Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

Avogadro's law

2007-08-13T20:46:54Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

'''Avogadro's law''' is a [[gas law]] that states that equal volumes of different gases are composed of equal numbers of [[molecules]].
<math>V_a/V_b=N_a/N_b</math>, when V is volume and N is the number of molecules.

[[category:chemistry]]

Cartography

2007-08-13T20:45:51Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

'''Cartography''' is the [[science]] of [[map]]-making and design.
[[Category:Geography]]

Cessna 170

2007-08-13T20:44:24Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

[[Image:Cessna 170.jpg|right|250px]]
The Cessna 170 was the best selling and most widely produced light [[aircraft]] in history.

[[Category:Aircraft]]

Burkina Faso

2007-08-13T20:43:19Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

Bugs Bunny

2007-08-13T20:39:02Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

'''Bugs Bunny''' is a [[cartoon]] character created by [[Warner Brothers]] studios in 1940. He has been one of the leading cartoon characters in short [[film]] history. He actually got his own star in [[Hollywood]].

[[Category: Entertainment]]

Barboncito

2007-08-13T20:31:17Z

SimonJohnRitchie: ship

The '''USS Barboncito''' (YTB-495) was laid down on 19 October 1944 at Brooklyn, N. Y., by Ira S. Bushey & Sons; launched on 21 February 1945; delivered to the Navy and placed in service at the New York Navy Yard on 2 July 1945.

Barboncito departed New York on her maiden voyage on 18 July 1945, bound for Norfolk. Reaching that port on the 19th, she sailed two days later for Charleston, S.C., arriving at the Naval Frontier Base there on the 23d. Proceeding thence on the 26th, she reached Miami on the 28th. Ordered to proceed to New Orleans, Barboncito made her destination on 2 August. Shifting to Southwest Pass by the end of the month, the harbor tug made her way to the Canal Zone.

Departing Balboa on 19 September 1945 with the Bureau of Docks Dump Scow No.10, Barboncito proceeded thence to San Francisco. Ultimately steaming to Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 27 February 1946, the harbor tug--tentatively earmarked for assignment to the post-war Philippine Sea Frontier about that time--operated there until 14 May 1946, when she sailed for the Marshall Islands.

Arriving at Eniwetok on 28 May, she proceeded onward that same day, reaching Guam under tow of Lipan (ATF-85) on 3 June. Operating at Guam until 18 October, Barboncito was again towed by Lipan, this time to Peleliu, along with Abinago (YTB-493) and ultimately to Samar in the Philippines. Underway from Samar on 4 November, Barboncito accompanied by Bolster (ARS-38), towing YOG-41, reached Subic Bay on 9 November. On 26 November, Barboncito cleared Subic Bay for Samar with LCI-8 in tow, and reached her destination on 1 December. Proceeding thence with YnG-8 in tow, the harbor tug reached Guam the day before Christmas of 1946.

Towed from Guam to Pearl Harbor by the fleet tug Molala (ATF-106) and thence on to the west coast by the auxiliary ocean tug ATA-198, Barboncito entered Long Beach three days before Christmas of 1948. Taken from there to Balboa in the Canal Zone, the harbor tug reached her destination on 10 February 1949. Assigned to the Texas group of the Reserve Fleet, Barboncito arrived there on 27 March 1949. Following preinactivation overhaul at Port Arthur, she was placed out of service, in reserve, on 29 December 1949.

Barboncito remained inactive until placed back in service on 14 July 1952 for duty at Mayport, Fla. She was transferred to the 6th Naval District on 28 July 1952 and thence to the Naval Mine Countermeasures Station (later the Naval Mine Defense Laboratory) at Panama City, Fla. There, she served through the late 1950s supporting a portion of the Mine Force's research and development work. Later, Barboncito was assigned to the 5th Naval District, based at Norfolk, Va., where she provided tug and tow services to fleet units. During that assignment, she was reclassified a medium harbor tug and was redesignated YTM-495 in February 1962.

The 5th Naval District proved to be her last active Navy assignment, as she remained there until she was taken out of service. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 May 1975, and she was turned over to the Government Services Administration for disposal. On 1 August 1975, she was sold to the University of Georgia for use by its Institute of Natural Resources, and the actual transfer of custody took place on 21 November 1975.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2-list.htm]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Ships]]

Barbey

2007-08-13T20:30:47Z

SimonJohnRitchie: How many of these ARE there?!!!

The '''USS Barbey''' (DE-1088) was laid down on 5 February 1972 by Avondale Shipyards, Inc., Westwego, La.; launched on 4 December 1971; sponsored by Mrs. Daniel E. Barbey, widow of Vice Admiral Barbey; and placed in commission at Long Beach Naval Shipyard on 11 November 1972, Comdr. Theodore B. Shultz in command.

After fitting out and completing sea trials at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Barbey got underway on 4 February 1973 for shakedown training in the Hawaiian Islands. Before post-shakedown availability at Long Beach, which commenced on 12 May, the ship enjoyed a three-day liberty at Acapulco, Mexico, plane guarded for Hancock (CVA-19) and conducted acoustic tests at Seattle. The availability included a drydock period from 5 June to 9 October during which workers at Long Beach Naval Shipyard modified her flight deck and hangar to accommodate a light airborne multi-purpose system (LAMPS) helicopter and installed an experimental controllable pitch propeller (CPP). Testing and adjusting the new propeller system occupied the ship through January of 1974.

After further acoustic trials near Seattle in February and two days as plane guard for Hancock in early March, Barbey embarked the Commander, Destroyer Squadron 13, on 8 March for the joint U.S.-Canadian Navy exercise COMPTUEX 2B-74. During the next six days, the destroyer escort stood by to rescue pilots from Ranger (CV-61). She returned to San Diego for upkeep and minor repairs which included the installation of a steel ball 35-feet in diameter on the helo hangar and the correction of an oil leak in the CPP hub. On 2 May, Cree (ATF-84) towed her to drydock at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for ten days of further repairs to her CPP. On 16 May, she returned to San Diego for local operations that included plane guarding for Constellation (CVA-64).

In late June, Barbey joined Plunger (SSN-595) for three days of operations near Seattle before returning to San Diego on the 28th. On 12 July, the destroyer escort departed the west coast for several weeks of refresher training in Hawaii, her crew honing their antisubmarine warfare skills enroute. On 30 August, following her return to San Diego, Barbey lost all of the blades of the CPP during tests and had to be towed by Florikan (ARS-9) to Long Beach Naval Shipyard.

During the first six months of 1975, the warship reinstalled the CPP and subjected the new propeller to extensive trials at sea. During late May and early June, she interrupted this routine to undergo refresher training at Pearl Harbor prior to returning to San Diego. On 30 June 1975, Barbey and all other destroyer escorts were reclassified frigates, and she was redesignated FF-1088. Local operations, training, and upkeep kept the ship busy until 17 November when she commenced removal of the equipment associated with CNO project DS 523 (the 35-foot ball). During the first five days of December, Barbey conducted sonar sound trials and engineering drills before serving as an engineering and ASW school for most of the ensuing two weeks.

On 6 January 1976, the warship entered drydock at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for repairs and modifications which primarily entailed the removal of the experimental CPP in favor of a standard, fixed-blade propeller. Following sea trials and deperming, Barbey conducted refresher training from 26 April to 7 May, then returned to San Diego for a month of preparation for upcoming inspections and tests. She completed a combat readiness test in mid-June before participating in readiness exercises in the eastern Pacific during the last week in June.

Tests, inspections, and training in preparation for her upcoming Pacific deployment consumed the entire month of July. On the 30th, the frigate embarked a detachment of ASW helicopters and got underway accompanied by Enterprise (CVN-65), Towers (DDG-9), Ramsey (FFG-2), Hull (DD-945), Truxtun (CGN-35), and Scamp (SSN-588). Barbey took part in the exercise Comptuex 1-77 in the Hawaiian Islands and then put in at Pearl Harbor from the 12th to the 17th. During the frigate’s passage to the Philippines, her crew guided the ship through multi-ship ASW exercises and various tactical drills. Following her arrival at Subic Bay on 6 September, nearly three weeks of intensive upkeep readied the warship for the combined Exercise “Kangaroo II” with the Australians off the east coast of Australia from 12 to 25 October. She visited Geelong, Australia during the first week of November before returning to Subic Bay for upkeep and replenishment until 11 December. The remainder of the deployment primarily involved exercises in the South China Sea. In December, the warship articipated in ASW exercises, Exercise “Multiplex 1-77” and missile exercises, returned to Subic Bay for upkeep, and then closed out the year with a liberty call at Hong Kong. In mid-January 1977, Barbey served as plane guard for Enterprise during readiness exercises. Three weeks of upkeep and replenishment at Guam and briefings at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, preceded the ship’s participation in the Exercise “Sharkhunt XX” in late February. Following a brief liberty at Kaohsiung and a sojourn at Subic Bay, the frigate returned to San Diego, where she arrived on 21 March.

