Mystery Ship XXV Demystified

Meet the USS Electrician.  Built in the first quarter of the 1900s at what is now called Naval Station Norfolk, she was a 3/4-scale model of a Pennsylvania-class battleship.  While made of wood, she was more-or-less fully outfitted as a training unit for NSN's electrician's school... the class of 1921 is seen above.  The guns weren't real though, probably much to the relief of Norfolk.

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Name This Mystery Ship XXV

It's been a tough run for me of late, but here's a Mystery Ship for y'all.  Take your best shot!

Usual rules apply: no image searching, yadda yadda yadda.  The Mystery Ship Masters, CXT and FDM, can't guess until I say so.  Winner gets a post of their very own, barring pr0n, politics or religion.

Have at it!

UPDATE: Okay, CXT and FDM, you've been let off the leash!

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Name This Mystery Ship XXIV

Usual rules and regulations apply... no image search, no cheating, yadda.  Also no FDM or CXT for the first 24 hours.  Winner gets a post on a topic of their choice (no pr0n, religion or politics).

Get t'gessin'!

UPDATE: It's open season, folks... everybody can play now!

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They Also Serve...

...who only stand and tug.

The USS Woban, YTB 138.  No real reason for me posting this picture, except it's a great picture of a tugboat.  Sure, it's not the most glamourous vessel ever, but without it (and ships like it) navies the world over would be in serious sheepdip.

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I... Uh... Hm. Well.

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Ships, Nothing But Ships

So I've been spending time looking at warship photos as of late, and I've come up with a bunch of good ones for display over at Reddit's r/warshipporn subsite.  I don't think I'm tooting my own horn when I say I'm the most clever as far as picture titles go, but this post isn't about that... no, it's about my favorite pictures that I've put up.  To start with, I was using my "mystery ship" competition shots, but I've spread out since then.  Like this one:

Right in the ol' spud locker!  I'm pretty sure that the Hellcat just rolled off the end of the USS Charger's flight deck, but that's not what it looks like!

Want more?  Well, click the word!

more...

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The Books of Midway

71 years ago the US Navy won the greatest victory at sea, perhaps ever.  It will come as no surprise to most of my readers that I've been fascinated by the Battle of Midway for years.  Last night, I realized that I had no plans for the annual June 4th post, so my eyes headed to The Shelf.  Perhaps one of the books there could give me an idea... and then I realized that the idea was staring me in the face.

Not all of these books are excellent, of course.  There's really two categories of Midway books: those heavily influenced by Mitsuo Fuchida's Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, and those that aren't.  It's that second group where you get the real meat.  All four of the books on the top row fall into that rarefied strata... which is not to say that the above picture has the books in any sort of order!  They're just positioned to fit in the picture.

Even the books from the first category, such as Gordon Prange's Miracle at Midway, have substantial value.  Ironically, the weakest book of the bunch is the very first: Fuchida's.  It has been made clear through ongoing research, both here and in Japan, that he played fast and loose with the truth.  Well, that's unfortunate, but the truth appears to have come out. 

I haven't completed Dallas Isom's book, so I can't say what I think of it yet.  What I've read has managed to furrow my brow a few times... not always in a good way, it must be said.  It's certainly been worth the $4.95 I spent on it, though. 

Of course, I forgot to put my newest addition in the picture... it's sitting on my dining room table.  I haven't read it yet; it's going to be my business trip reading in a couple of weeks.

I wonder if any other single battle has generated as many books as Midway has?  D-Day, probably, but that isn't really a single battle, is it?  The Battle of Britain, likely... except that was less a battle and more of a campaign.  Maybe Stalingrad... but probably not.

And that's how it should be.

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Mystery Ship VIII Update!

In November of 2011, I put up a "Name This Mystery Ship" contest that proved to be one of my favorites. 

