View allAll Photos Tagged loader
40155 passes Eryholme on the ECML sth of Darlington on 21/07/84 with a Blackpool - Newcastle train. I expect an equivelant service on todays network would be a 3 car unit!!
Pay loaders from MTA New York City Transit Buses await transfer from the College Point Depot on lowboy trucks. Nine are being sent to Suffolk County to assist with snow clearing operations, each being escorted with supervision and operators.
This is a modified HO scale heavy duty Volvo wheel loader fork lift made by Cararama. It was originally a front end loader with a bucket. The bucket was removed and the fork mechanism from a container lift was added. The unit is detailed and weathered
Jersey Bus Tours LCB Cannon with a good load takes on more passengers for the round the island tour when seen at Liberation Square St Helier. 13/04/14
For once an original. Going back to the first LOAD and documenting the layouts I did.
Journalling reads: I came across a challenge on Big Picture Scrapbooking to do a Lay Out A Day for the month of January, 2008. It was being hosted by Lain Ehman and there were prizes for keeping up as well as completion, a message board for discussion and best of all – great inspiration from others. What’s there to lose? So I signed up for a measly few dollars and the fun began. I was able to complete a full 31 layouts in the 31 days (no grand prize=() but for me it was totally worth it – just the drive to get some work done that I’ve been meaning to for what seems like forever. Thanks for the great experience! I can’t wait for the next one!
Just some flashing lights at loading docks of a warehouse.
Hand-held while sitting on my recumbent trike (earthquake effect). And look---a Rainier Beer trailer!
Where to start, well the 45 has an evening and sunday service to raunds via finedon, irthingborough and Rushden lakes (well the council want to get their moneys worth out the service because that's where northants locals are likely to be after 7pm, if they haven't gone home yet!) and provides locals a connection with the evening X1s and vice verser that terminate at finedon and don't run all the way to Wellingborough!! as for Gleneagles and berrymoor they are served by the extended 34 that sc won back from centrebus and seems to run everywhere round kettering and Wellingborough with one bus!! and now runs from bay A, hence the bus stop alterations on bay E and no alterations on the stop flags that it uses round wellingborough, now the visitors to the locals are completely confused and they use darts on it if an optare isn't available!! start the year with a gooden sc as usual, we know the drill, so bad, its good fun for the rest of us!! and then they do this, what a perfect combination!! the 48s at Nuneaton goes gold, so hopefully we should have some handed down E200s and other vehicles by the spring, lovely!! does Bedford want anymore optares or darts??!!! comment below??!!
From PhC.184 Massengill Postcard Collection, initial donation, State Archives of North Carolina, Raleigh, NC.
U.S. Marines with India Battery, Battalion Landing Team 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, practice loading ordnance onto an MV-22B Osprey aboard the USS Essex (LDH 2) during Composite Training Unit Exercise (COMPTUEX) aboard Naval Base San Diego March 17, 2015. The Marines must work together to properly align the ATV with the ramp to successfully load on the ordnance - COMPTUEX is designed to integrate and train the PHIBRON and ship staff as they prepare for deployment later this spring. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Elize McKelvey/Released)
These two pieces of equipment are for the National Grid and are going to Ninfield substation. These photos was taken at Polegate, East Sussex
Day Seven
Doodling...I don't often think of myself as a doodler, but I tried.
It might be dumb to scrap about how I scrap, but I thought it was interesting considering the topic.
Journaling reads:
"I don't very often use sketches to help design my pages. Usually, I just have an idea & I go with it. This time however, I wanted some uniformity. I've used the same sketch for all my pages about my summer concert series & I've loved the way the pages have turned out! 10-11"
Supplies Used:
Cardstock: Georgia Pacific [white]
Patterned Paper: Doodlebug
Letter stickers: American Crafts
Rub-Ons: Doodlebug
Stamps: Autumn Leaves
Ink: Versafine, Versamark
Pen: Staedtler [black], Signo [white], Sakura [glitter]
Adhesive: Scrapbook Adhesives, Scotch
Thanks for looking!
Leading Seaman Kevin Graham installs the loading unit for the Close In Weapon System (CWIS) on the hangar top during Operation PROJECTON in the Pacific Ocean on December 3, 2018.
Photo: Leading Seaman Mike Goluboff, MARPAC Imaging Services
©2018 DND-MDN CANADA
ET11-2018-0476-072
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
Even while the heavy T43 (M103) tank was still in development during the early Fifties, the U.S.A. was not done with attempts at making better heavy tanks. The primary concern were the Soviet heavy tanks that were expected to roll over Western Germany in the case of a Cold War escalation. Development was split into two schools of thought: One based its work on the T43, leading to the T57 and T58 auto loading tanks, while the other started from scratch, trying to mount a heavy weapon that could engage enemy tanks at long range in a more compact hull than the large and heavy T43.
