Panthera Leo.

This is coolbert:

Pay homage to the great god Sobek. And to Panthera leo [the Asiatic lion] too. Or else.

Came across this one quite by accident. Even the wild animals [Asiatic lions] of ancient Greece in response to the invading Persian army of Xerxes, exacting a toll on the baggage train animals of the invader.

   "Xerxes and his army marched from Acanthus through the interior to Therma; and while he was on his way through the Paeonian and Crestonian territories to the river Echidorus, his camels, which carried corn, were attacked by lions. These animals, leaving their usual haunts came at night and preyed on the camels but touched no man and no other beast. It appears marvelous that the lions should have abstained from other animals, and should have selected the camel, which they had never seen or tasted. In this region there are numerous lions, as well as wild oxen, whose horns of immense size, are imported into Greece. The country in which the lion is found, is bounded by the river Nestus, which runs through Abdern and the River Achelous in Acarnania. Lions occur between these two rivers; but they are never see in the portion of Europe to the east of the Nestus, or on the continent west of the Achelous (vii, 124-126)" - - Herodotus.

HARDLY THE THREE-HUNDRED SPARTANS ALONE IN THEIR DEFENSE OF THE GREEK HOMELAND. THE ASIATIC LION FOUND IN SOME PARTS OF THE BALKANS WELL INTO HISTORICAL TIMES.

Military forces having to fear attack by wild animals not unheard of. Large critters such as the great cats, polar bears, sharks and crocodiles well within their ability to stalk, kill and devour even soldiers or sailors.

Think from the era of World War Two the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the horrendous loss of life from shark attack. Also the Ramree Crocodile Massacre as it is deemed.

Lastly consider the experience of another Persian army of antiquity as was the subject of another prior blog entry. The Persians attempting a river crossing of the river Nile having  not propitiated the crocodile god of the Egyptians, Sobek, also set upon by prodigious numbers of the beasts, soldiers devoured in the process. Sobek the patron god of the Egyptian army, a god of strength and power.!!

Indeed!! Sobek when properly mollified his presence benign.

coolbert.

Fear.

This is coolbert:

"Between 1954 [776 in that year] and 1999 [22 in that year] the number of aircraft in the U.S. Navy destroyed in accidents fell by nearly 98-percent, from 776 to 22."

The only thing you have to fear is fear itself??

"In the early jet age, pilots had good reason to fear the F7U"

Further on the American naval jet fighter F7U Cutlass. Consider this a continuation of a prior blog entry. Danger and difficulties as recognized by American combat aviators their anecdotal accounts.

"Conceived in part from swept-wing, tailless research recovered from the German manufacturer Arado after World War II, the Chance Vought F7U Cutlass was a radical departure from not only every other naval aircraft, but just about anything in the air at that time."

F7U RECOGNIZED BY AMERICAN NAVAL AVIATORS AS A PLANE WITH SIGNIFICANT FLAWS AND DANGEROUS TO FLY. DEEMED AS A "WIDOW MAKER".

“'Our job was to test the Cutlass,' . . . 'The company soon became Chancy Vought to us, for in our judgment the Cutlass was an accident looking for a place to happen, a widow maker.'" - - Wally Schirra.

Wally an American astronaut. If Wally said it is so it was so!

Devoted readers will want to read the entire article. I recommend highly without reservation or qualification.

YOU DID SAY YOU WANTED TO FLY AIRPLANES, DIDN'T YOU!! 

coolbert.

Ju-86.

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Before there was the American U-2 "spy plane" there was the German WW2 era Ju-86? Never heard of this before. Thanks to the Mark Felton You Tube video.

Think not so much the aerial combat but rather the capability of the Ju-86 reconnaissance warplane.

Ju-86 originally a bomber aircraft undergoing extensive modification and able to function as a photographic reconnaissance warplane operating routinely at altitudes of 50,000 feet [16,000 meters]. 

Comments:

* Personally it does amaze me an internal-combustion engine propeller-driven aircraft of any sort can operate at such high altitude and do so routinely. Such high-altitude flight capability I had thought only possible with the advent of the jet engine.

