laststandonzombieisland.com Open in urlscan Pro
192.0.78.24  Public Scan

Form analysis
3 forms found in the DOM

POST https://subscribe.wordpress.com

<form action="https://subscribe.wordpress.com" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" data-blog="21803074" data-post_access_level="everybody" id="subscribe-blog">
  <p>Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.</p>
  <p id="subscribe-email">
    <label id="subscribe-field-label" for="subscribe-field" class="screen-reader-text"> Email Address: </label>
    <input type="email" name="email" style="width: 95%; padding: 1px 10px" placeholder="Email Address" value="" id="subscribe-field" required="">
  </p>
  <p id="subscribe-submit">
    <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe">
    <input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="21803074">
    <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://laststandonzombieisland.com/">
    <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="widget">
    <input type="hidden" name="redirect_fragment" value="subscribe-blog">
    <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="79d4e2766d"> <button type="submit" class="wp-block-button__link"> Subscribe </button>
  </p>
</form>

POST https://subscribe.wordpress.com

<form method="post" action="https://subscribe.wordpress.com" accept-charset="utf-8" style="display: none;">
  <div class="actnbr-follow-count">Join 377 other subscribers</div>
  <div>
    <input type="email" name="email" placeholder="Enter your email address" class="actnbr-email-field" aria-label="Enter your email address">
  </div>
  <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe">
  <input type="hidden" name="blog_id" value="21803074">
  <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://laststandonzombieisland.com/">
  <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="actionbar-follow">
  <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="79d4e2766d">
  <div class="actnbr-button-wrap">
    <button type="submit" value="Sign me up"> Sign me up </button>
  </div>
</form>

<form id="jp-carousel-comment-form">
  <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" class="screen-reader-text">Write a Comment...</label>
  <textarea name="comment" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-textarea" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" placeholder="Write a Comment..."></textarea>
  <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-submit-and-info-wrapper">
    <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-commenting-as">
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">Email (Required)</label>
        <input type="text" name="email" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">
      </fieldset>
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">Name (Required)</label>
        <input type="text" name="author" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">
      </fieldset>
      <fieldset>
        <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">Website</label>
        <input type="text" name="url" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">
      </fieldset>
    </div>
    <input type="submit" name="submit" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-button" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-button-submit" value="Post Comment">
  </div>
</form>

Text Content

LASTSTANDONZOMBIEISLAND


WEAPONS, WARS, PREPARATION AND SECURITY FROM A RECOVERING GUN NUT TURNED BAD
WRITER




MENU

 * About


WARSHIP WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6, 2024: THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY

Posted on November 6, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel
navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week.
These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the
strangest places.- Christopher Eger

If you enjoy my always ad-free Warship Wednesday content, you can support it by
buying me a cup of joe at https://buymeacoffee.com/lsozi


WARSHIP WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6, 2024: THE ONES THAT GOT AWAY



Above we see the period depiction by renowned German maritime artist Willy
Stöwer of the armed sailing ship (segelschiff) SMS Ayesha off Hodeida (now Al
Hudaydah, Yemen) in January 1915, to the warm welcome of allied Ottoman troops.
Stöwer, best known for his decades of painting battleships, cruisers, and
U-boats, apparently made an exception for the humble Ayesha, as she had an
incredibly interesting story that began some 110 years ago this week.

And a tale rather different from the one shown above.


THE BACKGROUND

Part of Admiral Maximillian von Spee’s Eastern Squadron, the 4,200-ton Dresden
class of light cruiser SMS Emden was detached from the rest of Von Spee’s force
to become an independent raider in the Western Pacific, as the main force of
five cruisers made for the Eastern Pacific and, ultimately, the South Atlantic.
In doing so, Emden was sort of a sacrificial rabbit to draw away the British,
Australian, French, Russian, and Japanese hounds as Von Spee made his exit.

In an epic 97-day patrol, Emden captured 23 merchant ships (21 Brits, one
Russian, one Greek) with 101,182 GRT of enemy shipping, sending 16 to the
bottom, releasing three, and keeping as four as prizes. In each encounter with
these unarmed merchies, Emden practiced “cruiser rules,” in which all passengers
and crew on board these ships were brought to safety. She took off the kid
gloves and accounted for two warships by sucker punching the 3,500-ton Russian
light cruiser Zhemchug and the 300-ton French destroyer Mousquet as they
slumbered in Penang harbor in British Malaysia.

German cruiser SMS Emden off Madras. Artwork by Hans Bohrdt. Courtesy of the
Library of Congress

Fire from Bombardment of Madras by SMS Emden

Emden also bombarded oil depots in Madras, India, sending shivers through the
Raj, and tied up dozens of allied warships in running her to ground. This
included four brawlers– any of which could make short work of the smaller German
warship– that had closed the distance to within just 50 miles of the raider: the
14,600-ton British armored cruiser HMS Minotaur, the 16,000-ton Japanese
battlecruiser Ibuki, and the twin 5,400-ton Australian light cruisers HMAS
Sydney and Melbourne.

This game all cumulated in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands on 9 November 1914.


DIRECTION ISLAND

The remote Cocos (Keeling) Islands, two desolate flat, low-lying coral atolls
made up of 27 islets in the Indian Ocean some 800 miles West of Sumatra, in 1914
only had a population of a few hundred. The British colony was defacto ruled by
the Clunies-Ross family, which had settled the archipelago in the 1850s, and
whose paterfamilias generally served as the resident magistrate and Crown
representative.

Modernity had reached this corner of the British Empire, with the Eastern
Extension Telegraph Company, in 1901, establishing a cable station on Direction
Island on the top of the Cocos chain with submarine cables eventually running to
Rodrigues (Mauritius), Batavia (Java), and Fremantle.



By 1910, this had been complemented by a Marconi wireless station, making it a
key link in the communication chain between India and Australia.

A link worthy of breaking, in the mind of Emden’s skipper, Fregattenkapitän Karl
von Müller.

Arriving just offshore of the Cocos over a deep trench– Emden needed at least 18
feet of seawater under her hull to float– in the predawn of 9 November, a
landungskorps was assembled and ready to go ashore, seize the station, wreck it,
and withdraw with any interesting portable supplies to feed the cruiser’s
360-member crew.

