Six WW II Innovations-- Part 4: Radar

6.  RADAR

MIT's Radiation L:anoratory, or "Rad Lab," played a huge role in advancing radio technology in the 1940s.  However, the lab's original goal was to use  electromagnetic radiation as a weapon, not a form of detection.

"Their first idea that they had was if they could send a beam of electromagnetic energy at a plane, maybe  we could kill the pilot by cooking them or something," Wallace says.  "The cooking thing wasn't working, but they were getting bounce-back that they could receive and they had  the idea that they could use electromagnetic radiation just like they used sound radiation in sonar.  So, they started working on radar."

Radar helped Allies detect enemy ships and planes.  

Later, it proved helpful in many non-military uses, including civilian craft and detecting major weather events like hurricanes.

--DaCoot

Six WW II Innovations: Electronic Computers

5.  ELECTRONIC  COMPUTERS

In 1940, the word "computers" referred to people (mostly women)  who performed complex calculations by hand.  During World War II, the United States began developing new machines to do  calculations for ballistics trajectories, and those who had been doing this by hand took jobs programming these new machines.

The programmers who worked on the University of Pennsylvania's ENIAC machine included Jean Jennings  Bartik, who went on to lead the development of computer storage and memory.  Also, Frances Elizabeth "Betty" Holberton, who went on to create the first software application.

Lieutenant  Grace Hopper (later a Navy  rear admiral) also programmed the Mark 1 machine at Harvard  University during the war and went on to develop the first computer programming language.

In Britain, Alan Turing invented an electro-mechanical machine called the Bombe that helped break the German Enigma cipher.  While not technically what today we would call a computer, the Bombe was the forerunner to the Colossus  machines,  a series of British electronic computers.

During the war,  programmers like Dorothy Du Boisson and Elsie Booker used the Colossus machines to break messages encrypted with the German Lorenz cipher.

--Cooter

Six WW II Innovations That Changed Everyday Life-- Part 2: Jet Engines and Blood Plasma Tranfusion

3.  JET ENGINES

Frank Whittle, an English engineer with the Royal Air Force filed the first patent for a het engine in 1930, but the first country to fly a jet engine plane was Germany, which performed a test flight of its model on August 27, 1939.

The first Allied plane to use jet technology  took flight on May 15, 1941.  Though they didn't have much of an impact on the war, but jet engines later would transform both military and civilian transportation.

**************************

4.  BLOOD PLASMA TRANSFUSION

During the war, an American  surgeon named Charles Drew standardized the production of blood plasma for medical use.

Unlike blood,  plasma can be given to anyone regardless of a person's blood type, making it easier to administer on the battlefield.

--Cooter

Six WW II Innovations That Changed Everyday Life-- Part 1

From April 26, 2021, History site by Becky Little.

Of course, everyone knows about atomic energy and the atom bomb which came out of the war, but there were other developments as well.  Some of these innovations date from before the war, but were able to take off because of it.

1.  FLU VACCINES

The influenza pandemic of WW I motivated the U.S. military to develop the first flu vaccine.  Scientists began to isolate the flu viruses in the 1930s and in the 1940s, the U.S. Army  helped sponsor a vaccine against them.

The U.S. approved the first vaccine for military use in 1945 and for civilian use in 1946.  One of the researchers on this project was Dr. Jonas Salk, the scientist who would later develop the vaccine used to defeat polio.

2.  PENICILLIN

Before the widespread development of antibiotics like penicillin in the U.S., even small cuts or scrapes could lead to deadly infections.  The Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928, but it wasn't  until WW II that the U.S. began to produce mass amounts as a medical treatment.

Military surgeons were  amazed at how much the drug reduced pain, increased chances of survival.  The drug was considered so vital to the war effort, that the Allies produced 2.3 million doses of penicillin for the troops to prepare for the D-Day landings.

--GreGen

WW I German Prisoners Come to Hot Springs, NC-- Part 2: A German Brass Band and Bavarian Village

Unable to return these men home, the government leased  the luxurious Mountain Park Hotel in Hot Springs, N.C., to house them.  Each of the hotel's steam heated rooms with electric lights accommodated between 3-5 German officers from those interned ships.  (Many of these ships were turned into troop ships during the course of the war).

Rows of barracks and accessory buildings were constructed on the resorts grounds and golf courses to house crew members.

When not farmed out  for lumbering or road building, homesick internees inside the barbed wire enclosed camp created a Bavarian village using driftwood from the French broad River, tin cans and whatever else they could find.