The correct answer was the SS Mamari, aka "Fleet Tender C".  A former passenger liner, she had been taken over by the Royal Navy and converted into a HMS Hermes decoy.  As it turns out, I had not seen another picture of this erstwhile vessel until just about a week ago, when I also found out her fate.  First, the second picture:

As it turns out, the Mamari was a very good decoy indeed.  On June 3rd, 1941, she was attacked by German aircraft.  In the process of evading them, she got stuck on the wreck of a tanker.  While the Admiralty intended to refloat her, a few days later the E-boats came.  After a couple of torpedoes, she ended up as you see her here.  You can see just how skimpy that "flight deck" was.  It couldn't even be used as a transport.

So there you are... more Fleet Tender C!

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Something Strange And Wonderful

So the other day I was searching for pictures of the USS Liscome Bay when the contents of a thumbnail caught my eye and made me do a metaphorical doubletake.  I simply could not for the life of me figure out what I was looking at.  Of course I had to click on it.

And then I started to laugh.  The USS Thetis Bay, CVE-90, with deck-parked PBY Catalinas as she ferries them back to California in 1944.  I've never seen anything like that before!  I looked a little closer, and realized there was also a J2F Duck on deck, to boot!  The Hellcats pale by comparison.  I guess it makes perfect sense to ferry PBYs like this... it's not like they could fly the entire way on their own, particularly when they've been beaten up like these ones... but you just don't expect to see them dwarfing the carrier they're on.

It reminds me of the C-130 landing on a supercarrier: sure, it works, but man does it look weird.

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I No Longer Need Any More MilHist Books...

...for I have just obtained the final word in Military History titles.  My friends, cast your gaze longingly upon the newest, and perhaps final, addition to The Shelf:

If ever proof was needed that good things can come in small packages, Lake Michigan's Aircraft Carriers by Paul M Somers is that proof.  Clocking in at 128 pages, over three-quarters of them photographs, LMAC tells the story of the USS Wolverine and USS Sable, the world's only fresh-water paddlewheel aircraft carriers.  I first wrote about these two training carriers back in 2010, long before I knew about this valuable work, which was released in 2003.  It's actually a little sparse on the actual history, beyond simple numbers, but that's okay.  We're not here for the numbers, we're really here for the pictures, many of which I've never seen before, and all in excellent quality. 

To be honest, however, I can't recommend that you rush out and purchase this book, because I really doubt that you're as insane as I am.  If you are, well heck, go crazy... er... I mean... oh, you know what I mean.  In any case, it's a fun little addition to The Shelf, and I'm happy I've gotten it.  How many people do YOU know that can say they've got a book on freshwater paddlewheel aircraft carriers in their collection?

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When Aircraft Carriers Flew

Over the years, I've written about all sorts of aircraft carriers.  Tiny ones, small ones, big ones, bad ones, even aircraft carriers that were submarines.  Today, though, I'm going to talk about what might be the strangest of them all: an aircraft carrier that could fly.

The USS Akron (ZRS-4) and her sister ship, the USS Macon (ZRS-5) were two of the largest things ever to fly, and the largest helium-filled airships ever at 785 feet long.  Only the Hindenburg was longer, and only by 20 feet.  Despite that immense size, they only weighed 110 tons and could make 72kts at maximum speed.  Their role with the US Navy was to be that of reconnaissance.  With a range of 12000 miles, more or less, crossed with their speed, they could easily scout ahead of the fleet.  However, it was recognized that something that size was hardly invisible and made for one juicy target, even if their helium gasbags meant that they wouldn't go foom the way zeppelins did in WWI.  Enter the Sparrowhawk.

Both the Akron and Macon could carry up to five F9C Sparrowhawk fighters, though four was the norm.  These were carried inside the dirigibles, and were launched and recovered via a "trapeze" unit.  Simply put, the hook on the top wing would engage the trapeze, which then hauled the plane up into the hangar.  To launch, they were lowered via the trapeze, then the hook would be disengaged.  The Sparrowhawk would then fall away, in yet another example of why pilots are insane.

