The Japanese did claim a Liberator, apparently shot down with a large-caliber Type 3 shell. I don't know if it's been confirmed or not.

This models the reality rather well.

And no, I did not participate personally in that 1920 discussion. Wise guys....

<t> Back in 1920, Mariner's Mirror had a lengthy discussion on the subject of the definite article in front of a ship's name. At that time, it was theorized that the new breed of young officers had picked up the habit of dropping the "the" from bon vivants who so addressed their yachts. The old ...

As I recall, Shakespeare spelled his name a dozen different ways, but never the right way. C'mon, Bill!

<t> USN terms like BB for battleship, CV for aircraft carrier, etc. are not abbreviations in the usual sense. They are simply designations, and they are capitalized because that is how the USN designated its ships. Some folks will try to get uber-technical with you and insist that a ship's name ...

Don't make me get all e e cummings on you.

<t> Directions are capitalized only if referring to a specific place. I am driving south, but I have family that lives in the South.<br/>
In capitalizing titles, English is unusual. The first word is capitalized as are all subsequent nouns, verbs, adverbs and adjective (except the definite and ...

<r> <QUOTE><s>[quote]</s>It was off New Georgia or Kolombangara I think but the DD USS Strong was sunk by a Long Lance at about 45,000 yards or so.<e>[/quote]</e></QUOTE>
Java Sea also comes to mind regarding hits from ranges where other torpedoes could not match the LL's performance. But I don't ...

<r> <QUOTE><s>[quote]</s>Nobody else in the world had a torpedo that could make 49 knots for over 10,000 yards.<e>[/quote]</e></QUOTE>
Yes, that's the question. Which of the hits around Guadalcanal were at such long ranges? Anything beyond about 8000 yards would be worth noting.
<QUOTE><s>[quote ...

<t> The ranges at Savo were short enough to obviate the biggest advantage of the Long Lance over earlier models. How about Tassafaronga--what was the range there? Were there any Guadalcanal torpedo hits from ranges beyond 7000 yards or maybe 11,000 yards?<br/>
We don't have complete info on which ...

I'm not sure Guadalcanal offers any argument in favor of Long Lances. Was there ever a case in which older 24in torpedoes would not have done as well?

<t> If you're in a generous mood, you can interpret the gelding of Oi and Kitakami as a step in the right direction. They were given all those torpedoes to maximize their contribution to the night torpedo attack that was scheduled to precede the Decisive Battle gun duel. The removal of the torpedoes ...

In the US, at least, Thunder in Its Courses is now out in print version. The UK should follow soon.

I thought most platforms could do PDF? Kindle can .

And so can my laptop. I don't think I'll need Kindle or Nook anytime soon.

I'm waiting for some sort of open platform to come in and beat the pants of off Kindle and other proprietary systems. I mean, we do have pdf's now, don't we?
Thunder... is text-based, a set of essays on BC-related topics. There are only a few drawings and some photos.

Next step: mastering anti-social media. I think I'm there....
One good thing about Nimble is that they're set up in the UK as well.

Hey, maybe you're the first customer. If you like it, feel free to post a review at Amazon. If you don't, well, we can let that be our little secret...!

<t> Speaking of books, I have some news. My latest title, Thunder in Its Courses: Essays on the Battlecruiser, is now available in Kindle and Nook editions. Hard copies should be out there in a couple weeks. Here's the promotional blurb. <br/>
<br/>
Few subjects in naval history have elicited as ...

<r> <B><s>[b]</s>[Spoiler alert]<e>[/b]</e></B><br/>
Honestly, I didn't think much of it. The drama felt stretched and forced. I think more planes crashed into this ship than historically crashed into the whole of British cruiser-dom prior to the kamikaze. It was the man's first novel, and I don't ...