During the first two weeks of June, the warship sailed to the Pacific northwest for tactical exercises and a goodwill visit to Portland, Oreg. With the exception of a brief respite at Aberdeen, Wash., in mid-October, she remained in or near San Diego for the remainder of the year engaging in various exercises and drills designed to maintain the ship in a high state of readiness. On 23 January 1978, Barbey commenced an eleven-month overhaul at Long Beach Naval Shipyard, which became her homeport while the overhaul lasted. During the overhaul, the warship received a Harpoon missile system among the improvements to her combat systems and engineering plant. In late November and early December, Barbey conducted sea trials to assess her engineering and sonar capabilities.

Upkeep, training, and drills occupied the ship through the first half of 1979 culminating in the successful completion of her operational propulsion plant examination (OPPE) in late June. In July, the ship underwent refresher training until a problem with the emergency diesel generator forced her to return to San Diego for another overhaul on the 27th. Upon completion of the overhaul on 24 September until mid-October, Barbey articipated in fleet exercises which she interrupted for a brief liberty at New Westminster, British Columbia. Following a month of upkeep at San Diego, she completed readiness exercises in November, including a combat systems readiness test, and the Exercise “Comptuex 1-80” in early December as a prelude to her upcoming Pacific deployment.

On 11 January 1980, the frigate set sail for Pearl Harbor where she concluded a week of training before continuing west to join the 7th Fleet at the end of the month. The warship enjoyed upkeep at Yokosuka and Subic Bay during February and visited Singapore and Thailand while serving as an escort for Amphibious Readiness Group (ARG) “Alpha” during operations in the Indian Ocean in March and April. After putting in at Diego Garcia Island on 5 May, Barbey began the return voyage to San Diego which included stops at Freemantle, Australia; Subic Bay, Guam, and Pearl Harbor. After arriving at San Diego on 12 July, she resumed the usual routine of upkeep, availability, inspections, and training during the remainder of 1980.

Barbey was decommissioned on 20 March 1992 and struck from the Navy list on 11 January 1995. She was disposed of through the Security Assistance Program, foreign military sale on 29 September 1999.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2-list.htm]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Ships]]

Bannock

2007-08-13T20:30:16Z

SimonJohnRitchie: WOw

The '''USS Bannock''' (AT 81) was laid down on 3 August 1942 at Charleston, S.C., by the Charleston Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; launched on 7 January 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Katharine Carswell; and commissioned on 28 June 1943, Lt. Sam P. Morgan in command.

The tug spent the remainder of 1943 and the better part of the first three months of 1944 engaged in towing operations along the east coast of North America making occasional trips to the West Indies and Brazil. Late in March of 1944, she proceeded to New York where she joined a convoy bound for Great Britain. Bannock arrived in Falmouth, England, in mid April and began assisting in the preparations for the invasion of France. During the weeks preceding the assault, the tug witnessed a number of air raids staged by the Luftwaffe but escaped damage herself. On 15 May 1944, she was redesignated ATF 81. From D day, 6 June, to the end of the third week in July, Bannock participated in a whole series of rescue, salvage, and repair operations in support of the invasion force. She performed her mission first at Utah beach and then early in July moved to Omaha beach.

On 21 July, she departed the Normandy coast to return to England. From there, she moved to Londonderry in Northern Ireland where she took the damaged American destroyer, Nelson (DD 623), in tow to return to the United States. Bannock towed her charge into Boston harbor on 26 August. Soon thereafter, the ship moved south to Norfolk, Va. She operated out of that base, engaged in coastal tow operations, until mid December. On 14 December, the tug stood out of Norfolk on her way to a new assignment in the Pacific. She arrived in Pearl Harbor on 23 January 1945 and remained there until 9 February when she got underway with a tow bound for Eniwetok Atoll. Bannock reached Eniwetok on 2 March but returned to sea on 5 March on her way to the Mariana Islands. She served at Guam until late March when she moved to Saipan to pick up a tow bound for Iwo Jima. The tug returned to Guam on 20 April but departed again a week later to join in the three week old Okinawa campaign. The ship arrived off Okinawa on 7 May.

For the remainder of the year, she engaged in a series of tows between the Marianas, Okinawa, and Iwo Jima. At first, her duties continued support for the war effort, but after the Japanese capitulation in mid-August, she shifted to occupation responsibilities. During the early months of 1946, Bannock added such places as Hollandia, Milne Bay, Manus, and Kwajalein to her itinerary. Late in March 1946, the tug headed back to Pearl Harbor, arriving there on 1 April. On the 28th, she got underway and shaped a course for San Diego, Calif., where she arrived in mid May. There, she began preinactivation overhaul. By the end of January 1947, she had moved to Orange, Tex., where she was decommissioned by 21 February 1947. Bannock remained in reserve at Orange for more than four years. On 11 September 1951, Bannock was placed back in commission, Lt. Wesley C. Dreman in command.

For the next four years, the tug returned to familiar duty conducting towing operations the length of the Atlantic coast of the United States and in the West Indies. In July 1955, she was placed out of commission again and berthed at New London, Conn. Bannock remained in reserve until October 1962 at which time she was leased to Italy. On 1 December 1977, while she was still under lease, her name was struck from the Navy list. In May 1979, she was sold to the Italian government.

Bannock received two battle stars for World War II service.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2-list.htm]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Ships]]

Barbero

2007-08-13T20:29:39Z

SimonJohnRitchie: It does seem you have a 'ship problem'

The '''USS Barbero''' (SS-317) was laid down on 25 March 1943 at Groton, Conn., by the Electric Boat Co.; launched on 12 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Katherine R. Keating; and commissioned on 29 April 1944, Lt. Comdr. Irvin S. Hartman in command.

Following shakedown training in the vicinity of Block Island and Long Island, Barbero sailed south in early June to Key West, Fla., where her crewmen improved their combat skills while their ship served as the object of training searches carried out by students at the Fleet Sonar School. In July, the submarine received orders to join the Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, in prosecuting the war against Japan. Proceeding by way of the Panama Canal, she arrived in Pearl Harbor on 15 July. After a short period of additional training and upkeep, Barbero embarked on her first war patrol on 9 August. She made a brief stop at Midway Island to top off her fuel tanks and load provisions to capacity and then resumed her voyage west.

She reached her patrol area, located east of the central Philippines off San Bernardino Strait, on 24 August. Though she had been stationed there to report an to interdict any attempt by the Japanese to use the strait to contest the Allied invasion of the Palau Islands, they tried no such move. Moreover, during the 31 days that she spent in the area, she encountered no large target. She fired but one torpedo, and it missed the small trawler at which it had been aimed. She stopped several native boats but allowed them to proceed after inspection disclosed no contraband. The high point of the patrol came when Barbero lobbed 25 rounds at a radar station on Batag Island with her 5-inch deck gun. Though she obtained no definite results, her failure to detect radar activity the following night prompted her claim to have neutralized the station. The submarine cleared the area on 24 September 1944 and headed for western Australia, concluding a disappointing, 56-day patrol at Fremantle on 4 October.

After refit and a brief training period, Barbero departed Fremantle on her second war patrol on 26 October. On this patrol, Comdr. Hartman also assumed command of a coordinated attack group consisting of Barbero, Haddo (SS-255), and Redfin (SS-272). The first phase of this two-part patrol lasted from 26 October until 15 November. It was conducted in the Makassar Strait and in the area west of Mindoro. On 2 November, after a lively passage of Lombok Strait during which picket boats and shore batteries fired on her, Barbero sank her first ship, a 2,700-ton transport loaded with troops. On 8 November, she sent a 7,500-ton tanker to the bottom during a coordinated attack on a small convoy carried out in cooperation with Redfin. Redfin received credit for sinking the other tanker in the convoy.

