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SCUBAPRO Sunday – Eugene Stoner and the M63/M63A Stoner Machine Gun

Sunday, April 18th, 2021

Eugene Morrison Stoner is the father of the AR family of rifles (and everyone knows AR stands for Armalite Rifle), that includes the AR-5, AR-15 and the M16. The family of M16s are one of the most iconic weapons engineered in world history. Stoner worked for the Vega Aircraft Company installing armament units after graduation from a vocational high school and before joining the Marine Corps right after Pearl Harbor was attacked. He served in the Pacific until the end of the war. In 1945 he went to work for Whitaker, an aircraft equipment maker in 1954, he transferred to Fairchild Engine & Airplane Corporation as chief engineer for a newly formed small division called Armalite, which was headed by George Sullivan, a patent counsel for Lockheed Corp. They met at a local range, where Sullivan was testing a new prototype for an Air Force survival rifle.

The AR5, is the product of Eugene Stoner’s feedback on the survival rifle. The AR5 is now better known as the AR7, or Henry Rifle’s US Survival Rifle. Stoner finished the first run of the ArmaLite AR-10 design in 1955. This was a game-changer in the world of small arms – a firearm that was small, quick to shoot, and didn’t weigh a ton. When the AR-10 was chambered for the 7.62x51mm NATO. When it was changed to chamber the new .223 Remington round its name was changed to the AR-15. Stoner’s name would go down in history if he had done nothing but build the AR-15, but he did so much more than that. He was a self-made man with only a high school education. Stoner changed the world as we know it forever, in addition to changing the landscape of American firearms, as well as the world stage, by inventing the M16. That gun, along with the AK (idea stolen from WW2 German guns) family of weapons, are the two most famous guns globally. He also designed one of the most iconic weapons of the Vietnam War and SEAL Team’s history. Eugene Stoner, left ArmaLite around 1961 to join Cadillac Gage Corp. There he started to build an entirely new set of weapons.

In 1962, known as Stoner 62, the first version, chambered the 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition. Later that year, it was changed to chambered for 5.56mm to help save weight. The name also changed to the Stoner 63. That system, developed and promoted until the early 1970s, was extensively tested as the XM22 (Stoner 63A rifle), XM23 (Stoner 63A carbine), and XM2077 by the U.S. military (light machine gun with belt feed). However, the Mk.23 model 0 belt-fed light machine gun configuration was used in small numbers by both the Navy and some Marines in Vietnam. In general, the Stoner system was somewhat too costly and also slightly over-complicated for a dedicated light machine gun, though having the advantages of modularity and interchangeability of parts allowed for great versatility in tactical use. The Stoner was known for being a little finicky when cleaning and maintaining, but reliable if proper care was taken. Overall, between 1962 and 1971, some 3,500 to 4,000 Stoner M63 weapon kits were made. Of those, some 2400 Stoner 63 Light machine guns were purchased by the U.S. Navy for Special Forces in Vietnam and about 100 more were purchased for the enhanced Mk.23 mod.0 variant. Starting in 1963, the Stoner 63 was used in combat in Vietnam, primarily in the hands of SEAL Teams.

The Stoner machine gun was developed to maximize firepower. The versatility of the Stoner 63 made it the perfect weapons system for the newly minted SEAL teams during the Vietnam War. SEAL Teams One and Two evaluated the 63A, saying that the weapon was “significantly superior” to the M60 machine gun and suggested at least six guns for every 12-man SEAL platoon. It was also claimed that immediate action drills and tactics for contacts with the enemy were based around the weapon system and were actively established by SEAL platoons to fit with the 63A.

One of the last times the Stoner was used by the U.S. Military was by the Marines in limited numbers during the 1983 invasion of Grenada.  Despite its success, the Stoner 63 never saw wider acceptance. After the Army provided the 63A Light Machinegun (LMG) version for evaluation to some Green Berets in the 1970s, the branch concluded that the unique platform was too tricky for battlefield maintenance,  which is ironic, given that it was the unique recoil buffering mechanism of the Stoner 63 that helped make the platform so flexible in the first place, in combination with the multi-use receiver.

The Stoner 63 framework has several barrel types for LMG models, with different lengths and profiles. Small, fluted barrels were used by the Navy Mark 23 model 0 machine guns, but other models (with long barrels) also saw action in Vietnam.

A universal bolt group is used in the stamped steel receiver, with a multi-lug rotating bolt and a long-stroke gas piston with a gas tube. For the attachment of all other sub-assemblies and the quick-detachable barrel, the receiver also has many sets of mounting points. The receiver is so orientated in the rifle. The carbine configuration is such that the gas device lies above the barrel and the feed unit’s mounting points are below the receiver. Some pictures are so iconic people make shirts out of them( Thirty Seconds Out)

The receiver is turned ‘upside down’ in all machine gun setups, either belt or magazine fed, with the gas system being below the barrel, ejection on the left side, and the feed unit above the receiver. The trigger unit has no hammer in the machine gun configuration; instead, its sear interoperates with the cut in the gas piston rod, only allowing fully automatic firing, and only from the open bolt. The magazine feed unit can handle patented curved box magazines and can be used to configure both rifle and machine gun. It was only possible to use the belt feed unit in machine gun setups.

