Martin Scott

Last Saturday, Mrs J was suffering from a bout of "Cedar Fever" as hay is being cut all over.  Interestingly, all the modern anti-hay fever medicines don't work for her.  Children's Dimetapp, however, knocks her out like a light and she's much better when she awakens, typically about 3 hours later.

So,  I've got 3 hours to entertain myself, and like most good  husbands, I went and did "guy things".

In this particular cast, I visited another of the Texas Frontier Forts, specifically Fort Martin Scott.  Now, lest you think that I abandoned my dear wife and drove halfway across the state, this one happens to be in our town.  We've lived her 20+ years now, I've driven by the place many, many times, always saying that we should visit, but this was my first time I did.

Other than the docent on duty in the Visitor's Center, I was the only person there.  There was some kind of demonstration going on at the Texas Ranger Heritage Center next door.  There was quite a bit of gunfire going on and as I was talking to the Docent, a cannon was fired.  Both he and I started for the floor.  Then realized what it was.  Looking a bit embarrassed, he asked "Veteran?"

"Yep"

"Me too, Vietnam"

We laughed.

So, juvat, tell us about the fort.

Well, I learned several interesting things there.  I have written about other Texas Forts before and talked about how they were spaced (~50 miles apart AKA 2 days ride by horse), but I hadn't realized that they were actually arranged and built in 3 separate periods.

Source

Each period's forts were a concentric circle to the west of San Antonio and Austin.  The first circle was built between 1848 and 1850.  The second ring was built in the early 1850s and was about 100 miles further west, the final ring was built in the late 1850s and was a couple of hundred miles further west.

These rings provided protection for the people coming to settle Texas at the time.  The primary threat was from the Indians, primarily Comanche's  with some Apache and other tribes.  According to my docent friend, Fort Martin Scott was the only Fort that wasn't fortified.  Meaning it didn't have any kind of defensive wall around it.  He also said, that Fort Martin Scott was the only fort that was never attacked by the Indians.

The town was founded by German immigrants in 1846.  One of the first things the leader of the settlement, John O. Meusebach (rhymes with Noisy Bock) and several others sat down with the leaders of most of the Indian Tribes in the area and negotiated a peace treaty.  The treaty specifically allowed the Indian Tribes to visit the town and trade with the townspeople.  Local lore says that the treaty was never violated.

One of the two "Treaty Stones" carved to seal the deal.  The other one was given to the Indians and is on display at the site of the treaty near San Saba

The docent said that the Indians would set up camp on the other side of the creek from the fort and trade with the soldiers and townsfolk.  They became an integral part of the fort and town by providing meat, animal skins and Bear Grease.

1848 Ford F-150

Apparently, axles and other mechanical things required lubrication, even in the olden days.

Things weren't always hunky-dory though.  There is a story of some of the Soldiers going into town and getting a little liquored up.  Things were done/said and a fight started between the Soldiers and the owner of the pub.  The fight terminated when the owner of the pub stabbed and killed one of the Soldiers.  His friends then came back later that night and burned the place down.

Since the pub also served as the court house at the time, that fire would be the reason there are no records of the first 4 years of the settlement's existence.

 Actions have consequences.

The  Fort currently has only a few buildings relatively intact.  Two are officer's quarters which were similar to the quarters at Ft McKavett if a bit smaller.  The Visitor's Center was the enlisted barracks.  It's three rooms were said to have housed up to 300 soldiers.  That might explain the altercation above.

The other building is the Stockade.  I found this one very interesting.  When the Fort was deactivated just before the Civil War, it lay vacant for about 50 years before being bought by one of the townsfolk.  They used the stockade as their home as it was in the best repair, adding on to the front to make it more livable.

The Stockade has since been restored to it's former "glory".

The office for the Officer of the Day

The office for the Jailers.  I'm not sure what the purpose of the sloping table on the right was.  I don't think it was a bed as it slopes almost a foot from right to left.  I didn't think to ask the Docent.  Muzzle of the cannon is about 3 inches.

Cannon Accoutrements

Guard room

Cell Block

Jail Cell

Frontier justice was a bit harsh.


So, juvat, who was the Fort named after?