Following a three-day stop at Mios Woendi to rearm with torpedoes and perform minor upkeep, the submarine embarked on the second portion of the patrol. That longer phase lasted from 18 November 1944 to 2 January 1945 and was conducted in the South China Sea northeast of Borneo. On 24 December in an attack on an escorted four-ship convoy, a 7,500-ton gasoline tanker was sunk and a second tanker grossing about 5,000 tons was damaged. On Christmas day, the submarine claimed her gift from the Japanese in the form of a 4,000-ton cargo ship that she sank. On 27 December, while she attempted the perilous repassage of Lombok Strait, fragments from an aerial bomb that narrowly missed Barbero close aboard aft damaged her port reduction gear. The damage forced her to cover the distance remaining to Fremantle on a single screw. In 68 days away from Fremantle, Barbero returned having sunk four ships totalling 21,700 tons and claiming damage to a fifth of 5,000 tons.

The damage to her port reduction gear required Barbero to return to the United States for repairs. She arrived at the Portsmouth (N.H.) Navy Yard for overhaul on 7 March 1945. After the repairs, an overhaul and some additional training at the Submarine Base at New London, Conn., she set out to rejoin the Pacific Fleet. During the Panama-to-Pearl Harbor leg of her voyage back into the war, hostilities ended. After spending two weeks at the Submarine Base, Pearl Harbor, Barbero received orders to return to the west coast in September 1945 for deactivation. The submarine arrived at the Mare Island Navy Yard on 6 September 1945. She underwent preinactivation overhaul and was placed out of commission, in reserve, early in October 1946.

On 1 March 1948, Barbero was towed from her berth with the reserve fleet in California's Napa River down to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard for conversion to a cargo carrying submarine. During that work, she was redesignated SSA-317 and then, on 26 July 1948, Barbero was recommissioned, Comdr. J. A. Bogley in command. Assigned to the Pacific Fleet for duty, she departed Mare Island on 29 October and reported for duty at San Diego soon thereafter to begin evaluating her capabilities as a cargo carrier. The experimental program in which she took part lasted from October 1948 through March 1950. The Navy concluded the program early in 1950, and Barbero was placed out of commission, in reserve, again on 30 June 1950.

On 1 February 1955, Barbero returned to the Mare Island Naval Shipyard to undergo a second, somewhat more strategically significant, conversion. About nine months into the alterations that rendered her capable of carrying, launching, and controlling a pair of “Regulus” missiles, she was reclassified a guided-missile submarine and was redesignated SSG-317. On 28 October 1955, Barbero was recommissioned, Lt. Comdr. Samuel T. Bussey in command. She completed conversion to a guided-missile submarine on 18 January 1956 and departed San Diego on the 29th for special missile-related, shakedown training out of Port Hueneme, Calif. Barbero fired her first “Regulus” successfully on 14 March 1956 from a point off San Clemente Island. Her second shot came off equally well two weeks later. In May, she was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet as a unit of Submarine Squadron (SubRon) 6 based at Norfolk, Va.

On 1 July 1959, Barbero was reassigned to the Pacific Fleet's SubRon 1, based at Pearl Harbor. From there, she served as an integral part in the nation's defense against nuclear war by carrying out early versions of the deterrent patrols that later became a regular feature of the submarine Navy after the introduction of the fleet ballistic missile submarine. In January 1962, Barbero entered the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard for an extensive five-month overhaul. During that time, members of her crew pursued various fields of training and education at service schools in Hawaii and on the west coast. After concluding the overhaul in June, Barbero carried out local operations and conducted refresher training. She then completed a single deterrent strike mission in the latter half of 1962. Barbero conducted another two deterrent missions 1963, making liberty calls in Far Eastern ports at the conclusion of each.

The submarine was placed in commission, in reserve, on 9 June 1964 in preparation for inactivation and disposal. On 1 July 1964, Barbero was placed out of commission, and her name was struck from the Navy list simultaneously. She was sunk as a target on 24 October 1964.

Barbero received two battle stars for her service during World War II.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2-list.htm]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Ships]]

USS Bangust

2007-08-13T20:28:25Z

SimonJohnRitchie: Another one....

The '''USS Bangust''' (DE-739) was laid down on 11 February 1943 at Los Angeles, Calif., by the Western Pipe and Steel Co.; launched on 6 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Stephen W. Gerber; and commissioned at her builder's yard on 30 October 1943, Lt. Comdr. Charles F. MacNish, USNR, in command.

After fitting out, Bangust reported for shakedown training on 21 November 1943, and conducted these operations from San Diego. Deemed ready to join the fleet upon the completion of her shakedown on 18 December, Bangust underwent post-shakedown availability at the Naval Drydocks,San Pedro, and ultimately reported to Commander, Western Sea Frontier, for duty on 9 January 1944, as she cleared San Pedro for San Francisco. Departing thence on 13 January for Hawaiian waters, in company with Reynolds (DE-42), Bangust arrived at Pearl Harbor on 19 January.

Bangust--flagship for the Commander, Escort Division (CortDiv) 32--sailed on her first escort mission on 25 January. She stood out of Pearl Harbor in company with Pastores (AF-16), Ajax (AR-6), and Wadleigh (DD-689), all bound for the Ellice Islands. The task unit was dissolved when it arrived in Funafuti on 2 February, and Bangust continued on to the Gilbert Islands that same day. The destroyer escort reached Makin on the 5th and then moved to Tarawa the next day.

On 8 February, she sailed in company with Greiner (DE-37) to rendezvous with Caliente (AO-53) and three merchantmen for the voyage to Majuro in the Marshall Islands. Bangust and Greiner, however, received new orders on the 10th that sent them back to Tarawa, where they arrived that same day. After that false start, the warship got underway again on the 18th with elements of Marine Night Fighter Squadron--VMF(N)--532 embarked. She rendezvoused with Fleming (DE-32) and Anacapa (AG-49) and then headed for Kwajalein in the Marshalls. Bangust and her travelling companions made Roi at Kwajalein on the 21st, and the two escorts returned to Tarawa on the 24th.

Assigned to the Commander, Task Group (TG) 57.7 on 1 March for local escort and patrol duties, she operated in the immediate vicinity of Tarawa harbor until 7 March 1944. Between 8 and 18 March, Bangust's embarked division commander served as senior officer present afloat (SOPA) at Tarawa, and the warship remained anchored there during that time. Soon thereafter, on 19 March, Bangust joined Eisele (DE-75) to escort LST-29 to Apamama lagoon, arriving the same day.

Three days later, Bangust, along with Eisele, sailed for Pearl Harbor as escort for Kenmore (AK-221), De Grasse (AK-223), and LST-29. Relieved of this duty later the same day, however, Bangust was ordered to proceed to Majuro instead. Reaching Majuro on the morning of 24 March, the destroyer escort received a hunter-killer assignment from the Commander, Service Squadron (ServRon) 10. The destroyer escort arrived on the scene of an earlier submarine attack and conducted antisubmarine warfare operations in the area until returning to Majuro on the 27th.

Two days later, Bangust escorted fleet oilers to a fueling rendezvous with the fast carriers carrying out Operation "Desecrate One," the carrier support for the unfolding operations against Hollandia, Dutch New Guinea. Returning to Majuro on 5 April after having completed her mission, Bangust then departed the Marshalls on 10 April, escorting Kaskaskia (AO-27) out of those waters before being detached from that duty to return to her base of operations.

Back at Majuro on 14 April, Bangust spent the next few weeks engaged in a succession of local escort missions between Majuro and Kwajalein, taking LST-119 to Kwajalein between 18 and 19 April, shepherding Capable (AM-155) and ATR-44 to Majuro between 21 and 23 April, and standing out to rendezvous with Grouper (SS-214) to escort that ship into Majuro on 26 and 27 April. Operating on harbor entrance patrol on 29 and 30 April, Bangust then joined Waterman (DE-740) and Weaver (DE-741) in putting to sea on 3 May to fuel at sea from TG 50.17 before returning the same day. Escorting Lackawanna (AO-40) out of local waters on 4, 5 and 6 May, the destroyer escort then returned to Kwajalein on the 8th. Shifting back to Majuro on the 10th, Bangust lingered there until she sailed for Hawaiian waters on the 16th.

Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 22 May, Bangust entered the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard the following day and underwent repairs and alterations there until 3 June. Among the items of work accomplished were alterations to sound gear, her SL radar, and repairs to the ship's auxiliary boiler. She sailed for the Marshalls on 4 June, proceeding independently. At a point some 60 miles from her destination, Roi, Bangust's radar picked up a contact at 2325 on 10 June 1944. Having received no reports of any Japanese or Allied submarines on her projected track, the destroyer escort tracked the contact continuously until the ship's lookouts spotted a ship emerging from a rain squall off the starboard bow at 2345. Poor visibility made identification difficult; but, as the range narrowed to 300 yards, Bangust's lookouts deemed the stranger as either a small surface craft or a submarine.

After the radar "pip" disappeared at 2348, Bangust stood toward the contact and fired a spread of starshell to illuminate the area, but without result. Just past midnight, Bangust gave the underwater challenge, which drew no response, and then launched four successive "hedgehog" barrages, the last of which triggered a series of six explosions. After these had subsided, another, larger, explosion shook the ship. That shock indicated to the destroyer escort's sailors that she herself had been torpedoed. Damage control parties immediately set about their task but only found a small leak in the forward engine room where a weld had been started. Aft, torpedomen checked the depth charge racks, thinking that a "K-gun" might have been fired accidentally, but found no charges missing. The ship's sonar operator then reported hearing two additional, but rather weak, explosions, along with hissing and gurgling noises. A strong smell of diesel oil hung in the air in the vicinity of the final attack. Postwar accounting would confirm that Bangust sunk RO-111. Bangust lingered in the area, continuing the search until 1700 on 11 June. Greiner, accompanied by the motor minesweepers YMS-282 and YMS-203 and the submarine chaser SC-1364 arrived on the scene and relieved Bangust of hunter-killer operations so that she could resume her voyage to Roi, which she reached later the same day.

After serving on harbor entrance patrol off Roi on 13 June, Bangust joined Capps (DD-550) and Weaver to screen a convoy bound for Eniwetok. Reaching that place on the 15th, the destroyer escort refueled and rejoined the convoy soon thereafter, heading towards the Marianas. Arriving in the fueling area established in the waters east of Saipan, Bangust covered the oilers as they carried out their vital logistics service to the fleet until 20 June. At that time, she was detached to escort three of the petroleum carriers back to Eniwetok. Reaching her destination with her charges on the 24th, the destroyer escort remained there until the 29th, when she assumed harbor entrance patrol duties off the entrance to Eniwetok.

Dropping anchor back at Eniwetok on 30 June, Bangust remained there until the 13th, when she joined Capps and Weaver in providing cover for the departure of Neosho (AO-48) and Lackawanna. On 15 July, she joined TG 50.17 and soon operated in the vicinity of the Guam and Saipan, screening the oilers keeping the "fleet that came to stay" fueled during the operations to capture Guam. Completing this duty on 23 July, Bangust escorted her charges back to Eniwetok, arriving there three days later.

Underway for the Marianas again, this time in company with Whitman (DE-24), the destroyer escort rejoined TG 50.17 in the fueling area off Saipan on 2 August. A sound contact on 3 August enlivened her tour with the logistics ships this time around, as she conducted hunter-killer operations in hopes of nabbing her second enemy submarine. A five-charge pattern fired at the contact yielded no result; however, so she abandoned the hunter-killer work and rejoined the convoy.

Bangust, John D. Henley (DD-553) and Fair (DE-35) were detached on 11 August and ordered to anchor at Saipan. Later assigned duty as off-shore patrol, Bangust operated in this role on the 12th. Following her relief the following day, the warship served a brief tour of screening duty with CortDiv 65. Upon completion of that work, she returned to Saipan in company with Acree (DE-167).

Bangust screened a convoy to Eniwetok without incident between 16 and 19 August and, then, enjoyed a brief period of upkeep and availability from 20 to 25 August in Eniwetok Atoll. During this time, Commander, CortDiv 32 shifted his command pennant from Bangust to Waterman on the 23d. Underway again on the 26th, Bangust escorted a convoy to Manus, arriving there on the 31st. There, she replenished, and her ship's company carried out voyage repairs between 1 and 9 September. After conducting escort missions for another oiler unit, the warship set course for Seeadler Harbor, arriving there on 15 September.

Underway again three days later, Bangust escorted three task units, again composed of oilers, to a fueling rendezvous with the warships of the 3d Fleet, joining TG 38.3 on 26 September. Then assigned to TG 30.8, the warship escorted a task unit back to the Admiralties, reaching Manus on 1 October. Bangust underwent more voyage repairs and preparations for her next operations until the 9th and then sailed in company with Mascoma (AO-83) on the 10th, bound for Kossol Passage.

Reaching her destination on the 13th, Bangust dropped anchor and remained there until the 18th, when she got underway in company with Niobara (AO-72), bound for the Admiralties. Reaching Manus on 21 October, the destroyer escort then sailed in company with Swearer on the 25th, escorting a task unit bound for the Western Carolines. The ships reached Ulithi on 28 October without incident. Bangust remained at Ulithi for the next several days, pulling several tours of local off-shore patrol duty before her departure on 12 November as escort for a fueling group bound for a rendezvous with the fleet.

Following this tour, Bangust plane-guarded for Nehenta Bay (CVE-74), before being detached to carry out other screening duties before she received orders to Ulithi on 22 November. Reaching her destination on the 24th, the warship resumed duty as CortDiv 32 flagship on 28 November. At sea on 10 December with TG 30.8, the destroyer escort turned back the same day, arriving at Ulithi on the 11th for repairs to her sound gear.

On 12 December 1944, Bangust commenced a tour of escort duty with the 3d Fleet. On 18 and 19 December, a typhoon damaged a number of ships and sank three destroyers. Bangust stood by the battered destroyer Aylwin (DD-355) during the night of the 18th, and later took part in search efforts to locate survivors of two of the three destroyers that had sunk, Spence (DD-512) and Hull (DD-350), giving up the search on the 23d.

Proceeding back to Ulithi, Bangust reached her destination on Christmas Day 1944. Two days later, the Commander, CortDiv 32 shifted his pennant to Kyne (DE-744). Bangust sailed from Ultihi on 3 January 1945 as escort for another refueling group but turned back after only a day and saw Chikaskia (AO-54) safely back into Ulithi for repairs on the 5th. Underway once more on the 7th, Bangust entered Leyte Gulf on the 14th, and the Sulu Sea the following day, before she ultimately joined up with TG 30.8 on the 16th in the South China Sea. Proceeding thence to Ulithi via Leyte Gulf, Bangust reached her destination on the 18th. From there, she shepherded the oiler Neches (AO-47) to San Pedro Bay, Leyte.

Bangust got underway for a fueling rendezvous on the 21st in company with Neches, and joined up with other fleet oilers and escorts en route. Detached along with Tomahawk (AO-88), Merrimack (AO-37) and Crowley (DE-303), the destroyer escort was ordered to proceed to the Western Carolines, dropping anchor in Ulithi lagoon on 25 January. Four days later, Commander, CortDiv 32 broke his pennant in Bangust.

After completing voyage repairs, Bangust sailed on 8 February 1945 with elements of TG 50.8, a fueling group, and the oilers in this unit fueled the ships of TGs 58.1, 58.4 and 58.5 on 19 February, and TGs 58.2 and 58.3 on the 20th. Departing the task group on the 21st, Bangust then escorted a task unit back to the Western Carolines, reaching Ulithi on the 23d, where she immediately joined another task unit, and ultimately rejoined TG 50.8 on 26 February. She returned to Ulithi on 5 March.

Bangust returned to the forward areas on 25 March, conveying the vital oilers to their rendezvous with the fast carrier task groups of Task Force (TF) 58. The warship screened in and around the fueling areas until detached on 5 April. Returning to Ulithi on the 9th, the ship underwent voyage repairs at that fleet base until the 16th, when she resumed her operations with the oilers fueling the ships taking part in the operations off Okinawa. Joining TG 50.8 on 19 April, Bangust operated on antisubmarine screening station and carried out plane guard duties as required.