Early guns had a left-side feed, which often triggered jams due to ejected shells’ reflection back into the ejection window. Later guns had a right-side feed that eliminated this problem. The 100-round box containers, made of plastic, were issued with late production LMG’s with right-side feed. All the containers were clipped to the receiver’s rim, and various rear sight units were available for different setups, with the front sights being mounted on quick detachable barrels. The charging handle was located on the right side of the bolt carrier for the earlier Stoner 63 device weapons; the safety and fire selector were merged into one control, located on the trigger unit’s left side. The charging handle was attached to the gas piston rod on the modified Stoner 63A device and projected from the top in the rifle/carbine configuration or from the bottom in the MG/LMG configuration; safety was formed as a separate lever on the front of the trigger guard, with the fire mode selector still located above the pistol grip on the side of the trigger unit. Plastic was the traditional buttstock and forearm. All Stoner 63 light machine guns were supplied with detachable folding bipods; although Cadillac Gage Corp produced tripods and even vehicle mounts, it seems that they were never really used in combat.

The Stoner machine gun is one of the most iconic weapons of the Vietnam War. I always think about buying an airsoft version just to frame and hang in my garage. But, that said, I started out as a 60 gunner so, if anything, I would have to get an Echo Three first. If you have ever had the opportunity to fire one, you are a very lucky person. Well not in the “hey those guys are shooting at us, I should return fire with my Stoner”. I mean more of the “Hey, I am shooting a Stoner on the range”……not that shooting back at people that are shooting at you is bad thing.

SOGSITE – A MACV SOG History Project

Sunday, April 11th, 2021

The new website SOGSITE tells the history of the Military Assistance Command Vietnam Studies and Observation Group which conducted special operations is the SouthEast Asia theater, including “over the fence” cross-border reconnaissance missions into Cambodia and Laos.

SCUBAPRO Sunday – Bataan Death March

Sunday, April 4th, 2021

During World War II, the Bataan Death March was a horrific forced march by the Japanese Imperial Army on American and Filipino prisoners of war. The 63-mile march from the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines began on April 9, 1942, with at least 72,000 POWs. According to some accounts, 75,000 soldiers were taken prisoner after the Bataan surrender; about 12,000 Americans and 63,000 Filipinos. The Bataan Death March resulted in an estimated 7,000 to 10,000 deaths due to the prisoners’ deplorable conditions and cruel treatment.

“This was the First Murder”

Captain William Dyess was a fighter pilot stationed on Luzon when the Japanese invaded. Captured when the American forces on Bataan surrendered, he joined the Death March and was interned by the Japanese. In April 1943, Captain Dyess was one of three prisoners able to escape from their captors. Captain Dyess eventually made his way back to America, where his story was published.

“The victim, an air force captain, was being searched by a three-star private. Standing by was a Jap commissioned officer, hand on the sword hilt. These men were nothing like the toothy, bespectacled runts whose photographs are familiar to most newspaper readers. They were cruel of face, stalwart, and tall.

‘’The private, a little squirt, was going through the captain’s pockets. All at once, he stopped and sucked in his breath with a hissing sound. He had found some Jap yen.

“He held these out, ducking his head and sucking in his breath to attract notice. The big Jap looked at the money. Without a word, he grabbed the captain by the shoulder and shoved him down to his knees. He pulled the sword out of the scabbard and raised it high over his head, holding it with both hands. The private skipped to one side.’

‘Before we could grasp what was happening, the black-faced giant had swung his sword. I remember how the sun flashed on it. There was a swish and a kind of chopping thud, like a cleaver going through beef’.

‘The captain’s head seemed to jump off his ‘shoulders. It hit the ground in front of him and went rolling crazily from side to side between the lines of prisoners.’

‘The body fell forward. I have seen wounds, but never such a gush of—blood as this. The heart continued to pump for a few seconds, and at each beat, there was another great spurt of blood. The white dust around our feet was turned into crimson mud. I saw the hands were opening and closing spasmodically. Then I looked away.’

‘When I looked again, the big Jap had put up his sword and was strolling off. The runt who had found the yen was putting them into his pocket. He helped himself to the captain’s possessions.’

“This was the first murder.”

Oriental Sun Treatment

As the prisoners were herded north, they collided with advancing Japanese troops moving to the south, forcing a brief halt to the march:

“Eventually, the road became so crowded we were marched into a clearing. For two hours, we had our first taste of the oriental sun treatment, which drains the stamina and weakens the spirit.

The Japs seated us on the scorching ground, exposed to the full glare of the sun. Many of the Americans and Filipinos had no covering to protect their heads. I was beside a small bush, but it cast no shade because the sun was almost directly above us. Many of the men around me were ill.

When I thought I could stand the penetrating heat no longer. I was determined to have a sip of the tepid water in my canteen. I had no more than unscrewed the top when the aluminum flask was snatched from my hands. The Jap who had crept up behind me poured the water into a horse’s nose-bag, then threw down the canteen. He walked on among the prisoners, taking away their water and pouring it into the bag. When he had enough, he gave it to his horse.”

Drop-outs

The parade of death continues its journey as its members inevitably succumb to the heat, the lack of food, and the lack of water:

“The hours dragged by and, as we knew, they must. The drop-outs began. It seemed that a great many of the prisoners reached the end of their endurance at about the same time. They went down by twos and threes. Usually, they made an effort to rise. I never can forget their groans and strangled breathing as they tried to get up. Some succeeded. Others lay lifeless where they had fallen.

I observed that the Jap guards paid no attention to these. I wondered why. The explanation wasn’t long in coming. There was a sharp crackle of pistol and rifle fire behind us.

Skulking along, a hundred yards behind our contingent, came a ‘clean-up squad’ of murdering Jap buzzards. Their helpless victims, sprawled darkly against the white of the road, were easy targets.

As members of the murder squad stooped over each huddled form, there would be an orange ‘flash in the darkness and a sharp report. The bodies were left where they lay, that other prisoners coming behind us might see them.

Our Japanese guards enjoyed the spectacle in silence for a time. Eventually, one of them who spoke English felt he should add a little spice to the entertainment.

