Jamie McTrusty

This week’s #podcast is not maritime related as such but contains some of the legends and ghost stories from North Kent. open.spotify.com/episode/60PR... #history

What a fabulous story. One for fans of #WeHaveWays and @nmtdambusters.bsky.social. @normagraham.bsky.social

Navy Sees 10-year High For Class A Aviation, Afloat Mishaps — USNI News news.usni.org/2026/10/27/n...

Always a pleasure to speak to @lydiajane13.bsky.social, and great to meet @jamieheffer.bsky.social. What Bomber Command did next, at least, some of it…

27 Oct 1914 // HMS Audacious became the first Royal Navy battleship lost in the First World War when at 8:45am she struck a mine while with the Second Battle Squadron on gunnery practice off the north coast of Ireland. There were no casualties on the ship, which flooded heavily but remained afloat.

27 Oct 1916 // Destroyer HMS Nubian, sent out in response to German attacks on the Dover Barrage during the night of 26/27 October, lost her entire bow section when she was hit by a torpedo fired by a German destroyer off Folkestone. 15 of her crew were killed or missing believed killed.

27 Oct 1916 // Destroyer HMS Flirt was sunk during a German attack on the Dover Barrage (the Battle of Dover Strait). 60 men on board died. Six men who had been sent in a boat to aid another vessel were the only survivors of Flirt's crew. (Imperial War Museum Q 21257) #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

27 Oct 1941 // Destroyer HMS Cossack sank in the Atlantic west of Gibraltar. She had been torpedoed by U-boat U.563 on 25 October with 159 men lost. She was re-boarded and taken in tow, but bad weather forced the slipping of the tow and she sank. (IWM image FL 1657) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #RoyalNavy

this isn't funny. Gripens only flair their necks like this when they're stressed.

My pal Danielle Koenig shared that her father Walter Koenig passed away last night at age 90. A performer whose kindness and warmth shone through the screen. He will be well remembered.

#OTD in 1944, the outgunned ships of Taffy 3 fought a powerful Japanese fleet off Samar. Their extraordinary courage became one of the U.S. Navy's most celebrated stories. Read more in Proceedings: https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2024/october/why-i-celebrate-battle-leyte-gulf

25 Oct 1812 // 38-gun frigate HMS Macedonian was captured off Madeira by American 44-gun frigate USS United States. During the battle the British frigate was overwhelmed by the more powerful and longer-range guns carried by her opponent. She was almost fully dismasted in the first exchange of fire.

25 Oct 1915 // Destroyer HMS Velox struck two mines in quick succession at 3.45pm east of the Isle of Wight, off the Nab Light Vessel. Four crewmen were killed. Damage was very heavy and she flooded and sank while being towed by HMS Conflict into Portsmouth. (Imperial War Museum image Q 75023)

25 Oct 1941 // Minelayer HMS Latona was set on fire by German bombs off Bardia, Libya. She remained afloat for two hours and almost all on board were evacuated. When the fire reached her magazine she exploded. 20 crew and 7 soldiers died. (Imperial War Museum: FL 14541) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

25 Oct 1944 // Destroyer HMCS Skeena dragged her anchors in a storm on the night of 24/25 October at Reykjavik, Iceland, and was driven ashore and wrecked on Viðey. 15 men lost their lives. Her remains were sold for scrap in 1945. (Image: Wikimedia Commons) #RoyalCanadianNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

Fair to say we’re starting to feel the effects of Storm Boelo (or Storm Bootyhole as the kids have christened it) in Newcastle - wind’s really picking and we’re getting heavy rain. Currently listening to wheelie bins clattering down the back lane…

#otd “Halsey acted stupidly”

#OTD in 1944, U.S. carrier aircraft struck Japanese warships in the Sibuyan Sea, sinking the battleship Musashi. But the Japanese fleet remained a threat. Read more in Naval History: https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history/2024/october/sound-and-fury-over-sibuyan-sea

24 Oct 1943 // Destroyer HMS Eclipse sank after striking two mines off Kalymnos in the south-eastern Aegean while carrying soldiers of the Royal East Kent Regiment to reinforce the garrison on Leros. She broke apart and sank very quickly before boats could be lowered: 119 crew and 134 soldiers died.

23 Oct 1943 // Light cruiser HMS Charybdis was torpedoed and sunk, with 462 dead from 571 crew, by German torpedo boats off Guernsey during the Battle of Sept-Îles, an ill-planned and ill-executed sweep against German coastal convoys. (Image: Imperial War Museum A 6739) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

23 Oct 1943 // Destroyer HMS Limbourne was hit and heavily damaged, with 40 men killed, by a torpedo fired by a German torpedo boat off Guernsey during the Battle of Sept-Îles. Attempts to take her in tow failed and she was scuttled. (Imperial War Museum: FL 9017) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

We enter the hotbed of intrigue and espionage - Turkey this week. Heavy flirting from the British, the Germans, and the Soviets to win the affection of Inonu and his people. Also a return of historical shitbag - Franz Von Papen. linktr.ee/NewsOfTheWar

H2S return image of Essen, Germany #OTD 23/24 Oct 1944. Over 1,000 aircraft attacked the city dropping 4,500 tons of bombs. Most were high explosives as it was believed that by now most combustible material in the city had been burned.