In June 1954, the Detroit Arsenal held its third Question Mark Conference, the goal of which was brainstorming ideas for new heavy tanks. Conditions these proposals had to meet were that a prototype had to be constructed within two years, and the vehicle had to be able to fit within the confines of the Berne International Clearance Diagram, a code of standardization for rail tunnels established at the international conference at Berne, Switzerland, in 1913.
Various designs were submitted and discussed: The TS-2 and TS-5 were both armed with a 105 mm (4.13 in) T210 smoothbore gun; in a turret on the TS-2, and in a fixed casemate on the TS-5. The TS-6 and TS-31 were armed with the 120 mm (4.72 in) T123E1 gun; again in a turret on the TS-6, and casemate on the TS-31. Power for the tanks would have been supplied by either a 700 hp Continental AOI-1490-1 engine with an XT-500 transmission (TS-2 and TS-5), or an 810 hp Continental AVI-1790-8 with an XT-500 transmission (TS-6 and TS-31).
In the end, the TS-31, outfitted with a gimbal gun mount and estimated to weigh 45 tons, was chosen for further development, because it promised the most compact outlines. Chrysler was assigned to the development of the TS-31, which was given the project designation “120mm gun tank T110”; at the same time, the T43 was entering pre-production as the M103.
The original TS-31/T110 had a driver in the hull, a gunner to the left of the gun, a commander and his machine gun cupola to the right of the gun, and two loaders. It was rear-engined and had six road wheels on either side. Armor was to be as thick as 9 inches (228.6 mm) on the gun mantlet. Despite the TS-31 concept being chosen as the winner, it still was slightly too big to fit through the Berne Clearance Dimensions. Additional problems were found with the off-center commander’s cupola: the field of view was poor and the additional metal to support it added to the tank’s weight and increased its size. These flaws led to Chrysler redesigning the tank.
The second draft, the T110E1, was an improvement over the original TS-31. It was slightly smaller, becoming shorter and the front becoming flat. The driver was moved into the casemate, to the left of the gun, with the gunner being moved to the right of the gun. Behind the driver and gunner were two loaders and the commander behind them. The commander was placed directly in the middle of the tank, leaving him to sit almost directly atop the engine and with his feet worryingly close to the gun breech. Despite all this, it was still too big to fit through the Berne Clearance Dimensions. Size, in addition to the Detroit Arsenal’s disapproval of the driver’s position, led to a second redesign.
The third draft, the T110E2, was sort of a reversion to the original; the driver was moved back to the hull outside of the casemate, and the gunner was moved back to the left of the gun. The commander’s turret was moved slightly forward, so he would no longer have to sit on top of the engine, but was now forced to sit in a very awkward and cramped position in order to avoid being crushed by the gun’s recoil every time it fired. The casemate reverted to being rounded at the front. Unfortunately, the third draft was no smaller in size than the second.
The Detroit Arsenal replied to Chrysler’s unsatisfactory proposals with the fourth draft of the T110 on its own (even though this proposal did not receive a dedicated designation): The casemate was moved to the back, hanging over the rear of the tank. The transmission was moved to the rear as well, joining the engine. In its place up front was a massive fuel tank, nearly encompassing the driver. The power plant (which was now a Continental 700 hp AOI-1490) was pushed to the left to afford the commander a more comfortable (but still probably hot) position on the far rear right. The suspension was changed to a more conventional (for the Americans) type, with smaller road wheels; although the original draft was without them, return rollers would have been necessary.
Chrysler rejected the Detroit Arsenal’s idea to put the casemate on the very back on the tank and kept it in the middle, leading to the T110E3. The driver was moved back again inside of the casemate, this time to the right of the gun and in an elevated position that offered a very good field of view, and the driver had an M24 infrared periscope.
Chrysler originally tried to simplify maintenance on this design by allowing the engine to be pulled out, on rails, via a hatch in the rear of the tank. But this novel feature created rigidity issues and the engine was returned to a standard position, now turned lengthwise in the tank. This new engine placement again left the commander stuck between the engine and the gun breech. The gun mantlet, which had been relatively tiny before, was much bigger in this iteration, weighing 2 tons and being 9 inches (228.6 mm) thick. The tank was now short and narrow enough to barely fit into the limits of the Berne Tunnel standard.
This version of the T110 was eventually the first deemed worthy enough to be turned into hardware. A wooden mockup was built and engineering diagrams were drawn up. The main weapon was a 120 mm T123E1 rifled anti-tank gun (the same gun that was carried by the M103, later designated M58), combined with an M14 stereoscopic sight. Gun traverse was 15 degrees to each side, with 20 degrees of gun elevation and 10 degrees of gun depression. Frontal armor was 5 inches (127 mm) at a 60 degree slope from vertical. Secondary weaponry comprised as a .30 cal (7.62 mm) machine gun, paired with the main gun, and the commander had a remote-controlled .50 cal (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine gun on the M1 cupola, which could be aimed and fired from the inside.
