The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Battle of the Atlantic - (1939 -1945) - July 1st, 2003

http://www.iwm.org.uk/online/atlantic/dec41dec42.htm ^

[SAMWolf]

Dear Lord,

There's a young man far from home,
called to serve his nation in time of war;
sent to defend our freedom
on some distant foreign shore.

We pray You keep him safe,
we pray You keep him strong,
we pray You send him safely home ...
for he's been away so long.

There's a young woman far from home,
serving her nation with pride.
Her step is strong, her step is sure,
there is courage in every stride.
We pray You keep her safe,
we pray You keep her strong,
we pray You send her safely home ...
for she's been away too long.

Bless those who await their safe return.
Bless those who mourn the lost.
Bless those who serve this country well,
no matter what the cost.

Author Unknown

.

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

.

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

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The Battle of the Atlantic

Overview

If the Allies had not won the Battle of the Atlantic, they would not have won the Second World War. Success ensured Britain's survival and the ultimate victory of the Allies over Nazi Germany. Half Britain's food and two-thirds of its raw materials came from overseas. Before America's entry into the war, the campaign in the Atlantic was purely defensive, fought to maintain Britain's lifeline. After it, the need to transport American land and air forces to Britain to prepare for the invasion of Europe transformed it into the most important of the war. Both of these operations depended utterly on the safe and timely arrival of Allied merchant ships. Although problems posed by German surface raiders and aircraft were not insignificant, the security of the sea lanes could be assured only by the defeat of the U-boat.

The three ways of achieving this goal were, in order of importance, establishing convoys, avoiding U-boats or sinking them. Ships sailing in convoy were less vulnerable to U-boats than those sailing independently, although the system always depended on the number of escort vessels available and in the early years of the war there were simply not enough. The spectacular intelligence breakthroughs which the Allies achieved allowed them to route convoys away from U-boats, though they were helped by equally important German failures. U-boat Command could never bring itself to believe that the Enigma code had been penetrated and never understood that the Allies' exploitation of the huge volume of radio communications generated by its centralised command system was the basis of their success. When German codebreaking put the U-boats back in the path of Allied convoys, the belated deployment and combination of trained and co-ordinated escort groups, technological superiority and air power began to sink U-boats rapidly and in increasing numbers and eventually won a hard-fought and timely victory.

The U-boat war began in earnest with the acquisition by the German Navy of bases on the French Atlantic coast in mid-1940. However, within a year the Germans had lost the Battle of the Atlantic. The Allies' success with Ultra from mid-1941 onwards defeated the first wolf pack offensive. The German invasion of the Soviet Union in June began a campaign which always took resources away from Dönitz's submarines. Within seven months of America's entry into the war, US shipyards were building merchant ships faster than U-boats could sink them.


Royal Canadian Navy Flower-Class Corvette escorts a convoy early in the war.

Ultimately, the Battle of the Atlantic was a triumph of the co-operation and integration of the armed forces and the mobilisation of resources of three formidable maritime powers, Britain, Canada and America. The foundation upon which all Allied naval success was built was the contribution of the thousands of sailors, civilians and servicemen, who constantly carried out the many tasks, usually monotonous and uncomfortable, often dangerous, which characterised life in the Atlantic. But the Battle was won as much by men (and women) on dry land in London, Liverpool, Washington, Ottawa and the Bethlehem-Fairfield shipyard, Baltimore as men, braced against the wind and the rain searching for the next U-boat, at sea.

December 1941 - December 1942

Four days after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Germany declared war on the United States of America. Long before its actual entry into the war, the USA had been participating in the Atlantic campaign on an increasing scale. From 1940 onwards, US naval observers had been attached to the Royal Navy. In mid-September 1941, US ships began to escort convoys between Newfoundland and Iceland. The German Navy had long since identified the western Atlantic as the most vulnerable area for Allied shipping and anticipated rich pickings along the American eastern seaboard.



U-boats were in place to start operations by mid-January 1942. The abundance of targets, including a preponderance of valuable oil tankers sailing between the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and east coast US ports, and the American reluctance to adopt the convoy system created a second "Happy Time" for the U-boat commanders. Between January and June in the North Atlantic, Allied losses reached an average of nearly 88 ships ( 471,948 tons) per month. In May and June alone, U-boats sank over one million tons in US waters. This massive German success was achieved with a relatively small number of boats. However, from mid-March, their operational endurance was boosted by the deployment of submarine tankers (or "milch cows" as the Germans called them) which resulted in strength peaking at 16-18, operating between Nova Scotia and the tip of Florida.

Initially, the Americans preferred to route coastal traffic independently and hunt U-boats by offensive patrols. They had seen the lack of success achieved by the Canadians when escorting slow convoys in autumn 1941. Many US escorts were deployed in the Pacific until the Battle of Midway in early June greatly reduced Japanese naval power. Unfortunately, westbound ships which had been safely convoyed across the Atlantic and eastbound ships loaded with essential supplies in American ports were lost in waters where the existing Allied convoy system could not protect them. Despite pressure from the British, the Americans were slow in adopting suitable defensive measures and did not introduce even a partial convoy system until 1 April.