* Ju-86 on missions over England encountering the jet stream. Again, my perception and according to the best I knew the jet stream first experienced as a phenomenon by American B-29 bomber aircraft during raids over Japan in the most latter stages of WW2. That existence of the jet stream even more so understood very well by Japanese scientists even prior to the war but not known to American combat aviators.

coolbert.

GBSD II.

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American Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM] in those missile silos for almost fifty years now aged antiques. Need replacement and soon?

Think GBSD. Ground Based Strategic Deterrent. New missiles in the works to replace Minuteman III. Life expectancy fifty years.

AMERICA WILL RETAIN A GROUND-BASED NUCLEAR DETERRENT FOR MANY DECADES INTO THE FUTURE.

1. "Pentagon Could Award Contract for Next Generation of ICBMs Before September"

"Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Will Roper told reporters earlier this week that the contract for the US’ next generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs)"

2. "Ground Based Strategic Deterrent"

"Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) is a US land-based intercontinental ballistic missile system in the early stages of development, slated to replace all 450 Minuteman III missiles in service with the United States Air Force from 2027 onward."

3. "Boeing Ready to Design Next Generation of US Nuclear Missiles"

The nuclear triad. Manned bombers. Submarine firing ballistic missiles. Ground-based ICBM. As has been the case since the time of the Kennedy administration and will be for the next fifty years.

coolbert.

RCA.

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"Al-Tanf Front, SE Syria: Hardly a day goes by without Russian special forces, Syrian troops, Hizballah, or local groups battering the US garrison there with artillery fire and air strikes." - - As was reported in a prior blog entry from over two years ago!

Treachery Syria. Revolutionary Commando Army. RCA.

From the latest edition of the DEBKAfile newsletter:

"US-trained rebel force quits American Al-Tanf base in E. Syria"

18 April.

"The Revolutionary Commando Army has suddenly defected from the US Al-Tanf base near the Syria-Jordan border after striking a deal with the Assad regime’s army . . . The last local rebel force serving the American base, it was believed to be heading north across the desert from its post on the Jordanian border to join up with government forces in the Deir ez-Zour region. US forces have not confirmed or commented on this development."

GET THE LAST AMERICAN SOLDIERS OUT OF SYRIA AND HOPEFULLY IRAQ TOO AND DO IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

coolbert.

Hyper USA.

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"The hype around Russian and Chinese hypersonic weapons, with names such as Avangard, Kinzhal, DF-ZF, and Starry Sky 2, can suggest that the U.S. has somehow fallen behind these countries in hypersonic weapon research. That’s not necessarily true . . . The U.S. could go from one tested weapon in 2017 to up to four different weapons by 2022 if all goes according to plan.

FOUR DIFFERENT USA HYPERSONIC WEAPONS AND DEPLOYED BY 2022. EACH ADDITIONALLY BETTER THAN THE RUSSIAN OR CHINESE COUNTER-PART!!

All the courtesy of Popular Mechanics and the tip from Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge Internet web site.

"The First U.S. Hypersonic Weapons: Arrow and Hacksaw"

"The U.S. is racing to catch up with Russian and Chinese hypersonic weapons."

READ FURTHER AMERICAN HYPERSONIC MISSILES:

1. "AGM-183A Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon"

2. "The Air Force Is Working on 'Hacksaw,' a Mach 5 Missile"

3. "Lockheed to Build a Mach 20 Hypersonic Weapon System"

4. "Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept (HAWC)"

5. "The Pentagon Wants a Mix of Hypersonic Weapons. Here’s Why"

Comments:

* American hypersonic missiles superior to the Russian or Chinese equivalent? More of them, more accurate, more lethal?

* Hypersonics having a potentiality for global reach if carried to the vicinity of the target by American strategic bombers B-52 and B-1 functioning as stand-off delivery vehicles.

* There will exist a capacity for atomic warheads to be carried by the hypersonics?

