AD Scout Sparrow British Fighter Aircraft

A.D. Scout Sparrow ExCC. 1915/Photo Public Domain

The AD Scout (also known as the Sparrow) was designed by Harris Booth of the British Admiralty's Air Department as a fighter aircraft to defend Britain from Zeppelin bombers during World War I.
The Scout was a decidedly unconventional aircraft - a biplane with a fuselage pod mounted on the upper wing. A twin-rudder tail was attached by four booms, and it was provided with an extremely narrow-track undercarriage. The primary armament was intended to be a 2-pounder recoilless Davis Gun, but this was never fitted.
Four prototypes were ordered in 1915 and two each were built by Hewlett & Blondeau and the Blackburn Aeroplane & Motor Company. Trials flown by pilots of the Royal Naval Air Service proved the aircraft to be seriously overweight, fragile, sluggish, and difficult to handle, even on the ground. The project was abandoned and all four prototypes scrapped.

Operators

 United Kingdom

• Royal Naval Air Service

Specifications (AD Scout)

Data from The British Fighter since 1912

General characteristics

• Crew: 1
• Length: 22 ft 9 in (6.93 m)
• Wingspan: 33 ft 5 in (10.18 m)
• Height: 10 ft 3 in (3.12 m)
• Powerplant: 1× Gnôme Monosoupape rotary engine, 100 hp (75 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 84 mph (73 knots, 135 km/h)
• Range: 210 miles (336 km)

Armament

• Guns: 1x 2-pounder (40 mm) Davis recoilless gun (intended, but never fitted in view of the fragility of the Scout's construction)

US Marines 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit

The 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (15th MEU) is one of seven Marine Expeditionary Units currently in existence in the United States Marine Corps. The Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) is a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) with a strength of about 2,200 personnel. The MEU consists of a command element, a reinforced infantry battalion, a composite helicopter squadron and a combat logistics battalion. The 15th MEU is currently based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California.

Mission

The mission of the MEU is to provide geographic combatant commanders with a forward-deployed, rapid-response force capable of conducting conventional amphibious and selected maritime special operations at night or under adverse weather conditions from the sea, by surface and/or by air while under communications and electronics restrictions.

Current subordinate units

• Ground Combat Element: 1st Battalion, 4th Marines
• Aviation Combat Element: HMM-165 (REIN)
• Logistics Combat Element: Combat Logistics Battalion 15

History

Early years

In April 1983, the Commandant of the Marine Corps approved the original Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Headquarters concept, providing for the sourcing of two Marine Amphibious Unit (MAU) headquarters from each Marine Amphibious Brigade headquarters.^[3] The Commandant directed the establishment of two additional MAU headquarters in November 1985. As a result, the Headquarters, 15th Marine Amphibious Unit was activated July 1, 1987 at Camp Pendleton.
The Commandant directed the replacement of the title "Headquarters" with "Command Element" in the titles of the MAGTFs in August 1987. The 15th MAU’s designation was further changed in February 1988 to the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit. Both changes were made to more accurately reflect the operational and expeditionary nature of the MAGTF. Before World War II, and in the period between then and the Vietnam War, Marine units dispatched for overseas service were generally designated as “expeditionary brigades."
Since its activation in July 1987, the 15th MEU has trained to meet its mission in the rotation with the 11th and 13th MEUs to provide a continuous presence in the Western Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Persian Gulf and as a ready MAGTF in the continental United States.
In October 1989, the MEU assisted in relief efforts following the San Francisco earthquake, performing their assigned missions and also taking on several volunteer projects to help the victims of the disaster.

1990s

Marines of the 15th MEU relieved the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines (1/24), to continue the evacuation of the Republic of the Philippines in August 1991 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo that had occurred 6 weeks earlier. Assistance lasted over a month as the Marines distributed food and medical supplies, evacuated stranded villagers and provided security to other rescue personnel.
The MEU spearheaded Operation Restore Hope on December 9, 1992, to provide humanitarian assistance to the civil war torn and famine-stricken country of Somalia. After a predawn landing, the Marines secured the capital city of Mogadishu, the international airport and maritime shipping port facilities, as well as the American Embassy, and quickly moved into other inland areas to protect food distribution convoys and patrol the streets to restore order. The MEU pushed into and secured the inland cities of Baidoa and Balidogle and the coastal town of Kismayo in order to establish relief efforts and maintain security. The span of operations for the Battalion Landing Team was over 150 miles (240 km).
During its deployment in 1994, the MEU provided a detachment of CH-53Es to assist in the Rwanda Relief Effort. The detachment, based in Entebbe, Uganda, provided the only heavy lift capability to the joint task force commander. A few weeks later the MEU assisted in the relocation of the United States Liaison Office from Mogadishu, Somalia, to Nairobi, Kenya.
In October 1994, the MEU was called on again to provide a quick reaction force to counter any possible Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. Within 48 hours, the MEU sent Marines ashore in Kuwait City to demonstrate U.S. resolve in maintaining peace and security in the area.
In January 1996, July 1997, and October 1998, AV-8B Harriers from the 15th MEU (SOC) participated in Operation Southern Watch, patrolling the No-fly zone over southern Iraq maintaining continuous surveillance of the Kuwait-Iraq border, and to ensure the Iraqi military did not violate any United Nations resolutions passed since the Gulf War.
During its 2000 deployment, the 15th MEU (SOC) also participated in the Australian-led Operation Stabilise, providing desperately needed assistance to the people of East Timor, and again patrolled the skies over Southern Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch.