Interest from the U.S. Army for this tank, which was rather a self-propelled gun carriage than a classic battle tank and rather passé in the U.S. Army’s eyes, was high enough to warrant the build of two prototypes – primarily because the Army was not too enthusiastic about the large M103. While the T110E3 featured basically the same armament as the M103 and offered comparable frontal armor, it was considerably lighter (50 vs. 65 tons) and more compact.
In order to save cost and development time, a modified M48 Patton chassis was chosen for the prototypes, which featured three rollers per side and the early track tension wheel between the last road wheel and the sprocket wheel at the rear. All six road wheel pairs were sprung on independent torsion arms, while the two front pairs and rear ones received extra shock absorbers with dampers to block excessive amplitude from the torsion arms. Power came from an uprated Continental Motors, Inc. AV-1790-3 petrol engine, which delivered 875 hp instead of the early M48’s 810 hp standard output.
The prototypes were built by Chrysler and ferried to the U.S. Army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground for field tests and comparison with the current standard tanks, namely the T43/M103 and the standard medium M48 MBT.
Potential service vehicles would have received the designation M90 and were supposed to be powered by a more reliable and longer-range Continental AVDS-1790-2 diesel power plant, but no more than the two T110E3 prototypes were built and tested in the course of 1956. However, no series production ensued, since the tank’s performance did not meet the U.S. Army’s expectations – even though the T110E3 proved to be much more agile than the T43/M103 and the commonality with the M48 made the T110E3 an attractive concept. Alas, the casemate layout was outdated and the ergonomics for the crew were poor and the interior was cramped due to the large cannon and the need for two loaders, because charges and warheads for the 120 mm rounds were separate and weighed 51 lbs (23.1 kg) in total, too much for a single loader and a decent rate of fire. The commander had, despite the cupola, a very limited field of view esp. of the tank’s direct surroundings. Furthermore, the development of improved armor-piercing ammunitions for lighter guns, as well as the advent of guided anti-tank missiles, made the heavy tank, including the M103 as well as the T110E3, obsolete. As a final blow to the project, development of the new medium M60 tank with the powerful Royal Ordnance L7 105mm cannon had just started when the T110E3 finished its trials, and an update of the M48 with the L7 cannon was the eventual solution.
A single T110E3, the first prototype, survived and is preserved at the Detroit Arsenal in Warren, MI.
Specifications:
Crew: Five (commander, gunner, 2× loader, driver)
Weight: 50 tonnes
Length: 6.87 m (22 ft 6 in) hull only
9.29 m (30 ft 5 in) overall
Width: 3.65 m (12 ft 0 in)
Height: 3,02 m (9 ft 11 in)
Suspension: Torsion-bar
Ground clearance: 15.2 in (387 mm)
Fuel capacity: 200 US gal (760 l; 170 imp gal)
Armor:
12.7 – 229 mm (0.5 – 9 in)
Performance:
Speed:
- Maximum, road: 30 mph (48 km/h)
- Sustained, road: 25 mph (40 km/h)
- Cross country: 9.3 to 15.5 mph (15 to 25 km/h)
Climbing capability:
- 40% side slope and 60% max grade
- Vertical obstacle of 36 inches (91 cm)
- 102 inches (2.59 m) trench crossing
Fording depth: Unprepared: 4 ft (1.219 m), prepared: 8 ft (2.438 m)
Operational range: 160 ml (258 km) on road
Power/weight: 17.5 hp/t
Engine:
1× Continental Motors, Inc. AV-1790-3 petrol V12 engine with fuel injection, delivering 875 hp,
plus a 1-cylinder auxiliary generator
Transmission:
General Motors CD-850-4A with 2 ranges forward, 1 reverse
Armament:
1× 120 mm T123E1 (M58) rifled anti-tank gun with 34 rounds
1× co-axial 7.62 mm M73 machine gun with 3.000 rounds
1× 12.7mm M2 Browning anti-aircraft machine gun on the commander’s cupola with 900 rounds
The kit and its assembly:
Yes, this is a whiffy tank, but the T110 project as such actually existed as an alternative to the M103. However, there never was any hardware beyond a wooden mock-up, and after many iterations (T110E5 was the last one!) the project was dropped in favor of classic designs with a fully rotating turret, and the availability of the British L7 cannon made the need for the American 120mm cannon obsolete.
I came across this obscure American tank project when I browsed the online shop of the German tank model/conversion kit manufacturer ModellTrans/Silesian Models, who offer a T110E3 resin conversion kit for an unspecified M48 chassis. I found the concept odd and the kit looked good, so I bought one, together with an ESCI M48A2 kit as chassis donor.