They also grew gardens, crafted furniture  and played sports.  A German brass band provided concerts for townspeople every Sunday afternoon.

The internees remained there for 17 months, until the end of the war.  Many even returned after the war to visit.

If You Have to be a Prisoner, This Isn't a Bad Way to Go.  --Cooter

WW I German Prisoners Come to Hot Springs, N.C.-- Part 1: From German Ocean Liners

I have been writing about the Chattanooga National Cemetery in my Tattooed On Your Soul:  World War II blog this past week or so.  One of our last two WW II Medal of Honor recipients, Coolidge was recently buried there as was Desmond Doss, another WW II Medal of Honor winner.  He was made famous in the movie "Hacksaw Ridge."

Also, eight members of the Civil War's Andrews' Raiders are buried there.  They are the ones who stole the Confederate locomotive and were chased across northern Georgia.

Another thing I found of interest about the Chattanooga National Cemetery is that there is a monument put up by Nazi Germany on the grounds honor German prisoners who died in the United States during World War I.

From the June 9, 2014, Appalachian History. Net  "First World War I POWs arrive at Hot Springs, NC" by Dave Tabler.

On June 8, 1917, the first of 2,300 German prisoners arrived by train at Hot Springs to begin life in an internment camp.  Their civilian merchant ships had been docked at various  American ports two months earlier when the United States entered World War I.

At that time, the government seized those vessels and declared the crews of those ships to be "alien enemies."

--Cooter

Must Be a Woke Thing: Going After Three More Colleges: Bradley, Florida State and Utah

I tell you, this Woke Thing is something else.  How could you go that long and not be upset enough to really make a protest.  Now, it is everyone jump on the bandwagon.

BRADLEY

The NCAA targeted Bradley in 2005 for its use of the Braves moniker.  The team has continued to hold firm in keeping the nickname and in 201 asked alumni if he name should stay.  (I wonder what they had to say.  Again, changing a school's historical bane should always be put to a vote of alumni and current students.)

*********************

FLORIDA STATE

The Seminoles were asked this summer about their name but said it wasn't offensive, citing a partnership with the Seminole Tribe of Florida.  Tribe spokesman Gary Bitner said it was a "multidimensional collaboration."

*********************

UTAH

Utah has a similar agreement with the Ute Indian Trobe to honor the tribe with its nickname.  In March, the university and tribe reached a five-year agreement to use the name Utes.

--Cooter

Woke Goes After the Atlanta Braves and Kansas City Chiefs

ATLANTA BRAVES

Braves officials in July announced they are not going to change the team's name.

However, the team said it would discuss the tomahawk symbol on the jerseys and then tomahawk chop fans do at games.

Some have called upon the team to rebrand as the Hammers, especially after the death of Hank Aaron.  ("Hammerin' Hank")

************************************

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 

The Chiefs said they won't change their name, but they banned fans from wearing headdresses and Native American inspired face paint.

That hasn't stopped Indigenous people from expressing their frustration with the name and tomahawk chops.  Protesters went to Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Florida, and requested the team change its name.

--Dacoot

Woke Goes After Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks were one of the teams this summer that was called out for their use of Native American imagery, but they released a statement reaffirming the continued use of their name and logo.

The Hawks committed to raising awareness of Black Hawk, the Sauk and Fox war leader who is their namesake, and banned Native American headdresses and war chants at the United Center.

Technically, the Blackhawks are named after the U.S. Army's 86th Infantry Division (which was named after the chief).army

Well, the Blackhawks are my favorite NHL team and personally I think their jerseys (sweaters) and logo are the best in any professional sport.  I find absolutely nothing negative about their proud Indian logo.   And I have lots of stuff with it on them.

Even if our so-called, self-proclaimed dynasty  starting in 2015 was quite short.

Go Hawks!!  --CootHawk

Ten April Days of Tragedy (April 11 to 20)-- Part 2: School Shootings and Industrial Accidents

**  APRIL 15, 2019:  Notre Dame Cathedral fire in Paris.

**  APRIL 16, 2007:  Mass shooting at Virginia Tech  (32 killed)

**  APRIL 17, 2013:  West, Texas fertilizer plant explosion  (15 killed)

**  APRIL 18, 1906:  San Francisco earthquake.  (Est. 3,000 to 6,000 killed)

**  APRIL 19, 1993:  Branch Dravidian Siege, Waco, Texas  (About 80 killed)

**  APRIL 19, 1995:  Oklahoma City Bombing  (168 killed)

**  APRIL 20, 1999:  Columbine High School in Colorado murders.  (13 students and one teacher killed)

**  APRIL 20, 2010:  Deepwater Horizon explosion in Gulf of Mexico (11 workers killed)

--DaCoot

Ten Days of Tragedy in April (11-20)-- Part 1: Civil War and Presidential Deaths

From the April 18, 2021 Fox 4 Kansas City, Mo.  "10 days of tragedy:  15 historic  disasters occurred over these days in April" by Brian Dulle.

