Pickelhaube and other headgear

pickelhaube helmet

The spiked german helmet is called a Pickelhaube and upon learning that as a kid I couldn't decide if the name was awesome or hilarious – I later learned it basically translates to "pointy hat" and not "pickle holder" as I had assumed.  This isn't to suggest that you couldn't stick a pickle on to the spike to save it for later. 

Otto Von Bismark in pickelhaube 

Russian Cavalry

An imperial double headed eagle as tall as the rest of the helmet is pretty magnificent. I suppose the spectacular hat is to make up for the fact that he is the cavalry drummer and in about a decade the Russian army would face a Japanese army armed with machine guns.

Russian Army (from here)

While the practicality of a giant feathered plume on your hat might be questioned by some. I wonder if its use waned because it would go embarrassingly flaccid in the rain? 

French army helmet circa World War 1

The French WW1 helmet above has a decorative hump attached, although it was much less extravagant than the golden age. As the steel protective helmet took off the decorative features become less common.

Russian Lancer

The age of fantastic hats was also an age of proud facial hair. Although the fellow above may be making a statement with his lack symmetry.

German Lancer 1914

Note his great squared and flat topped lancer helmet. Just imagine all things he could have balanced up there. People may not be surprised at a head on a pedestal but what about a pedestal on top a head? That's a man with a dangerous outlook on the world.

Melvin Kaminsky

From the movie Mel Brooks : Make a Noise (2013)

A Star is Born....? Determination.... Man of the World.... Happiness.... Confusion.... [four dot ellipsis in original]
Here are just four reasons why First Sergeants get that way – This character is known in the Army as Pvt Melvin Kaminsky, and to be expected, he hails from Brooklyn. Head of the entertainment crew for Special Services, Kaminsky is very much in demand as an M.C. His stage name is Melvyn Brooks. His last appearance before entering the Army was in the play, "Bright Boy", so he says and he adds "I had three lines in that show, was on the stage about two minutes, what a part!" A member of the Combat Engineers before coming to Dix, Kaminsky expects to be discharged in June

Submarines on dry land

(a not necessarily definitive list of submarines on dry land. At the moment, in no particular order)

link to Submarines On Dry Land Google Maps

German U-boat U-505 in the Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Illinois, United States

Holland Boat at Paterson Museum, Paterson, New Jersey, United States

USS George Bancroft at Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay, Georgia., United States

USS Albacore at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States

USS Batfish, Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States (now that is a long way from the ocean)

Japanese Type A Midget Submarines left on Kiska Island, Alaska, United States
 (need better location on map)

German U-Boat U-534 at Liverpool, Scotland, United Kingdom
(photo from 2005, it has since been cut in to pieces to form a display)

HMS Alliance, Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

HMS Courageous,  Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, England, United Kingdom
 (need better location on map)

HMAS Otway,  Holbrook, New South Wales, Australia

USS Drum (SS-228) at Battleship Alabama Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama, United States

INS Gal at the Naval Museum, Haifa, Israel
(need better location on map)

USS Cavalla (SS-244, later SSK-244 and AGSS-244) at Seawolf Park, Pelican Island, Galveston, Texas, United States

HNLMS Tonijn at Dutch Navy Museum, Den Helder, Netherlands
(photo from here)

HMAS Ovens (S70) at the West Australian Maritime Museum, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia

HMCS Onondaga (S73) at Site Historique Maritime de la Pointe-au-Pere, Rimouski, Quebec, Canada
(photo from here)

Tiburón class SA-51 at Barcelona, Spain (between a divided road)

Peral in Cartagena, Murcia, Spain

HMS Ocelot at Chatham Historic Dockyard, Chatham, Kent, England, United Kingdom

French built sub Ouessant (S623) at  Klebang, Malacca, Malaysia
(photo from here)

Russian B-307 Tango Class Submarine, at Togliatti Museum of Technology, Samara, Russia

(photo from here)

Ha. 62-76 Japanese Midget Attack Submarine at Comnavmarianas, Guam
(need better location on map)

Japanese HA-8  at Historic Ship Nautilus & Submarine Force Museum, Groton, Connecticut, United States

