Reader DampOctopus here, with a review of the Bovington Tank Museum, which I visited in April 2024. First, some context...

The tank was originally developed under wartime conditions, and the need for advantage on the battlefield naturally took precedence over preservation of the historical record. After the conclusion of WWI in 1918, Bovington Heath was littered with the debris of this development effort along with surplus tanks salvaged from the battlefields of France, abandoned to slowly rust. There they might have remained but for a visit in 1923 by Rudyard Kipling who suggested that they should be preserved for posterity. His suggestion prompted an effort in that direction over the following decades and today the Bovington Tank Museum is both the home of the earliest artifacts from the history of the tank and the largest collection of tanks in the world.

Achtung - Panzer!

Website

The curators of this museum have gone to considerable effort to display their collection to good advantage. Take the Trench Experience exhibition. It starts with a replica recruiting office and leads on through a recreation of a WWI trench system, with mannequins in period-appropriate costumes sheltering in dugouts and listening to background radio chatter. Then you turn a corner and see a soldier shouting in German and cowering away from a shape looming over the trench ... which turns out to be a Mark I heavy tank. Continue onwards and you see a series of examples illustrating the development of the classic rhomboidal British heavy tanks of WWI: the later Marks IV and V, a Mark IX armoured personnel carrier,¹ a Mark V** with stretched chassis for crossing wider trenches and a Mark VIII of an Anglo-American design that didn't see service until after the armistice. Read more...

It's time once again for our regular Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't Culture War.

The 2023 Naval Gazing meetup was last weekend, and a great time was had by all. Besides the planned events, we also had a special bonus tour, which confirms my theory that you should all come next time, because you never know what will happen.

Overhauls are SYWTBABB Construction Part 3, Shells Part 3, my review of Ft. Sill, Coastal Defenses Part 2, LCS Parts two and three, and for 2023, my review of Seawolf Park in Galveston and The East Asia Squadron Part 1.

While on a recent trip to Ohio, The Fatherly One got a chance to visit USS Cod in Cleveland, unique among the country's museum submarines in having been extremely minimally modified, and was kind enough to write a review.

Cod pierside²

USS Cod – SS-224, WW II Fleet Submarine USS COD Submarine Memorial North Coast Harbor Cleveland, OH

The Cod is the only WW II Gato class fleet submarine in its original wartime configuration. No stairways and/or doors have been cut in her pressure hull. Access for the tour is via the escape trunk which deposits you in the forward torpedo room. From there the tour heads to the stern. On the outside, there are dents from depth-charging and bullet holes from a strafing run. Read more...

Torpedo bombing had begun during WWI, but it only reached full deployment during the second world war, when all of the major combatants made use of it in various forms.

A Mk 13 torpedo undergoing maintenance

The outlier in how they used torpedoes was the Americans, who tended to do things slightly different from everyone else, although my sourcing on their practice is far better than I have for any other power, so they get their own post. The US Mk 13 aerial torpedo was distinguished in a number of ways. Most notably, it was relatively short and fat, 22.4" instead of the 17.7" that was standard in the rest of the world. This configuration was adopted as it was thought that a longer torpedo would be a serious constraint on the performance of future torpedo bombers.³ Also unusual was the range/speed combination, which was initially 6,000 yards at 30 kts, although this was later altered to 4,000 yards and 33.5 kts,⁴ still leaving it substantially slower and longer-ranged than was typical for an aerial torpedo.⁵ It also lacked the gyro-angling feature that most navies fitted their torpedoes with, which allowed the pilot to set a course different from the airplane's before the torpedo was dropped which it would then turn to after entering the water.⁶ Read more...

It's time once again for our regular Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't culture war.

The big news is that next weekend is the New England meetup. I'm not accepting more people for full-time, but if you're in the area and want to drop by for a bit, let me know.

Overhauls are British Battleships in WWII, Shells Part 2, Continuous At Sea Deterrent and for 2023, my review of the Titan silo in Tucson and A Visit to Texas.

