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#29
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Mike Burleson
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Dec 09, 2005 11:29 PST
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Greetings everyone and welcome to our winter edition and the last Navy
Review of 2005! Hope you’re ready for the full broadsides as we bring
you the best sea stories on the internet. Included is a tale of the
Brown Water Navy, Fighting Ships of the Cold War, the Strange Tale of
the GREAT EASTERN and much, much more. Enjoy!
LEAD STORY
Return of the Brown Water Navy
Before his retirement earlier this year, Chief of Naval Operations
Admiral Vern Clark ordered the Navy into a new direction, more relevant
to 21st century warfare. Seeing the Army shoulder the bulk of the War on
Terror in the Middle East, Vern ordered the establishment of a Brown
Water capability for seeking out terrorists in shallow waters.
After decades of standing down the Soviet Navy in the Cold War, and the
building of a vast blue water fleet, this new direction to irregular
warfare is a profound change of strategy. The US Navy has already added
much to the fight since September 11, 2001. Huge expeditionary forces
have participated in the liberation of Afghanistan (Operation Enduring
Freedom) and participated in the toppling of Saddam Hussein (the ongoing
Operation Iraqi Freedom). Navy ships operate with our allies in Task
Force 150 in the Gulf region intercepting suspected terrorists on the
high seas.
Further expanding its capabilities in the War on Terror, the Navy plans
to deploy an active riverene force by 2006, and 2 reserve forces the
next year. Supporting this will be a Navy Expeditionary Combat Battalion
700 strong, also to be formed by 2007.
The makeup of the riverene force is currently uncertain, but will
doubtless resemble the famed Swift Boats of the Vietnam War. An
estimated 7000 sailors are already participating in land operations as
guards for ports and oil platforms, and running customs operations.
The Navy Combat battalion is the most exiting, returning a capability
absent from the fleet for decades. With marines heavily engaged in major
combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, lightly armed infantry teams for
boarding suspect vessels at sea has been lacking. This has previously
been a Marine role since its founding during the Revolution. With the
need to form large scale invasion forces quickly during both world wars,
the marines gradually abandoned this role. Its current makeup resembles
a second Army within the US military structure.
America’s sea service is further proving its seriousness about Brown
Water warfare in constructing the littoral combat ship (LCS). The USS
FREEDOM (LCS-1) and SEA FIGHTER (FSF-1) are of frigate and corvette size
and can race into shallow seas at speeds exceeding 40 knots. Their
design is optimized for all forms of anti-surface, anti-submarine, and
anti-air warfare, as well as carrying various unmanned vehicles and
heloes. SEA FIGHTER is currently undergoing trials and USS FREEDOM is
expected later in 2006. It is hoped by the next decade the bulk of the
navy will consist of such versatile and inexpensive warships.
*********
FACT: The first successful carrier strike in history was from the
converted cruiser HMS FURIOUS in WW One. British aircraft attacked
German zeppelin sheds at Tondern.
*********
NAVY NEWS
MORE SUBS FOR ISRAEL-Germany has agreed to sell the Israeli Navy 2 more
DOLPHIN class submarines and pay part of the cost. The deal is worth
$1.2 billion (US) with Germany paying about $388 million. Israel
currently has a fleet of 3 DOLPHINS which were received beginning in
1999. The Germans paid for these as well and it was hoped 2 more could
be purchased under the same deal. Last year American sources reported
that Israeli subs were equipped with nuclear-tipped Harpoon missiles,
though this has not been confirmed.
CANADIAN AMPHIBIOUS SHIPS-The Canadian Navy is planning to build 2 large
amphibious ships capable of transporting troops, tanks, and equipment.
The vessels may resemble small aircraft carriers of the type building
for Australia or traditional landing ships like the USS SAN ANTONIO
class. “We’re looking to be engaged on a global scale” says a spokesman
for the Navy. The plan will go before the Canadian Treasury Board next
year for consideration.