The rest was simple kitbashing. The M48 chassis was built OOB, just the upper hull replaced by the T110 resin parts, which also include the gun barrel and the mantlet, the commander’s cupola and several other small parts. Fit was/is surprisingly good! The T110 hull also went very smoothly onto the ESCI chassis: not plastic or resin had to be cut, just a 2mm gap at the lower rear had to be filled with a styrene strip, and only minor PSR had to be done on the front and the rear.
Some personal improvements include a scratched wall inside of the muzzle brake (made from a simple piece of 0.5 mm styrene sheet) and rails along the sidewalls, made from thin brass wire. Furthermore, some small parts from the ESCI M48 were transferred to the T110, including the barrel support, the housings for the stereoscopic rangefinder and a jerry can. Since this was supposed to become a prototype, I did not want to change too much.
Painting and markings:
The whole vehicle became Olive Drab, a conservative choice. I could not imagine that this outdated tank concept could have seriously entered service, so I decided to represent a prototype. But even if I had wanted a U.S. Army in-service vehicle, it would most probably have been painted all-over Olive Drab, anyway, since more complex paints schemes were only introduced in the late Seventies.
AFAIK there was no clearly defined standard for “Olive Drab” in practice, even though there was a contemporary Federal Standard tone, 24087 (very different from the later, much lighter FS tone with this code), also known as “OD ‘50”. In order to keep things simple, I chose Humbrol 66 (HM3), since it is supposed to represent the typical US Army tone. At first this looked rather dark and murky, but with some dry-brushing (with a mix of 66 and 111) after a washing with a mix of black and red brown, things started to look really good – esp. after the decals had been applied. The latter primarily came from the OOB ESCI sheet, complemented with the markings “TEST” and “T110E3”, created with single white 3mm letters from TL Modellbau and seen on contemporary American test vehicles in a similar fashion.
Further weathering was done through more dry-brushing with Humbrol 72 (Khaki Drill), then the model received a coat of matt acrylic varnish. Once the tracks (painted with a mix of acrylic black, brown and iron beforehand) had been mounted and finishing touches had been made, the lower areas were dusted with a reddish-brown mix of mineral pigments, reflecting the red-brownish washing all over the hull.
Not a very complex project, the most tedious aspect of this build was the M48 running gear. However, the latter went together well with little resistance, and the T110 hull from ModellTrans/Silesian Models was easy to integrate, too. I am actually very impressed by the good fit, the details and the molding quality of the resin parts. Even thin and delicate parts and areas like the mudguards have been crisply molded and they are not distinguishable from the IP counterparts from the ESCI kit! And I like the result: the T110E3 looks very retro, a design fallen out of time, and a worthy post-WWII what-if model.
first load done. 3 layout in my life. other 2 took months.. lol hope 2 page layouts are ok. at first i was stumped but then i ran across these pictures
journaling reads
Ohio State Fair 2010
Every year since my daughter Karilee was little. we shared one common passion. Fair Food!! every year we try to go to at least one. just to enjoy the food
club ruby January kit
cricut- summer vacation
imagine- yummy
Single-load liquid laundry packets look like candy, toys and teething rings...but they're POISON!
You can print the poster here: www.cpsc.gov//Global/Safety%20Education/Neighborhood-Safe...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
History
Nazi Germany
Name: Admiral Scheer
Namesake: Reinhard Scheer
Builder: Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven
Laid down: 25 June 1931
Launched: 1 April 1933
Commissioned: 12 November 1934
Homeport: Kiel
Fate: Sunk by bombs, 9 April 1945
General characteristics
Class and type: Deutschland class cruiser
Displacement:
Design:
13,660 t (13,440 long tons)
Full load:
15,180 long tons (15,420 t)
Length: 186 m (610 ft 3 in)
Beam: 21.34 m (70 ft 0 in)
Draft: 7.25 m (23 ft 9 in)
Propulsion:
Eight MAN diesel engines
Two propellers
52,050 shp (38,810 kW)
Speed: 28.3 knots (52.4 km/h; 32.6 mph)
Range: 9,100 nmi (16,900 km; 10,500 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement:
As built:
33 officers
586 enlisted
After 1935:
30 officers
921–1,040 enlisted
Sensors and
processing systems:
1940:
FMG 39 G(gO)
1941:
MG 40 G(gO)
FuMO 26
Armament:
As built:
6 × 28 cm (11 in) in triple turrets
8 × 15 cm (5.9 in) in single turrets
8 × 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Armor:
main turrets: 140 mm (5.5 in)
belt: 80 mm (3.1 in)
deck: 45 mm (1.8 in)
Aircraft carried: 2 × Arado Ar 196 seaplanes
Aviation facilities: One catapult
Admiral Scheer was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Reinhard Scheer, German commander in the Battle of Jutland. She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in June 1931 and completed by November 1934. Originally classified as an armored ship (Panzerschiff) by the Reichsmarine, in February 1940 the Germans reclassified the remaining two ships of this class as heavy cruisers.[a]
