US DEPARTS THE PHILIPPINES

The presence of American military bases in the Philippines was a consequence of our acquisition of that archipelago in 1898 after the Spanish-American war.  When independence was granted to the Republic of the Philippines after WWII the US retained control of her military installations under a 99-year lease starting 27 March 1947.  However, in deference to growing concerns over the US presence, under the Eisenhower administration in 1959, the 99-year term of the lease was shortened by 56 years to 16 September 1991.

In a Cold War dominated world of the 1980s, America viewed its bases in the Philippines, particularly Naval Station Subic Bay, as, “A vital link in the defense of freedom,” and in 1989 talks began on the possible renewal of the Bases Agreement.  However chief negotiators Richard L. Armitage of the US and Raul Manglapus of the Corazon Aquino administration were far apart on the terms of an extension.  Too, a growing public movement against the US presence was founded in sentiments dating from WWII, with Franklin Roosevelt’s “Europe first” war policy.  Thus, on September 10^th, 1991, the 23-member Philippine Senate rejected a final American $2 billion total aid package by a margin of four votes.  The best the pro-American Aquino government could achieve was a three-year extension to accomplish a permanent American withdrawal.

The dismantling of our Philippine bases now began in earnest.  A decision to abandon Clark AFB, that had been ravaged by the Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption in June of 1991, had already been approved by US planners.  At Subic, 50,000 tons of ordnance was destroyed or removed, and 5900 servicemen, 3900 dependents and 214 pets were shipped out.  The fleet replenishment squadron VRC-50 was relocated to Guam, and the drydocks USS MACHINIST (AFDB-8), RESOURCEFUL (AFDM-5) and ADEPT (ADDL-23) were towed to other Pacific facilities.  In what was termed the “biggest yard sale in history,” 450,000 tons of material were sold at 15-cents on the dollar–the Philippine government buying up $26 million in goods.  Outside the gates of Subic, the city of Olongapo formed the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) to facilitate conversion of the massive 630,300 acre facility into an economic free-trade zone.

On 30 September 1992 Naval Station Subic Bay closed, following the other facilities at Camp John Hay, Camp Wallace, Capas Tarlac and San Miguel.  The last remaining US assets were consolidated to NAS Cubi Point.  Then on this day, COMUSNAVPHIL officially ceased to exist as RADM Thomas Mercer stepped off Cubi Point’s Alava Pier onto the brow of USS BELLEAU WOOD (LHA-3), and the last 800 US sailors and Marines departed the Republic of the Philippines.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  1 DEC 25

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Branigin, William.  “Philippines Sets Compromise on Closing of U.S. Naval Base:  Aquino, Senate Agree on 3-Year Withdrawal Period.”  The Washington Post, 3 October 1991, p. A-37.

Branigin, William.  “U.S. Military Ends Role in Philippines:  After 94 Years, Navy Leaves with Parade, Tears, Questions.”  The Washington Post, 24 November 1992, pp. A-1, A-17.

Burlage, John.  “The End of an Era:  Packing Up and Shipping Out at Subic Bay.”  Navy Times, 30 November 1992, pp. 12, 14.

Burlage, John.  “The Last of the Last to Say Good-Bye.”  Navy Times, 30 November 1992, pp. 14-15.

Dutcher, Roger.  “Subic Bay’s Last Days.”  Surface Warfare, September/October 1992, pp. 20-21.

Gregor, A. James and Virgilio Aganon.  The Philippine Bases:  U.S. Secuity Risk.  Washington, DC: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1987, pp. 33-47.

Oberdorfer, Don.  “U.S. Bases Rejected in Philippines:  Cheney Says Subic Bay Facility Will be Closed if Decision Stands.”  The Washington Post, 10 September 1991, pp. A-1, A-12.

“Philippines to US: Leases on Bases Will End in ’92.”  The Washington Post, 16 May 1990, p. A-7.

Shenon, Philip.  “U.S. Will Abandon Volcano-Ravaged Air Base, Manila is Told.”  New York Times, 16 July 1991, p. A-6.

Sicam, Paulynn.  “Pressure Mounts to End Bases Pact.”  Christian Science Monitor, 14 May 1990, p. 3.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  For centuries before the appearance of Europeans, the Philippine islands were economically exploited by Asian powers, largely China.  Magellan claimed the islands in March 1526 for his Spanish King Philip.  For three hundred years Spain dominated the islands, setting up the famous Manila-Mexico trade.  Once a year a gold and treasure laden galleon would leave Manila taking a northerly route through the Pacific.  After a voyage of many months, they would make landfall at Cape Mendicino in California, and from there hug the coast to Acapulco.  The islands remained under Spanish domination until 1898, when CAPT George Dewey defeated the Spanish Fleet in a decisive naval action in Manila Bay.  Along with Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Guam, the Philippines was ceded to the United States at the close of the Spanish-American war.