Depth charge exploding

Gradually, however, an improvement was made in US tactics and began to take effect. Firstly, U-boats were denied their profitable hunting grounds in shallow coastal waters. Then, by the middle of 1942, both north and south bound convoys along the US eastern seaboard were instituted, forcing the U-boats to move from this area to the Caribbean. By September, the US Navy had established a complete interlocking convoy system between Canada and Brazil. Convoys across the Atlantic now took a more direct, southerly route than before to avoid the worst of the northern weather (albeit rendering air cover based on Iceland less effective). Crucially, this was made possible by the introduction to the convoys of tankers, which could refuel escort vessels en route. Other tactical and technical advances were also made. A change in patrol techniques gave convoys better air support. Coastal Command aircraft now had radar and searchlights (known as Leigh lights), which gave them the advantage of surprise over the U-boat, exploited by new, more powerful, depth charges. By August, the arrival of a few Very Long Range Liberators meant that aircraft were beginning to operate in the crucial mid-Atlantic air gap. Shipborne radar and, from July onwards, High Frequency Direction Finding (or "Huff-Duff") equipment, which pinpointed U-boats making radio transmissions on the surface, gave escort vessels a better chance of finding their adversary. Improved training for their commanders and the introduction of standard attack response procedures contributed towards the improved efficiency of convoy escort groups.

Throughout 1942, the numbers of operational U-boats increased rapidly, at a rate significantly faster than the Allies could sink them. In January there were 91, twelve months later the strength had risen to 212; 87 U-boats were lost during the year. Planned wolf pack attacks in the North Atlantic had temporarily ceased in November 1941, though a few isolated assaults were still attempted over the first half of the year. Then, from August, with Western Atlantic and Caribbean waters becoming unprofitable, Admiral Dönitz, the U-boat commander, unleashed his wolf packs in a renewed campaign of increasing intensity against the North Atlantic convoys. He concentrated his forces in the central Atlantic air gap, which all but a few of the covering Allied aircraft could still not yet reach. Dönitz had several advantages. The support of a number of "milch cows" gave the U-boats extended endurance. The Allies were still short of escort vessels. They had also, for most of 1942, lost the ability to read U-boat high-level coded radio signals, whereas German wireless intelligence of Allied convoy movements was still highly successful.



The battle raged for the rest of the year. Between July and December, 480 Allied ships with a tonnage of 2,639,533 tons were sunk in the North Atlantic. The overall, worldwide total for 1942 of nearly 7.8 million tons gave a monthly average not far short of the 700,000 tons Dönitz had identified at the start of the year as that which would soon bring Britain to defeat. His U-boats had accounted for approximately 80% of the sinkings. By the end of 1942, the Admiralty reported that the shipping situation had never been tighter. There were still not enough naval and air escorts and fuel stocks were getting very low. Most of the new merchant shipping being built was American, most of the losses were British. Imports were down one-third on the 1939 total. Paradoxically, the great success of transporting the massive numbers of troops and their supplies needed for the North African landings in November from Britain and the USA had been at the expense of taking the necessary escort ships away from the North Atlantic convoys. For the Allies, the Atlantic battle, on which so much rested, was reaching crisis point.

January 1943 - May 1943

The Battle of the Atlantic came to a climax between March and May 1943. In the three winter months from December 1942 to February 1943, bad weather and evasive routeing of convoys ensured that losses were comparatively fewer than in the previous autumn, though sinkings in the North Atlantic still reached 119 ships (723,451 tons). However, from the end of February onwards, fortified by a U-boat operational strength nearing its zenith and a break down in Allied Ultra intelligence during the first three weeks of March, German submarines again began to enjoy great success in the mid-Atlantic gap where Allied air cover still did not reach.


Hedgehog pattern.
The hedgehog was the DE’s other antisubmarine weapon, in addition to depth charges. You can see the splashes from several of these small charges, plus two in flight and others just about to hit the water. The haze under the upper 3” is smoke from the hedgehogs being launched. Each of these projectiles carries a small explosive charge that detonates upon contact with a submarine. If one or more of these hit a sub, it would hopefully damage it enough to force it to the surface or sink it outright.

Over the next twenty days, the wolf packs, which now had a strength of one hundred in the North and Central Atlantic, wrought such havoc that Allied losses again began to reach the devastating levels of 1942. One of the biggest engagements of the war took place between 16-20 March when twenty U-boats attacked two eastbound convoys totalling 100 ships. At the cost of only one U- boat, the Germans sank 21 ships, with a combined 141,000 tonnage. The overall figure for March in the North Atlantic was 476,349 tons, about 75% of the world total, with 82 of the 108 ships lost in this theatre. Most serious of all was that nearly two-thirds of these losses had been sunk while sailing in convoy. The Admiralty considered that this was the closest the Germans ever came to breaking the transatlantic lifeline between Britain and America.