‘Sleeper?’ he asked. ‘You won’t sleep? Just lie down on the road. You get good long sleep!’

On through the night, we were followed by orange flashes and thudding sounds.”

Arrival at San Fernando

Finally, after five days without food and little water, the dwindling column arrives at its destination:

“The sun still was high in the sky when we straggled into San Fernando, a city of 36,000 population, and were put in a barbed wire compound similar to the one at Orani. We were seated in rows for a continuation of the sun treatment. Conditions here were the worst yet.

The prison pen was jammed with sick, dying, and dead American and Filipino soldiers. They were sprawled amid the filth and maggots that covered the ground. Practically all had dysentery. Malaria and dengue fever appeared to be running unchecked. There were symptoms of other tropical diseases I didn’t even recognize.

Jap guards had shoved the worst cases beneath the rotted flooring of some dilapidated building. Many of these prisoners had already died. The others looked as though they couldn’t survive until morning.

There had been no burials for many hours.

After sunset Jap soldiers entered and inspected our rows.

Then the gate was opened again, and kitchen corpsmen entered with cans of rice. We held our mess kits and again passed lids to those who had none. Our spirits rose. We watched as the Japs ladled out generous helpings to the men nearest the gate.

Then, without explanation, the cans were dragged away, and the gate was closed. It was a repetition of the ghastly farce at Balanga. The fraud was much crueler this time because our need was vastly more significant. In our bewildered state, it took some time for the truth to sink in. When it did, we were too discouraged even to swear.”

References:

This eyewitness account appears in Dyess, William E., The Dyess Story (1943);

www.goodreads.com/book/show/22036323-the-dyess-story—the-eye-witness-account-of-the-death-march-from-bataan

brokenmap.com/horrors-of-the-bataan-death-march

SCUBAPRO Sunday – SAS Raid on Pebble Island

Sunday, March 28th, 2021

In 1982, Gen. Galtieri’s Argentine military regime faced increased domestic trouble at home and they were looking to hold on to power. Since the formation of the Argentine state, the Malvinas issue (Basically the Sovereignty over the Falkland Islands between Argentina and the United Kingdom) had created political and domestic passions and heated debate in Argentina. It was the ideal moment for Galtieri to reclaim what Buenos Aires called the “lost islands”. Negotiations with the British over sovereignty had been going on for many years, with various British governments being more sympathetic than others to the proposal.  Long-standing tensions between the two countries reached a head on March 19, 1982, when some Argentinian scrap metal workers lifted their country’s flag at an abandoned whaling station on the even-further-away island of South Georgia, which was then a Dependency of the Falkland Islands. Two weeks later, on April 2, Argentinian troops stormed South Georgia’s Leith Harbor, overwhelming main British outposts without causing any casualties. But after conquering the islands, Galtieri and the junta regime faced one big problem: Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher’s Conservative government, which was dealing with increasing unemployment, rising interest rates, and an ailing economy, was also facing a degree of domestic hostility. The Argentine invasion of British sovereign territory was intolerable to Thatcher and much of the world and had to be dealt with. There were no contingency measures for the Falklands at the government level or within the military, let alone possessing the mechanisms to launch a task force to fly the 7,000 miles to the islands. Despite efforts to secure a diplomatic solution at the United Nations and through the Reagan administration, the two parties were stubborn and war appeared inevitable.

Lt. Col. Mike Rose, commanding officer of 22nd Special Air Service Regiment in Hereford, was on the phone to the headquarters of the British Antarctic Survey Group in Cambridge during the afternoon of Friday, 02 April 1982. Having learned that Argentine forces had invaded the Falklands, Rose swung into action and called in the regiment’s top advisors, canceled leave, and created a command situation. The situation was a difficult one for SAS planners. In the case of the invasion, no contingency arrangements were in place to rehabilitate the Falklands. This possibly owed more to the Ministry of Defence’s general disbelief that an operation to recover the Falklands was feasible. The tiny British settlement of the Ascension Islands, about 3,700 miles from the UK and halfway between the Royal Navy’s ports and the Falklands themselves, was the only practical ‘jump off’ point for the Falklands.

In Hereford, events started to move fast. Keen (had to use a British word) to play a pivotal role for his men in the upcoming operation, Rose provided SBS (Special Boat Service) with the services of two specialist Boat Squadron men who were preparing to sail to the South Atlantic. Rose was closely aligned with Brigadier Julian Thompson OBE, who commanded a landing on the islands for the operation code-named “Corporate”. An advance group from “D” Squadron SAS joined their SBS comrades on Sunday, 04 April and flew to the Ascension Islands. The Falklands Task Force was commanded by Rear Adm. Sandy Woodward on his flagship HMS Hermes, specially approved by the British Cabinet. The Battle Command Headquarters, Operation Corporate’s command center, was also located onboard Hermes. In an attack on the island of South Georgia, about 900 miles south of the Falklands, the men of D Squadron SAS’s mission were to join 42 Royal Marine Command.

San Carlos Bay beaches on East Falkland offered the best hope of a British landing for Task Force Commander Woodward. On the opposite side of the island from Port Stanley, before the long march across the island to seize Stanley, the Brits needed to establish a bridgehead. The problem for Woodward was that, to the west of the San Carlos beaches, the Argentinians had built a forward airbase on Pebble Island. The threat needed to be neutralized, with a garrison of over 100 men armed with ground attack IA-58 Pucaras, each with two 20 mm cannons and four 7.62 machine-guns. D Squadron’s boat troop men, fresh from South Georgia operations, were assigned to recce on Pebble Island. On the night of Tuesday, 11 May, the reconnaissance party’s forward frame edged its way to the narrow one-mile strip of land bordered by the sea on either side and offered no natural cover. The D Squadron men had to travel with extreme care and were forced to leave their Bergen backpacks in a shallow hollow to avoid detection against the horizon. However, the Argentinian sentries were not especially alert. The rest of Woodward’s landing fleet gathered before beachhead landings at San Carlos as the recce party confirmed Hermes’ findings.