The ship was nominally under the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limitation on warship size imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, though with a full load displacement of 15,180 long tons (15,420 t), she significantly exceeded it. Armed with six 28 cm (11 in) guns in two triple gun turrets, Admiral Scheer and her sisters were designed to outgun any cruiser fast enough to catch them. Their top speed of 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) left only a handful of ships in the Anglo-French navies able to catch them and powerful enough to sink them.[1]
Admiral Scheer saw heavy service with the German Navy, including a deployment to Spain during the Spanish Civil War, where she bombarded the port of Almería. Her first operation during World War II was a commerce raiding operation into the southern Atlantic Ocean; she also made a brief foray into the Indian Ocean. During the operation, she sank 113,223 gross register tons (GRT) of shipping, making her the most successful capital ship surface raider of the war. Following her return to Germany, she was deployed to northern Norway to interdict shipping to the Soviet Union. She was part of the abortive attack on Convoy PQ 17 and conducted Operation Wunderland, a sortie into the Kara Sea. After returning to Germany at the end of 1942, the ship served as a training ship until the end of 1944, when she was used to support ground operations against the Soviet Army. She was sunk by British bombers on 9 April 1945 and partially scrapped; the remainder of the wreck lies buried beneath a quay.
Design
Main article: Deutschland class cruiser
Recognition drawing of Admiral Scheer
Admiral Scheer was 186 meters (610 ft) long overall and had a beam of 21.34 m (70.0 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.25 m (23.8 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 13,660 t (13,440 long tons; 15,060 short tons) and a full load displacement of 15,180 long tons (15,420 t),[2] though the ship was officially stated to be within the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limit of the Treaty of Versailles.[3] Admiral Scheer was powered by four sets of MAN nine-cylinder double-acting two-stroke diesel engines. The ship's top speed was 28.3 knots (52.4 km/h; 32.6 mph), at 52,050 shaft horsepower (38,810 kW). At a cruising speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), the ship could steam for 9,100 nautical miles (16,900 km; 10,500 mi). As designed, her standard complement consisted of 33 officers and 586 enlisted men, though after 1935 this was significantly increased to 30 officers and 921–1,040 sailors.[2]
Admiral Scheer's primary armament was six 28 cm (11.0 in) SK C/28 guns mounted in two triple gun turrets, one forward and one aft of the superstructure. The ship carried a secondary battery of eight 15 cm (5.9 in) SK C/28 guns in single turrets grouped amidships. Her anti-aircraft battery originally consisted of three 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/45 guns, though in 1935 these were replaced with six 8.8 cm L/78 guns. By 1940 the ship's anti-aircraft battery was significantly increased, consisting of six 10.5 cm (4.1 in) C/33 guns, four twin-mounted 3.7 cm (1.5 in) C/30 guns and up to twenty-eight 2 cm (0.79 in) Flak 30 guns. By 1945, the anti-aircraft battery had again been reorganized and comprised six 4 cm guns, eight 3.7 cm guns, and thirty-three 2 cm guns.[2]
The ship also carried a pair of quadruple 53.3 cm (21.0 in) deck-mounted torpedo launchers placed on her stern. The ship was equipped with two Arado Ar 196 seaplanes and one catapult. Admiral Scheer's armored belt was 60 to 80 mm (2.4 to 3.1 in) thick; her upper deck was 17 mm (0.67 in) thick while the main armored deck was 17 to 45 mm (0.67 to 1.77 in) thick. The main battery turrets had 140 mm (5.5 in) thick faces and 80 mm thick sides.[2] Radar initially consisted of a FMG 39 G(gO) set, though in 1941 this was replaced with an FMG 40 G(gO) set and a FuMO 26 system.[4][b]
Service history
Admiral Scheer was ordered by the Reichsmarine from the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven.[2] Naval rearmament was not popular with the Social Democrats and the Communists in the German Reichstag, so it was not until 1931 that a bill was passed to build a second Panzerschiff. The money for Panzerschiff B, which was ordered as Ersatz Lothringen, was secured after the Social Democrats abstained to prevent a political crisis.[5] Her keel was laid on 25 June 1931,[6] under construction number 123.[2] The ship was launched on 1 April 1933; at her launching, she was christened by Marianne Besserer, the daughter of Admiral Reinhard Scheer, the ship's namesake.[7] She was completed slightly over a year and a half later on 12 November 1934, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet.[8] The old battleship Hessen was removed from service and her crew transferred to the newly commissioned panzerschiff.[7]