To a degree also this reminds of the various missile gap and bomber gap from sixty years ago. American military establishment in a tizzy. American military capacity as perceived "lagging" potential adversaries. Lagging now longer apparently.

"tizzy: a highly excited and distracted state of mind"

coolbert.

Sennacherib.

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Indiana Jones and the Palace of Sennacherib? Unfortunately no! The Islamic State and Palace of Sennacherib. And all for the worst!

From the British media outlet Express and the article by Brian McGleenon

"Archaeologists find treasure trove of Assyrian kings discovered in ISIS excavated tunnels"

"ISIS fighters discovered an ancient Assyrian palace under the ruins of Mosul, but unfortunately, they looted and sold off the tantalizing treasures they discovered."

"The previously unknown palace of the Assyrian kings was discovered when the terrorist group blew up the tomb of the prophet Jonah for ideological reasons. Archaeologists spent two months exploring the tunnels dug by ISIS under the destroyed tomb. The tunnels were found to lead to the military palace founded by the Assyrian King Sennacherib in the 7th century BC."

The destruction of the Tomb of Jonah, 2014. Jonah a Prophet as mentioned in the Holy Bible. This was a Sunni mosque but for some reason as not explained the Islamic State deemed it worthy of being blown up. Enormous explosion with a swarm of persons climbing over the ruins in the aftermath of the blast. That "long-lost" palace of Sennacherib uncovered during further tunneling by Islamic State [ISIL] diggers finding treasure subsequently looted and sold on the international black market.

That Tomb of Jonah built over the ruins of the palace of Sennacherib the great King of the Assyrians. An immense [?] treasure of artifacts of antiquity stolen and sold to unscrupulous collectors. Archeologists working over the remains of the remains finding items of value but precious little of what was a discovery of potential great value. Now gone!

Any devoted reader to the blog having an idea as to why the Tomb of Jonah a target of demolition by the Islamic State? That tomb a place of worship for Sunni Muslims and not Shia.

coolbert.

Therapy.

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WARNING: Following material is of an extremely disturbing nature with a potentiality to be harmful to some.

Herewith a video as extracted from the Susan Sontag documentary [1974] "Promised Lands". Thanks to Susan [now deceased] and You Tube.

Medical treatment for Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder [PTSD] Israeli style. This occurring in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur/Ramadan, Ramadan/Yom Kippur War of 1973. Israeli soldiers wrecks as a result of prolonged exposure to the extreme physical and mental stress of combat. Soldiers no longer able to return to civilian society and function as a normal human being. Treatment consisting of: 1. Administration of drugs. 2. Noise induced flashbacks. Therapy as brutal in the extreme. Hopefully the soldier being treated will be able to return to society as a useful and fully functional individual. Not to have any continued military function or serve in any military capacity in the future.

"Flashback:  Psychiatry. - - recurrent and abnormally vivid recollection of a traumatic experience, as a battle, sometimes accompanied by hallucinations"

BRUTAL IN THE EXTREME YES! AND DOES IT WORK? THAT IS THE QUESTION? PERHAPS MODERN PSYCHIATRIC TECHNIQUES HAVE MADE SUCH MEANS AND METHODS OBSOLETE?

coolbert.

L'An 2000.

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The year 2000. French style. Courtesy the Internet web site "Can You Actually".

"Over 100 Years Ago, Artists Were Asked to Depict the Year 2000, These Were The Results"

"Here’s something I think you’ll find quite interesting… These crazy images were created by French artist Jean-Marc Cote, and a few others back in 1899, 1900, 1901, and 1910."

Several images and depictions having a military dimension.

The warplane in the ground attack mode! No manner of propulsion seems to be shown.

The dirigible with a naval battleship as slung underneath! 

Artistic depictions of aircraft done in 1910 when heavier-than-air flight already routine?

coolbert.

Brody 1941.

This is coolbert:

From the Internet web site "War is Boring" the article by ROBERT BECKHUSEN.