Going ashore at dawn in a steam pinnace and two whaleboats was Kpt. lt Hellmuth
von Mücke, Leutnants Schmidt and Gysling, six petty officers, and 41 ratings,
including two signalmen who knew what to destroy and a former French Foreign
Legionnaire who was good with languages (among other things). Expecting
resistance from a company-sized garrison at the colony, Mücke raided Emden’s
small arms locker, taking four Maxim guns– each with 2,000 rounds of ammunition–
29 dated Gewehr 71 rifles, and 24 Reichsrevolvers.

With a strange warship offshore, disguised by a false fourth funnel, overhearing
a coded signal from Emden to her prize ship-turned tender Buresk, and three
small boats filled with armed men headed in from the sea, the wireless station
went into alert and started broadcasting at 0630 about the unknown man-of-war,
only to be jammed by chatter from Emden’s powerful Telefunken wireless set
turned to maximum power.

However, the part of the message broadcast before the jamming reached HMAS
Sydney, escorting a convoy some 50nm away, and she replied that she was on the
way to investigate. Her call letters, NC, led Emden’s signalmen to think she was
the cruiser HMS Newcastle, which ironically was also in the Far East just
nowhere near Emden, and they estimated by her signal strength and bearing that
she was over 200 miles away.

Once landed, Von Mücke’s shore party got busy wrecking. Local photographers A.J.
Peake and R. Cardwell, apparently EETC employees, began snapping photos
documenting the activities of the landing party over the next two days.

The force soon captured and wrecked the undefended telegraph office without a
shot, cut three of four underwater cables, and felled the station’s transmission
mast via explosives.

Emden’s launch grappling for cable at Direction Island. NLA obj-149336815

The Eastern Extension Telegraph Company office after the German raid, 9 November
1914. NLA obj-149337412

The bottom of the mast with the wireless hut at the back. NLA obj-149338323

The wireless mast as it lay across the garden. NLA obj-149338122

More shots of the destroyed cable station. Sir George Grey Special Collections,
Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19150107-39.

Under the German flag, Direction Island, November 1914. Note the sun helmet and
Mauser of the German sailors. NLA obj-149336272

At 0900, with Emden spotting an incoming ship and soon acknowledging it was not
her tender Buresk, the cruiser cleared decks and signaled her shore party to
return immediately.

“Landing party having been recalled by the Emden, leaves the jetty but turns
back on seeing Emden putting to sea.” In the background is the copra schooner
Ayesha, owned by the Clunies-Ross family.” Note the white-uniformed officer
complete with pistol belt. NLA .obj-149337219

“The Emdens’ landing party left the island on their futile attempt to rejoin
their ship, Direction Island, 1914.” NLA obj-149336127

Not able to catch up to the withdrawing Emden, her away force returned to the
docks on Direction Island. Soon signs of a battle could be seen over the
horizon.

View from the beach of Direction Island with the battle between the SMS Emden
and HMAS Sydney in the far distance. NLA obj-149338507

Unknown to Von Mucke and his men, nor to the colonists on Direction Island,
Emden, and Sydney clashed between 0940 and 1120 in a one-sided battle that left
the German cruiser grounded and ablaze on North Keeling Island with more than
half of her 316 men aboard dead, missing, or wounded.

German raider, SMS Emden is sunk by Australian Cruiser, HMAS Sydney, RAN
collection.

German cruiser SMS Emden beached on Cocos Island in 1914

Sydney suffered four fatalities and a dozen wounded.

Von Mucke knew that Emden was either sunk or had fled over the horizon and that
the only warship coming to collect them would likely be an enemy. He set up his
Spandaus on the beach and waited.

A German Maxim gun and ammunition boxes were set up to repel landings at
Direction Island, on 9 November 1914. NLA obj-149337513


MEET AYESHA

The local coconut and cargo hauler, the 97-ton, 98-foot three-master schooner
Ayesha, was anchored just off the docks on Direction Island, with Von Mucke’s
crew passing close by on their way to the island that morning. She was a
fine-looking vessel, for a coastal lugger, and typically sailed the local waters
with a crew of five or six mariners and a master.

The schooner Ayesha, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, November 1914. NLA obj-149336020

Ayesha in open water State Library of Australia PRG-1373-29-15



The solution, to Von Mucke, was to seize the schooner, requisition supplies from
the station, and load his men on board with the hope of heading to Dutch
Sumatra, some 800 or so miles away, where they could figure out the next steps.

From a June 1915 New York Times interview with Von Mucke translated from the
Berliner Tageblatt:

> I made up my mind to leave the island as soon as possible. The Emden was gone
> the danger for us growing. I noticed a three-master, the schooner Ayesha. Mr.
> Ross, the owner of the ship and the island, had warned me that the boat was
> leaky but I found it a quite seaworthy tub.

“Schooner Ayesha commandeered by Germans being prepared for the voyage” Sails
have been bent to the booms and forestays. AWM P11611.027.002

Germans commandeer cable station stores to provision the yacht Ayesha, owned by
the Clunies-Ross family after the German raider SMS Emden was driven ashore at
North Keeling Island by HMAS Sydney on 9 November 1914. On the evening of 10
November 1914, a party from the Emden used the Ayesha to escape from the island.
AWM P03912.001

A German landing party at Direction Island, preparing to go aboard the yacht
Ayesha, after their ship the German raider SMS Emden was destroyed by HMAS
Sydney on 9 November 1914. AWM P03912.002

On the evening of 10 November, the Germans used the Ayesha to escape from the
island.

The locals– according to both German and British reports– actually gave the
Germans three cheers as they left. Von Mucke said they went even further and
asked for their autographs. Emden’s fame had proceeded them.

“Steam pinnace taking last of Germans aboard the Ayesha. The Germans are waving
to the British, who have given them three cheers.” NLA obj-149339081

It wasn’t until the next day, 11 November, that sailors and Marines from HMAS
Sydney arrived at Direction Island to find out that the Emden’s shore party had
come and gone, with a decent head start.

