Welcome to MSW’s Scuttlebutt! Here’s the news for the day.
Review - Type II A Wooden Deck, Nautilus
Jan Klarbćk gives us a closer look at Nautilus Models, 1/72 scale wooden replacement deck for the Special Navy Type IIA Submarine, in this MSW "Inbox" review!
Review
New MSW Series - WW2’s Top Ten U-Boat Aces
It is my pleasure to announce an upcoming series of articles here on Model Shipwrights, “WW2’s Top Ten U-Boat Aces”. News writer Sean Ford, who brought us the wonderful Great White Fleet series, will give us and in depth look at the men that terrorized merchant shipping and almost brought England to her knees. The weekly series is schedule to start this Thursday in the Chartroom Forum.
Pit-Road’s PC Wallpaper of the Month
Pit-Road Models has posted their “PC Wallpaper of the Month”, the box art of the "IJN Destroyer Asashio".
Website
This Day in U.S. Naval History
1864 - USS Washusett captures Confederate raider CSS Florida in harbor of Bahia, Brazil.
1924 - Rigid airship Shenandoah commences transcontinental flight.
1975 - President Gerald Ford signs law allowing admission of women into service academies.
Last veteran of Hood sinking dies
The last remaining survivor of the sinking of WWII battle cruiser HMS Hood in May 1941 has died at the age of 85, his naval association has said.
Ted Briggs, from Hampshire, was one of just three survivors out of more than 1,400 crew after an exchange of fire with the German battleship Bismarck.
When asked about the sinking he said: "I was not a hero, I just survived."
Mr. Briggs once said a sighting of HMS Hood as a boy had inspired him to join the Royal Navy as a signalman.
The teenager was assigned to HMS Hood, the Royal Navy's flagship, in 1939.
When Bismarck was spotted in the Denmark Strait in May 1941, HMS Hood was sent in pursuit.
During the Battle of Denmark Strait it was bombarded with shells, one of which caused a huge explosion that ripped through the ship, sinking it in less than three minutes.
In 2001, the wreck of HMS Hood was found 3,000m below the surface of the sea between Greenland and Iceland. Mr. Briggs, who was 18 at the time of the sinking, said he had survived because he was caught in an underwater air pocket.
After a short period of leave following the loss of the ship, Mr Briggs was assigned to another vessel to continue his naval career. He served for another 30 years before retiring, later becoming president of HMS Hood Association and an MBE.
Mr Briggs died at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth on Saturday, his friend and the chairman of HMS Hood Association, Peter Heys, said. Mr. Heys described him as a "perfect gentleman".
He added: "He was a humorous man but he did not like to be reminded of the sinking as he had to be pulled out of the freezing water."
Navy Confirms Lost WWII Sub USS Grunion Has Been Found
The Navy has confirmed the wreckage of a sunken vessel found last year off the Aleutians Islands is that of the USS Grunion, which disappeared during World War II.
Underwater video footage and pictures captured by an expedition hired by sons of the commanding officer, Lt. Cmdr. Mannert L. Abele, allowed the Navy to confirm the discovery, Rear Adm. Douglas McAneny said Thursday in a news release.
McAneny said the Navy was very grateful to the Abele family.
"We hope this announcement will help to give closure to the families of the 70 crewmen of Grunion," he said.
The Grunion was last heard from July 30, 1942. The submarine reported heavy anti-submarine activity at the entrance to Kiska, and that it had 10 torpedoes remaining forward. On the same day, the Grunion was directed to return to Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base. The submarine was reported lost Aug. 16, 1942.
Japanese anti-submarine attack data recorded no attack in the Aleutian area at the time of the Grunion's disappearance, so the submarine's fate remained an unsolved mystery for more than 60 years, the Navy said.
Abele's son's, Bruce, Brad, and John, began working on a plan to find the sub after finding information on the Internet in 2002 that helped pinpoint USS Grunion's possible location.
In August 2006, a team of side scan sonar experts hired by the brothers located a target near Kiska almost a mile below the ocean's surface. A second expedition in August 2007 using a high definition camera on a remotely operated vehicle yielded video footage and high resolution photos of the wreckage.
Russian warship may free Somali pirates' hostages by force
The Russian warship Neustrashimy may use force against pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship off the Somali coast last week, a senior Navy official said Wednesday.
Earlier Wednesday, Somali Ambassador to Russia Mohamed Handule said his country's President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed had authorized Russia's military to fight pirates off Somalia's coast and on land.
"This permission allows the warship to use the whole range of the weapons on board," the Navy official said. "We are not excluding a takeover of the vessel by force to free the crew, which includes Russian citizens."
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry earlier cited the Faina's owner, Tomax Team Inc., as saying there were three Russians, 17 Ukrainians and one Latvian on board the ship when it was seized.
However, Nyna Karpachyova, the Ukrainian parliament's human rights ombudsman, said that the real owner of the ship, which was carrying 33 T-72 tanks and other military equipment, was an Israeli citizen, Vadim Alperin.
Karpachyova also said that relatives of the hostages on board the ship would ask the Ukrainian government to prevent the liberation of the Faina by force.
The pirates said earlier that they would kill a hostage if an attempt was made to free the hostages by force. The ship's captain, Russian Vladimir Kolobkov, earlier died of a heart attack.
Russia's Navy sent the Neustrashimy missile frigate to waters off the Somali coast to fight piracy and protect Russian vessels in the region on September 24.
The ship's armament includes SS-N-25 Switchblade anti-ship missiles, SA-N-9 Gauntlet SAM, a 100-mm gun, torpedoes and depth charges. The frigate also carries a Ka-27 ASW helicopter.
Pirates are increasingly active in the waters off Somalia, which has no effective government and no navy to police its coastline. The International Maritime Bureau said more than 30 incidents of piracy were registered in the region in 2007. More than 30 attacks have been committed so far this year off the coast of the East African nation.
Photo of the Day
A plane captain, walks down the wing of an F/A-18C Hornet, assigned to the "Stingers" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 113, on the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76).
Gator
