This is coolbert:
This was totally new to me! Perhaps you too?
Thanks to the SF man Rich for the tip! "HK417/ M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle will replace the SAW. The SAW's used in Iraq and Afghanistan were worn out and as heavy as the BAR"
At least for the United States Marines [USMC], the SAW, the M249 is now an obsolete weapon and going to be replaced, right now, this year, as we speak. The new weapon labeled, given the nomenclature of and designated as an automatic rifle.
That M249 SAW [squad automatic rifle] at least in Iraq found to be lacking, susceptible to jamming, heavy for a weapon of that class [SAW], and just not adequate with regard to the caliber of round, not having the penetration power desired. This comment regarding the SAW from the Military Thoughts blog way back when now:
"2) The M249 SAW (squad assault weapon): .223 cal. Drum fed light machine gun. Big thumbs down. Universally considered a piece of< shit. Chronic jamming problems, most of which require partial disassembly. (that's fun in the middle of a firefight)."
My perception of the SAW originally was that IT was the ABSOLUTE ANSWER to the squad automatic weapon "problem". Automatic weapon designed as such and firing a compatible round with the M16 rifle.
The SAW was NOT the answer? The M27 when fielded to represent the "base of fire" for an infantry squad using "fire and maneuver" when confronted by and in combat with the enemy!!
[ever since the latter days of WW1 the automatic weapon as carried by the troops of an infantry squad has been the primary weapon available, rifles as carried by everyone else secondary and only used in support of the automatic weapon!]
The M27 having a thirty round magazine but continuing to fire the same 5.56 mm round as the M16 and to be used in combat exclusively [?] in the auto mode, not selective fire!
This M27 to me does NOT represent an automatic rifle [AR] as that term has ordinarily understood. When I think of automatic rifle the American BAR of WW1, WW2, and Korean War fame immediately comes to mind. A weapon capable of sustained auto fire with a long and heavy barrel, the round having a lot of knock-down power. The stubby barrel of the M27 seems NOT to be very robust or able to provide sustained long- range auto fire if needed?
The M27 will be an improvement over the SAW M249? I hope so! Other than weight [and that is an important feature], this M27 to me does not represent on paper a significant improvement over the SAW! I might like to think otherwise, but my intuition, as flawed as it might be, tells me otherwise.
This waits to be seen!
coolbert.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Firefly.
This is coolbert:
During the Second World War [WW2], allied [American and British] tank design and development was in a state of ferment the entire period, fielding a range of armor, those vehicles of allied design and manufacture quite often finding themselves in an inferior status - - under gunned in comparison to the German counterpart.
Desperate circumstances require desperate measures. Such a measure was the design and development of the British Firefly tank. An existing American Sherman tank the turret of which was gutted and re-designed to accommodate the installation of a gun capable of even defeating at range the most potent armor available to the German. And JUST IN TIME FOR THE NORMANDY INVASION!
"The Sherman Firefly was a World War II British variant of the American Sherman tank, fitted with the powerful British 17 pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon. Originally conceived as a stopgap until future British tank designs came into service"
"It soon became highly valued as the only British tank capable of defeating the Panther and Tiger tanks it faced in Normandy at standard combat ranges"
The Firefly the only tank available to the allies in Normandy [1944] able to kill at longer ranges the very formidable German Panther and Tiger tanks. German Panther and Tiger tanks relatively impervious to existing allied tank and anti-tank guns except at the closest of rangers.
The Firefly an expedient weapons system, existing Sherman tanks having their turrets radically re-engineered to allow for a "fit" of the 17 pounder gun. The Firefly AVAILABLE ONLY TO BRITISH AND DOMINION TROOPS AND NOT AMERICAN!
In the role of tank versus tank, mano-a-mano, the Firefly performing in an excellent manner, for the mission intended more than adequate, a stop-gap measure, wartime modifications done as an expedient to fill a dire need. Given high priority from the command of Churchill himself!
The German tank ace and SS Mann Michael Wittmann and his crew, famous/infamous depending upon your viewpoint, meeting their end on a Normandy battlefield, casualties of an encounter with a Firefly or a massed unit of Firefly, the situation not entirely clear.
coolbert.
During the Second World War [WW2], allied [American and British] tank design and development was in a state of ferment the entire period, fielding a range of armor, those vehicles of allied design and manufacture quite often finding themselves in an inferior status - - under gunned in comparison to the German counterpart.