"The Biggest Tank Battle in History Wasn’t at Kursk"

"The Battle of Brody in 1941 was bigger, and is largely unknown"

"The battle which developed and then concluded on June 30 [began on 23 June] was a confusing morass that swallowed 2,648 Soviet tanks out of a total force of 5,000 versus some 1,000 German tanks. It’s unclear how many tanks of the 1st Panzer Group were destroyed in the battle, but the force did lose 100 of its tanks during the first two weeks of the war."

Thanks to this You Tube video figures as best determined regarding numbers and types of tanks involved in the battle.

 Comments:

* Brody the largest tank battle considering the absolute number of armored vehicles present.

* Both sides during the battle engaging half of their tank forces as available.

* Almost half [47 %] of the German tanks modern KW III and IV.

* Only about 13 % if the Soviet tanks modern T-34 and KV.

* Remainder of the Soviet force rather obsolete T-26 and BT tanks.

* That preponderance of tanks found on the battlefield in the aftermath of Brody not destroyed by enemy weapons fire. Mechanical breakdown the primary reason for tanks being abandoned and out of action!

* As reputedly said by Stalin: "quantity has a quality all of it's own" not proven true at Brody!

* One of the Soviet Corps commanders Rokossovsky rather than attacking as ordered chose to hold ground and executed a tank ambush. Rokossovsky as rated one of the Top Ten most underrated military commanders of all time!

BRODY AND NOT KURSK! WW2.

coolbert.

Tug.

This is coolbert:

Pirates of the Caribbean. Gulf of Mexico actually. Henry Morgan would be proud. From only yesterday.

Pirates active and at large. Hostis humani generis. Piracy a crime that can get you the death penalty. Thanks to Freeper for the tip.

"MAERSK offshore supply tug attacked in Gulf of Mexico"

"Erofey Schkvarkin News April 15, 2020 1:51 pm Offshore tug, supply ship MAERSK TRANSPORTER was attacked and boarded by armed pirates at night Apr 12 in Gulf of Mexico off Cuidad Del Carmen, Mexico, roughly in the same area where 3 days earlier Italian supply ship REMAS was attacked. Attack was carried out in same manner, too . . . Pirates took several crew as hostages and looted the ship, taking with valuable items. Crew luckily, weren’t hurt."

BEEN A WHILE SINCE I MADE A POST TO THE BLOG WITH THE TOPIC OF PIRACY. LET US HOPE THESE ARE MERELY ISOLATED INSTANCES AND WILL NOT BE PART OF A TREND!

Yea may the blackguards be apprehended forthwith and no mercy be shewn unto them.

coolbert.

Whales.

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To war for whales. Antarctic style. Prince of Whales.

"It [whale oil] was incredibly durable, worked in a very wide range of temperatures, could go on thin, had a tendency to stay clean, didn't absorb water, and had a strong tendency to stay adhered to metallic surfaces it was placed on. It has reached a near mythical status in some circles today [2020]"

1. The German [Nazi] Antarctic Expedition 1937.

Whale oil as suggested necessary for the production of margarine. But whale oil even more valuable as a lubricant for fine machinery and military weapons. Indeed, whale oil that most perfect and valuable lubricant for weapons in a cold weather warfare environment. Will not congeal, gel, excellent lubrication even under the most extreme of cold weather without peer, even perhaps beyond that of modern synthetics. A German [Nazi] military base Antarctica enabling the German whaling fleet to operate with impunity all the while denying the allies an important resource vital to the war effort.

 2. "Gun Lubricant History: Sperm Whale Oil"

THE CHINESE COMMUNIST ARMY IN KOREA USING WHALE OIL TO LUBRICATE THEIR SMALL-ARMS WEAPONS AS REPUTED. WHALE OIL HAVING AN OVERPOWERING AND OFFENSIVE ODOR DETECTABLE AT A DISTANCE. OFTEN SIGNALLING A FORTHCOMING CHINESE GROUND ATTACK.

