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The FReeper Foxhole Studies Foxhole and POW Radios - November 6th, 2004
see educational sources

Posted on 11/05/2004 10:49:50 PM PST by snippy_about_it



Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.



...................................................................................... ...........................................

U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues

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Foxhole Radios




by Don Adamson


If you appreciate ingenuity, simplicity, and like instant gratification from your radio projects, then you ought to spend a few minutes building your own foxhole radio.

Foxhole radios were built by GIs in World War II from materials they had easy access to in the field. They usually consist of just a coil and a detector. They use a point detector, the chief component being an ordinary razor blade.

Justin Garton wrote a letter to the editor of QST, printed in the October 1944 issue:

Here is some more information on the foxhole radio sets used by the boys on the Anzio beachhead. In the daytime they could receive stations from Rome and at night Nazi propaganda "jive" programs from Berlin. Here is the diagram:



In the "Strays" section of QST for July, 1944, another mention is made of the razor blade foxhole radio:

According to Toivo Kujanpaa, a licensed ham op stationed on the Anzio Beachhead, several of the radio men there rigged up a field version of a "crystal" set using a razor blade for a detector. Their efforts were rewarded by the reception of a "jive" program (along with some German propaganda) aimed at the American forces from an Axis station in Rome.

Note the simplicity of the design. Parts were assembled on a piece of wood, usually held in place with thumbtacks. The safety pin is anchored at one end and placed so the point may be moved around on the surface of the razor blade. According to an article in Popular Mechanics of October, 1944, the blued steel surface of the blade gives the rectifying action needed for detection without crystals.

Someone soon figured out a better way to use the razor blade detector: use a pencil lead point on the razor blade (Mr. Garton attributes this innovation to a ham in New York).

I built a foxhole radio in a few minutes using the previous diagram, but I used a pencil point. I fashioned a safety pin shape out of stiff wire, then tied about an inch of pencil lead to it with finer wire. The radio worked the first time I tried it. Of course, with a fixed coil I received only one station.



The design below came from a submission by Lt. Paul M. Cornell in the September, 1945 issue of QST; he used it in the South Pacific. The photograph shows a similar radio built by Don Menning; he simply stuck the whole tip of a pencil on the end of the safety pin.



Here is the parts list for the schematic based on Lt. Cornell's submission:

(A) Antenna connection. This nail also fastens the coil form to the baseboard.

(B) Baseboard. 4 inches square, ¼ inch thick.

(C) Coil form. Wood block, 3¾ inches long, 2 inches wide and ¼ inch thick.

(D) Area of coil scraped clean along arc of switch arm.

(G) Ground connection. This nail also fastens coil form to baseboard.

(J) Jacks for 'phones. Paper clips held down by tacks.

(P) Detector. Pencil lead wrapped with copper wire and resting lightly on razor blade. Some adjustment of the location and pressure of the lead on the blade may be required.

(R) Razor blade held down and connected to wire by tack.

(S) Screw or nail for pivot of switch arm.

(SA) Switch arm made from paper clip.

(T) Thumbtack, or any kind of tack.

(W) Coil winding, approximately 175 turns No. 26 insulated wire.

In October of 1962, Popular Mechanics ran a construction article by Joe Tartas which was almost identical to the above design. Mr. Tartas noted that GIs used their bayonets buried to the hilt in moist earth for a ground connection. You probably do not want to use your vintage WWII bayonet in this manner unless you're a stickler for authenticity!

As with any radio of this type, a good ground and a long antenna (50 to 100 feet) will give you best results. Don't expect room-filling sound, but do expect a lot of fun from very little effort!

The only part of a foxhole radio you don't build from scratch is the 'phone. However, if you're really looking for a radio project built entirely from scratch, you could try your hand at building one.

If you take apart a 'phone, you'll notice they're very simple in construction. Basically, there's a coil with a small iron core. Electrical variations in this coil generate a magnetic field used to attract and repel a metal plate. This vibrating plate produces the (faint) sound you hear.

The March 1, 1994 issue of The Xtal Set Society Newsletter carried an article by Nyle Steiner describing how to build your own home-brew 'phone. Nyle used a coil made from 7000 turns of 0.004 inch wire around a ¼ inch rod. For more information, check out this article, or experiment on your own!

Disclaimer: Working with antennas and electrical devices (especially old ones) can be dangerous, and mistakes can be fatal. If you decide to work with such things, it is solely your responsibility to work safely and to know what you're doing. -DJA




FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links




TOPICS: VetsCoR
KEYWORDS: foxholeradios; freeperfoxhole; history; samsdayoff; veterans; wwii
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POW Radio



Prisoners of war during WWII had to improvise from whatever bits of junk they could scrounge in order to build a radio. One type of detector used a small piece of coke, which was a derivative of coal often used in heating stoves. The piece of coke used was small, about the size of a pea. A small board was used and a depression was cut into it near one end to hold the coke. A screw and, if available, a screw cup were used to hold the coke in place. A wire lead to the receiver was run from this to the coil/aerial (see Set 5).



A foot or so (30cm) of steel wire (guitar wire, piano wire, etc.) was wound around a pencil, long nail, or similar, leaving about one inch (25 mm) unwound at each end. The wire should be somewhat springy.A second screw and screw cup is set about 3 inches (75 mm) from the first.