G Squadron Assault (Mountain Troop)

The timeline was tight for the attack on Pebble Island. The assignment was given to Capt. John (Gavin) Hamilton, a young 29-year-old Mountain Troop Leader. Hamilton and his men had already survived two helicopter crashes in Fortuna Glacier’s blizzard conditions in the thick of the South Georgia action. Still, he led his men to seize the outpost of Grytviken, the former whaling station. He was under no illusion as to the scope of the mission and the dangers involved as he briefed the Mountain Troops’ men.

Onboard HMS Hermes, Hamilton briefed his men, but there were some problems. As the Hermes faced the South Atlantic’s heavy headwinds, she was well behind schedule, and she arrived late at the launch site. The foul weather had stopped the Sea King helicopters from being set up on the flight deck as they steamed west to make things worse. With the legendary SAS versatility, Hamilton was forced to revise the attack plan and change the production to take 30 minutes instead of the initial 90. With the men of the Mountain Troops armed with 81 mm mortars, M203 grenade launchers, and the deadly Rule 66 mm anti-tank rockets, the Sea King left Hermes’ deck. In support, to take out the Argentinean garrison positions, a Naval gunnery officer landing with the SAS said he would help provide the Naval Gunfire Support (NGFS) directing the fire from the decks of HMS Glamorgan of their 4.5-inch guns. The Sea King touched down four miles from the airstrip at a point marked out by the Boat Troop in reasonably calm weather. As troops from the Boat Squadron established a defensive perimeter, Hamilton and his men emerged from the Helo and started to unload mortar bombs and light guns. The Mountain Troopers were instantly hit by the unbelievable moonlight and the silhouette problems against the solid landscape began. The SAS men humped their way across Pebble Island to the airstrip after a short briefing from the Boat Troop (G Squadron) commander.

The outline of the FMA IA 58 Pucará (an Argentine ground-attack and counterinsurgency) (COIN) came clearly into place as they approached the airstrip, as rounds from the guns of HMS Glamorgan started crashing into the Argentinian garrison. Hamilton assembled his men on aircraft dispersals and calmly affixed explosive charges to the waiting Argentinian jets, receiving inaccurate incoming small arms and machine gunfire. The shells from Glamorgan destroyed the Argentinian fuel dump, ammunition store, and watchtower as the first of the Pucaras were blown up, producing some secondary explosions, and illuminating the remaining Pucaras further. The SAS men took out 11 planes, including six Pucaras, four Turbo-Mentors, and a Skyvan transport aircraft, in a 20-minute frenzy of destruction. Between them, in glaring view of the enemy, Hamilton and ‘Paddy’ Armstrong, a Mountain Troop explosives specialist, had destroyed another four Pucaras.

Withdrawal and Assessment

The whole operation was running on time. Within 30 minutes, the SAS had neutralized the Argentinian outpost and all the aircraft. There were minor casualties; one man was struck by shrapnel, and one was concussed from a remote-controlled Argentine mine. The entire SAS force was picked up by the Sea Kings on a tight schedule and transported back to HMS Hermes and Glamorgan, where a well-earned, full-cooked English breakfast awaited! Hamilton confirmed, de-briefly, that the Argentinians had not put on the island a radar facility and that the garrison was made ineffective. As a result, the Argentine force on Pebble Island played no part in opposing the landings in San Carlos, and again the SAS supported the main landing force that had famously crossed East Falkland to free Port Stanley.

On 10 June 1982, while directing naval gunfire from a position overlooking an 800-strong Argentinian garrison, Capt. John Hamilton was tragically killed. Hamilton, surrounded, was killed while covering a soldier who slipped through Argentina’s lines and was finally taken prisoner. The Military Cross was posthumously awarded to Hamilton and the award’s quote cited his “outstanding determination and character, his extraordinary will to fight despite hopeless odds and wounded suffering”. Only four days later, Maj. Gen. Jeremy Moore accepted the surrender of the islands’ Argentine forces, and the Union Jack was returned to the Falklands.

SCUBAPRO SUNDAY – The Battle of Hampton Roads

Sunday, March 14th, 2021

The Battle of Hampton Roads took place in March 1862 in Virginia during the American Civil War. The battle is considered historically significant, although it did not yield a definitive outcome, as it was the first time that ironclad warships met head-to-head. This battle effectively made all wooden naval ships obsolete, especially those of Great Britain and France, and forced them to shift towards an all-ironclad fleet.

President Lincoln ordered a blockade in the spring of 1861, shortly after the war outbreak, of the ports of those states that had declared their secession from the Union. By the end of April, the blockade had been extended to the anchorage near the Chesapeake Bay at Hampton Roads in Virginia. This was of great strategic significance because it marked the Nansemond and Elizabeth Rivers’ confluence with the James River. Due to their base at Norfolk and the Portsmouth navy yard, Confederate forces occupied the south side of the river.

