Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
- Thread starter fester
- Start date
- Status
My goof - the IJA's Type 98 was 20mm, and made in single and twin mounts.
Very interesting article, thanks. According to Friedman carriers on ordinary daytime operations also normally carried a flight of night fighters - wouldn't want to leave the fleet completely defenceless if the night carrier was out of action. But I assume they would have encountered all the problems mentioned in the article and then some, given generally less experience of night operations.For those interested in nighttime operations on aircraft carriers this article may be interesting:
CIC Operations On a Night Carrier
In July of 1944, the USS Independence started operating as a night carrier after the qualification of her night air group. This immediately brought to the forefront a series of problems for CIC which heretofore had not been encountered. At the present writing, the bulk of these have been ironed...www.history.navy.mil
Honestly personally i was surprised nighttime operations on carriers were even possible during world war two.
Story 2797
Western Pacific, 0830 March 20, 1945
The radar room's air aboard the heavy cruiser was stale. Men had been staring at the cathode ray tubes for hours. Techs would rotate on for half an hour and then off again for half an hour. Eyes would get strained and minds would get tired. Mistakes could cost lives and ships. Acidic coffee was quickly consumed whenever a steward made a pass through the space.
Outlying picket destroyers had detected a major incoming raid twelve minutes ago. The Corsairs and Hellcats in the standing CAP were already being vectored for interceptions. The ready squadrons aboard the carriers of the task group were starting to claw for altitude. The heavy cruiser would control them once they reached 12,000 feet.
The radar room's air aboard the heavy cruiser was stale. Men had been staring at the cathode ray tubes for hours. Techs would rotate on for half an hour and then off again for half an hour. Eyes would get strained and minds would get tired. Mistakes could cost lives and ships. Acidic coffee was quickly consumed whenever a steward made a pass through the space.
Outlying picket destroyers had detected a major incoming raid twelve minutes ago. The Corsairs and Hellcats in the standing CAP were already being vectored for interceptions. The ready squadrons aboard the carriers of the task group were starting to claw for altitude. The heavy cruiser would control them once they reached 12,000 feet.
Was the coffee acidic or acrid?
The former is not usually associated with coffee while the latter is.
Then evidently you have not had truly bad coffee in your life; I am jealous.
Story 2798
Munster, Germany, March 20, 1945
A dozen Centurions of the Scots Guards slowly advanced. Ahead of them was a company of infantry. Another company of Guardsmen warily walked along the edges of the road. Their eyes were looking at every window and doorway. Sniper nests and ambush positions abounded. The city itself was silent. No one except the Guardsmen were on the road. All they could see were white bed sheets hanging from balconies and improvised barricades broken up.
Forty five minutes later, the battle group had advanced over a dozen blocks into the town. One man had been sent to the rear with a broken ankle after he slipped stepping between the raised sidewalk and the street. A dog who was looking for food had delayed the column for a minute. Finally they halted when half a dozen middle aged men in civilian suits walked forward along the central public square. They were the mayor and several members of the city council. They made a request to talk to an officer to arrange for the city's honorable surrender.
Half an hour later, it was clear, that the militias that had been ordered to hold the city to their deaths had decided to think about the future instead. Arrangements were soon made to clear the remaining barricades and for unarmed German guides to be attached to British military police units that sought to control the city as well as to facilitate the continued movement to the east.
A dozen Centurions of the Scots Guards slowly advanced. Ahead of them was a company of infantry. Another company of Guardsmen warily walked along the edges of the road. Their eyes were looking at every window and doorway. Sniper nests and ambush positions abounded. The city itself was silent. No one except the Guardsmen were on the road. All they could see were white bed sheets hanging from balconies and improvised barricades broken up.
Forty five minutes later, the battle group had advanced over a dozen blocks into the town. One man had been sent to the rear with a broken ankle after he slipped stepping between the raised sidewalk and the street. A dog who was looking for food had delayed the column for a minute. Finally they halted when half a dozen middle aged men in civilian suits walked forward along the central public square. They were the mayor and several members of the city council. They made a request to talk to an officer to arrange for the city's honorable surrender.
Half an hour later, it was clear, that the militias that had been ordered to hold the city to their deaths had decided to think about the future instead. Arrangements were soon made to clear the remaining barricades and for unarmed German guides to be attached to British military police units that sought to control the city as well as to facilitate the continued movement to the east.
Story 2799
Prague, March 20, 1945
The whistle blew. Dozens of civilians put down their mattocks, picks and shovels. They trundled out of the anti-tank ditch that they had been digging for the past week. A horse drawn lunch cart was waiting for them. Half a dozen teenage girls handed out hot tea, coarse bread, hard cheese and pork sausages to the work gangs. They were supervised by a bored squad of the Volksturm who were nervously fingering their expediently made submachine guns. Twenty minutes later, the Volksdeutsch civilians were back to digging another part of a defensive complex.
The whistle blew. Dozens of civilians put down their mattocks, picks and shovels. They trundled out of the anti-tank ditch that they had been digging for the past week. A horse drawn lunch cart was waiting for them. Half a dozen teenage girls handed out hot tea, coarse bread, hard cheese and pork sausages to the work gangs. They were supervised by a bored squad of the Volksturm who were nervously fingering their expediently made submachine guns. Twenty minutes later, the Volksdeutsch civilians were back to digging another part of a defensive complex.
Driftless
Donor
Acidic is a fairly common US description for some attributes of coffees - good or bad
Same in the UK. Typically, high-grown stuff like Kenya Blue Mountain is acidic, and can't be espressoed - the method accentuates the characteristic, and you get a real mouth-puckerer, like one of those Double IPA hop bombs.
Story 2800
Western Pacific, 0859 Local March 20, 1945
USS Sea Cat started to dive. She had emptied her tubes less than a minute ago. All ten torpedoes sounded as if they were running hot, straight and normal. The stern tubes were targeted at a cruiser. The six forward tubes had been fired at a Hiryu class carrier that had ended flight operations forty minutes ago. As she passed through 150 feet, five torpedoes were heard to explode. When she passed through 250 feet, two more explosions were heard.
The submarine leveled out and went to silent running even as her screws pushed her away at four knots. Before the rear torpedo room could dig out their emergency cribbage board, depth charges were heard entering the water. By the time the first peg was counted, half a dozen explosions were counted a mile away and one hundred feet above the submarine. Two very enthusiastic destroyers were quartering the sea near the launch datum even as the submarine sought to escape through the inner ring of escorts.
USS Sea Cat started to dive. She had emptied her tubes less than a minute ago. All ten torpedoes sounded as if they were running hot, straight and normal. The stern tubes were targeted at a cruiser. The six forward tubes had been fired at a Hiryu class carrier that had ended flight operations forty minutes ago. As she passed through 150 feet, five torpedoes were heard to explode. When she passed through 250 feet, two more explosions were heard.
The submarine leveled out and went to silent running even as her screws pushed her away at four knots. Before the rear torpedo room could dig out their emergency cribbage board, depth charges were heard entering the water. By the time the first peg was counted, half a dozen explosions were counted a mile away and one hundred feet above the submarine. Two very enthusiastic destroyers were quartering the sea near the launch datum even as the submarine sought to escape through the inner ring of escorts.
I have a cousin who once told me, "There's no such thing as bad coffee; just some coffee that's better than others."
I'm not sure if I agree with him...
I feel that way about pizza. Even crappy pizza is still pizza!
Are we to be blessed by Centurion on Panther combat before the war ends?
- Status