Attached by this screw are one end of the steel wire spring and a second lead, which is connected to one lead of the headphones or earphones (if anyone has any information on how earphones from these sets may have been improvised, I would like to hear about it). The steel spring wire was then stretched so that it just rested on the coke. After much adjusting of the point of contact on the coke and the tension of the wire, some strong stations would have been received.

If the POW was lucky enough to scrounge a variable capacitor, the set could possibly receive more frequencies.



A POW camp radio's construction described

The Centre for the History of Defence Electronics Museum has posted an amazing interview with Lieutenant Colonel R. G. Wells, who built a rather elaborate set out of scrounged and improvised items while in a POW camp during WWII.

Link to "Construction of Radio Equipment in a Japanese POW Camp" - By Lieutenant Colonel R. G. Wells


Improvised diode

The following appears word for word on my crystal radio page, but bears repeating here: If you want to try your hand at making your own diode, Allan Charlton, of Sydney, Australia, adds:

"When I was a kid in a small town in Tasmania, Australia, our school was at the base of a hill, and the local radio transmitter was on top of the hill. We had lots of fun with crystal radios.

This is how we made our diodes:

Take a small length of glass or plastic tubing--an inch of the case of a plastic pen works well. Close one end with wax, sealing a wire through the wax. Pour a little copper oxide into the tube: enough to cover the end of the wire. Fill the rest of the tube with copper filings or turnings. Poke a wire into the copper filings or turnings (but don't let it go down to the oxide) and seal the end of the tube with wax.

Can't find copper oxide?

Throw some copper wire into a fire. When it's cool, scrape the oxide off the wire. Yes, there are two oxides of copper, a red oxide and a black oxide, and they both work well. We preferred the red, but I have no idea why."

But what about the earphone?

Richard Lucas, who was a POW in Vietnam, built a radio in camp and was also able to improvise an earphone. He writes:

Four nails were bound together with cloth from our clothes.

Wire was obtained from wire used around the camp which I might add wasn't coated with varnish. It was bare wire, so we wound a layer and, using a candle, we dripped wax over the turns, which were spaced as closed as possible without shorting out (not touching). We repeated this process over and over again until we had about 10 layers of wire, which were insulated from each other layer by a strip of cloth and wax. Then we put this in a piece of bamboo and adjusted it so it was about a 1/32 of an inch from the end.

A tin can lid was positioned over the coil of wire and nails. Then connecting it to our "foxhole radio" (basic design as yours) we could here about three radio stations. Our antenna was the barbwire around the camp and the ground was wire laid along the ground to make up the ground. Best listening was at night and it had to be pretty quiet because the earphone was pretty weak. If we had a magnet to set up a bias on the coil, the volume would have been a lot louder."

And Mike Barnard points out that "the headphones were almost always acquired from a tank crew's radio operator, and often one side of the headphone was cannibalized for wire to wind the tuning coil while the other was used for listening."

A radio constructed in the Milag PoW camp

Gabe Thomas, who is the President of a Merchant Navy POW society, generously donated the following accounts, which occurred at the Milag Nord, the German PoW camp for Allied Merchant seamen:

"As you can imagine, when a ship's company gets captured, there are men with a wide range of skills and interests. Naturally the camp had a fair share of radio operators. The "official" unofficial camp radio used the camp electrical circuit as an antenna after "lights out" when power was switched off. Where this radio came from I do not know, although I do know that trade between POWs and German guards and civilians did bring several radios into camp (cigarettes, coffee and soap from Red X parcels being the medium of exchange.) I also know that the UK secret service had radio components smuggled into the camp via parcels from families and "well wishers". It appears that the Red X parcels were never used for contraband!

One POW told me that his way of earning "pocket money" from his fellows was to make crystal radios. I asked him where he obtained his crystals and he said that the Germans delivered cart loads of ashes to the camp to surface muddy paths. Graham "Speedy" Spiers made a fine wire sieve and would riddle these ashes to find useable quartz crystals. He reckoned that he would find one every 2 or 3 days.

(This is) a radio made/used in Milag Merchant navy PoW camp in Germany in WWII. The radio was made from the bakelite case of a stick of shaving soap. The radio belonged to Edward Roberts and Robert Durant. Shellac covered wire from a stolen guard's bicycle dynamo was wound around the shaving stick case. Insulation was scraped off a portion of the coil for adjustment.



Edward Roberts was an apprentice (officer cadet) on the Delambre (Lamport & Holt Ltd. 7032 tons) which was sunk on the 7/7/40 by the German commerce raider Thor. Between 38 and 44 survived to become prisoners.

Robert Durant was an apprentice (officer cadet) on the Simnia, 6197 tons, owned by the Anglo Saxon Petroleum Co. She was sunk by the German Battleship the Gneisenau on 15/March/41 between 8 & 17 (accounts vary) survivors ended up in MILAG.

Also in the camp was Frederick Warner, Radio officer from the ship British Strength. Before capture he had been on Marconi's development staff, experimenting with short wave transmissions. He made numerous radios and before liberation (April 27th 1945) he had made a transmitter.

George Waugh, from British Commander, apparently spent most of his waking moments winding coils from wire "acquired" by those on outside working parties. These working parties were always on the look out for useful objects to steal and any telephones or electric bells were fair game for theft.

As you say on your site, tank crew headphones were highly prized.

The camp electric was switched off at night so the whole circuit became their antenna.