However, this possibility was only a fleeting one as, over the next two months, the German offensive faltered rapidly. The foundation of the change in fortunes had been laid in January when the British and US leaders conferred at the Casablanca Conference. Churchill and Roosevelt decided that the defeat of the U-boat must become the Allies' top priority. The liberation of Europe would never be able to go ahead until the Battle of the Atlantic had been won. From 1st-12th March, British, American and Canadian naval and air force representatives at the Atlantic Convoy Conference in Washington decided upon several initiatives. Twenty Very Long Range (VLR) Liberator aircraft were to be supplied to the Royal Canadian Air Force in Newfoundland to begin the closing of the mid-Atlantic air gap. Escort carrier groups were to be introduced to provide further protection for convoys. New convoy cycles were to be created and the High Frequency Direction Finding ('Huff-Duff') network was to be increased.

Only 20 VLR Liberators were operational by the end of March but by the middle of April the number had doubled to 41. By the same time, RAF Coastal Command had 28 anti-submarine squadrons, with aircraft types including Leigh Light Wellingtons and ordinary Liberators. The number of escort vessels was increasing sharply, which often allowed convoys to be given an outer as well as an inner protective cordon. At the end of March, five support groups were established to reinforce escorts of threatened convoys and hunt for U-boats. Some had escort carriers which were able to provide convoys with their own covering airpower. Centrimetric radar, with its effective 360 degree surveillance, became operational in February. Improving weather in April made radar and 'Huff Duff 'more effective. The availability again of Ultra intelligence from the third week of March enabled these new weapons to be deployed to their maximum effect.



Losses in April were significantly lower than those of the previous month. North Atlantic sinkings fell by over 50% to 235,478 tons (39 ships). At the beginning of May, Dönitz still had approximately sixty U-boats preying on the (narrowing) mid-Atlantic air gap. Half of these were concentrated across the path of a slow eastward convoy, with another eleven waiting further ahead. For a week from 29 April during very stormy weather the U-boats engaged in a fierce running battle with the convoy and its escorts. They succeeded in sinking twelve merchantmen, but at the cost of seven of their own. During the rest of May, the wolf packs made a series of repeated, but ultimately failed, attacks. The number of sinkings was greatly reduced and some convoys crossed the Atlantic without any losses at all. Conversely, U-boat casualties were heavy. Between mid-April and the end of May, 27 were lost in the North Atlantic and nearly 100 had been sunk in the Atlantic since the start of the year. VLR Liberators had finally closed the air gap. Sea and air escorts with the convoys were now present in sufficient numbers to thwart the U-boat. At the end of May, Dönitz withdrew his battered force from the Atlantic, a clear signal that the Allies had won a decisive victory.

June 1943 - May 1945

The Allied victory over the German U-boats in May 1943 was not the end of the Battle of the Atlantic, but it was the decisive moment. Dönitz fulfilled his promise for his submarines to return to the fray, but never again did they pose as grave a threat. The sea and air escorts and support groups sent out with the convoys and the Very Long Range aircraft patrolling in mid-Atlantic were the keystones of the Allied success and they maintained their predominance until the end of the war. Also, in July 1943, the rate of production at which new merchant shipping was coming out of British and American yards overtook the rate at which U-boats were sinking Allied ships at sea and never afterwards fell below it.



During July and August, further defeats were inflicted on Dönitz's forces along U-boat transit routes in the Shetlands-Faroe Islands gap and across the Bay of Biscay. The offensive in the latter area proved by far the most successful of the two, where twenty boats were sunk between 1 July and 2 August. Many were surprised on the surface at night by aircraft now equipped with both Leigh Lights and centrimetric radar. Also, American escort carriers destroyed the "milch cows" refuelling U-boats off the Azores.

The wolf packs returned to the North Atlantic in September 1943 armed with new acoustic homing torpedoes and improved anti-aircraft radar and weapons. However, attacks on convoys over the autumn achieved only limited success at the cost of a severe mauling by Allied sea and air escorts. Forty U-boats were sunk in the North Atlantic in the last four months of 1943 to add to the twelve lost between June and August. Wolf pack tactics had finally failed. In early 1944, Dönitz concentrated on British coastal waters in the north-western approaches in an attempt to repeat the first "happy time". Unfortunately for the German Navy, three and a half years on, Allied anti-submarine firepower was vastly stronger than it had been in 1940. Coastal Command squadrons from western Scotland and Northern Ireland provided continuous air cover, while at sea several escort and support groups, some with escort carriers, were concentrated against the U-boats which suffered another severe defeat.