Last weekend saw one of the largest missile attacks in history, almost totally blocked by the defenses of Israel and various countries that came to Israel's aid. As such, it's worth a look to see what lessons we can learn. For those who weren't paying attention, reports generally seem to agree that Iran (and its proxies in Yemen) launched about 170 drones, 30 cruise missiles and 110-120 ballistic missiles. And to be clear, 300+ missiles (some sources are saying 350, probably with the balance made up by more drones) is a lot. For comparison, during the first Gulf War, the United States launched 288 Tomahawks. Obviously, that was in the context of a much larger air campaign, but this was clearly more than just lobbing a few missiles as harassment.

But the attack was a complete failure, with the net result reported of two Israeli airbases damaged (not clear exactly how much) and a single girl left in critical condition by falling debris. Some of this was because about half of the Iranian ballistic missiles failed during launch and crashed short of the target⁷ but most of it was a superb performance by Israeli and American ABM systems, and the rapid work of an impromptu coalition of basically everyone who wasn't Iran in the region to deal with the atmospheric threat. Read more...

35 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 in 2019 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

The torpedo had long been the best way to let water into a ship, which is ultimately what was required to sink it, and it was clear from WWI onward that this would be a major weapon in the arsenal of the airplane. But early torpedoes were imposed strict limits on the speed and altitude of the dropping aircraft. Even in 1930, this was rarely more than 100 kts and 50'.

A flight of Swordfish torpedo bombers

By this point, it had became clear that the solution to the dropping problem would have to involve some sort of attachment to the torpedo to help keep it on course during its flight through the air. The idea seems to have originally been developed by the Norwegians, who fitted their torpedoes with an "air tail" consisting of wooden and canvas flaps that were operated by the torpedo's normal gyro mechanism and which separated on impact with the water. Most nations used some variant of this idea, often including both a wooden stabilizer and some method of roll control, all of which allowed greater speed and altitude, a process that also saw torpedoes strengthened to withstand the greater force of impact. The British, sharply weight-limited, were forced to drop an example of their torpedo at greater speeds until something broke, strengthen that thing, then repeat the process until the next thing failed. At the outbreak of war, the Japanese were probably the world leaders in this, with the Type 91 Mod 2, which had been subjected to extensive drop tests in the interwar years, capable of dropping from 330' and 200 kts. Read more...

It is time once again for our regular Open Thread. Talk about whatever you want, so long as it isn't Culture War.

A reminder that our meetup in New England is coming up in 3 weeks. This is the last call for those of you who are thinking of attending. If you want to join the following people, see cool ships, and eat delicious food, sign up using this form:

• Bean and Lord Nelson
• Sam Chevre
• Hunter
• Ian Argent
• John Schilling
• Usea2b
• smd
• 2 Friedmans
• Shas'Ui + 1

Overhauls are A Brief History of the Destroyer, Shells Part 1, and for 2023 How many Bulbasaurs could fit on this ship? and my review of Pima.

Proposals for using the airplane to deploy torpedoes predate the outbreak of WWI, with the earliest prominent speculations coming from American Admiral Bradley Fiske, who took out a patent on the idea in 1912. The first actual drop took place in June 1914, although the anemic airplanes of the day meant that early tests were done with obsolete (and light) 14" torpedoes.

A Short 184, the first plane to conduct a successful aerial torpedo attack

The British were the first to use the aerial torpedo in action, deploying torpedo-carrying seaplanes to the Dardanelles during the Gallipoli campaign. The first successful torpedo attack was made on August 12th, 1915, although the target ship was already abandoned and aground. Five days later, a second attack managed to hit a ship underway, although the Turks successfully salvaged her. A second plane that had not launched its torpedo was forced down by engine problems, and after the pilot found that he couldn't get back into the air with his torpedo, he decided to taxi around until he could find a suitable target. He eventually located a Turkish tug and managed to sink it with his torpedo before taking off for home. Read more...