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Milestones

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Tree in 2nd grade... all the nuns were crying. Tree didn't know what an assassination was...
I was a Sophomore in high school. The news reached us around noon that day, and shortly after they shut down all the schools early for Thanksgiving break. I was watching when Oswald got shot on live tv.
 
27 november 1942, in Toulon, the French navy scuttled their own fleet.

After the invasion of French Northern Africa, earlier that month (Operation Torch), Hitler had ordered the occupation of the ‘free’ Vichy zone (the remainder of France, all along the Channel and Atlantic coast, had been under Wehrmacht control since the armistice of 1940).

During the negotiations for the armistice in 1940, French negotiators had managed to keep the French colonies and the French navy out of the agreement. The ships of the latter were mainly stationed in Toulon and in African ports (mainly in Mers-el-Kébir in Algeria, and Dakar in Senegal). Some units had fled and sought refuge in either UK ports or in Alexandria.

Britain was however always afraid that the French navy would come under control of either Germany or Italy, or would be used against them by the Vichy regime itself. The French had always tried to convince (in vain) the British that they would never allow that their fleet would fall into axis hands. Hence the deadly British attack on Mers-el-Kébir (July 3rd 1940) and raid on Dakar (22 september 1940). French navy ships taking refuge in British controlled ports were meanwhile either forced, or did voluntary surrender and changed sides.

When the invading German forces approached the port of Toulon, the threat of seizure became real. Orders were given to prepare the ships for scuttling. Guards managed to delay the Germans entering the port, or sending them the wrong way, or Germans went lost in the maze of docks and buildings of the port. Straight in the Wehrmacht’s face, the ship’s exterior valves were opened and the keels were blown up with explosives. A total of 77 ships went down, including three battleships, seven cruisers and many submarines and destroyers. Practically none of the scuttled ships could be used again.

This left of course France nearly without fleet, after the war. In the UK were a few old WWI dreadnoughts, which had no more effective combat value, and which would be scuttled in 1944 in front of the Normandy coast, as part of Gooseberry, the wave breakers for protecting the Mulberry ports.

The most important survivors of the French fleet were the newest battleships, the sister ships Richelieu and Jean-Bart, which were respectively in Dakar and Casablanca during Operation Torch. They soon defected to the Allies. Richelieu was sent to the US for repairs and would take part in action against Japan in the British Indian Ocean fleet. Jean-Bart was only completed after the war, and would fire a few rounds on Egyptian positions during the Suez crisis in 1956. Both battleships went into reserve in the late 1950’s and were scrapped in 1970, as the last battleships of a European navy.
 
27 november 1942, in Toulon, the French navy scuttled their own fleet.

After the invasion of French Northern Africa, earlier that month (Operation Torch), Hitler had ordered the occupation of the ‘free’ Vichy zone (the remainder of France, all along the Channel and Atlantic coast, had been under Wehrmacht control since the armistice of 1940).

During the negotiations for the armistice in 1940, French negotiators had managed to keep the French colonies and the French navy out of the agreement. The ships of the latter were mainly stationed in Toulon and in African ports (mainly in Mers-el-Kébir in Algeria, and Dakar in Senegal). Some units had fled and sought refuge in either UK ports or in Alexandria.

Britain was however always afraid that the French navy would come under control of either Germany or Italy, or would be used against them by the Vichy regime itself. The French had always tried to convince (in vain) the British that they would never allow that their fleet would fall into axis hands. Hence the deadly British attack on Mers-el-Kébir (July 3rd 1940) and raid on Dakar (22 september 1940). French navy ships taking refuge in British controlled ports were meanwhile either forced, or did voluntary surrender and changed sides.

When the invading German forces approached the port of Toulon, the threat of seizure became real. Orders were given to prepare the ships for scuttling. Guards managed to delay the Germans entering the port, or sending them the wrong way, or Germans went lost in the maze of docks and buildings of the port. Straight in the Wehrmacht’s face, the ship’s exterior valves were opened and the keels were blown up with explosives. A total of 77 ships went down, including three battleships, seven cruisers and many submarines and destroyers. Practically none of the scuttled ships could be used again.

This left of course France nearly without fleet, after the war. In the UK were a few old WWI dreadnoughts, which had no more effective combat value, and which would be scuttled in 1944 in front of the Normandy coast, as part of Gooseberry, the wave breakers for protecting the Mulberry ports.

