While visiting family over Christmas, Lord Nelson and I toured what is probably the country's newest air museum, Historic Flight's new branch in Spokane, Washington.¹ It had opened on December 17th, less than two weeks before our visit. We were shown around by my friend John, who volunteers there, and thus our experience was somewhat better than will probably be normal.

Lord Nelson and I with the Hamilton Metalplane

Website

Historic Flight Spokane is a fairly typical small/medium-size air museum, drawing from the collection of John Sessions, whose main base is a Paine Field north of Seattle. Everything in the museum can and does fly, and it's apparently the intention to rotate the collection between Paine and Spokane regularly to keep both museums fresh. While we were there, they had a DC-3, a P-51B, a JRF Goose, a Travelair Biplane, a Beechcraft Staggerwing, a Stearman, and a Hamilton Metalplane, all of which were lovingly restored. John had actually worked on the Goose restoration, and been up in several of the planes in question. I didn't talk with any of the other guides, but if he's any indication, they're definitely knowledgeable. Read more...

31 years ago today, while conducting gunnery exercises off the coast of Puerto Rico, Turret II exploded aboard Iowa. 47 members of her crew were killed. Every year, a memorial ceremony is held for them, and I was able to attend last year and honor the men who died.

• Tung Thanh Adams - Fire Controlman 3rd class (FC3) Alexandria, VA
• Robert Wallace Backherms - Gunner's Mate 3rd class (GM3) Ravenna, OH
• Dwayne Collier Battle - Electrician's Mate, Fireman Apprentice (EMFA) Rocky Mount, NC
• Walter Scot Blakey - Gunner's Mate 3rd class (GM3) Eaton Rapids, MI
• Pete Edward Bopp - Gunner's Mate 3rd class (GM3) Levittown, NY
• Ramon Jarel Bradshaw - Seaman Recruit (SR) Tampa, FL
• Philip Edward Buch - Lieutenant, Junior Grade (LTjg) Las Cruces, NM
• Eric Ellis Casey - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Mt. Airy, NC
• John Peter Cramer - Gunners Mate 2nd class (GM2) Uniontown, PA
• Milton Francis Devaul Jr. - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Solvay, NY
• Leslie Allen Everhart Jr. - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Cary, NC
• Gary John Fisk - Boatswains Mate 2nd class (BM2) Oneida, NY
• Tyrone Dwayne Foley - Seaman (SN) Bullard, TX
• Robert James Gedeon III - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Lakewood, OH
• Brian Wayne Gendron - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Madera, CA
• John Leonard Goins - Seaman Recruit (SR) Columbus, OH
• David L. Hanson - Electricians Mate 3rd class (EM3) Perkins, SD
• Ernest Edward Hanyecz - Gunners Mate 1st class (GM1) Bordentown, NJ
• Clayton Michael Hartwig - Gunners Mate 2nd class (GM2) Cleveland, OH
• Michael William Helton - Legalman 1st class (LN1) Louisville, KY
• Scott Alan Holt - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Fort Meyers, FL
• Reginald L. Johnson Jr. - Seaman Recruit (SR) Warrensville Heights, OH
• Nathaniel Clifford Jones Jr. - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Buffalo, NY
• Brian Robert Jones - Seaman (SN) Kennesaw, GA
• Michael Shannon Justice - Seaman (SN) Matewan, WV
• Edward J. Kimble - Seaman (SN) Ft. Stockton, TX
• Richard E. Lawrence - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Springfield, OH
• Richard John Lewis - Fire Controlman, Seaman Apprentice (FCSA) Northville, MI
• Jose Luis Martinez Jr. - Seaman Apprentice (SA) Hidalgo, TX
• Todd Christopher McMullen - Boatswains Mate 3rd class (BM3) Manheim, PA
• Todd Edward Miller - Seaman Recruit (SR) Ligonier, PA
• Robert Kenneth Morrison - Legalman 1st class (LN1) Jacksonville, FL
• Otis Levance Moses - Seaman (SN) Bridgeport, CN
• Darin Andrew Ogden - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Shelbyville, IN
• Ricky Ronald Peterson - Seaman (SN) Houston, MN
• Mathew Ray Price - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Burnside, PA
• Harold Earl Romine Jr. - Seaman Recruit (SR) Brandenton, FL
• Geoffrey Scott Schelin - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GMG3) Costa Mesa, CA
• Heath Eugene Stillwagon - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Connellsville, PA
• Todd Thomas Tatham - Seaman Recruit (SR) Wolcott, NY
• Jack Ernest Thompson - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Greeneville, TN
• Stephen J. Welden - Gunners Mate 2nd class (GM2) Yukon, OK
• James Darrell White - Gunners Mate 3rd class (GM3) Norwalk, CA
• Rodney Maurice White - Seaman Recruit (SR) Louisville, KY
• Michael Robert Williams - Boatswains Mate 2nd class (BM2) South Shore, KY
• John Rodney Young - Seaman (SN) Rockhill, SC
• Reginald Owen Ziegler - Senior Chief Gunners Mate (GMCS) Port Gibson, NY

They came to the Navy as strangers. Served the Navy as shipmates and friends and left the Navy as brothers in eternity. - George H.W. Bush

It's time once again for our Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, even if it's not military/naval related.