Detached on 7 May, Bangust sailed for Guam and reached Apra Harbor on the 10th. Closing out her availability a day early, the warship got underway on 20 May to rendezvous with TG 50.8--later redesignated TG 30.8--on 24 May. Convoying a task unit of oilers to the fueling rendezvous, Bangust remained at sea with these logistics ships until 7 June, when she was detached to proceed to Guam. Arriving at Apra Harbor on the 10th, the warship then underwent minor repairs and maintenance, replenished ammunition, and provisioned while her crew enjoyed a period of recreation. On 23 June, Bangust made the short run from Guam to Saipan and remained there, awaiting further orders, through 3 July 1945.

On 4 July, Bangust sailed in company with the escort carriers Admiralty Islands (CVE-99), Hollandia (CVE-97), Thetis Bay (CVE-90) and Roi (CVE-103), and their screen, Reynolds (DE-42), McClelland (DE-750) and Thorn (DD-647), to rendezvous with TG 30.8--the task group assigned the job of logistics support to the fast carriers of TF 38, during the strikes on Tokyo and other areas of northern Japan. After making the rendezvous on 5 July, Bangust operated with TG 30.8 until detached on 18 to return to Ulithi, where she arrived on 23 July. Underway on 25 July 1945, Bangust carried out an antisubmarine sweep to cover the exit of the heavy ships from Ulithi, and then proceeded to sea to join TG 30.8 on 29 July.

Following Japan's mid-August capitulation, Bangust remained at sea with TG 30.8. On 27 August, having already embarked a prize crew, she headed for a rendezvous point to take the surrender of Japanese submarine I-14. Escorted by four General Motors FM "Wildcat" fighters and Murray (DD-576), Bangust made the rendezvous the following day.

Leaving I-14 off Sagami Wan on 28 August, Bangust moved alongside the submarine tender, Proteus (AS-19), inside Sagami Wan proper to disembark the crew of the Japanese submarine; on 30 August, the destroyer escort then fueled from Mascoma (AO-83). Underway for Tokyo Bay on 31 August 1945, Bangust arrived there later the same day. She paused there only briefly, however, for she sailed the following day for Saipan, reaching her destination on 5 September. Underway two days later, Bangust, in company with Kyne, shaped course back to Japan with a convoy of four merchantmen. Reaching Tokyo on 13 September and delivering her charges, the destroyer escort shifted to Yokosuka Ko the following day.

Bangust sailed for the United States on 2 October 1945 in company with other ships in her division and, after a brief stop at Pearl Harbor between 10 and 13 October, reached San Pedro on 20 October. Reporting to Commander, Western Sea Frontier, for two weeks maintenance and onward routing, Bangust departed the west coast on 6 November. Reaching the Canal Zone on 16 November, the destroyer escort transited the Panama Canal and departed Panama waters on the 17th, bound for the east coast of the United States.

The destroyer escort reached the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 22 November 1945 and, after pre-inactivation overhaul, was decommissioned on 14 June 1946 at Green Cove Springs. Earmarked for deferred disposal status on 21 March 1947, Bangust was taken to Charleston Naval Shipyard in June 1947. Towed there by Challenge (ATA-201) on 17 and 18 June, the ship remained in the yard until 13 August when, under tow of Tunica (ATA-178) she was taken back to Mayport, Fla., arriving the next day. Inactivated on 20 October 1947, Bangust was transferred to the government of Peru on 26 October 1951 under the terms of the Mutual Defense Assistance Program (MDAP). Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 18 April 1952. She was renamed Castilla (D.61) and served as such into the 1970’s.

Bangust earned 11 battle stars for her World War II service.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2/bangust-i.htm]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Ships]]

USS Bearss

2007-08-13T20:27:49Z

SimonJohnRitchie: Heavens! Another ship!! How many ship articles are there that don't say 'ship' at the start of the article?!!!

The '''USS Bearss'' (DD-654) was laid down on 14 July 1942 at Chickasaw, Ala., by the Gulf Shipbuilding Corp.; launched on 25 July 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Louise Bearss, widow of Brigadier General Bearss; and commissioned at Mobile, Ala., on 12 April 1944, Comdr. John A. Webster in command.

After fitting out at Mobile and at New Orleans, Bearss sailed for Bermuda on 30 April, arriving there on 5 May. The destroyer conducted shakedown exercises--including gunnery, antiaircraft, and antisubmarine warfare (ASW) drills--through the end of the month. She sailed for Charleston, S.C., on 2 June and entered the navy yard on the 4th for two weeks of post-shakedown availability. Following those repairs, the destroyer steamed to Norfolk, Va., where she joined Task Unit (TU) 29.6.3 in preparation to sailing for the Pacific.

On 21 June, Bearss got underway for the Panama Canal in company with Baxter (APA-94). The destroyer transited the canal on 26 and 27 June and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 11 July. There, she joined other units of Destroyer Squadron (DesRon) 57 for three weeks of gunnery and antiaircraft training. On 4 August, Bearss and the four other destroyers in DesRon 57 departed Pearl Harbor for Adak, Alaska, where they joined the North Pacific Force on the 9th.

Bearss spent the next three months in and around the Aleutian Islands. The peculiar weather of the north Pacific, especially the persistent heavy fog of the summer and early fall, limited operations to short training exercises out of Adak. Paradoxically, because weather fronts in the North Pacific travel much faster in the winter and spring, short periods of clear weather allowed Bearss to conduct more extensive combat operations starting in October. Late that month, the destroyer moved to Attu, Alaska, in preparation for a sweep against Japanese forces in the Kuril Islands. Following a favorable weather report on 17 November, Bearss, in company with Richmond (CL-9), Concord (CL-10), and eight other destroyers in Task Force (TF) 92, sailed for the Kurils on the 18th.

Arriving off Matsuwa To the night of 21 November, the warships caught the Japanese defenders by surprise. During a 20-minute bombardment in a driving rainstorm, the task force hit hangars and other shore installations, starting several fires. Only a few Japanese shore batteries responded, and none of those did so effectively. During the task force's retirement toward Attu, however, the weather worsened and several ships were damaged. One destroyer, John Hood (DD-665), even had a 5-inch gun mount "caved in" by heavy seas before the task force made it back to Attu on the 25th.

After a few weeks to repair storm damage, the warships reformed in Massacre Bay, Attu, for another sweep into the Kurils. The task force sailed on 3 January 1945 and approached Paramushiro two days later under snow squalls and heavy cloud cover. At 2020 that evening, the task force commenced firing, hitting shore batteries, buildings, and the airfield at Suribachi Wan. Bearss concentrated her fire on Maru Hana airfield and adjacent antiaircraft batteries. After returning to Attu on the 9th, the task force immediately began preparations for a third strike into the Kurils.

Bad weather and alert Japanese defenses forced the cancellation of an attack on Matsuwa on 11 February; but, a week later, TF 92 succeeded in approaching Kurabu Zaki airfield on Paramushiro without being discovered. Bearss provided a seaward antisubmarine (ASW) screen during the ensuing bombardment and did not fire. Following this attack, the task force sailed to Dutch Harbor, Alaska, for upkeep and repairs. These lasted until early March, when the force returned to Attu.

From there, TF 92 attacked Matsuwa in a shore bombardment conducted during the night of 15 March. Bearss, suffering from a malfunctioning gyro compass, again provided the ASW screen and did not fire at the target. Unlike the three previous missions, this bombardment set off two large explosions, one in a fuel depot and a second in an ammunition dump, leaving a smoke cloud over 1,000 feet high.

After returning to Attu, the warships of TF 92 began preparing for intensified strikes against Japanese forces in the North Pacific. These operations were intended to draw off Japanese reinforcements from the Okinawa operation which had begun in early April. During this planning and training period, the destroyer was transferred to DesDiv 114. On 16 May, Bearss, in company with four other destroyers, began a short anti-shipping sweep of the Sea of Okhotsk. Although they sighted no enemy ships, the warships bombarded the Suribachi Wan area of Paramushiro on 20 May before returning to Attu.

In a more ambitious operation, Bearss, along with two cruisers and five destroyers, sailed from Massacre Bay on 7 June for an anti-shipping sweep in the Kurils. Although they came across no enemy ships, the task force did bombard Matsuwa on the night of 10 June before sailing home to Attu. After a short period of replenishment, the task force again sailed for the Kurils on 21 June.