I thought you'd never ask.  That would be Lieutenant Colonel Martin Scott.  Col Scott was born in 1788 in Bennington Vermont (ever been there Sarge?). Fought in the War of 1812 as well as the Mexican-American war in 1846.  Said to be an excellent shot with a rifle, he was killed at the Battle of Molino Del Rey, a Pyrrhic  victory for the Americans in which 11 of 14 Officers leading the attack were killed.

I picked up another little bit of historical trivia on the visit. Much like the last Commander of Fort Mason, the last Commander of Fort Martin Scott was also well known, talented and fought on the Southern Side, James E. Longstreet.

I had an enjoyable afternoon, and when I returned home, Mrs J was still in the arms of Morpheus.  When she awoke, she was feeling much better, so....

A good day was had by all.

Sunday Rerun - 303 Squadron

The 303 Polish Fighter Squadron in the Battle of Britain In the summer of 1940 the first Polish squadrons were formed in Fighter Command. No 303 'City of Warsaw' Squadron was the top-scoring RAF unit in September 1940, with nine of its pilots claiming five or more kills. Pilot Officers Jan Zumbach (left) and Mirosław Ferić, two of its aces, playing with the Squadron's mascot - a puppy dog. This photograph was taken at Leconfield in October 1940.

Okay Sarge, I get it, you're tired, your eye is still healing, and that finger is still pretty useless, but come on, another rerun? That's two Sundays in a row boyo, who do you think you are, CBS?

Okay, guilty as charged, what's worse is that the post I'm about to rerun has been rerun before. No, seriously. It was originally posted here, then rerun here. Shameless, innit? But in my defense, the rerun (this particular rerun) is because I just saw a pretty good film treatment of 303 Squadron. It's not a documentary, it's a human interest thing, shows the pilots as the real-life flesh and blood humans that they were. Also the tragedies they had to deal with, both as individuals and as citizens of Poland.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mission of Honor...

I give it four out of five Phantoms...

Perhaps I should have said four out of five Hurricanes...

The movie is available on Netflix (you in the back, sit down and behave), give it a look, well worth your time.

Now then, on to the rerun. (Sorry, but I really, really like 303 Squadron.)

Hurricanes of No. 303 ("Kościuszko") Polish Fighter Squadron
303 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki"

It seems that yesterday's post has left me in a Polish frame of mind. So to speak. Besides which, the fame of No. 303 Squadron lends itself naturally to my "series within a series" of Famous Aviation Units (as part of the Friday Flyby).

The Royal Air Force (RAF) Museum's website has this to say about No. 303 Squadron:

The Poles were keen to fight but the RAF would not at first let them fly operationally. This was because few of the exiles spoke English and there was concern about their morale. What the British did not yet realise was that many of the Poles were excellent pilots. Having come through the Polish and French Campaigns, they had more combat experience than most of their British comrades and they employed superior tactics.

As the Battle of Britain wore on, and the shortage of trained pilots became critical, the exiles were accepted into RAF squadrons and two Polish fighter units, Nos. 302 and 303 Squadrons, were formed. Once committed to action, the Poles flew and fought superbly, shooting down 203 enemy aircraft for the loss of 29 pilots killed. No. 303 Squadron became the most successful Fighter Command unit in the Battle, shooting down 126 German machines in only 42 days. Czech Sergeant Josef Frantisek, also of '303', was the top scoring pilot with 17 confirmed victories.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, who led Fighter Command, would later write:

"Had it not been for the magnificent material contributed by the Polish squadrons and their unsurpassed gallantry, I hesitate to say that the outcome of the Battle would have been the same."

Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding
Commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain

In the same vein, RAF Uxbridge, which was the headquarters for No. 11 Group of Fighter Command which was responsible for the aerial defence of London and the south-east of England during the Battle of Britain has this as one of it's static displays -

Hurricane of No. 303 Squadron

You can tell this is a Polish aircraft by the Szachownica z kirem (chessboard with a pall) insignia on the nose of the aircraft just under the exhaust stacks.

Szachownica z kirem

Of course, there is this wonderful scene from the film Battle of Britain...