Global War on Terror

15th MEU Camp Rhino Afghanistan Nov 2001/Photo US Navy

Marines of the Forward Command Element of the 15th MEU (SOC) were in East Timor readying for the arrival of the ARG to conduct Humanitarian Operations, while the ARG was in Darwin, Australia during the Attacks. Following the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the 15th MEU (SOC) continued their plans of humanitarian operations to assist the war-torn country of East Timor, before sailing to the North Arabian Sea in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
On October 7, 2001, the 15th MEU participated in the United States' new "War on Terrorism,"Pakistan to establish a forward operating air base and logistical hub. These Marines provided security to USAF personnel who arrived on location shortly after the 15th MEU Marines of Battalion Landing Team 1/1 had established security.
On November 25, 2001, the Marines and Sailors of the 15th MEU (SOC) conducted an Amphibious assault over 400 miles (640 km) into the land-locked country of Afghanistan. The Marines and Sailors set new standards for Marine Corps amphibious doctrine. Landing at a remote airbase, 90 miles (140 km) southwest of Kandahar, the Marines established Camp Rhino, America's first Forward Operating Base while maintaining the first significant conventional ground presence in Afghanistan. The Marines and coalition forces later moved north to Kandahar International Airport securing a new forward operating base. With the move, the Marines and coalition forces were able to continue with new missions and build a prison camp that housed numerous Taliban and Al-Qaeda fighters.
On January 6, 2003, this time onboard the USS Tarawa ARG, the 15th MEU (SOC) departed once again for another deployment. In mid-February, elements of the MEU off-loaded and established a training camp in Northern Kuwait while other members of the MAGTF – primarily the helicopter squadron – remained onboard the Tarawa ARG in the Persian Gulf.
During February and March 2003, tactical control (TACON) of the MEU was assigned to the United Kingdom's 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines for Operation Iraqi Freedom. On March 21, 2003, Marines from the 15th MEU crossed the border into Southern Iraq and secured the ports of Umm Qasr and Az Zubayr in order to destroy Iraqi resistance and enable follow-on humanitarian assistance to begin.^[6]
In late-March 2003, the MEU again became part of the I Marine Expeditionary Force and moved to An Nasiriyah, Iraq to relieve the Marines of Task Force Tarawa. In An Nasiriyah, the 15th MEU secured the remaining sectors of the city, conducted a supporting attack during the rescue of American Prisoner of war Jessica Lynch and continued to establish security throughout the greater An Nasiriyah area. The MEU provided humanitarian assistance to the local population that included purifying drinking water, and doctors and corpsmen assisted medical care. The MEU began helping establish the local government to include police and other local services in addition to continuing to conduct airborne surveillance and direct-action raids on the ground to seek out and capture any Ba’ath Party or Fedayeen resistance.
In January 2005, the 15th MEU participated in Operation Unified Assistance by providing disaster relief to survivors of the massive tsunami in Sumatra, Indonesia and southern Sri Lanka. Immediately after wrapping up those operations, the 15th MEU proceeded south of Baghdad, Iraq to Forward Operating Base Falcon near Al-Mahmudiyah, Babil province, south of for security and stability operations in between rotations of army units. Their deployment into Iraq lasted about 30 days.
On September 13, 2006, the 15th MEU was once again deployed to Iraq. It left San Diego on the USS Boxer, USS Dubuque, and USS Comstock and in mid November began operating in Al Anbar province as Task Force Bullrush, composed of elements of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable); Bravo Company, 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion; C Company, 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, and Alpha Company, 3rd Platoon, 1st Combat Engineer Battalion.
On February 11, 2007, the unit received notice of its second extension of their deployment in support of President Bush's surge of additional forces into the critical areas of Iraq. While operating in Al Anbar, the MEU conducted combat operations in Rutbah, Barwana, Haditha, Haqlaniyah, Ramadi and Al Asad in support of Multinational Force-West. The unit returned to San Diego on May 30, 2007.

