Military Officer - November 2008 - (Page 81)

pagesofhistory A Ships’ Graveyard A legendary vessel from the War of 1812 is believed to have been found in Lake Ontario — along with the wreckage of several other ships of that era. A ship that took part in one of the most dramatic naval battles on the Great Lakes during the War of 1812 is believed to have been found along with several other vessels. The 32-meter sloop HMS Wolfe was the Canadian-made ﬂagship of Commodore James Yeo, commander of the inland British ﬂeet during its struggle against American forces for control of the lakes. In an 1813 engagement known as the Burlington Races, a damaged Wolfe, which carried 20 cannons and a crew of 200, came under intense ﬁre from U.S. forces but managed to escape to Burlington Bay. A defeat in that battle could have made Ontario an American state. The ship was scuttled years after the war in waters off Kingston, Ontario. But Kingston-based diver Kenn Feigeiman believes he’s found a ships’ graveyard with four War of 1812-era wrecks on the lake’s bottom, including the Wolfe. C World War II Ammo Gets New Charge rews of the AC-130 gunship faced a dilemma: The high-explosive incendiary ammunition normally required for training with its 40mm cannon is hard to obtain. ProTHIS MONTH IN HISTORY ■ On Nov. 9, 1989, East Germany opened the Berlin Wall, allowing travel between the East and West. The next day, celebrating Germans began tearing down the wall, which was built in 1961 by the Communists to keep East Germans from leaving. duced in the 1970s and 1980s, this ammunition is expensive and in short supply. Armor-piercing ammunition produced in World War II is in plentiful supply, but until recently offered limited use because it contained no explosives. With poor visibility and no impact signature, it did not enable crews to adjust their ﬁre. A team of U.S. Air Force weapon specialists at Eglin AFB, Fla., came up with a solution — they added a pyrotechnic spotting charge to World War II-era armorpiercing rounds. Within 64 days, the team was successful in reinventing the round in ﬂight and ground testing. The usual training ammo costs about $200 a round and comes from overseas sources. The World War II ammo cost $8 a round back in the 1940s and has been perfectly preserved in its original, watertight packaging for the past 64 years in storage bunkers. The solution could save the Air Force between $10 million and $20 million a year. With 350,000 rounds of World War II-era ammunition available for modiﬁcation, cost savings could be more than $70 million. Plans currently are under way to make modiﬁed armor-piercing rounds available within a year. MO NOVEMBER 2008 Underwater wreckage of several British warships from the War of 1812 is believed to have been found in Lake Ontario. PHOTO: DEEP/QUEST2 EXPEDITIONS MILITARY OFFICER 81

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Military Officer - November 2008

Military Officer - November 2008 Contents From the Editor From the President Your Views MOAA Directory Rapid Fire Washington Scene Chapters in Action Financial Forum Ask the Doctor Financial Guidebook Out of the Red 7 Year-End Tax Strategies Cover Story: Memory Survives Something to Say MOAA Scholarship Recipients Pages of History Faces of MOAA Information Exchange Member Books Advertising Index MOAA Member Services MOAA Calendar Sounding Taps Encore

Military Officer - November 2008

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