I think I have seen this movie 20 times and that is one of my favorite scenes!

Undaunted by Odds
by Robert Taylor

RAF fighter squadrons all had a distinctive 2-letter code painted on the side of the aircraft, No. 303 Squadron's code was "RF". The third letter on the side was the letter code for the individual aircraft within the squadron.

Squadron Leader Witold Urbanowicz's Hurricane MkI of 303 Sqn during a combat over Beachy Head in the summer of 1940 -

CHANNEL
by Piotr Górka

No. 303 Squadron Spitfire Mk.Vb RF D of S/Ldr Jan Zumbach with Donald Duck nose art.

No. 303 Squadron was one of 16 Polish squadrons in the RAF, No. 303 was the highest scoring RAF squadron during the Battle of Britain. Here are some squadron statistics for WWII.

No. 303 Squadron downed 126 German aircraft ("Adolf's") during the Battle of Britain.

No. 303 squadron pilots in 1940. From left: P/O Ferić, F/Lt Kent, F/O Grzeszczak, P/O Radomski,
P/O Zumbach, P/O Łukuciewski, F/O Henneberg, Sgt. Rogowski, Sgt. Szaposznikow.

F/O Bronisław Kłosin holding an aerial gunnery contest award, on the left side of him, Flt Lt Bieńkowski, on the right side Flt Lt Zumbach.

Some of the high scorers of No. 303 Squadron were:

• Squadron Leader R G Kellett DSO DFC, Original CO of 303 Sqn during the Battle of Britain, (five claims)
• Flight Lieutenant John A. Kent, Canadian Flight commander during the Battle, (11 claims)
• Sgt Josef František, Czech pilot flying with 303 Polish Squadron, was one of the top fighter pilots of the Battle of Britain, with 17 confirmed kills.
• Flying Officer Witold Urbanowicz, Polish commander of 303 Squadron from 5 September 1940, scored 15 kills during the Battle of Britain (17 or 19 + 1 + 0 total)
• Pilot Officer Jan Zumbach, commander of 303 Squadron from 19 May 1942, scored 8 kills during the Battle of Britain (12 1/3 + 5 + 1 total)

Sgt Josef František

Flying Officer Witold Urbanowicz

Pilot Officer Jan Zumbach

P/O Zumbach's Spitfire
The last thing you'd want to see on your Six, if you were German in 1940!

King George VI visited the unit during the Battle of Britain on September 26.

In that photo above, just to the left of the King, partly visible is S/Ldr Urbanowicz, who took over after S/Ldr Krasnodebski was wounded. Presenting pilots is S/Ldr Kellet. The King shakes hand with P/O Januszewicz, on who's his right has P/O Henneberg, F/O Cebrzynski and F/O Paszkiewicz. To the left of Januszewicz are: P/O Grzeszczak, P/O Zumbach and P/O Feric. (Source)

That source linked above is an excellent website dedicated to No. 303 Squadron during the Battle of Britain. They start with this -

It must be said, that before the two Polish squadrons and one Czech entered the battle, the British Command regarded their Slavic allies as inferior pilots to their own, with broken morale, hindered by language incapability. Except for the language they were completely wrong.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you No. 303 Squadron of the Royal Air Force - 303 Dywizjon Myśliwski "Warszawski im. Tadeusza Kościuszki".

Dobra robota!

Repeat please...
Proszę powtórzyć

Bismarck

Bismarck as seen from Prinz Eugen after the Battle of the Denmark Strait.
(Source)

Are any of you not familiar with the story of the German battleship Bismarck? If so, then that's a tale I should tell at some point. The ship was a marvel of German engineering yet she went on precisely one war cruise. One she did not return from.

As the German navy, the Kriegsmarine, had a substantially smaller surface fleet than their main foe, the Royal Navy, not much could be expected from them offensively. Bismarck's  time in active service lasted about eight months, during that time she destroyed the British battlecruiser HMS Hood and damaged the battleship HMS Prince of Wales. Bismarck herself sustained enough damage that she was forced to turnabout and head for port. The Royal Navy was not going to let that happen.

