CHUCKIE EGG

tagging @merrittk.com because someone has to.

Royal Navy submarine HMS Splendid. Imperial War Museum image: FL 3647. Description: a starboard side view of a surfaced submarine under way off a low coastline. Several large vessels can be seen in the background.

21 Apr 1943 // Submarine HMS Splendid was scuttled off Capri to prevent her falling into enemy hands after a depth-charge attack by German destroyer Hermes forced her to the surface. 18 of her crew were lost and 27 were taken prisoner. (Imperial War Museum FL 3647) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

Brian Cant and Floella Benjamin smile out from the cover of an album: Songs from BBC TV's Play School and Play Away

At 11am on 21 April 1964, Play School made its debut, and became the first programme ever broadcast on BBC2

List of Ashington war dead 1914-18 on the town memorial: panel 1 of 3

List of Ashington war dead 1914-18 on the town memorial: panel 2 of 3

List of Ashington war dead 1914-18 on the town memorial: panel 3 of 3

List of Ashington war dead 1939-45 on the town memorial

Been in Ashington, Northumberland, today. 1,000 killed in both world wars; 3 full panels on the town memorial for the FWW and one for the SWW.

Lower front right aerial view of the XPBB in flight in clear skies at medium altitude, summer 1943.

Though the sole XPBB-1 prototype performed well in testing, the project was cancelled as priority shifted to land based bombers. Both the R-3350 engines and factory space that would have been required for Sea Ranger production were reallocated to the B-29 program.
📷 NHHC NH 94927
🧵5/5
#NavalHistory

Left profile view of the XPBB-1 on beaching gear on a snowy airfield in February 1943. The lower hull appears to be white or very light grey, the upper hull much darker. All turrets are fitted with machine guns.

The XPBB-1 was designed to carry a heavy payload of up to 20,000lb in bomb bays built into the wing centre section. Alternatively, two torpedoes could be mounted. Defensive armament would consist of twin 0.50cal machine guns in 3 turrets, plus two single guns in waist positions.
📷 NHHC NH 87976
🧵4/5

XPBB water taxiing across a flat calm body of water, possibly Lake Washington, near Seattle during testing in July 1942. Houses and trees are visible on the far bank.

Using this method, the XPBB could theoretically take off with a full load without wasting significant amounts of fuel on water takeoffs. A design for the necessary catapults, plus large barges to carry them, was never completed and the aircraft only ever took off conventionally.
📷 NHHC NH 94923
🧵3/5

Front right view of the XPBB on beaching gear on a concrete pad, surrounded by military and civilian personnel, July 1942. One man is seated in an access door on the right of the nose. The aircraft appears to have dummy or unarmed turrets and has a two-tone light/dark camouflage, with a wavy demarcation line halfway up the hull.

The XPBB-1 used a similar type of wing design to the B-29 and shared its R-3350 engines. It also utilised experience from Boeing’s Model 314 Clipper flying boat. The XPBB’s normal range was almost 4,250 miles, but it was thought possible to double this using catapult launches.
📷 NHHC NH 94921
🧵2/5

Front right aerial view of the Boeing XPBB-1 Sea Ranger, painted overall in dark grey or blue except for the lower hull. It’s flying at low altitude over what appears to be an airfield under construction, Summer 1943. It’s a large twin-radial engined flying boat with a deep hull and two stabilising floats fixed below the outer wings. There are nose, dorsal and tail gun turrets as well as waist blisters.

The Boeing XPBB-1 Sea Ranger (1942) was a long range patrol bomber, the largest twin-engined aircraft in the world at the time of its first flight. It was developed to meet the threat posed by German and Japanese submarines or surface raiders in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.
📷 NHHC NH 94926
🧵1/5

Since someone’s got the title… Fighting on Film or War Movie Theatre for the podcast?

Night all

I know I post loads of stuff about how beautiful Norway is, buy there's just something about the English countryside in springtime. This is Teesdale, in the west of County Durham. Sunshine, fresh air, a village pub, and coffee and cake at the end... what's not to like? #Durham #England

Royal Navy destroyer HMS Ariel, launched 1897, wrecked at Malta 1907. Public domain image: US Navy Naval History and Heritage Command, NH 63160. Description: a starboard side view of a small two-funnelled warship anchored in calm water.

19 Apr 1907 // Destroyer HMS Ariel was part of a group of destroyers testing the defences of Grand Harbour in Malta in a night exercise. Searchlights from the shore temporarily blinded her bridge officers and she ran at speed into a breakwater, buckling her bows and wrecking her steering gear. [1/4]

The third XF8B prototype, in overall midnight blue camouflage, in open air storage in Philadelphia, awaiting scrapping. Looking rather forlorn, it sits with wings folded on a weed-strewn patch of land, with other aircraft visible behind.

With the war over, the Navy decided that although the XF8B was a capable aircraft, there were other types already in service that could fulfil its roles. An assessment by the USAAF came to a similar conclusion and the flight test program ended in 1947, with all 3 prototypes later scrapped.
🧵5/5

Right profile view of the XF8B, painted overall dark blue, at altitude against a backdrop of white clouds. It carries the name ‘Boeing’ on its engine cowling.

With a range of some 2,300 miles, the XF8B seemed promising as an attack aircraft, though the Navy soon decided it wasn’t suitable as a fighter. Nonetheless, a series of delays dogged the project. The second prototype didn’t fly until November 1945, with the third only in March 1946.
🧵4/5

View from below of the XF8B taking off, its undercarriage retracting. The bomb bay doors are visible below the cockpit and behind the engine air scoop.

