Archive for January, 2009

Request

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

In my Dad’s brief memoirs, he reports having sailed home from the
Philippines in late 1945 aboard a small Dutch ship named the “Ima Koten”.

Does anyone here have any info on the Ima Koten? When launched, when
scrapped, owners, operators, etc?

Thanks

Tom

Tom Robison
Ossian, Indiana
tcrobi@adamswells.com
_|_
–X-X-(ô)-X-X–

Quote

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

“The essence of war is violence. Moderation in war is imbecility.”
John A. Fisher

A search of the Internet (which I should have done in the first place) led
me to a quote page that told me the author of the above quote. However, a
further search of the Internet failed to find any info on Mr. John A.
(Jacky) Fisher.

Okay, I give up… who was he?

Tom

Tom Robison
Ossian, Indiana
tcrobi@adamswells.com
_|_
–X-X-(ô)-X-X–

Ship preservations

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

TMJYAK wrote:
>
> Can anyone provide a worldwide list of ship preservations that are open to
> visits by the public?

I’d give the Historic Naval Ships Association home page a look first,
http://www.maritime.org/hnsa-guide.htm

If it’s not exactly what you’re looking for, the page’s administrator
probably can steer you in the right direction.

David Riley

**************************
Participate in the most “honor”able of hobbies
Join the Orders and Medals Society of America (OMSA)
http://www.omsa.org

Latest Medal of Honor

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Fellow naval history enthusiasts,

Arguably a little off-topic, but noteworthy nonetheless.

On 20 January, President Clinton presented the Medal of Honor to
Retired Maj. Gen. James L. Day, USMC, for heroism as a corporal in the
battle of Okinawa 54 years earlier. Below is the citation, a copy of
which I received today from the Washington, formatted to conform with
the 1978 Senate compilation of Medals of Honor:

Passing this on to other interested individuals/lists would help
preserve part of the heroism of a desperate period of naval history.

David Riley

—–

DAY, JAMES L.

Rank and organization: Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Born: 5
October 1925, East St. Louis, Ill., Accredited to: Illinois, Other Navy
awards: Silver Star Medal (3), Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal,
Purple Heart Medal (6); Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and
intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as
a squad leader serving with the Second Battalion, Twenty-Second Marines,
Sixth Marine Division, in sustained combat operations against Japanese
forces on Okinawa, Ryukyu Islands from 14 to 17 May 1945. On the first
day, Corporal Day rallied his squad and the remnants of another unit and
led them to a critical position forward of the front lines of Sugar Loaf
Hill. Soon thereafter, they came under an intense mortar and artillery
barrage that was quickly followed by a ferocious ground attack by some
forty Japanese soldiers. Despite the loss of one-half of his men,
Corporal Day remained at the forefront, shouting encouragement, hurling
hand grenades, and directing deadly fire, thereby repelling the
determined enemy. Reinforced by six men, he led his squad in repelling
three fierce night attacks but suffered five additional Marines killed
and one wounded, whom he assisted to safety. Upon hearing nearby calls
for corpsman assistance, Corporal Day braved heavy enemy fire to escort
four seriously wounded Marines, one at a time, to safety. Corporal Day
then manned a light machine gun, assisted by a wounded marine, and
halted another night attack. In this ferocious action, his machine gun
was destroyed, and he suffered multiple white phosphorous and
fragmentation wounds. He reorganized his defensive position in time to
halt a fifth enemy attack with devastating small arms fire. On three
separate occasions, Japanese soldiers closed to within a few feet of his
foxhole but were killed by Corporal Day. During the second day, the
enemy conducted numerous unsuccessful swarming attacks against his
exposed position. When the attacks momentarily subsided, over 70 enemy
dead were counted around his position. On the third day, a wounded and
exhausted Corporal Day repulsed the enemy’s final attack, killing a
dozen enemy soldiers at close range. Having yielded no ground and with
more than 100 enemy dead around his position, Corporal Day preserved the
lives of his fellow Marines and made a significant contribution to the
success of the Okinawa campaign. By his extraordinary heroism, repeated
acts of valor, and quintessential battlefield leadership, Corporal Day
inspired the efforts of his outnumbered Marines to defeat a much larger
enemy force, reflecting great credit upon himself and upholding the
highest traditions of the Marine Crops and the United States Naval
Service.

**************************
Participate in the most “honor”able of hobbies
Join the Orders and Medals Society of America (OMSA)
http://www.omsa.org

Quote (Falklands War)

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Borges (real name was Jorge Luis Borges but he used the name “Borges”) was
Argentina’s most famous poet and man of letters in this century. He was a
member of the Anglo-Argentine aristocracy and actually learned English as
his first language. Blind toward the end of his life he was a cult figure to
non-Marxist intellectuals. Borges was nonpolitical so he was tolerated by
junta and despised by Marxists. His remark was a rebuke to the Argentine
junta, and should not be taken as a serious analysis of the war.

I strongly supported the British effort in the Falklands. Personally, I
think that had Mrs Thatcher caved in that Labor might have ousted her and
taken Britain out of NATO. (Perhaps not out of the alliance, but something
like DeGaulle did.) Yet, I don’t think I was alone in considering the war as
the result of a pointless, criminal blunder on the part of a corrupt and
very foolish government. When you think of how frivolous the issue involved
was the more you wonder about the stupidity of our fellow man. You can bet
the average Argentine didn’t think the islands were worth a major war. I’m
sure the population cheered as long as they thought there was no price to be
paid, but when the RN sailed down the mood changed. Several of my students
from both Argentina and Chile told me that many of the juntas’ opponents
(there lots of them) were quick to use the debacle as a lever to get the
military out of Argentina’s political life.

