Nike-Apache rockets are positioned on each side of the wide deck elevator. Special telemetry and tracking antennas are installed on both sides of the flight deck along with instrumented trailers, forward, near superstructure. Forty or more sounding rockets with scientific payloads were scheduled for launch during a three-month expedition. Project management was assigned to NASA's Wallops Station, Wallops Island, Virginia. The photograph is from 1964. NASA via Dwayne A. Day via Navsource

USNS Croatan (T-AKV-43). The U.S. Naval Ship Croatan being used by NASA as a sea-going launch platform for sounding rockets. Launchers for Nike-Cajun and Nike-Apache rockets are positioned on each side of the wide deck elevator. Special telemetry and tracking antennas are installed on both sides of the flight deck along with instrumented trailers, forward, near superstructure. Forty or more sounding rockets with scientific payloads were scheduled for launch during a three-month expedition. Project management was assigned to NASA’s Wallops Station, Wallops Island, Virginia. The photograph is from 1964. NASA via Dwayne A. Day via Navsource

Finally, a flat-topped cargo ship in a world of nuclear powered super-carriers, she was stricken for good and sold for scrap in 1971.

Seen late in her service in the Panama Canal.

Seen late in her service in the Panama Canal.

As for the rest of her class, most of the Bouge-class carriers were sent to the Royal Navy (who termed them the Ameer/Attacker/Ruler class vessels with such bad-ass names as the HMS Striker and HMS Stalker and flying a mixture of Grumman Martlet, Hawker Sea Hurricane, Vought F4U Corsair fighter aircraft and Fairey Swordfish anti-submarine aircraft) who rapidly scrapped them in the 1950s.

Just ten Bogues served in the U.S. Fleet and most were retired from service rapidly after the war. One, USS Barnes (CVE-20), was briefly retained as a ‘helicopter escort carrier’ (CVHE-20) testing the LPH concept until she was scrapped in 1959. Like Croatan, three of her sisters USS Card (CVE-11/AKV-40), USS Core (CVE-13/T-AKV-41) and USS Breton (CVE-23/T-AKV-42), served in the 1960s as non-commissioned aviation transports and were scrapped by 1972. Card had the misfortune of being the only “aircraft carrier” both to have been sunk by frogmen and to have been sunk since the end of WWII.

There is no preserved escort carrier in the world today. Their memory, however, is maintained by the Escort Carrier Sailors & Airmen Association.

Specs:

0302524
Displacement: 16,620 long tons (16,890 t)
Length: 496 ft. (151 m);
flight deck: 439 ft. (134 m)
Beam: 69 ft. 6 in (21.18 m);
flight deck: 70 ft (21 m)
Draught: 26 ft (7.9 m)
Installed power: 8,500 shp (6,300 kW)
Propulsion: 2 × geared steam turbines
2 × boilers
1 × shaft
Speed: 18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Complement: 646, excluding Air Group of 234, 890 total
Radar: SG, SC-3
Armament: 2 × 5-inch/51 caliber guns (1 × 2)
8 × 40 mm anti-aircraft guns (4 × 2)
27 × 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons (singles)
Aircraft carried: 19-24;
(Typical complement: 12 × fighters (Grumman F4F Wildcats)
9 × torpedo bombers (Grumman TBF Avengers))
Aviation facilities: 2 × elevators

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’m a member, so should you be!

Warship Wednesday Jan.7, the Coasties on Point

Posted on by 18 comments

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 (sometimes reaching past that as with today’s post) 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, Jan.7, the Coasties on Point


Here we see the United States Coast Guard Cutter Point Hudson (WPB-82322) racing into action “somewhere off the coast of South Vietnam” in 1966. Commissioned in 1961, Point Hudson had but four years of stateside service based in Panama City, Florida, before she was made part of Division 13/Coast Guard Squadron One, where she served for five years before her transfer to the Republic of Vietnam Navy as RVNS Đặng Văn Hoành (HQ-707) on 11 Dec 1969. Her story, as is that of the other legion of her class, is rather interesting.

