On May 17, 1987, the U.S. Navy guided missile frigate USS Stark was on a patrol in the central Persian Gulf, about three kilometers outside the Iraq-declared war-zone off the coast of Iran. Around 22.00hrs local time, Stark came under attack from an Iraqi air force fighter jet. Radars on the U.S. warship tracked the…
Category: Warfare
World War II History: Rare One Man Nazi Sub Photograph
In the below 1944 photo, colorized by Marina Amaral, US Army troops examine a one-man submarine that washed up on the Anzio beachhead in Italy. According to The National World War II Museum, the submarine was converted from a torpedo, with the warhead chamber replaced with a cockpit. US troops captured the 17-year-old Nazi pilot…
Modern Warfare: Getting Schooled on Deterrence – What is it Exactly?
I could really care less about Politics, Politicians or the Lies they tell. I am posting this article so you guys can get a textbook definition of “Military Deterrence” and understand what it really is so you can THINK for yourselves regarding Foreign Affairs and not have some Talking Head D.C. Zombie mislead you.-SF In…
World War I History: Australia And The Battle of Fromelles
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Interpreter, which is published by the Lowy Institute for International Policy, an independent, nonpartisan think tank based in Sydney. War on the Rocks is proud to be publishing articles from The Interpreter weekly. Fromelles, fought one hundred years ago this week, is now one of the most famous battles in which…
Military History: The Spanish Civil War – A World War II Trial Run
It was the BIGGEST Proxy War of it’s Time. A Mediterranean nation beset by military coup and civil war. A savage struggle marked by atrocities and fanaticism. Proxy war waged by outside nations pumping in men, weapons and money. Today’s Syria or Turkey? No, it’s sunny Spain, now a peaceful member of the European Union,…
World War II History: How British Commandos Pulled Off The “Greatest Raid of All”
During World War II, there were many ingenious and courageous raids, but only one would come to be known as “The Greatest Raid of All” – the British raid on St. Nazaire. Since the beginning of hostilities, the German Navy had wreaked havoc on shipping in the Atlantic. With the fall of France, the Nazis…
World War II History: Russia Fishes Sherman Tank Out of the Sea
During the Second World War, the United States sent thousands of tanks and armored vehicles to the Soviet Union as military aid. The flow of arms and equipment was vital in keeping the Soviet Union in the fight, and ultimately 4,102 M4 Sherman medium tanks were sent to the Eastern Front—where they were known as Emchas….
World War II History: Sherman Tanks Battled Bonzai Charges at Tarawa
‘Tanks in Hell’ takes you inside a Pacific firestorm This article was sponsored by Open Road Media. “Once inside, a man quickly found that you could not be claustrophobic and serve in a tank,” Oscar Gilbert and Romain Cansiere write in Tanks in Hell: A Marine Corps Tank Company on Tarawa. “In fact many infantrymen…
Military History: Weapons of the Syrian War
From chlorine gas to Kalashnikovs, barrel bombs to cruise missiles, the Syrian conflict shows what 21st-century militaries and armed groups can bring to bear. The Assad regime’s bloody reaction to the 2011 Arab Spring ignited one of the most lethal rebellions in modern history, placing it in the crosshairs of more than 1,000 armed groups:…
World War II History: Lessons From the Winter War – Frozen Grit and Finland’s Fabian Defense
Whether on the soccer pitch or the field of battle, humans have a natural tendency to root for the underdog. Oursacred texts, medieval ballads, and regimental histories are filled with gut-wrenching tales of desperate men facing overwhelming odds. From the battle of Thermopylae to the siege of the Alamo, from the gunfight at Camaron to…