There was one main radio, a German Peoples Radio, that by decree had only a fixed bandwidth to prevent the German population tuning to Allied propaganda. This radio had been stolen from the local village doctor and with so many radio officers in the camp it didn't take long to modify it. Fortunately the power remained on in the camp theatre hut at night and the radio was in the charge of "Robbo" Robinson, the theatre props manager.

A map, updated from the radio reports, showing the progress of the Allied forces after D day was kept pinned behind the door of one room where the German guards never thought to look. All that is except one of the more sympathetic German officers, Henschel, who used to come for a quick look to see how badly Germany was doing!



Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:
http://bizarrelabs.com/foxhole.htm
http://members.aol.com/djadamson7/articles/foxhole.html
www.zerobeat.net
1 posted on 11/05/2004 10:49:51 PM PST by snippy_about_it
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To: All


Set 5

This is paraphrased from the article "How to Build a 'Foxhole Radio' ", from All About Radio and Television by Jack Gould, Random House, 1958. The book is long since out of print, and too dated for most libraries to hold a copy. It is a simple set, but curiously it does not include a slider for the coil, even late in the article after the razor blade is dropped for a crystal and a condenser is added.

Tools required are:

A hammer
A pair of pliers
A pocket knife

Parts

Board, at least 8 inches by 6 inches (200 by 150 mm)
Cardboard tube, 2 inches in diameter by 6 inches long (50 mm by 150 mm)
Insulated (enameled) copper wire, 28 gauge
Pair of crystal earphones (which in 1959 cost 2-3 dollars U.S.)
3 new nails
4 metal thumbtacks (not plastic push pins)
A used blade that fits a safety razor. A plain white looking blade often works better than "blue" blades (direct quote)
Big safety pin
Pencil with a fat lead



Make 4 little holes in the cardboard, 2 at each end, with one of the nails. Push about 6 inches (150 mm) through hole 2, and then pull the wire up through hole 1. Wind the wire around the tube, making sure the turns lie side by side and not on top of one another. Wind for a total of 120 turns. Afterwards measure off 6 more inches of wire at the end and cut. Push the end of the wire down through hole 3 and up through hole 4. Lay the coil on its side at the back of the board. Fasten it to the board with 2 thumbtacks, making sure the thumbtacks do not touch any of the wire.

The razor blade is placed in front of the coil. Lay it on the board, and gently fix it in place with two metal thumbtacks. Do not push the thumbtacks all the way in.



Sharpen the pencil so there is a long piece of lead showing. Break off the lead, and wire it to the tip of the safety pin. Bend the head of the pin back so that it will lie flat on the board. Place the pin to the right of the razor blade. Hammer a nail through the head of the pin until it almost touches the pin.



Remove the insulation from the ends of the wires coming from the coil, as well as from the ends of all wires used to make connections. Hammer a nail just to the left of the coil. Leave it sticking up just a bit. Wrap the bare wire from the end of the coil around this nail. Take another wire and wrap a bare end around the thumbtack holding the left side of the razor. Push the tack all the way down to make contact. Take the other bare end of the same wire and wrap it around the nail.

Hammer a nail to the right of the coil and attach the coil wire as above. Use another wire to connect from this nail to one of the terminals of the earphones. Take another wire and wrap the bare end around the nail holding the safety pin. Hammer this nail in to hold the wire in place, but not so tightly that the pin cannot move a little. The other end of this wire attaches to the other free end of the headphones.



The antenna attaches to the nail that connects with the coil and razor blade (A). The ground wire attaches to the other nail, where the coil connects with the earphones (B). Hook up the headphones, and gently move the pin and pencil lead across the razor blade until you hear a broadcast. Once you hear it, don't move the pin, because you are more than likely going to lose it if you do. If there are more than one stations nearby broadcasting near the same frequency, you are likely to hear overlap. To solve this, you can add a condenser. A variable type can be used, as in the illustration. It is recommended that it have 17, 19, or preferably 21 plates. Or you can use a fixed capacitor of around .002mF, or you can build your own (see the condenser article on the Crystal page). If a variable condenser is used, the post attached to the fixed plates should be connected to the nail that connects the coil to the blade (A). The condenser's other post is attached to the other nail (B). Once a station is found using the pin and blade. The condenser is turned until the signal becomes clearest. Also note that in the illustration a crystal and detector have been substituted for the razorblade. The wire that was attached to the blade is attached to the crystal's post, and the wire that was attached to the pin is attached to the detector's post. A safety pin can still be used instead of the cat whisker (see the introduction of the Crystal page).


2 posted on 11/05/2004 10:51:32 PM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: shield; A Jovial Cad; Diva Betsy Ross; Americanwolf; CarolinaScout; Tax-chick; Don W; Poundstone; ..



"FALL IN" to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Saturday Morning Everyone.


If you want to be added to our ping list, let us know.

If you'd like to drop us a note you can write to:

The Foxhole
19093 S. Beavercreek Rd. #188
Oregon City, OR 97045

3 posted on 11/05/2004 10:52:35 PM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: All


Here are the recommended holiday mailing dates for military mail this year:

For military mail addressed TO APO and FPO addresses, the mailing dates are:

------

For military mail FROM APO and FPO addresses, the mailing dates are:

Thanks for the information StayAt HomeMother



Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization.





Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

Thanks to quietolong for providing this link.