SONIC WEAPON FOILS PIRATES-Modern day pirates and terrorists at sea
beware! Cruise ships are now armed with a sonic weapon called LRAD which
last month foiled a gang of would-be boarders off the coast of Africa.
LRAD stands for Long Range Acoustic Device and was developed for the US
Navy by American Technology of San Diego, California. It is a non-lethal
weapon which emits a high-pitched piercing beam. The liner SEABOURN
SPIRIT was attacked 100 miles off the coast of Somalia by the pirates,
who fired machines guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The SPIRIT is
owned by Carnival Cruise Lines.
SEA-BASED ABM A SUCCESS-An interceptor missile from the cruiser USS LAKE
ERIE (CG-70) destroyed a mock warhead over the Pacific Ocean last month.
This makes the 6th successful US Navy anti-ballistic missile tests out
of a total 7. The test missile was fired from a Hawaiian test facility
last month and destroyed by a Standard SM-3 missile launched for the
LAKE ERIE. The missile collided with the warhead 100 miles over the
ocean.
*********
FACT: The design speed of a WW2 PT boat was 45 knots, but in actual
wartime conditions they barely made 20 knots.
*********
NAVY BIOGRAPHY
Matthew Fontaine Maury
Almost forgotten today, American naval officer and scientist Maury was
lauded in the mid-19th Century as one of the world’s foremost
oceanographers. His textbook “The Physical Geography of the Sea”
published in 1855, revolutionized the study of the oceans.
He was born in January 14, 1806 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Later his
family migrated to Tennessee where Maury would eventually enter Harpeth
Academy. He received a midshipman’s warrant in 1825 and proceeded on 3
cruises, including one around the world. His first text “A New
Theoretical and Practical Treatise on Navigation” was published in 1836
and immediately adopted by the Navy.
Between 1838 and 1841, Maury published a series of articles on naval
reform, which brought him widespread public acclaim. During this time,
he suffered a knee injury which prevented further sea duty. Following
this personal tragedy Maury performed his greatest service to his
country through research on winds and currents. While serving as
superintendent of the new Naval Observatory in 1847 he wrote “Wind and
Current Chart of the North Atlantic”. This brought him worldwide renown
and led to adoption of a uniform system of recording oceanographic data
by an international congress in 1863. Maury was now considered a global
expert on oceanography.
His expertise was later utilized in the laying of the Trans-Atlantic
cable, beginning in the 1850’s. Maury’s charts of the ocean floor
between America and Europe greatly aided in the success of this
endeavor.
Altogether he wrote over 200 articles on navigation, oceanography,
meteorology, astronomy, and naval reform. His advocacy of a Naval
Academy spurred its founding in 1845.
Maury’s reputation suffered after he joined the Confederacy in the Civil
War. In service to the South he took charge of coastal, harbor, and
riverene defenses, and helped perfect the electric mines of the day,
called “torpedoes”. In 1862 he was appointed a special envoy to England,
which qualified him as an enemy agent by the US government. At war’s end
he was still in exile and attempted to establish a Confederate colony in
Mexico. Through the intervention of Robert E. Lee, Maury was pardoned in
1868. The last years of his life was spent as professor of meteorology
at the Virginia Military Institute, until his death on February 1, 1873.
He is remembered as the “Pathfinder of the Oceans”.
*********
FACT: After February 1943, PT boats discarded their torpedo tubes for a
depth charge like “roll-over” rack, which tossed the torpedoes over the
side when firing.
*********
SEA FIGHTS ON A SHOESTRING
Battle of Valcour Island
The later treason of Benedict Arnold cannot disguise the fact that early
in the Revolutionary War he was one of Washington’s most effective
generals. At the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, considered by historians as
the turning point in the war against Britain, Arnold more than any other
commander deserves credit for achieving victory. A year earlier, on
October 11 1776 off Valcour Island on Lake Champlain, the young general
displayed his martial talents on the sea as well.