The middle of April has proven to be a calamitous time in human history.

**  APRIL 11, 1965:  Palm Sunday tornado out break over six Midwestern states killed 271 people.

**  APRIL 12, 1861:  The Civil War begins with the firing on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, S.C.

**  APRIL  12, 1945--  President Roosevelt dies in his 4th term.  World War II was still underway.

**  APRIL  13, 2014:  Jewish Community Center shootings in Kansas City  (3 killed)

**  APRIL  14, 1912:  Sinking of the RMS Titanic

**  APRIL  14, 1865:  Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln

**  APRIL  15, 2013:  Boston Marathon bombing  (3 dead and more than 260 wounded)

--Cooter

USS Bonhomme Richard Decommissioned-- Part 2: Too Expensive and Time-Consuming to Repair

More than 400 Bonhomme Richard  sailors assisted federal firefighters in fighting last summer's fire which sent 63 people to the hospital for smoke inhalation and blanketed nearby communities with smoke containing toxic chemicals.

Restoring the ship would have cost  between 2.5 billion and $3.2 billion and would have taken between five to seven years.  This is why it was decided to decommission the ship.

The ship will be towed to  International Shipbreaking Limited,  LLC's facility in Brownsville, Texas, for dismantlement.

There are still four ongoing investigations into the fire.

In August,  defense officials said that arson is suspected as the cause of the fire.  A sailor was questioned.

--Cooter

USS Bonhomme Richard Decommissioned April 15

From the April 15, 2021, UPI  "USS Bonhomme Richard formally decommissioned" by Christen McCurdy.

I wrote about this ship earlier this year as a picture of it was featured on the Paralyzed Veterans of America 2021calendar.  But it was badly damaged by a fire that raged for five days back in July 2020.

The fire-damaged USS Bonhomme Richard was formally decommissioned  in a ceremony at Navy Base San Diego on Wednesday, April 14.

It was the third ship in the U.S. Navy to bear the name which is a rough French translation of "Good Man Richard" which is derived from Benjamin Franklin's pen name.

The ship's history includes deployments to East Timor in 2000 for peacekeeping as well as offloading  Marines and their equipment into Kuwait  during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The Wasp-class  amphibious assault ship was commissioned in 1998 and expected to have a service life of 40 years.   But then there was that fire.

In November the Navy announced  that the vessel was beyond  affordable repair and would be decommissioned.

--Cooter

'Woke' Hits Major League Baseball, Cleveland Indians

Following in the footsteps of the Washington Football Team (very generic if you ask me), Cleveland has also opted to change the team name after internal discussions with the organization and talking with local Native American groups.

Fir decades, the team used the Chief Wahoo caricature on jerseys and hats before moving away from it in recent years.  But the organization said there was no timetable for when the name would be changed.

Now, I can definitely see how Indians may not like the Chief Wahoo caricature (especially when compared to the U of I or Chicago Blackhawks logos).  But, I am not sure why there would be dislike for the name Indians.  How is that disrespectful?

And, in all these cases with name and logo changes, how come these people suddenly got "Woke?"  These have been in place for a long time.

What Gives?  --Cooter

'Woke' Hits the NFL: So Long Washington Redskins, Hello to The Washington Football Team

Last summer, the Washington Football Team announced it would no longer use the name "Redskins."

Team owner Dan Snyder had said in the past that he wouldn't change the name, but multiple sponsors such as FedEx and Nike (you know, the dudes who use The Kappynapper as their spokesman) threatened to end their partnerships.  Even to this day, I hate seeing that symbol on so many sports teams' jerseys.

As of November, team President Jason Wright said the team was still looking into name options but could stick with just the name "Football Team."

Well, here is a suggestion, call them the Washington Wokes.  Kind of has a ring to it, don't you know.

They also gave up their neat-looking feather logo on their helmets.

Now, I can sort of see how the term Redskins might be offensive to Indians, but, hey, I don't find the term Rebels or Secesh (Sesh)  offensive.  As a matter of fact, I like it when I'm called that.