UPDATED THROUGH APRIL 2004




The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul

Click on Hagar for
"The FReeper Foxhole Compiled List of Daily Threads"

4 posted on 11/05/2004 10:53:02 PM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it
Foxhole Radios

Does that mean we have the patent on them?

Good night Snippy, have your "painting clothes" on tomorrow. :-)

5 posted on 11/05/2004 11:14:15 PM PST by SAMWolf (Whapped upside the head with a lime . . . another drive-by fruiting.)
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To: SAMWolf

LOL. Yep, now we can sell them! I'll be by the door, painting clothes on bright and early. ;-)

Good night Sam.


6 posted on 11/05/2004 11:16:16 PM PST by snippy_about_it (Fall in --> The FReeper Foxhole. America's History. America's Soul.)
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To: snippy_about_it

7 posted on 11/05/2004 11:22:28 PM PST by SAMWolf (Whapped upside the head with a lime . . . another drive-by fruiting.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Denver Ditdat; JulieRNR21; Vets_Husband_and_Wife; Cinnamon Girl; ...
Very interesting topic tonight. As a former Navy Radioman, and as a current HAM, I'm very interested in this stuff!! The ingeniousness of our troops never ceases to amaze me!

Denver Ditdat: this is a great thread ... please use your HAM ping list.

KD7ZLE sends.

±

"The Era of Osama lasted about an hour, from the time the first plane hit the tower to the moment the General Militia of Flight 93 reported for duty."
Toward FREEDOM

8 posted on 11/05/2004 11:51:37 PM PST by Neil E. Wright (An oath is FOREVER)
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To: snippy_about_it

Notice the Edward Roberts and Robert Durant set photo has the morse code ..._ (didididah). The letter V, for Victory.

Got a little time tomorrow, wish I could put in a few hours painting. Wife likes birds and feeding. I am more the artistic type. :)

Art. Ah. Real art. Nuclear Rockets. See my posts yesterday, see real art. Lots of stuff I would like to help build, but an interstellar Zubrin ship (Robert M. Zubrin of the Martin Marietta Corp.) is the most perfect.

Told you I was a romantic. My wife looks askance at me when I call myself a romantic, but to her romance means what us lads called "gushy stuff", the sort of things that ruined a good Western. Gabby Hayes had it right.

At work goo-goo eyes means run away fast. I am too close to retirement to loose my job.


9 posted on 11/06/2004 1:57:26 AM PST by Iris7 (.....to protect the Constitution from all enemies, both foreign and domestic.)
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To: snippy_about_it
Good morning Snippy.


10 posted on 11/06/2004 2:48:20 AM PST by Aeronaut (This is no ordinary time. And George W. Bush is no ordinary leader." --George Pataki)
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To: snippy_about_it

Good morning, snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.


11 posted on 11/06/2004 3:09:57 AM PST by E.G.C.
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Valin
Hmmmmm, radios and all metal aeroplanes, an here we go.

And remember the paint goes on the walls not the people :-)
Of to work we go, hi ho ho ho

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

12 posted on 11/06/2004 3:15:04 AM PST by alfa6 (Meeting: an event where minutes are kept and hours are lost.)
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To: snippy_about_it
You probably do not want to use your vintage WWII bayonet in this manner unless you're a stickler for authenticity!

I think I know where Dad's is. I'm bookmarking this for hobbit lass. When I was her age, I would've liked to do this for a science fair project. But I bet her school would frown on the knife and bayonet.

Her grade school was terrific. I could not ask for a better bunch of teachers (minus one who didn't last long). I am starting to have problems with the junior high, though. So far, I am not impressed with this Four Star, Blue Ribbon Presidential school.

Two of the teachers have been on anti-Bush rants. I've been told not to embarrass her by calling the school. "I can handle them, Mom."

13 posted on 11/06/2004 3:28:45 AM PST by Samwise (This day does not belong to one man but to all. --Aragorn)
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To: Iris7

Romance

2. A mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal, as of something adventurous, heroic, or strangely beautiful: “These fine old guns often have a romance clinging to them” (Richard Jeffries).


14 posted on 11/06/2004 3:30:53 AM PST by Samwise (This day does not belong to one man but to all. --Aragorn)
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To: snippy_about_it

Today's classic warship, USS Springfield (CL-66)

Cleveland class light cruiser

Displacement: 10,000 t.
Length: 610’1”
Beam: 66’3”
Draft: 24’7”
Speed: 31.6 k.
Complement: 1,319
Armament: 12 6”; 12 5”; 28 40mm

The USS SPRINGFIELD (CL-66) was laid down on 13 February 1943 by Bethlehem Steel Co. at its Fore River yard, Quincy, Mass.; launched on 9 March 1944; co-sponsored by Mrs. Angelina Bertera and Miss Norma McCurley; and commissioned on 9 September 1944 at Boston, Mass., Capt. Felix L. Johnson in command.

