Everybody talking about the cold....

  And now a break from the military miniatures and war games with this commercial interruption.....

  Gosh!  It dips down into the single digits and everyone is worried about the cold.  Schools closed. People worried if planes can fly if it's so cold.  It's the major topic on talk radio today.  Everyone who comes into work has to tell me how cold it is.

  And, we get a couple feet of snow dumped on us for good measure.

  Here is your humble blogger a few years back.  On that day it was thirty degrees below zero with the wind chill on the ramp at Logan.  So to all who are gripping about the cold allow me to quote the great philosopher, "you don't know Butkus about cold!"

       Why did I come back from Key West?

Hunting the USS Maine in Key West

I have always been fascinated by the story of the destruction of the USS Maine.  Sent to Havana harbour ostensibly to protect  American civilians, the Maine was destroyed by a mysterious explosion on the night of February 15, 1898.  After three major investigations the cause of the initial exploration is still not known.

   In 1911 the wreckage of the Maine was raised.  A coffer dam was built around it, water pumped out and salvage started.  The destroyed bow was cut off, wreckage removed and the ship floated.

   The ship itself was towed out to sea and scuttled.  The wreckage was broken up and towns across the country received parts as monuments to "Remember the Maine."  Some monuments are large like the bow scroll in Bangor Maine, the main mast in Arlington National cemetery and the other mast at Annapolis.  some small like the ventilator cowel in the  traffic circle in Woburn Massachusetts.

   While in Key West I ran into several monuments of the Maine. This was not unexpected as The Maine sailed from the naval station there to Havana.

   Janine jokes that wherever we go I find weird pieces of the Maine.  But here in Key West it was hard not to stumble over the memory of the ship.

   In Mallory square I ran into one of the many salvaged parts from the Maine.  Here is the sighting  dome from the forward turret.  And on a display model of the ship where that dome was located.

In the Custome House museum we discovered a number of artifacts.  These included the naval jack, life rings, utensils from the officers mess.  On a exhibit text it mentioned the ships crew retired that night after a butler played taps.  Forty minutes later the  ship was rocked by two explosions which killed most of the crew.  Afterwards reading this I noticed in a case a bugle recovered from the wreckage.

The Custome House also served as office for the first inquiry into what happened.  They deduced, after interviewing the survivors and talking to divers who examined the

wreak a mine had set off  the first explosion which then set off the forward magazine.  A second inquiry after the ship was raised and re examined confirmed those findings.

  Although some individuals questioned the mine theory it was not seriously explored until 1974 when Admiral Rickover (the father of the nuclear submarine fleet) had his staff reexamine the case.  His staff felt a coal fire was more likely to have caused the magazine

USS Maine being towed out to sea to be scuttled

explosion.  While many excepted his findings, others felt there was little substantial facts to back it up.   While there are problems with each theory I felt the coal fire the least possible.  For a debunking of it here is a good read.  http://www.spanamwar.com/mainecoal.html

   The pier the Maine sailed from is no longer in existence.  So Janine suggested we walk to the town cemetery to visit the graves of the Sailors and Marines from the Maine and pay our respects.

Most of the crew are buried in Arlington National Cemetery.  But a few were buried in Key West right after the sinking.   The area today is quiet and peaceful.  A monument of a sailor marks the area which

contains about a dozen graves all marked unknown.  I think it was a fitting end to our hunt for the USS Maine in Key West.

Is there a part of the USS Maine in your town?  Here is a handy dandy list of where you can items,
http://www.spanamwar.com/mainparts.htm

Patriots win Super Bowl !

  Still recovering.....what a game!

Two years ago we flew back from Florida to watch the super bowl with friends.  Patriots won. This year flew home to see game with same friends.  Down 28 to 3.  Then big comeback to win in overtime.

Down in Key West

Photo by Janine Nichipor

Niagara Campaign 1814 Project in Review

Just a few pictures of the Niagara Campaign project that I have been working on since March 2016.  Thank you all for following my progress.  It is exciting to finally see the collection transformed into two table top armies.   I am extremely pleased with how this project has turned out.  

  

   Janine and I are off on vacation.  So my next post may not be for a while.  This one is being composed and posted at over 35000 feet while flying  down to Fort Lauderdale and then driving to Key West.  Gotta love the free fly fi on JetBlue.  We will be back in time for the Super bowl; Go Patriots!  After that I hope to have my first battle with these fine fellows.

Royal Artillery

   Just finished up my Royal Artillery bases.  Borrowed the British guns from my Crimean war stands.  I got the bases from litko and they are a little larger then what I used for my Americans but I like the look.  Should I add additional gunners to stands?  We will see......

   Once I finnish painting my two British mounted command figures I should have enough regiments to have a game.  As I go on vacation soon it will be after I get back from Key West (and after the superbowl) but before Cold War in March.

100th Regiment of Foot

  

 If the 1st and 8th Regiments of Foot were long service regiments with traditions and honours, the next regiment is the opposite.  The 100th Regiment of Foot (Prince Regent's County of Dublin Regiment) was raised in Ireland in 1804 for service in the Napoleonic Wars.

    The 100th were sent to Nova Scotia in 1805.   Colonel Isaac Brock, then serving on the staff in North America, reported favourably on the regiment while they were serving as garrison for Quebec City,  "The men were principally raised in the north of Ireland, and are nearly all Protestants; they are robust, active, and good looking."

    During the War of 1812 the regiment served along the  Canadian frontier. The whole regiment took part in the Capture of Fort Niagara, and the raids on Buffalo and Black Rock New York in late December 1813.

    In July 1814, they saw action at the Battle of Chippawa where the regiment took heavy losses.  They were reduced to "one Captain & 3 subalterns doing duty, with 250 effective men". They then served at the Siege of Fort Erie in the closing months of the year. For their services in the defence of Canada, the 100th were awarded the battle honour "Niagara."

    Figures from Knuckleduster miniatures and flags from Flag of War.  The regiment had yellow facing and the officers silver lace.  I painted them in the Belgian shako since they were keeping up with the times.  I also liked the bright yellow facings which contrast nicely on the table top against the blue of their fellow regulars.