Tag Archives: Cutters

USS Newcomb (DD-586)

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After having read William R. Wells, II (Wells2)’s story of First Lieutenant (later Commodore), Frank H. Newcomb, USRCS’s, performance during the Spanish American War, in which Wells2 noted that the Navy had named a destroyer after Commodore Newcomb, and seeing reference to USS Newcomb on the Navy History and Heritage Foundation Facebook page (now a broken link–Chuck) in connection with with the first heavy Kamakaze attacks of the Okinawa Campaign, I had to find out more.

The ship had a very short but illustrious career. She sank at least one and maybe two Japanese subs, lead a torpedo attack that sank a battleship, and survived five kamakaze hits. You can read about it here. They did get some things wrong with regard to the Battle of Cardenas, and the ships anti-aircraft battery, but the rest of the information appears reliable, and some of the pictures of the damage to the ship are very impressive.

This gives us another reason to name a cutter after Newcomb. Not only would we be honoring one of our heroes. We would be honoring this brave ship and our ties with the Navy.

Piracy

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Piracy of the African Coast has been in the news a lot lately. The Dutch Frigate Tromp has been particularly successful in countering this problem. (Pirates mistakenly attacked her twice–suspect there may have been some deceptive lighting involved) Most recently she used her helicopter, and six marines who fast-roped down down from it, to recapture a German container ship that had been seized by ten pirates. In accordance with recent doctrine, the crew had locked themselves in a “safe room” so that they could not be used as hostages by the pirates. More info here and here.

If we send a cutter into the Indian Ocean again, perhaps we should send along an MSST fast-rope team.

UAV info (from the manufacturer)

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We have all heard that the Coast Guard is evaluating “unoccupied aerial vehicles,” UAVs, UASs, or whatever we are calling them lately. Ran across this recently and thought some of you might be interesting. Particularly liked the fact that the videos included a launch, and in the case of the Scan Eagle video, a recovery on a very small vessel.

“Scan Eagle”
“Integrator”

At any rate it offers a sample of what might be in the works. 24 hour endurance, synthetic aperture radar, electro-optic/IR turret, in systems that can weigh less than 50 pounds, and we can take it off and recover from something as small as Fast Response Cutter.

NSC namesakes– Frank H. Newcomb?

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If you are not familiar with the Story of the Cutter Hudson’s heroism during the Spanish American War, you might want to take a look at this piece by one of our regular participants, William R. Wells, II (Wells2).

As the author points out, the crew never seemed to get the recognition they deserved. I would love to see the Hudson’s captain, First Lieutenant, Frank H. Newcomb, USRCS, receive the Medal of Honor as Wells2 suggest, but perhaps the Coast Guard should honor him by naming one of the new NSCs in his honor.

While we are at it any other candidates for this honor?

Arctic Patrol Vessel

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With all the talk of the Arctic opening up, I’d like to pick you brains about the sort of ships we need. How will we balance of numbers and capability?

Do we need a new design? An ice strengthened OPC? Can 225s do the job? A salt water Mackinaw? (Anybody know if the new Mackinaw is restricted to fresh water?)

Do we perhaps need a new type of vessel–maybe an icebreaking helo carrier with hanger space that can alternately be used for containers of different types from scientific or personnel support to mine warfare modules?

Should we reactivate the Glacier as an interim measure?

There is some background here.

What do you think?

Cruise missiles from Container Ships

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Interesting article here: The Problem with Proliferation: Cruise Missile Edition, highlights an emerging capability to arm container ships with cruise missiles.

For more information about the launch system including  a short animated film with US equipment in the hands of the bad guys, lookhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/mbUU_9bOcnM“> here.