1/Today's moment of #Sealift comes just before the Battle of Midway. On May 23, 1942, while testing demolition charges on the islands fuel tanks, an accidental detonation destroyed 400,000 gallons of aviation fuel.
2/Pacific Fleet used the recently offload Hog Island freighter Nina Luckenbach to load 500 tons of bombs and 84,000 gallons of avgas. Escorted by destroyer Mustin, she arrived on May 31.
3/The ship arrived on May 31 and due to the lack of stevedores (the ship's crew do not usually move and operate the cargo gear in ports), the crew improvised cargo nets to offload bombs & barrels of avgas.

The 3rd Mate, an old steam-schooner sailor manned the winches.
4/The arrival of Nira Luckenbach, along with the earlier sailing of USS Kitty Hawk AKV-1 delivering Marine Corps aircraft and supplies ensured their was enough aviation gasoline for the Battle of Midway.

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More from @mercoglianos

Mar 20
@TheAtlantic @scottlincicome 1/Compare this piece in @TheAtlantic versus that of @JerryHendrixII who argues "The Age of American Dominance is Over."

While Captain Hendrix warns about the dangers, Scott Lincicome of @CatoInstitute revels in it; but misrepresents the #JonesAct.

theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…
@TheAtlantic @scottlincicome @JerryHendrixII @CatoInstitute 2/Scott brings up the direct cost and cites 5x cost to build in the United States. Yet, he fails to account for the massive subsidies and offsets by the three largest shipbuilding countries in the world - China, Korea, and Japan. @CSIS

reconasia.csis.org/hidden-harbors…
@TheAtlantic @scottlincicome @JerryHendrixII @CatoInstitute @CSIS 3/Why short-sea shipping is not used...It is TIME & COST!

Why ship something from a site in rural Georgia to Boston by short-sea? You have to truck it to Savannah, wait & load on a ship, sail it with multiple stops, arrive in Boston and then truck...when you can just truck it. ImageImage
Read 17 tweets
Mar 20
So, @TheAtlantic ran a piece from Scott Lincicome on the #JonesAct. Scott is with @CatoInstitute & @CatoTrade and I would include him on this tweet, but he has me blocked.

Maybe that is because I am going to show how many things he gets wrong or misrepresents in his piece. Image
Alright...here is my breakdown.
1. Direct Costs. 5x cost in construction.

As usual, Scott does not account for the massive subsidies and offsets provided by China, Japan & Korea that build 94% of the world's ships.

theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
2. Why short-sea shipping is not used. It is TIME!

Why ship something from a site in rural Georgia to Boston by short-sea? You have to truck it to Savannah, wait & load on a ship, sail it with multiple stops, arrive in Boston and then truck...when you can just truck it. Image
Read 13 tweets
Mar 9
1/Talked about the Tryanny of Distance in WWII and in a modern Taiwan scenario over the last few days.

What about the fuel capabilities and requirements to sustain operations?

This info is drawn from @MSCSealift annual reports.
2/In FY 2022, the replenishment ships of MSC Atlantic.

Across 8 deployments & 7 exercises, MSC oilers pumped 163 million gallons of POL=3.9M bbls.

Using the new Lewis class oilers as base, that equals 25 ship loads during peacetime ops. ImageImage
3/In a typical @USPacificFleet deployment, USNS Guadalupe with the Lincoln CSG delivered 8 mil gals POL=190k bbls or 1.2x John Lewis capacity ImageImage
Read 13 tweets
Mar 7
1/Yesterday I tweeted on the Tyranny of Distance across the Pacific, comparing 1942 to 2023.

Today, what would happen should China decide to invade Taiwan?

This will look at the logistics of sustaining the @USNavy with fuel.

2/On March 6, 2023, the US had two Carrier Strike (CSG) and two Amphibious Ready Groups (ARG) stationed in the western Pacific. Another carrier was in the Med and two off the East Coast; and others in various state of repair/training. Image
3/To support them, @USPacificFleet has 7 Kaiser class oilers:

In West Pac: Guadalupe, Ericsson, Rappahannock, Tippecanoe & Yukon
On West Coast: Kaiser & Pecos

@GDNASSCO the new John Lewis is working up, with Milk to follow. ImageImage
Read 14 tweets
Mar 5
1/What is the biggest issue that the @USNavy faced in early 1942? TYRANNY OF DISTANCE

To Sydney from Hawaii=4,400NM
From Panama Canal=7,650NM
From San Diego=6,500NM

With the interdiction of fuel to Australia via Indian Ocean, the development of refueling bases was key. ImageImageImage
2/The importance of Pearl Harbor and its 4.1 million barrels of fuel storage demonstrate their importance.

But supporting Australia required the creation of several ocean refueling points for ships sailing from US West Coast & Panama...the first BOBCAT - Bora Bora in Tahiti. Image
3/The great circle from Pearl to Sydney ran:
▶️South of Johnston Atoll
▶️Through Howland/Baker Islands
▶️Just north of Fiji and Samoa
▶️Bisect New Caledonia
▶️Close to Gilberts, Solomons & New Hebrides

This helps explain the rush to build up the supply line across the Pacific.
Read 5 tweets
Feb 27
Someone sent me @brentdsadler excellent essay entitled "For the Larger Navy U.S. Needs, American Shipping and Shipbuilding Must Be Revived," from Oct 2022.

1/
heritage.org/defense/commen…
Brent has three key takeaways; and all of them are right on point. I will, however, take exception with a few of his supporting points.

2/
No question that US is too dependent on foreign industrial base for much of its production in case of conflict.

3/
Read 10 tweets

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