3. Consider also the voyages of the Confederate surface raider CSS Shenandoah during the American Civil War. 

"During a period of ​12 1⁄2 months from 1864 to 1865, the ship undertook commerce raiding around the world in an effort to disrupt the US economy, resulting in the capture and sinking or bonding of thirty-eight merchant vessels, mostly New Bedford [MA] whale ships"

Primary mission of the Shenandoah to capture valuable stores of valuable whale oil when possible at the same time denying the same cargo to the Union forces. Whale oil a very valuable commodity.

New Bedford [MA] the whaling industry never recovered in the aftermath of the American Civil War. Conventional refining of petroleum product replacing the demand for whale oil.

coolbert.

Stand-To.

This is coolbert:

Stand-To. American long range cannon. A thousand mile range! [sixteen hundred kilometers!]

From Popular Mechanics magazine the article: 

"The Army’s 1,000-Mile Long Range Cannon Is Coming Together"

Consider within context relatively recent big-bore long-range cannon:

1. The Paris Gun. German WW1.

"The Paris Gun . . . was the name given to a type of German long-range siege gun, several of which were used to bombard Paris during World War I."

2. Heavy Gustaf. German. WW2.

Schwerer Gustav . . . was a German 80-centimetre (31.5 in) railway gun. It was developed in the late 1930s by Krupp in Rügenwalde as siege artillery for the explicit purpose of destroying the main forts of the French Maginot Line"

3. Mortar Karl. German. WW2.

The MASSIVE 60cm [twenty-three inches] German Siege Mortar Karl

"During World War 2, the Germans were famous for designing and producing mega war artillery. One of the most notable German Mortar Guns was the Mortar Karl, an imposing machine that could fire shells of up to 2170kg [four thousand seven-hundred pounds] and were 60cm in diameter."

4. V-3. German. WW2.

"The V-3 . . . was a German World War II large-calibre gun working on the multi-charge principle whereby secondary propellant charges are fired to add velocity to a projectile."

5. Babylon. Iraqi.

Project Babylon:

"Project Babylon was a project with unknown objectives commissioned by then Iraqi president Saddam Hussein to build a series of 'superguns' . . . There were most likely four different devices in the program."

Future plans:

"Very large cannons, which would be capable of being elevated and trained, were also planned. The first was to have a bore of 350 mm (13.8 inches) and a barrel length of about 30 metres (100 feet), and it was expected to have a range of up to 1000 kilometers (about 625 miles)"

Comments:

* Consider as an effective weapon not merely range. Think that combination of RANGE + ACCURACY + RATE OF FIRE + LETHALITY!!

*  Cannon such as the German Gustaf awesome granted. Also requiring an immense number of troops [4,000] to maintain and employ in combat. A relatively small number of rounds having been fired the barrel needing replacement.

Stand-To as proposed a prototype will be ready to go by 2023. US Army not much time left. Good luck with that! Each round as fired the cost of which about a half-million $USD. Good luck with that too. Super!

coolbert.

Number 10.

This is coolbert:

"My friends, I have come back to let you know that I am dead ... I am dead!" . . . "Don't end up like me. Go home, friends, before it's too late!"

Consider this a strange but true aspect of the Vietnam War. The Second Indo-China War. Suprenatural phenomenon to scare and frighten the enemy to desert or surrender.

American psychological operations employing methods and tactics questionable at best? Ghosts?

 "Ghost Tape No. 10: The Haunted Mixtape of the Vietnam War"

Go listen to the whole tape as broadcast.  It does sound haunting. The Vietnamese have/had strong supernatural beliefs that were exploited? Or was this an exercise in futility?

Chieu Hoi enemy defectors when interrogated reported this as being effective/ineffective?

coolbert.

Kemel Bey.

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“Not one Turk in a thousand will think that any other Turk deserves to be hanged for massacring Christians.”

AS IT WAS TODAY NINE-ONE YEARS AGO. THE EXECUTION OF MEHMED KEMAL FOR WAR CRIMES.

Thanks to the Internet web site ExecutedToday.com and the tip from Freeper.