In the 42+ years between 5 October 1960 and 28 March 2003, the US Coast Guard commissioned and used 79 “Point” class patrol boats (WPB). The U.S. Coast Guard defines a “Cutter” as a vessel over 100 feet in length, having crew accommodations for extended operations. As these 82-foot vessels met all of those requirements sans length, they were only given hull numbers until 1964, when the service changed its mind and began to issue names to cutters larger than 65 feet. Therefore, all were named after various geographical “Points” in the country.

Points at rest 1965. Note the 20mm forward. At the time, These two boats, Point Welcome and Point Ellis, went to Vietnam in 1965 as part of Div 12/CGS1, and never .eft, being turned over to the Vietnamese as RVNS Nguyễn Hấn (HQ-717) and VNS Lê Ngọc Thanh (HQ-705) respectively. these were some of the only US ships to carry the WWII-era Oerlikon. Most others carried the Mk16 20mm gun.

Two Points at rest, 1965. Note the 20mm forward. These two boats, Point Welcome and Point Ellis went to Vietnam in 1965 as part of Div 12/CGS1 and never left, being turned over to the Vietnamese as RVNS Nguyễn Hấn (HQ-717) and VNS Lê Ngọc Thanh (HQ-705) respectively. These were some of the only US ships to carry the WWII-era Oerlikon. Most others carried the Mk16 20mm gun.

These 60-ton craft, capable of floating in just 6 feet of seawater, were armed at first with WWII surplus Oerlikon 20 mm cannons and equipped with a pair of 600hp Cummins diesels that could putter them around at 16-ish knots. That was the 1959 design concept. This was later increased to a pair of 800hp diesels (which increased speed to over 22 knots when clean), and one hull (Point Thatcher) had an experimental pair of Saturn gas turbines with 1100 HP each, manufactured by Solar Aircraft Co, that could break over 25.

Steel-hulled and with a then-novel aluminum superstructure, these hardy boats replaced the old 83-foot splinter boats that were leftover from the War. Designed for search and rescue and law enforcement missions, they were soon sent around the world to a combat zone. Capable of putting to sea with just a 4-man crew, they typically had one twice that size to enable boarding parties.

Point Class Cutters of USCG Squadron ONE stand out of Subic Bay in July 1965 for duty in Vietnamese littoral waters as part of Operation Market Time [2080×1662]

During Vietnam, 26 of the class were sent overseas to RVN waters where they formed Coast Guard Squadron One in three divisions.

To up their armament in their combat mission to control the Vietnamese littoral, these boats were given 5 M2 heavy machine guns (.50 cals), painted 20 shade grey, issued more sidearms to include M3 grease guns, the new M16 rifle, and Thompson submachine guns (not normally seen on Coast Guard cutters stateside),

USCG gunner at the ready of his 50-cal aboard an unamed Point of CGS1 in Vietnam,1970 USN photo

USCG gunner at the ready of his 50-cal aboard an unnamed Point of CGS1 in Vietnam,1970 USN photo

Gun locker in the galley of the Point White in Vietnam. A lot of tasty vittles there!

Gun locker in the galley of the Point White in Vietnam. A lot of tasty vittles there! I count at least four M1911 pistols, 3 M1 carbines, an unidentified pump-action shotgun, and 2 M1 Thompson submachine guns.

…and were even fitted with a piggyback 81mm mortar.

Chief Warrant Gunner Elmer L. HICKS, USCG and his 81mm/ M2 piggyback combo

Chief Warrant Gunner Elmer L. HICKS, USCG, and his 81mm/ M2 piggyback combo were emplaced onshore

A closer look at the 81/.50 mount as emplaced on a Vietnam-bound Point. Note the ready ammo boxes installed.

A closer look at the 81/.50 mount as placed on a Vietnam-bound Point. Note the ready ammo boxes installed. Also, note the Coastie’s cracker jacks are virtual copies of those used by the USN– except note the shield on the right arm– this denotes a USCG uniform.