The only remaining official US presence in the Philippines is the American Memorial Cemetery outside Manila in which 17,206 American servicement killed in WWII and 36,279 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines whose remains have never been found are memorialized.

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                                 24 OCTOBER-14 NOVEMBER 1995

                                     THE LAST CRUISE OF DIXON

At 1600 on the sunny Tuesday afternoon of 24 October 1995 the L.Y. Spear-class submarine tender USS DIXON (AS-37) cast off from middle pier at SubBase Point Loma and was eased by tugs into the channel.  This still fit 25-year-old Cold War veteran, built to service nuclear attack subs, was bound for Norfolk to await scrapping in the James River ghost fleet.  Her normal 1200-man crew had been pared down to 400-odd essentials.  Her repair shops, boats, and much of her loose gear had already been off-loaded.  A sheared pin in a circulating pump delayed her departure eight hours but her skipper, CAPT David W. Hearding, still planned her twilight cruise to be one of her best.

Calm seas and fine weather cooperated in keeping the lightened tender from rocking too badly as she steamed south.  The weather held on the 28^th when, in a solemn ceremony, the ashes of CWO3 Frazier Russell were committed to the deep by MACS(AW) Francisco M. Aguinot.  In keeping with the retired Warrant’s wishes after his death the previous June, he was intombed from the deck of the ship aboard whom he had proudly served.

DIXON, who held the speed record for tenders at that time, cruised well, allowing a detour so far south that on Halloween, Davy Jones appeared on the bridge requesting the ship lay to for an audience with King Neptune and his Court.  Subsequently 251 polliwogs successfully endured a traditional initiation into the realm of Neptunus Rex.  Turning north again, DIXON steamed to within 40 miles of the Panamanian coast to begin operations with US Army “Dustoff Panama” helicopter units from the Canal Zone.  Throughout that day US Army UH-60 “Black Hawk’s” made a total of 71 touch-and-go approaches to the after flight deck.  And during lulls in this excitement, the crew was treated to a mid-ocean swim call.  The participation of DIXON in helo operations was noteworthy–on 6 November 1984 she had become the Navy’s only sub tender with helo deck certification.

Her passage through “the ditch” coincided with Panamanian Independence Day festivities.  The occasion was celebrated under steamy tropical heat with that which had become a regular during the tenure of CAPT Hearding–a steel-beach picnic.  On the Caribbean side the waters proved rougher and hotter, hampering only mildly the last leg of the 4950 mile transit to West Palm Beach.  Following liberty call here, DIXON arrived at Norfolk Naval Shipyard on November 10^th.  In an august affair on 15 December 1995 USS DIXON decommissioned.  Taken out of service as part of post-Cold War “right” sizing, her crew wondered at the wisdom of scrapping a vessel with so much service left to give.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  7 NOV 25

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Oral history of CAPT James Bloom, aboard for the cruise.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  During the ’90s the breakup of the Soviet Union brought a revised op-tempo, during which fixed shore facilities like Bangor, Washington, and Kings Bay, Georgia, assumed a greater role in supporting submarine operations.  As a result, many of our fleet of tenders fell under the budget axe.  DIXON was named for LT George M. Dixon, the Confederate Army officer who piloted H.L. HUNLEY on her historic mission against the Union frigate HOUSATONIC near Charleston Harbor in 1864.

DIXON lay in the James River Reserve Fleet until the summer of 2003, when she was towed to sea and, on 21 July, expended as a target.  She rests today in 17,000 feet of water 360 miles southeast of Charleston.

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                                            THE BERLIN AIRLIFT

After the surrender of the Axis, the major Allied powers occupied Germany’s territory under a divided arrangement.  Then shortly, France, England, the US, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg began working to rebuild the tattered German economy and restore a benign German state.  Russia stood alone in opposition, demanding harsh reparations for her war losses and refusing to relinquish control of the German soil she held.  Frustrated at Soviet obstinacy, in 1948 the Western nations met in Brussels and voted to forge ahead without Stalin.  They united their individual holdings into a restored (West) German Republic and introduced a new, stable, non-inflated currency.

