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Author Topic: This Day in History  (Read 206018 times)

besilarius

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Reply #210 on: November 15, 2019, 10:32:59 AM
Battleship action of Guadalcanal

http://www.navweaps.com/index_lundgren/bbActionGuadalcanal.php

Some interesting asides.
No one bothered to alert the PT boats on Tulagi that Washington and South Dakota were going to be in Iron Bottom Sound.  Admiral Lee's nickname at Annapolis was Ching.   on Washington, he heard the PT boats when they spotted the US ships.  The PT commander assumed they were Japanese battleships and was preparing to make a torpedo attack.  Lee went on the radio, "This is Ching-Chong China Lee, do you know who I am?"  The small boat officer was surprised and answered that they did.
"Well, get out of the way and enjoy the show., we're going in>"
The boats went into shallow water, anchored and watched the gunfight while munching on fruit turnovers.

South Dakota had an electrical problem that ould not be diagnosed.  On occasion, the system shorted out after the main batteries fired.  There would be a lag while the generators came on line that meant the main batteries couldn't fire for minutes at a time.  To try to solve this, the Chief Engineer tied down the circuit breakers on the main electrical board.  This was against all practice, and conttributed to her losing electrical power during the battle.

The first hit on Atago was potentially fatal.  It destroyed the soy sauce locker.

And finally, an evaluation of the 14 inch round that hit South Dakots.   http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-092.php

Oh, and when the BBs were retiring, Washington covered the damaged South Dakota.  Sodak was leaking oil and foiled the Washington's evaporators.  The ship was on restricted water hours for days.
« Last Edit: November 15, 2019, 10:40:00 AM by besilarius »

"These things must be done delicately-- or you hurt the spell."  - The Wicked Witch of the West.
"We've got the torpedo damage temporarily shored up, the fires out and soon will have the ship back on an even keel. But I would suggest, sir, that if you have to take any more torpedoes, you take 'em on the starboard side."   Pops Healy, DCA USS Lexington.

Sir Slash

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Reply #211 on: November 15, 2019, 12:46:57 PM
Nice! Lots of new info there. Thanks for the post.  :bigthumb:

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bob48

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Reply #212 on: November 15, 2019, 01:16:16 PM
Yeah; very interesting  :bigthumb:

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mirth

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Reply #213 on: November 17, 2019, 07:43:59 AM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.

Sir Slash

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Reply #214 on: November 17, 2019, 11:45:25 PM
Happy B. Day Monty and thank you for that whole, 'Market-Garden' thing. It made a great book and a better than average war movie. Plus some good games to play too.  :applause:

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mirth

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Reply #215 on: November 18, 2019, 06:05:51 PM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.

bob48

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Reply #216 on: November 18, 2019, 06:07:55 PM
Horrific.

“O Lord God, let me not be disgraced in my old days.”

'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'

besilarius

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Reply #217 on: November 19, 2019, 07:48:44 AM
Battle of Vianden, 1944.
Thirty Luxemburg militia hold out in the medieval castle against 250 Waffen SS.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Vianden

"These things must be done delicately-- or you hurt the spell."  - The Wicked Witch of the West.
"We've got the torpedo damage temporarily shored up, the fires out and soon will have the ship back on an even keel. But I would suggest, sir, that if you have to take any more torpedoes, you take 'em on the starboard side."   Pops Healy, DCA USS Lexington.

besilarius

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Reply #218 on: November 20, 2019, 08:12:30 AM
On this day in 1956, Admiral Farragut's flagship, USS Hartford, sank at the pier in Norfolk, Va.
President Roosevelt had wished to establish a naval history museum at the Washington, DC Navy Yard and had planned to refurbish Hartford, the cruiser Olympia, and a World War I four stacker destroyer.  With his death, this project was shelved, and Hartford was left to rot.

An interesting sidenote, was the the guided missile leader, USS Farragut (DLG-6) had a slice of Hartford's bowsprit displayed next to the Captain's cabin.  It was a hexagonal piece of wood, maybe ten inches in width and breadth, and had a nice plaque.  Oddly, there was a pie shaped slice missing on the top.
This was intriguing, and I couldn't figure out any reason why this notch would be there.  It made no sense..
No one in the wardroom had any idea why, it just was always that way.
Knowing that any lore of the ship was kept in the Goat Locker (the CPO mess) I asked the Chief Radioman, Charley Brown.  He was a very sharp, loquacious sailor and loved a good sea story.
According to him, during one of the Mediterranean cruises in the 1960s, the ship visited a Spanish port.  One of the local grandees was into history, and claimed some relation to Admiral Farragut's spanish forbearers.  He was given a tour of the ship and then he  invited the captain into his palatial home.  During this visit, he and the captain toasted the Admiral at length and got a little tipsy. 
Giving the captain a tour of his villa, they were in his wine cellar when the captain stumbled.  He knocked over a wine rack loaded with old, valuable bottles of wine.
To make up for this faux pas, the captain rushed back to the ship and had the machine shop cut out the sliver from Hartford's bowsprit.  This was presented it to the grandee in apology for breaking all that wine.
I'm sure that the artifact was removed when Farragut was decommissioned in 1989 and is now on display on the Burke class destroyer DDG-99.  And probably everyone who sees it wonders, "Why is there a slice missing?"

"These things must be done delicately-- or you hurt the spell."  - The Wicked Witch of the West.
"We've got the torpedo damage temporarily shored up, the fires out and soon will have the ship back on an even keel. But I would suggest, sir, that if you have to take any more torpedoes, you take 'em on the starboard side."   Pops Healy, DCA USS Lexington.

Martok

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Reply #219 on: November 20, 2019, 04:14:39 PM
Ha!  That's a great little slice of a story, besilarius (sorry, couldn't resist).  Thanks for sharing! 

"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

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Staggerwing

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Reply #220 on: November 20, 2019, 06:57:41 PM
Quote from: Martok on November 20, 2019, 04:14:39 PM
Ha!  That's a great little slice of a story, besilarius (sorry, couldn't resist).  Thanks for sharing!

Yess... yess... embrace the Dark Side...

Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Sir Slash

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Reply #221 on: November 20, 2019, 07:01:01 PM
I donno. The story sounds like it has a hole in it to me.  ::)

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mirth

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Reply #222 on: November 20, 2019, 08:51:07 PM

Being able to Google shit better than your clients is a legit career skill.

Martok

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Reply #223 on: November 21, 2019, 12:02:10 AM
Quote from: Staggerwing on November 20, 2019, 06:57:41 PM
Quote from: Martok on November 20, 2019, 04:14:39 PM
Ha!  That's a great little slice of a story, besilarius (sorry, couldn't resist).  Thanks for sharing!

Yess... yess... embrace the Dark Side...

I'm already there, man.  I just have standards, unlike most of you miscreants.  :bringit: 

"I like big maps and I cannot lie." - Barthheart

"I drastically overpaid for this existence." - bbmike

besilarius

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Reply #224 on: November 21, 2019, 07:46:31 AM
Today in Military History- 1338

An archer named Robin Hood enlists in the service of King Edward III at the garrison on the Isle of Wight.

http://deremilitari.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/ayton3.pdf

"These things must be done delicately-- or you hurt the spell."  - The Wicked Witch of the West.
"We've got the torpedo damage temporarily shored up, the fires out and soon will have the ship back on an even keel. But I would suggest, sir, that if you have to take any more torpedoes, you take 'em on the starboard side."   Pops Healy, DCA USS Lexington.

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