"There are countless horrible things happening all over the world and horrible people prospering, but we must never allow them to disturb our equanimity or deflect us from our sacred duty to sabotage and annoy them whenever possible." -Auberon Waugh
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Know your history
Some interesting information on U.S. Navy rifle squads.
The first inkling I had of this type of unit was the scene in The Wind and the Lion, where the young Marine captain is asked how he plans to storm the palace of the Bashaw, and he says he has a "reinforced rifle company". The next thing I see is the Marines and about a dozen or so sailors armed with rifles and, I believe, some kind of small cannon or machine gun on wheels (the video has a clip from that scene).
The Navy landing party in that film are bringing Colt 1895 machine guns, also known as the "potato digger."
Incidentally the Marines are armed with Krag rifles, which is a nice touch as the film is set during the brief period the Navy and Marines abandoned the Lee-Navy straight pull bolt action for the Krag before the 1903 Springfield came into service.
In the early 1970s my father commanded a destroyer, and the armory was equipped with M1 Garands, BARs and Thompsons. Back then the Navy would hol don to small arms long after the Army and Marines had upgraded.
In fact, my understanding that the modernized M14s in use, the Mark 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, are all build on old Navy stocks still on hand at Crane when the GWOT kicked off and Army and Marin rifle squads decided they wanted a heavier longer ranged DMR rifle.
I wondered where those came from ... ... the straight legs needed a front line sniper rifle, with a heavier bullet.
The M14 was an excellent stopgap, but those had left the Army and Marines back in the 1970s. The Army Guard still had them, as my ROTC unit would borrow them for cadet training.
After I joined the Illinois Army National Guard in 1984, I often heard the senior NCOs bemoan the loss of their Garands, which was not that long before I gathered.
When I was at Navy OCS in 1979 we were issued Garands, with the firing pins removed. Supposedly they were all stored in a box in the armory. We kept the M1s in our wall lockers and drilled with them, the entire regiment doing a pass in review every Friday.
Most of us got pretty adept with the manual at arms, but apparently it was not uncommon to see some OCs march past the reviewers with a white glove dangling from the receiver because they were a little slow on Inspection Arms.
I've seen this depicted in movies, but, y'know, < i>Hollywood.
ReplyDeleteNice to see the actual doctrine, though.
The first inkling I had of this type of unit was the scene in The Wind and the Lion, where the young Marine captain is asked how he plans to storm the palace of the Bashaw, and he says he has a "reinforced rifle company". The next thing I see is the Marines and about a dozen or so sailors armed with rifles and, I believe, some kind of small cannon or machine gun on wheels (the video has a clip from that scene).
DeleteThe Navy landing party in that film are bringing Colt 1895 machine guns, also known as the "potato digger."
DeleteIncidentally the Marines are armed with Krag rifles, which is a nice touch as the film is set during the brief period the Navy and Marines abandoned the Lee-Navy straight pull bolt action for the Krag before the 1903 Springfield came into service.
Looks like they really did their homework.
DeleteIn the early 1970s my father commanded a destroyer, and the armory was equipped with M1 Garands, BARs and Thompsons. Back then the Navy would hol don to small arms long after the Army and Marines had upgraded.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, my understanding that the modernized M14s in use, the Mark 14 Enhanced Battle Rifle, are all build on old Navy stocks still on hand at Crane when the GWOT kicked off and Army and Marin rifle squads decided they wanted a heavier longer ranged DMR rifle.
That's some interesting background! Thanks.
DeleteI wondered where those came from ... ... the straight legs needed a front line sniper rifle, with a heavier bullet.
DeleteThe M14 was an excellent stopgap, but those had left the Army and Marines back in the 1970s. The Army Guard still had them, as my ROTC unit would borrow them for cadet training.
After I joined the Illinois Army National Guard in 1984, I often heard the senior NCOs bemoan the loss of their Garands, which was not that long before I gathered.
When I was at Navy OCS in 1979 we were issued Garands, with the firing pins removed. Supposedly they were all stored in a box in the armory. We kept the M1s in our wall lockers and drilled with them, the entire regiment doing a pass in review every Friday.
DeleteMost of us got pretty adept with the manual at arms, but apparently it was not uncommon to see some OCs march past the reviewers with a white glove dangling from the receiver because they were a little slow on Inspection Arms.
As I recall, when the Marines stormed Tripoli, there were a whole lot of Navy riflemen involved.
ReplyDelete