First, how is everybody doing during the quarantine? Personally, Lord Nelson and I are OK, although I'm looking forward to when this is over and I can get out of the house more.

Second, if you're looking for a way to pass the time, I'd suggest Aurora, a free space-based 4X game. The C# version has just been released, bringing with it vastly improved performance. The best way to describe Aurora is probably a three-way cross between RTW2, Civilization (or maybe Stellaris) and Microsoft Excel. Alternatively, Dwarf Fortress in Space, but without quite the same level of constant struggle to keep everything from falling apart. You're in charge of an empire, making decisions ranging from broad strategy to exactly how big the thermal sensors on your latest warship will be. You research technology, then build components, then design ships using them. For a certain kind of person (myself included), it's incredibly compelling, once you get past the very steep learning curve and lack of graphics.

Do note that the C# release was only on the 12th, so the game is still being updated rapidly, and a lot of updates require you to overwrite your save. This won't be a huge problem for new players, who can expect to throw away several games before they get the hang of it.

If Aurora doesn't appeal, there's also the USNI, who have opened their archives for free for the next few months, and who are offering member pricing and free shipping on all book orders. This isn't as good a deal as the Christmas sale, but it's still a good one if you want to build up your naval library.

2018 overhauls are Early Dreadnoughts, ASW in WWII Forces, Sensors and Weapons and my review of Iowa. 2019 overhauls are the Iowa class, the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, Shells parts one and two, Jim Pobog's story about Black Oil and Falklands Part 13.

At the start of WWII, France was among the second rank of the world's major naval powers. Their dreadnought construction program had been interrupted by the outbreak of WWI, leaving them with five pre-1914 battleships, two Courbets and three Bretagnes. The Courbets were the first French dreadnoughts, and by 1939, both had been relegated to training duties.² In front-line service, the Bretagnes were joined by the two ships of the Dunkerque class, the only small battleships built under the Washington Naval Treaty. They displaced only 26,500 tons standard, well under the 35,000 ton treaty limit, and were designed to hunt the German Deutschland class panzerschiffe.³ Two more battleships of the Richelieu class, built to the full treaty limit with two 15" quad turrets forward, were nearing completion.⁴ They had been laid down to counter the Italian Littorios, and another pair, counters to Bismarck and Tirpitz, had been authorized in 1938, although only one was laid down before the outbreak of war, and both were suspended in favor of more urgent projects.⁵

Dunkerque

In the early months of the war, the Marine Nationale cooperated closely with the RN, dispatching its battleships to hunt German raiders and protect transatlantic convoys. In mid-1940, as the risk of Italy entering the war grew, the Dunkerques and Bretagnes were dispatched to the Mediterranean as a deterrent, operating out of Mers-el-Kebir, in modern Algeria. Unfortunately, they could do nothing in the face of the disaster that overtook France in June 1940, also drawing Italy into the war. Courbet and Paris, stationed at Cherbourg and Le Havre respectively, provided artillery support to the defenders of those cities when the Germans approached, but ultimately were forced to evacuate to Britain in late June. Richelieu, officially completed the day after Paris fell, was sent to Dakar, in West Africa, to keep her under French control and give the French government leverage over the Germans. Richelieu's sister Jean Bart, launched in early May, was hastily made ready for sea and escaped only hours ahead of the Germans, then headed straight for Casablanca with only a handful of AA guns operative. Ultimately, the Armistice signed between Germany and France on June 22nd left the French in control of their fleet,⁶ but stipulated that they must be returned to their home ports, many of which were in the German-occupied zone.⁷ Read more...

As it's Easter, I thought it was time to once again honor the US military's chaplains, charged with the spiritual health of the troops. Last year, I told the story of the Four Chaplains who gave up their lives on the torpedoed troopship Dorchester. This year, we'll look at the first Chaplain to win the Medal of Honor in the 20th century, Father Joseph T. O'Callahan of the USS Franklin.

Joseph O'Callahan

O'Callahan was a Jesuit who taught math at Holy Cross before the war, and became the first of his order to join the Navy's chaplain corps when he requested an appointment in late 1940. His first assignment was to the Naval Air Station at Pensacola, where he quickly gained a reputation for hard work and care among not only Catholics but all he came in contact with. Finally, after 18 months in Florida, he was assigned to the carrier Ranger, just in time for her to be sent to support Operation Torch, the Allied landings in North Africa. O'Callahan provided a narration of the action to the crewman on duty throughout the ship over the 1MC, then went topside to help haul the body of a gunner killed by AA fire out of the Dauntless and provide him a proper burial at sea. Read more...