A party of armed sailors from HMAS Sydney lands on Direction Island, on 11
November 1914. A party from the German raider Emden had landed and taken
possession of the cable station on the island, but on the evening of the 10th,
they escaped in the schooner Ayesha, which belonged to the owner of the island.
AWM EN0390

Von Mucke raised their small war flag and christened the schooner SMS Ayesha
(Emden II) to three hurrahs from her new crew. Nonetheless, she struck her flag
soon after and sailors soon went over the side to paint over the ship’s name.
Word had to have gone out and the British were no doubt looking for her.

Ayesha’s navigational equipment was limited to a sextant, two chronometers, and
a circa 1882 Indian Ocean Directory, filled with quaint old high-scale charts
and notes made as far back as the 1780s. With 50 men crowded onto a ship
designed for five, they fashioned hammocks from old ropes and slept in holds and
on deck. Even more limited was the crew’s kit, as the men had landed on
Direction Island for a raid and only had the clothes on their backs and
cartridges in their pouches.

> The whole crew went about naked in order to spare our wash…Toothbrushes were
> long ago out of sight. One razor made the rounds of the crew. The entire ship
> had one precious comb.

Further, Ayesha’s canvas was old and rotten, and three of the schooner’s four
water tanks had been contaminated with salt water. Gratefully, it turned out
that the crew’s former Legionaries was a crack chef and managed to cobble
together decent meals.

After 16 days at sea wandering towards Sumatra and keeping over the horizon from
steamers, Ayesha was intercepted by the Dutch Fret-class destroyer Lynx (510
tons, 210 feet oal, 30 knots, 4×3″, 2xtt) on 26 November and was escorted into
Padang in Wester Sumatra the next day.

Given 24 hours in port, Von Mucke was warned by Lynx’s Belgian-born skipper “I
could run into the harbor but whether I might not come out again was doubtful.”

The Dutch did not allow Ayesha to take on provisions, clothes, or tackle, and
the German schooner was towed back out to sea on the evening of the 28th. The
only bright spot of her brief stay in the Dutch East Indies was that the local
German consul managed to smuggle the crew a small bundle of chocolate,
cigarettes, and German newspapers. There was also a promised rendezvous location
out to sea in a fortnight or so with a German merchant steamer that was still
afloat and filled with enough coal to steam anywhere on the globe.

With six weeks worth of food left from the stockpile removed from Direction
Island, but relying largely on rainwater for drinking and bathing, the schooner
spent the next two weeks wandering West into the Indian Ocean, keeping hidden
while drifting towards her promised rendezvous.

Finally, in heavy seas near South Pagai in the Dutch Mentawai Islands on 14
December, Ayesha spied the Norddeutscher Lloyd (NDL) freighter Choising
(ex-Madeleine Rickmers), a slight vessel of just 1,657 tons. Still, she was the
best Christmas present Von Mucke could ask for.

Having sailed Ayesha for 1,709 sea miles, the crews waited until the waters
calmed on the 16th to transfer to the steamer then scuttled the schooner,
Emden’s final victim.

Willy Stöwer – Ayesha im Indischen Ozean nach Treffen mit Choising

The overloaded Choising set out West across the Indian Ocean towards Yemen on
the Arabian peninsula, part of the now-German allied Ottoman Empire. Thumbing
through Choising’s Lloyds book, the freighter assumed the identity of the
Italian steamer Shenir, which was similarly sized and had the same general
layout.

They stayed out of the shipping lanes, celebrated a low-key Christmas and New
Year at sea, and made it to Hodeida on 5 January 1915, having crossed 4,100
miles of the Indian Ocean successfully.

Cruise of the Emden, Ayesha, and Choising. Bestanddeelnr 22032 010


ARABIAN NIGHTS

With the French cruiser, Desaix spotted near Hodeida, Von Mucke and his men bid
Choising farewell. With no Ottoman naval officials to turn to, she went across
the straits to Massawa in Eritrea which was under Italian control and still
neutral, intending to link up with the cruiser SMS Konigsberg which they thought
was still off the coast of Africa but actually was trapped upriver in the
Rufiji.

Choising, remaining in Somaliland, would go on to be seized by the Italian
government once that former German ally declared war against the Empire in May
1915. This led to her final service as the Italian-flagged Carroccio. As part of
a small Italian convoy, she was sent to the bottom of the Adriatic Sea on 15 May
1917 off the coast of Albania by the Austrian destroyer Balaton in a messy
surface action known today as the Battle of the Strait of Otranto.

Meanwhile, contrary to early rosy reports that the Turks welcomed Von Mucke with
open arms in Hodeida and soon spirited them via train up the Hejaz railroad to
Constantinople and from there to Germany, it would be five long months of
slogging across Arabia to Damascus before the Germans had any sort of safety.

Overland from Hodeida, from Von Mucke’s book

Nonetheless, the word would precede them, hence Willie Stower’s fanciful
depiction of the long-scuttled Ayesha arriving at a big red carpet Ottoman
welcome at Hodeida. 

Another such propaganda piece from 1915:



With the railway incomplete, the journey, which is a bit off subject for a
Warship blog, included a three-day firefight with a battalion-sized force of
Arab rebels, unruly camel caravans with wary Bedouins watching from the dunes,
creeping up the uncharted coast on local fishing dhows (zambuks), and avoiding
being kept as “guests” by local Turkish garrison commanders and sheiks looking
to add the Teutonic travelers to their muscle.

Finally arriving at the terminus for the Hejaz railroad at Al Ula, a trek of
1,100 miles from Hodeida on 7 May, the force met Berliner Tageblatt
correspondent Emil Ludwig, who was waiting for them, and within days they were
being hosted by the German counsel in Damascus.

Besatzungsmitglieder von SMS Ayesha im Garten des Kaiserlichen Konsulats in
Damaskus 11. Mai 1915. 2) Kapitänleutnant Hellmuth von Mücke, 3) Konsul Walter
Rößler. Note the Gewehr 71 Mausers.

Then came an even larger show in Constantinople, attended by foreign legations
and German RADM Wilhelm Souchon, former commander of the Kaiser’s Mediterranean
Squadron and current unofficial commander of the Ottoman fleet. Souchon had a
gift for the men: Iron Crosses sent directly from Berlin.

