USS Newport News (CA-148)-- Part 4: 1st and 2nd Deployments to Vietnam

Subsequent to the end of Operation Sea Dragon and for the remaining months of the deployment, the Newport News participated in  Naval Gunfire Support operations near the DMZ.  This was in support of of the Third Marine Division on the coastal area.    The ship fired around the clock for periods sometimes lasting for weeks.

During this deployment, the ship expended 59,241 rounds of high-explosive ammunition, while conducting  239 observed and 602 unobserved missions.  She came under fire of enemy coastal defense batteries on seventeen separate occasions, hit by shrapnel but never suffered a direct hit.

The Newport News departed Subic Bay on 21 April and arrived at her homeport of Norfolk, Virginia, on 13 May 1968, via the Panama Canal.

Following an extensive overhaul to prepare for future combat , the ship departed Norfolk 21 November 19 68 for her second deployment to Vietnam.

Combat operations during this tour during this tour commenced on December 1, 1968, focused on providing  naval gunfire support to the 7th and 9th ARVN (South Vietnamese Army) on Vinh Binh Province and the DMZ.

She returned to Norfolk in early July 1969.

--Cooter

John H. Russell, Jr., 16th USMC Commandant-- Part 2: Service All Over

Next, Russell had duty at Guam and several navy yards back in the United States.  Then Hawaii and the Panama Canal Zone.  From 1908 to 1910, he was at the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Then, from 1910 to 1913, he was at the American  Legation in Peking, China.  During this time there were disturbances in China as the country moved from an empire to a republic.  Upon returning to the U.., her was assigned to the Office of Naval Intelligence until 1917 with the exception of eight months commanding a Marine group at Vera Cruz, Mexico, in 1914.

From 1917 to 1918 he had several commands in Latin America.  During this time he made repeated requests to transfer to France for service in the war.  He finally got his wish, but delays in relieving him caused him to be able to do so until the Armistice was signed.

--Cooter

Ten World Engineering Marvels-- Part 1: Panama Canal and Golden Gate Bridge

From the History.com site by Christopher Klein.

These remarkable feats of design and construction transformed the ways that people travel, communicate and live.

For thousands of years, mankind has engineered some remarkable structures such as the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China.  More recently, engineers have undertaken massive  transportation and communications projects  that have pushed the boundaries of human ingenuity.

I am just listing them and giving one or two facts about each.  The site has pictures and a lot more.

Here is a list of ten of them:

1.  PANAMA CANAL

52 miles long and opened in 1914

2.  GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

1,7 miles long (was the longest suspension bridge for  27 years)  Opened in 1937.  It's been wiped out in more than a few disaster movies so don't drive on it when they are shooting a movie about San Francisco.

--Cooter

USS Oregon (BB-3)-- Part 2: Completed a 16,000 Cruise from Pacific to Atlantic in 66 Days (Pre-Panama Canal)

Two of the Indiana-class battleships were built on the U.S. East Coast and the Oregon on the West Coast.  The Oregon was commissioned on 15 July 1896 and joined the U.S. Pacific Fleet.

On 15 February 1898, the USS Maine blew up in Havana Harbor, Cuba, during rising tensions between Spain and the U.S..  The Oregon was in dry dock at the time and was refloated the next day and placed under the command of Captain Charles Edgar Clark and ordered to steam the U.S. East Coast to join the North Atlantic Fleet and arrived after a 16,000 mile journey in just 66 days.  

While passing through the Cape Horn the ship encountered a horrific storm  (these three battleships had very low freeboards and did not do well in rough seas).  This was before the Panama Canal was built and became a major reason for its construction.

The Oregon arrived in Key West on 26 May and joined the North Atlantic Squadron under the command of Rear Admiral William T. Sampson.  The Spanish fleet had been located and blockaded in the harbor of Santo de Cuba, Cuba.  The Spanish squadron was under the command of Rear Admiral Pasqual Cervera y Topete and consisted of  the armored cruisers Infanta Maria Teresa, Cristobol Colon, Vizcaya and Almirante Oquendo and destroyers Pluton and Furor.