At her commissioning in November 1934, Admiral Scheer was placed under the command of Kapitän zur See (KzS) Wilhelm Marschall.[9] The ship spent the remainder of 1934 conducting sea trials and training her crew.[10] In 1935, she had a new catapult and landing sail system to operate her Arado seaplanes on heavy seas installed.[4] From 1 October 1935 to 26 July 1937 her first officer was Leopold Bürkner, later to become head of foreign intelligence in the Third Reich.[11] By October 1935, the ship was ready for her first major cruise, when on 25–28 October she visited Madeira, returning to Kiel on 8 November. The following summer, she cruised out through the Skagerrak and the English Channel into the Irish Sea, before visiting Stockholm on the return voyage.[10]
Spanish Civil War
Admiral Scheer's first overseas deployment began in July 1936 when she was sent to Spain to evacuate German civilians caught in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. From 8 August 1936 she served together with her sister ship Deutschland on non-intervention patrols off the Republican-held coast of Spain.[7] She served four tours of duty with the non-intervention patrol through June 1937. Her official objective was to control the influx of war materiel into Spain, though she also recorded Soviet ships carrying supplies to the Republicans and protected ships delivering German weapons to Nationalist forces.[12] During the deployment to Spain, Ernst Lindemann served as the ship's first gunnery officer.[13] After Deutschland was attacked on 29 May 1937 by Spanish Republican Air Force aircraft off Ibiza, Admiral Scheer was ordered to bombard the Republican-held port of Almería in reprisal.[12] On 31 May 1937, the anniversary of the Battle of Jutland, Admiral Scheer, flying the Imperial War Flag, arrived off Almería at 07:29 and opened fire on shore batteries, naval installations and ships in the harbor. On 26 June 1937, she was relieved by her sister ship Admiral Graf Spee, allowing her to return to Wilhelmshaven on 1 July. She returned to the Mediterranean between August and October, however.[7] In September 1936 KzS Otto Ciliax replaced Marschall as the ship's commanding officer.[9]
World War II
At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Admiral Scheer remained at anchor in the Schillig roadstead outside Wilhelmshaven, along with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. On 4 September, two groups of five Bristol Blenheim bombers attacked the ships. The first group surprised the anti-aircraft gunners aboard Admiral Scheer, who nevertheless managed to shoot down one of the five Blenheims. One bomb struck the ship's deck and failed to explode, and two detonated in the water near the ship. The remaining bombs also failed to explode.[14] The second group of five Blenheims were confronted by the alerted German defenses, which shot down four of the five bombers. Admiral Scheer emerged from the attack undamaged.[15] In November 1939, KzS Theodor Krancke became the ship's commanding officer.[16]
Admiral Scheer underwent a refit while her sister ships set out on commerce raiding operations in the Atlantic.[17] Admiral Scheer was modified during the early months of 1940, including the installation of a new, raked clipper bow.[16] The heavy command tower was replaced with a lighter structure, and she was reclassified as a heavy cruiser.[12] Additional anti-aircraft guns were also installed, along with updated radar equipment.[16] On 19–20 July RAF bombers attacked Admiral Scheer and the battleship Tirpitz, though they failed to score any hits.[18] On 27 July, the ship was pronounced ready for service.[16]
Atlantic sortie
Admiral Scheer sailed in October 1940 on her first combat sortie. On the night of 31 October she slipped through the Denmark Strait and broke into the open Atlantic.[19] Her B-Dienst radio intercept equipment identified the convoy HX-84, sailing from Halifax Nova Scotia. Admiral Scheer's Arado seaplanes located the convoy on 5 November 1940,[17] The armed merchant cruiser HMS Jervis Bay, the sole escort for the convoy, issued a report of the German raider and attempted to prevent her from attacking the convoy. The convoy was ordered to scatter under cover of a smoke screen.[19] Admiral Scheer's first salvo scored hits on Jervis Bay, disabling her wireless equipment and steering gear. Shells from her second salvo struck the bridge and killed her commander, Edward Fegen.[20] Admiral Scheer quickly sank Jervis Bay, but the delay allowed the majority of the convoy to escape. The Germans sank only five of the convoy's 37 ships.[21]
On 18 December, Admiral Scheer encountered and sank the refrigerator ship Duquesa, of some 8,651 long tons (8,790 t) displacement. The ship sent off a distress signal, which the German raider deliberately allowed, to draw British naval forces to the area.[22] Krancke wanted to lure British warships to the area to draw attention away from Admiral Hipper, which had just exited the Denmark Strait.[23] The aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and Hermes, the cruisers Dorsetshire, Neptune, and Dragon, and the armed merchant cruiser Pretoria Castle converged to hunt down the German raider, but she eluded the British.[22]
Admiral Scheer captured the Norwegian 8,038 GRT oil tanker Sandefjord on 18 January 1941, put a prize crew aboard and used her to send prisoners to Bordeaux. After the war Sandefjord was rebuilt as the British bulk carrier Cedar Trader, shown here.