Six of the 50-man forces that had landed at Direction Island six months prior
had been left behind, three killed by rebels, and three by assorted diseases and
accidents. Of Emden’s 360 crew, virtually all except Von Mucke’s detachment were
dead or POWs by this point in the war– to include the Kaiser’s own nephew. The
same could be said broadly for all the fine young men of Von Spee’s squadron.

Captured German photograph of the captain and officers of the Ayesha being
presented to the Turkish authorities by the American Ambassador. Figures from
right to left are (1) Enver Pasha; (2) German Ambassador; (3,5,6) Officers of
the raider Emden; (4) Provost of Town; (7) Admiral Suchow Pasha of Goeben. AWM
A011403

Captured German photograph showing the arrival of the officers who escaped from
the raider Emden after commandeering the yacht Ayesha, with the German flag
which saved them from falling into the hands of the enemy. AWM A01402

They were lucky.

Soon after Von Mucke’s trip up the Arabian peninsula, another group of Von
Spee’s men, elements of the crew of the river patrol boat SMS Tsingtau including
Kptlt. Erwin von Möller, LtzS Hans von Arnim, Vizesteuermann Heinrich Deike,
Karl Gründler, Heinrich Mau, Arthur Schwarting plus Turkish ship’s cook Said
Achmad, sailed the coastal schooner Marboek for 82 days from Sumatra where they
were interned to the Arabian coast at Hadramaut, then headed out overland for
Sana, much like Von Mucke.

They were all killed in the desert by rebels on 25 May 1916.




EPILOGUE

Von Mucke, whose interviews with Emil Ludwig soon circled the globe, spent some
time as head of a Turko-German river flotilla in the Euphrates, then finished
the war back in Germany as head of the Danube Flotilla. You could say the
Kaiserliche Marine wanted to keep him from being lost at sea. Sadly, half of the
men who had returned with him from Emden had been killed later in the Great
War. 

His mug was snapped often and widely distributed. A dashing hero with a romantic
tale.

Capt. Von Mucke & bride & sailors of EMDEN LOC ggbain-20400-20461v

Kpt. Von Mucke in Berlin LOC ggbain-19500-19578v

He also penned two thin wartime books, one on each of the vessels he served on
during the conflict.



Postwar, retired from the Navy after an 18-year career, he had six children and
earned a living in Weimar Germany through writing and conducting lecture tours,
retelling his story. Turning to politics, he briefly held a seat in the Saxon
state parliament, flirted with the Nazis (membership number 3,579) before they
rose to power, then by 1930 had become an outspoken pacifist and member of the
Deutschlandbund, an anti-Nazi group. Banned from writing after 1933, he was
labeled a communist and tossed into concentration camps on at least two
occasions. Despite the fact his naval pension had been suspended, he volunteered
for combat with the Kriegsmarine in 1939 at age 58 but was rejected because he
was considered politically unreliable.

Remaining in East Germany post-WWII, Von Mucke wrote pamphlets against the
rearmament of West Germany for the communists but soon fell out with them as
well. He passed in 1957 at age 76 and is buried in Ahrensburg.

As she sat in shallow water along the reefs off Keeling and was extensively
salvaged over 40 years, literally tons of souvenirs of Emden exist, primarily in
Australia, where her bell and several relics are on display at the AWM in
Canberra while two of her 10.5 cm (4.1 in) SK L/40 guns are in parks in the
Canberra and in Sydney.

Relics from Sydney and Emden’s battle on display at the Australian War Memorial

It is also likely that many tons of her good Krupp steel armor plate were
recycled for use by the Japanese Combined Fleet, as her salvors for long periods
in the 1920s and 30s were from Yokohama.

However, little, if anything, survives of Ayesha other than period photographs
and postcards, along with the works of Von Mücke.



She is remembered in postal stamps of the Cocos Islands, for obvious reasons. 



The small 4×6 Reichskriegsflagge flown over Keeling by Emden’s Landungskorps,
then our subject schooner and brought back to Germany in 1915 with Von Mücke and
the gang at some point was put on display in the Marienkirche (St. Mary’s
Church) in Lübeck.

Then in the 1930s, it was passed on to Kapt. Julius Lauterbach. A HAPAG reserve
officer who had served on the liner Staatssekretär Kraetke before the war and as
Emden’s 1st navigation officer during the conflict. He left the cruiser with a
15-man prize crew put aboard the captured 4,350-ton British steamer Buresk in
September 1914 to serve as a tender. Captured after Emden was destroyed and
Buresk scuttled, he escaped along with 34 other Germans held by the British in
Singapore during the Sepoy Mutiny in February 1915. Returning to Germany on his
own, (like Von Mücke he also wrote a thin book published during the war, “1000£
Price on Your Head – Dead or Alive: The Escape Adventures of Former Prize
Officer S. M. S. Emden”) he was given command of a trap ship (German Q-ship),
and subsequently the raider SMS Mowe. In 1955, Lauterbach’s widow donated the
flag to German militaria collector Karl Flöck who placed it on display at the
Gasthaus zum Roten Ochsen in Cologne for years until it went up to auction in
2009. It is now in private hands.



The tale of Emden has been told numerous times in numerous ways, but it
generally left out that of Von Mucke and his refugees. Of note, a 2013 German
film, Die Männer der Emden, included it. The trailer includes camels, suffering,
and a bit of swashbuckling, as it should.







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ships are more than steel
and wood
And heart of burning coal,
For those who sail upon
them know
That some ships have a
soul.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you liked this column, please consider joining the International Naval
Research Organization (INRO), Publishers of Warship International.

They are possibly one of the best sources of naval study, images, and fellowship
you can find. http://www.warship.org/membership.htm

The International Naval Research Organization is a non-profit corporation
dedicated to the encouragement of the study of naval vessels and their
histories, principally in the era of iron and steel warships (about 1860 to
date). Its purpose is to provide information and a means of contact for those
interested in warships.

With more than 50 years of scholarship, Warship International, the written tome
of the INRO has published hundreds of articles, most of which are unique in
their sweep and subject.

PRINT still has its place. If you LOVE warships you should belong.