Desperate circumstances require desperate measures. Such a measure was the design and development of the British Firefly tank. An existing American Sherman tank the turret of which was gutted and re-designed to accommodate the installation of a gun capable of even defeating at range the most potent armor available to the German. And JUST IN TIME FOR THE NORMANDY INVASION!
"The Sherman Firefly was a World War II British variant of the American Sherman tank, fitted with the powerful British 17 pounder anti-tank gun as its main weapon. Originally conceived as a stopgap until future British tank designs came into service"
"It soon became highly valued as the only British tank capable of defeating the Panther and Tiger tanks it faced in Normandy at standard combat ranges"
The Firefly the only tank available to the allies in Normandy [1944] able to kill at longer ranges the very formidable German Panther and Tiger tanks. German Panther and Tiger tanks relatively impervious to existing allied tank and anti-tank guns except at the closest of rangers.
The Firefly an expedient weapons system, existing Sherman tanks having their turrets radically re-engineered to allow for a "fit" of the 17 pounder gun. The Firefly AVAILABLE ONLY TO BRITISH AND DOMINION TROOPS AND NOT AMERICAN!
In the role of tank versus tank, mano-a-mano, the Firefly performing in an excellent manner, for the mission intended more than adequate, a stop-gap measure, wartime modifications done as an expedient to fill a dire need. Given high priority from the command of Churchill himself!
The German tank ace and SS Mann Michael Wittmann and his crew, famous/infamous depending upon your viewpoint, meeting their end on a Normandy battlefield, casualties of an encounter with a Firefly or a massed unit of Firefly, the situation not entirely clear.
coolbert.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Area 51/Project 57.
This is coolbert:
Here thanks to the English Independent and the Daily Beast we have some good stuff regarding the much ballyhooed Area 51.
American TOP SECRET facility out in the middle of the Nevada high desert, renowned for security, secrecy, and undoubted successes and failures.
A facility the employees of which were flown in EVERY DAY FROM LOS ANGELES, THREE HUNDRED MILES AWAY, AND FLOWN HOME IN THE EVENING!
Accomplishments, acknowledged and agreed upon by the experts to include the engineering and testing of such aviation marvels as the:
* U-2 spy plane.
* SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft.
* F-117 stealth fighter-bomber.
And undoubtedly other aerial vehicles we are only vaguely aware of and only hinted at, the "Beast of Kandahar" among them?
1. "The (very) secret history of Area 51"
"Just how covert is the infamous US air base? New files show that even Presidents don't always 'need to know' its activities"
Area 51 NOT MERELY an airbase. Much more than that. A manufacturing and test facility combined, the limits of engineering R&D pushed way beyond the limits, the "envelope" stretched to the non-linear breaking point and further if possible.
2. "America's Secret Nuclear Test Revealed in Area 51"
"Code-named the 57 Project, and later Project 57, the Atomic Energy Commission, the U.S. Air Force, and defense contractor EG&G would work together to simulate an Air Force airplane crash involving an XW‑25 nuclear warhead—a crash in which radioactive particles would 'accidentally' be dispersed on the ground."
And this too! Area 51 the perfect spot [?] to test the "dirty bomb". An atomic weapon detonated, the dispersal of the integral plutonium measured and observed. A detonation not nuclear in nature, but rather conventional. NOT A NUCLEAR FISSILE DETONATION AND THIS MUST BE UNDERSTOOD! An atomic weapon blown to bits by conventional explosives, that plutonium core of the bomb part of the plume, the cloud of debris thrown into the atmosphere and the surrounding environment.
The how and why of that plutonium dispersal of great interest! A test, an experiment, no matter how well meaning, that would not be allowed today!!
That contaminated ground NOW cleaned up, the debris and soil with "embedded" plutonium removed some time ago now. More than anything else the limited access to Area 51 is for safety reasons. To go near the place can have dire consequences. NOW and for a long time into the future, Area 51 will be hazardous to your health!
coolbert.
"Area 51 was the single most important Cold
War facility as it was set up to push science
faster and further than the Soviet Union,"
Here thanks to the English Independent and the Daily Beast we have some good stuff regarding the much ballyhooed Area 51.
American TOP SECRET facility out in the middle of the Nevada high desert, renowned for security, secrecy, and undoubted successes and failures.
A facility the employees of which were flown in EVERY DAY FROM LOS ANGELES, THREE HUNDRED MILES AWAY, AND FLOWN HOME IN THE EVENING!