On 7 November, the light cruiser headed out of Boston harbor on her maiden voyage. Two days later, she put in at Norfolk, Va. and, after several days of gunnery practice in the Chesapeake Bay, she started south for the British West Indies. The ship arrived in the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad, on the 21st and conducted shakedown training in that area during the following month. SPRINGFIELD completed her shakedown training on 21 December and sailed back to Boston. She steamed out of Boston again on 10 January 1945 to conduct further training exercises in the vicinity of Bermuda. At the completion of this assignment, SPRINGFIELD cleared the area for Norfolk on the 13th. She remained in the Norfolk area and engaged in upkeep and gunnery drills in the Chesapeake Bay until 23 January. That morning, she weighed anchor and joined Task Group (TG) 21.5 off the entrance to Thimble Shoal Channel to accompany QUINCY (CA-71) on the first leg of the heavy cruiser's voyage to Malta carrying President Roosevelt. There, the President would board a plane to take him to the Crimea for the "Big Three" conference at Yalta. On the 28th, at a point about 300 miles south of the Azores, the ships of TG 21.5 were relieved by another group of American warships, and SPRINGFIELD headed for the Panama Canal. She transited the canal on 5 February and arrived in Pearl Harbor on the 16th.

The light cruiser spent five days there taking on water, fuel, stores, and ammunition, and conducting antiaircraft gunnery practice before getting underway for the western Pacific. She stopped at Eniwetok Atoll on 2 March and arrived at Ulithi Atoll on the 6th. SPRINGFIELD stood out of Ulithi on 14 March and joined the Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 58) on the next day.

For the next two and one-half months, SPRINGFIELD cruised with TF 58. After a raid on Kyushu and Honshu on 18 and 19 March, the task force zeroed in on Okinawa. From 23 March until 1 April, the cruiser helped ward off enemy air attacks while the carriers launched their planes to weaken the island's defenses. On 27 and 28 March, the light cruiser herself joined in the softening-up operation as she brought her guns to bear on Minami Daito Shima.

After the assault of 1 April 1945, the carriers' role changed from one of preparation to one of support to the invasion troops on Okinawa. SPRINGFIELD's mission, however, remained the same--to protect the carriers. For almost two months, she sailed in the huge screen of TF 58 to the east and southeast of Okinawa. Her crew members were subjected to frequent calls to general quarters, and they fought and watched as Japan's "Divine Wind" blew itself out against the combined strength of American combat air patrols and the surface antiaircraft screen. Her guns destroyed at least three enemy suicide planes. On 17 April, just after she had splashed one Japanese plane, SPRINGFIELD narrowly escaped the fate of many of her sister ships when a kamikaze attempted to crash her. Due to quick thinking and good seamanship, she dodged the plane which splashed harmlessly into the sea a scant 50 yards away.

On 10 and 11 May, SPRINGFIELD departed from the antiaircraft screen to bombard Minami Daito Shima again. During the period from 23 March to 28 May, she left the Okinawa area only once, on 13 and 14 May, when she sailed with TF 58 to strike at Japanese air bases on Kyushu.

On 27 May 1945, the 5th Fleet was redesignated the 3d Fleet when Admiral Halsey relieved Admiral Spruance. Three days later, SPRINGFIELD anchored in San Pedro Bay at Leyte in the Philippines for maintenance and upkeep. One month later, she departed Leyte and joined TF 38 for further air strikes against the Japanese home islands. On July 10th and 11th, the carriers launched planes against Tokyo. On the 13th and 14th, their targets were northern Honshu and Hokkaido. The task force conducted an antishipping sweep along the coast of Honshu on the night of 14 and 15 July and then, two days later, returned to hit Tokyo and Yokohama again. The planes bombed battleships NAGATO and HARUNA, on 18 July, then pounded Kobe and Kure on 24, 25, and 28 July. SPRINGFIELD joined in a bombardment again on the night of 24 and 25 July; this time the targets were shore installations on southern Honshu. On 30 July, Tokyo once more suffered from the wrath of the flattops. Sweeping the coast of Honshu for enemy ships as they went, TF 38 returned to bomb northern Honshu and Hokkaido on 9 and 10 August. Three days later, the carriers sent their planes against Tokyo for the last raid of the war--on the 15th, hostilities in the Pacific ended.

SPRINGFIELD entered Sagami Wan with TF 35 and anchored there on 27 August. Three days later, she covered both the entry of TF 31 into Tokyo Bay and the occupation of the Yokosuka Naval Base and then returned to her anchorage. On 3 September, the light cruiser entered Tokyo Bay itself. On 20 September, while she was still in Tokyo Bay, the 3d Fleet became the 5th Fleet again upon the return of Admiral Spruance. SPRINGFIELD remained in the Far East until early January 1946. During the intervening three months, she visited Sasebo and Yokosuka in Japan, Shanghai, Taku, Tsingtao, and Chinwangtao in China; and Jinsen, Korea.

On 9 January 1946, she departed Tsingtao and headed east. She arrived in San Pedro, Calif., on 25 January en route to the navy yard at Mare Island.

The light cruiser returned to San Pedro on the 15th. She operated along the west coast until 1 November, when she headed back to the western Pacific. SPRINGFIELD arrived at Guam on the 15th and operated in the Marianas, primarily between Guam and Saipan, until 19 February 1947. She stopped at Kwajalein Atoll from 25 to 27 February; then continued east. After a week stopover at Pearl Harbor, 11 to 18 March, she got underway for San Pedro, Calif., and arrived on 24 March 1947.

