wombat1417

Does anyone know anything about the crane being used? It must be ENORMOUS! What do they use it for when it's not lifting wrecks?

Something different....a ship bit. During the scrapping of USS Enterprise (CV-6), the sternpiece was saved and displayed at a Little League field in River Vale NJ. Now it's the centerpiece of the River Vale Veterans Park. Except for the scuttles incorporated in the bow of CVN-65, this appears to be the only surviving piece of the ship. It's a sort of out of the way location. I happened to be headed nearby so I made a point of tracking it down. If you can't find the park on the Google Map, look for the town library - it's right next door. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

Happy Easter. This week:USCGC Hamilton (WHEC-715), lead ship of the class. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

- Chg:0000 GE Surface gunnery vs submarines Missile and Gun type radio buttons were improperly greyed out (lack of missiles greyed guns, lack of guns greyed missiles), remedied. (thanks Don Thomas) Well.......most of it works. I wrote a small program with an O.H. Perry vs. a Whiskey in EC2003. In Cheat Mode, I was eventually able to get Whiskey to remain surfaced so Perry could detect it. I selected Attack and the Attack box popped up to allow a Missile Attack selection. However, there were no weapons in the Weapons Allocation box. It wasn't until Perry got into Whiskey's torpedo range that I was finally able to select a Harpoon to fire. The Harpoon did fire. Attempting the Short Range ASW allowed the Mk 46 and Harpoon to be selected. Both the Mk 46 and Harpoon did fire. Attempting Gun Attack allowed a 76mm burst to be selected, but the attack was properly cancelled as Perry's superstructure masked the 76mm from firing straight ahead. A turn to starboard opened the firing arc and the 76mm sank Whiskey. So, the radio buttons aren't greyed out, the firing arc cut-out seems to work, but the Weapons Allocation is a little off. The attachments include a .zip folder with the "SubSurf" porgram along with a game save that picks up with thw weaponless Weapons Allocation. Ah, nuts! I tested this with the .005 beta, but I'm not going to rewrite this over there now... SurfSub.zip

This week: USS Monterey (CG-61), 2004 Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

For years playing computer Harpoon, and I had never think about that simple solution, it can reproduce also the present situation, CV or CVH Battle Groups without organic ASW planes, teorically protected by land based ASW planes, as P-3, Nimrod or Atlantic. Thanks Don. What an excellent solution! Clicking the aircraft in the Unit window will give you the Bingo fuel %age, so I guess if you F10 every 4 hours or so and leave with 5%, you won't get caught crashing OOF on the way home.

This week: USS Intrepid (CV-11). Hundreds of items concerning the museum's centerpiece. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

I saw Midway in a theatre equipped with Sensesurround (I think it was called) that used speakers to emit a low-frequency rumble that you could feel during some sequences; definitely the explosions and possibly the in-flight sequences. It didn't do very much for me. Midway could have lost the whole subplot with Heston/Albert/interned girlfriend and been better for it. Also, too many other inappropriate sequences, like Torpedo 8 flying SB2Us and Yorktown being Kamikazed (Hey, let's use this late WWII footage. Who'll know?). Once or twice during the 70s-80s NBC showed an extended version that threw in Coral Sea and numerous outtakes (there's a reason they're called outtakes) that was really painful to watch. Wing And A Prayer - Good film if you can get past the whole "sail around and be chicken" thing. Best carrier film ever - The Bridges at Toko-Ri, even accepting that the bridges were destroyed too easily. Holden reportedly refused to let Paramount soften the ending of the James Michener novel; it really couldn't have been any other way. Not so good but worth seeing once for the music in the "Blind Flight" sequence - Men of the Fighting Lady. MGM made what was essentially a WWII squadron drama with a Korean War setting (think "Fighter Squadron" at sea) with all cliches intact. Ironically, the framing device has James Michener arriving aboard to report on An Incredible Story.

This week: USS Growler (SSG-577), Regulus I equipped missile sub as museum ship, NYC. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

File Name: My Base Or Yours? File Submitter: wombat1417 File Submitted: 8 Mar 2010 File Category: NACV DB Used: N/A Authors: Cobalt Shiva Battleset-NACV: .sc2 - Orig - Original From 1991. "...a "simple" contest between you and HArI O, Harpoon's Artificially Intelligent Opponent." Click here to download this file

This week: USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7), 1992 Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

This week: SS Jeremian O'Brien, the beautifully preserved Liberty Ship in San Francisco. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

This week: USS Ortolan (ASR-22), a Submarine Rescue Ship. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

This week: K-77, a Soviet Juliett class missile sub. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

What did they do with it after 04? She was replaced by a barge with a retired Concorde aboard and sent to the Inactive Facility in Philly, where she still awaits a savior. Too bad. Touring her was more interesting than walking down the aisle of the airplane.

This week, USS Massachusetts (BB-58), museum ship at Battleship Cove, Fall River MA. Well worth the trip. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

This week, USS Edson (DD-946). This Forrest Sherman class destroyer was part of the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum from 1982 to 2004. Link at: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

I didn't realize the Gettysburg photos were accessible from this link. Since they are, check them out if you wish.

I've been taking a Harpoon hiatus to work on transferring photos and slides of ships I've visited into JPEGs. I thought I'd share them as I go along, so every week I plan to post a new set. This week, USS Hornet at Almeda CA. Feel free to post comments or correction directly onto the site. This should be the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?unam...&feat=email Larry Gertner wombat1417

1) Most scenarios seem to be geared to larger engagements with groups of ships. There are scenarios that involve individual ships but they are rare. 2) Yes, but I'm biased. 3) Never played Silent Hunter. 4) Being from the dawn of the PC age, Harpoon is not very "sexy" as appearances go. The Artificial Intelligence probably isn't as bright as it should be. There are certan unrealistic aspects that must be lived with (like unlimited aircraft rearmament stores). However, Harpoon works realistically enough to satisfy and the learning curve is not all that steep. The biggest plus is that there is a very large and active users community out there that is always working on improving the experience and creating new scenarios.

"In Which We Serve" (recently shown on TCM) is 100% destroyer; not a sub in sight. I would instead substitute "The Cruel Sea", which contans a truly horrifying command decision sequence. Hands down, my favorite is "The Enemy Below".

File Name: La-La Land. File Submitter: wombat1417 File Submitted: 3 Jan 2010 File Updated: 3 Jan 2010 File Category: GIUK DB Used: N/A Authors: Unknown Battleset-GIUK: .sc1 - Orig - Original From 1991. One (possibly two) Improved LAs vs. a Soviet landing force. 125th rehabed scenario. Click here to download this file