Tasked to conduct another anti-shipping sweep, the warships entered the Sea of Okhotsk via Mushiru Strait late on the 23d. Although the search there proved fruitless, upon leaving that sea via Shasukotan Strait on 25 June, the task force spotted flashing lights on the horizon at 0540 that morning. After radar confirmed the presence of five small Japanese ships, Bearss and Jarvis (DD-799) opened the action at 0600. Over the next hour, the task force fired illumination and high-explosive shells at the fleeing small craft, sinking two cargo ships and another small unidentified craft. In addition, Bearss herself sank a submarine chaser.

The warships returned to the Kuril chain in mid-July, intending to catch any Japanese ships fleeing from the 3d Fleet's strikes against Honshu and Hokkaido. As part of this mission, Bearss made a close-range sweep of Shasukotan island in the Sea of Okhotsk. Several days spent searching turned up no enemy ships, so the task force steered for Suribachi Wan, arriving off the target late on 21 July. There, the warships bombarded the barracks, and buildings not damaged in previous strikes. The final sweep of the war occurred in early August and culminated in the bombardment of Matsuwa on the 11th.

Following the Japanese capitulation on 15 August, the task force began preparations at Adak to help support the occupation of Hokkaido. After departing the Aleutians on 31 August, Bearss detached from the task force on 7 September to rendezvous with the Japanese frigate Kozu at the east end of Tsugaru Strait. There, she received a party of Japanese representatives, headed by Rear Admiral Densuko Kanome, and transported them to Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's flagship for a surrender ceremony. Bearss then helped TF 92 occupy Ominato Naval Anchorage.

Later assigned to the 5th Fleet, Bearss spent the next ten weeks patrolling the waters off northern Honshu and Hokkaido in support of the American occupation forces in Japan. Ordered home in mid-November, the destroyer sailed for Pearl Harbor on 18 November. After a brief stop in Hawaii, Bearss steamed on to the east coast via San Diego and the Panama Canal, arriving in Charleston, S.C., on 22 December. She was placed out of commission, in reserve, on 31 January 1947, and was berthed with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet's Charleston Group.

When the outbreak of the Korean War created a need for more active ships in the Fleet, Bearss was recommissioned at the Charleston Naval Shipyard on 12 September 1951. After fitting out, the destroyer put to sea on 19 November for three months of shakedown training with the Fleet Training Group at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On 1 March 1952, she sailed north, visiting New York City and Halifax, Nova Scotia, and conducting type training in the Virginia capes area, through the end of summer. On 9 September, she returned to the Charleston Naval Shipyard for a general yard overhaul, remaining there through the end of the year.

Assigned to DesRon 32 in Norfolk, Va., she got underway on 20 January 1953 for six weeks of refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay. Returning to Norfolk on 7 March, Bearss spent the next six months preparing for her first deployment to the Mediterranean Sea with the 6th Fleet. On 16 September, she departed Norfolk bound for Britain, arriving at Plymouth on the 30th. From there, the destroyer sailed south and, after a brief stop at Algiers, cruised in the Mediterranean. Over the next six weeks, she visited Athens, Greece; Izmir, Turkey; Suda Bay, Crete; and Naples, Italy. During her return voyage home, Bearss stopped at Lisbon, Portugal, and Ponta Delgada in the Azores, before arriving in Norfolk on 1 December. She spent the next three months operating out of Norfolk engaged in training evolutions--antisubmarine warfare exercises, independent ship exercises, and refresher training.

Following a four-week availability in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard during March 1954, Bearss was assigned to DesDiv 321 and began preparations for a western Pacific deployment. The destroyer, in company with Wright (CVL-49), Ross (DD-563) and Rowe (DD-564), departed Norfolk on 20 April, ultimately bound for Japan. The group transited the Panama Canal on the 25th and, after stops at San Diego and Pearl Harbor, arrived at Yokosuka, Japan, for duty with 7th Fleet on 22 May.

When Bearss arrived in the Far East, tensions between the United States and communist China were higher than normal. Viet Minh forces in Indochina had seized Dien Bien Phu from the French on 7 May and, despite peace negotiations at Geneva, forced the French to retreat to the Red River Delta. Meanwhile, communist Chinese activity increased in coastal areas near Taiwan, especially across from the Tachen Islands, and on Hainan Island near Indochina. The destroyer operated off Korea and in the Philippines, as part of a gradual buildup of naval forces in the area, through the month of June.

Bearss then joined TG 70.2, built around Philippine Sea (CV-47), for exercises in the South China Sea. On 22 July, Chinese fighters attacked and shot down a British Air Cathay passenger airplane some 20 miles southeast of Hainan Island. Ordered to search for survivors, TG 70.2 immediately steamed to the area and soon picked up nine people from the water. On the 26th, three Douglas AD "Skyraider" search planes from Philippine Sea were attacked by two Lavochkin LA-7 fighters out of Hainan. In the ensuing dogfight, both LA-7s were splashed in short order. The destroyer then operated off Vietnam during the final Indochina peace negotiations at Geneva. After the ceasefire went into effect on 27 July, Bearss steamed to Subic Bay for a port visit.

On 8 August, she put to sea for Japan, arriving at Yokosuka on the 11th. The destroyer spent the rest of the month preparing to sail home via the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. Bearss got underway on 31 August along with the rest of DesDiv 321 and Fechteler (DD-870), and the warships sailed west, stopping at Hong Kong and Singapore before passing through the Strait of Malacca on 12 September. After visits to Columbo and Aden, the destroyers then transited the Suez Canal on the 27th, visited Naples, Golfe de Juan, Lisbon, and finally Ponta Delgada by 20 October. Bearss ended her 27-week circumnavigation of the globe when she arrived at Norfolk on 28 October.

Following a month of leave and upkeep, the destroyer conducted local operations out of Norfolk until 9 February 1955 when she entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for overhaul. Emerging on 9 May, the warship conducted refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay through the end of the month. Temporarily assigned to the Commander, Anti-Submarine Forces, Bearss participated in two convoy exercises and other training evolutions out of Norfolk between July and September. Then, from 12 September to 5 November, she prepared for a four-month Mediterranean deployment.

Underway on the 5th, Bearss passed through the Strait of Gibraltar on 15 November and made her first port call a week later in Naples. Over the next several months, the destroyer participated in several ASW exercises with the Italian Navy. During this tour, she visited Augusta Bay, Sicily; Suda Bay, Crete; Rhodes and Piraeus, Greece; Beirut, Lebanon; Cannes, France; and Palma, Majorca. The warship returned to Norfolk on 26 February 1956 and spent the next several months operating locally and preparing for a summer midshipman cruise.

Departing Annapolis on 1 June, Bearss carried her charges to Copenhagen, Denmark, and Chatham, England, before steaming to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where the traditional gunnery exercises took place on 25 July. Returning home to Norfolk on 1 August, she busied herself with local operations--although she was put on standby duty during the Suez Crisis in November and December--for the remainder of the year.

On 15 January 1957, the destroyer sailed to Mayport, Fla., for planeguard training with aircraft carriers and pilots operating out of Pensacola. Returning to Norfolk on 20 March, she went into the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a regular overhaul, remaining there until 20 July. Following five weeks of refresher training at Guantanamo Bay, the destroyer prepared for her third deployment to the Mediterranean.

Underway on 21 October, Bearss arrived at Gibraltar on 1 November 1957. Although more a year had passed since the Suez Crisis--during which British, French, and Israeli forces had first seized the canal, following Egypt's decision to nationalize the waterway, and then had been forced to withdraw--its effects were to diminish Britain's role in the Middle East and heighten the Soviet Union's influence in the region. In order to counter-balance the Soviet presence in Egypt, the 6th Fleet increased its operations in the eastern Mediterranean and the Red Sea. Bearss, along with other destroyers from DesRon 32, visited Izmir, Turkey, from 7 to 18 November before sailing southeast to the Suez Canal. The warships transited the canal on the 21st for port visits at Massawa, Eritrea; the British colony of Aden; and Djibouti, French Somaliland.

Returning through the canal on 12 December, Bearss spent the next four weeks on patrol duty in the eastern Mediterranean, visiting Piraeus and Rhodes, Greece, before the end of the year. She then sailed to Genoa, Italy, in preparation for NATO exercises in the western Mediterranean. Following two operations at sea with 6th Fleet, the destroyer headed home, arriving at Norfolk, via Gibraltar, on 5 March 1958.