Her mission, along with her consort the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, had been to raid Allied shipping in the North Atlantic. That mission was a failure. Germany eventually had to rely on submarine warfare to do that, a mission which the U-Boat fleet came dangerously near to succeeding at.

Meet the killers of the Bismarck -

Fairey Swordfish on the after deck of HMS Victorious, 24 May 1941.
The next day, nine Swordfish from Victorious attacked Bismarck.

Out of Bismarck's crew of 103 officers and 1,962 enlisted men, 114 survived.

Anyhoo, I stumbled upon this music video by Sabaton, a band I have mentioned before and a band which I believe our Polish correspondent Paweł is a big fan of, this video of theirs, about the Bismarck, sent shivers down my spine. Very well made.

I didn't think I'd like Sabaton at first, but they are growing on me, I mean, a metal band who loves history? What could be bad about that?

Enjoy.

The footage below is interesting, taken by a German cameraman aboard Prinz Eugen. (The audio was added by the guy who posted the video, it isn't original, but it's damned good.)

At the going down of the sun...

LT Charles Z. Walker
VFA-151
United States Navy

Story Number: NNS190802-15

Release Date: 8/2/2019 3:47:00 PM

From Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific Public Affairs

Lemoore, California (NNS) -- The pilot of the F/A-18E Super Hornet that crashed approximately 40 miles north of Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, California, on July 31 has been identified.

The Super Hornet, assigned to the "Vigilantes" of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 151 based at Naval Air Station (NAS) Lemoore, California, was flown by Lt. Charles Z. Walker, 33.

"The NAS Lemoore aviation family is grieving the loss of one of our own," said Capt. James Bates, Commander, Strike Fighter Wing Pacific. "Lt. Walker was an incredible naval aviator, husband and son. He was an integral member of the Vigilante family, and his absence will be keenly felt on this flight line.

"Our aviators understand the risk associated with this profession, and they knowingly accept it in service to our nation. The untimely loss of a fellow aviator and shipmate pains us all. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and friends.”

The pilot was on a routine training mission in the area at the time of the crash. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

The Navy mourns the loss of one of our own, and our hearts go out to the family and friends affected by this tragedy. (Source)

Naval aviation is a small community, each loss hurts.

Fare winds and following seas, LT Walker.

High Flight

John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, 

And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings; 

Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds - 

and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of - 

wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence. 

Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind along 

and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long delirious burning blue 

I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace, 

where never lark, or even eagle, flew; 

and, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod 

the high untrespassed sanctity of space, 

put out my hand and touched the face of God.

Alternate History Friday, Chapter One

Black Watch at the Battle of Quatre-Bras, 1815
William Barnes Wollen

Meanwhile, at about 1615 at Quatre-Bras, the French, supported by Piré's light cavalry, advanced almost to the crossroads.

The British 42nd, 44th and 92nd regiments held their ground despite heavy casualties and repelled the French advance. Then Piré's lancers charged the British infantry and severely mauled the 42nd and 44th regiments before they were driven off. (Source)

Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, turned his horse towards the nearest infantry square as he observed the French cavalry coming on very quickly. As the infantry opened ranks to let the Duke and his staff into their square, a couple of men fell, hit by musketry from nearby French skirmishers.

The Duke felt a slight tug at his left side which, oddly enough (he thought) , left him slightly winded. One of his aides noticed the Duke grimace and quickly moved to his side.

"Your Grace?"

"Not a word Sir William..."

The Duke reached for his side and his hand came away bloody. Wincing he turned to his aide, "Sir William, if you would be so kind as to hand me my cloak."

The aide pulled the Duke's cloak free from behind Copenhagen's* saddle. No one was looking in their direction as the men were rather busy with the French cavalry. The aide quickly draped the cloak over the shoulders of the commander of the Anglo-Allied Army and looked about for a surgeon.

Jérôme Bonaparte** was more successful. Many of Perponcher's men were driven out of the Bossu wood and the Brunswick contingent, sent to assist Perponcher, was routed during their advance south from Quatre-Bras.