For the rest of the war, Dönitz's force was reduced to a harassing role to try and tie down as many Allied naval forces as possible. A prime opportunity for such action came against the ships and landing craft massing in the waters of the English Channel and adjacent coastal areas for the invasion of Europe in June 1944. Most U-boats had by this time been fitted with the Schnorkel breathing device, allowing them to stay underwater for much longer periods than hitherto and making them much harder to detect. However, so numerous were the escorts and so intensive the air and sea patrolling accompanying the invasion convoys that few U-boats reached the fleet. In the remaining months of the war, increasingly successful Allied bombing of factories and assembly ports, which delayed the completion of advanced new types, put the seal on the final and utter defeat of the U-boat.

[SAMWolf]

:-) It was the punch line in a comic strip and ripped it off.

[CholeraJoe]

They're a trip, SAM. Thanks.

[MeekOneGOP]

Mornin' !! Gonna be a HOT one today I think !

[SAMWolf]

LOL! Hi Meek

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on July 01:
1646 G.W. Leibniz German mathematician/philosopher; postulated monads
1788 Jean-Victor Poncelet mathematician, founded projective geometry
1804 George Sand France, novelist (Valentine, Le Figaro)
1807 Thomas Green Clemson mining engineer, endowed Clemson University
1810 Walter White secretary (NAACP)
1857 Roger Connor 1st baseman (NY Giants)
1861 Samuel D Riddle horse owner (Man 'o War)
1872 Louis Bl‚riot 1st man to fly an airplane across English Channel
1879 L‚on Jouhaux France, socialist, cofounded UN's ILO (Nobel 1951)
1892 James M Cain Minneapolis Mn, novelist (Postman Always Rings Twice)
1893 Walter Francis White Atlanta Georgia
1899 Charles Laughton England, actor (Mutiny on the Bounty)
1901 Irna Phillips Chicago, created 6 soap operas (Guiding Light)
1902 Billy Wyler director (Mrs Miniver)
1907 Bill Stern Rochester NY, sportscaster (Saturday Night Fights)
1908 Estee Lauder CEO (Estee Lauder's cosmetics)
1909 Madge Evans Manhattan NYC, TV panelist (Masquerade Party)
1911 Alvino Rey Cleve Ohio, orch leader (King Family)
1912 David Brower environmentalist/president Sierra Club
1914 Cristyl Cranz Germany, slalom (Olympic-gold-1936)
1915 Willie Dixon Vicksburg Miss, bassist (Walkin' the Blues)
1916 Olivia de Havilland Tokyo Japan, actress (Adventures of Robin Hood)
1925 Farley Granger actor (Arnold, Rope)
1926 Hans Werner Henze Gttersloh Germany, composer (Das Floss Medusa)
1930 Imelda Marcos former 1st lady (Philipines)/shoe collector
1931 Leslie Caron Boulogne-Biliancourt France, actr (Lili, Father Goose)
1932 Bobby Day [Robert Byrd), Fort Worth Tx, rock vocalist (Rockin' Robin)
1934 Claude Berri Paris France, director (Le Sex Shop, L'Homme Blesse)
1934 Jamie Farr Toledo Oh, actor (Klinger-M*A*S*H, AfterMASH)
1934 Jean Marsh London England, actress (Dark Places, Eagle has Landed)
1934 Sydney Pollack director (Tootsie, Presumed Innocent)
1941 Rod Gilbert Canada, NHL wing (NY Rangers)
1941 Sally Quinn Georgia, CBS newscaster (Morning Show)
1941 Twyla Tharp Indiana, choreographer (Twyla Tharp Dance Troupe)
1942 Genevieve Bujold Montr‚al, actress (King of Hearts, Choose Me)
1942 Karen Black Park Ridge Ill, (5 Easy Pieces, Trilogy of Horror, Pyx)
1945 Deborah Harry rocker (Blondie-Heart of Glass)
1946 Ron Silver NYC, actor (Entity, Silkwood, Best Friends)
1951 Daryl Anderson Seattle, actor (Animal-Lou Grant)
1951 Fred Schneider vocals/guitarist (B-52's-Rock Lobster)
1951 Trevor Eve Wales, actor (Shadow Chasers)
1952 Dan Aykroyd Ottawa Canada, comedian/actor (SNL, Dragnet)
1956 Lorna Patterson Whittier Calif, actress (Airplane, Pvt Benjamin)
1960 Evelyn "Champagne" King Bronx NY, singer (Shame, I'm In Love)
1961 Carl Lewis US, olympic track & field star (Gold-1984, 1988)
1961 Lady Diane Spencer (Princess Di) consort of England
1964 Poi Burton rocker (Transvision Vamp-Velveteen)
1967 Pamela Anderson Ladysmith BC, playmate (Feb, 1990) (Home Improvement)

