The Rufigi Delta and HMAS Pioneer HMAS Pioneer, the RAN’s old Pelorus class light cruiser, fired more shots in anger than any other RAN ship in WW I. Most of her angst was directed towards the blockade and destruction of the commerce raider SMS Königsberg and other targets in German East Africa between 6 July […]
The ONS-5 Convoy and U-boat battle By Mike DownesPaper presented to the Company of Master Mariners, Sydney Branch, 24 November 1993, reprinted with permission. The chief ONS-5 adversary was the Type VII U-boat. The most common variant, the Type VIIC, was 67 x 5.85 x 4.37 metres (220 ft x 19 x 14 feet) and […]
The armoured flight deck controversy The British armoured flight decks and enclosed hangars, as seen in their Illustrious class aircraft carriers, were vastly superior to the American Essex class that had open hangars, and an armoured main deck that supported an elevated flight deck, according to generations of RN and RAN fixed-wing pilots. There were […]
In harm’s way: The saga of Gambier Bay, the Battle off Samar By Barrett Tillman. Reprinted with permission from The Hook, Vol 14/4 Winter 1986, pp 40-52. USS Gambier Bay, straddled by large calibre rounds from VADM Kurita’s surface force, 25 October 1944. (Painting is by C.G. Evers, reproduced with permission of the U.S. Naval […]
Mikasa, the Tsushima Straits victor Don’t be misled by the “10 minutes walk, 8 if you run a bit” posted signs in Japan. The Mikasa website says the old museum battleship might be only a 10 minute walk from the National Line Yokosuka-Chuo railway station, but it’s a good 45-minute slog around the dockyard and […]
Fire in the Hangar Book review by Fred Lane Foster, W.F. (2001) Fire on the hangar deck: Ordeal of the Oriskany. Naval Institute Press: Annapolis. 175 pages including index, photographs and schematic drawings.US$26.95. “Fire, fire, fire, fire in the hangar,” must be one of the most feared tannoy broadcasts ever in any ship that carries […]
USN WW II dive and torpedo bombers Book review by Fred Lane Tillman B and R.L. Lawson. US Navy dive and torpedo bombers of WW II. MBI Publishing: St Paul. 2001. Paperback 128 pp with index and photographs.US$24.95. This highly interesting book, together with a companion piece, US Navy Fighters of WW II, vividly […]
USN WW II Fighters book review by Fred Lane Tillman B. and Lawson R.L. US Navy fighters of WW II. MBI Publishing: St Paul. 1998. Paperback 96 pp with index and photographs. US$20.00 This volume preceded the excellent US Navy WW II dive and torpedo bombers. It is an equally gripping and well-written tale by […]
The Loss of HMS Glorious Book review by John van Gelder Winton, J. (1999) Carrier Glorious: The life and death of an aircraft carrier. Cassell Military Paperbacks: London. $16.95. John Winton is a well-known author of many fiction and non-fiction books concerning the Royal Navy and naval subjects generally. In this book he has […]
The Loss of HMS Glorious Book review by John van Gelder Winton, J. (1999) Carrier Glorious: The life and death of an aircraft carrier. Cassell Military Paperbacks: London. $16.95. John Winton is a well-known author of many fiction and non-fiction books concerning the Royal Navy and naval subjects generally. In this book he has […]