Rel. No. 6135: USCGC POINT LOMAS FIRED AT SUSPECTED VIET CONG CAVE HIDEOUT: An 81mm mortar shell fired from the 82-foot U.S. Coast Guard Cutter POINT LOMAS (WPB-82321) shatters rocks over the entrance to a suspected Viet Cong cave hideout along a beach in a Viet Cong controlled area near Danang. Rounds from a .50 caliber machine gun, mounted piggyback on the mortar gun also were fired into the cave. Commanding the POINT LOMAS is Lieutenant Keith D. Ripley, USCG of Baltimore, Md. The 82-footer was stationed at Port Aransas, Texas, before reporting for duty with Coast Guard Squadron One's Division 12, based at Danang, Vietnam, in July 1965. There are eight 82-footers in that

Rel. No. 6135: USCGC POINT LOMAS FIRED AT SUSPECTED VIET CONG CAVE HIDEOUT: An 81mm mortar shell fired from the 82-foot U.S. Coast Guard Cutter POINT LOMAS (WPB-82321) shatters rocks over the entrance to a suspected Viet Cong cave hideout along a beach in a Viet Cong-controlled area near Danang. Rounds from a .50 caliber machine gun mounted piggyback on the mortar gun were also fired into the cave. Commanding the POINT LOMAS is Lieutenant Keith D. Ripley, USCG of Baltimore, Md. The 82-footer was stationed at Port Aransas, Texas, before reporting for duty with Coast Guard Squadron One’s Division 12, based at Danang, Vietnam, in July 1965. As a twist of fate, this cutter would serve both the South Vietnam Navy from 1970-75 and then that of the Peoples Republic from 1975-88, being the last former U.S. vessel on the naval list of that country.

Point Glover, note her extensive .50 cals

USCG Coast Guard Vietnam WPB Point class 82 foot patrol boats on station likely An Thoi, S. Vietnam USS Floyd County (LST-762)

Refueling CGC Point Young (WPB-82303) en route to Vietnam

USCG Coast Guard Vietnam WPB Point class 82 foot patrol boats Market Garden On station An Thoi, S. Vietnam USS Floyd County (LST-762) Point Clear WPB-82315. Note the Bofors on the LST

USCG Coast Guard Vietnam WPB Point class 82 foot patrol boats Market Garden On station An Thoi, S. Vietnam USS Floyd County (LST-762) Point Clear WPG-82315

USCG Coast Guard Vietnam WPB Point class 82-foot patrol boats Market Garden On station An Thoi, S. Vietnam USS Floyd County (LST-762) 

September 19, 1965 — Cutter Point Glover (WPB 82307) of Coast Guard Squadron One (RONONE) made the first capture of an enemy junk in Vietnam.

USCGC Point Grey (WPB-82324) note her M2/81mm piggyback forward, at least three M2s over the stern, and nearly a dozen Coasties on deck preparing the away boat

USCGC Point Dume (WPB-82325) in Vietnam, 1967. Note her piggyback 81mm/M2 .50 along with the ready ammo boxes and the crew in flip-flops and shorts. 

According to the USCG Historians Office, from which most of these pictures are drawn:

By the end of 1966 the twenty six 82 foot cutters of Squadron One, their eleven man crews and the support staff who kept the cutters and crews running, had reduced the estimated 70% of enemy’s supplies arriving by sea to less than 10 percent (U.S. Navy Proceedings June 1984, C.G. Reservist November 1996). This forced the enemy to transport most of their supplies over the more difficult and rugged Ho Chi Minh Trail. Fewer than 400 men made up USCG Squadron One in 1965 and 1966, yet in less than eighteen months, they had cut off 60 percent of the enemy’s total supplies that were arriving by sea. A remarkable job, when you think about it.

Seven Coast Guardsmen were killed and 59 were wounded in South Vietnam. These included those who were involved in the tragic friendly fire incident on the Point Welcome.