The Sparrowhawks were not carried for local defense, though they could certainly perform in that role.  Instead, they were to increase the scouting area of the mothership, and allow the Akron and Macon to stay a safe distance from the targets.  On the whole, there's no reason why this wouldn't have worked, and test results were generally favorable.  There was no terrible difficulty with the trapeze unit, other than the sheer ridiculousness of the concept.

Unfortunately, neither the Akron or the Macon had long careers in the Navy.  Dirigibles are, as you can imagine, inherently somewhat fragile.  On April 4th, 1933, a mere two years after her launching, Akron was lost when she flew into a storm front over the Atlantic.  73 of her crew of 76 were lost.  Two years later, the Macon was struck by a severe gust of wind that carried away her upper tailfin (weakened by a previous accident and insufficiently repaired).  She settled gently into the Pacific Ocean, and 74 of her crew survived.

But for a while, they were flying aircraft carriers.

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"...and Screw This Whole Area In Particular."

It's hard for a ship to look proud when painted in Measure 32, but somehow the USS Aaron Ward (DM-34, ex DD-773) pulls it off in this picture.  Like James Bond, martini shaken not stirred, dressed in a clown costume.

Originally a Sumner-class destroyer, the Ward was taken in hand right after launching and converted to the last of 12 Robert H Smith-class minelayers.  All the conversion did was remove the torpedo tubes and add minelaying equipment (which, it might be noted, was never actually used by any of the Smiths in WWII).  Otherwise, they were treated as any other destroyer.  Joining the fleet at Pearl Harbor on February 2nd, 1945, she received additional training in and around Hawaii before joining TF 52 at Okinawa on March 22nd.  She served there for around a month, leaving station occasionally for supplies and such.  On April 30th, 1945, she took station at Radar Picket #10 off the coast of Okinawa.  She beat off one attacker early in her stay, but bad weather kept Japanese aircraft out of the sky for a few days.  That all changed late on the afternoon of May 3th.  From roughly 4pm to around 730pm, she was attacked by at least a dozen kamikazes.  Of those, she was hit by six.

Gone was the neatly turned-out destroyer-minelayer.  Left behind was a legend.

27 of her crew were killed in the attacks, but the ship was saved.  Arriving in New York under her own power in August of 1945, she was judged not worth repairing.  She was decommissioned in September of that same year, and scrapped in 1946.

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The Ugliest Warship In Any Fleet

You may remember a few months ago, I wrote about a pair of ships named the HMS General Wolfe and the HMS Lord Clive, a pair of Royal Navy monitors that shipped 18" guns.  That little post sent me on a quiet search for more monitors, coastal defense ships, that sort of thing.  And oh, but did I find some fun ones!  For example, which would you rather have, a 7000ton ship with 11" guns or a 4000ton ship with 10" guns?  Just wonderfully mind-altering designs flowed to me.

And then I stopped.  I stopped because I encountered a ship that was far and away the ugliest thing I've ever seen afloat... and that includes bifurcated ships and French aircraft carriers.  Ladies and gentlemen, I found a 3000ton ship carrying 15" rifles.  Ladies and gentlemen, I found the Italian Faa di Bruno.

Technically a monitor, in truthfully this tremendously ugly thing was a barge with a bow tacked on.  Her hull, not seen here because it had about two inches of freeboard, had a concrete cofferdam ten feet thick.  It had a top speed of 3kts if the tide was behind it, driven by a 450hp engine.  And it is hideous.

If you know of any ship uglier, leave it in the comments.  Then gouge out your eyeballs.

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Name This Mystery Ship XXIII

Here ya go, the first Mystery Ship of 2013:

Take your best shot!  Remember, no cheating... winner gets a post of their very own (no pr0n, religion or politics, though).  One guess per customer.  Post no bills.  Winners warm up with Malt-o-Meal.

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Buffalo or X-Wing?

I'm sure that by now most of my readers have seen this photoshop job at least once before:

When I saw it for the first time, I just laughed... then took a much closer look at it, and was amazed at the job the person behind the 'shop had done.  It really looks like an Incom T-65 X-Wing wound up on an escort carrier in 1942.  What never crossed my mind, however, was to try and find the original.  Well, tonight while browsing ww2db.com, I accidentally stumbled across it!

