An RAN midshipman in HMS Vanguard by John Jobson CDRE John Jobson describes his nine months aboard the last of the RN battleships, HMS Vanguard. These recollections are based on his Midshipman’s Journal notes. It was December 1939: England was at war. Sir Stanley Goodall, the Royal Navy Director of Naval Construction, proposed that the […]
Bantry Bay gigs As a followup to Bantry, the unknown invasion (Newsletter 65, June 2006 pp 24-27) Tom de Voil learned “quite by accident” at a local Rotary Club meeting about an exciting modern twist to the original story. Two apprentice Gippsland Lakes shipwrights participated in the 2006 Atlantic Challenge, sailing Bantry Bay gigs, last […]
Duyfken (Little dove) by John Ellis Indonesian spices have been important ingredients in Middle Eastern food and drink for over 3000 years. They were imported to the Persian Empire from as early as 1000 BC and Rome imported Moluccan spices 2000 years ago via the Silk Route that terminated in Constantinople. By the Middle Ages, […]
USN Carrier Evolution VIII: Early Attack Carriers Eighth article in a series by Scot MacDonald. Reprinted with permission: Naval Aviation News, November 1962, pp 44-48. “We have hit the Japanese very hard in the Solomon Islands. We have probably broken the backbone of the power of their Fleet. They have still too many aircraft carriers […]
USN Carrier Evolution IX: Escort Carriers Ninth article in a series by Scot MacDonald. Reprinted with permission: Naval Aviation News, December 1962 pp 49-53. “The story of the escort aircraft carriers is like a story with a surprise ending. When the United States began to build them, there was a definite purpose in view—fighting off […]
USN Carrier Evolution X: The battle carriers Tenth article in a series by Scot MacDonald. Reprinted with permission: Naval Aviation News, January 1963, pp 54-56. The life of the Midway also demonstrates the progress of our Navy; the accommodation of our ships to aircraft of high performance; the use of missiles; exploitation of electronics; the […]
USN Carrier Evolution XI: The Japanese carriers in WW II Eleventh article in a series by Scot MacDonald. Reprinted with permission: Naval Aviation News, April 1963. Japan is beaten, and carrier supremacy defeated her. Carrier supremacy destroyed her army and navy air forces. Carrier supremacy destroyed her fleet. Carrier supremacy gave us bases adjacent to […]
Anti-ship missiles HMS Sheffield (above) on fire after her fatal Exocet hit, 4 May 1982, off the Falklands and USS Stark on fire and listing after taking two Exocet AM-39s aboard (one failed to explode) 17 May 1987 in the Persian Gulf. “Six, eight, heave,” is long gone from the gunner’s drill manual. No longer […]
The Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick The Raytheon AGM-65 Maverick is a family of precision guided weapons proven in action in Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom. Of 5,300 Mavericks launched in Desert Storm, “no less than 92 per cent recorded a successful hit,” claims Raytheon (Raytheon 2001). The USMC achieved only a 60 per cent hit rate, […]
The AGM-119B Kongsberg Penguin Slated for the RAN’s ill-fated Kaman SH-2G Seasprite helicopters, and fitted with an Australian-manufactured warhead, the Penguin is a 1960s-era remarkably durable “shoot-and-scoot” high subsonic sea skimmer anti-ship missile. Each Seasprite was planned to carry two missiles. (Kongsberg graphic) The Norwegian Kongsberg Penguin has been operating successfully from ships, helicopters and […]