At about this moment a British brigade under Halkett, a Hanoverian brigade under Kielmansegge and the Nassau contingent arrived and were immediately deployed to support the hard-pressed Allied line. With these new troops Wellington now had a numerical advantage. (Source)

Colonel Sir William Howe De Lancey, Deputy Quartermaster of the Anglo-Allied Army had his horse very close to the Duke's, his commander was now leaning against him and was obviously in great pain. The other aides moved closer, knowing something was very wrong.

"Can you get me to that building?" The Duke nodded towards a nearby farmhouse.

The small group of horsemen began to move in that direction, De Lancey sent one of the gallopers off to find the nearest regimental surgeon as they tried to hustle the Duke to shelter. De Lancey was worried, the Duke seemed feverish and a number of soldiers nearby began to notice that something was amiss with their commander.

Kellerman, who had arrived with only his forward brigade, received the order to charge Wellington's center to "overthrow the mass of the Allied infantry." Kellerman was astounded. A cavalry charge without infantry support against formed enemy infantry was suicide and would certainly lead to the destruction of his brigade. He asked Ney to confirm the order. Ney replied by saying "Go, but go then!"

Infuriated by this insane order, Kellerman charged with his cuirassiers and against all odds succeeded. They decimated the 69th Regiment, routed the 33rd Regiment and found themselves in possession of the crossroads. (Source)

The small party of British officers had nearly reached the small building near the crossroads itself when a mass of French heavy cavalry came sweeping up the chaussée. Three of the younger officers immediately drew their swords and turned to face the enemy. It was their undoing.

The officer leading the first squadron of cuirassiers to approach the crossroads spotted the three horsemen with a number of riderless horses immediately and led his men in that direction. He saw movement into the building behind them but paid little attention to it, he wanted to cut these men down and seize the crossroads and ride down the men in front of him before they could form up.

The three young gallopers were cut down and ridden over without causing the enemy cavalry to even slow down. The cavalry then proceeded to destroy one English regiment and cause another to break and flee into the nearby Bossu Wood.

The 2nd battalion of the 69th Foot attacked by French Cuirassiers
(Source) 

As Sir William slammed the door closed he heard the clash of swords and the screams of his men dying. But for the moment the Duke was safe, unfortunately they had been cut off by the French cavalry before his man had returned with a surgeon. Surely their infantry would drive these Frenchmen off and he could get his commander medical attention.

Behind him, two of the other members of the staff had helped the Duke to sit on a table so that they could examine his wound.

"Dear Lord!" One of the staff moaned as they pulled the Duke's cloak away. His trousers on the left side near the waist were soaked in blood and his coat was torn and also sodden with blood. Quickly one of the staff began to remove his own coat, he would use his shirt to bind the Duke's wound, surely he couldn't be that badly injured.

"Sir William, write this down if you would, quickly, I..." With those words, the Duke of Wellington lost consciousness as the Battle of Quatre Bras continued to rage outside.

Several stragglers from the 44th Foot joined the square of the 28th Foot just before the French arrived. Immediately one of them shouted out, "The Duke has been killed! I saw him fall!" An officer quickly silenced the man but a tremor ran through the regiment just as the French cavalry made contact.

The 28th Regiment at Quatre Bras
Elizabeth Thompson

Though their first volley staggered the French, one lancer's horse was shot down and crashed into the square, opening a gap. Before the ranks could close more cavalry slashed their way into the square.

"We're lost boys! The Duke is dead and so are we! Run! Save yourselves!"

Though the man from the 44th was immediately cut down by a sergeant's halberd, the damage was done. The 28th Foot broke and began to run. Very few survivors escaped the wrath of the French cavalry.

A nearby Belgian unit saw the British break, they threw down their arms and began calling to the French that they were comrades, forced to fight for the English by their Dutch prince. The rot spread rapidly.

Prince William of Orange, now in nominal command of the Anglo-Allied forces, ordered a retreat. The French were coming on in strength and their artillery was beginning to impact the crossroads and those forces beyond it. The Anglo-Allied forces were starting to unravel.

The 42nd Foot, the Black Watch, much diminished and carrying the body of their dead colonel were halted by the Prince.

"You must buy the army time, hold here! Form line and prepare for volley fire!"

The Scotsmen thought the Prince to be raving mad, they were down to scarcely 150 men and French cavalry were everywhere. But...