I’m a member, so should you be!


SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * asymmetric warfare
 * Australia
 * for those lost at sea
 * man card
 * military art
 * military history
 * warship wednesday
 * World War One


BUCCS OVER ADEN

Posted on November 5, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Some 57 years ago this month. Aden Emergency. The flight deck of the 54,000-ton
Audacious-class aircraft carrier HMS Eagle (R 05) was photographed as part of
Task Force 945 in the Gulf of Aden during the British withdrawal from the Aden
colony in November 1967.

IWM (HU 106844)

Eagle’s deck is crowded with De Haviland Sea Vixen FAW.2s of 899 Naval Air
Squadron and Blackburn Buccaneer S.1 and S.2s of 800 Naval Air Squadron.
Meanwhile, following behind are the Centaur-class commando carrier HMS Albion (R
07), HMS Fearless (L10) of later Falklands fame, and the WWII-era Amphion-class
submarine HMS Auriga (S69).

From the same period, drink in this beautiful shot of a Zuni rocket-armed Bucc
from Eagle putting its watchful eye over the colony.

A Blackburn Buccaneer aircraft of 800 Naval Air Squadron from HMS Eagle on
patrol over Aden and Khormaksar airfield, during the withdrawal of British
troops on 29 November 1967. IWM A 35119

The Harland and Wolff-built Eagle, one of Britain’s two proper big deck carriers
during the Cold War, was decommissioned in 1972 after just 21 years with the
fleet while her sister, HMS Ark Royal, would endure until 1979. Both would have
been welcome in the Falklands.


SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * cold war
 * military art
 * military history
 * warship wednesday
 * weapons


YOU KNOW THE BROWNING 10/71, YES?

Posted on November 5, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

John Moses Browning was the Leonardo da Vinci of American gun making and his
long relationship with Winchester, Colt, and FN changed the entire industry. The
inventor of numerous “pocket pistols” of the 1900s (FN M1899, Colt 1903/1908
Pocket Hammerless, FN 1906 Vest Pocket, FN 1910) as well as the calibers they
were chambered in (.25, .32, and .380 ACP), he probably did more for early 20th
Century concealed carry than any other man.

One of his longest-lived designs was the well-liked FN Model 1910. A
striker-fired, blowback action, single-stack .32 ACP (7+1 capacity) or .380 ACP
(6+1 capacity) semi-auto with a 3.16-inch barrel, it remained in production for
a solid 73 years, including military and police use in dozens of countries. Many
of its traits such as the grip safety were familiar to past Browning designs.
Other hallmarks, like its recoil-spring-wrapped barrel, were borrowed by later
designs of the period such as the Walther PP/PPK and Makarov PM.

The M1910 proved so popular that FN produced it in a lengthened version (the
M1922, which had a 4.46-inch barrel) and eventually managed to import it to the
U.S. consumer market via the Browning Arms Company of St. Louis and Montreal
starting in the 1950s.

The Browning Model 1955 was just a re-branded FN Model 1910. Made in Belgium,
they began importation to the U.S. and Canada in the mid-1950s, hence the model
number. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Then came the Gun Control Act of 1968, which, among other restrictions, placed
an arbitrary list of requirements on imported firearms into the U.S. to meet a
“sporting purposes” test. This included mandatory length and height requirements
that left pistols such as the Walther PPK and Browning Model 1955 coming up
short.

FN’s answer? Stretch the Model 1910, err, Model 1955.

This led to what is known as the Model 10 of 1971, or the 10/71.



More in my column at Guns.com.


SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * gun culture
 * weapons


CMP: 1911S TO START BACK UP, AMC DATES ANNOUNCED

Posted on November 5, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

The recent CEO update about the goings on at the Civilian Marksmanship Program
had some interesting tidbits.

First, the 1911s will, eventually, start rolling again after sales were halted
due to an Army CID investigation into 98 missing guns.

> Surplus M1911 Sales:  As many of you just saw, we recently provided a detailed
> update on the status of this operation via social media and the CMP Forum. In
> summary, we assess that the CMP is still several months from resuming the sale
> and transfer of M1911 Pistols. Throughout this process, CMP staff members
> worked tirelessly implementing strengthened M1911 operations – with an
> increased workforce dedicated to the distribution of these pistols, all while
> CMP armorers continue to inspect and prepare pistols for sale.
> 
> Round four orders will be fulfilled once sales resume; followed by new orders.
> We have a large quantity of pistols on hand and can fulfill all round four
> orders and many thousands more once we resume sales. As we indicated in the
> previous update, after round four we will proceed with an open and continuous
> order process (no more rounds) and fulfill orders on a first received-first
> fulfilled basis.
> 
> But, don’t send in new orders in yet. We will promulgate guidance once we have
> a better sense of when sales will resume. We also expect the two
> pistols/person per lifetime limit to remain in effect for the next year. While
> this restriction is not codified in the law, it is guidance from the
> Department of the Army. The CMP will review options with the Army later in
> FY25. Again, we apologize for the unexpected delays within our M1911 program
> and are eager to once again distribute these exceptional firearms.


AMC CLASSES RESTARTING

The Advanced Maintenance Class (AMC) is a three-day course in Anniston, Ala.,
for those who wish to take their passion for the timeless M1 Garand rifle to the
next level. Set within CMP’s Custom Shop, the AMC offers participants the chance
to receive unparalleled, one-on-one training from experienced CMP armorers on
headspace, barrel installation, component function, maintenance, and more – all
absorbed as students construct personal rifles from CMP’s arsenal of authentic
M1 Garand parts.



Additionally, students will receive a guided visit to the CMP South Store and
Talladega Marksmanship Park to view the grounds and fire their newly crafted
rifles from the course.

Due to the popularity of the classes, registration for the AMC will be based on
a random drawing. Registration for the random drawing will be open from Nov. 1
to Dec. 31. Registering for multiple classes is permitted, but no applicant will
be selected for more than one slot. Former AMC participants are welcome to sign
up for 2025.