While on a patrol in the waters near the mouth of the Cua Viet River, about three-quarters of a mile south of the demilitarized zone, the cutter was attacked by U.S. Air Force aircraft and repeatedly strafed. As a result, the cutter’s commanding officer, Lt. j.g. David Brostrom, along with one crewman, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jerry Phillips, was killed. Also wounded in this friendly fire were Point Welcome’s executive officer, Lt. j.g. Ross Bell; two other crewmen, Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark D. McKenney and Fireman Houston J. Davidson; a Vietnamese liaison officer, Lt. j.g. Do Viet Vien; and a freelance journalist, Timothy J. Page.

Bridge Close-up of damage on Point Welcome, Vietnam

Close-up of cannon-hole damage on Point Welcome, Vietnam

Point Welcom's superstructure riddled with USAF cannon rounds. Friendly fire isn't.

Point Welcome’s aluminum superstructure is riddled with USAF 20mm cannon rounds. Friendly fire isn’t. Note the Wile E. Coyote mascot painted on the bridge even got a round right in the ass.

In true USCG fashion, the Point Welcome was patched up, and even Wily was given first aid and returned to service. (Image provided courtesy of ET2 Terry W. Hill., from USCG Historian's office http://www.uscg.mil/history/WEBCUTTERS/Point_Welcome.asp)

In true USCG fashion, the Point Welcome was patched up, and even Wily was given first aid and returned to service. (Image provided courtesy of ET2 Terry W. Hill., from USCG Historian’s office)

During their five years in South Vietnam the men of Squadron 1 put in yeoman’s work fighting armed junks and sampans, wearing out their diesels in constant patrol, and getting in intense firefights with shore-based troops:

-Patrolled 4,215,116 miles
-Detected 839,299 vessels
-Boarded 236,396 vessels
-Inspected 283,527 vessels
-Detained 10,286 personnel
-Engaged in 4,461 naval gunfire support missions
-Damaged or destroyed 1,811 vessels, including several heavily armed NVA SL4-class trawlers
-Killed or wounded 1,232 enemy
-Damaged or destroyed 4,727 structures.

Things stayed pretty hot for the Coasties in Vietnam

Recreation was a matter of debate.

Beard growing contest by crewman of USCG 82-footer Division 11, An Thoi, by PHC Frank Borzage, 1965

Beard growing contest by the crew of USCG 82-footer Division 11, An Thoi, by PHC Frank Borzage, 1965

Profile view of Point Cypress showing 50-caliber machine guns mounted on the fantail and amidships with 81mm mortar/50-caliber combination mounted on the bow. Photo courtesy of Gordon M. Gillies.

Profile view of Point Cypress showing 50-caliber machine guns mounted on the fantail and amidships with 81mm mortar/50-caliber combination mounted on the bow. Photo courtesy of Gordon M. Gillies.

Crew on board Point White with weapons confiscated from a Vietnamese junk sunk in a battle with this 82 footer

The crew onboard Point White with weapons confiscated from a Vietnamese junk sunk in a battle with this 82-footer

USCGC Point Marone (WPB-82331) inshore in Vietnam. These boats could float in feet of water.

United States Coast Guard Cutter (USCGC) Point Orient (CG82319) docked in Vietnam during the deployment of a contingent of RAN Clearance Diving Team 3 (CDT3). AWM 78, Clearance Diving Team Three, Report of Proceedings, March 1970.) AWM P05714.024

Point class cutter refueling from USCGC Dallas in Vietnam

When the Coast Guard pulled out of Vietnam in 1971, the veteran Points there were handed over to the RVN Navy.

The first 14 turned over. The RVN sailors who took them over were given 13 weeks of training, much of it under the USCG’s hand. In all, 26 were given to the Vietnamese

One of which, the former Point Clear escaped to the Philippines in 1975 as the RVNS Huynh Van Cu and was used for several years by the Navy of the Philippines before being hulked at Subic Bay.

Coast Guard Division 12 of CGS1 being decommissioned and her ships turned over to the short-lived use of the South Vietnamese navy

Coast Guard Division 12 of CGS1 is being decommissioned, and its ships are turned over to the short-lived use of the South Vietnamese Navy

The People’s Republic of Vietnam kept the 25 remaining Points in their possession, slowly disposing of them until the last of the group, Ngo Van Quyen (ex-USCGC Point Lomas), was cut up in 1988.