Schneider CA1 First French Tank

Schneider CA1 World War 1 Tank/Photo Public Domain

The Schneider CA1 (originally named the Schneider CA) was the first French tank. It was inspired by the need to overcome the stalemate of the trench warfare of the Great War.

Caterpillar development

Schneider & Co. was a large arms manufacturer in France. Having been given the order to develop heavy artillery tractors, in January 1915 the company sent out its chief designer, Eugène Brillié, to investigate tracked tractors from the American Holt Company, at that time participating in a test programme in England. On his return Brillié, who had earlier been involved in designing armoured cars for Spain, convinced the company management to initiate studies on the development of a Tracteur blindé et armé (armoured and armed tractor), based on the Baby Holt chassis, two of which were ordered.
Experiments on the Holt caterpillar tracks started in May 1915 at the Schneider plant with a 75 hp wheel-directed model and the 45 hp integral caterpillar Baby Holt, showing the superiority of the latter. On 16 June, new experiments followed in front of the President of the Republic Raymond Poincaré, leading to the order of 10 armoured tracked vehicles for further testing. In July 1915 the Schneider programme was combined with an official one for the development of an armoured barbed wire cutter by engineer and Member of Parliament Jules-Louis Breton, the Breton-Prétot machine. Ten of the fifteen available Baby Holt vehicles were to be armoured and fitted with the wire cutter. On 10 September, new experiments were made for Commander Ferrus, an officer who had been involved in the study (and ultimate rejection) of the Levavasseur tank project in 1908.

 Souain experiment

On 9 December 1915 in the Souain experiment, a prototype armoured tank, a Baby Holt chassis with boiler-plate armour, was demonstrated to the French Army. Among the onlookers were General Philippe Pétain, and Colonel Jean-Baptiste Eugène Estienne (1860–1936), an artillery man and engineer held in very high regard throughout the army for his unmatched technological and tactical expertise. The results of the prototype tank were excellent, displaying remarkable mobility in the difficult terrain of the former battlefield of Souain. The length of the Baby Holt however appeared to be too short to bridge German trenches, justifying the development of longer caterpillar tracks for the French tank project. For Estienne the vehicle shown embodied concepts about AFVs which he had been advocating since August 1914.

 Estienne's proposal

On 12 December he presented to the High Command a plan to form an armoured force, equipped with tracked vehicles. This plan met with approbation and in a letter dated 31 January 1916 Commander-in-chief Joffre ordered the production of 400 tanks of the type designed by Estienne,^[6] although the actual production order of 400 Schneider CA1 was made a bit later on 25 February 1916, at a price of 56,000 French francs per vehicle. In January it had been decided not to use the Baby Holt chassis, but the longer 75 hp Holt tractor; for this the armoured superstructure had to be completely changed, which was done in an army workshop in February. The first vehicle of the production series was delivered on 5 September. Meanwhile, production had shifted to the SOMUA company, a dependency of Schneider.

Designation

The name of the tank was Schneider CA. The meaning of "CA" is uncertain. Later it was usually understood to mean Char d'Assaut (literally "chariot" and today the full word for "tank"). For several reasons this interpretation is dubious. Firstly, the designation predates by some months the first known usage of char as "tank". Secondly, word order would be unusual: in French the normal order is Char d'Assaut Schneider. Thirdly, at the time the letter codes at the end were normally used to indicate consequent prototypes. We know the first army prototype based on a lengthened 75 hp Holt was called the Tracteur A, a second shortened Schneider prototype with tail the Tracteur B and that the type as produced was again different from that second prototype. It is plausible that the code means "third type" (C) in its first (A) production version; a further indication for this lies in the fact that it was not uncommon to use a reversed order: AC.

Description

To the modern eye, the tank is hardly recognizable as such. It has no turret, and its not very prominent main armament, a fortification petard mortar, the 75 mm Blockhaus Schneider, was placed in a sponson in the right front corner. Two 8 mm Hotchkiss machine guns, projecting from the flanks in ballmounts, complement the small gun. Another awkward feature is the overhang of the frontal part of the chassis which had been designed to crush down barbed wire. However this feature caused the tank to ditch itself readily. The fighting compartment is extremely cramped: the crew of six was mostly flat on their bellies in a 90 cm space between the roof and the 60 hp (45 kW) engine. Luckily, top speed was only 8 km/h. All this was protected by 11 mm steel plate, later improved by a spaced armour of 5.5 mm, raising the weight to 13.5 tons.