The XF8B’s proposed armament was also impressive. It was to mount six 0.50cal machine guns, six 20mm cannon or a combination of the two. Its internal bomb bay could house over 2,000lb of bombs, while two underwing hardpoints were available for more, or drop tanks. Rockets could also be carried.
🧵3/5

Frontal view of the XF8B on a wet concrete airfield hardstanding, with a control tower visible behind. A man in flying overalls is talking to another in a suit in front of the aircraft’s large air scoop under the engine, its contra-rotating propellers prominent.

To fulfill all these roles, the XF8B was a chonky beast: around the same size as, but heavier than, an Avenger. Despite this, its beefy supercharged 3,000hp R-4360 engine proved capable of propelling it to over 430mph. Early flight testing was generally positive and suggested good handling.
🧵2/5

XF8B in bare metal finish in clear skies at medium altitude over a suburban area. It’s a large, single radial-engined aircraft with two contra-rotating propellers. It has straight-edged wings and a deep fuselage, with the pilot’s cockpit under a bubble canopy. Behind him, hunched over in the cramped space, is an engineer to monitor testing.

The Boeing XF8B (1944) was a response to a requirement from the U.S. Navy for a long range carrier-based fighter. The result was what the company called a ‘Five-In-One’ aircraft. As well as a fighter, it would also be an interceptor, level bomber, dive bomber and torpedo bomber.
🧵1/5
#NavalHistory

18 Apr 1915 // HM Submarine E.15, which had run aground in the Dardanelles on 17 April and was captured by the Turks with seven crew killed and the remainder taken prisoner, was scuttled in a daring night action by Royal Navy picket boats. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) #WW1 #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

Royal Navy submarine HMS Sterlet. Imperial War Museum image: FL 3619. Description: a starboard side view of a submarine on the surface and moored to a buoy in harbour, with the shoreline behind and warships visible in the background on the right.

18 Apr 1940 // Submarine HMS Sterlet is presumed to have been lost off southern Norway on or around this date, either sunk in a depth-charging attack or through striking a mine. She was reported overdue on 27 April. All 41 crew were lost. (Imperial War Museum FL 3619) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

Royal Navy submarine HMS P.615. Imperial War Museum image: A 12308. Description: a view from off and above the starboard bow of a submarine with 'P615' painted on its conning tower and men visible on its deck, in enclosed water with the coast and other vessels visible in the background.

18 Apr 1943 // HM Submarine P.615, sailing from Freetown, Sierra Leone, to Takorandi, Gold Coast, with minesweeper MMS.107, was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U.123 off Sherbro Island. She sank in 10 seconds with loss of all 44 crew. (Imperial War Museum A12308) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

Archive Research, Photography & Digitisation I offer archive research and document photography at The National Archives and the Imperial War Museum, alongside digitisation of privately held material. As a military historian, I regularly work …

As my maternity leave comes to an end, a reminder that I’m now offering an archive photography service primarily for museums/archives in the south east England (IWM, TNA, BL etc etc) to help make ends meet. Details below:

lucybetteridgedyson.com/archive-rese...

A colour painting of. a tired-looking merchant ship making its way through a field of floating ice during a convoy operation in the Polar North, seen from the deck of what is most likely an escort, with a small iceberg to the left of it and other ships in the back. The ships are proceeding under a leaden sky, and the sea is covered with multiple small pieces of ice. Description Object description image: A reconstruction of a British merchant convoy moving through the icy waters of the Arctic. Inscription [signed] Object Details Category Art Related period 1945-1989 (production), Second World War (content) Creator Hamilton, John Materials Support: panel medium: oil Dimensions Support: Height 609 mm., Width 914 mm. Catalogue number Art.IWM ART LD 7420

Today's favourite #warart

Routed North: Arctic Convoys Routed North in Summer, to the Edge of the Ice Pack, to Evade Aircraft Based in North Norway

John Alan Hamilton (1919–1993)

Imperial War Museum London ART LD 7420

me doing cross country in year 7

Why do I get the feeling this is going to end up being an on-rails section in a future Call of Duty game?

Compelled to point out that this is what the earliest air combat looked like around the start of the First World War; pilots shooting from their aircraft with shotguns, rifles, or pistols.

A new-ish metallic orange Ford van with a retractable awning on the left side. On the rear doors is an image of six Imperial Stormtroopers sitting on opposite benches, 3 of them turning to look backwards, as if at a following vehicle. Above the doors is written ‘THIS IS THE WAY’.

Well played, Unidentified Van Driver, well played.

Episode 10: Battle of Quiberon Bay: France’s Do... by The Untitled History Podcast In 1759 France and Britain were locked in the Seven Years War. It was a war of global proportions. In Europe, Russia, India, and the American colonies the two countries fought to establish who was the...

In 1759, a French invasion fleet bound for the UK prepared to shelter from a huge winter storm in the Bay of Biscay.

Riding into attack on the edge of that storm was a Royal Navy fleet under Admiral Hawke.

On the pod, @drachinifel.bsky.social look at a gloriously batshit naval battle we both love.

Atomic Hobo: When The Wind Blows, Part 18 Oh dear, it's starting to get really grim!To get ad-free listening, plus bonus epiosdes, join us at www.patreon.com/atomichobo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are you wearing lipstick, dear?

No. Her gums are bleeding. The radiation sickness is hitting them hard now as we approach the end of the film.

Part 18 of When The Wind Blows

Image from one of those dodgy Victorian-era sensationalist pamphlets, probably the Illustrated Police News, showing various scenes in the Pimlico Poisoning Case, such as a vicar reading Ovid to a young woman, said women asking if there must be an inquest, and the chemist where her alleged lover bought the liquid chloroform

It’s 140 years to the day since the not guilty verdict on Adelaide Bartlett, accused of poisoning the husband who was 11 years older than her, possibly in order to take up with a Wesleyan minister who had bought the poison, and who – they claimed – had the dead husband’s blessing to woo Adelaide 🧵