Post-Vietnam, the 53 remaining USCG Points were updated and kept in service. Their 20mm gun was replaced by a pair of single M2 mounts forward, and then by the 1980s just carried sidearms.

Point class cutter as they appeared in the 1980s. Note the two 50s forward and the new racing stripes

Point class cutters as they appeared in the 1980s. Note the two 50s forward and the new racing stripes.

They fought the war on drugs, saved countless lives, patrolled the border areas and Florida Straits for refugees, and even had a few uncomfortable standoffs with Cuban warships from time to time.

USCGC Point Swift (WPB-82312) likely off Florida in the 1980s, note the 50 cals

Of the 80 Points built for the Navy and Coast Guard, 54 were completed at the Coast Guard Yard in Curtis, 1960-70, while the balance of 26 ships was completed by J.M. Martinac Shipbuilding Corp., 1966-67.

A group of five Points from around Puget Sound, 1980s. Pt. Glass 82336 Gig Harbor, WA, Pt. Bennett 82351 Port Townsend, WA, Pt. Doran 82375 Everett, WA, Pt. Richmond 82370 Anacortes, WA, Pt. Countess 82335 Port Angeles, WA.

By 1990, the newest Point was over twenty years old and, even though re-engined with fresh Caterpillar Diesels, was still showing signs of hard use. I remember touring the old Point Estero in Gulfport, where she spent her entire 27-year career, with my NJROTC unit and sailing around Ship Island on her. She creaked and rolled even in shallow, still water and low seas.

Still, the ship was professional, and her crew told of numerous incidents of running down illegal longliners, patrolling nearby naval yards for the possibility of Soviet mini-subs (this was during the late 80s), tense confrontations with drug runners, and sad tales of searching for those lost at sea. When you take this and multiply it by a factor of 50, you can see how beneficial these little crafts were.

It was then that the USCG started replacing these craft with the 87-foot Marine Protector series, and what I like to call the “Great Point Giveaway” started. In May 1991, the thirty-year-old Type A Point Hope was transferred to Costa Rica, starting the floodgates. Over the next thirteen years, another 39 cutters would follow in that process, given as foreign aid to 17 Countries, of which about half are still in some sort of service:

Antigua- 1
Argentina- 2
Azerbaijan 1
Colombia- 4
Costa Rica- 4
Dominican Republic – 3
El Salvador – 1
Georgia – 2 (which narrowly escaped destruction by the Russians in 2008)
Ecuador – 1
Jamaica – 2
Mexico- 2
Panama- 5 (to help rebuild their navy following the 1989 invasion)
St Lucia- 1
Philippines – 2
Trinidad – 4
Venezuela- 4
Turkmenistan – 1

Venezuela CG Point class cutter still in service

Venezuela CG Point class cutter still in service

Two former Coast Guard Points, Point Countess and Point Baker, on transfer to the Georgian Coast Guard

Two former Coast Guard Points, Point Countess, and Point Baker, on transferred to the Georgian Coast Guard. Notably, they have had their .50 cal mounts reinstalled– Russian repellent.

PG 394 BRP Alberto Navarette of the Philippines Navy, ex USCGC Point Evans WPB 82354

PG 394 BRP Alberto Navarette of the Philippine Navy, ex USCGC Point Evans WPB 82354. You can bet this craft and her sister ship, the Point Doran, will be eyeball-to-eyeball with the PLAN in the coming years. Note the twin 50s up front and what looks to be another set over the stern. These ships, with their shallow draft, are useful in combating Islamic terrorists along the huge island chain. Holy Coast Guard Squadron One, Batman!

The last of these transferred, the 1970-commissioned Point Bower, went to landlocked Azerbaijan for use on the world’s largest lake, the Caspian Sea, in 2003, and was also the last Point in commission with the Coast Guard.

It’s amazing how craft deemed by the brass to be no longer worth the effort is quickly snapped up by our overseas allies for another decade or two of service. In fact, Mexico still has one of these boats left over from 1961, the Point Verde (WPB-82311), now in her 24th year of service to that country as the ARM Punto Morro (P 60).