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Deaths which occurred on July 01:
1523 Hendrik Voes, Flemish priest/church reformer, burned at stake
1523 John of Esschen, Flemish priest/church reformer, burned at stake
1784 Wilhelm Friedmann Bach, composer (Sinfonias 64), dies at 73
1839 Mahmud II, sultan of Turkey (1808-39), dies at 53
1863 John Fulton Reynolds, Union general, dies in battle (Gettysburg) at 42
1896 Harriet Beecher Stowe, US author (Uncle Tom's Cabin), dies at 85
1958 Dr Harry Nicholls Holmes crystallized vitamin A, dies at 78
1974 Juan D Peron, president of Argentina (1946-55, 73-74), dies at 78
1979 Richard Ward actor (Beacon Hill), dies at 64
1981 George Voskovec actor (Fred-Nero Wolfe, Peter-Skag), dies at 76
1983 R Buckminster Fuller inventor/philosopher, dies in LA at 87
1986 Roy Poole actor (Winds of War), dies at 62
1991 Michael Landon actor (Bonanza), dies at 54 from cancer
1995 Rock and roll disc jockey Wolfman Jack died at age 57 in Belvidere, N.C.
1997 Actor Robert Mitchum died in Santa Barbara County, Calif., at age 79.

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 CAMPBELL BURTON W. LORAIN OH.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 PETERS CHARLES HENRY WEST POINT NE.
[REMAINS RETURNED 10/88]
1966 WILLIAMS ROBERT C. MC LEANSBORO IL. [05/95 REMAINS RETURNED]
1972 CHENEY KEVIN J. MIAMI FL.
[03/28/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE IN 98]
1972 ROBINSON PAUL K. GALION OH.
[03/28/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]