Berlin proved a vulnerability in this Western initiative, as the former German capitol lay entirely within the Soviet occupation zone.  The city itself was divided between British, US, French, and Soviet sectors.  The western sectors united under the Brussels Pact and stood as an island inside East Germany.  Stalin, who wished Germany to be entirely Communist, reacted predictably.  Citing “technical difficulties” he closed all rail, road, and river supply lines into West Berlin on 24 June 1948.  With the hard German winter approaching, Stalin then cut off all electric power under his control into West Berlin.

The Allies debated whether to forcibly re-open the supply routes or write off Berlin as a Cold War casualty.  Neither was deemed acceptable, and agreement was reached on an effort never before attempted at that scale, a massive airlift.  B-29s, C-47s, C-52s and C-54s leftover from WWII were quickly returned to service to carry food, clothing, coal, and other necessities to the 2.5 million isolated Free Berliners.  Perhaps because he thought the effort would fail, or perhaps because he hoped for resumption of talks, Stalin never denied use of the airspace over the Soviet zone.  But even with Berliners rationed to a few slices of bread, 2 oz. of Spam and 3 oz. of potatoes a day, there was a phenomenal payload requirement.  Around the clock for a year, cargo-laden planes thudded down at Gatow airfield in the British sector, Tegel in the French zone and crumbling Templehof in the American zone.  On this day, the first of two US Navy transport squadrons was recalled from the Pacific to assist.

“Operation Vittles” far exceeded all expectations and proved a propaganda embarrassment to Stalin, who quietly lowered the blockade early in 1949.  Though they played a small part overall, the 24 Navy R5Ds of VR-6 and VR-8 nevertheless set impressive records.  Between 7 November and 31 July 1949 they carried 129,989 tons of cargo, a payload record, and over the entire 8 months kept their aircraft operational an unequalled 10 hours/plane/day.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  3 NOV 25

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Collier, Richard.  Bridge Across the Sky:  The Berlin Blockade and Airlift, 1948-1949.  New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1978.

Department of the Navy, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air Warfare).  United States Naval Aviation 1910-1980.  GPO, Washington, DC, pp. 172, 173, 1981.

Love, Robert W.  History of the US Navy, Vol 2  1942-1991. Stackpole Books, Harrisburg, PA, pp. 295, 1992.

“Naval Aviation’s Involvement in the Berlin Airlift.”  Navy Historical Center website.  www.history.navy.mil/ branches/org4-10.htm, 22 October 2001.

Parrish, Thomas.  Berlin in the Balance:  The Blockade-The Airlift_The First Major Battle of the Cold War.  Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1998.

Weisberger, Bernard A.  Cold War Cold Peace:  The United States and Russia since 1945.  American Heritage Pub., New York, NY, pp. 89-96, 1984.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  In order to promote payload efficiency, the airlift commanders instituted a 100-point rating scale designed to identify the best air crews.  In the critical period of December 1948-April 1949, VR-8 earned an efficiency rating off the scale at 120.2.  Second and third place ratings were recorded by two Air Force squadrons at 97.3 and 90.9, respectively.

          The R5D was the Navy version of the 4-engine Douglas C-54, known in the civilian world as the DC-4.  Its cargo capacity was 15,000 pounds.

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                                              THE “SPRU-CANS”

 By the 1960s our aging fleet of WWII Allen M. Sumner and Gearing-class destroyers was increasingly inadequate against the growing threat of Soviet submarines.  A more capable platform for convoy escort and to counter submarine-launched ballistic missiles was needed.  In response, the Major Fleet Escort Study of 1967 called for a fundamental technological re-design of our surface escorts.  That vision materialized 50 years ago this day with the commissioning of USS SPRUANCE (DD-963).

The Spruances were the largest post-WWII destroyers in any navy, stretched to a size more typical of a cruiser.  They were the first in our Navy to be powered by gas turbines, with later modifications installing General Electric LM-2500 aircraft engines in their four engine rooms.  Each carried 16 anti-submarine rockets (ASROC) and six Mk-46 torpedoes in addition to sophisticated submarine detection and tracking equipment.  Due to their predominant ASW mission they mounted only fore and aft 5″/54 guns and twin Phalanx 20mm CIWS mounts–small enough anti-surface weaponry to class them as “destroyers.”  (In traditional nomenclature surface ships are differentiated by the size of their guns.  Battleships mount 10″ guns or larger; heavy cruisers, 8″ guns; light cruisers, 6″ guns; and destroyers carry 5″ guns).