When I tell my students about the War of 1812 I outline its importance to
American history – but must conclude that it was a damn stupid war that was
very avoidable. The Falklands fit in that category. The two are not quite
the same. In 1812 the British government was only slightly stupider than
ours. The British were blameless for the Falklands hostilities. None of
this diminishes the skill and courage showed by the men of Britain’s armed
forces.

>
>I don’t know who Borges was, but he did not see the real issue.
> Britain was not going to be pushed around over something that it
>felt strongly about. I believe this was one of factors that induced
>the Soviets to recognise that they could not beat the West
>politically, economically or militarily. Hence Gorbachev and end of
>cold war. That was a prize worth winning.
>
>The Falklands War also put paid to the then Defence Minister’s
>(John Nott) idea of the RN becoming a coast defence navy with no
>reach. The carrier Invincible was about to be sold to Australia.
>End of John Nott. Properly balanced navy (within budget
>constraints). The bean counters often cannot see the wood for the
>trees.
>
>Ian Buxton
>
>**********************************************************
>Dr Ian L Buxton Dept of Marine Technology
>Reader in Marine Transport University of Newcastle
>Phone +44 191 222 6712 Newcastle upon Tyne
>Fax +44 191 222 5491 NE1 7RU U K
>E-mail i.l.buxton@newcastle.ac.uk
>
>
>
Eric Bergerud, 531 Kains Ave, Albany CA 94706, 510-525-0930

WWII list?

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Dear Tim:
Tried messagimahan@microworks.net wrote:
>
> Eric Bergerud schrieb:
> > There’s a Listserv list dedicated to World War II isnt there? Anyone have
> > the name and address? (Not H-War, I’m on that one for reasons that are not
> > perfectly clear.)
>
> The World War II List, it is the full name I believe. The address
to subscribe
> is
>
> listserv@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu
>
> the text you need to put in the main body is
>
> subscribe wwii-l Eric Bergerud
>
> or any codename you wish to use.
>
> Hope this helps,
> Tim
>
> Tim Lanzendoerfer | “I have just taken on a great
> Amateur Naval Historian | responsibility. I will do my
> Email: BWV_Wiesbaden@t-online.de | utmost to meet it” – Nimitz
Dear Tim:
I tried subscribing to the WW2 listserve using the address
listserve@listserve.acsu.buffalo.edu Didn’t work! Ken Macpherson

WWII list?

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

There’s a Listserv list dedicated to World War II isnt there? Anyone have
the name and address? (Not H-War, I’m on that one for reasons that are not
perfectly clear.)
Eric Bergerud, 531 Kains Ave, Albany CA 94706, 510-525-0930

Quote

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

In the book “One Hundred Days” by Admiral Sandy Woodward (Memoirs of the
Falklands Battle Group Commander), under a photograph of Captain John
Coward, Captain of the guided-missile frigate H.M.S. BRILLIANT, the
caption says….and his motto was well-known “The essence of war is
violence. Moderation in war is imbcility”.

I don’t know whether he said it first, or whether he adopted somebody
else’s saying as his motto.

>From Michael Pryce, Wellington, New Zealand.

quote

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Does anyone know who said this?

“The essence of war is violence. Moderation in war is imbecility.”

Thanks
Tom

Tom Robison
Ossian, Indiana
tcrobi@adamswells.com
_|_
–X-X-(ô)-X-X–

ADMs King, Nimitz and Ghormley

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

Tim,
According to “Victory at Sea” by Dunnigan and Nofi, page
436, Ghormley “held a variety of administrative posts, culminating in
May 1945 in being assigned to oversee the demobilization of the
German navy. He retired a year later.”

Jon
> Date: Wed, 4 Mar 1998 11:06:08 +0100
> To: mahan@microworks.net
> Subject: Re: ADMs King, Nimitz and Ghormley
> From: BWV_Wiesbaden@t-online.de (Tim Lanzendoerfer)
> Reply-to: mahan@microworks.net

> w1mnk@ibm.net schrieb:
> > Eric’s comments are essentialy correct. Nimitz visited Ghormley on
> > 28 Sep 42, and was dismayed to see the confusion and indecision on
> > the part of his COMSOPAC. He has also received dispatches that
> > indicated before his inspection trip from Ghormley, stating that the
> > Guadacanal campaign was lost. This was problably the reason for the
> > visit. Shortly before 18 Oct, Nimitz sent King a “King eyes
> > only” dispatch regarding change of command (prior to this, after the
> > Noumea visit, Nimitz had polled his staff officers regarding
> > replacement of Ghormley – the results of which were a unanimous
> > affirmative). King quickly and tersely replied “affirmative” . On 18
> > Oct, Nimitz directed Halsey to assume the role of COMSOPAC, replacing
> > Ghormley.
>
> That we’re talking about Ghormley…I have a question. I have
pretty well traced
> his career during the war, though a gap exists between his relief during
> Guadalcanal and his employment as Commander, Naval Forces Germany.
Does anybody
> know what he did then? And, what did a Commander, NFG do?
>
> Tim
>
> Tim Lanzendoerfer | “I have just taken on a great
> Amateur Naval Historian | responsibility. I will do my
> Email: BWV_Wiesbaden@t-online.de | utmost to meet it” – Nimitz
> —————————————————————–
> The United States Navy in the Pacific War 1941 – 1945
> http://www.microworks.net/pacific
> Last Updated: 7th February 1998
> —————————————————————–
>
>
>
>

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The Mahan Naval Discussion List hosted here at NavalStrategy.org is to foster discussion and debate on the relevance of Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan's ideas on the importance of sea power influenced navies around the world.
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