SPRINGFIELD operated along the west coast for just over 18 months, before voyaging again to the Far East. She reached Yokosuka on 3 November and cruised with the 7th Fleet until mid-May. During this deployment, she visited such familiar places as Sasebo, Yokosuka, Kure, Tsingtao, Shanghai, and Okinawa and stopped at Hakodate and Otaru in Japan, and Hong Kong, all three of which were new ports of call to the light cruiser. She returned to the west coast again on 1 June 1949 and three and one-half months later commenced inactivation overhaul. In January 1950, SPRINGFIELD joined the San Francisco Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

SPRINGFIELD remained berthed at San Francisco until March 1959. At that time, she was towed from the west coast, via the Panama Canal, to Boston, Mass. On 15 May, she returned to the Fore River yard of the Bethlehem Steel Co. at Quincy, Mass., to be converted to a PROVIDENCE-class Terrier guided-missile cruiser, and redesignated CLG-7. SPRINGFIELD’s conversion took more than three years, with the last three months of work being completed at the Boston Naval Shipyard. On 2 July 1960, she recommissioned at Boston, under the command of Capt. Francis D. Boyle.

Between early July and November of 1960, SPRINGFIELD conducted acceptance trials off the New England coast and shakedown training in the vicinity of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On 4 December, she stood out of Boston and headed for the Mediterranean Sea. Ten days later, she relieved DES MOINES (CA-134) as flagship of the Commander, 6th Fleet. With the exception of the period from 11 May to 15 December 1963, which she spent in overhaul at Boston, SPRINGFIELD cruised continuously with the 6th Fleet until 1967. During these years, she visited all the major ports of the Mediterranean, as well as some less well-known cities such as Dubrovnik and Split in Yugoslavia; Famagusta, Cyprus; and Ajaccio, Corsica. She also joined other units of the fleet and those of other nations in numerous national and multinational exercises. In addition, her role as flagship meant that many dignitaries visited her; among her guests were Constantine, King of Greece; Princess Grace of Monaco; several dozen ambassadors; and a host of prominent military figures. On 20 January 1967, SPRINGFIELD's home port was changed from Villefranche-sur-Mer, on the French Riviera, to Boston, Mass. Eight days later, she turned her duties as flagship over to LITTLE ROCK (CLG-4) and headed, via Portsmouth, England, to the United States.

The guided-missile cruiser arrived in Boston on 16 February 1967 and immediately began a six-month yard overhaul. On 1 August, near the completion of the yard period, SPRINGFIELD again changed home ports--this time to Norfolk, Va. She arrived at Yorktown, Va., on 6 August and, on 1 September, relieved NEWPORT NEWS (CA-148) as flagship of the Commander, 2d Fleet. She moved south in early September to the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Range, where she fired several missiles and conducted gunnery exercises. After fueling at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, the guided-missile cruiser sailed for Portsmouth, England, the first stop on an itinerary which also included Amsterdam in the Netherlands; Lisbon, Portugal; Barcelona, Spain; and Pollensa Bay at Majorca. SPRINGFIELD returned to Norfolk on 6 November.

For the next 10 months, she operated out of Norfolk, conducting exercises and participating in a midshipman cruise. On 12 September 1968, SPRINGFIELD headed northeast across the Atlantic to join NATO exercise "Silver Tower" in the Norwegian Sea north of the Arctic Circle. On 27 September, she cleared the exercise area and sailed south. Stopping at Oslo, Norway; Le Havre, France; Lisbon, Portugal; and Portsmouth, England; she made Rota, Spain, on 23 October. There, another conference was held between the commanders of the 2d and 6th Fleets. SPRINGFIELD departed Rota on the 24th and sailed back to Norfolk, where she arrived on 1 November. She resumed normal operations out of Norfolk until 8 July, when the Commander 2d Fleet, shifted his flag to NEWPORT NEWS in order that SPRINGFIELD might prepare for and commence a restricted availability.

On 14 January 1970, SPRINGFIELD relieved NEWPORT NEWS again as flagship of the 2d Fleet. However, seven months later, the commander's flag returned to NEWPORT NEWS; and, on 10 August, SPRINGFIELD headed back to the Mediterranean. On the 22d, she relieved LITTLE ROCK as flagship of the 6th Fleet. The guided missile cruiser spent almost four years cruising with the American fleet in the Mediterranean. During that time, she resumed her routine of exercises and diplomacy, hosting many dignitaries, among whom were President Nixon and the Secretary of the Navy. She passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on four occasions during that time, visiting Casablanca, Morocco; and Lisbon, Portugal twice each. Otherwise, she remained in the Mediterranean Sea until relieved by LITTLE ROCK again on 1 September 1973.

SPRINGFIELD sailed west, stopped at Gibraltar and in the Azores, and reached Boston, Mass., on 14 September. She remained until the 17th, then sailed south to Norfolk for inactivation. The guided-missile cruiser made Norfolk on 19 September and, just under three months later, entered the Inactive Ship Facility at Portsmouth, Va. SPRINGFIELD decommissioned on 15 May 1974.

Redesignated CG-7 in June 1975, she had no further active service and was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register at the end of July 1978. The ship was sold for scrapping in March 1980.

SPRINGFIELD earned two battle stars during World War II.

15 posted on 11/06/2004 4:41:47 AM PST by aomagrat (Where weapons are not allowed, it is best to carry weapons.)
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; alfa6

Present!


16 posted on 11/06/2004 5:04:57 AM PST by manna
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To: snippy_about_it; SAMWolf; Professional Engineer; Matthew Paul; Samwise; PhilDragoo; radu; All

Good morning everyone.