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

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On this day...
0070 Roman Emperor Titus assaults the walls of Jerusalem with battering rams
96 Vespasian, a Roman army leader, is hailed as a Roman emperor by the Egyptian legions.
1097 1st Crusaders defeat Sultan Kilidj Arslan of Nicea
1200 In China, "sunglasses" are invented [T]
1535 Sir Thomas More went on trial in England charged with treason
1690 Army of England's Protestant King William III defeats Roman Catholic King James II in Battle of the Boyne in Ireland (Now celebrated on July 12 as "The Battle of the Orange" )
1776 1st vote on the Declaration of Independence
1795 John Rutledge becomes 2nd chief justice of Supreme Court
1816 Fr frigate Medusa wrecked; basis of G‚ricault's "Raft of the Medusa"
1823 United Provinces of Central America gain independence from Mexico
1847 1st US postage stamps go on sale, 5 Franklin & 10 Washington, NYC
1847 Amateur astronomer M Hencke discovers 2nd asteroid Hebe
1847 K L Hencke discovers asteroid #6 Hebe
1850 At least 626 ships lie at anchor around SF Bay
1859 1st intercollegiate baseball game, Amherst beats Williams 66-32
1859 Balloon covers a record 809 miles over St Louis
1861 1st public schoolhouse opens at Washington & Mason St, SF
1862 Congress outlaws polygamy (1st time); bad news for Utah
1862 Day 7 of the 7 Days-Battle of Malvern Hill
1862 Lincoln appoints Isaac Newton sec of agriculture-no kidding!
1862: Internal Revenue Law imposes the first federal taxes on inheritance, tobacco & on incomes over $600 (progressive rate)
1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Pa; Lee's northward advance halted
1863: Free delivery of mail begins in 49 U.S. cities (postage is 3¢/oz)
1867 Dominion of Canada formed (New Bruns, Nova Scotia, Ontario & Qu‚bec)
1869 US mint at Carson City, Nevada opens
1870 James W Smith of SC is 1st black to enter West Point
1873 Henry Flipper of Ga is 2nd black to enter West Point
1873 Prince Edward Island becomes 7th Canadian province
1874 1st US kidnapping for ransom, 4-year-old Charles Ross, $20,000
1875 Universal Postal Union established
1881 1st international telephone conversation, Calais, ME-St Stephen, NB
1881 US Assay Office in St Louis, Missouri opens
1884 V Knorre discovers asteroid #238 Hypatia
1889 Frederick Douglass named Minister to Haiti
1889 US mint at Carson City, Nevada reopens
1893 SF Bay City Club opens 1st US bicycle race track, made of wood
1897 The Bronx acquires Hutton Square
1898 Teddy Roosevelt & his Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill
1899 Gideon Society established to place bibles in hotels
1899 SF City Hall turned over to city, after 29 years of building
1902 Start of Sherlock Holmes "Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax" (BG)
1904 3rd modern Olympic games opens in St Louis
1910 Chicago's Comiskey Park opens
1910 Union of South Africa becomes a dominion
1915 Australia begins Commonwealth Lighthouse Service
1915 Australian Survey Corps becomes part of the Military Forces
1916 Eisenhower marries Mary `Mamie' Geneva Doud in Denver Colo
1917 Race riots in East St Louis Illinois (40 to 200 reported killed)
1917 Reds Fred Toney pitches completes doubleheader victories over Pirates
1919 1st class postage drops from 3 to 2
1920 Wash Senator Walter Johnson no-hits Boston Red Sox, 1-0
1924 Through regular transcontinental airmail service established, NYC-SF
1925 Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs created in UK
1931 Ice vending machines introduced in LA 25 lbs, 15
1931 Phillies Chuck Klein hits for the cycle vs Chicago Cubs
1932 NY Gov FDR nominated for president at the Dem Convention in Chicago
1933 G Neujmin discovers asteroid #1590 Tsiolkovskaja.
1934 1st x-ray photo of entire body, Rochester, NY
1941 1st coml TV licenses granted-W2XBS-WNBT (NBC) & WCBW (CBS), NYC
1941 Bulova Watch Co. pays $9 for 1st ever network TV commercial
1941 Joe Dimaggio on way to 56, ties Willie Keeler's 44 game hit streak
1943 1st withholding tax from paychecks
1944 Bretton Woods Conference starts, establishing IMF & World Bank
1946 Rajah cedes Sarawak to the British crown
1946 US drops atom bomb on Bikini atoll (4th atomic explosion)
1947 Brit Dominion Affairs office becomes Commonwealth Relations office
1948 NYC subway fare goes to 10, bus fare to 7 & combo fare at 12
1949 Bao Dai's Republic of Vietnam gains independence from France
1950 NYC bus fare rises to 10 equal to subway fare, combo fare at 15
1951 Cleve Indian Bob Feller, 3rd no-hitter beats Det Tigers, 2-1
1956 Elvis Presley wearing a tuxedo appears on The Steve Allen Show
1959 World Refugee Year begins
1960 Ghana becomes a republic
1960 Italian Somalia gains independence, unites with Somali Republic
1961 Haleakala National Park established in Hawaii
1962 Burundi & Rwanda gain independence from Belgium (National Days)
1963 Beatles record "She Loves You" & "I'll Get You"
1963 US postal service institutes the (Zone Improvement Plan) zip code
1966 Construction crews begin tearing up Market St to build BART
1966 Medicare goes into effect
1967 BBC starts their World Radio Club
1967 Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," goes #1 for 15 weeks
1968 John Lennon's 1st full art exhibition (You are Here)
1968 US, Britain, USSR & 58 nations sign Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
1969 Charles Philip Arthur George invested as Prince of Wales
1969 John & Yoko are hospitilized after a car crash
1971 Golden Gate Bridge paid for (so why is there still a toll?)
1972 Ms. magazine begins publishing
1973 1st US-China basketball game, US collegiates beats Shanghai 96-61
1974 Monmouthshire renamed Gwent & becomes part of Wales
1975 Felix Aguilar Observatory discovers asteroid #2680
1975 WEDway People Mover inaugurated
1976 Kenneth Gibson, is 1st black president of US Conference of Mayors
1977 Virginia Wade beats Betty Stove for Wimbeldon's woman's singles
1978 Former Pres Nixon makes 1st public speech since resigning in 1974
1978 Northern Territory of Australia becomes self-governing
1979 Stampede Pass, Washington is covered with 6" of snow
1980 Steve Overt runs world record 3:48.8 mile in Oslo
1981 Laurel Canyon Calif murders (4 die, 1 wounded)
1981 Radio Shack 3rd release of Model III TRSDOS 1.3
1982 2,100 Unification church couples wed in NYC
1982 Challenger moves overland to Dryden
1982 Kosmos 1383, 1st search & rescue satellite, launched
1982 Over 2000 Unification Church couples marry at NY MSG
1987 Bork nominated to Supreme Court, rejected in Oct by senate
1987 NYC radio station WFAN-AM becomes 1st 24 hour all sports radio
1987 WHN-AM in New York City changes call letters to WFAN (now WEVD) replacing WHN's country music, WYNY-FM adopts country music format
1989 Hugh Hefner (Playboy editor) weds playmate Kimberly Conrad
1989 NFL owners vote unanimously to form the WLAF
1989 Yanks beat Milwaukee Brewers 4-1, score is changed to 5-1 after the game is over. Umpire rules Roberto Kelly scored before a doubleplay
1990 Despite Andy Hawkins no-hitting the White Sox, Yankees lose 4-0
1990 German Democratic Republic accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency
1990 In Victoria, Australia, helmetless bike riding becomes illegal
1997 China regains sovereignty of Hong Kong

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"
National Anti-Boredom Month
Bangladesh, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Iraq, Taiwan : Bank Holiday
British Virgin Islands : Territory Day
Burundi, Rwanda : Independence Day (1962)
Canada : Dominion Day/Canada Day (except Sunday) (1867)
Ghana : Republic Day (1960)
Hong Kong : « Year Day
Ireland : Pilgrimage to Shrine of Blessed Oliver Plunkett
Somalia : Union Day/Foundation Day (1960)
Surinam : Freedom Day/Labour Day
Turkey : Navy & Merchant Marine Day
Iowa : Independence Sunday - - - - - ( Sunday )
Caribbean Common Market : Caribbean Day (1973) - - - - - ( Monday )
Lesotho : Family Day - - - - - ( Monday )
Zambia : Heroes Day - - - - - ( Monday )
Zambia : Unity Day - - - - - ( Tuesday )
US : Honor America Days
Czechoslovakia : St†znice Folk Festival
U.S. Build A Scarecrow Day
U.S. Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day