The Spruance platform had enduring utility and formed the backbone of our surface Cold War anti-submarine capabilities.  Thirty-one units were launched, from DD-963 to HAYLER (DD-997), commissioned 5 March 1983.  They served in every action of the latter decades of the Cold War.  Four additional hulls were laid down in 1978-79 intended for the Shah of Iran and fitted with more robust anti-air capabilities.  But after his abdication to the Ayatollah Khomeni in 1979, the four were retained in our Navy as the Kidd-class.  They took our Navy past the turn of the 21^st century and remained popular with our allies thereafter.  Their versatile hulls, power plants, and auxiliary systems are their legacy, being retained for the later Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke DDGs.

It was the emergence of this latter DDG that eclipsed the venerable “Spru-cans.”  Thirty years and one day after the lead ship was commissioned, our last Spruance left service.  On 21 September 2005 CDR Steven A. Mucklow, Commanding Officer of USS CUSHING (DD-985), accepted his ship’s commissioning pennant in ceremonies in San Diego timed to the 25^th anniversary of that warship’s commissioning.  An era of superlative destroyers for whom crews still emote undying affection thus ended.  “I could not have asked for better duty.” summed-up SH3 (SW) Eric Browning at the CUSHING ceremony, echoing the feelings of many “Spru-can” sailors.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  25 SEP 25

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Global Security website. DD-963 Spruance-class.”  AT: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/dd-963-specs.htm, 29 September 2005.

Polmar, Norman.  The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, 14^th ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1987, pp. 150-55.

Smith, Cynthia.  “Navy’s Last Spruance-Class Destroyer Decommissioned.”  Military.com electronic news release, 27 September 2005.

ADDITIIONAL NOTES:  USS SPRUANCE remembers ADM Raymond A. Spruance (1886-1969), who commanded US Naval forces in WWII at the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea.  Near the end of WWII, Congress authorized the 5-star rank of Fleet Admiral, allotting 4 billets to the Navy.  Chester Nimitz, Ernest King, and William Leahy were obvious choices.  For the fourth billet, both William Halsey and Raymond Spruance were considered.  Halsey was chosen, to which Spruance reacted, “…if I had received it instead of Bill Halsey, I would have been very unhappy over it.^”

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                                           OPENING THE ARCTIC

The 1950s saw the United States embroiled in a “Cold War” to halt the spread of Soviet Communism.  Indeed, by the late 50s the Soviets, once thought to be technologically backward, appeared to have a leg up on the US.  They had shocked the West with the explosion of their first atomic bomb on 29 August 1949, as they did with their launch of the first successful earth-orbiting satellite, Sputnik, on 4 October 1957.  American planners genuinely worried that the Soviet Union would eclipse our capabilities.  Defense in this day hinged on atomic weapons that by the 1950s could be delivered by ballistic missiles deployed on stealthy nuclear-powered submarines–with one shortfall.  The 1500-mile range of the Polaris missile then under development would not reach deep within the Soviet Union unless our submarines operated dangerously close to the Soviet coast.  Attention focused immediately on the Arctic Ocean.

In July of 1958, USS NAUTILUS (SSN-571) made the first-ever sustained sortie under the Arctic ice cap, culminating on 3 August with her arrival under the ice at the magnetic North Pole.  Meanwhile on 30 July, USS SKATE (SSN-578), too, penetrated the Arctic.  She cruised for ten days under the ice, traveling some 2400 miles and surfacing eight times in polynyas (open water breaks in the ice).  In conjunction with Project “Ice Skate” she cooperated in underwater homing exercises with two Air Force drift stations near the Pole.  Then in the early hours of this day, SKATE became the second naval vessel to reach the North Pole.

NAUTILUS had been content simply to reach the Pole, but CDR James F. Calvert had a further goal to accomplish.  Technology of that day still required submarines to surface to conduct most of their operations; thus, SKATE began searching for a break in the ice.  Within a few hours a polynya was located, and Calvert carefully positioned his sub under the opening.  All engines stopped.  Water was slowly pumped from the ballast tanks.  But as the sub inched upward, the current carried her, and at 0647 her stern nudged against the underside of the ice.  Her sail had already broken the surface and Calvert steadied the boat here as Executive Officer LCDR John Nicholson sent this message:

REACHED GEOGRAPHIC NORTH POLE AUGUST ELEVENTH.  NOW IN POLYNYA ABOUT FORTY MILES FROM POLE.  ALL WELL.

The message electrified our Naval command.  Our nation’s strategic defense was assured with SKATE’s achievement of a successful surfacing near the Pole.  And the entire Arctic Ocean was opened for operations by our Navy!

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  18 AUG 25

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 6 “R-S”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1976, p. 524.