To protect the navy yard, the Confederacy installed two batteries at Craney Island and Sewell’s Point. However, Fort Monroe, and thus the closest part of the Virginia Peninsula, remained in the Union’s hands. The Confederate forces were almost entirely stopped from traveling between Richmond and Norfolk and the ocean until the blockade began to be enforced. The siege was strengthened by the strong ships of the Union, strategically put beyond the range of the Confederate batteries but under the protection of those of the Union. This standstill when on for almost a year

The US was far behind other countries when it came to updating their Navy. Several ironclads were built during the Crimean War, primarily designed to fight forts. In 1859 the French made an “ironclad frigate” called La Gloire. It was 250 feet long, carried 38 cannons, was covered in over 4 inches of iron, and could travel 12 knots. To keep up with France, Britain built the HMS Warrior (picture above) in 1860, the largest Ironclad. By 1862 Britain and France had 16 ironclads completed or under construction, and Austria, Italy, Russia, and Spain were building them. It was generally recognized that ironclad warships would be the future of naval warfare.

While France and Britain already had ironclad warships, the United States Navy was unconvinced of the armored ships’ value. Therefore, the Confederacy was the first to begin construction on their Ironclad (CSS Virginia). It was not designed from scratch, which would have taken almost a year because of the need to operate quickly, but instead made up from the ruined hull of the sunken USS Merrimack. The ship’s bow was mounted with an iron ram, while it was armed with ten guns. Two-inch thick armor plates, an improvement from the initial one-inch specification, were introduced. Called CSS Virginia, in February 1862, the vessel was eventually commissioned.

Meanwhile, the Union command had received news that the Confederacy wanted to build an ironclad ship. This caused serious concern, and the Union’s Ironclad’s construction, the USS Monitor, was approved by Congress. The most noteworthy feature of this vessel was that it had only two large-caliber guns, mounted in a large cylindrical turret that could rotate thanks to a steam engine’s control. This greatly reduced the manpower required for the armaments of the ship.   Eight-inch-thick iron plates coated the entire turret. The USS Monitor was commissioned just a few days after the CSS Virginia. 

The battle of Hampton roads lasted two days, with Virginia commanded by Franklin Buchanan and Monitor captain John L. Worden, although neither man was officially in overall command. Intending to mount a direct assault, Buchanan sent Virginia into Hampton Roads early on March 8. Five more ships followed the ship’s route. In the meantime, the Union also had five ships, accompanied by some support vessels, into the bay. Near Fort Monroe, several other ships were moored; one of these was the Roanoke, which ran aground as the USS Virginia approached and two additional vessels. Two of the three were taken out of the battle; the third, Minnesota’s frigate, later returned to action.

Virginia struck the USS Cumberland after a very small skirmish early in the day, ramming the ship and creating a hole below the waterline. With the loss of more than 120 lives, the ship sank rapidly. However, despite this success, Virginia herself was lucky not to go down because the ram of the ship had been stuck in the Cumberland hull. Virginia then advanced on the USS Congress, whose captain had told her to run aground to prevent the Cumberland’s fate from being repeated. The condition of the USS Congress, however, was hopeless after an hour, and Smith surrendered. Buchanan, who wanted to fire on the USS Congress with red-hot cannonballs, was enraged by Union shore guns. The ship caught fire, burning fiercely until it blew up that night as the flames entered its gunpowder store.

By now, Virginia herself had suffered some damage, making the already slow ship even more sluggish, while Buchanan was injured when a rifle shot hit his thigh. Meanwhile, the James River Squadron invaded Minnesota, and now Virginia joined the assault, but its deep draft made it difficult to get near, and as night fell, the attack was called off. Virginia instead returned to the Confederacy-controlled waters, hoping to return the next morning. The Union forces had lost 400 men and two ships at this point, with three more on the ground; the Confederacy had suffered two casualties and had maintained all its ships.

This was the worst loss the United States ever experienced. Before the Second World War, the Navy Secretary of War Edwin Stanton warned that Virginia could even manage to fire shells at the White House, but he was told that this would not happen because the ship was too huge for the river Potomac. Nevertheless, to secure Union ships and avoid Monitor from attacking its towns, Monitor was transferred to Hampton Roads as soon as possible. Captain Worden was ordered to defend Minnesota, and he took over the nearby station. On March 9, Virginia arrived at daybreak and assaulted the Monitor.

The Confederate commanders, who initially thought the ship was simply a boiler being towed down the river for repairs, were startled by the peculiar nature of the Monitor. However, once the ship’s true nature became apparent, a long war began, lasting several hours. Virginia opened with a shot toward Monitor; Minnesota was missing and struck, causing the ship to fire in response to a broadside. Since both ironclad ships were more robust in their defense than they were offensively and were capable of completely piercing the armor plating of the opposing ship without ammunition, neither side could make a decisive breakthrough.

After a few hours, a freak occurrence ended the battle: a wayward shell from Virginia hit the pilothouse of the Monitor, exploding. Worden was temporarily blinded by the debris, which forced Monitor to draw back before the executive officer, Lieutenant Samuel Dana Greene, could take over command. While Monitor returned to the fray then, Virginia’s crew was under the impression that she had withdrawn entirely. Jones chose to take her back to Norfolk because of this, along with the fact that Virginia herself had suffered considerable damage. To find her opponent going away, Monitor returned to the scene, and Greene misinterpreted the move as a retreat.

Virginia spent several weeks doing repairs to a dry dock. The blockade of the Union, meanwhile, was strengthened, with some new ironclads taking part. There was a standoff in which both the CSS Virginia captains and the USS Monitor refused to engage the other ship in action. The decision to leave Norfolk was made by Major General Benjamin Huger of the Confederacy on May 9, as it is now of limited strategic significance. Since Virginia was too big to travel upriver, she was intentionally sunk on her side to avoid causing her to be captured. The fate of the Monitor was different: she sank in a storm in December after being sent to North Carolina.

