Random Object Photographs

USS Batfish (SS-310)

Well she's not in as good shape as the USS Bowfin, nor resides in as nice a setting, but they were made within months of each other & did their parts in ending the Japanese grip on the Pacific.

Both are diesel–electric Balao-class subs, 311 ft long, displaced 1,490 tons & had a range of 11,000 nautical miles.

The USS Batfish made it's final voyage up the Arkansas River on a handful of barges to the Oklahoma Port of Muskogee in 1972.

A year later it was almost lost to heavy flooding of the river.

Then last year, 2019, heavy rains & flooding up river struck again lifting her off her mooring & she came dangerously close to breaking loose & floating down river into the Lock & Dams (which did happen to a couple of unrelated barges).

Fortunately she didn't but she still sustained measurable damage & is now in need of repairs.

I took this picture in the summer of 1989. My oldest son is on the left, along side his good neighbor friend.

My younger son recently went through the years of photos I had & scanned some of it's 35mm negatives into a collection for me. This is one of them.

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From Wikipedia:
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Batfish's war operations spanned a period from 11 December 1943 to 26 August 1945 during which she completed seven war patrols. She is credited with having sunk nine Japanese ships totaling 10,658 tons while operating east of Japan, in the Philippine Sea, Luzon Strait, and South China Sea. Batfish received the Presidential Unit Citation for her sixth war patrol in the South China Sea during which she sank the three Japanese submarines. She was also awarded six battle stars for her World War II service.

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Dead man's hand...

This shot I took in honor of Wild Bill Hickock, who on August 2, 1876 was murdered at a card table in a saloon in Deadwood, South Dakota holding "aces and eights." That has since been known as the "dead man's hand."

The gun pictured here should be familiar to many on this forum as a S&W Model 1, second issue.

John

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We have a pair of hawks that nest in the neighborhood and hatch a few youngsters every year. I usually don't see much of them, but can hear the youngsters. This morning they were having a fine breakfast on the neighbor's roof, so I was able to get a few pics...

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Momma (or Daddy?) didn't like that I was taking pictures...

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She flew over me, and took up a flanking position on the other side of our yard to keep an eye on me...

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Glad I finally got to see these folks after a few years of hearing them in the neighborhood.
 
The Riqueval Bridge, France

We visited an outwardly unremarkable one-lane bridge spanning the St. Quentin Canal, in the middle of farmland, about a hundred miles north of Paris. The canal it crossed was an engineering feat, tunneling through 3.5 miles of hillside and was completed by Napoleon I in 1810.

The bridge gained importance during WWI, when on September 29, 1918, 32 Allied Divisions under a million shell artillery barrage, attacked 39 German Divisions in an attempt to break through the Hindenburg Line.

The British 46th North Midlands Division had the task of assaulting the deep canal cut leading to the tunnel. This steep sided defense was considered impregnable by the Germans. At the time the British began their advance, heavy fog obscured the battlefield, leaving only four yards visibility. The Brits used compass to swiftly progress through the fog enshrouded defenses to the canal.

When the 137th Brigade arrived at the canal embankment, they found the high bridge surprisingly still intact. The Germans had been keeping the bridge as a primary route to supply their defenses on the west side of the canal, and the fog made them unaware of the proximity of the British attackers.

Ten British engineers quickly took out the German machine guns at the west end of the bridge and were crossing the bridge as a German demolition team advanced at the opposite end of the bridge to ignite demolition charges and destroy the bridge. The Germans were stopped, and the British 137th quickly cut the charges free and finished securing the bridge approaches. The 46th Midlanders successful assault came at the cost of 800 casualties.

By nightfall the entire 46th and 32nd Divisions were across the bridge, and punching through the Hindenburg Line defenses, beginning the end of the trench warfare era and initiating continuous maneuver fighting that ended WWI five weeks later.

The Riqueval Bridge:
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The St. Quentin Canal from the bridge:
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The British 46th Division, quickly exploiting the bridge.
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General Campbell addresses the 137th Brigade that assaulted the canal at the bridge.
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After the Armistice, King George visits the bridge.
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A sign near the bridge points to the 46th Division's Memorial in a farm field.
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The path to the memorial.
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102 years after their breakthrough, this obelisk in a farm field marks the 46th North Midland's losses during the pivotal engagement.
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The new wooden bench at the 46th North Midland's memorial was donated by a great-nephew, in memory of his great-uncle's death in the battle.
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