The most important survivors of the French fleet were the newest battleships, the sister ships Richelieu and Jean-Bart, which were respectively in Dakar and Casablanca during Operation Torch. They soon defected to the Allies. Richelieu was sent to the US for repairs and would take part in action against Japan in the British Indian Ocean fleet. Jean-Bart was only completed after the war, and would fire a few rounds on Egyptian positions during the Suez crisis in 1956. Both battleships went into reserve in the late 1950’s and were scrapped in 1970, as the last battleships of a European navy.
I recall reading that the US Navy engaged Jean-Bart during the Torch operations, since Admiral Darlan at first refused to cooperate. There were casualties on both sides.
There were similar problems in the Pacific in French Polynesia--the French refused shore facilities to the US Navy and Admiral Ghormley had to command aboard his flagship in the harbor. When Ghormley was sacked and replaced by Halsey, "Bull" quickly tired of the arrangement and landed marines to secure a land base. If I remember, Napolean was once asked who his preferred opponent was. He replied, "allies". Strictly, Vichy France was neutral, and one can understand there would be politics, but one would think that places the government in Vichy had no hope of controlling would go over to the Free French. But then, like Pius XII, at that time maybe the French commanders weren't sure who would win the war and were hedging bets.
 
I was a Sophomore in high school. The news reached us around noon that day, and shortly after they shut down all the schools early for Thanksgiving break. I was watching when Oswald got shot on live tv.
Me too. I was in a minor seminary (now extinct) in Arizona. We had to get special permission to watch TV news. Some Goldwater students were openly gleeful about the assassination. I was pro-Goldwater then too, but not gleeful. "I'm younger than that now." (Kennedy and Johnson were responsible for Vietnam, but I think Goldwater's pressure influenced decisions in a bad way.)
 
Seventy years ago, from December 5th to December 9th 1952, the London smog cost thousands of lives.
Under a sustaining thermal inversion, and no wind, sulphate enriched coal smoke from households and industrial plants got trapped in a fog, and affected the respiratory system of those living under it.
 
Seventy years ago, from December 5th to December 9th 1952, the London smog cost thousands of lives.
Under a sustaining thermal inversion, and no wind, sulphate enriched coal smoke from households and industrial plants got trapped in a fog, and affected the respiratory system of those living under it.
Yes, I also know something like that from Jena. If you drove to work early (the city is in a valley) you could clearly see the smoke bell. Luckily the air quality has improved a lot.
 
Yes, I also know something like that from Jena. If you drove to work early (the city is in a valley) you could clearly see the smoke bell. Luckily the air quality has improved a lot.
It seems that in London, one of the contributing factors was the bad quality of coal sold for domestic heating. It contained too much impurities. The problem would have been less severe, if anthracite would have been available.

There has been a smog case on a smaller scale in Liège, Belgium, in 1930 and also in early december. The entrenched Meuse valley there contributied to the containment of toxic fumes under a thermal inversion. One of the major killers was fluorine gas emitted by the many industrial smoke stacks in the area.
 
Apollo 17



Fifty years ago, on December 7th 1972, Apollo 17 was launched, the last manned mission of the apollo program, and the last one so far.

The crew consisted of Gene Cernan (commander), Harrison Schmitt (LM pilot) and Ronald Evans (command module pilot).

Schmitt was the first geologist to be sent to the Moon. He had been part of the fourth NASA astronaut group, a special selection of scientists, instead of the usual test pilots.

Initially, the astronauts sent to the Moon, with their background of test pilots, lacked basic geological knowledge, and collected rocks from the Lunar surface ‘ad random’. There was a need to give them basic training in picking rock samples, a job, Schmitt was assigned for. Although many astronauts followed the training reluctantly, it paid off for the first time, when in July 1971, the Apollo 15 crew singled out the ‘Genesis Stone’, a piece of very old anorthosite.

Pressure meanwhile grew to send a geologist with a next Apollo mission, for which Schmitt, as the only geologist in Group 4, was the only candidate. He was assigned to Apollo 18, but with the cancellation of that mission in September 1970, he was moved to Apollo 17, replacing Joe Engle.

