Tragic WWII Story of the Sullivan Brothers

Steven Spielberg’s 1998 film Saving Private Ryan is pure Hollywood fiction, but it was inspired by the true – and all too tragic – story of the five Sullivan brothers. The siblings enlisted/re-enlisted in the U.S. Navy following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 and i...

By Peter Suciu

America’s Rapid-Fire Flintlock: The Remarkable Chambers Gun

America’s quest for greater firepower isn’t a new phenomenon. In fact, the desire for increased firepower can be traced to the earliest days of the United States and the repeating flintlock designs of Joseph G. Chambers. Multi-shot weapons were not unheard of in the late 18th century, but the...

By Tom Laemlein

NSWC Crane Launches Rapid Capabilities Cell to Accelerate Solutions for the Fleet

CRANE, Ind. – Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC Crane) launched the Crane Rapid Capabilities Cell (CRC2) to accelerate the delivery of critical technology to the warfighter. This new initiative will serve as a direct pipeline for identifying and delivering solutions to meet the...

By Eric G

McDonnell F3H Demon: Troubled Transition to Supersonic Flight

The McDonnell F3H Demon was a single-seat, carrier-based jet fighter developed for the United States Navy in the 1950’s. This aircraft represents a critical but troubled chapter in American naval aviation: one that pushed the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation toward design philosophies that would ...

By Richard Johnson

Wheelgun Wednesday: The Manurhin MR73 Liberty Is A Birthday Blaster

Right away, if you know anything about revolver manufacturers, you’re saying to yourself: “Manurhin is a French company, not American, so why are they selling revolvers to celebrate our milestone?” … and you’d have a point. But as their post on The Social Network Fo...

By Zac K

Vasa Warship: The Giant That Sank on Day One

This content is copyrighted and may not be reproduced without the express permission of GunsAmerica.com and BAAANG Media LLC. Vasa Warship: The Giant That Sank on Day One The Vasa was built to project Swedish power, terrify rivals, and dominate the sea. Instead, this lavish 1628 warship barely ma...

By Will Dabbs

Tallboy and Grand Slam: World War II Bunker Busters

By 1940, both England and Germany realized that the Kriegsmarine’s U-Boats were the key to the Battle of the Atlantic. Eliminating the German submarine threat was Britain’s top priority. Expanding the U-Boat fleet was Germany’s greatest hope to bring the British to their knees. In those dar...

By Tom Laemlein

Karl-Gerät Mortar: Germany’s Tracked Giant

In the mid-1930s, Adolph Hitler cast his eye towards France and dreamed of revenge for the outcome of World War One. Standing in his way was the French Maginot Line, a collection of massive concrete strongpoints, casemates, armored turrets, and observation posts. Among the barbed wire, mine field...

By Tom Laemlein

Curtiss SB2C Helldiver — The Big-Tailed Beast

In 1937, the Curtiss SBC Helldiver entered service, but even at that point, the carrier-based two-seat scout/dive bomber was on the verge of being obsolete. Interestingly, it was also the second aircraft produced by Curtiss-Wright to earn the designation “Helldiver” after the United States Ma...

By Peter Suciu

Battle of Britain: Myth vs. Reality

The idealized concept immediately took root and blossomed: the Royal Air Force saved Britain from invasion in 1940. The conventional wisdom holds that Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s legendary “few” handed Nazi Germany its first defeat in World War II and paved the road to eventual victo...

By Barrett Tillman
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