"1919: Mehmed Kemal, for the Armenian genocide"

"Ninety-one years ago today,* [10 April] the tottering Ottoman Empire hanged one of its officials in Istanbul for his role in the mass slaughter of its Armenian minority during the First World War."

"Kemal Bey’s hanging in Bayezid Square occurred in the immediate aftermath of the Great War. Here, on its last legs, the remains of a sultanate splintered apart in the war instituted tribunals for wartime offenses by the Young Turks who had run the government during the war — a sop to the British occupying forces making worrying noises about international trials for much bigger fish."

"sop - - noun: something given to pacify or quiet, or as a bribe"

The occupying force of the British threatening something more major if someone not paying a price for the war crimes of the Turk as perpetrated against the Armenian people during World War One.

The Turkish government of the Sultan [soon to be disposed] carrying out the trial and execution. A sop indeed.

INSTITUTIONALIZED AND MORE RADICAL TRIALS FOR WAR CRIMES AND CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY NORMALLY AS AS ASSOCIATED WITH THE PERIOD IN THE AFTERMATH OF WORLD WAR TWO. KEMAL BAY IN A WAY HIS HANGING IN 1920 A FORERUNNER OF THINGS TO COME.

coolbert.

Sir Robert.

This is coolbert:

"La victoria trova cento padri, a nessuno vuole riconoscere l'insuccesso"

"Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan"!

"BOOK REVIEW: 'The Man Who Took the Rap': Sir Robert Brooke-Popham and the Fall of Singapore"

A book review by Professor Al Nofi of Strategy Page the original work by Peter Dye

"An Able Officer Wronged" [?] Sir Robert Brooke-Popham.

WRONGED [?] WITHIN CONTEXT OF THE SECOND WORLD BRITISH DEFEAT, MALAYA/SINGAPORE!

"Dye, author of a number of works in military and aviation history, gives us the first ever biography of Robert Brooke-Popham (1878-1953), who led the British Far East Command during the Japanese onslaught in the opening months of the Pacific War."

Brooke-Popham from the wiki entry you can conclude was an "able officer". Quite so. A distinguished career prior to the Second World War you might have thought to have made him well suited for theater command!

Brooke-Popham as commander of Far East Command [British] senior to Percival. The latter often taking the blame for the fall of Malaya and Singapore. The WORST DEFEAT in British military history. Percival seen as a commander too timid, uninspiring, lacking in leadership, strictly defensive oriented?

IT IS NOT UNREASONABLE TO SUGGEST THAT BRITISH DEFEAT IN MALAYA WAS DUE MORE TO THE JAPANESE BEING SO GOOD RATHER THAN THE BRITISH BEING SO BAD?

THE BRITISH MILITARY ALSO BETRAYED IN A MANNER THAT EXACERBATED TO THE EXTREME AN ALREADY BAD SITUATION!!

And to all this Sir Robert would have said?

coolbert.

Red Eagles.

This is coolbert:

HAVE DONUT. RED EAGLES.

More HAVE DONUT material. As is apropos to a previous recent blog entry.

Soviet era combat aviation warplanes as in the hands of and flown by American pilots. Training missions vicinity Area 51. An interview with the commander of the HAVE DONUT unit courtesy of Sputnik.

"Retired US Colonel Talks Secret Project That Trained Fighter Pilots to Beat Russian MiGs"

"WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A highly classified US Air Force base in the Nevada Desert for years was home to a secret squadron whose mission was to teach American pilots how to defeat Russian MiG fighter jets, its former commander told Sputnik in an interview."

"Retired US Air Force Col. John Manclark, the unit's commander from 1985 to 1987, said he would not talk about how they came into possession of the Soviet planes or what went on at the Area 51 facility."

I RECOMMEND THIS SPUTNIK ARTICLE  HIGHLY AND WITHOUT QUALIFICATION! A MUST READ!

And yes, I would have to imagine spare parts and the lack of a manual would make a difficult situation much worse. What exactly does this switch do? That sort of thing.

coolbert.

Rebuild.

This is coolbert:

U.S. Navy in trouble and realizes it is so. Plans gone awry. Alternatives rather limited.