After the disastrous American invasion of Quebec in the winter of
1775-76, General Arnold realized the British would use the Great Lakes
to reconquer her rebellious colonies. He immediately began the
construction of one of the strangest fleet ever seen in American waters.
Four ships were of traditional schooner design, but there were also
gondolas and galleys of various size and armament: a total of 16
warships.
General Guy Carleton commanded on the British side of the Lake. Seeing
the American construction, he could not but respond in kind. He
proceeded to build and equip a larger a more powerful fleet of 30
warships, which included schooners and gunboats, plus a powerful sailing
raft, the THUNDERER.
Altogether Carleton had twice the firepower of Arnold’s makeshift fleet,
though this failed to deter the aggressive colonial. Sailing with part
of his fleet he took a favorable position upwind near Valcour Island.
Forming the vessels in a crescent, he hoped to surprise any British
attack down the Lake.
Carleton was less cautious than Arnold and sailed boldly past the
island. As expected the British were surprised to find the Americans
formed for battle. Arnold had been reinforced by the rest of his fleet.
Forced to sale against a northerly breeze, Carleton could only attack
with part of his. These included the gunboats, which had oars as well as
sail. Arnold set out in the galley CONGRESS (10 guns), with ROYAL SAVAGE
(12) and 2 others to intercept. The combined and accurate firepower of
the British became too much for the Americans and they withdrew to the
original anchorage. Disaster struck when ROYAL SAVAGE ran aground, and
later was abandon by her crew.
By noon all the American vessels were engaged, but because of Arnold’s
shrewd maneuver, Carleton’s best ships were kept out of most of the
fight These included the unhandy THUNDERER, LOYAL CONVERT (7), and the
big INFLEXIBLE (18). The twenty British gunboats, with the schooner
CARLETON (12), kept up a merciless fire on the bold rebels, however.
CARLETON soon lost her cable spring: uncontrollable she was towed out of
the fight.
The gunboats had suffered too, and the British decided at dusk to
withdraw and renew the fight at dawn. Arnold realized his smaller force
would be destroyed the next day. In the darkness his ships slipped
silently pass Carleton. Come morning he was 10 miles down the Lake, and
anchored his battered fleet for hasty repairs. He would get no respite
from the British that day, who were in hot pursuit. The battle was
renewed at Split Rock.
In CONGRESS, Arnold fought back until his ships were in tatters.
Realizing the inevitable, he ordered his depleted forces, including the
galleys, run aground and abandoned. Gone were 11 of the 16 American
warships he had at the start of the battle. Carleton controlled the
Lakes, but his own casualties prevented any further campaigning that
year. The great invasion of the south was delayed until 1777, giving the
Americans precious time to prepare. All this would culminate in the
decisive American victory at Saratoga.
As Alfred Thayer Mahan would state: “That the Americans were strong
enough to impose the capitulation of Saratoga was due to the invaluable
year of delay secured to them in 1776 by the little navy on Lake
Champlain.”
*********
FACT: PT boats were built by Higgins of New Orleans, the same shipyard
that produced the famous “Higgins boat” landing craft.
*********
FIGHTING SHIPS OF THE COLD WAR
LEANDER class frigates-The largest class of warships built for the Royal
Navy after WW2. First introduced in the early 1960’s, a total of 44 were
constructed for the navies of Britian, India, Chile, New Zealand,
Australia, and the Netherlands. Initial armament was 2x4.5 inch guns,
2x40mm anti-aircraft cannons, an anti-submarine mortar, and a Wessex
helicopter. Later versions carried the Ikara ASW missile, Exocet cruise
missiles, and a Lynx helo. Some versions remain in service today, though
not with the Royal Navy.
GEORGE WASHINGTON ballistic missile submarine- Commissioned in December
1959 as the worlds first ballistic missile sub. Was rushed into service
by cutting in half a SKIPJACK class nuclear attack boat and inserting a
130 ft. component with 16 Polaris A1 missiles. At launch she was the
most powerful weapon ever conceived. A total of 5 were constructed.