17 posted on 11/06/2004 6:10:00 AM PST by Soaring Feather (~Poetry is my forte.~)
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To: snippy_about_it

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on November 06:
1661 Charles II last Habsburg king of Spain (1665-1700)
1671 Colley Cibber England, dramatist/poet laureate (Love's Last Shift)
1746 Absalom Jones Delaware, born into slavery
1771 Alois Senefelder inventor (lithography)
1814 Adolphe Sax Belgium, musician/inventor (saxophone)
1832 Joseph Smith son of founder of Mormonism
1836 Francis Ellingwood Abbot Boston, theologian (Scientific Theism)
1851 Charles H Dow co-founded Dow Jones/1st editor of Wall St Journal
1854 John Phillip Sousa Wash DC, march king (Stars & Stripes Forever)
1860 Ignace Jan Paderewski Kurylowka Poland, composer/pianist/patriot
1861 James A Naismith inventor (basketball)
1887 Walter Johnson Kansas, Wash Senator pitcher (1907-27) (414-218)
1896 Jim Jordan radio comedian (Fibber McGee)
1900 Heinrich Himmler Nazi SS leader
1916 Ray Conniff Massachusetts, chorus director (Ray Conniff Singers)
1921 James Jones Robinson IL, novelist (From Here to Eternity)
1923 Robert P Griffin actor (Barricade, Broken Arrow, Crime of Passion)
1928 Peter Matz Pittsburgh PA, orchestra leader (Hullabaloo, Carol Burnett Show)
1931 Mike Nichols stage/film director (Catch 22, Biloxi Blues)
1933 Knut Johannesen Norway, 5K/10K speed skater (Olympic-gold-1964)
1943 Michael Schwerner civil rights worker, murdered in 1964
1947 Jack Arnold character on Wonder Years
1948 Glenn Frey Detroit, rocker (Eagles-Take it Easy)
1955 Maria Shriver [Mrs A Schwartenegger], Chicago IL, newscaster (Sunday Today)
1960 Lance Kerwin Newport Beach Ca, (James at 15, The Lonliest Runner)
1962 Lori Singer Corpus Christi Texas, actress (Fame, V, Footloose)
1967 Jana McCoy Portales NM, Miss NM-America (1991)
1967 Rebecca Schaeffer Eugene Oregon, actress (Patti-My Sister Sam)
1970 Ethan Hawke Austin, TX, actor (Dad, Dead Poets Society, Explorers)



Deaths which occurred on November 06:
1406 Innocent VII, [Cosma de' Migliorati], Italian Pope (1404-06), dies
1632 King Gustavus Aldophus of Sweden, dies in battle
1839 Rabbi Hayim Rapoport of Ostrowiec author (Maxim Chayyim), dies
1944 Hannah Senesh Jewish poetess, executed by Nazis in Budapest
1978 Flora Campbell actress (Faraway Hill, Date With Judy), dies at 67
1980 Mary Michael actress (Birdie-Wonderful John Acton), dies at 77
1987 Ross R Barnett lawyer/(Gov-D-Miss), dies at 89
1987 William C Pahlmann interior decorator (4 Seasons NYC), dies at 80
1991 Gene Tierney actress, dies at 70 of emphysema


Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1964 DAWSON DANIEL G.---FORT BRAGG CA.
{ACFT OVERDUE]
1965 BOLSTAD RICHARD E.---MINNEAPOLIS MN.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 CORMIER ARTHUR---WEST ORANGE NJ.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 LILLY WARREN E.---DALLAS TX.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJURED, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 MC KNIGHT GEORGE G.---ALBANY OR.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV INJ, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1965 SINGLETON JERRY A.---OKLAHOMA CITY OK.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1967 HAGERMAN ROBERT WARREN---CHICAGO IL.
[REMAINS RETURNED 12/04/85]
1968 TURNER FREDERICK RAY---COLUMBUS OH.
1972 TOLBERT CLARENCE O.---TISHOMINGO OK.
[REMAINS RETURNED 02/22/89]

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.


On this day...
1429 Henry VI is crowned King of England.
1528 Cabeza de Vaca discovers what would become Texas
1572 Supernova is observed in the constellation known as Cassiopeia
1812 The first winter snow falls on the French Army as Napoleon Bonaparte retreats from Moscow
1813 Chilpancingo congress declares Mexico independent of Spain
1844 Spain grants Dominican Rep independence
1850 1st Hawaiian fire engine
1850 Yerba Buena & Angel Islands (San Francisco Bay) reserved for military use
1860 Abraham Lincoln (R-Ill-Rep) elected 16th President
1861 Jefferson Davis elected to 6 year term as Confederate President
1862 NY-San Francisco direct telegraphic link established
1865 CSS Shenandoah strikes its flag at Liverpool, England; the final act of the Confederate States of America
1869 1st intercollegiate football (soccer) game (Rutgers 6, Princeton 4)
1883 NYAC organizes 1st American cross-country championship race
1884 British protectorate proclaimed over southeast New Guinea
1885 US mint at Carson City, Nevada directed to close
1888 Benjamin Harrison (R-Sen-Indiana) beats President Grover Cleveland (D), 233 electoral votes to 168, Cleveland received slightly more votes
1891 Comanche, the only 7th Cavalry horse to survive George Armstrong Custer's "Last Stand" at the Little Bighorn, dies at Fort Riley, Kansas
1900 President William McKinley (R) re-elected, beating William Jennings Bryan
1906 Charles Evans Hughes (R) elected NY gov beats William Randolph Hearst
1913 Mohandas K Gandhi arrested for leading Indian miners march in South Africa

