Picture of the day

First time my wife and I went to Hawaii we did the Pearl Habour tour and the hilite for me was the Arizona and Missouri. No photo can do the Missouri justice as how big it is.
 
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Hard trails walked, paratroopers, Angola, 1970.
Picture by Jaime Silva
 
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Just incredible ��. January 27th, 1945: Damage to cockpit of B-24 “Maid of Honor” #44-41476 (392nd BS, 30th BG).
“Our most dramatic mission this month was the single squadron strike to Iwo [Jima] on 27 January. The scheduled lead plane did not take off due to an electrical malfunction. The lead position was flown by Lt. Herbert O Broemer in B-24 called “Maid of Honor”. The planes reached their assigned target, Airfield No. 1 at 0540Z. Just as the lead plane was to release its bombs, a 75 mm shell entered the left side of the fuselage to the rear of the nose turret. The shell burst in the cockpit completely wrecking the instrument panel and damaging the hydraulic system. The pilot (Lt. Broemer), co-pilot (Lt. William M. Smith), and navigator (Lt. John W. Donnely) were injured seriously by the explosion. The plane was momentarily out of control banked severely before the wounded pilot could regain the controls. Although the plane was damaged and the pilots wounded, the plane returned to base. How this was accomplished is attributed to a dependable aircraft and a skilled pilot working miracles of endurance under conditions that have become almost routine in the Air Force. It was necessary for the pilot to circle the home base at Saipan for 25 minutes before the landing gear could be lowered. The pilot only had one arm to operate the controls; his right arm having been injured by the explosion. The wreckage of the cockpit was such that no one could assist as co-pilot. The radio operator read off the Air Speed Indicator, and the engineer worked the throttles. The plane landed at a speed of only 100 miles per hour. The pilot’s injuries consisted of an injured right arm and superficial injuries from glass to the right eye. The co-pilot and navigator were seriously injured. They may lose partial sight.“ Src: 392nd Squadron history for the month of Jan 1945
 
Boy, that would have made a hell of a bang. There you are fat and happy buzzing along at altitude, maybe stowing your thermos or picking your nose and suddenly there's all the noise in the world and people are hurt and hollering and the plane's making her own decisions and you're directly over the most hostile landscape on the planet...

Meanwhile, some distance below, Toshiro and his crew have finally, after some days of tireless attempts, hit a bomber with the flak gun, and right in the cockpit! Much rejoicing as they watch it bank hard. Surely they get to watch it crash! But no, it rights itself and flies away to the south.

"Goddamn it", Toshiro says, in Japanese, with substantial feeling. "Fvking Americans are gonna win this thing..."
 
BB-46 Maryland after taking a Japanese torpedo dropped by a low flying Betty bomber Using the hills of Saipan as cover.

Battle of Saipan

Maryland in Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, 10 July 1944, showing torpedo damage she sustained during the battle of Saipan
Two months later, Maryland sailed westward on 5 May, joining Task Force 52 headed for Saipan.[11] Vice Admiral Richmond K. Turner allotted TF 52 three days to soften up the island's defenses ahead of the assault. Firing commenced at 05:45 on 14 June. They quickly destroyed two coastal guns, then began bombarding Garapan, destroying ammunition dumps, gun positions, small boats, storage tanks, blockhouses and buildings. She then turned her guns to Tanapag, leveling it in heavy bombardment. The invasion commenced 15 June, and Maryland provided fire support for the landing forces.[12]

The Japanese attempted to counter the battleships through the air. On 18 June, the ship's guns shot down their first Japanese aircraft, but on 22 June, a Mitsubishi G4M3 "Betty" medium bomber flew low over the still-contested Saipan hills and found Maryland and Pennsylvania. The Japanese plane dropped a torpedo, opening a large hole in Maryland's starboard bow. The attack caused light casualties, and in 15 minutes she was underway for Eniwetok, and from there she steamed for the repair yards at Pearl Harbor (in reverse the whole time so as not to do further damage to her bow[13]),[4] escorted by two destroyers. Two men were killed in the attack.[12]

With an around-the-clock effort by the shipyard workers, Maryland was repaired in 34 days, departing on 13 August. She then embarked for the Solomon Islands with a large task force, anchoring in Purvis Bay off Florida Island for two weeks before steaming for the Palau Islands on 6 September.[12] She then joined Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's Western Fire Support Group (Task Group 32.5; TG 32.5). Firing first on 12 September to cover minesweeping operations and underwater demolition teams at the opening of the Battle of Peleliu, Maryland again conducted shore bombardment supporting the landing craft as they approached the beaches on 15 September.[11] Four days later, organized resistance collapsed, permitting the fire support ships to retire to the Admiralty Islands at the end of the month.[4

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DK = Deck
numbers = frames.
Plat= plate(?)
Likely marking the wreckages so they know what is what according to the ship's drawing.

Then there is the pipes and electrical cables to worry about.

example HMS Iron Duke WW1
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Take yer pick. Numerous nations have 'em these days & have already played with the buggers. The one used in Yemen was a deep penetrator unit with time delay to initiate the fusion device at the designed depth.

just watching this, looks like a fairly normal bomb followed by a huge secondary explosion, I suspect it was an underground ammo depo that they hit.
 
just watching this, looks like a fairly normal bomb followed by a huge secondary explosion, I suspect it was an underground ammo depo that they hit.

I tend to agree. First off I find it hard to believe the Saudis of all people would deploy a tactical nuke,, and secondly, I would think there would be a lot more brightness and violence accompanying the explosion. That and you’d think NGOs would be besides themselves publishing reports about fallout this and war crime that.
 
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