As is relevant to several recent blog entries.

From the Internet web site Strategy Page the latest info, American naval vessels of some classes found to be inadequate for mission as envisioned or too expensive, replacement as touted also it seems gone the way of the dodo.

"Surface Forces: Burke Rebuild Busted"

"April 5, 2020: In early 2020 the U.S. Navy announced that it could not afford to refurbish dozens of older destroyers. This refurb [refurbishment] plan was needed to maintain the size of the destroyer fleet until a new destroyer design could be developed and put into production. The navy budget can’t handle the refurb plan and still take care of more urgent ship building requirements."

ZUMWALT CLASS DESTROYER A WHITE ELEPHANT. LITTORAL COMBAT SHIP NOT ABLE TO FUNCTION IN A MANNER COMMENSURATE WITH MISSION. REBUILD OF EXISTING BURKE CLASS DESTROYERS NOT ENOUGH MONEY. SUPER POWER A SUPER POWER NO LONGER?

"refurbishment - - noun: renovation, cleaning up, restoration, overhaul, revamping, doing up (informal), refitting"

Warships of foreign manufacture the only hope in the foreseeable future? Dollars. Always the dollars.

See those previous relevant blog entries:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/02/gone.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2020/03/must.html

coolbert.

Port Arthur.

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Not so much Tsushima but rather Port Arthur.

Tsushima well known but Port Arthur much less so. Consider the use of naval sea mines as an offensive weapon. Bottle up your enemy making their Courses-of-Action [CoA] much reduced and constrained. Without Port Arthur there would have never been a Tsushima?

Thanks for the video courtesy Kings and Generals and You tube.

Japanese just one step ahead of the Russian at all times. Russians also maladroit. Japan a parnevu nation now a player on the world stage as a result of Tsushima but also Port Arthur.

See previous blog entries the efficacy of naval sea mines the topic:

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2018/12/bloch-i.html

https://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2018/07/mine-b-29.html

Admiral Togo the hero of Tsushima and acknowledged as such. Count Nogi the land commander of Japanese forces at Port Arthur lesser known but hardly less significant. Read the wiki entry for Nogi with special attention to his suicide the same day as the funereal of the Meiji Emperor. Atonement and reverence in the Japanese manner almost incomprehensible to the Westerner.

coolbert.

RCGS Resolute.

The is coolbert:

Here from the Captain and courtesy to same some comments regarding the naval encounter between the naval warship and the cruise ship that resulted in disaster for the former:

"VE [Venezuela] calls the ANBV Naiguata a tug.  Not true -  25m x 9.5m warship . . . It's a patrol craft." 

"German cruise ship RCGS Resolute [was intercepted] in international waters one mile past VE control undergoing maintenance destination Curacao [not Venezuela]. No pax [passengers] on board, just crew of 32.  She measures 124m x 18m x 5m draft (light load)."

Naiguata a warship. Described as a patrol vessel. But armed with: "one Leonardo OTO Melara 76 mm gun, one CIWS [Close In Weapon System] anti-aircraft/anti-missile gun, and two 12.7 mm machine guns".

Cruise ship RCGS Resolute. Not the largest cruise ship. Hardly. Strengthened to operated in polar regions.

 I HAD THOUGHT THE CRUISE SHIP WAS LOADED WITH PASSENGERS A PERCENTAGE OF THEM SICK WITH COVID-19. SHIP ATTEMPTING TO DOCK IN A VENEZUELAN PORT SEEKING ASSISTANCE FOR THE AFFLICTED. BUT THAT IS NOT TRUE.

An incident of the most unseemly type. Someone is really going to hear a lot about this one.

coolbert.

Kafia Kingi.

This is coolbert:

From the outstanding Internet web site Strategy Page article: "Congo: Old Rebels, New Diseases" an extracted paragraph of interest.

