Posted on 11/17/2018 2:48:04 AM PST by Drago
Former USS Phoenix
You are going to die
The grammar police take no prisoners.
1938!!!
Construction started: April 25, 1935
Launched: March 13, 1938
USS Phoenix (CL-46), was a light cruiser of the Brooklyn-class cruiser family. She was the third Phoenix of the United States Navy. After World War II the ship was transferred to Argentina in 1951 and was ultimately renamed General Belgrano in 1956. Wikipedia
I imagine that there isn't a whole lot of upward mobility in the Argentine Navy.
Old for a Lt? (That’s a captain to us Army, Marine, and Air Force guys.)
You probably know it’s “hitch your wagon to a star” that gets you promoted. In the case of the “South of the Border” military, if you’re a woman that involves sexual favors for your boss. Seen that. Up close.
It could have been she was a good girl and said “no thank you” once too often. Descansa en paz, Teniente.
“Heck of a way to go. It’s like knowing you gonna die.”
As a boy I read everything on WWII I could find.
One book had a section on submarines.
Some sailors volunteered for the pig boats because they figured they would either die or make it home safely. None of the maimed for life horror of surface ships.
Interesting what goes through peoples minds when making such decisions.
No seriously. We are all going to die
“Like they really need a submarine?”
I have a feeling all the Nazi’s that went to places like Argentina, many by way of sub, influenced both the Argentine people and their military giving them both the desire and technical know how in the days after WWII.
But your question, I somewhat agree, as a regime change there is more apt to come from within (just like us), as opposed to an external enemy.
Well I guess since Argentina applies for and receives a ton of foreign aid - including millions from the British - maybe they shouldn’t have one.
My thought as well.
I believe the issue was with Argentina having many general purpose bombs but very few retarded bombs in inventory.
A bomb is not immediately armed upon release, doing so risks destruction of the aircraft should the bomb go off too soon after release. The armorer sets a delay such that the regardless of fuze setting, the bomb will not go off within a certain minimum distance from the releasing aircraft.
As I recall, Argentinian fighters were initially making high speed low altitude attacks against British warships. The Argentinian pilots combination of high speed and low altitude attacks resulted in many bombs not having enough time upon release to arm.
Regardless of fuze settings, many unarmed Argentinian bombs struck British warships and because they had not yet armed, would pass through the ship with minimal damage (excepting personnel and equipment directly in the bomb and spall path)
Gee...I’d hate to be the one to pop the top on that sub...it’s gonna be foul. But, at least there’s some closure for the families.
'A year and a day' used to have some legal significance in English Common Law. I wonder if it has any significance in Argentina resulting in the 'timing' of the find.
After the war the Brits gave Argentina a bunch of Lancaster bombers I lieu of monetary payment. For a while Argentina was the only SA country with a strategic air force.
Thank you. That makes perfectly good sense. It is obvious you worked in the business.
During the late 1980s, I was a member of a Mission Area Analysis study group at what was then called the MAGTF Warfighting Center aboard Quantico. (The Center was later folded into the Marine Corps Combat Development Command’s Requirements Branch.). At one point, we were studying the Assault Support mission area and became interested in the Falkland Island campaign as a proxy for a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB) operating from a sea-base and operating at the extreme limits of the logistics chain.
Since the Falkland Island campaign had just been recently fought, we contacted the military attaché at the British Embassy and invited him brief us on the campaign. The attaché came to Quantico with a small team of officers and spent the day giving us a comprehensive briefing on the campaign from the British perspective.
One of the more interesting revelations was the fact that the Argentines had more luck in hitting British warships in San Carlos Sound than had been reported at the time. (You may recall the photos of Argentine jets jinking among the thicket of amphibious ships and escorting destroyers.). However, due to the attack techniques they were using, many Argentine bombs were only exploding after they had passed entirely through British warships from side to side above the waterline.
Afterwords, my boss, who was a very experienced A-4 pilot, discussed the problems of fighter jet pilots being tasked to attack ships.
Ideally, a ship attack is delivered from a couple thousand feet altitude and at a 45 degree angle for maximum accuracy. The bomb is delay fused because it shouldn’t explode until it has passed through the ship from top to bottom and is under the keel where the explosion can break the ship’s back. Since the attack jet is very vulnerable during the actual release process, a lot of training goes into the specialized techniques used to minimize exposure time.
The Argentine Navy had a limited number of A-4s and Etendards but they were subsonic and, IIRC, the A-4s were at the limit of their range at San Carlos. The Etendards were few in number and since they were the only Exocet-capable warplanes the Argentines had, were being carefully sheparded.
Argentine Air Force Mirages were employed for many attacks because they had the range to reach the target area and the speed needed to survive at low level in the very hostile environment being created by the NATO-level air defense systems aboard Royal Navy warships. To avoid detection by the system radars (and interception by the RAF Harrier CAP) , the Argentine pilots flew the missions at full throttle and at wavetop height.
On arrival, they had just a few seconds to quickly gain altitude, acquire a target, line up, dive, arm and release their dumb bomb, then break away and try to avoid interception. Even for trained attack jet pilots, that is a lot to do.
There is an alternate, easier attack method: don’t climb; fly straight at the target ship, release the bomb and make a climbing breakaway. The released bomb has the same direction and velocity as the aircraft when released and should fly straight to the target.
However, if your bomb has the standard ship attack delayed fusing setup...
Special mention was made by the British military attaché that the embedded U.K. press correspondents knew this information at the time and DID NOT report it due to its value to the enemy. To deal with Argentinian counter claims, a cover story about defective bombs not exploding was put out.
I wonder if that same self-censorship and issuing a cover story would be exercised today.
In the US forces that may be the case, but in some countries 14 years and still an 03 is normal. The rank pyramid in the officer ranks is pretty steep. You need a lot more 03s than 04s and so on, so you keep a lot around. Additionally, many countries keep their officers a lot longer than the US and some do not have the "up or out" (if you do not get promoted, you get discharged) like the US. Lastly, if you look at the pre-WWII US officer ranks, you'll see the same length of time for officers.
Please note that I am not disagreeing with you, I just don't know enough about the their officer path to make my own opinion.
The issue today is not about media policy, it is about the quality of the reporters. Also about the media being bought by foreign money.
It is all happening now.
Your childhood is over the moment you realize you’re going to die.
We all die - every single one of us.
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