Accomplishments, acknowledged and agreed upon by the experts to include the engineering and testing of such aviation marvels as the:
* U-2 spy plane.
* SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft.
* F-117 stealth fighter-bomber.
And undoubtedly other aerial vehicles we are only vaguely aware of and only hinted at, the "Beast of Kandahar" among them?
1. "The (very) secret history of Area 51"
"Just how covert is the infamous US air base? New files show that even Presidents don't always 'need to know' its activities"
Area 51 NOT MERELY an airbase. Much more than that. A manufacturing and test facility combined, the limits of engineering R&D pushed way beyond the limits, the "envelope" stretched to the non-linear breaking point and further if possible.
2. "America's Secret Nuclear Test Revealed in Area 51"
"Code-named the 57 Project, and later Project 57, the Atomic Energy Commission, the U.S. Air Force, and defense contractor EG&G would work together to simulate an Air Force airplane crash involving an XW‑25 nuclear warhead—a crash in which radioactive particles would 'accidentally' be dispersed on the ground."
And this too! Area 51 the perfect spot [?] to test the "dirty bomb". An atomic weapon detonated, the dispersal of the integral plutonium measured and observed. A detonation not nuclear in nature, but rather conventional. NOT A NUCLEAR FISSILE DETONATION AND THIS MUST BE UNDERSTOOD! An atomic weapon blown to bits by conventional explosives, that plutonium core of the bomb part of the plume, the cloud of debris thrown into the atmosphere and the surrounding environment.
The how and why of that plutonium dispersal of great interest! A test, an experiment, no matter how well meaning, that would not be allowed today!!
That contaminated ground NOW cleaned up, the debris and soil with "embedded" plutonium removed some time ago now. More than anything else the limited access to Area 51 is for safety reasons. To go near the place can have dire consequences. NOW and for a long time into the future, Area 51 will be hazardous to your health!
coolbert.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Discharge!
This is coolbert:
From the previous blog entry:
"Trafalgar also each of those ships-of-the-line having a firepower equal to a 30,000 man army!!"
And upon what exactly is such an assertion made? Please follow my calculations closely and see if you agree!
Given that: a pile of twenty-nine rounds as fired from a Brown Bess musket weighs two pounds [4.4 kg.].
One hundred and four [104] cannon as carried by HMS Victory to include: [number of cannon and weight of shot - - one round fired]
* 30 X 32 pounds.
* 28 X 24 pounds.
* 30 X 12 pounds.
* 14 X 12 pounds.
* 2 X 68 pounds.
The combined weight of shot, as fired by the cannon of the HMS Victory, each cannon firing once, equals 2,296 pounds. [5061 kg.]
2,296 divided by 2 times 29 equals 33,292. That last figure representing the number of troops on the ground each firing their Brown Bess musket a single time.
"The weight of shot as fired by a single salvo from the vessel, each and every of the one hundred and four [104] guns carried by the warship firing ONCE, was equal to an army of 30,000 men-a-foot, each and every foot soldier discharging his Brown Bess musket a single time!!!"
An impressive number. And recall that at Trafalgar, the total number of ships involved at the battle was over fifty vessels combined, English and French/Spanish!
Prodigious firepower massive and overwhelming. Just don't stand in the way!
coolbert.
From the previous blog entry:
"Trafalgar also each of those ships-of-the-line having a firepower equal to a 30,000 man army!!"
And upon what exactly is such an assertion made? Please follow my calculations closely and see if you agree!
Given that: a pile of twenty-nine rounds as fired from a Brown Bess musket weighs two pounds [4.4 kg.].
One hundred and four [104] cannon as carried by HMS Victory to include: [number of cannon and weight of shot - - one round fired]
* 30 X 32 pounds.
* 28 X 24 pounds.
* 30 X 12 pounds.
* 14 X 12 pounds.
* 2 X 68 pounds.
The combined weight of shot, as fired by the cannon of the HMS Victory, each cannon firing once, equals 2,296 pounds. [5061 kg.]
2,296 divided by 2 times 29 equals 33,292. That last figure representing the number of troops on the ground each firing their Brown Bess musket a single time.
"The weight of shot as fired by a single salvo from the vessel, each and every of the one hundred and four [104] guns carried by the warship firing ONCE, was equal to an army of 30,000 men-a-foot, each and every foot soldier discharging his Brown Bess musket a single time!!!"
An impressive number. And recall that at Trafalgar, the total number of ships involved at the battle was over fifty vessels combined, English and French/Spanish!
