SS DAVID STARR JORDAN

Here's a Liberty ship that traveled from Southampton, England to Utah Beach, France with 250 tons of vehicles and 500 troops.......and once anchored at Utah Beach...things did not go all that well.

SS DAVID STARR JORDAN

SOUPED-UP LIBERTY SHIPS

I'm sure many of you...if not all of you have some knowledge of the 'Liberty Ship' of WW II.  There were 2,710 of these "Ugly Ducklings" as they were called.

During the War 833 were sunk...taking with them 6,834 mariners.  So after the War we had a generous supply of these ships stashed in several anchorages around the country.

Oh yes, some were sold to other countries and special deals made to steamship companies whom wish to purchase and use for commercial uses.

Well someone got the hair-brain idea to drag a few out of storage and "re-do" them...or 'Soup them up.'  They even had a name for this program....."Liberty Ship Engine Conversion Program."

Here's the story about how this all came about...and how it ended up.

DID HISTORY FORGET THE SOUPED-UP LIBERTY SHIPS

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KAISER'S COFFINS

SINKING OF

St. Lo (CVE-63)

As any "old salt" will tell you...especially if he's been smelling the 'salt-air' for a few years....susperstition  is wide spread in the "Navy."

Take for instance the Escort Carrier USS Midway....well upon launching there was the death of a shipyard worker.....then her named was changed to "St. Lo"...  So you say, "Well that has no bearing on making her an unlucky ship".....well "Mr/Mrs" reader.....tell you what...she fulfilled ever dire prediction that she indeed was one "UNLUCKY" ship.

This is a long article....but I do believe it is informative....and will indeed hold your interest.  If you'd care to give it a go along with your glass of wine tonight...or that fine glass of port....you can click on this  Kaiser's Coffins  to get you to the article that will spell it all out to you...

I will apologize to you for the quality of some of the pictures....extremely difficult to locate quality pics of this battle..

Hope you enjoy

THE EARLY YEARS

NOT FOR BEAUTY BUT FOR BATTLE

The Navy never intended its destroyer to be a showboat.   It purpose from the beginning was to be a fighting ship, to locate, engage, and destroy the enemy.

The opportunity for combat came to the destroyer with the ugly explosion of WW I.

The U.S. Navy was extremely slow at "getting their feet wet" in the development of the destroyer, which should have been the other way around.....but if that was the case there would not be much purpose of this article.....
So folks here is the story of "THOSE EARLY YEARS"


I hope you enjoy the article.


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THE DOLPHIN INCIDENT

I'm sure many of you remember the recent confrontation between North and South Korea over what was stated as an 'accidental sinking of a South Korean gunboat.

Well I'll have you know that these incidents with these small vessels can and often do trigger international reaction ....and it all blows up in one big huge mess.

That is what happened with the USS Dolphin and Tampico...."oh yes we had a mess on our hands."

If you care to give this one a read you can just click on the link below

THE DOLPHIN INCIDENT

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USS SALMON (SS-182) [THE BEST OF THE BEST]

The Salmon had to have been one of Electric Boat’s finest.  Not only did she survive depth-charges attacks that disabled her torpedo tubes and forced her to the surface, but her crew fought four enemy escorts with a deck gun and small arms.



They were just inside 100 miles from the Island of Kyushu, the largest southern island of Japan, hoping to catch straggling remains of the Japanese Fleet after its defeat in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. In the middle of the night (about 0330, 30 November 1944) the Quartermaster was awoke from a sound sleep. Star time? The crew had to fix the ship’s position with the stars, sun, and moon.

This was one boat that got beat to hell...and survived

USS SALMAN (SS-182)

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SS DAVID McKELVY: TWO CREWMEN ENDURED

I've dabbled in what I call my "hobby writing" in offering 'Nautical Articles' as well as 'Ship Histories' from the WW II era or before, over a few years, and the one thing that always gives me goosebumps is when I uncover a story about individuals being left on an abandon ship....and it is questionable if anyone knows they are there.

Well here is one of those stories about a burning tanker that had been torpedoed by a U-boat....everyone else abandon this ship...but two crewman...to save their butts survived this burning tanker .....until being rescued the next day.

If you care to give this one a read just click on the below link.