Gentlemen,

The last six months have not seen a victory on the scale of Texel, but we have continued to win most of our engagements. The biggest loss was one of our fast battleships and a pair of British battlecruisers in a night action, and the largest cause was the stupidity of the British commander, who allowed his flagship to be destroyed in the opening moments of the engagement.

In the past six months, we've laid down two battleships, 2 CLs and a quartet of destroyers. We have ships about to commission as well, 8 destroyers, a CVL and a CL. What will replace them is an open question, although after serious losses to air attack off the German coast, the staff would suggest an emphasis on carriers. Read more...

The ultimate purpose of sea power is to effect events on land, where most people spend their time. Often, this takes the form of controlling trade and use of the sea, but it can also involve direct projection of power ashore. This is usually unpopular with those on land, and while it's usually best to make your displeasure known at sea, this hasn't always been possible. The alternative is usually fixed coastal defenses, set up ashore to make life more difficult for attackers. Initially, these took the form of lookouts and conventional fortifications, set up to protect against raids on major settlements and up rivers, such as the Roman fortifications which protected southeast England and northern France. It was only with the development of gunpowder that land-based defenders gained an effective weapon against ships, and dedicated coastal defenses began to appear. One early example was Dartmouth Castle, which was built in the 1400s to protect Dartmouth, in soutwest England, and was sited to cover an iron chain to keep enemies out of the harbor. Artillery and booms like the chain would both form a vital part of coastal defenses for the next half-millennium.

Dartmouth Castle, protecting the river Dart

The first large-scale coastal defense system appears to have been the Device Forts,⁸ constructed in England and Wales under Henry VIII to guard against the possibility of invasion by the French. The Device Forts were built in the era during which midevial castles were giving way to more modern bastion forts, of which the most impressive were so-called "castles", stone forts equipped with numerous heavy guns and intended to protect important cities and anchorages, as well as providing the defenders some protection against enemy troops. More numerous were the blockhouses, smaller stone buildings equipped with a few guns and positioned to defend against naval assault only. The first castles used rounded bastions, although these left "dead zones" near the walls where attacking troops could shelter, and later fortifications were angular in the style of the bastion forts being developed in continental Europe. These could cover all of their external walls with enfilading cannon fire, making them much harder to attack from land, although they still used vertical stone walls that were vulnerable to cannon fire.⁹ Read more...

During the 1960s, the world's shipping companies were in trouble. Their existing break-bulk cargo ships were proving uneconomical to load and unload as labor costs, particularly in developed countries, climbed, and ships spent over half their time sitting still while stevedores emptied and filled their holds. Something better would be needed, presumably a way to package cargo into larger containers which could be moved on and off the vessel relatively easily.

CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin, the largest container ship ever to dock in North America¹⁰

This wasn't a completely new idea. In fact, its roots stretched back over a century, to the early train ferries, designed to bridge bodies of water too wide for bridges. Fully-loaded rail cars would be brought aboard on internal tracks and then shuttled across to the other side. Much the same was done during WWII, when LSTs were filled with fully-loaded trucks, which would simply be driven off on the beach at the far end. However, this kind of loading was rather inefficient, with an LST able to carry only a quarter of what it could if loaded with bulk cargo. During the Bismarcks campaign, the sacrifice in cargo was unacceptable, and a compromise was found in the form of loading the LST with trailers, which could carry more cargo than trucks, but still be unloaded quickly. Read more...

It's our normal open thread. Talk about whatever you want, even if it's not military/naval related.

I'd like to highlight the USN's response to the coronavirus, the deployment of the hospital ships Mercy and Comfort to Los Angeles and New York, respectively. Of course, this is somewhat overshadowed by the recent attempt by a rather disturbed train driver to ram Mercy.

Overhauls for 2018 are The Early Battlecruisers, Why do we need so many ships?, ASW in WWI, So You Want to Build a Battleship - Design Part 1, The Pursuit of the Goeben and Breslau, and Operation Staple Head. 2019 overhauls are the last part on commercial aviation, German Guided Bombs Part 4, Manila Bay, Naval Fiction, So You Want to Build a Battleship - Construction Part 2, The Philadelphia Experiment and A Brief History of the Destroyer.

Lord Nelson recently visited S.S. Anne, a cruise ship that was temporarily open to the public when docked in Kuchiba City, Kanto. Her priorities are rather different than mine.

SS Anne from pierside

I'll start with the good things. The ship was gorgeous, both inside and out, and the crew was very friendly. I particularly enjoyed the public art on display throughout the vessel. It looks like regular passengers would have a lot to do, with a pool, a gym, crew-led aerobics, and a very nice restaurant. We even got to tour the kitchen, although I'm not sure how good their hygiene standards were, given that the Captain had some sort of stomach bug while I was there. Read more...