--Cooter

USS Fulton (AS-1)-- Part 4: Panama Canal Zone, Asiatic Fleet and a Disastrous Fire

The Fulton was recommissioned  on 2 December 1930 as a gunboat and had duty as a survey ship in the Panama Canal Zone.  It was reclassified as the USS Fulton (PG-49).  It conducted surveys  in the area until 1932 when it went to San Diego and made preparations to join the U.S. Asiatic Fleet.

Her assigned station was Hong Kong where the ship arrived in November and then made voyages to Cavite  Navy Yard in the Philippines and cruised along the Chinese coast from Hong Kong to Canton until March 1934.

On this day a fire broke out amidships.  As the ship appeared to be sinking, the crew was taken off by the British destroyer HMS Wishart and merchant ship SS Tinian.  Three of the crew suffered injuries.    The crew was taken to  the Royal Navy Dockyard at Hong Kong.  The British destroyer HMS Whitshed stood by the burning Fulton until the fire was put out.  An American tug arrived  to tow the Fulton to Hong Kong where emergency repairs were made and she was towed to Cavite.

The United States Department of the Navy  later passed thanks along to British authorities for their service.

Damage to the Fulton was considered too great and she was decommissioned  on 12 May 1934 and scrapped later that year.

The Story of a Ship.  --Cooter

USS Fulton (AS-1)-- Part 3: Service By the Panama Canal

I have been writing about the USS Fultons that have been in the U.S. Navy over the years, starting with the first one at the end of the War of 1812 in my Not So Forgotten blog, the second one which was in the Civil War in my Running the Blockade blog and the third one here in this blog.

There was also a 4th Fulton that served in WW I  and the fifth and last one served in World War II and during the nuclear submarine age.  I'll be writing about the fourth one in this blog and the last one in my WW II blog.

The USS Fulton (AS-1) was the first navy ship specifically built to take care of submarines in 1914 as that branch was growing.

During this time, the Fulton took part in maneuvers and war games  and served as station ship in New London.  In 1923, she was reassigned as a tender to the submarine fleet at Coco Solo, Panama Canal Zone. During he next years, the Fulton took part in exercises off both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the canal.  It returned to Philadelphia in 1925, was decommissioned and placed in reserve.

--Cooter

August 15, Quite a Day in History

From the August 15, 2018, Kenosha (Wis.) News "Today in History."

1812--  The Battle of Fort Dearborn took place.  Fort Dearborn is where Chicago is today, but back then was just a frontier fort.  This took place during the War of 1812 and is also called a massacre.

1914--  The Panama Canal officially opens as the SS Ancon crossed between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

1935--  Humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post killed in airplane crash near Point Barrow in Alaska Territory.

1944--  Allied forces landed in southern France in Operation Dragoon during WW II.

1945--  In a pre-recorded radio address, Japan's Emperor Hirohito announced that Japan had accepted terms of surrender ending WW II.

1961--  As workers begin constructing the Berlin Wall, East German soldier Conrad Schumann lept to freedom over barbed wire in a scene made famous in a photograph.

1965--  The Beatles played to a crowd of 55,000 at New York's Shea Stadium.

1969--  The Woodstock Music and Art Festival opened in upstate New York.

Like I Said, a Pretty Important Day in History.  --DaCoot

Ships By the Name of USS Missouri-- Part 2: 3rd One Was a Battleship

3rd USS MISSOURI

Commissioned December 1903.  Cost $5 million.  Main armament of four 12-inch guns able to throw a shell weighing 870 pounds almost eight miles.

The ship went around the world with the Great White Fleet from 1907-1908.

It was the second ship to pass through the Panama Canal.

It was scrapped in 1922.

The ship's punch bowl is at the governor's mansion.

--CooterMo

200 Years Later, the Erie Canal-- Part 2: 35 Locks To Your Destination

Recreational boats traveling the full length of the Erie Canal are lifted or lowered through 35 elevation locks and can dock at towns built alongside the canal.

The labor intensive construction (remember this is before the machine age) was completed in 1825 and the canal enabled settlers to sail west while grain and agricultural products moved east.  The boats were slender, shallow-draft wooden vessels.  It transformed New York City into America's largest port and turned outposts like Cleveland and Chicago into mercantile hubs.