I am please to announce that tomorrow at 8pm (CET) or 1pm (Central US time) we will discuss 1942 in the Mediterranean theatre with the legendary Jon Parshall www.youtube.com/live/PBWTnpb... #ww2 #History #military

Belongs to this outfit - private contractors for when you need your air force to practice against something unfamiliar. They can also rustle up a Buccaneer with a bit of notice… hunterteam.com/press-articl...

RIP...that guy was great in ALL of the movies and TV shows

22 Oct 1943 // Destroyer HMS Hurworth sank with 113 men lost after striking a mine in the Aegean off the south-east coast of Turkey. She hit the mine while going to the assistance of Greek destroyer Adrias which had struck a mine earlier. (Imperial War Museum FL 10027) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

22 Oct 1946 // Destroyer HMS Saumarez hit a mine in the Corfu Channel and was heavily damaged, with 36 men killed. She was taken in tow by HMS Volage, but she then also hit a mine which blew off her bows. She nevertheless completed the tow, running stern-first and reaching Corfu early on 23 October.

22 Oct 1707 (O.S.) // Four Royal Navy ships, part of Admiral Sir Cloudesley Shovell's fleet returning from the Mediterranean, struck rocks and were wrecked off the Isles of Scilly: flagship HMS Association (90 guns), HMS Eagle (70 guns), HMS Romney (50 guns), and fireship HMS Firebrand (8 guns).

Read about my favorite ship(s) of all time

21 Oct 1917 // Destroyer HMS Marmion sank after destroyer HMS Tirade ran into her at 1:30am in very bad weather about 80 miles east of Lerwick. The Marmion was sailing to catch up an eastbound convoy to join it as an escort, and the Tirade was escorting a westbound one, at the time of collision.

21 Oct 1941 // Gunboat HMS Gnat was torpedoed by U-boat U.79 off the Libyan coast north-east of Bardia. There were no casualties. Beached at Alexandria, she was used as a stationary AA platform and scrapped in 1945. (Image of HMS Gnat in 1922: Imperial War Museum Q 93287) #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory

This week’s podcast looks at the Battle of Trafalgar, comparative ship building practices, Napoleon’s rushed rebuilding program and why Trafalgar did stop any future invasion plans. Happy Trafalgar Day open.spotify.com/episode/6w6Z... #Trafalgarday #trafalgar #history

An appalling 45% of all RAF Lightnings were lost in accidents. However, somewhat miraculously, thanks to an excellent ejection seat, training, and a role focused more on high altitude, it killed far fewer aircrew than almost any other fighter of its generation @MB_EjectEject

20 Oct 1918 // Monitor HMS M.21 hit a mine off Ostend, wrecking her fore section. Several men were blown overboard and two were lost. Running astern, she was brought inshore and grounded off the Western Pier, later rolling over and sinking. (Imperial War Museum SP 2030) #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

19 Oct 1745 (O.S.) // Bomb vessel HMS Blast was south of Jamaica when she sighted two Spanish xebecs of 12 and 14 guns. She chased them and brought them to action off Pedro Bank. The battle lasted three hours before she was boarded and forced to surrender, with 40 dead and wounded from her 60 crew.

19 Oct 1917 // Armed merchant cruiser HMS Orama was torpedoed and sunk by U-boat U.62 south of Ireland while escorting a homebound convoy from Dakar. All on board were evacuated, but five of her crew subsequently died of injuries received. (Imperial War Museum Q 43371) #RoyalNavy #WW1 #NavalHistory

19 Oct 1918 // Racecourse-class paddle minesweeper HMS Plumpton was part of a minesweeping flotilla clearing mines off Ostend following the German withdrawal when, at about 12:45pm, she ran over a mine which blew away her bridge and large parts of her forward section.

19 Oct 1940 // Destroyer HMS Venetia was sunk by a mine with the loss of 35 of her crew in the Thames Estuary off North Foreland. The mine detonated under her engine room, breaking her hull into two pieces which sank after a few minutes. (Imperial War Museum HU 107193) #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

19 Oct 1940 // HM Trawler Velia was raising her anchor at first light, having been moored off Harwich overnight. As the anchor broke surface a mine became visible, stuck on its flukes. The brake was released, the anchor plunged downwards, and the result was precisely what might have been expected.

Now free to read - Operation Neuland, U-boats attack in the Caribbean for the first time in early 1942. But how effective were they? jerijerod14.substack.com/p/pirates-in... #history #ww2 #navalhistory