The Gun Counter

Posted: **Mon Nov 02, 2020 12:11 pm**

Just started the Narnia series with my 6-y/o. Her little brother still gets storybook time before bed, but then she gets to listen to a chapter each night. Complete set book I have has them in 'chronological order' instead of 'publication order', so we skipped The Magician's Nephew, since that would make zero sense for a 6-y/o. The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe simply must be read first.

Going to have to step up my 'reading with voices' game, since there are a LOT more characters than the average bedtime storybook with lots of pictures. I had also forgotten how good a storyteller Lewis is.

Posted: **Mon Nov 02, 2020 3:42 pm**

Rich Jordan wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 4:18 am Weetabix
E. E. Smith has been one of my favorite and 'must re-read periodically' authors all of my life. Both the Skylark and Lensman series; I could not get into the Family D'Alembert series as much. I still have all my Dad's paperbacks from the '60s and the ones I bought in the '70s.

That's really cool that you have your dad's paperbacks. About 30 years ago, I gathered up all of Heinlein's work I could find. Lots of it in older paperbacks. I've passed those on to my daughter. She's the only one of my kids who appreciates science fiction.

Posted: **Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:54 pm**

I've lately been reading and re-reading a few titles from D.K Brown. I've got 'Nelson to Vanguard', 'Atlantic Escorts' and 'The Grand Fleet'. I've also been reading 'Warships After Washington' by John Jordan.

One thing that has come up several times in the D.K. Brown books, and has also been mentioned in the other, ihas to do with the RN and ship's boats. As in, the RN had a real hardon for ship's boats and boat-handling arrangements. To such a degree that prior to WW1 multiple classes of RN capital ships had distinct design flaws that compromised their fighting ability because boat-handling arrangements were prioritized. (Boat handling arrangements were apparently an obsession with Jellicoe.)

Later ships/designs still show that the RN insisted in carrying WAY more boats than say the USN. Requirements for boat stowage and handling definitely led to lots of ship classes sacrificing fighting qualities. Weather desk space on a tight warship design is VALUABLE, not to mention displacement (and topweight). But they WOULD not let them go.

Look at pictures of Ark Royal (the one lost in 1941). It was enormously, RIDICULOUSLY tall (flight deck 66' above waterline) thanks to the double hangars, and you'd think she had enormous freeboard except for the equally enormous number of cutouts in the side for boats.Why?

I have yet to find discussion elsewhere specifically covering the inside-baseball on ships boats. Would be interesting if kind of a specialized topic.

Posted: **Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:28 am**

Rich Jordan wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 4:18 am Weetabix
E. E. Smith has been one of my favorite and 'must re-read periodically' authors all of my life. Both the Skylark and Lensman series; I could not get into the Family D'Alembert series as much. I still have all my Dad's paperbacks from the '60s and the ones I bought in the '70s. (snip)

Just finished rereading the Lensman series a week or two ago.

Posted: **Tue Nov 03, 2020 1:14 pm**

Greg wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 11:54 pm I've lately been reading and re-reading a few titles from D.K Brown. I've got 'Nelson to Vanguard', 'Atlantic Escorts' and 'The Grand Fleet'. I've also been reading 'Warships After Washington' by John Jordan.

One thing that has come up several times in the D.K. Brown books, and has also been mentioned in the other, ihas to do with the RN and ship's boats. As in, the RN had a real hardon for ship's boats and boat-handling arrangements. To such a degree that prior to WW1 multiple classes of RN capital ships had distinct design flaws that compromised their fighting ability because boat-handling arrangements were prioritized. (Boat handling arrangements were apparently an obsession with Jellicoe.)

Later ships/designs still show that the RN insisted in carrying WAY more boats than say the USN. Requirements for boat stowage and handling definitely led to lots of ship classes sacrificing fighting qualities. Weather desk space on a tight warship design is VALUABLE, not to mention displacement (and topweight). But they WOULD not let them go.

Look at pictures of Ark Royal (the one lost in 1941). It was enormously, RIDICULOUSLY tall (flight deck 66' above waterline) thanks to the double hangars, and you'd think she had enormous freeboard except for the equally enormous number of cutouts in the side for boats.Why?

I have yet to find discussion elsewhere specifically covering the inside-baseball on ships boats. Would be interesting if kind of a specialized topic.

If I had to guess, I would say it was a function, or maybe an artifact, of Britain's empire and the role of the RN in that empire. The RN's imperial role would mean the ships are going to a lot of places lacking in harbor facilities, including boats for provisioning ships when there are no docks able to handle the ships, and sometimes going places where there are no established harbors at all. It would also create greater need to put Marines ashore to teach unruly natives a lesson, and since specialized amphibious assault boats wouldn't come about until WWII, this function was largely filled by ships' boats.

By WWII, this would have been largely a case of "we've always done it that way", as far as I can tell, and was out of place for capital ships of the Home/Grand Fleet after 1900 or so (say, in the Dreadnaught era and beyond), since their role was to fight capital ships of other major powers, not subdue annoying colonial natives. For cruisers and smaller, which still had signficant roles to play in the maintenance of the empire, they probably still had a logical place.

Posted: **Wed Nov 04, 2020 3:49 am**

Norman Friedman is a great source on warship design. Any of his books are likely to reward your time amply.

Posted: **Mon Nov 09, 2020 4:40 pm**

g-man wrote: ↑Mon Nov 02, 2020 12:11 pm Just started the Narnia series with my 6-y/o. Her little brother still gets storybook time before bed, but then she gets to listen to a chapter each night. Complete set book I have has them in 'chronological order' instead of 'publication order', so we skipped The Magician's Nephew, since that would make zero sense for a 6-y/o. The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe simply must be read first.

Going to have to step up my 'reading with voices' game, since there are a LOT more characters than the average bedtime storybook with lots of pictures. I had also forgotten how good a storyteller Lewis is.

Excellent. Read through those several times at bedtime over the years. Along with all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and I'm sure I forget some others... The girls hung in till for years for the Little House stuff
By the time he was 10 the S&H wanted to be left alone to plow Tolkien or listen to old radio drama broadcast replays on AM radio.

Posted: **Mon Nov 09, 2020 9:42 pm**

blackeagle603 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 09, 2020 4:40 pm Along with all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books and I'm sure I forget some others...

Fun fact, her cousin operated a farm in Greenville NY, until the early 50s, when they turned their sideline business(rural resort) into their main.. The resort operated until the early 90s, when it was sold to an orthodox jewish group. It's currently a day camp for jewish girls. Warren Ingalls son, Gerry was a friend of my father, and lived right next door to Ingalside, and his Daughter Paige is currently living in the bronx, and works as NYC school teacher.

http://www.dteator.com/zResort/Ingalside.htm

Posted: **Tue Nov 10, 2020 12:39 am**

For light reading, nearly finished Oh John Ringo No's A Hymn Before Battle, and will start Gust Front soon.

Posted: **Tue Nov 17, 2020 10:54 pm**

Currently reading Ian W. Toll's Pacific Trilogy.

You know you're a military nerd when you read the following sentence: "The attack was broken up by heavy machine-gun, artillery, and mortar fire." and find yourself wondering if it was the fire of heavy machine-guns, artillery, and mortars, or heavy fire from machine-guns, artillery, and mortars? (1)

(1) Toll, Ian W. The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2015), 512.

The Gun Counter

Whatcha reading redux.

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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

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Re: Whatcha reading redux.

Re: Whatcha reading redux.