"Battalion will form line!" Bellowed the major who now led the remnants of the regiment.

"Present!"

"FIRE!"

The volley brought down the leading rank of another squadron of French horsemen charging up the road. The remainder cut their way through the Scotsmen who died nearly to a man around the colors. One of which was carried off by a young French cavalryman who had been born not far from the very crossroads his regiment was attacking.

His jubilation was short-lived as a battery of Dutch horse artillery fired down the road, killing the young man and tearing apart what was left of the 42nd's King's Color. The regimental color itself was under the body of the regiment's pipe major who had torn it from the flagstaff and stuffed it under his coat before dying.

Night fell. The Duke had regained consciousness after his wound had been dressed. No one in the room could quite grasp what was happening outside. There seemed to be a lull in the battle as night drew its darkness over the battlefield. Sir William poked his head outside and saw very little activity other than the tortured movements of the many wounded lying on the road and in the nearby fields.

"Your Grace, the battle seems to have ended. There is no one about. What are your wishes?"

The Duke drew himself up, he looked very pale. "Send a galloper to the Prussians, I need to find out their situation, then we must determine our situation here."

The galloper to the Prussians set out, only to find the field at Ligny populated only by the dead and the wounded. To the south of the field were numerous campfires, which could only be the French. He did not see a single living Prussian anywhere.

In the streets of Genappe the Anglo-Allied cavalry and horse artillery held the French at bay long enough for the remnants of the army to get clear. Prince William had dispatched orders for the army to regroup at Brussels. A number of British officers tried to convince him to make a stand on the ridge near Mont St. Jean, not far north of Genappe. He refused, he felt the army would be better off within the defenses of the city.

The last men of the rear guard reached the aforementioned ridge early on the morning of the 17th of June.

"Captain Mercer!"

"Yes, my lord," Captain Mercer of the Royal Horse Artillery answered Lord Uxbridge, commanding the Anglo-Allied cavalry.

"If I leave a squadron of light dragoons here with you, d'ya suppose you might delay the pursuit a while here? I doubt Boney will push his men through the night, but you never know."

"Certainly sir. Any word of the Duke?" he asked, hopefully.

"None I'm afraid. A fellow in the 44th swears he saw the Duke fall, another says that De Lancey got him away from the field. I have three squadrons of light dragoons to the south. Perhaps they'll find him before the Froggies do."

"We can pray, my lord."

Looking to the south, Uxbridge sighed and said, "Yes Captain, we certainly can." He then turned his horse to the north, to the village of Waterloo, then on to Brussels.

To be continued...




* Wellington's horse.
** Brother of the Emperor Napoléon.

So Sarge, what exactly is a destroyer?

U.S. Navy Destroyers, Sample Size Comparisons

(Source)

Warships are expensive, especially the big ones. Many nations with a coastline can't afford large navies. This has always been true and continues today. Now what if a small country can afford a smaller warship which can pack a very large punch? More bang for the buck, so to speak.

This was all rather problematic prior to the invention of the Whitehead torpedo. While "torpedoes" did exist during the War of the Rebellion (1861-1865), they were not self-propelled and were known as "spar torpedoes". Essentially a bomb attached to a spar, an extension projecting out from the bow of the ship. So the smaller (cheaper) ship attacking the larger (more expensive) ship had to pretty much go right alongside its target. With deleterious results for the target ship and the attacking vessel.

The Confederate States Ship H.L. Hunley managed to sink the USS Housatonic using a spar torpedo, she also sank herself with the loss of all crew.

The Whitehead torpedo, which could be launched at a distance, revolutionized naval warfare. Now a small, rather inexpensive boat could carry a weapon which could sink a much larger (expensive) warship. (I'm sure the Royal Navy pronounced this as barbaric and unsporting.)

Capital ships* began to get even more expensive with the advent of covering them with armor plate and providing larger and larger guns in rotating turrets. So torpedo boats (as they were called), small, fast boats carrying two or more Whitehead-type torpedoes posed a huge threat to the modern, armored battleship.