After a six-week leave and upkeep period, Bearss participated in two NATO convoy exercises that summer, Operations "SLAMEX" and "CONVEX," both held in the central Atlantic. In between these exercises, the destroyer also began preparations for an extended cold weather operation. Departing Norfolk on 7 August, the warship escorted Norton Sound (AVM-1) well down into the South Atlantic. There, in early September, she helped the guided-missile ship launch rockets in support of Project "ARGUS"--testing the effects of weather on high-altitude missiles--until putting in to Rio de Janeiro on 15 September. The crew received five days of liberty there, and spent most of it "improving Brazilian-American relations." The destroyer sailed for home on the 20th, arriving in Norfolk on 30 September.

In October, Bearss was reassigned from DesRon 32 to Reserve Destroyer Squadron (ResDesRon) 4 as a naval reserve training ship. Among other changes, her active-duty crew was reduced by half to make room for reservists doing their annual two-week active duty training. Her first cruise, to Guantanamo Bay and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, took place in early November. The reservists concentrated on gunnery drills, ship handling, and equipment familiarization. She carried out a second cruise in early December, this time to Port of Spain, Trinidad.

For the first nine months of 1959, Bearss operated out of Norfolk and conducted five more reserve training cruises to the West Indies, primarily to the vicinity of San Juan, Puerto Rico. Then, in September, the destroyer steamed to Baltimore, Md., where she entered the Bethlehem Steel Co. shipyard for a four-week regular overhaul.

In January 1960, the reduced crew took Bearss to Guantanamo Bay for eight weeks of refresher training. When she returned to Norfolk in early March, she resumed her regular duty of two-week reserve training cruises. In July, Bearss also received a selected reserve crew, who came on board one weekend a month for training. In case of general mobilization, they would have returned to active duty to augment the regular skeleton crew of the warship. In addition to reserve cruises to points up and down the east coast, the destroyer also participated in NATO exercise "SLAMEX 1-60" in November during which Bearss, other American escorts and some Canadian warships practiced protecting a convoy against submarine attack.

In December 1960, the destroyer returned to her regular pattern of reserve cruises, spending the next 10 months plying the waters along the Atlantic seaboard. Aside from port visits at Fort Lauderdale and New York, the most interesting event of the period was an exercise that occurred in mid-June. Working with Cutlass (SS-478), Bearss acted as a range guard ship while that submarine fired four torpedoes into the old "Liberty" ship Melville W. Fuller during a weapons firing exercise. When the torpedoes failed to sink the target, Bearss closed and sank her after firing over 65 5-inch rounds. The warship conducted two more reserve training cruises that summer before starting another regular yard overhaul in early September.

Meanwhile, in Europe, the Soviet Union increased tensions in Germany when they began the construction of the Berlin Wall in August 1961. In addition to temporarily placing American military forces on higher alert, President John F. Kennedy took steps to increase the strength of the active fleet. On 3 September, he announced his intention to mobilize the naval reserve training ships. This meant recalling the reserve components of their crews to active duty and integrating the warships into the active fleet. In response, Bearss was transferred from ResDesRon 34 to DesRon 28, and the reserve crew reported for active duty on 23 October 1961. The crew spent the remainder of the year conducting refresher training at Guantanamo Bay.

In January 1962, Bearss participated in a special naval patrol off Venezuela during President Kennedy's visit to that country. The following month, she took a patrol station off Bermuda as part of the recovery force during the first Mercury flight by Lt. Col. John H. Glenn, USMC. After completing this assignment on 20 February, the destroyer operated off the east coast, conducting ASW and other exercises in preparation for a possible deployment to Europe.

In July, however, tensions with the Soviet Union had eased to the point where the Berlin call-up could be reversed. On 1 August, the selected reserve crew was released from active duty, and the destroyer was reassigned to ResDesRon 34. Over the next three months, Bearss conducted two reserve training cruises, one to Boston and the other to the Bahamas, and received a tender availability alongside Vulcan (AR-5) in September.

At the same time, however, the Atlantic Fleet began shifting its center of gravity to West Indian and nearby Atlantic waters in response to the buildup of Soviet-supplied surface-to-air (SAM) missiles and other defensive weapons in Cuba. On 22 October, following the photo reconnaissance discovery of a launch site under construction in Cuba--intended for nuclear-armed offensive missiles--President Kennedy announced a "strict quarantine" of the island.

Tasked with a support role, Bearss got underway from Norfolk on 4 November carrying men and equipment for the ships on the quarantine line. On the 6th, she highline transferred 106 men and 200 tons of cargo to Newport News (CA-148), Neosho (AO-143), and Wasp (CVS-18). The next day, she followed this up by transferring 28 men to Stickell (DD-888) and Steinaker (DE-452). On her final mission during the crisis, she carried 207 passengers from San Juan to Guantanamo Bay before returning to Norfolk. The crisis finally ended on 20 November when the Soviets finished dismantling their missile bases and withdrew their offensive forces from Cuba.

Bearss resumed her regular two-week reserve training cruises in December. These continued through the first six months of 1963, with port visits to San Juan, St. Thomas, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, and New York city. On 15 June, she broke this routine by embarking on a four-week training cruise to Spain. During this exercise, the destroyer visited Barcelona--where her crew participated in Project "Handclasp"--and Palma de Majorca before returning to Norfolk on 14 July.

After conducting two more training cruises that summer, one to Newfoundland and the other to New York, the warship's crew began inactivation preparations in September. Bearss was decommissioned on 1 October 1963 and, for the next decade, lay in the Norfolk Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 December 1974, and she was sold for scrapping to the Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., New York, in April 1976.

Bearss earned one battle star for her World War II service.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b4-list.htm]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Ships]]

Blood alcohol level

2007-08-13T20:26:41Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

A person's '''blood alcohol level''' (BAL) (also known as '''blood alcohol concentration''') is a figure calculated as every milligram of [[alcohol]] for every 100 milliliters of blood. For example, a BAL of .10 is 10 milligrams of alcohol for every 100 milliliters of blood.<ref>''Blood Alcohol Level (BAL) Monitoring'' [http://www.habitsmart.com/bal.html HabitSmart] accessed June 24, 2007</ref> In the [[United States]], a BAL of over .08 is sufficient for a presumption of guilt. However, any amount of alcohol can impair driving,<ref>''Alcohol's Effects'' [http://www.alcohol.vt.edu/Students/alcoholEffects/index.htm Virginia Tech: College Alcohol Abuse Prevention Center] accessed June 24, 2007</ref> so the only way to remain totally safe from alcohol's effect is to refrain from drinking before driving. A BAL of .4 is usually [[fatal]].

==References==
<references/>
[[category:law]]

Talk:Barbican

2007-08-13T20:25:29Z

SimonJohnRitchie: New page: This page needs disambiguation from the Barbican Centre in London.

This page needs disambiguation from the Barbican Centre in London.

Barbican

2007-08-13T20:24:55Z

SimonJohnRitchie: title needs ship clarification

The '''USS Barbican''' (ACM 51) constructed by the Marietta Manufacturing Co. at Point Pleasant, W. Va., for the Army as the mine planter Col. George Armistead was acquired by the Navy from the Army Coast Artillery at Charleston, S.C., on 6 January 1945; renamed Barbican and designated an auxiliary minelayer, ACM 5, on 19 January 1945; converted for naval service by the Charleston (S.C.) Navy Yard; and placed in commission there on 24 March 1945, Lt. Comdr. Alexander Anderson, Jr., in command.

Following shakedown training out of Charleston between 31 March and 24 April, Barbican arrived in the Pacific late in the summer of 1945 too late to participate in the war against Japan. In fact, Barbican did not depart Pear1 Harbor and head for the western Pacific until 17 August, two days after the Japanese capitulation ended hostilities. On her way west, the auxiliary minelayer made one stop at Midway Island before arriving at Saipan in the Marianas on 20 September. There, she reported for duty with the Commander, Minecraft, Pacific Fleet. For a little more than a month, she served as tender and flagship for a squadron of motor minesweepers (YMS), performing those duties both at Saipan and at Okinawa. Late in October, the ship moved from Okinawa to Sasebo, Japan, where she took part in the postwar occupation of Japan. That assignment lasted unti1 24 February 1946, when she headed back to the United States. She reported to the Commandant, 12th Naval District, late in April 1946 for duty pending inactivation. Barbican was placed out of commission at San Francisco on 12 June 1946 and was transferred simultaneously to the Coast Guard. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 19 July 1946.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2-list.htm]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Ships]]

Talk:Battery

2007-08-13T20:23:52Z

SimonJohnRitchie: disambiguation needed

This page needs disambiguation, for

Battery of guns
Electric storage cells

Battery

2007-08-13T20:22:50Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

Battery is a beating, or wrongful physical [[violence]]. The actual threat to use force is an "[[assault]];" the use of it is a battery, which usually includes an assault. [[category:legal terms]]

Bisexuality

2007-08-13T20:22:03Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

Being [[sexually]] attracted to both [[genders]].