The fight, overall, was a draw. There were considerably more men and ships lost by the Union, but the vital blockade remained intact. The war of the Ironclads captured the attention of many other navies on a global scale. In particular, Russia, Britain, and France hurried to build ironclads, many of which were highly inspired by the USS Monitor in their designs. Rams were also used in several such ships. However, this innovation was something of a dead-end, as naval guns were sufficiently powerful by 1900 to make it almost impossible for close encounters between ships.

SCUBAPRO Sunday – The Boston Massacre

Sunday, March 7th, 2021

I know this has nothing to do with diving, but I grow up outside of Boston, and I have always felt that this is an excellent piece of history. I am sure many of you have heard this story, but maybe you didn’t know all of it as you should.

On 5th March 1770, British troops in Boston killed five colonists. The incident was stared over a wig that lead to the taunting of  British soldiers in Boston. The British retaliated by firing their muskets at the Americans, killing three and injuring eleven. Two of the injured succumbed to their injuries. The colonists’ deaths, which became known as the Boston Massacre, inflamed American anti-British feelings and was one of the most critical incidents leading up to the Revolutionary War.

It was only a matter of time before the British troops sent to Boston clashed with the colonists. (General Thomas Gage had ordered over 4 British Army regiments to Boston, of which the first regiment landed at Boston on 1st October 1768. Two left in 1769) On 5th March 1770, the day arrived. A British sentry was stationed at the Customs House on King Street that early evening (today “State Street” in downtown Boston.) The colonists started taunting the sentry. The crowd grew quickly. Captain Thomas Preston, the Officer of the Day, ordered seven or eight soldiers under his command to assist the sentry as the crowd rose. Preston was not far behind. The crowd had increased to between 300 and 400 hundred men by the time the additional troops arrived. The British soldiers, whose muskets were loaded, were taunted by an ever-increasing crowd. The crowd then started throwing snowballs at the sentinels. One of the soldiers was knocked out by a colonist. As he stood up, the soldier fired his musket and shouted, “Damn you, shoot!” After a brief pause, British soldiers opened fire on the colonists. Three Americans died instantly: ropemaker Samuel Gray, mariner James Caldwell, and Crispus Attucks, an African American sailor. A ricocheting musket ball hit Samuel Maverick in the back of the crowd, and he died a few hours later in the early morning the next day. Patrick Carr, a thirty-year-old Irish refugee, died two weeks later.

The incident was soon called “the Boston Massacre.” But also known as the “Incident on King Street.” This alternate name is more popular among the British people. The depiction of the above events rapidly spread across the colonies thanks to Boston engraver Paul Revere, who copied a drawing by Henry Pelham. The image inflamed Americans’ distrust of the British. Captain Preston and four of his men were charged with manslaughter and convicted. The soldiers were tried in open court, with one of the Defense Attorneys being John Adams. Preston was found “not guilty” when it became apparent that he did not give the firing order. Some accounts say that the order to fire came from the crowd. The other soldiers were found guilty of manslaughter and had their thumbs branded as a punishment.

What lead to it

All the clashes between soldiers and civilians were published in the “Journal of Occurrences,” which was nothing, but a series of newspaper articles published anonymously. The Journal was aimed at chronicling the clashes between British soldiers and Bostonians, but in doing so, the reports were often exaggerated. These exaggerated reports led to further tensions. Unfortunately, the tensions between the civilians and the soldiers increased significantly after the death of Christopher Seider. He was an 11-year-old, killed on 22nd February 1770 by a British customs employee.

His death raised the tensions between the Britain troops and the civilians of Boston. Seider received the most prominent funeral in Boston, and the Boston Gazette covered the whole event. Media coverage continued and kept the tensions alive. Colonists started harassing soldiers, and the soldiers, in turn, started looking for a confrontation. A young man named Edward Garrick (who was an apprentice of a wig maker) showed up in front of the Boston Custom House and called out to Captain-Lieutenant John Goldfinch.Edward started saying that Goldfinch did not settle a bill from Garrick’s master. (He had paid for the wig the day before). Private Hugh White shouted at Garrick (as privates do) and asked him to be more respectful towards the officers. As the two-man started to yell at each other even louder, this began to make things worse. Garrick began to poke the Private in the chest with his finger. Private White responded by relinquishing his post and striking Garrick on the side of the head with the butt of his musket. Now the crowd started to get bigger. Both sides made threats. Henry Knox, who later became a general in the American Revolutionary War and Ft Knox fame, told the Private that if he fired, he should die for it. As, the evening progressed, the number of people in attendance grew. The church bells were rung. Many people came out because the bells signaled a fire. Private Hugh White, who had taken a safer spot-on Boston Custom House’s steps, was being surrounded by nearly 50 civilians. Crispus Attucks was one of the people in the crowd. He was a former slave who was of mixed race. Private Hugh White was forced to call for help due to the tumultuous crowd. Runners told Captain Thomas Preston, the officer of the watch, about the entire incident. Preston dispatched six privates and a non-commissioned officer from the Regiment of Foot as soon as he received the news. These soldiers were armed with fixed bayonet muskets. Preston had directed them to relieve Private Hugh. Captain Preston accompanied the six privates and the non-commissioned officer on the mission. To get to Private Hugh White, these eight people forced their way through the crowd. When they were approaching Private White, Henry Knox threatened Preston that if he shot, he would die. Preston replied to the alert by saying, “I am aware of it.” When Preston and his men arrived at Private Hugh’s place, the soldiers formed a semi-circular defensive position. They drew their muskets and pointed them at the onlookers. Preston then yelled at the crowd, telling them to disperse. The crowd was estimated to be between 300 and 400 people. Preston’s pleas were ignored, and the crowd began to move forward, tossing small objects and snowballs at the troops. Private Hugh Montgomery was struck by one of the items hurled by the crowd (one of the six privates who came to rescue Private Hugh). Private Montgomery was knocked down and lost his musket as a result of things being thrown at him. Private Montgomery recovered quickly, collected his weapon, and yelled angrily, “Damn you, shoot!” before firing into the crowd. There was a brief period of silence after Private Montgomery fired the shot, ranging from a few seconds to two minutes. After that, the soldiers opened fire on the crowd. Even though Captain Preston had not given any orders to shoot, the soldiers did so anyway.