HMS Lightning, an early torpedo boat (1876).
(Source)

How does one fight a torpedo boat? The existing warships were too heavy and slow to maneuver to avoid the torpedoes being sent their way by these small, fast (and hard to hit) torpedo boats. If those torpedo boats were in close enough, the big ships couldn't even depress their big guns low enough to hit them! (Not to mention not being able to swivel fast enough to track them.)

What to do, what to do?

This fellow had a pretty good idea -

Capitán de Navio Fernando Villaamil Fernández-Cueto
Spanish Navy

Create another type of small combatant to fight the torpedo boats, it would be as fast and maneuverable as the torpedo boat, but would be armed with cannons as well as torpedoes. Their sole mission would be to protect the capital ships from the torpedo boats. Thus was born the torpedo boat destroyer. (You see where this is going, don't you?)

Spanish Navy torpedo gunboat Contratorpedero Destructor, designed and built in the UK by Thomson and delivered to the Spanish Navy in 1887.

Destructor's Armament

• 1 × 90 mm gun
• 4 × 57 mm guns
• 2 × 37 mm guns
• 2 × 360 mm torpedo tubes

Sadly, Capitán de Navio Fernando Villaamil Fernández-Cueto was killed in action during the Spanish-American War at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba. Perhaps fittingly, he died aboard the Spanish destroyer Furor.

Francisco Arderius, one of Furor's officers, reported Fernando Villaamil's end:

After several gunshots that caused tremendous damage and many casualties, Capitán de Navio Villaamil went up to the prow gun platform; when I was about to follow him, a grenade exploded there [...]. I could only see a flood of blood coming down. [...] Shortly after we went overboard, the ship, already on fire, sunk with the lifeless body of Don Fernando Villaamil. (Source)

Over time, the size of the torpedo boat destroyers grew - while the name got smaller. Eventually they were simply called destroyers.

With the advent of the guided missile, both anti-ship (including submarines) and anti-air, the destroyer became a major surface combatant in it's own right. Prior to that, destroyers were used in their original role of performing screening for the capital ships. In World War I their opponents were generally other destroyers. Though with larger torpedoes, they posed a large threat to capital ships. Ship captains did not like to see torpedo tracks in the water, heading their way.

In both world wars destroyers were used to escort convoys of merchant ships, protecting them from another new weapon, the submarine. That role became very large in World War II against the German and Japanese submarine fleets. The Japanese also used their destroyers very effectively against U.S. Navy submarines. While the Germans and Italian did have destroyers, many of the German destroyers were destroyed in the Norway campaign of 1940. The Italians were operating under the threat of air attacks throughout the Mediterranean. The European Axis destroyers played a smaller role than their British, American, and Japanese counterparts.

In the opening graphic, you can see the steady growth in size of the American destroyer. Those aren't all of the various American destroyer classes over time, just a representative sample from World War I (Clemson-class) to the present day. While the Spruance-class is larger than the Arleigh Burke-class, this is something of an anomaly, the same hull was used for the Ticonderoga-class (sometimes called Aegis-class) cruisers. Typically cruisers are larger than destroyers. Two ships, same hull, different missions.

The Zumwalt-class is the size of a World War II cruiser, she's a very large ship for a destroyer, one could argue that in reality, she isn't a destroyer at all. Designed primarily for land attack, with the dropping of the Advanced Gun System, she's just a big missile carrier.

Modern destroyers have vastly more capable sensors but are somewhat less well-armed than their predecessors. All those missiles are very capable but there are only so many. An anti-aircraft missile isn't very useful against a surface or submerged target. The same goes for the other missiles. Before deploying, a missile armed destroyer needs to choose its missile load-out carefully.

At least the Arleigh Burke-class still has a gun (though small) and can fire torpedoes. It has a lot of missile as well.

Destroyers are the workhorses of the fleet. Important ships for an uncertain world, there are never enough of them.




Sources and other reading:

• Torpedo Boats
• Fernando Villaamil
• Destroyers

* A capital ship is typically the largest, most effective ship in a fleet. Up until early World War II the capital ship was the armored battleship. In modern times it is the aircraft carrier, some might argue it's the nuclear powered submarine. I count both of those types as capital ships.