The 2025 dates include:

 * March 4-9, 2025
 * April 8-13, 2025
 * May 13-18, 2025
 * June 17-22, 2025
 * August 19-24, 2025
 * Sept. 9-14, 2025
 * Oct. 7-12, 2025


SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * gun culture
 * weapons


CHILEAN DOWNTIME

Posted on November 4, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

110 years ago this week, 3 November 1914. Admiral Maximilian von Spee’s
victorious German East Asia Squadron (Ostasiengeschwader) basking at anchor in
Valparaiso, Chile just a few days after the Battle of Coronel, which delivered
the Royal Navy its first major naval defeat at sea via surface engagement since
the War of 1812 (when the 20-gun brig USS Hornet under the command of James
Biddle captured the 19-gun brig-sloop HMS Penguin off Tristan da Cunha after a
well-fought battle on 23 March 1815).

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph NH 59638

The German ships are in the distance, with the 13,000-ton armored cruisers SMS
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in the lead, followed by the 4,900-ton
Königsberg-class light cruiser Nürnberg. Watchful Chilean Navy warships in the
middle distance include (from left to right): cruisers Esmeralda, O’Higgins, and
Blanco Encalda along with the old (commissioned 1890) ironclad battleship
Capitan Prat.

November 4, 1914. Valparaiso. Scharnhorst 3 days after the Battle of Coronel.
She is taking on provisions

While Von Spee could take on water and limited provisions and patch their damage
from the running fight at Coronel, they could never replace the shells they
expended in the scrap with RADM Sir Christopher Cradock’s outclassed and
out-fought squadron.



The light cruisers SMS Leipzig and Dresden are not present in the above photos
of Von Spee’s force. Post-Coronel, they had escorted the Ostasiengeschwader’s
collier train to remote Mas a Fuera (Alejandro Selkirk Island) in the Juan
Fernández Archipelago, where the squadron would gather on 6 November.

The decrepit Bussard-class light cruiser SMS Geier, too slow to tag along with
Von Spee’s force was already long out of the game. After surviving 11 weeks on
the run as an independent unit she had been interned under American guns at
Hawaii on 17 October.

Likewise, the hilfskreuzer Cormoran, which was the captured 3,400-ton Russian
freighter SS Ryazan with a crew from the old Bussard-class cruiser SMS Cormoran
and the stricken survey ship SMS Planet, was quietly poking around the Western
Pacific and would eventually present herself to American custody at Guam on 14
December 1914.

Dresden’s sister, SMS Emden, is also missing from the above images. She was just
six days away from her final engagement with the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney,
some 9,500 miles away off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. But that is a whole
different story.


SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * military history
 * warship wednesday
 * World War One


HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOOTNECKS, AND DEVIL DOGS

Posted on November 4, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

The Royal Marines were founded on 28 October 1664, under Charles II, as the Duke
of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot. Some 5,820 strong (authorized)
they are one of the most professional and pound-for-pound elite amphibious
forces on the planet, despite the fact they have been in steady decline when it
comes to sea lift for the past 40 years.

Happy 360th! Of note, the Admiralty got Henry Cavill to narrate the birthday
recruiting ad, which is very motivational.







And in a show of support from their junior “brother corps” across the Atlantic,
the USMC issued a congratulations message.







The Marines will celebrate their 249th on 10 November.







And, since you came this far, be sure to check out this great short doc from
NATO showing off Marines at play in Norway, their home away from home since
1940. The Finns and Swedes joined in this year. 








SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * littoral
 * military history
 * USMC


SILENCER OR SUPPRESSOR?

Posted on November 4, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

The terms “silencer” and “suppressor” are used interchangeably in the firearms
community, and we are here (hear?) to tell you the story of how this came about
and which term is more correct. 

Going back to the 19th century, “devices for the lessening the noise of
firearms” were patented as far back as 1894. However, it wasn’t until Hiram
Percy Maxim, a man uniquely obsessed with making loud things quiet for the sake
of hearing protection, that the first trademarked “Silencer” (big S) came about
in 1909. 


DR. SHUSH

Why was Maxim interested in hearing protection? A big part of this was because
his father, Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, generally regarded as the inventor of the
modern belt-fed machine gun, went quite deaf after long periods of exhibiting
his guns for interested clients sans ear protection. 

Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim seen showing Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales and
future King Edward VII, around his gun, and depicted in a 1904 caricature.

The junior Maxim began working on his acoustical mufflers in 1902 and by 1909
started securing a series of patents on “Silencer” and “Silent firearm” devices.
His Connecticut-based company first was branded as the Maxim Silent Firearms
Company, and later the Maxim Silencer Co. 

Maxim, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, even marketed
himself as “Dr. Shush.” Following in his father’s footsteps, he was his own best
spokesman for his products and stressed how they made shooting safer and more
enjoyable. 

Maxim was a showman. (Photos: SilencerCo)

He successfully landed a series of large newspaper interviews in 1909. 

The allure of a “noiseless gun” was sure to draw headlines. (Photos: Library of
Congress, Chronicling America newspaper archive)

The company sold not only a series of Silencers but also couplings to attach
them to barrels and instructions for gunsmiths and hardware shops to thread
barrels for the screw-on devices, interestingly advocating a rather fat (by
today’s standards) 20-thread pattern. Silencers could be purchased by mail order
for $5, about $160 in today’s inflated dollars. 

Were Maxim’s designs truly silent? Not at all, but it was great branding,
especially when he had to fight for market share against a crowded field of
contemporary competitors. Matthew Moss, writing for Small Arms Review, notes at
least nine inventors at the time (Harry Craven, Anthony Fiala, Charles H.
Kenney, Herbert Moore, Robert A. Moore, Eugene Thurle, R.M. Towson, Andy
Shipley, James Stinson, et. al) were seeking patents for similar devices, with
several ultimately going on to market them with mixed success. 

There are few period tests between these 1910s-era firearm mufflers. The Army’s
Ordnance Bureau, which ordered 100 of Maxim’s devices and 100 from Robert A.
Moore’s firm for tests on the M1903 Springfield, preferred the former, noting
that “it was possible to give perfectly audible instructions when the Silencer
was used.” It was estimated to have reduced noise by as much as two-thirds.
Given the technology of the era, that had to be what could best be described as
a wild guess. 