Hewlett, Richard G. and Francis Duncan.  Nuclear Navy 1946-1962.  Chicago, IL: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1974, pp. 370-71.

Sweetman, Jack.  American Naval History:  An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3rd ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, pp. 209, 212.

Williams, Marion D.  Submarines under the Ice:  The U.S. Navy’s Polar Operations.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1998, pp. 134-38.

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                                          THE DOMINO THEORY

In March 1938, (then) LCOL Dwight D. Eisenhower watched Hitler convince the Austrians to join an Anschluss (alliance) with Nazi Germany.  Seven months later Hitler annexed the Sudetenland (eastern Czechoslovakia).  The whole of Czechoslovakia fell in March 1939.  Poland was invaded six months later, triggering WWII.  The year of 1940 saw the consecutive falls of Denmark, Holland, Belgium, Norway, France, Romania, and Hungary.  All this transpired while the other Axis power, Italy, took Abyssinia (Ethiopia) and Egypt then invaded Greece.  The result, by the time the United States entered the war, was that much of Europe languished under dictatorial fascism.

After WWII, concern over Russian Communism in eastern Europe prompted the influential American diplomat George Kennan to coin the term “containment” to describe the need to limit the spread of world Communism.  Americans tended to view Communism as a monolithic threat to democracy, made no less dire with the subsequent Communist revolutions that divided China and Korea.  And in 1954, during the Viet Minh’s siege of French forces at Dien Bien Phu, a Communist takeover of French Indochina (Vietnam) seemed imminent.

No doubt reminiscent of the sequential fall of nations in Europe before the war, now our 34^th President, Dwight Eisenhower, called for US backing of the French in Indochina.  In a press conference this day he justified the effort stating, “You have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the ‘falling domino’ principle…You have a row of dominos set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is a certainty that will go over very quickly.”  He implied that should the Communists take Indochina, next to fall would be Burma, Thailand, Malaya, and Indonesia, extending perhaps even to a Communist takeover in Japan!  The French did ultimately lose Indochina, while Eisenhower’s “domino theory” came to drive our involvement in Vietnam, and our foreign policy in general, for the next two decades.

Today the domino theory is suspected by some to have been an anxious exaggeration.  As was shown after the US embarrassment in Vietnam, and subsequent Communist pushes in Laos, Malaya, the Philippines, Indonesia, and several African and Central American nations, Communism proved to be non-monolithic.  Russian, Chinese, and other versions of Communism are disparate, even competitive at times.  A world takeover by “monolithic” Communism seems a delusion today as competition between versions of Communism limit its spread.  Indeed, the rise of Communism in third-world nations was likely driven more by local desires to improve economic depression than by an overarching plot for world domination.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  11 APR 25

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Eisenhower, Dwight D.  “The President’s News Conference, April 7, 1954.”  The American Presidency Project website.  AT: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=10202, retrieved 23 February 2018.

Kennan, George.  “The Sources of Soviet Conduct.”  Foreign Affairs, 01 July 1947, AT: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russian-federation/1947-07-01/sources-soviet-conduct, retrieved 23 February 2018.

Leeson, Peter T. and Andrea M. Dean.  “The Democratic Domino Theory: An Empirical Investigation.”  AT: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2009.00385.x/abstract:jsessionid=28BD26109195D99094FN7E9732F8861E.f03t02, retrieved 23 February 2018.

Ward, Geoffrey C. and Ken Burns.  The Vietnam War: An Intimate History.  New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017, p. 27.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The word fascism comes from the Roman fasces,

a type of battle axe.  The fasces became the symbol of the Roman Republic, much like the eagle is a symbol of the United States.  Modern fascism got its start in WWI-era Italy with a (failed) political movement to recreate the former Roman Empire.

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                                                NAS SIGONELLA

After World War II, Americans found it impossible to return to the isolation from European events we had enjoyed since our Revolution.  The vast Atlantic and Pacific Oceans no longer presented obstacles to an attacker, and the new political climate in Europe demanded our attention.  England, our strong ally, faced economic ruin and the disintegration of her far-flung empire, an empire that had afforded us access to distant bases–effectively an “early warning system” for world turmoil.  Secondly, the late 1940s brought the emergence of Russian Communism.  Lacking a warm-water port, the Russian’s had long eyed the Mediterranean, and the early 1950s brought a need to surveil Russian Navy activities in that sea.  The central Mediterranean chokepoint at Sicily/Malta became strategic.  Initially, our P-2 “Neptune” patrols operated out of space borrowed from the British Hal Far airhead on Malta.  From here our P-2s could monitor all traffic moving between the eastern and western Mediterranean.  But crowding at Hal Far and the advent of Maltese independence in the mid-1950s spurred US interests in an alternative basing site.