Cernan was a veteran from Gemini 9, and had already traveled to the Moon with Apollo 10, in May 1969, for testing the Lunar Module in orbit around the Moon. Ron Evans made, like Schmitt, his first space flight.

Cernan and Schmitt performed three moon walks, between December 11th and 14th, using the Moon Rover, in the Taurus-Littrow region. At the end of the third walk, Cernan was the last to return to the Lunar Module. The flight ended on December 19th.

None of the three crewmembers would return into space; Today, only Schmitt is still alive. Between 1976 and 1982, he was a senator for New Mexico. Evans died in 1990, aged 57, from a heart attack, making him the second Apollo veteran to die, after Jack Swigert in 1982. Cernan died in 2017.

Cernan was an ‘eloquent’ man! During the lunar orbit LM tests with Apollo 10, in May 1969, a faulty set switch caused the LM to spin briefly out of control. Cernan’s surprised verbal reaction (‘son of a bitch!’) went on live broadcast, and he got criticized for it (schoolkids watching, etc…).

The video clip below, a tribute to the mighty Saturn V rocket, has the cabin audio of Apollo 17 as background. Cernan’s distinctive voice can be heard reporting all the time. When the first staging nears (from 3:44), he warns his fellow crew members to prepare for the shock of accelerations (“hold on!”) that accompany that staging. Obvious, since Cernan already had experienced it with Apollo 10. When it happens, either Schmitt or Evans utters in surprise “Jesus Christ!”. And what is Cernan’s reaction (4:15)? :)
Anyway, all the time, his voice is of a striking calm and confidence.

 
Apollo 17



Fifty years ago, on December 7th 1972, Apollo 17 was launched, the last manned mission of the apollo program, and the last one so far.

The crew consisted of Gene Cernan (commander), Harrison Schmitt (LM pilot) and Ronald Evans (command module pilot).

Schmitt was the first geologist to be sent to the Moon. He had been part of the fourth NASA astronaut group, a special selection of scientists, instead of the usual test pilots.

Initially, the astronauts sent to the Moon, with their background of test pilots, lacked basic geological knowledge, and collected rocks from the Lunar surface ‘ad random’. There was a need to give them basic training in picking rock samples, a job, Schmitt was assigned for. Although many astronauts followed the training reluctantly, it paid off for the first time, when in July 1971, the Apollo 15 crew singled out the ‘Genesis Stone’, a piece of very old anorthosite.

Pressure meanwhile grew to send a geologist with a next Apollo mission, for which Schmitt, as the only geologist in Group 4, was the only candidate. He was assigned to Apollo 18, but with the cancellation of that mission in September 1970, he was moved to Apollo 17, replacing Joe Engle.

Cernan was a veteran from Gemini 9, and had already traveled to the Moon with Apollo 10, in May 1969, for testing the Lunar Module in orbit around the Moon. Ron Evans made, like Schmitt, his first space flight.

Cernan and Schmitt performed three moon walks, between December 11th and 14th, using the Moon Rover, in the Taurus-Littrow region. At the end of the third walk, Cernan was the last to return to the Lunar Module. The flight ended on December 19th.

None of the three crewmembers would return into space; Today, only Schmitt is still alive. Between 1976 and 1982, he was a senator for New Mexico. Evans died in 1990, aged 57, from a heart attack, making him the second Apollo veteran to die, after Jack Swigert in 1982. Cernan died in 2017.

Cernan was an ‘eloquent’ man! During the lunar orbit LM tests with Apollo 10, in May 1969, a faulty set switch caused the LM to spin briefly out of control. Cernan’s surprised verbal reaction (‘son of a bitch!’) went on live broadcast, and he got criticized for it (schoolkids watching, etc…).

The video clip below, a tribute to the mighty Saturn V rocket, has the cabin audio of Apollo 17 as background. Cernan’s distinctive voice can be heard reporting all the time. When the first staging nears (from 3:44), he warns his fellow crew members to prepare for the shock of accelerations (“hold on!”) that accompany that staging. Obvious, since Cernan already had experienced it with Apollo 10. When it happens, either Schmitt or Evans utters in surprise “Jesus Christ!”. And what is Cernan’s reaction (4:15)? :)
Anyway, all the time, his voice is of a striking calm and confidence.

How to start the F 1 engines on the Saturn Five

 
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