World War I era cutting edge: M1903 Springfield with the M1913 Warner & Swasey
Musket Sight mounted. It also mounts a Maxim Model 15 “Government Silencer,”
October 1918. The Army maintained its stocks of Silencers until 1925. (U.S. Army
photo via National Archives)


COMMON VERNACULAR

In the end, Maxim’s Silencer (which wasn’t silent), won the marketing war and
emerged as the Dr. Pepper among a crowd of Mr. Pibbs. Teddy Roosevelt used
one to quietly zap tin cans around the yard without disturbing the neighbors
and exchanged personal correspondence with the inventor. Period cartoons even
gagged about noisy diners being offered “Maxim Soup Silencers.”

Maxim’s company went on to market Silencers for motorboats and automobiles on
much the same principle. 

Maxim upsized his Silencers for other applications. 

The public had so associated the Silencer with firearm report moderators by 1934
that the National Firearms Act hearings – which largely started as an effort to
ban most guns in the country, including all common pistols and revolvers – used
the term no less than eight times. While handguns escaped the government
regulation, silencers (little “s”) did not. Never being banned outright on the
federal level, they were instead hit with a $200 tax, which adjusts out to
$4,800 in today’s terms. The silencer term, enshrined in 1934, is still on the
books in the U.S. Code, retained in the 1968 Gun Control Act, and used by the
ATF today – an organization that was only established in 1972. 

It even entered Merriam-Webster.

In the meantime, the repressive tax largely killed the American suppressor
industry until the 1970s, when companies like Mitch Wer-Bell’s SIONICS and Dr.
Phil Dater’s AWC (now Gemtech) began quietly (see what we did there?) operating.
By then the stifling NFA tax, frozen at $200 since the Depression, had been
whittled down to a more manageable outlay thanks to the federal government’s
habit of printing fiat currency in an economic pinch after Nixon ended the gold
standard. 


WHAT ABOUT THE TERM SUPPRESSOR?

In today’s terms, “suppressor” has largely supplanted and replaced “silencer” in
use, starting with patents filed in the 1980s. The term is more correct as,
while the devices moderate and reduce the sound signature of a muzzle report,
they do not remove it. In most cases, despite what Hollywood would lead us to
believe, while suppressors paired with subsonic ammunition that removes the
“crack” of a projectile breaking the sound barrier can be made hearing safe, you
can still hear the gunshot, albeit muted.

As detailed by the American Suppressor Association, suppressors typically
“reduce the noise of a gunshot by an average of 20 to 35 decibels, which is
roughly the same as earplugs or earmuffs.”

> Even the most effective suppressors, on the smallest and quietest calibers
> (.22 LR), reduce the peak sound level of a gunshot to between 110-120 dB. To
> put that in perspective, according to the National Institute for Occupational
> Safety and Health (NIOSH), that is as loud as a jackhammer (110 dB) or an
> ambulance siren (120 dB). For normal caliber handguns and rifles, suppressed
> sound levels routinely exceed 130 dB, just shy of OSHA’s “hearing safe”
> threshold of 140 dB.

For reference, check out this Taurus TX22 with a SilencerCo Switchback, one of
the better rimfire cans on the market, firing standard velocity .22 LR
ammunition.

It’s quieter, but you can still hear it. 







In addition to noise abatement and hearing protection, the use of a suppressor
can also help with firearms training, especially as it curbs the traditional
“crack” to a more manageable “pop.” 

Is it a “silencer?” Not really. 

Is it a “Silencer?” Only if made by Mr. Hiram Percey Maxim’s Silencer Company. 

Is it a suppressor? Yup. 

So in other words, to turn a phrase, a Silencer is a suppressor but a suppressor
is not a silencer, despite what the media says about potatoes. 


SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * gun culture
 * military history
 * suppressors
 * weapons


ELDERLY BURKES GET REPRIEVE

Posted on November 1, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland One comment

200304-N-NK931-1001 PHILIPPINE SEA (Mar. 4, 2020) Landing Signalmen Enlisted
(LSE), assigned to the Arleigh-Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Barry
(DDG 52), directs night flight operations of an MH-60 Sea Hawk helicopter,
assigned to the “Saberhawks” of Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 77,
during the U.S.-Japan Bilateral Advanced Warfighting Training exercise (BAWT).
(U.S. Navy photo by Ensign Samuel Hardgrove)

The SECNAV this week announced he has given the green light to keep operating
yesterday’s destroyer tomorrow.

The idea is to squeeze another 48 ship years out of 12 early Flight I
Arleigh Burke-class (DDG 51) destroyers, pushing each beyond their 35-year
expected service life.

The oldest hull, the Ingalls-built USS Barry (DDG-52), left Pascagoula in 1992
and was set to retire in FY28 at age 36, and will instead be stretched out to
FY31. The newest, USS The Sullivans (DDG-68), which left Bath in 1997 and was
scheduled to head to mothballs in FY32, will instead linger until FY35.

There will be no extensive service life extension program for these ships, just
the determination “to maximize the service life of each ship before it required
another extensive and costly docking availability.”

The feeling is that this is a move that had to happen, rather than a move that
the Navy wanted to happen. After all, these early short-hull Burkes are really
nowhere near the same capability as their recent Flight IIA and Flight III
sisters, which really should have been designated different classes. 

While not addressed, you can be sure this early raiding of the future mothball
fleet is due to the inexcusable delays in the Constellation-class multi-mission
guided-missile frigates, which was supposed to take a proven off-the-shelf
(Italian FREMM) program and make it here in the states to speed up the
acquisition process, at least until Big Navy got involved and wanted to change
every compartment. The program is currently at least three years behind schedule
and you can bet that will lapse even further as the first ships have to be
rebuilt after initial trials.

The CNO rubber-stamped the DDG 52-68 extension as one would expect of a good
CNO, saying:

“Today’s budget-constrained environment requires the Navy to make prioritized
investments to keep more ready players on the field,” said Chief of Naval
Operations Adm. Lisa Franchetti. “The Navy is actively pulling the right levers
to maintain and grow its Battle Force Inventory to support the United States’s
global interests in peace and to win decisively in conflict.”

