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Anniversaries for today :
Welcome to Clash of Steel!
Featured battle : Azov Second Seige
Part of Russian- Turkish war, Third
Date : 28 May 1696 - 28 July 1696
The second attempt by Tsar Peter l to take the fortress. This time he was able to cut off supplies coming in by sea and with twice the number of soldiers than in the year before his seige lines were most effective. With artillery in place by the 26 June the action went ahead in the classic manner. When about to be stormed the Pasha surrendered on honorable terms.
Featured image :
Lockheed F-104-G Starfighter 64-17756
Although not popular with the USAF, the F104 (in it's C variant) flew in Vietnam in 1965. It saw most service, however, with European air forces in it's G variant. This example with it's distinctive dark colour scheme flew in the Royal Danish Airforce. The F-104 achieved many nicknames throughout it's sometimes controversial career. Initially "The missile with a man in it", after some high profile Lufwaffe crashes it became "The flying coffin" (Fliegender Sarg), Witwenmacher ("Widowmaker") and even "Tent peg" (Erdnagel). These were harsh, as a statistical study in Bowman, Martin W. "Lockheed F-104 Starfighter" 2000 shows that the F-100 had a worse safety record. Operationally, it mounted an M61 20mm Vulcan cannon (Gatling gun) in the fuselage, up to 2,000lbs of bombs on a central pylon, 2 x 1,000lbs of bombs on underwing pylons and 2 x Sidewinder AA Missiles on the wingtips. It could reach 1,450 mph and a max ceiling of 58,000 ft
Gallery updated : 2022-04-04 08:33:43
Featured review :
The BEF in France 1939-1940
John Grehan & Martin Mace
A most interesting compilation of some of the despatches sent by the senior Army and Naval commanders involved. Here presented is the raw material, the facts, as they were seen at that time by those people without the benefit of hindsight to enable them to make any adjustments to the narrative. The material covers some of the initial deployment of the BEF and its eventual evacuations from around Dunkirk and Cherbourg. Warmly recommended with the reservation that one needs either a very good knowledge of the geography of northern France or a large scale map to hand.
Pen & Sword Military, 2014
Reviewed : 2014-10-31 20:01:21