SS DAVID McKELVY

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TARGET RABAUL

“Knock it out at any cost,” General MacArthur demanded of the U.S. Navy for, despite the success of the Solomons and New Guinea campaigns, the well-protected Japanese Naval bastion at Rabaul remained a dangerous thorn in the Allies’ side.

TARGET RABAUL PART I

TARGET RABAUL PART II

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A WARNING: NOT FORTH COMING FROM U-552

 The SS DAVID H. ATWATER was an old salt of a sea going freighter that began her life in 1919. She had changed owners a few times....and the name changed a time or two. She or her crew didn't deserve the very nasty fate that took place on the evening of April 2nd, 1942. The word "shocking" does not really describe the event that U-552 delivered to this ship and her crew.   SS DAVID H. ATWATER

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TANKERS: THEY FUEL THE WORLD

Many of us that has never been to sea....or live near the sea can't imagine the size of these huge giants that haul and supply the world with the "black gold" that we seem to never get enough of....."YES" they are simply enormous.  They have to be...because this is the ship that both sustains us and, in a sense, worries or even terrifies us.

My purpose of this article is not to concern you any more than you already are on "the oil situation" you get enough of that every time you stop to "fill up your gas tank"....this article is to provide you with some history of the "tanker" itself.

I myself can't even imagine how these things even float....let alone someone actually trying to control one of these monsters in heavy seas.

This article is a "TWO PART" article.

Just click on the links below if you'd care to give this one a read

TANKERS PART I

TANKERS PART II

Hope you enjoy

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JANE'S FIGHTING SHIPS 'THE BEGINNINGS OF'

If you are the type of individual that is interested in 'Ship History as well as ship data'...and you have a soft spot for "Naval Warship Interest," then I'm sure you've either picked up a "Jane's" book a time or two...or maybe you own a few ...as I do.

Well these 'handbooks' or some individuals even considered them 'bibles of the trade'...were first published in 1898 by John Frederick Thomas Jane.  The ships described in minute detail in every aspect of every Naval machine existing at the time.

This is how these 'handbooks' of Mr. Jane evolved from 1898 to present day of over a 100 different publications form Jane's Fighting Ships and Jane's All The World Aircraft to Jane's Armor & Artillery and Jane's Space Directory.


If you would care to give this extremely interesting article a 'go' 
the link is below:


FRED T. JANE


Hope you enjoy the article

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100 YEARS OF AIR/SEA RESCUE

A red flag hoisted over Orville and Wilbur Wright's camp on 17 December 1903, summoned the surfmen of the Kill Devil Hills Life Saving Station to the aid of the would-be inventors.  As they had done before, John T. Daniels, W. S. Dough, and A. D. Etheridge of the U. S. Life Saving Service trekked across the dunes and volunteered muscle for the conquest of flight.  A forerunner of the Coast Guard served as a midwife to the birth of modern aviation.

Here is there story

100 YEARS OF COAST GUARD AIR/SEA          

RESCUE

THE DRAGONS A YANGTZE LEGEND

Sparring with dragons has all the elements of a darn good mystery.

We have a Captain Ciliberto whom was a Yangtze Legend - Then you couple this up with a ship that looked like a passenger ship ...but really was not....now this mystery was in the spring of 1927 - which if you know your history this was a very violent period in the history of the young Chinese republic.

So - all in all this make for one darn good article....that is if you like "darn good nautical articles"

If you wish to give this one some consideration....I don't think you'll be disappointed...just click on the link below:


SPARRING WITH DRAGONS


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NAVAL YARNS

NAVAL YARNS...SOME SMIRKS THAT YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE OF

Naval Yarns

HIGH SPOT OF THE PACIFIC

At the end of May 1942 the Japanese decided that they wanted to put into effect and attack on Sydney Harbor.

Well they planned the attack pretty darn good...and we were pretty lucky on the outcome of this attack....which took place with five huge subs....carrying one plane and three midget subs.

Even with Sydney Harbor having a very secure anti-submarine net across the mouth...they managed to get in.


I think you will be surprised at what took place.....and when you get to really thinking about it.....if this attack would have been just halfway successful....Sydney Harbor would have been in a world of hurt.

This article was written by Captain Walter C. Ford of the U.S. Navy....I added pictures to give the reader some real time views of this very interesting "tell-all"

You can 'link' up to the article by clicking below:

HIGH SPOT OF THE PACIFIC

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