[[category:psychology]]

Talk:Breast Exam

2007-08-13T20:21:10Z

SimonJohnRitchie: locked, cannot undeaden

== Cancer?!?!? ==

What about the proven links between breast cancer and abortions? Surely that shouple be at least mentioned in this article? [[User:PFoster|PFoster]] 21:26, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

Absolutely PF. Fox not only reverted my additions - which were referenced fully on the [[Abortion]] article, but has locked the page! Information that's already on CP is missing here! [[User:DoggerelBank|DoggerelBank]] 21:29, 16 July 2007 (EDT)
::Why does it belong in this article? [[User:Bohdan|Bohdan]] 21:29, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

This is not an article about gynaecology or oncology. [[Image:User Fox.png]] [[User:Fox|Fox]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 21:31, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

Fox, why do you keep undoing my additions [http://www.conservapedia.com/index.php?title=Breast_Exam&curid=10005&diff=236826&oldid=236814] to this article. Alll the facts are well-known and fully authenticated over in the [[Abortion]] article? I think it's important that women know not only what a breast exam is, but why they should go for one - and what makes them more susceptible to a [[cancer]]. Maybe you'd like to explain your undoing, and now blocking of this article? [[User:DoggerelBank|DoggerelBank]] 21:24, 16 July 2007 (EDT)
:The article is about breast examination; it is not specifically about Gynecology or Oncology. The article as last edited by Aschlafly seems more than adequate. I blocked it to prevent your reversion of my edits. [[Image:User Fox.png]] [[User:Fox|Fox]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 21:29, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

Well, what on earth are they examining FOR? The article makes absolutely no reference to cancer, but merely mentions 'abnormalities' and 'early detection'. Detection of what?!!! What is the PURPOSE of this procedure, but to identify possible cancers? And meanwhile, the [[Abortion]] article establishes that it causes breast cancers, but doesn't link to this article, i.e. tell a woman what to do about it? [[User:DoggerelBank|DoggerelBank]] 21:32, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

You don't seem so keen to add:

*Heredity
*Diet
*Alcohol
*Obesity
*Hormones
*Tobacco
*Radiation exposure
*Environmental estrogenic mimics
*Dioxins
*Deodorants
*Fertility treatments
*Phytoestrogens

I take it that you have an agenda all of your own, in that case. And its not necessarily a good one [[Image:User Fox.png]] [[User:Fox|Fox]] ([[User talk:Fox|talk]]|[[Special:Contributions/Fox|contribs]]) 21:36, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

:You seem to completely miss my point - I would be all for adding the links there too. I'm simply saying that:

::1) The article fails to explain the PURPOSE of a Breast Exam - which, let's be clear, is to detect cancer.
::2) Another CP article clearly establishes that breast cancer is known to be caused by [[Abortion]]s.
::3) The suppresion of this linkage is traditional [[liberal]] [[deceit]].

:Are you a [[liberal]], Fox? And if not, why won't you allow this information to be linked? [[User:DoggerelBank|DoggerelBank]] 21:42, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

It's not an article ABOUT oncology, but oncology - and the desire to avoid dealing with it - is the raison d'etre for the breast exam, and since this article deals with risk factors, what's the harm of a sentence on an important aspect? [[User:PFoster|PFoster]] 21:33, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

This article fails to inform the reader of the purpose of the examination. [[User:Hawkeye|Hawkeye]] 22:03, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

Actually, it's funny, you banned me, but I'm actually a Republican, and it would appear I'm somewhat to the right of you here, which is amusing to me. You pantywaists don't seem to want to bring the [[Abortion]] fight to the forefront of the site, whereas I do, that's all. Seems to me this is just a lot of hot air and a talking shop, that's all. [[User:Hawks|Hawks]] 22:57, 16 July 2007 (EDT)

==Dead Page==
This page appears in the list of Dead-End Pages, but cannot be 'undeadened' as it is locked. And, in passing, aren't the points mde above valid? When one page of an encyclopedia refers to another, one would expect the linkage to follow back, no? [[User:SimonJohnRitchie|SimonJohnRitchie]] 16:21, 13 August 2007 (EDT)

Bar

2007-08-13T20:17:52Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

The bar is:
*historically, the partition separating the general public from the space occupied by the [[judges]], [[lawyers]], and other participants in a [[court]] [[trial]], or
*more commonly, the term means the whole body of lawyers.

The term is also used to descibe an establishment which serves [[alcohol]].
[[category:legal terms]]

Barometer

2007-08-13T20:15:52Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadning

An instrument used to measure [[atmospheric pressure]], often used in [[weather]] stations, and also in [[altimeters]].<ref>Wile, Dr. Jay L. ''Exploring Creation With Physical Science''. Apologia Educational Ministries, Inc. 1999, 2000</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Meteorology]]

Talk:USS Banning

2007-08-13T20:11:48Z

SimonJohnRitchie: I don'tknow how do this

This page needs to be more obviously titled as a Navy ship, i.e. USS Banning. Also, there needs to be a disambiguation page to, at the very least, include Banning, CA.

USS Banning

2007-08-13T20:10:25Z

SimonJohnRitchie:

The US Navy ship, '''USS Banning''', PCE 886, was laid down on 29 March 1944 at Portland, Oregon, by the Albina Engine & Machine Works; launched on 10 July 1944; and commissioned at her builders’ yard on 31 May 1945, Lieutenant Eugene W. Stetson, Jr., USNR, in command.

Completed just 13 weeks before the Japanese capitulation, PCE 886 saw duty as a weather station ship in the Philippine Islands. After World War II ended, she continued to serve in the Philippines until she was transferred to Pearl Harbor in 1947. The patrol escort provided her weather data collection services in the Hawaiian area until August 1948 when she was reassigned to American Samoa. She plied Samoan waters for the next 14 months, carrying passengers and mail between the various islands of the group. In October of 1949, PCE 886 returned to the United States at Bremerton, Wash., and began preparations for deactivation. On 30 December 1949, the submarine chaser was decommissioned and berthed with the Astoria Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet.

The expansion of the active fleet after the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in June 1950 brought her out of reserve. On 7 September 1950, she was recommissioned as an amphibious control vessel, PCEC 886. Following a lengthy period of training out of San Diego, she arrived in Japan in March 1951. For the next seven months, she provided various services in support of UN ground forces in Korea. Her duties included patrol and escort missions as well as participation in several amphibious demonstrations designed to draw enemy troops away from actual points of attack. The submarine chaser concluded that deployment in October and, in November, entered the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard for overhaul.

After refresher training out of San Diego she headed back to Korea in June 1952. The ship participated in the amphibious feint at Kojo, near Wonsan, on 15 October, a large scale subterfuge which attempted to draw off communist troops from their offensive which was nearing Seoul. PCEC 886 continued to perform training, patrol, and escort missions as well.

Returning to the United States in March 1953, PCEC 886 was decommissioned in August of that year, shortly after Korean hostilities ended. She was berthed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet at Astoria, Oreg., where she remained for eight years. During that time, the submarine chaser was named Banning on 15 February 1956 and simultaneously resumed her original designation, PCE 886. Her name was struck from the Navy list on 1 May 1961. In July 1961 she was turned over to the Hood River Port Commission, Hood River, Ore., for use as a memorial. She remained at Hood River until 1969, when she was returned to the Navy and sold to the Cummings Boat Co. of Tacoma, Wash., which in turn resold her for commercial use under the name Growler.

Banning earned two battle stars for her service during the Korean conflict as PCEC 886.<ref>Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b2-list.htm]</ref>

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Ships]]

Bail bond

2007-08-13T20:08:52Z

SimonJohnRitchie: undeadening

A '''Bail Bond''' is a financial obligation signed by the accused to secure his or her presence in [[court]] at their [[trial]]. This obligation means that the accused may lose money by not properly appearing for the trial. Often referred to simply as "bond." [[category:legal terms]]