"March 14, 2020: Uganda believes the LRA (Lords Resistance Army) and its commander, Joseph Kony, are now based in Kafia Kingi, an area that borders the CAR, Sudan and South Sudan. Apparently Kony no longer controls subordinate LRA factions. His own group now consists of a few dozen people, including his sons. They are reportedly living as subsistence[only growing enough crops to feed themselves] farmers. A defector reported that in 2018 Kony told LRA fighters that they are no longer at war with the Ugandan government and must now consider themselves refugees. Kony is wanted as a war criminal. Kony has been active since the late 1980s when he led resistance to government massacres in northern Uganda. Government violence ended in the 1990s but Kony never stopped being a charismatic rebel."

JOSEPH KONY HAS GIVEN UP THE FIGHT? GONE BACK TO THE PLOW AND ASSUMED HIS PRIOR LIFE?

THAT MOST RECENT ATTEMPT TO APPREHEND THE ACCUSED WAR CRIMINAL IN VAIN. JOSEPH HIS FATE TO DIE IN ANONYMITY IN SOME OBSCURE PLACE HIS DEATH GOING UNNOTICED?

Many prior blog entries the subject of which was the hunt for Joseph Kony. Devoted readers to the blog can search for themselves. Joseph not really worth a whole more keystrokes on my part.

coolbert.

Resolute.

This is coolbert:

"Attention Mr. and Mrs. America and all ships at sea!" - - W. Winchell.

This one you just gotta place in the strange but true category.

Cruise ship one, Venezuelan zero. More COVID-19 with a military dimension. From only today and thanks to Freeper for the tip.

"Venezuelan warship shoots, rams into German cruise vessel before sinking"

"A Venezuelan navy ship fired shots at a German-owned cruise ship on March 30 and rammed into the passenger vessel, leading to the sinking of the warship in the Caribbean. The Iranian regime-allied Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accused the captain of the RCGS RESOLUTE cruise ship of 'terrorism and piracy' and sought to force the ship into a new direction on the high seas"

CRUISE SHIP WITH [?] SICKENED PASSENGERS ON BOARD REFUSED PERMISSION TO DOCK. CRUISE SHIP PROCEEDING, ATTACKED AND THEN RAMMED. THE NAVAL VESSEL SINKING!!

OH, someone is going to hear about this one. I fully understand the trepidation of the Venezuelan authorities to allow a cruise ship to dock with infectious passengers aboard, but this overboard literally.

THAT RCGS RESOLUTE CAN OPERATE IN THE POLAR REGIONS. THAT SHIP IS OF ROBUST CONSTRUCTION EVIDENTLY!!

coolbert.

Dolfijn.

This is coolbert:

COVID-19 the military dimension.

In particular naval vessels [as are cruise ships] the problem severe. Submarines most acutely so.

From a variety of sources and only today!

1. "Dutch Navy submarine aborts North Sea training mission due to Covid-19 outbreak on board"

"A Dutch combat submarine was forced to cut its voyage short and quickly return home after several of its crew members tested positive for the Covid-19 disease."

"The mission was aborted after 15 sailors on board the Walrus-class submarine HNLMS 'Dolfijn' showed flu-like symptoms. Eight of them later tested positive for Covid-19"

A SUBMARINE IN PARTICULAR THE CLOSE-QUARTERS AND CONSTANTLY SUBMERGED CONDITIONS MAKE A SPREAD OF THE ILLNESS INEVITABLE AND OCCURRING WITH LIGHTNING SPEED!

2. "US Navy evacuating virus-struck aircraft carrier Roosevelt"

"Coronavirus is spreading uncontrollably through the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier, its captain said "

"The US Navy is evacuating thousands of sailors from the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt in Guam after its captain warned a coronavirus outbreak was threatening the lives of the crew."

In addition and finally from today consider this thanks to Freeper: "Coast Guard directs cruise ships with infected passengers to stay offshore 'indefinitely'"

NOT TO SOUND CAVALIER OR FLIPPANT BUT THE MORTALITY RATE OF THE COVID VIRUS VERY LOW AMONG THOSE INFECTED BOTH YOUNG AND HEALTHY!

coolbert.