Bravo, Mr Photoshop Person, bravo. 

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Pass Of Balmaha

In 1888, a 245 foot tri-masted windjammer was handed over to those who commissioned it, the Harby Steamship Company.  Built in Scotland, it was nevertheless an American vessel, weighing in at 1571 tons. Operated by a Boston-based cotton company as a freighter, this vessel was named the SS Pass of Balmaha.  She mostly sailed the Atlantic trade routes, her steel hull serving her well when the weather became violent.

A proud ship, and one that well-served its masters into the 20th Century.  It was something of a pleasant-looking anachronism as World War I began... a ship of sail in a world of Dreadnaughts and armored cruisers.  However, as the First Great Mistake got cranking, the United States was neutral and non-aligned, and King Cotton had to be moved, so the Pass of Balmaha kept at it... until June of 1915.

more...

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Name This Mystery Ship XXII

I found out about this particular vessel a little over two years ago, and have been keeping it under wraps for a time when I've needed a mystery ship.  Now is the time.  THIS:

...is the ship.  As is always the case, I've photoshooped out any obvious recognition marks, but otherwise left the picture alone.  The unofficial rules, as always, apply: no imagesearching or anything like that.  That's cheating and makes Wonderduck cry.  One guess per customer.  Don't be a jerk.  I am the Law.  CXT and FDM, you two are in the Master's Level so no guesses from you until I give the say-so.  The winner gets a post on a topic of their choosing from your humble owner/proprietor of The Pond, moi.  No politics, religion or pr0n, however... this here's a fambly blog.

Get to guessin'!

UPDATE: Brickmuppet has already guessed that the ship was the HMS Zubian.  Unfortunately, my response broke the formatting of my "edit comments" page, so when the latest wave of spam came through, I couldn't delete them.  So, instead, I deleted the original post, which corrected the problem.  Yay me.

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90 Years

There are ships from World War II whose names ring down through the ages for their great deeds.  Names like Enterprise,  names like Samuel B Roberts, names like Tang and Wahoo.  Then there are ships who have generated a legend for other reasons.  Ships like Yamato, or Bismarck, or the lamented Arizona.  But there are other ships, ships that are known only to historians and grognards.  Ships that left a lasting legacy that only the truly attentive would be aware of, ships like the one that was commissioned 90 years ago today.

If you've read The Pond for any length of time, you know that I'm a fan of the underdog, and much more interested in the "supporting cast" than the star actors.  Everybody knows about the big carriers, for example, but nobody pays any attention to the escort carriers.  The Mustang, Spitfire and Zero get the headlines, but the Vindicator is what I'll be happy to read about for hours.  Which is why this ship is one of my favorites.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the the first aircraft carrier designed and built from the ground up, the Hosho.

Commissioned December 27th, 1922 into the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Hosho was never to be a top-of-the-line fleet carrier, even when brand new.  She could only carry 15 planes in 1922, that number decreasing rapidly as aircraft size and weight increased.  Only 552 feet long from bow to stern, she was only slightly longer than an average American escort carrier built 20 years later.  She was also very lightly built, weighing in at under 9700 tons at full load.  For comparison, the USS , a light cruiser commissioned in 1938, weighed in at 10000 tons.

But her size was not to be her main value to the Imperial Japanese Navy.

more...

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71 Years

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Name This Mystery Plane XXI

Well, the F1 season is over, which means I'll have more time to do other things here on The Pond... but until then, here's a new Mystery Ship Plane!

Since I suspect this is gonna be easy, there's no prize this time.  In this case, being first is its own reward, eh?  I've been fond of this one ever since I first found out about it some 20+ years ago.  Now, I can't stop you from cheating, but you're just losing any joy and thrill you might have gotten from winning clean.  So just don't do it, 'k?  K.  Have fun, and GUESS THAT MYSTERY SHIP PLANE!

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