Between 26 December and 7 January, Admiral Scheer rendezvoused with the supply ships Nordmark and Eurofeld, the auxiliary cruiser Thor, and the prizes Duquesa and Storstad. The raiders transferred some 600 prisoners to Storstad while they refueled from Nordmark and Eurofeld.[24] Between 18 and 20 January Admiral Scheer captured three Allied merchant ships totalling 18,738 gross register tons (GRT),[25] including the Norwegian oil tanker Sandefjord. She spent Christmas 1940 at sea in the mid-Atlantic, several hundred miles from Tristan da Cunha, before making a foray into the Indian Ocean in February 1941.[26]
On 14 February, Admiral Scheer rendezvoused with the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis and the supply ship Tannenfels about 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) east of Madagascar. The raiders resupplied from Tannenfels and exchanged information on Allied merchant traffic in the area, parting company on 17 February. Admiral Scheer then steamed to the Seychelles north of Madagascar, where she found two merchant vessels with her Arado floatplanes. She took the 6,994 GRT oil tanker British Advocate as a prize and sank the 2,456 GRT Greek-flagged Grigorios. A third ship, the 7,178 GRT Canadian Cruiser, managed to send a distress signal before Admiral Scheer sank her on 21 February. The raider encountered and sank a fourth ship the following day, the 2,542 GRT Dutch steamer Rantaupandjang, though she too was able to send a distress signal before she sank.[27]
The British cruiser HMS Glasgow, which was patrolling in the area, received both messages from Admiral Scheer's victims. Glasgow launched reconnaissance aircraft that spotted Admiral Scheer on 22 February. Vice Admiral Ralph Leatham, the commander of the East Indies Station, deployed the carrier Hermes and cruisers Capetown, Emerald, Hawkins, Shropshire, and the Australian HMAS Canberra to join the hunt. Krancke turned to the south-east to evade his pursuers, reaching the South Atlantic by 3 March. The British, meanwhile, had abandoned the hunt on 25 February when it became clear that Admiral Scheer had withdrawn from the area.[27]
Admiral Scheer then sailed northwards, breaking through the Denmark Strait on 26–27 March and evading the cruisers Fiji and Nigeria. She reached Bergen, Norway on 30 March, where she spent a day in the Grimstadfjord. A destroyer escort joined the ship for the voyage to Kiel, which they reached on 1 April.[28] In the course of her raiding operation, she had steamed over 46,000 nautical miles (85,000 km) and sank seventeen merchant ships for a total of 113,223 GRT.[17][28] She was by far the most successful German capital ship commerce raider of the entire war.[29] After returning to Germany, Krancke left the ship and was replaced by KzS Wilhelm Meendsen-Bohlken in June 1941.[9] The loss of the battleship Bismarck in May 1941, and more importantly, the Royal Navy's destruction of the German supply ship network in the aftermath of the Bismarck operation forced a planned Atlantic raiding operation for Admiral Scheer and her sister Lützow at the end of 1941 to be abandoned.[30] On 4–8 September, Admiral Scheer was briefly moved to Oslo. There, on 5 and 8 September, No. 90 Squadron RAF, equipped with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers, mounted a pair of unsuccessful attacks on the ship. On 8 September, the ship left Oslo and returned to Swinemünde.[31]
Deployment to Norway
On 21 February 1942, Admiral Scheer, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, and the destroyers Z4 Richard Beitzen, Z5 Paul Jakobi, Z25, Z7 Hermann Schoemann, and Z14 Friedrich Ihn steamed to Norway. After stopping briefly in Grimstadfjord, the ships proceeded on to Trondheim. On 23 February, the British submarine Trident torpedoed Prinz Eugen, causing serious damage.[32] The first operation in Norway in which Admiral Scheer took part was Operation Rösselsprung, in July 1942. On 2 July, the ship sortied as part of the attempt to intercept Arctic convoy PQ-17.[33] Admiral Scheer and Lützow formed one group while Tirpitz and Admiral Hipper composed another. While en route to the rendezvous point, Lützow and three destroyers ran aground, forcing the entire group to abandon the operation. Admiral Scheer was detached to join Tirpitz and Admiral Hipper in Altafjord.[34] The British detected the German departure and ordered the convoy to scatter. Aware that surprise had been lost, the Germans broke off the surface attack and turned the destruction of PQ-17 over to the U-boats and Luftwaffe. Twenty-four of the convoy's thirty-five transports were sunk.[35]
In August 1942, she conducted Operation Wunderland, a sortie into the Kara Sea to interdict Soviet shipping and attack targets of opportunity. The length of the mission and the distances involved precluded a destroyer escort for the operation; three destroyers would escort Admiral Scheer until they reached Novaya Zemlya, at which point they would return to Norway. Two U-boats — U-251 and U-456 — patrolled the Kara Gate and the Jugor Strait. The Germans originally intended to send Admiral Scheer with her sister ship Lützow, but since the latter had run aground the previous month, she was unavailable for the operation.[36]