Operational history

As their production numbers were more ambitious the French lagged behind the British somewhat — it took them more time to build larger factories — deploying their tanks for the first time on 16 April 1917 at Berry-au-Bac during the infamous NivelleArtillerie Spéciale 1-20, under the overall command of the now brigadier Estienne. In 1918 these "old" tanks were gradually phased out in favour of the new Renault FT-17, but production only ended in August 1918, when exactly 400 had been built including the prototype. At least one Schneider was delivered to Italy, which after testing abandoned the plan to build 1500 of them.

After World War I

After the war, the tanks were rebuilt as recovery vehicles and tank transporters. Six were sold to Spain in 1922, from 1923 to 1926 fighting in Morocco, the surviving four vehicles later taking part in the Spanish Civil War near Toledo on the side of the Republicans. The only surviving vehicle, at the Musée des Blindés in Saumur, is also the world's oldest tank in running condition. It was preserved in the Aberdeen Proving Ground Ordnance Museum in Maryland, USA and later donated to France for restoration.

Lat75mm howitzer of the CA1 at the Museum of Armored Vehicles at El Goloso, Spaer designs

There were several projects for the production of more Schneiders with turrets and/or better guns: the CA2, 3 and 4. Only prototypes were made of the CA2 and CA3. The CA4 remained largely a paper project. Because of the project designations, later books would name the original tank CA1. The heavy St. Chamond tank was developed from the Tracteur A prototype of the Schneider, leading to much confusion among later historians.

Anatra DS Russian World War 1 Fighter

Anatra DS/Photo Public Domain

The Anatra DS or Anasal was a two-seat reconnaissance aircraft developed from the Anatra D (Anade). It was built in the Anatra factory in Odessa in the Russian Empire and flown during World War I and by both sides during the Russian Civil War.
The main difference from the previous model was the replacement of a primitive 100 hp rotary engine with a much more powerful 150 hp Salmson radial engine, which improved performance. The engine was unique, being one of the few water-cooled radial engines, hence the plane had a water radiator in front of the upper wing. This engine was license-built in Russia. The forward fuselage was similar to its predecessor, with a partial engine cowling, open at the bottom, with characteristic holes. The plane was also slightly larger and more heavily armed, adding a synchronised forward-firing machine gun for the pilot in addition to the observer's weapon.
The plane, named Anasal (short for Anatra Salmson) was first flown on 7 August 1916 (25 July 1916 old style). The first orders came only in 1917, and before the Soviet revolution in November 1917 some 60 to 70 had been manufactured, many others being in different stages of completion^[1]. Many details differed between individual aircraft.
In March 1918 Odessa was occupied by Austro-Hungarian forces, in accordance with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk and in May the Austrian government ordered 200 Anasals, as the Anatra C.I, for training and observation. 114 were received by the Austrians by September 1918, some half being given to training units before the end of World War I. In October, the remainder of the order was cancelled.
The major post-war user of the Anasal was Czechoslovakia, with 23 former Austrian aircraft, used by the military, and later in civilian aviation. One of these has survived and is in the Prague Aviation Museum, Kbely. Eight Anasals were used by revolutionary forces in Hungary. Eight aircraft were acquired in March 1919 by the Polish 4th Rifle Division in Odessa, fighting in the Russian civil war on the White side, but only 4 were assembled and used until April. Another Anasal was captured and used by the Poles during the Polish-Soviet war in 1919-20.
A more advanced model was the Anatra DSS, with 160 hp Salmson engine, but few were made.

Variants

• DS - two-seat reconnaissance aircraft
• DSS - a small number of aircraft with a more powerful 160 hp Salmson radial engine for slightly higher speed
• Anatra Anadis - fighter aircraft based on the Anasal design

Operators

 Austria-Hungary

 Czechoslovakia

• Postwar, 23 aircraft.

 Hungary

 Poland

• Postwar, 5 aircraft in 1919-1920 (further 4 not assembled)

 Russia

• Imperial Army
• White Russians and Kuban Cossacks

 Soviet Union

Specifications

General characteristics

• Crew: two, pilot and observer
• Length: 8.10 m (26 ft 7 in)
• Wingspan: 11.43 m (37 ft 6 in)
• Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)
• Wing area: 37.0 m² (398 ft²)
• Empty weight: 814 kg (1,795 lb)
• Gross weight: 1,164 kg (2,566 lb)
• Powerplant: 1 × Salmson 9U radial, 112 kW (150 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 144 km/h (90 mph)
• Endurance: 3 hours  30 min
• Service ceiling: 4,300 m (14,100 ft)
• Rate of climb: 3.0 m/s (600 ft/min)

Armament

• 1 × fixed, forward-firing 7.7 mm (.303) Vickers machine gun (Des Camps synchronizer)
• 1 × 7.7 mm (.303) Lewis machine gun for observer
• up to 50 kg bombs