Prodigious firepower massive and overwhelming. Just don't stand in the way!
coolbert.
Friday, July 8, 2011
100 Years!
This is coolbert:
From the wiki site entitled:
"Naval tactics in the Age of Steam"
"The development of tactics in the 19th Century"
This item of particular interest!
"The interval of ninety years between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 was marked by no major naval war. There was fighting at sea, and there were prolonged blockades, but there were no campaigns between large and well appointed navies."
Massed ships forming a fleet in combat with another fleet of massed ships. Multiple divisions of ships all acting in unison under the command of one admiral on either side. [A division consists of two to four ships of the capital ship class.]
"The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels"
From the end of the Napoleonic Era [1815] until Tsushima was a ninety year period, but from Trafalgar to Tsushima was one hundred years! Trafalgar also each of those ships-of-the-line having a firepower equal to a 30,000 man army!!
Massed divisions of ships forming fleets fighting it out the old-fashioned way, NAVAL CANNON VERSUS OTHER NAVAL CANNON!! NO submarines firing torpedoes nor aircraft launched off the deck of an aircraft carrier.
As it was at Trafalgar, as it was at Tsushima. Guns rather than cannon predominantly so, torpedo attack by torpedo boats occurring at Tsushima only in the aftermath of the battle, a night-time engagement, Japanese chasing Russians, the results inconclusive.
"for the last time in the history of naval warfare ships of the line of a beaten fleet surrendered on the high seas." [Tsushima]
After Tsushima, we have Jutland as the LAST MAJOR BATTLE OF MASSED DIVISIONS OF SHIPS FORMING FLEETS IN CONTACT WITH AND IN BATTLE WITH THE ADVERSARY ALSO DEPLOYING MASSED NUMBERS OF SHIPS!! Again, naval gun fire the predominant weapon in use by both sides!
During World War Two [WW2], capital ships battling it out using naval gunfire a great rarity, much less having a division of capital ships in combat simultaneously on both sides.
The various battles of Savo Island [Guadalcanal - - 1942] and subsequently Surigao Strait [1944] the LAST TIME such naval combat between massed surface vessels employing gun fire has occurred, and PERHAPS THE LAST TIME SUCH NAVAL WARFARE WILL EVER OCCUR!
The cost to build JUST ONE CAPITAL SHIP AS WAS DEPLOYED BY THE VARIOUS COMBATANTS AT JUTLAND OR SAVO ISLAND PROHIBITIVE BY MODERN STANDARDS!
Naval gunfire is also a method passe' for some time now as a means of waging naval warfare.
Cost and technology have FOREVER made null and void a form of naval combat that existed for a period of over four hundred years? It seems so! The likes of a Trafalgar, a Tsushima, a Jutland, a Savo Island will NEVER be seen again!
coolbert.
From the wiki site entitled:
"Naval tactics in the Age of Steam"
"The development of tactics in the 19th Century"
This item of particular interest!
"The interval of ninety years between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War in 1904 was marked by no major naval war. There was fighting at sea, and there were prolonged blockades, but there were no campaigns between large and well appointed navies."
Massed ships forming a fleet in combat with another fleet of massed ships. Multiple divisions of ships all acting in unison under the command of one admiral on either side. [A division consists of two to four ships of the capital ship class.]
"The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels"
From the end of the Napoleonic Era [1815] until Tsushima was a ninety year period, but from Trafalgar to Tsushima was one hundred years! Trafalgar also each of those ships-of-the-line having a firepower equal to a 30,000 man army!!
Massed divisions of ships forming fleets fighting it out the old-fashioned way, NAVAL CANNON VERSUS OTHER NAVAL CANNON!! NO submarines firing torpedoes nor aircraft launched off the deck of an aircraft carrier.
As it was at Trafalgar, as it was at Tsushima. Guns rather than cannon predominantly so, torpedo attack by torpedo boats occurring at Tsushima only in the aftermath of the battle, a night-time engagement, Japanese chasing Russians, the results inconclusive.
"for the last time in the history of naval warfare ships of the line of a beaten fleet surrendered on the high seas." [Tsushima]
After Tsushima, we have Jutland as the LAST MAJOR BATTLE OF MASSED DIVISIONS OF SHIPS FORMING FLEETS IN CONTACT WITH AND IN BATTLE WITH THE ADVERSARY ALSO DEPLOYING MASSED NUMBERS OF SHIPS!! Again, naval gun fire the predominant weapon in use by both sides!