NATO undertook discussions with the Italian government that resulted in an agreement on 25 June 1957 to apportion the site of a former WWII Luftwaffe auxiliary airstrip on Sicily.  Men and equipment began transferring from Hal Far within the week, and the first aircraft, a USMC R4QD, arrived on August 8^th.  Two years of construction on the runway and support facilities allowed the commissioning of the new Naval Air Facility (NAF) Sigonella on this date.  The base was divided into two locations from the beginning.  NAF 1 sheltered barracks, MWR, and personnel support activities.  Seven miles to the west, NAF 2 held the runway and flight line.  The dispensary on NAF 1 opened in October 1959 (site of the modern family service center) and was staffed with a GMO, a flight surgeon, a dentist, two nurses, and 15 Corpsmen.  The modern 3-story Naval Hospital on NAS 1 was opened on the site of the former Rocky Hollow Golf Course, and is named for William J. Anthony, Jr., the first child born in that facility on 30 January 1993.  NH Sigonella today administers our clinics in Bahrain and Crete.

One of Sigonella’s moments in the spotlight came in October 1985 when Palestinian terrorists captured the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro.  The Egyptian airliner used for their escape to Tunisia was intercepted by US warplanes and forced down at NAS Sigonella, where the terrorists were taken into Italian custody.  Over the years the base has quietly executed the Navy’s mission in the Mediterranean, today supporting both 6^th Fleet and Southwest Asia operations.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  21 JUN 24

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

“History.” NAS Sigonella website.  AT: https://www.cinc.navy.mil/ Sigonella/AboutCNIC/History/index.htm, retrieved 14 March 2009.

Site visit, NAS Sigonella, July 2008-July 2010.

Sweetman, Jack.  American Naval History:  An Illustrated Chronology of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, 1775-Present, 3^rd ed.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2002, pp. 252-53.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The abandoned concrete structure visible just beyond the perimeter fence from Naval Hospital Sigonella is the remnant base of a WWII German radar array.  To their credit, the Sicilians have preserved many German bunkers and structures from the WWII occupation.

The British granted Maltese independence on 21 September 1964.  The former Hal Far air base has been taken over by industrial concerns, however the scars of the runways can still be seen on Google Earth as a “V” formation at the extreme southeastern tip of the island.

Construction of the modern Naval Hospital Sigonella began after our brushes with Libyan strongman COL Omar Khadafi and the suspicion that Libya might be developing nuclear weapons.  As a result, NH Sigonella is the only Navy Medicine facility hardened against a nuclear blast.

The R4Q was the USMC designation for the C-119 “Packet” (Fairchild Aircraft).  Its distinctive box tail and generous carrying capacity earned it the nickname “flying boxcar.”  Later versions were flown into the 1960s.

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                                                  LOST H-BOMB

Considering the pace of Cold War activities in the 1960s, accidents were bound to happen.  Such was the case on 17 January 1966 when an Air Force B-52 collided with a KC-135 tanker during an aerial refueling operation 30,500 feet over Spain.  Eight airmen were killed, and four unarmed B28 thermonuclear hydrogen bombs plummeted from the bomber’s bay.  Three came to rest on land and were recovered.  The fourth plunged into the sea off Costa del Sol near Palomares, Spain.  Fear of nuclear annihilation immediately gripped the European community, fueled by Communist propaganda.  Extremists exploited the event, predicting an accidental rain of nuclear weapons from “friendly” skies.  In the face of public animosity, and as the Soviets were sure to mount their own attempt to recover the submerged bomb, the US Navy was called.

The 14-ship, 2500-man Task Force 65, including USNS MIZAR (T-AGOR-11) and the deep submersibles DEEP JEEP, CUBMARINE, ALUMINAUT, and the capable research sub, ALVIN, was on-scene by 17 February.  RADM William S. Guest commanded the operation, though incredibly, he was not permitted to show pictures of the bomb to his submersible crews!  A local fisherman, Francisco Simo-Orts, pinpointed the spot he had seen a large splash, an area that was divided into two zones, Alfa I and Alfa II.  The shallower Alfa II area was searched by divers and yielded much crash debris.  The submersibles worked the deeper, more rugged Alfa I, thought to be the more likely area for success.