As detailed by Breaking Defense, the ships and their associated life extensions
included in the announcement are:

 * USS Barry (DDG-52) – three years – FY28 to FY31
 * USS John Paul Jones (DDG-53) – five years – FY28 to FY33
 * USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) – five years – FY29 to FY34
 * USS Stout (DDG-55) – five years – FY29 to FY34
 * USS John S. McCain (DDG-56) – five years – FY29 to FY34
 * USS Laboon (DDG-58) – five years – FY30 to FY35
 * USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60) – five years – FY30 to FY35
 * USS Stethem (DDG 63) – one year – FY30 to FY31
 * USS Carney (DDG-64) – one year – FY31 to FY32
 * USS Gonzalez (DDG-66) – five years – FY31 to FY36
 * USS Cole (DDG-67) – five years – FY31 to FY36
 * USS The Sullivans (DDG-68) – three years – FY32 to FY35


SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * modern military conflict
 * US Navy
 * weapons


BANDSTAND AMBUSH

Posted on November 1, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Official caption, November 1944, Holland: “The Germans installed this gun in the
bandstand at Nieuland [Nieuwland], near Middelburg, to cover the crossroads in
the town.”

Goodchild A (P/O), Royal Air Force official photographer IWM CL 1519

The gun appears to be an 8.8 cm Pak 43/41 anti-tank gun, the famed “German 88,”
likely of the newly formed Artillerie-Regiment 170 (Oberst Franz A.M. Lex).
Nieuwland was liberated by the 52 (L) Reconnaissance Regiment, of the 52nd
(Lowland) Infantry Division, as part of Anglo-Canadian joint Operation
Infatuate, the amphibious landing that gave Allies shipping access to Antwerp
docks. 

Since you came this far, below is a period USAAF training film on the 88, at
least in its AAA role. 








SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * military history
 * weapons
 * World War Two


REVIEW OF THE ROSCOE

Posted on November 1, 2024 by laststandonzombieisland Leave a comment

Much like the long-discontinued Taurus Model 80 and Rossi Model 68, guns now
some 30 years out of production, the Heritage Roscoe is a simple and rugged .38
revolver that looks good and doesn’t break the bank.

It has the look and feel of a vintage S&W J-frame but without the cost – and,
unlike a classic Smith or Colt Dick, you can take it to the range and beat on it
without losing any collector value. Plus, it has some modern features you didn’t
find in those guns such as the transfer bar and heavy barrel profile.

The 3-inch variant runs an inch or so longer than a snub gun, giving a longer
(4.97-inch) sight radius while wringing more velocity from the ammo used – all
while being very concealable.

You can always get one and turn it into a budget Fitz Special, which seems like
a great choice if looking for that.

Is it the best .38 for concealed carry or personal defense compared to more
modern designs with shrouded hammers, better triggers, options for adding
optics, and weight savings via the inclusion of aluminum and polymer? Not even
close, but it can still clock in when needed.

It is no slouch in terms of practical accuracy and is rated to run .38 +P on
occasion.

It’s nice to see the Heritage time travel with the Roscoe, which is a bit of
fresh air, albeit with a twinge of cigar smoke to it.

Talk about an instant classic.

More in my column at Guns.com.


SHARE THIS:

 * Share
 * 

 * Print
 * Email
 * Twitter
 * Facebook
 * Reddit
 * 

Like Loading...

 * ccw
 * every day carry
 * gun culture
 * new gun
 * weapons

« Older Entries


BLOGS I FOLLOW

 * thegunbulletin
 * The Searchers
 * Station HYPO
 * National Guard Marksmanship Training Center
 * tacticalprofessor
 * Yokosuka Sasebo Japan
 * The Writer in Black
 * Stephen Taylor, WW2 Relic Hunter
 * USS Gerald R. Ford
 * The Unwritten Record
 * Stuff From Hsoi
 * LouisvilleGun
 * Gunpowder Meditation
 * CIVILIAN GUNFIGHTER
 * MountainGuerrilla
 * The Armourers Bench
 * Under Every Leaf.
 * juleswings.wordpress.com/
 * Chuck Hill's CG Blog
 * Meccanica Mekaniikka Mecanică


SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG VIA EMAIL

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of
new posts by email.

Email Address:

Subscribe

Join 377 other subscribers
Blog at WordPress.com.
thegunbulletin

Most of the Gun News That is Fit to Print!

The Searchers



Station HYPO

Celebrating the Past, Present and Future of Navy Cryptology

National Guard Marksmanship Training Center

Official site for National Guard marksmanship training & competitions

tacticalprofessor

An elite marksman. A real shooter with aim.

Yokosuka Sasebo Japan

The U.S. Navy and the Western Pacific

The Writer in Black

News and views from The Writer in Black

Stephen Taylor, WW2 Relic Hunter

World War 2 Historian, Relic Hunter and expert in identification of WW2 relics

USS Gerald R. Ford

Mission Ready, Qualified & Competent, On Time Execution!

The Unwritten Record

Exploring History with the National Archives Special Media Division

Stuff From Hsoi

Writing about whatever interests me, and maybe you.

LouisvilleGun

Commentary on Gun Control & Crime

Gunpowder Meditation



CIVILIAN GUNFIGHTER

Identifying the Best Training, Tools, and Tactics for the Armed Civilian!

MountainGuerrilla

Nous Defions!

The Armourers Bench



Under Every Leaf.

A Site for the British Empire 1860-1913

juleswings.wordpress.com/



Chuck Hill's CG Blog



Meccanica Mekaniikka Mecanică

The Mechanix of Auto, Aviation, Military...pert near anything I feel relates to
mechanical things, places, events or whatever I happen to like. Even
non-mechanical artsy-fartsy stuff.


laststandonzombieisland
Blog at WordPress.com.
 * Subscribe Subscribed
    * laststandonzombieisland
      
      Join 377 other subscribers
      
      Sign me up
    * Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.

 *  * laststandonzombieisland
    * Customize
    * Subscribe Subscribed
    * Sign up
    * Log in
    * Report this content
    * View site in Reader
    * Manage subscriptions
    * Collapse this bar

 

Loading Comments...

 

Write a Comment...
Email (Required) Name (Required) Website

%d