The bullets struck 11 people in the crowd. Private Montgomery was the soldier who assassinated Crispus Attucks. Samuel Gray was shot and killed by Private Kilroy, a soldier. Although all of the soldiers (including Preston) were arrested the next morning, and they all pleaded not guilty. A town meeting was held at Boston’s Faneuil Hall as Hutchison conducted his investigation. The Bostonians formed a committee to look into the incident. Samuel Adams was the chairman of the committee. The committee looked into it and recommended that troops be removed from Boston. During the initial investigation, four civilians were arrested for taking part in the massacre, but they were later found not guilty and released. The British administrators were forced to transfer the troops to Castle William, an old fort on Boston Harbor, under duress. For the events of 5th March 1770, Samuel Adams coined the word “Boston Massacre.” On 27th November 1770, Captain Thomas Preston and his eight men (including Private White) were brought to trial. Preston was tried separately from the other soldiers. Josiah Quincy Jr. and John Adams were the trial’s defenders. Samuel Adams, the chairman of the Bostonians’ committee, and John Adams’ nephew. Samuel Quincy and Robert Treat Paine were the trial’s attorneys. At the appeal, Captain Thomas Preston was found not guilty on all charges, and he returned to England on 2nd December 1770. For all of the hardships he suffered during the Boston Massacre, he got a £200 reward. Two of the eight soldiers were convicted of manslaughter. Kilroy and Montgomery were sentenced on 14th December 1770, nine days after their trial. They were expected to face the death penalty as a matter of course. Montgomery and Kilroy both filed appellees, and their lives were spared. They were released, but the letter “M” was tattooed on their thumbs, indicating manslaughter. On 8th March, the first three victims of the Boston Massacre were buried at the Granary Burying Ground. On 17th March, the fourth individual to die was buried alongside the first three. The victims’ funeral procession drew 12,000 people from Boston. The procession also paid a visit to the Liberty Tree.

SCUBAPRO Sunday – Carlson’s Raiders

Sunday, February 28th, 2021

It’s not hard to say that anyone who wanted to be in military Special Forces when they were a kid has watched the movie Gung Ho! So, in honor of Evans F Carlson’s Birthday on the 26th. He was one of the best leaders in military history and helped build today’s Special Forces foundation. He spends over two years in China with the guerrilla, learning unique tactics that he would bring to the U.S. to help fight the Japanese in WW2. We need more leads like this in the world.  

Evans F Carlson enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 16 and began his military career in 1912. He served in the Philippines, Hawaii, and Mexico, and less than a year after leaving active duty, he reenlisted in time for the Mexican punitive expedition. During his military service, he was wounded in action in France and was awarded a Purple Heart. He was promoted to Captain in May of 1917 and was made a lieutenant in December of 1917. After the war, he entered the Marine Corps as a private and gained the rank of second lieutenant the following year.

Meanwhile, in Nicaragua, he was awarded the first of three Navy Crosses. In 1940, he became an observer in China during the years leading up to World War II and was impressed with the guerrilla warfare being waged against Japanese troops. While he was in Japan, he became convinced that Japan would attack the United States.

He advised General Douglas MacArthur of an impending invasion in the Philippines and the need for guerrilla units in case the Japanese army attacked. However, MacArthur ignored his recommendation.

Carlson returned to the United States and joined the United States Army again. Carlson and Merritt Edson advocated the use of guerrilla warfare as part of the Allied Pacific War effort. After Edson was assigned the 1st Raider Battalion, Carlson received command of the 2nd Raider Battalion.

Approximately 7,000 applied for enlistment in the 2nd Raider Battalion, but many people that applied were rejected. He asked each candidate about the political significance of the war. He later said he favored men with initiative, adaptability and held democratic views. James Roosevelt, the son of Franklin D. Roosevelt, became Carlson’s assistant.

The Raiders learned the tactics employed by the Red Army against the Japanese. This practice involved learning how to kill people silently and quickly. To more effectively imitate the guerrillas of China, Carlson eliminated the privileges of officers. The same level of nutrition, wearing the same clothing, and carrying the same equipment were all factors.

Carlson’s field research into the Red Army convinced him that trust in the men in battle improved their performance and the belief in a better pollical system. So, he would provide information on how undemocratic governments are under Nazi Germany and Japan. Also, he encouraged the men to discuss their vision of a functioning society after the war.

In August of 1943, Carlson and 222 marines left Pearl Harbor and landed on Makin Atoll. After two days of battle, Carlson’s men destroyed the radio station, burned the radio station’s equipment, and captured documents. Thirty marines were among the first to die during the Battle of Tarawa. As a result of this raid, the Japanese fortified the Gilbert Islands.

On 4 November 1943, the Raiders landed on Guadalcanal. During the next 30 days, Carlson’s man killed over 500 enemy soldiers and only lost 17. Carlson had been wounded and was forced to return to the United States for medical treatment.

Carlson’s superiors expressed concern about his unorthodox tactics and ideas. They were also concerned about his relatively close relationship with Agnes Smedley. This radical journalist was involved in campaigning for USA support of communist forces in China to help them defeat the Japanese Army in Asia.