On March 1^st, after weeks of frustration and after repeated requests to search beyond the Alfa II area for a slide track, ALVIN’s crewmen Valentine Wilson and Marvin McCamas (intentionally) wandered off course.  As they had predicted, along the edge of the Alfa II area they quickly located a furrow in the muddy slope made by the sinking bomb.  Fourteen days later the weapon itself was located at 2550 feet, draped in its parachute and resting at the edge of a 500-foot gorge.  Recovery from beyond the steep walls of that gorge would have been impossible.  However, after several accidental nudges by ALVIN’s dexterous arm,a line was secured to the errant weapon.  With ALUMINAUT assisting, the device was dragged toward the surface–until the line parted!  Happily, the bomb settled onto an underwater plateau 300 feet deeper than its original location.  The Cable-controlled Underwater Research Vehicle (CURV) was next employed, but she became hopelessly entangled in the parachute lines.  Not until this day was the ensnared CURV, with the H-bomb bundled therewith, hoisted aboard PETREL (ASR-14).  It was transferred to CASCADE (AD-16) for the trip home.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  12 APR 24

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Bartholomew, C.A.  Mud, Muscle, and Miracles:  Marine Salvage in the United States Navy.  Washington, DC: Department of the Navy, 1990, pp. 378-83.

Davies, Roy.  “Lost H-Bomb.”  London. England: Nautilus Video Productions, BBC Television, 1995.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 5 “N-Q”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1979, p. 277.

Middleton, Drew.  Submarine:  The Ultimate Naval Weapon–Its Past, Present & Future.  Chicago, IL: Playboy Press, 1976, pp. 162-63.

Pierson, David S.  “Lost in the Sky, Found in the Sea.”  Naval History, Vol 23 (3), June 2009, pp. 50-54.

Polmar, Norman, et.al.  Chronology of the Cold War at Sea 1945-1991.  Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1998, p. 104.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  In terms of US Navy salvage operations, this endeavor was larger than the 1963 search for the lost submarine THRESHER (SSN-593) and was the first that successfully combined divers, submersibles, and remotely operated vehicles.

Though retarded in their fall by safety parachutes, one of the H-bombs that struck land suffered a cracked casing.  Radioactive material leaked, and the Air Force was forced to undertake a large clean-up and removal of thousands of cubic yards of contaminated Spanish earth.

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                                            NAVY ICEBREAKERS

The 1950s was a decade of scientific endeavor in such far reaching environments as outer space, the deep ocean, and Antarctica.  With respect to the latter, the US Navy cooperated with the International Geophysical Year 1955 by establishing a research station at Kainan Bay at the Ross Ice Shelf.  This facility, “Little America,” would be supported by NAS McMurdo Sound 400 miles to the west.  Our Navy contracted Ingalls Shipbuilding in Mississippi in 1954 to construct an icebreaker of sufficient strength to negotiate these Antarctic waters.  On 25 May 1955 USS GLACIER (AGB-4) was commissioned, armed with a twin 5″ bow mount and seven smaller guns.  Her maiden voyage supported Operation “Deep Freeze I” that was already underway.

GLACIER arrived in extreme southern waters in December 1955 (Antarctic summer) and broke a harbor in Kainan Bay for ships delivering equipment, supplies, and fuel.  Construction at Little America began as GLACIER departed to open McMurdo Sound.  GLACIER continued in the Antarctic until May 1956.

“Deep Freeze II” in October 1956 saw GLACIER leading a seven-ship Navy convoy for the two new bases.  In January of that summer, she led two ships into Vincennes Bay, where the third and last US base was to be built.  During “Deep Freeze III” the following summer, GLACIER launched “rockoons,” high altitude balloons deploying rockets in experiments involving our Explorer space program.  And in yet the following year, she helped disestablish Little America, taking time out to rescue the Belgian research ship Polarhav in the Ross Sea.

Her fifth Antarctic season in 1959-60 saw her serving as a platform for research in the Bellingshausen Sea.  It was during this evolution on 1 March 1960 that GLACIER received a distress call.  The Danish supply ship Krista Dan had become trapped in the ice along the Palmer Peninsula near Marguerita Bay.  GLACIER got underway immediately, reaching the stranded freighter this day.  With Danish sailors standing helplessly on the freighter’s fo’csle, GLACIER proceeded to circle Krista Dan.  She made several closer passes, converting the solid ice trapping the Dane into crushed slush.  It took less than a few hours to free the freighter, and both turned north for open water.  Yet another emergency arose, this time to free the trapped Argentine icebreaker General San Martin.  Here, GLACIER fouled a prop, shearing off one of the blades.  Detached to Boston for repairs, she called first at Rio de Janeiro, where she provided humanitarian relief in a flood disaster.  GLACIER continued in Navy Antarctic service until 1966 when she was transferred to the US Coast Guard.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  13 MAR 24

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Cooney, David M.  A Chronology of the U.S. Navy:  1775-1965.  New York, NY: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1965, p. 448.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 3 “G-K”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1977, pp. 102-03.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The fouled prop prevented GLACIER from freeing the Argentine icebreaker, who eventually accomplished her own rescue.  GLACIER is no longer with us.  She served the Coast Guard at WAGB-4 until 1987 then was broken up in 2012.