Construction of the Erie Canal was essentially a learn-as-you-go engineering technology and advances made on this helped the later (and bigger) Suez and Panama canals.

You can drive alongside much of the 338-mile canal and the state of New York has issued driving and bicycling maps and brochures for the Erie Canal's bicentennial.  Instead of taking the 4 1/2 hour zip along the I-90 tollway, you can enjoy a leisurely trip along the old canal.

And Sing "Low Bridge, Everybody Down, Cause We're Coming to a Town."  --Cooter

Four DeKalb Lieutenants Back in 1916

This continues my post from December 26, 2015.

From the 29 March 1916 True republican "Four DeKalb County Boys Lieutenants."

Lt. Clayton Waterman is now in Vermont after being in China after service in Arizona.  He is engaged as an instructor in military tactics at Wellington, Connecticut.

All four lieutenants are in line for advancement because of the invasion of Mexico.

The other lieutenants:

Lt. Frank M. Kennedy of Hinckley who is in the aviation corps.

Lt. Cedric W. Lewis of Sandwich

Lt. Elvin H. Wagner who served in the Spanish-American War in Cuba and was stationed in Manila.

These last three are now stationed in Panama, part of 15,000 American troops there.

--Cooter

Comparing the New Panama Canal and the Old One

From the May 25, 2015, Time Magazine.

This table was in an article about the new expansion lane built on the Panama Canal to allow bigger ships to pass through between the Atlantic and Pacific.

The first numbers refer to the 1914 canal, second to the new lane:

EXCAVATION:  268 million cu. yd.  ////  203 million cu. yd.

YEARS FROM START TO FINISH:  34 (1880-1914)  ////  9 (2007-2016)

CONCRETE USED:  4.4 million cu. yd.  ////  5.7 million cu. yd.

NUMBER EMPLOYED:  56,307 (1904-1913)  ////  32,000

LIVES LOST:  25,600 (estimated)  ////  6

COST:  $635 million ($15 billion in 2015 dollars)  ////  $5.25 billion

MAXIMUM SHIP SIZE:  965 ft. by 106 ft. by 39 ft.  ////  1,200 ft.by 160 ft. by 50 ft.

TONS OF CARGO (PER YEAR):  252 million (2014)  ////  504 million (expected)

NUMBER OF LOCK CHAMBERS:  32  ////  6

SIZE OF LOCK CHAMBERS:  1,000 ft. by 110 ft. by 42 ft.  ////  1,400 ft. by 180 ft. by 60 ft.

How It Grows.  --Cooter

This Date in History

From Bob Dearborn's Olde Disc Jockey Site.

1812:  202 years ago, it was Illinois' biggest War of 1812 battle at Fort Dearborn (present-day Chicago).  Sometimes also referred to as the Fort Dearborn Massacre.

1914:  An American ship becomes the first one through the new Panama Canal, going fro  the Atlantic to the Pacific.

1916: The first self-propelled tank was used at the Battle of the Somme during World War I.  Nicknamed "Big Willie."

1935:  Humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post die in a plane crash.

1947:  India gains its independence after 200 years as a British colony.

1948:  The first network nightly newscast on CBS.

--Cooter

Panama Canal to Expand

From the Aug. 16, 2012, Chicago Tribune"Wider Panama Canal to remake trade routes" by Tim Johnson.

Since the SS Ancon became the first ship to go through the locks of the Panama Canal on Aug. 15, 1914, the roughly 50-mile-long waterway, more than a million ships have used it.  But shipping was always constrained by the size of the locks, permitting no vessel longer than 965 feet, wider than 106 feet or drawing more than 39 feet of water from passing through.

This has becoming an increasing problem as ships have been getting much larger.  A third lane through the locks is planned to open in 2014 and ships as long as 1,200 feet, 160 feet wide and 50 feet draft will be able to use this lane.

This has Panama looking at reaping a lot of money.  However, US Atlantic ports are now having dredging projects to deepen harbors and approaches in Miami, Jacksonville, Savannah, Charleston and New York.

It's a Canal Thing, You Know.  --Cooter