--CootReb

'Woke' Hits Sports Teams: University of Illinois

Illinois has taken steps to find a new mascot but has not committed to a name change.  In September 2020, the campus senate endorsed a change to the belted kingfisher, a blue and orange bird native to the state.  (I've never seen one or even heard of one.)  

The university retired Chief Illiniwek in 2007 after the NCAA found the mascot to be "hostile and abusive."  (Really, hostile and abusive?  Come on.)

So, you better go out and buy any U of I mascot-related items.  I know I have a sweatshirt, tee shirt and hat with the likeness.  As well as a couple bumper stickers.

If I were a member of the Illini tribe or an Indian. I don't think I'd find offense with the image.

--CootIllini

'Woke' Hits the Sports Teams-- Part 1: Valparaiso University

From the February 18, 2021, Chicago Tribune "Valpo not alone in changing nickname" by Andrew Golden.

It seems everywhere you look across the sports world everything is under attack.  Especially in the area of team nicknames for fear of offending indigenous, ethnic and religious groups.  

Valparaiso University in Indiana is the latest to announce a name, mascot and logo change.

In fairness, there have been efforts to remove the name Crusaders over the years, but you-know-who's killing last year turned it into a bonfire.

And, Valparaiso is not the only team in this situation.  

At least three are in the process of changing their nicknames.  One is a college, one is an NFL team and the other a NLB team.

There are also six teams holding the line on name changes.

--CootNameChange

U.S. Warships: USS Bowfin (SS-287)-- Part 2

Picture of the museum ship USS Bowfin taken on the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The Bowfin was not there at the time, but was launched exactly one year after the attack, December 7, 1942.

The crew of the Virginia-class fast attack submarine USS Hawaii (SSN-776) man the rails aboard World War II museum ship USS Bowfin (SS-287) to shoot a spirit spot for FOX Sports to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

FOX Sports is returning to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam to telecast four college basketball games live on December 6 and December 7.

Participants include the University of Hawai'i, University of California, Princeton University and Seton Hall University.

--Cooter

U.S. Warships: USS Bowfin, Pearl Harbor Museum Ship

From the Paralyzed Veterans of America April 2021 calendar.

This is a museum ship located in Pearl Harbor by the USS Arizona Museum.

************************************

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

BUILDER:  Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

LAUNCHED:  December 7, 1942

HOMEPORT:  Honolulu, Hawaii

DISPLACEMENT:  Approximately 1,525 tons (surface), 2,412 tons (submerged)

LENGTH:  312 feet

CREW:  63 enlisted, 7 officers

ARMAMENT:  Ten 21" torpedo tubes (6 forward, 4 aft)

24 torpedoes

One 5" /.25 caliber deck gun, plus various combinations of antiaircraft guns.

--Cooter

Another Titanic, Britannic Survivor, Archie Jewel-- Part 2: Not So Lucky On the Donegal

In 1916, Jewel left the White Star Line and was hired onto the SS Donegal, a passenger  ship put into service in 1904.

It was converted into a hospital ship during World War I which transported wounded soldiers between France and England.

On 1 March 1917, one of these voyage encountered a German U-boat and the Donegal was torpedoed.  Badly damaged, the Donegal was able to get away, but was not repaired.  On 17 April 1917, another German submarine torpedoed the Donegal without warning and the ship sank 19 nautical miles  south of Dean.

Twelve crew members and  29 British soldiers died.  Archie Jewel was one of the dead crew members.  he was only 28 years old.  His body was never recovered.  

John Priest was also on board the Donegal, but survived.

--Cooter

Another Titanic, Britannic Survivor: Arthur Jewel-- Part 1

From Wikipedia.

While looking up stuff about Arthur John Priest, I came across this man's name.  The Wikipedia article said that besides Priest, there were two others who survived both the Titanic and Britannic's sinkings, Violet Jessup and Arthur Jewel.

And, there was one more ship he was on, the SS Donegal, a hospital ship that was sunk by a German U-boat, but this one he did not survive.

He started working for the White Star Line in 1904 at the age of 16 and was a seaman on the Oceanic for eight years.  On April 6, 1912, he was transferred to the RMS Titanic as one of six lookouts along with George Symons.  They were in the lookout station in the crows next right before the collision with the iceberg but had been relieved by Reginald Lee and Frederick Fleet.

He survived by being put in command of Lifeboat 7.

He was working on the HMHS Britannic  and survived its sinking on  21 November 1916, along with  stewardess Violet Jessup and stoke Arthur John Priest.