At one time our Navy had four icebreakers in addition to GLACIER in active commission:  BURTON ISLAND (AGB-1); EDISTO (AGB-2); ATAK (AGB-3); and STATEN ISLAND (AGB-5)–all built during WWII.  All five were transferred to the Coast Guard on 30 June 1966, the last day of the 1965-66 fiscal year.  Icebreaker services remain a Coast Guard tasking today.

AGB-4 was the fourth and last Navy vessel to carry the name Glacier.  The first was the food stores ship AF-4, who served from the turn of the 20^th century into the 1920s.  The second, CVE-33, was transferred to Great Britain in 1943, leaving the cargo ship AK-183 to carry the name during the remainder of WWII.

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                                                        NECPA

The demands of WWII by August 1942 led Congress to authorize eight heavy cruisers of the Oregon City-class.  But the long construction timetable for heavy warships prevented any from being launched prior to the end of the war, and the latter planned sisters CAMBRIDGE, BRIDGEPORT, KANSAS CITY, and TULSA (CA-126-129) were canceled on 11 August 1945.  USS OREGON CITY (CA-122), ALBANY (CA-123), and ROCHESTER (CA-124) were so nearly complete however, that the three were finished and commissioned in 1946.  That left USS NORTHAMPTON (CA-125) on the ways at 54% completion.  Planners debated her fate.

At a length of 667 feet and driven to 33 knots by her four-shaft steam turbines, some suggested that NORTHAMPTON had the size and speed necessary to serve as a command ship.  On 1 July 1948 construction resumed with modifications.  An entire additional deck was added to accommodate embarked staff.  Her 8″ gun mounts were sacrificed to provide platforms for sophisticated radar systems ranging 300 miles in all directions.  Two enclosed tower masts housed an array of communication antennas.  There was only room on deck for six 5-inch/54 caliber twin mounts and four twin 3-inch/70 caliber guns.  On 27 January 1951 the warship was commissioned as CLC-1, identifying her as a Light Cruiser, Command.  She operated for a few years as the 2^nd Fleet flagship during air warfare exercises and European public affairs cruises.  But by 1957, downsizing determined the command cruiser to be a luxury the Navy couldn’t afford.  Plans to similarly convert the heavy cruiser HAWAII (CB-3) were scrapped, and NORTHAMPTON was reassigned to training duties at the Academy.

But when 1961 brought the Kennedy administration to the White House, the threat of Soviet nuclear attack spurred interest in a mobile Presidential command platform.  Under the National Emergency Command Post Afloat (NECPA) program, on this day new life was breathed into NORTHAMPTON as she was redesignated CC-1.  She underwent a 2-year upgrade of her communications, radar, and berthing to allow her to serve as an emergency refuge and command post for the President.  In these days before Air Force One, two additional Navy ships, the light carriers SAIPAN and WRIGHT (CVL-48-49), were tagged for conversion to CC-3 and CC-2, respectively.

Events never required NORTHAMPTON to fulfill her role as the emergency Presidential haven, though she did embark Presidents Kennedy and Johnson for VIP events.  Advances in Soviet submarines and anti-ship missiles by the end of the 1960s obviated NECPA, and NORTHAMPTON was decommissioned on 1 April 1970.  Today of course, the US Air Force provides the emergency Presidential command post.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  19-20 JAN 24

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Baker, A.D.  “Historic Fleets.”  Naval History, Vol 19 (5), October 2005, pp. 12-13.

Department of the Navy, Naval History Division.  Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 5 “N-Q”.  Washington, DC: GPO, 1979, p. 112.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  The difference between a light and heavy cruiser has nothing to do with size or displacement.  Heavy cruisers carry guns of 8-inch bore or larger, and light cruisers mount 6-inch guns or smaller.

Like most 20^th century US Navy cruisers, NORTHAMPTON was named for a prominent city, in this case Northampton, Massachusetts.  She was the third ship so named in our Navy.  The first was a wooden motorboat purchased by the Navy for patrols in WWI, and the second, (CA-26), was lost at the WWII battle of Tassafaronga in November 1942.

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