In May of 1943, Carlson was promoted to be the Raider Regiment’s executive officer and was stripped of the direct command of his battalion during the Guadalcanal campaign. Carlson was also upset with his superiors by becoming involved in a controversial project of publishing pamphlets on the contribution of the Afro-Americans in the war. Carlson eventually returned to action in November 1943 at the battle of Tarawa. On Saipan, he received severe wounds when trying to rescue a radio operator who the Japanese had shot.

Carlson eventually returned to action at Tarawa in November 1943. During the Battle of Saipan, he was injured while rescuing a radio operator who the Japanese had shot. Being injured caused him to have to retire from the United States Marines after the war.

warfarehistorynetwork.com/2015/07/27/evans-carlson-forms-carlsons-raiders

Here is the movie:

Historian Shares 101st Airborne Division Black History Moments

Sunday, February 21st, 2021

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – When the 101st Airborne Division needed big guns at the Battle of the Bulge, two corps artillery units of Black Soldiers delivered.

When the Little Rock Nine needed escorts just to attend Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in 101st Abn. Div. Soldiers from Fort Campbell.

And when the odds were stacked against them, two Black Soldiers from the 101st Abn. Div. risked it all to save others.

These were all touchstones in the history of the 101st Abn. Div. (Air Assault), the United States Army and nation’s progress in race relations over the years, said John O’Brien, director of the Brig. Gen. Don F. Pratt Memorial Museum.

As the Army celebrates Black History Month, O’Brien reflected on several moments that tell the story of successful integration over the years.

“The result of the progress that has been made is visible when you look at pictures and listen to the stories of where we are today,” he said. “You look at a picture and you see men and women of all races, creeds and religions involved in the operations in which we have been involved.”

World War II

“In World War II, the Army was racially segregated,” O’Brien said. “There were occasions where those segregated units fought with the 101st. One of those occasions was the very famous defense of the city of Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge, which occurred December 1944 to January 1945.”

“There were a number of other units that were on the battlefield that came to be encircled with the 101st and fought with the 101st,” he said. “Two of those units were segregated, all Black artillery units.”

He said the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion and 969th Artillery Battalion, made up of Black Soldiers, supplied the big fire power that turned the tide during the siege and repelled the Germans.

The 969th and 333rd were equipped with M1 155mm howitzers, one of the heaviest pieces of artillery at the time. The 101st were a light airborne unit so they had only 75mm and 105mm howitzers.

“Part of the success of the 101st at Bastogne was overwhelming use of artillery and so these two co-corps artillery units that ended up working with the 101st, being part of the 101st and awarded battlefield honors, along with the 101st, are these two African American units,” O’Brien said. “They had the big guns, big artillery pieces. Despite there being a segregated Army, there was not a segregated battlefield.”

Little Rock Nine

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka that racial segregation in public schools violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution and called to desegregate schools nationwide.

“The Supreme Court did not say when segregation was to end, and in Arkansas, Gov. (Orval) Faubus prevented the integration of the Little Rock Central High School,” O’Brien said.

President Dwight Eisenhower, who was the Supreme Allied Commander of the European Theater of Operations in World War II, had relied on the 101st to be the vanguard in the invasion into Europe. As president and faced with national and international criticism of segregation in 1957, he again reached out to the 101st Abn. Div.

Some 600 101st Abn. Div. Soldiers assigned to 1-327th Airborne Battle Group were deployed to protect the nine black students from protestors for about three months, O’Brien said.

“It was a civil disturbance and their mission was to make sure the students got to school and protestors were not allowed to prevent them from getting into the school,” he said.

Vietnam and Medals of Honor

“The 101st deployed to Vietnam from 1965 to 1972 and what’s going on in the United States is the height of the Civil Rights movement of that era,” O’Brien said. “We have a fully integrated Army but race relations in Vietnam were an interesting problem.”

O’Brien said the integrated units were not a problem on the battlefield, but at division base camps and some other areas, “there were manifestations of the racial tensions in the United States. The division was very aggressive in addressing that problem.”

Even in combat, he said, leaders addressed racial issues rather than ignoring the topic.

Two 101st Medal of Honor recipients were Black Soldiers – only Sgt. 1st Class Webster Anderson made it home.

Staff Sergeant Clifford C. Sims was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor after the squad leader of D Co., 2nd Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment, led a furious attack against the enemy Feb. 21, 1968.

After moving his Soldiers away from a burning munitions building, it exploded, wounding two Soldiers but his actions saved lives, according to the Medal of Honor citation.

“While continuing through the dense woods, Staff Sgt. Sims and his squad were approaching a bunker when they heard the unmistakable noise of a concealed boobytrap being triggered immediately to their front,” the citation reads. “Staff Sgt. Sims warned his comrades of the danger and unhesitatingly hurled himself upon the device as it exploded, taking the full impact of the blast. In so protecting his fellow Soldiers, he willingly sacrificed his own life.”

The Staff Sgt. Clifford C. Sims Building on Indiana Avenue at Fort Campbell was named in his honor.

Anderson, then a staff sergeant, was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions while serving as chief of section in A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment.

After being attacked by North Vietnamese infantry Oct. 15, 1967, Anderson directed howitzer fire on the enemy while providing rifle and grenade defensive fire. Two grenades landed at his feet, severely wounding his legs. Despite excruciating pain he continued to fire and encouraged his men to fight.

“Seeing an enemy grenade land within the gun pit near a wounded member of his gun crew, Staff Sgt. Anderson, heedless of his own safety, seized the grenade and attempted to throw it over the parapet to save his men,” according to the Medal of Honor citation. He was grievously wounded again but refused medical evacuation and encouraged his men to defend the position, showing heroism at the risk of his life.

By Stephanie Ingersoll, Fort Campbell Courier