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Religious Observances
Luth : Commem of Catherine Winkworth, John Neale, hymnwriters
Old Catholic : Feast of the Precious Blood of Jesus
RC : Comm of St Oliver Plunkett, Irish martyr/theologian/primate

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Religious History
1643 The Westminster Assembly first convened in England, from which would emerge theWestminster longer and shorter catechisms.
1800 The earliest recorded Methodist camp meeting in America was held in Logan CountyKentucky, near the Gaspar River Church.
1899 In Wisconsin, the Gideons were founded by three traveling businessmen. They placedtheir first Bibles in 1908 at the Superior Hotel in Iron Mountain, Montana.
1942 Birth of Andrae Crouch, African-American sacred music artist. His most enduringgospel songs have been 'Soon and Very Soon,' 'My Tribute' and 'Through It All.'
1985 The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public school teachers may not enter parochialschool classrooms, to provide remedial or enrichment instruction.

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

---

Thought for the day :
"Interchangeable parts ... Don't"

[Fiddlstix]

Good Morning Everybody.

You Know The Drill
Click the Pics J

Coffee & Donuts J

[Valin]

SITREP IRAQ

From: Willand [Lt.Col. 160/40th ID] Date: Sunday, June 29, 2003 7:36 AM To:... Subject: Re: SITREP?

A Suburban driven by our group had a grenade dropped on the roof from an overpass 2 days ago. Fortunately it bounced off the roof and exploded on the side of the vehicle on or near the ground and no one was hurt. But for the windows blown out and 80+ holes in the side of the car, tire and fuel tank.

Last night there were 2 RPGs launched near our hotel. An Iraqi woman manager of one of the electrical plants that has been working with one of our guys was asked to come to the door 3-4 days ago and shot 3 times in the heart.

Some of the interpreters on our team refuse to ride in our Suburbans now because they are afraid the vehicles, and they, are being targeted as soft targets. So they take taxi's and meet us at various places when outside of the compound.

I have no personal experience with what is going on outside of Baghdad and can't really speak to that. My job is setting up security at 115 municipal facilities throughout Baghdad including some in surrounding areas. I have an Iraqi that works for me a State Department Egyptian interpreter and an office at city hall. I move all around this city almost every day. The rules require an MP escort vehicle front and back for any movement outside the compound (I have heard of some rogues).

Because the locals have a difficult time using maps since they had none they have a hard time even identifying the municipal sites I need to visit. So I pick up a guide at city hall who directs us to the sites I am visiting that day. I do not use the Suburbans for this and ride in the MP HUMMV with the guide. Once on site I do a short assessment like was it looted, was it burned, how many people work at the site and a few other questions? Then I take some photographs and get an all important 10 digit grid so we know where the place is and can plot it. This is the most important thing because it allows us to let the US units in the AO know that there will shortly be armed Iraqi guards at that facility. I am also making them place "Authorized entry only" type warning signs at each of these sites and getting uniforms and brassards for the guards.

Most of the sites were severly looted down to removing the window frames and every electrical fixture and some are completely destroyed. But some were protected like the water treatment plants who are all operational (my heroes are the water people of Baghdad).

Do I feel safe? No! Let me start with the Al Rashed hotel where many of us have been forced to move. It was the former government hotel that catered to all manner of people doing business with the regime. You may have heard of it or seen it on TV. It is the one with Pres. Bush's face on the marble floor so you had to step on his face when you entered the hotel. Rumor has that if you stomped on it well enough you got a better room (the image has been removed). The original staff has been allowed to remain and they are slimy and untrustworthy. Why they were allowed to stay is beyond anyones comprehension and is frankly, disgusting. There have been many complaints of belongings being messed with in some way.

I was lying on my bed on Friday (Sunday for us since it is prayer day and the Iraqi's don't work), the woman housekeeper came in without knocking and before she saw me immediately went into the closet for no good reason. She left immediately upon seeing me looking at her with my 9mm lying on my chest.

With the recent attacks and deaths of our people we are being much more wary when driving around town and I now keep my 9mm in my hand with a round in the chamber and the safety off. It gets a little hairy when you get stuck in these massive traffic jams or in tight market type areas. I also feel better having mail ordered and received some body armor including front and back rifle plates (we were issued flak jackets without plates, although the troops have plates).

Most of the people are decent people and they want us here to help get this mess straightened out and I think they know that there is no one else who can or will do it. The kids are great and the waving and smiles from 99% of the children is a good sign. Mainly because their parents are not objecting to them doing it and they are not throwing rocks. Many, perhaps most, but not all adults will smile at you or give you the thumbs up if you smile at them. The kids have almost turned the waving and thumbs up into some kind of sport and it continues. I also see some of the young women checking out and smiling at our young soldiers.