USS X-1 at Historic Ship Nautilus & Submarine Force Museum, Groton, Connecticut, United States

Italian Siluro San Bartolomeo at Historic Ship Nautilus & Submarine Force Museum, Groton, Connecticut, United States

German Seehund at Submarine Memorial Association, Hackensack, New Jersey, United States 

Japanese Kaiten (Type 1 Human Torpedo) at Submarine Memorial Association, Hackensack, New Jersey, United States

German Seehund (KU-5075) at United States Naval Shipbuilding Museum, Massachusetts Military Research Center, Quincy, Massachusetts, United States 

Japanese Kaiten (Type 4 Human Torpedo) at USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States 

RV Trieste II DSV 1 (Deep Submergence Vessel) at Naval Undersea Museum, Navy Region Northwest, Silverdale, Washington, United States

RV Trieste at National Museum of the United States Navy, Washington Navy Yard, Washington DC, United States

Fenian Ram at Paterson Museum, Paterson, New Jersey, United States 

USS Marlin (SST-2) at Freedom Park, Omaha, Nebraska, United States
(I think this one is the furthest from the sub's native  ocean habitat)

RV Ben Franklin at Vancouver Maritime Museum, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

HMS X24 at Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom

HMS Hajen at The National Maritime Museums of Sweden/The Naval Museum, Stumholmen,  Karlskrona, Sweden  

HMS Holland 1 at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
(need a better location for the map)

Japanese HA-19 Type "A" Midget Submarine at National Museum of the Pacific War, Fredericksburg, Texas, United States
(photo from here)

Russian Rocket Powered Horse

click to embiggen

The rocket powered horse was developed by Paco Industries for the Russian Imperial Army circa 1904. The exhaust force from the vertical nozzle pushed the rear of the cart down and raised the horse off the ground to prevent injury at high speeds. Steering was accomplished through a handle next to the driver controlling a differential mechanism affecting the comparative speed of the wheels. Pulling back turned left and pushing the lever forward turned right. The rear exhaust nozzle's thrust enabled unprecedented speeds which any army could appreciate.

The main problem with the Rocket Horse was inattentive conscripts being told to pour the volatile rocket fuel into the opening at the rear. This lack of clarity did not lead to good results for either the horse nor the conscript. Other minor problems included its tendency to flip, its poor steering capabilities, its lack of passenger or driver restraints and its occasionally becoming unintentional airborne.

or

A Russian Soup Wagon
The Czar takes good care of his soldiers. A notable feature of the equipment of the Russians in the traveling field kitchen, consisting of a boiler mounted in a special wagon, so arranged that it keeps the army soup hot while being served.

an old photo

While I am probably related to someone in the picture, I have no idea who. I thought I would put this up so google can find it and perhaps someone somewhere will have an interest in it.


click for much larger image (about 600KB)

U.S. Army 131st Field Artillery, Camp Stuart, VA
March 17, 1919

inscribed :
"131st Reg. F.A. A.E.F., Mch 17th '19
Photo by Holladay Newport News, VA #3356"
(F.A.A.E.F. is the Field Artillery, American Expeditionary Force)

Japan looking East

a few japanese drawings made during Commodore Perry's opening of Japan to trade in 1853-54.


Hiroshige woodblock drawing - That flag is wrong. Quite wrong. Too many stripes and interestingly, it was apparently looked upon as not a field of stars but as a print pattern. It is probably the USS Saratoga. It had 10 gun ports but it seems the artist may have decided to put the 10 gun ports in 2 rows.


Perry's ship the USS Mississippi was a hybrid sail / steam ship. The smokestack in the drawing appears made of wood or brick probably because that was the expected material for a chimney. Note the eyes on the ships masthead and stern: a black iris and a white sclera surrounded by a ring of blue. After all, it was the ship of the blue eyed barbarians - what else would blue-eyed refer to?
The Japanese vision of the USS Mississippi is fierce.


"I can pinch an inch, manboob-san!"


Japanese drawing of Commodore Perry. Not sure if I see the resemblance. Note the eyelids. I am slightly disturbed by the facial hair.