During World War Two [WW2], capital ships battling it out using naval gunfire a great rarity, much less having a division of capital ships in combat simultaneously on both sides.
The various battles of Savo Island [Guadalcanal - - 1942] and subsequently Surigao Strait [1944] the LAST TIME such naval combat between massed surface vessels employing gun fire has occurred, and PERHAPS THE LAST TIME SUCH NAVAL WARFARE WILL EVER OCCUR!
The cost to build JUST ONE CAPITAL SHIP AS WAS DEPLOYED BY THE VARIOUS COMBATANTS AT JUTLAND OR SAVO ISLAND PROHIBITIVE BY MODERN STANDARDS!
Naval gunfire is also a method passe' for some time now as a means of waging naval warfare.
Cost and technology have FOREVER made null and void a form of naval combat that existed for a period of over four hundred years? It seems so! The likes of a Trafalgar, a Tsushima, a Jutland, a Savo Island will NEVER be seen again!
coolbert.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Lieutenant Noy!
This is coolbert:
Thanks to the Israeli web site YNet we have an interesting topic. The female combat soldier. Lieutenant Noy. Israeli female combat troop - - and now commander of a sniper platoon!
"1st woman commands sniper platoon"
The sniper platoon as commanded by Lieutenant Noy organic to the Caracal Battalion. Caracal a military combat unit unique to the Israeli army, totally mixed men and women, positions with the Caracal not gender specific.
"The Caracal Battalion is an infantry combat battalion of the Israel Defense Forces that is composed of male and female soldiers of Jewish and Arab descent."
"The battalion is named after the Caracal, a small cat whose sexes appear the same."
"Caracal is currently assigned to protect Israel's southern frontier with the Sinai Desert where they face Bedouin smugglers, Palestinian infiltrators and even Darfur refugees seeking sanctuary in the Holy Land."
That sniper platoon using the M24 sniper rifle! Firing the 7.62 mm NATO round and a very effective and deadly weapon, proven in combat over many decades now.
Women indeed can make better snipers than men? More observant and able to concentrate longer and perform better at repetitive tasks that require attention to detail? Some Serb snipers in Sarajevo were known to be women, and approached their job with a characteristic impressive ruthlessness that was noted!
Good luck Lieutenant Noy!
coolbert.
Thanks to the Israeli web site YNet we have an interesting topic. The female combat soldier. Lieutenant Noy. Israeli female combat troop - - and now commander of a sniper platoon!
"1st woman commands sniper platoon"
"'Guys were a bit surprised to see me reaching the peak and firing, but were mostly supportive,' Second Lieutenant Noy says after making history in IDF"
The sniper platoon as commanded by Lieutenant Noy organic to the Caracal Battalion. Caracal a military combat unit unique to the Israeli army, totally mixed men and women, positions with the Caracal not gender specific.
"The Caracal Battalion is an infantry combat battalion of the Israel Defense Forces that is composed of male and female soldiers of Jewish and Arab descent."
"The battalion is named after the Caracal, a small cat whose sexes appear the same."
"Caracal is currently assigned to protect Israel's southern frontier with the Sinai Desert where they face Bedouin smugglers, Palestinian infiltrators and even Darfur refugees seeking sanctuary in the Holy Land."
That sniper platoon using the M24 sniper rifle! Firing the 7.62 mm NATO round and a very effective and deadly weapon, proven in combat over many decades now.
Women indeed can make better snipers than men? More observant and able to concentrate longer and perform better at repetitive tasks that require attention to detail? Some Serb snipers in Sarajevo were known to be women, and approached their job with a characteristic impressive ruthlessness that was noted!
Good luck Lieutenant Noy!
coolbert.
Bamboo?
This is coolbert:
Yet one more instance of Japanese troops, their troop transport sunk, men shipwrecked but continuing to come under attack even while floating in the water. This NOT being a war crime? Troops in the water still continuing to be fair game, as opposed to sailors? Sailors whose ship has been sunk obviously hors de combat, troops not?
Again - - an instance of allied atrocity? The killing of shipwrecked men in the water strictly forbidden, the torpedoing of rescue vehicles also deemed unnecessary and perhaps illegal as well.