As I have tried to illustrate, it is not all bad, people generally like us and are very decent. They get a little frustrated at times when the electricity goes off for 2 days and of course the water then stops. And some of the severe sewage problems that exist does not help. Massive traffic jams also do not help. Little by little it is all either being fixed or will be fixed. They just have an expectation that the US can do anything and they wonder why we can't fix it now.

Some of our local interpreters I have spoken with have remarked that people are just extremely tired and worn out. Between Saddam and his wars and the sanctions as well as the latest war with us, they are simply tired.

There are bound to be a lot of bad guys around here since there are a lot of former Ba'ath Party guys that were in power who no longer are and now have to somehow earn a living. Then there are the outside influences from Iran and other places. I don't know how much of this planned or criminal activity. As I said, most people wants us here but it is definitely dangerous.

I probably have not answered your question adequately and there is much, much more to this story but that is all for now. You come back from being around town with you gear and body armor and you are soaking wet and the heat burns you out so I'm done for the day.


posted on 06/30/2003 11:15 PM CDT by WSGilcrest

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/938425/posts

[Pippin]

HEY! Wher's the bacon?

LOL!

[SAMWolf]

1863 Battle of Gettysburg, Pa; Lee's northward advance halted

The high Tide
It was the "High Tide" of the Confederacy -- Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. It began with a long gray line of 15,000 troops arranged in "magnificent order" for a half a mile. Soon the ranks were shredded by shot and shell, and they shrank into small groups of men, gathered under tattered red banners. The most determined crossed the Emmitsburg Road and continued into the face of deadly Northern fire blazing from a stone wall on Cemetery Ridge. More and more fell until, finally, the great assault collapsed. It was the end of Lee's hope to end the war at Gettysburg.

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning, Fiddlstix

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Valin. The news we don't get.

[Valin]

I still get torn up when I read about or try to tell people about the story of Winfield Hancock and Lewis Armistead.

[SAMWolf]

Yeah, it's a heartbreaker. Makes you wonder how many times that story played out among the ordinary soldiers.

[MeekOneGOP]

hehe ! Howdy !

[Valin]

A lot. I recall reading a story that a man (in the union army) found his son (in the Army of northern Virgina) dead at the battle of Bull Run. He found him in a position he had just attacked!

[SAMWolf]

I remember reading a story about brothers who ended up on opposite sides. Both killed in the same battle.

[Valin]

Well I'm outta hare. Got to go pretend I'm working.

[Johnny Gage]

*whew*
It sure was difficult to find information regarding the VLR Maritime version of the B-24, but here's what I found:

Air Power
Consolidated P4Y-1 [PB4Y-1] Liberator

In maritime patrols The Liberator made a massive contribution to the Battle of the Atlantic. It was the only aircraft with the range to close the Atlantic Gap. The decision to allocate early-build Liberators without full defensive armament or self-sealing tanks to Coastal Command produced results immediately: it was the VLR (Very Long Range) Liberator that closed the vital Atlantic Gap.

Later models were more capable of surviving trips over occupied Europe or duels with Axis fighters but, because of the extra weight, had shorter range. Incredibly, nothing was done about this until quite late in the war when the U-boat threat was waning. For twelve months, RAF No. 120 Sqn Coastal Command, with its handful of much patched and modified early model Liberators, supplied the only air cover for convoys in the Atlantic Gap, even while shipments of B-24s to bomber, transport, and ordinary long-range maritime squadrons doubled and redoubled. Many other factors played a part, but it was no accident that the long delayed arrival of more VLR Liberators for maritime patrol coincided with the sudden and decisive turning of the battle in the Allies favour in May 1943.

Very long range patrols aside, the B-24 was also vital in the long range maritime role ( i.e., less than 1000 mile patrol radius), not only in the North Atlantic, but in the South Atlantic (where US Navy Liberators operated) and in the Pacific as well, where USAAF B-24s and USN PB4Y-1s took a heavy toll of Japanese shipping.

Specifications:
Manufacturer: Consolidated
Designation: B-24D, J, M, PB4Y-1
Aircraft Type: Multi-engine bomber/patrol aircraft
Engines: 4 x Pratt & Whitney R-1830-43 or 65
Crew: Some say 6, others 11 or 12

Dimensions:
Wing Span: 110'
Height: 17' 11"
Length: 67' 3"
Empty Weight: 36,950 pounds
Gross Weight: 60,000 pounds

Performance:
Top Speed: 279 mph at 26,500 feet
Cruising Speed: 148 mph at 1,500 feet
Range: 2,960 st miles
Service Ceiling: 31,800 feet
Sea level climb: 830 feet per minute

Armaments:
13 .50 cal Flexible Machine Guns
8000 lb. Bombs/Antisubmarine munitions

This is the PB4Y-2 "privateer" a late variant of the B-24

All photos Copyright of their respective websites.

[Darksheare]

I'm in.
More or less in one piece.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Johnny.

I heard a rumor that the B-24 was the shipping crate they used to send B-17's over seas. Course I heard that from a B-17 pilot so he might have been exaggerating a bit.