Of the 13 not sent overseas:

3 ships were stripped and scuttled as reefs, with perhaps the Point Swift being the best known of these.

Point Swift being deep sixed

Point Swift is deep-sixed. Photo by NJSCUBA.net

Point Arena was listed as in storage at Coast Guard Yard in Curtis, MD although one source mentions that she was destroyed date unknown in firefighting training.

Point Roberts was transferred to EPA as R/V Lake Explorer based out of Duluth, Minnesota. Decommissioned in July 2005 and sold to Basic Marine, Inc. Escanaba, Michigan she was replaced by the former NOAA R/V Rude. Roberts’s ultimate fate is unknown.

Point Harris, based in Hawaii since 1980, was sold to a private owner in 1992 and it is unclear where she is at this time.

3 were transferred to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in 2001:

Point Glass in her early 2000s NOAA configuration

Two of these ships, the Point Glass and Point Lobos, continued in service until 2006 when they were finally decommissioned and surplused. The Point Monroe was used as the law enforcement patrol vessel for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, flying NOAA’s flag and carrying armed Florida State Marine Patrol/Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers until 201,2 when she was removed from service and put up for private sale.

Point Monroe as she appeared for private sale. Note the hull lines

Point Monroe as she appeared for private sale. Note the hull lines

Point Glass went on to the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and now serves as a Sea Scouts ship in Galveston.

Seattle Maritime Academy's Point

Point Divide as the Seattle Maritime Instructor schoolship

3 were donated to Academic programs- Point Divide to the Washington Maritime Academy,  Point Charles to Texas A&M Maritime Academy. Point Brown was donated to Kingsborough CC in 1991 who used her for research for ten years. After a 2001 refit, she was purchased as a private vessel and renamed Lady B.

Lady B on patrol with the USCGA in NYC

As Lady B, she still flies the Coast Guard jack as her owner and skipper, Auxiliary Coxswain Stu Sunderland, serves with his vessel in the Coast Guard Auxiliary in New York City. She is a frequent sight along the mid-Atlantic coast and has been involved in multiple missions for Sector New York. She just turned 43 years young and is still in semi-regular operation.

An 80th boat, the Sea Scout Ship Point Weber, is still used as part of the Point Weber Youth Maritime program, but she was never a Coast Guard Cutter. Built by the Coast Guard Yard in Baltimore, Maryland, D specifically for the U.S. Navy in 1962, she was used by the Navy on the West Coast as a firing range control vessel and was donated to the organization in the 1980s.

Point Webber in her role as a scout ship. Although the sun is setting on this class of hardy steel-hulled ships, they aren't quite done yet.

SSS Point Webber in her role as a scout ship. Although the sun is setting on this class of hardy steel-hulled ships, they aren’t quite done yet.

Even though long out of federal service, it’s likely the last Point sailor, fighting seasickness, is yet to be born.

Specs:
Displacement: 67 (A series), 69 (B/C Series)
Length: 82 feet
Beam: 17.25 feet
Draft: 6.0 feet
Main Engines Twin 1710 Cummins 1200 HP (Series A) later Twin 800 hp Cummins for 1600HP. Eventually, twin Cat 3412 Diesels
Generators 2 GE 2-71 Diesels
Propellers Twin 42 in. variable pitch
Fuel Capacity 1840 gal. @ 95%
Compliment (1960) 8. (Vietnam) 2 officers, 13 men
Fresh Water Storage 1100 gals
Maximum Speed 22.9 knots (top) by 1980s typically closer to 15
Max Sustained Speed 18.0 knots
Cruise Speed 10.7 knots
Maximum Range 3000 @ 9.4 knots
Radar: SPN-11, CR-103 (1960), or SPS-64
Weapons: single 20mm AAA (as designed) 1 .50 cal/81mm mortar piggyback mount forward, 4 x M2 .50 cal stern, extensive small arms locker (Vietnam ships) 2 x M2 .50 cal forward (1970s stateside ships) small arms only after the 1980s

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’m a member, so should you be!

« Older Entries Recent Entries »