"The Take Ichi (???) ('Bamboo No. 1') convoy was a Japanese convoy of World War II. The convoy left Shanghai on 17 April 1944, carrying two infantry divisions to reinforce Japan's defensive positions in the Philippines and western New Guinea. United States Navy (USN) submarines attacked the convoy on 26 April and 6 May, sinking four transports and killing more than 4,000 soldiers"
Reinforcements en route to New Guinea, coming under repeated submarine attack, merciless and unremitting, no let to American chastisement!!
1. First attack by the American submarine USS Jack [26 April].
"These attacks sank the 5,425-ton freighter Yoshida Maru, which was carrying an entire regiment of the 32nd Division. All 3,000 soldiers onboard drowned when the ship sank quickly."
AN ENTIRE REGIMENT OF ABOUT 3,000 TROOPS SENT TO THE BOTTOM, OBLITERATED IN A FEW MINUTES.
[this figure of 3,000 dead is approximately equal to the number of Americans killed at Pearl Harbor, 7 December!!]
2. A second further attack [6 May] by another American submarine, the USS Gurnard - - rescue vessels and men in the water blown to bits while survivors being plucked from the water. Shipwrecked troops stricken but still fair game!
"Gurnard rose to periscope depth two hours later and found that a major effort to rescue troops and equipment from the torpedoed transports was under way. That night the submarine torpedoed one of the crippled transports which was still afloat. Gurnard's attack sank transports Aden Maru (5,825 tons) and Taijima Maru (6,995 tons) as well as the cargo ship Tenshinzan Maru (6,886 tons). While the rescue effort was relatively successful, 1,290 troops were killed and much of their equipment was lost."
"Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka, who was a veteran of several previous operations including the Battle of Wake Island, was appointed to command the convoy"
Admiral Kajioka did not have a very good war record! Both at Wake Island [1941] and during Take Ichi troops under his command suffering badly, taking a lot of casualties, losses severe and catastrophic!
During that second attack [6 May], NO MERCY was shown to the Japanese, and none need have been shown? "War is hell" and sometimes is very much so!!
coolbert.
Yet one more instance of Japanese troops, their troop transport sunk, men shipwrecked but continuing to come under attack even while floating in the water. This NOT being a war crime? Troops in the water still continuing to be fair game, as opposed to sailors? Sailors whose ship has been sunk obviously hors de combat, troops not?
Again - - an instance of allied atrocity? The killing of shipwrecked men in the water strictly forbidden, the torpedoing of rescue vehicles also deemed unnecessary and perhaps illegal as well.
"The Take Ichi (???) ('Bamboo No. 1') convoy was a Japanese convoy of World War II. The convoy left Shanghai on 17 April 1944, carrying two infantry divisions to reinforce Japan's defensive positions in the Philippines and western New Guinea. United States Navy (USN) submarines attacked the convoy on 26 April and 6 May, sinking four transports and killing more than 4,000 soldiers"
Reinforcements en route to New Guinea, coming under repeated submarine attack, merciless and unremitting, no let to American chastisement!!
1. First attack by the American submarine USS Jack [26 April].
"These attacks sank the 5,425-ton freighter Yoshida Maru, which was carrying an entire regiment of the 32nd Division. All 3,000 soldiers onboard drowned when the ship sank quickly."
AN ENTIRE REGIMENT OF ABOUT 3,000 TROOPS SENT TO THE BOTTOM, OBLITERATED IN A FEW MINUTES.
[this figure of 3,000 dead is approximately equal to the number of Americans killed at Pearl Harbor, 7 December!!]
2. A second further attack [6 May] by another American submarine, the USS Gurnard - - rescue vessels and men in the water blown to bits while survivors being plucked from the water. Shipwrecked troops stricken but still fair game!
"Gurnard rose to periscope depth two hours later and found that a major effort to rescue troops and equipment from the torpedoed transports was under way. That night the submarine torpedoed one of the crippled transports which was still afloat. Gurnard's attack sank transports Aden Maru (5,825 tons) and Taijima Maru (6,995 tons) as well as the cargo ship Tenshinzan Maru (6,886 tons). While the rescue effort was relatively successful, 1,290 troops were killed and much of their equipment was lost."
"Rear Admiral Sadamichi Kajioka, who was a veteran of several previous operations including the Battle of Wake Island, was appointed to command the convoy"
Admiral Kajioka did not have a very good war record! Both at Wake Island [1941] and during Take Ichi troops under his command suffering badly, taking a lot of casualties, losses severe and catastrophic!
During that second attack [6 May], NO MERCY was shown to the Japanese, and none need have been shown? "War is hell" and sometimes is very much so!!
coolbert.
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