Aryeh Wetherhorn is a graduate of the University of Michigan. He served as a Naval Reserve officer in the Vietnam War, earning a Naval Achievement Medal for his performance of duty in USS Okinawa. His biography appears in the Marquis edition of “Who’s Who in the World” in 1998, 2002, and 2003 editions. He has written several full length articles on naval history that appeared in the Polish magazine “Okrety Wojenne” (Warships).
After completing OCS I was sent to CIC (Combat Information Center) and AIC (Air intercept control ) schools in Glynco, Georgi, One of the things I thought strange was that I had to have a yellow Fever inoculation. It was not for going overseas. It was for being stationed in Georgia. The courses lasted over … More Air Intercept Control School
This morning we woke up to the aftermath of the latest spasm of violence in Gaza. T probably won’t be the last. To be fair, conditions for the “average” resident of the Gaza enclave are about 20% worse than appalling. But that doesn’t seem to make much difference to the Hamas rulers. Their lives are … More Spasm of Violence
Disruptive Camouflage at Gallipoli in 1915 Disruptive pattern, or Dazzle, camouflage was used in 1917 to save merchant ships from :U-boat attacks. But the idea of disruptive camouflage had been in actual use earlier, A British professor of zoology, John Kerr, had proposed the idea as a means of confusing range-finders. Then First Lord of … More Disruptive camouflage at Gallipoli in 1915
My second encounter with a typhoon came a few years after the first. We were en route to Okinawa where all the amphibious forces in the US Seventh Fleet were assembling for a major exercise. It seems someone had also invited the typhoon to meet us there. Some of the ships had already arrived and … More Typhoon – 2
US Submarine camouflage trials in 1916 There was interest in warship camouflage in the US that may have been started by the experience of the US Navy in the Spanish American War. One of the first artists to make his interest public was William A Mackay. Mackay had specific ideas about ship camouflage, and they … More USN submarine camouflage experiments – 1915-6.
There are dozens of serious tropical storms in the Pacific every year. Only the worst are designated as typhoons and given names, Assigning names is a relatively new thing, dating from // In 1963 the Valley Forge was in port in Subic Bat in the Philippines. The typhoon was being tracked well to the north … More Typhoon – 1
The first hundred years war was an intermittent conflict that took place between England and France from 1336 to 1453. The new one is happening now. It is becoming a religious war, because one side is not willing to make an agreement or treaty to put an end to it. Yes, I’m writing about the … More The New Hundred Years War
Frederick Alexander Pawla One of the highly important, and largely forgotten, figures in the camouflage of US ships in the First World War was Frederick Alexander Pawla. Pawla was born in Scotland in 1876. He immigrated to the US and joined the US Navy when he was just 14 years old and not yet 5 … More Frederick Alexander Paula
In the 1960s the US Navy always wanted naval aviators to be qualified to drive ships as well as fly airplanes. Aviators were often assigned to ships in order to achieve this qualification. The ships they were sent to were usually aircraft carriers of some type. Valley Forge had a mixture of aviators in various … More Blind Shiphandling
I’ve mentioned before that my first sea duty was a great learning experience. It was also a time when I had a few accomplishments that I am still proud of. Details about those will come later, The CIC team was full, and I was a fifth wheel CIC school trained officer. That was the reason … More First Duty Assignment – 4
Wetherhorn 