1917 Bolshevik revolution begins with the capture of the Winter Palace

1918 Republic of Poland proclaimed

1923 USSR adopts experimental calendar, with 5-day "weeks"
1924 Stanley Baldwin becomes PM of England
1928 Herbert Hoover (R) beats Alfred E Smith (D) for President
1935 Maiden flight by Canada's Hawker Hurricane military plane
1936 RCA displays TV for the press
1939 WGY-TV (Schenectady, NY), 1st commercial TV station, begins service
1942 Nazis execute 12,000 Minsk ghetto Jews
1945 HUAC begins investigation of 7 radio commentators
1952 1st hydrogen bomb exploded (by US at Eniwetok Atoll)
1956 Holland & Spain withdraw from Olympics, protest Soviets in Hungary
1956 President Eisenhower (D) re-elected defeating Adlai E Stevenson (R)
1957 Felix Gaillard becomes premier of France
1961 US government issues a stamp honoring 100th birthday of James Naismith
1962 BART bond issue just gets by with a 66.9% favorable vote
1962 Edward M Kennedy 1st elected (Sen-D-MA) PARRRTY!!!
1962 Edward W Brooke (R) elected attorney general of Massachusetts
1966 1st entire lineup televised in color (NBC)
1967 US launches Surveyor 6; makes soft landing on Moon Nov 9
1969 1st Cy Young Award tie (Mike Cuellar, Baltimore & Denny McLain, Detroit)
1973 Abe Beame elected 1st jewish mayor on NYC
1973 Coleman Young elected mayor of Detroit
1975 1st appearance of the Sex Pistols
1976 Benjamin Hooks, succeeds Roy Wilkins as executive director of NAACP
1977 39 killed in an earthen dam burst at Toccoa Falls Bible College, Ga
1978 Shah of Iran places Iran under military rule
1984 President Reagan (R) landslide (won 49 states) re-election over Mondale (D) (Dems declare no mandate)
1985 22nd Space Shuttle Mission (61A) -Challenger 9- lands at Edwards AFB
1985 Exploratory well at Ranger TX, explodes spilling 6.3 m gallons of oil
1985 General Jaruzelski elected Poland's head of state
1986 Reagan signs landmark immigration reform bill (glad that problem was solved)
1988 Japan & MLB all stars played to a 6-6 draw (Game 2 of 7)
1989 US marshals & FCC seize pirate radio station WJPL in Brooklyn
1990 Arsenio Hall gets a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame
1990 Fire destroys some of Universal Studio's stages
1993 Next transit of Mercury
1995 Art Modell officially announces Cleveland Browns are moving to Baltimore
2002 The U.N. Security Council began considering the revised U.S. draft resolution that would declare Iraq in continuing "material breach" of previous measures and warn Baghdad of "serious consequences" if it fails to cooperate with weapons inspectors.


Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Mauritius : Ganga Asnam
Denmark : Esbjerg Cup-World's largest ice skating championship
US : Double Talk Week (Day 5)
Arbor Day (Samoa).
US : Saxophone Day
British Appreciation Month
National Accordion Month!


Religious Observances
Anglican : St Illtyd & Leonard's Day (abbot)
Ang, RC : Commemoration of St Leonard, hermit


Religious History
1777 Anglican hymnwriter John Newton wrote in a letter: 'God often takes a course for accomplishing His purposes directly contrary to what our narrow views would prescribe. He brings a death upon our feelings, wishes and prospects when He is about to give us the desire of our hearts.'
1789 Following the American Revolution, Father John Carroll, 54, was appointed the first Roman Catholic bishop in the newly organized and independent United States of America.
1853 The first Chinese Presbyterian Church in the U.S. was organized in San Francisco, CA.
1953 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'Our prayers are really His prayers; He speaks to himself through us.'
1977 In Toccoa Falls, GA, the Barnes Lake Dam burst, following heavy rains, and the resulting flood destroyed the (Christian and Missionary Alliance) campus of Toccoa Falls Bible Institute. Thirty_eight students and instructors were also killed in the tragedy.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.


Thought for the day :
"Even the smallest candle burns brighter in the dark."


Office Inspirational Sayings...
Doing a job RIGHT the first time gets the job done. Doing the job WRONG fourteen times gives you job security.


Children's stories that never made it...
Hammers, Screwdrivers and Scissors: An I-Can-Do-It Book


Handy Latin Phrases...
Utinam barbari spatioum proprium tuum invadant!
May barbarians invade your personal space!


Gloat
Al Gore claims that since he actually won in 2000, America just re-elected *him*.


18 posted on 11/06/2004 6:10:42 AM PST by Valin (Out Of My Mind; Back In Five Minutes)
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To: Neil E. Wright

Morning Neil.

Remember the crystal sets you could get and build as a kid?


19 posted on 11/06/2004 6:29:15 AM PST by SAMWolf (Whapped upside the head with a lime . . . another drive-by fruiting.)
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To: Iris7
My wife looks askance at me when I call myself a romantic, but to her romance means what us lads called "gushy stuff", the sort of things that ruined a good Western.

Morning Iris7. There's being a romantic and "there's being a romantic", you're right about it being interpreted differently by men and women.

20 posted on 11/06/2004 6:32:11 AM PST by SAMWolf (Whapped upside the head with a lime . . . another drive-by fruiting.)
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