--DaCoot

Another White Star Line Triple Survivor, Arthur John Priest-- Part 2: Also on the Titanic and Britannic (and Two Others)

The following year, 1912, Mr. Priest was on the Olympic's sister ship, the newly launched Titanic on her maiden run into history.  A massive layoff among  stokers caused many of his comrades to lose their jobs, but Priest was "lucky" enough to get a position deep in the bowels of the ill-fated ship.

He was one of the few lucky crew members to survive.

But, this wasn't the last time he nearly died on a shipwreck.

His World War I service saw him aboard the ocean liner turned armed merchant ship RMS Alcantara which was sunk by the German merchant raider Grief.  He survived that as well.  He later served aboard the sister ship of the Titanic and Olympic, the Britannica which had been turned into a hospital ship.  She hit a mine and sank in November 1916.

The following year, the luckiest unlucky sailor in history was  serving aboard the SS Donegal, a converted ferry that had become an ambulance ship.  She was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine in the English Channel.

He survived that one too, but that was his last ship.  After this one, he lived out his life on dry land, saying that "no one wished to sail with him after these disasters."  (I don't blame them.)  He also had the title "The Unsinkable Stoker."

I Would Figure.  --Cooter

Here Is Another Triple White Star Survivor, John Arthur Priest (Olympic, Titanic and Britannic)

From the March 23, 2021, ListVerse  "Top 10 luckiest unlucky  people whose luck nearly killed them.

The subject of the last two posts, Violet Jessup is also in this list.  But, this is a different person who also survived the Titanic and the Britannic sinkings.  And, he was on the Olympic as well.  Plus, he had two other ships sink while he was on it.  A true "unsinkable" as it were.

His name was Arthur John Priest.

Arthur John Priest worked as a stoker, or "fireman," whose job it was  to keep the boilers of a ship constantly steaming  by shoveling coal into them.    As such, they were well below the waterline and near the bottom of one of those massive triple sisters of the White Star Line.

While serving on the Olympic in 1911,  he survived when the ship was struck and holed by the HMS Hawke below the waterline, but did not sink.

The following year, he got a job on the Olympic's sister ship, the you-know-what.

--Cooter

'Miss Unsinkable' Violet Jessup-- Part 2: Survived Sinkings of Titanic and Brittanic

Then, Violet Jessup made the move to the Titanic in time for that "Unsinkable" ship's famous maiden voyage in April 1912 when it sailed for New York City across the treacherous waters of the North Atlantic.  She later wrote in her memoirs of the  unforgettable night of April 14-15, when the ship hit an iceberg and san, taking some 1,500 people with her.

Jessop helped other women and children into lifeboats before climbing into one herself; one of the ship's officers placed a bundled up baby on her lap.  After eight hours on the lifeboat, a ship called the Carpathia rescued Jessop and the others, and a frantic woman (whom Jessup assumed was the baby's mother) snatched the infant from her arms.

She was also on the third of the three sisters, the Britannic.  After World War I broke out, the Britannic was requisitioned by the British government and turned into a hospital ship.  By then, Miss Jessup was a nurse working for the British Red Cross.

In November 1916, the Britannic hit a mine set by a German U-boat in the Aegean Sea.  The explosion caused significant damage and the ship sank less than an hour later, only 30 people died.  More than 1,000  were saved, including "Miss Unsinkable."

Jessup continued working on cruise ships after the war and had a 42-year career at sea before her retirement.  She died in 1971.

I Don't Think I'd Get On a Ship That This Woman Was On.  --DaCoot

'Miss Unsinkable' on Three Ships That, Well, You Know-- Part 1: Miss Violet Jessup

All of these recent posts have been from History Channel's "6 famous coincidences."

"Miss Unsinkable" Violet Jessop was on board three giant  sister ships (Titanic, Olympic and Britannic) when disaster struck them... and lived to tell about it.

Born in Argentina to Irish immigrants, Jessop left  convent school back in Britain after her mother, a stewardess  on the Royal Mail Line, became ill.  To provide for her family, the 21-year-old became a ship stewardess as well, working for the Royal Mail Line as well before moving on to the White Star Line

Locked in a huge competition with the Cunard Line,  the White Star launched  a trio of gigantic luxury liners, the Olympic, Titanic and Britannic

In September 1911, Violet Jessop was serving aboard the Olympic on its fifth commercial voyage when the ship collided with the HMS Hawke near the Isle of Wight in Southern England.  (It was later determined that the suction from the Olympic had pulled the Hawke into the liner.)

But, That's Not All.  --Cooter