Weapons That Wait And Wait And Wait

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I was just out hiking in the Dolly Sods area in West VA a couple of weeks ago. (Un)fortunately, I did not find any WW2 munitions of which to take pictures, but apparently they're still around.

My B-I-L spent part of the 90s hiking into that area with a team of contractors and digging up and disposing of WWII stuff, mostly mortar shells. They used ground radar to find it. Some was pretty near marked hiking trails I think.

[Lokasenna]

The more interesting part of that trip to me was going to Seneca Rocks, where I learned that it was used for "assault climbing" training in WW2. Something like 1800 men were trained and did their final climb test at night, in the dark, on unfamiliar rock formations...with no injuries or major incidents. This was after I'd climbed the scrambles to the "peak" on the north side, while the southern half is inaccessible unless you have legit climbing equipment and even then...it looks daunting. It was very impressive. Apparently the highest sheer rock faces in the Eastern US.

[Quixote]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The more interesting part of that trip to me was going to Seneca Rocks, where I learned that it was used for "assault climbing" training in WW2. Something like 1800 men were trained and did their final climb test at night, in the dark, on unfamiliar rock formations...with no injuries or major incidents. This was after I'd climbed the scrambles to the "peak" on the north side, while the southern half is inaccessible unless you have legit climbing equipment and even then...it looks daunting. It was very impressive. Apparently the highest sheer rock faces in the Eastern US.

You're right - Seneca does have the highest point on the East Coast you have to climb to get to (no driving, hiking, or cable cars.) Back when I was young, I climbed it twice. It does look daunting (I was a good climber back then, and I still remember looking up at it from the ground the first time) but technically it's not a super hard climb. Easily my most rewarding climb though - the view from the summit of the valleys on both sides was awesome from almost 1000 feet up. (I never climbed Yosemite. I knew my limitations, even back then...)

[Treetop64]

ORIGINAL: Warrant officer 0/0

Interesting article. On a related note,why are bombs & mines not
subjected to duds in the game? Defective torpedoes are certainly well
represented.


WO 0/0

They are.

Play the game long enough and, for example, you will see aircraft dropped dud bomb hits on ships. The combat animation comment won't say it's a dud, but the bomb will hit the ship, and even penetrate, but not explode.

[desicat]

"Duds" may have saved the RN during the Falklands War. "Duds" may be an incorrect way to state the problem, the fuses were not adequate for the low level drops being made.

"The record of the FAS in the Falklands War is impressive. The pilots of the Skyhawk, Dagger, Mirage, and Etendard squadrons demonstrated remarkable piloting and navigation skills. The low-level attacks were exceptionally difficult and dangerous. One flight of Skyhawks flew so low during their ingress to attack the British fleet that on arrival at their home base they had to make instrument approaches to landing because a coating of salt (deposited by the spray off the ocean’s waves) obscured their canopies. Argentine official historians continue to claim that the Argentine airmen inflicted far more damage on the British fleet than the British officially admit. However, the losses the British do document are still impressive considering the FAA’s limitations and lack of antishipping training before the war. The destroyers HMS Sheffield and HMS Coventry, the frigates HMS Ardent, HMS Antelope, the support ship Atlantic Conveyor, the landing ship RFA Sir Galahad, and the landing craft LCU F4 were all sunk by Argentine bombs and Exocets. The destroyers HMS Glasgow and HMS Antrim, the frigates HMS Argonaut and HMS Plymouth, and landing ship RFA Sir Tristram all sustained heavy damage, and another six ships received minor damage. In all, the Fuerza Aerea Sur inflicted the heaviest damage and casualties suffered by the British task force. For that, the FAS paid a very heavy price, losing 22 Skyhawks—19 from Grupos 4 and 5 and three more from a naval Skyhawk squadron. Grupo 8 lost two Mirages, and Grupo 6 lost 11 of its 30 Daggers. The 2d Bomber Squadron lost two Canberras. In all, the FAS lost 41 percent of its aircraft to combat and operational accidents. This is an astounding attrition loss—but it never broke the FAS’s high morale and fighting spirit."

More available here.

[CaptBeefheart]

A Canadian buddy of mine has stumbled on a 155 shell and a land mine while hiking with his son in Korea (figuratively, not literally, stumbled). Those discoveries gave the ROK Army something to do. On his last hike, he stumbled on an abandoned Humvee marked "8 BDE 94 MP" in the woods (i.e. 94th MP Battalion of the 8th MP Brigade, Yongsan Base).

Cheers,
CC

[catwhoorg]

HMS Antelope was destroyed by a 'dud' that detonated during the defusing efforts.

The Armed forces were livid at a comment on the BBC about how the bombs weren't detonating correctly. Not quite as bad as the slip about troops marching on Goose Green before that action took place, but still gave useful;l information to the enemy.

OPSEC doesn't come easily to journalists of any variety.

[Bo Rearguard]

ORIGINAL: catwhoorg

HMS Antelope was destroyed by a 'dud' that detonated during the defusing efforts.

The Armed forces were livid at a comment on the BBC about how the bombs weren't detonating correctly.

Reminds me a bit of US Congressmen Andrew May, who in 1943 blabbed about the Japanese fuzing their depth charges too shallow.