Map showing the route taken by Admiral Scheer during Operation Wunderland
The operational plan called for strict radio silence to ensure surprise could be maintained. This required Meendsen-Bohlken to have total tactical and operational control of his ship; shore-based commands would be unable to direct the mission.[36] On 16 August, Admiral Scheer and her destroyer escort left Narvik on a course to pass to the north of Novaya Zemlya. Upon entering the Kara Sea, she encountered heavy ice; in addition to searching for merchant shipping, the Arado floatplane was used to scout paths through the ice fields.[37] On 25 August, she encountered the Soviet icebreaker Sibiryakov. Admiral Scheer sank the icebreaker, but not before she sent a distress signal.[38] The German ship then turned south, and two days later, arrived off the port of Dikson. Admiral Scheer damaged two ships in the port and shelled harbor facilities. Meendsen-Bohlken considered sending a landing party ashore, but firing from Soviet shore batteries convinced him to abandon the plan. After breaking off the bombardment, Meendsen-Bohlken decided to return to Narvik. She reached port on 30 August without having achieved any significant successes.[39]
On 23 October Admiral Scheer, Tirpitz and the destroyers Z4 Richard Beitzen, Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt, Z23, Z28, and Z29 left Bogen Bay and proceeded to Trondheim. There, Tirpitz stopped for repairs, while Admiral Scheer and Z28 continued on to Germany.[40] Fregattenkapitän Ernst Gruber served as the ship's acting commander at the end of November.[9] In December 1942, Admiral Scheer returned to Wilhelmshaven for major overhaul, where she was attacked and slightly damaged by RAF bombers. Consequently, Admiral Scheer moved to the less exposed port of Swinemünde.[33] In February 1943, KzS Richard Rothe-Roth took command of the ship.[9] Until the end of 1944 Admiral Scheer was part of the Fleet Training Group.[41]
Return to the Baltic
KzS Ernst-Ludwig Thienemann, the ship's final commander, took command of Admiral Scheer in April 1944.[9] On 22 November 1944, Admiral Scheer, the destroyers Z25 and Z35, and the 2nd Torpedo Boat Flotilla relieved the cruiser Prinz Eugen and several destroyers supporting German forces fighting the Soviets on the island of Ösel in the Baltic.[42] The Soviet Air Force launched several air attacks on the German forces, all of which were successfully repelled by heavy anti-aircraft fire.[43] The ship's Arado floatplane was shot down, however.[41] On the night of 23–24 November, the German naval forces completed the evacuation of the island. In all, 4,694 troops were evacuated from the island.[43]
In early February 1945, Admiral Scheer stood off Samland with several torpedo boats in support of German forces fighting Soviet advances. On 9 February, the ships began shelling Soviet positions. Between 18 and 24 February, German forces launched a local counterattack; Admiral Scheer and the torpedo boats provided artillery support, targeting Soviet positions near Peyse and Gross-Heydekrug. The German attack temporarily restored the land connection to Königsberg.[44] The ship's guns were badly worn out by March and in need of repair. On 8 March, Admiral Scheer departed the eastern Baltic to have her guns relined in Kiel; she carried 800 civilian refugees and 200 wounded soldiers. An uncleared minefield prevented her from reaching Kiel, and so she unloaded her passengers in Swinemünde. Despite her worn-out gun barrels, the ship then shelled Soviet forces outside Kolberg until she used up her remaining ammunition.[41]
The ship then loaded refugees and left Swinemünde; she successfully navigated the minefields on the way to Kiel, arriving on 18 March. Her stern turret had its guns replaced at the Deutsche Werke shipyard by early April. During the repair process, most of the ship's crew went ashore. On the night of 9 April 1945, a general RAF bombing raid by over 300 aircraft struck the harbor in Kiel.[41] Admiral Scheer was hit by five Tallboy bombs and capsized. She was partially broken up for scrap after the end of the war, though part of the hull was left in place and buried with rubble from the attack in the construction of a new quay. The number of casualties from her loss is unknown.[8][45]
Military? Naval? Nice load of corrugated iron. Can anyone ID the make and year of this lorry? RPPC back with K Ltd. stamp box in the style known to have been used during the years 1918 to 1936. I would think this vehicle would date from the war years or early twenties?. Found at the Bloomsbury Ephemera and Postcard Fair in London, England.