FORRESTAL class attack carrier-The first carrier built to carry jet
aircraft, hence she carried numerous improvements over war-built
aircraft carriers. These included a mirror landing system, steam
catapults, an armored deck, an angled deck, and deck edge elevators. She
was commissioned in 1955 and 3 other vessels followed.
VICTOR class nuclear attack submarine- First deployed in the 1960’s,
they were the work horses of the Soviet Navy for decades. A total of 50
vessels were constructed and consistently updated in the VICTOR II and
III versions. The latter were equipped with advanced silencing
equipment. These were very fast but noisy boats. Some VICTOR III’s
remain in service with the Russian Navy.
ZULU-WHISKY class conventional submarines-An estimated 276 WHISKEY
medium range boats were produced beginning in 1951. They were based on
the best German U-boat design of WW2, the TYPE XXI.
The ZULU was an enlarged WHISKY with a cruising radius of 25,000 miles.
About 40 were built in the 1950’s. They carried enormous firepower for a
diesel sub, with 10 torpedo tubes. Seven ZULUS were modified in 1955-57
to carry the SS-N-4 ballistic missile.
*********
FACT: During WW2, two 35,000 ton KING GEORGE V battleships could be
built for Britain at the price of one US NORTH CAROLINA class of the
same size.
*********
STRANGE SEA TALES
The GREAT EASTERN
Best remembered as the ship that laid the first successful Atlantic
telegraph cable, the GREAT EASTERN was a colossal failure that some say
was cursed.
In her day she was, at 18915 tons and 680 ft long, the largest ship in
the world. Her great bulk was needed to carry enough coal for the
Britain to Australia run, yet she never served in this role. A short
career as a passenger liner was spent in the Europe to America route
which proved unprofitable. As designed by the brilliant Isambard Brunel,
the EASTERN was a vessel ahead of her time. With a double hull she could
weather the sea’s worst storms, which served its purpose on at least 2
occasions. The steam engine powered side paddle wheels as well as a
propeller. Sails were also carried to ensure the leviathan reached port
no matter what.
One thousand workers were hired to construct the giant frame. It was
said some of these met their deaths within the bowels of her double
hull; there bodies being found when the ship was scrapped. Later her
crew complained of ghostly hammering from these unnatural occupants
which kept them awake nights.
The monster vessel was so huge, she at first refused to leave her dock
on the River Thames. When she finally did move, the controlling winch
spurred out of control, causing the death of one worker and injuring 4
others. For all this the ship remained hard ashore for the next 3
months.
The GREAT EASTERN was finally launched in 1858. She remained in harbor
for a year, because Brunel was broke. He was later baled out by the
Great Ship Company, who purchased the unlucky ship.
During trials an explosion in the engine room killed several crewmen.
Brunel died soon after hearing news of the fatalities.
Misfortune plagued the great ship throughout her life. On her 4th cruise
she was damaged in a storm at sea. In 1862 she struck an uncharted rock
and nearly sank. Only the double hull saved her on both occasions.
The one bright spot in her career was the laying of the Atlantic cable.
Several attempts were made beginning in the 1850’s, with the cable
braking on numerous occasions. Success finally came in September 1866,
linking America and Europe by telegraph, thanks to the great ship.
Unprofitable as a passenger ship (she never carried a full complement)
the GREAT EASTERN never fulfilled the dreams of her builders. Her last
days were spent as a tourist attraction in port, rusting on the Thames.
The first of the great ocean steamers and the forerunners of the great
passenger liners of the next century was finally sold for scrap in 1888.
*********
SEA SITES
The GREAT EASTERN
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/society_culture/industrialisation/seven_wonders_gallery.shtml
USS LAKE ERIE official webpage
http://www.lake-erie.navy.mil/
US Navy PT boat Page
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq60-5.htm
Rick’s Brown Water Navy Page
http://www.secondstartotheright.com/personal/pbr/tracu.htm
Happy Christmas Everyone and see you next year!
Remember our troops.
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