Military History

Using his own phrase, John L. McCrea was a fly on the wall at the White House during the first months of the War in the Pacific when naval affairs dominated Franklin Roosevelt’s interest. Working under Admiral Harold “Betty” Stark in the office of Chief of Naval Operations, McCrea had a front row seat as the U.S. entered the war. When Ernest J. King replaced Stark, he learned to adjust his behaviors to cope with the cold, hot-tempered, hardnosed, and pugnacious top admiral. Captain McCrea desperately wanted a cruiser command, but Stark and King both felt he would be of greater use as naval aide to the President; furthermore, they wanted a trusted aide that could keep the…

hello pooners, by searching a file on the hard disk where i stock all my archives, i noticed two pdf enigmatically named "np4" and "np20". My natural curiosity helping, the files were opened before i even asked myself what could been those files. the titles soon appeared so much attractive that i decided to share them with you but after a search on Google i noticed that these files were not available online anymore so i uploaded them to allow you to enjoy what seems to be a very interesting for any alternate modern military history enthusiast here they are: Global War Game: The First Five Years Global War Game: Second Series, 1984-1988 Naval War…

Ahoy, there! Intrepid gets 'green light' to return Thursday By Bill Hutchinson DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, October 2nd 2008, 12:45 AM Buffed and bolstered, a refurbished Intrepid is ready to end its two-year hiatus Thursday and retake its proud position on Manhattan's West Side. With a fresh coat of battleship gray paint and a brass band playing on its flight deck, the legendary World War II aircraft carrier is set to be towed up the Hudson this morning in a splashy return to Pier 86. "Right now, it's a green light," Bill White, president of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, said Wednesday night, cautiously eying the weather reports. He w…

From the Navy News, posted on military.com: October 02, 2008 Navy News|by MC1 Cynthia Clark PEARL HARBOR - Commander, Submarine Forces Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC), Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny announced today that a sunken vessel off the coast of the Aleutian Islands is in fact the World War II submarine USS Grunion (SS 216). "I am honored to announce that, with records and information provided by the Abele family and assistance from the Naval Historical Center, USS Grunion has been located," said McAneny. "We are very grateful to the family of Grunion's Commanding Officer Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele for providing the underwater video footage and pictures that all…

Just starting Chapter 8 of this book, Tanker War America's First Conflict With Iran, 1987-1988 by Lee Allen Zatarain. Very interesting read thus far of a significant yet under represented subject. Recommended to all Harpoon enthusiasts.

Today, it's the Navy SEALs founder, a few days back a legend of the US Marine Corps Soon, they'll all be gone, including my uncle. Never forget what these men gave !! Brute Krulak : http://blog.usni.org/?p=627 and http://blog.usni.org/?p=580 Roy Boehm : http://blog.usni.org/?p=692 and http://www.sunnewspapers.net/articles/tsne...ubdate=1/3/2009

Local author exposes Cold War cover-up May 7, 2007 By David Angier Tom Needham / The News Herald Ed Offley holds his recently published book, Scorpion Down, which examines the sinking of the USS Scorpion in May 1968. Twenty-five years ago, Ed Offley stumbled into a story that ultimately could rewrite the way history views the Cold War. The USS Scorpion nuclear submarine sank in the Mediterranean Sea in May 1968 with the loss of all 99 men on board. For decades, the sinking was considered to be one of the great unsolved naval mysteries of all time. On May 27, 1968, the Scorpion failed to arrive in port at Norfolk, Va., at its scheduled time. The Pentagon im…

From Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November/December 2012: The Cuban Missile Crisis: A nuclear order of battle, October and November 1962

The War Cabinet discussions of the 1982 conflict have been released: http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/cab-highlights-1982.htm

Lest we forget ... https://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm...m/beaumonthamel

From Code One, Third Quarter 2008 Nighthawk Memories Compiled By Jeff Rhodes Surprise, Surprise The US Air Force announced Thursday the existence of an operational stealth fighter aircraft, officially known as the F-117A. The single-seat, dual engine aircraft is built by Lockheed Corporation in California. The F-117A first flew in June 1981. The F-117A has been operational since October 1983, and is assigned to the 4450th Tactical Group at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The aircraft is based at the Tonopah Test Range Airfield in Nevada. A total of fifty-nine aircraft are being procured. Fifty-two have already been delivered to the Air Force, and seven more are in productio…

Murphy's Law governing Naval Aviation, "What can go wrong will" and its corollary to the law dictates that whenever something does go wrong, it will always happen at the most inconvienent moment, such as operations on the flight deck at night. paraphrased from Page 42 of MiG Master by Barrett Tillman.

From HMAS Sydney Commission of Inquiry 12 January 2009 HMAS SYDNEY Commission of Inquiry On 19 November 1941, the Royal Australian Navy Modified Leander Class light cruiser HMAS SYDNEY II, en route to Fremantle, intercepted the disguised German raider the HSK KORMORAN about 100 nautical miles west of Steep Point off the coast of Western Australia. In the ensuing battle, HMAS SYDNEY was sunk with the loss of her entire crew of 645 men. The HSK KORMORAN was subsequently scuttled with the loss of 81 lives. Following the discovery of the wrecks of HMAS SYDNEY and HSK KORMORAN by The Finding Sydney Foundation in March 2008, the Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chie…

The Silent Hunter (please check out my other stuff)

Before the darker "Aggressor Gray", there appears to have been a two tone pattern for US naval aircraft, a white bottom side and a lighter than aggressor gray "gray" on top. Can anyone give me examples of Testor Model Master paint to replicate that USN gray of the guessing mid 70's to late eighties?

An interactive map of every bomb dropped on London between 7 October 1940 and 6 June 1941 Bomb Sight: Mapping the WW2 bomb census

There is a book coming out No Higher Honor by Bradley ***ton about the mining of USS Samuel B. Roberts and the subsequent engagements between USN/USMC and Iranian naval, air, and ground forces. The following site here. has an interesting 5 minute video clip from US Navy Public Affairs which aired on 30 April 1988. Also, there is an extensive photo collection. However one sided when looking back on it now, it may be interesting to game out using H4.1 to see the inherent coordination/ROE effects.

From BBC News Egyptian pilot: We felt humiliated Israel wiped out much of the Egyptian Air Force on the morning of June 5, 1967, the first day of the war. Egyptian pilot Mustafa Hafez was stationed at one of the 11 Egyptian air bases that were targeted. He told military historian and BBC website reader, David Nicolle, what happened that day. "In the build-up to war, I was sent to a squadron based at Kabrit, flying MiG-17Fs and MiG-17PF night fighters. We didn't really think that there would be a war, and if there was one, I was confident that Egypt would win. I was then a Flight Lieutenant and I was 26. Our confidence was not based on anything spec…

From Air Force Times [excerpt]

From http://www.airforce-magazine.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2012/September%202012/0912finland.aspx [excerpt]