introduction
A few days ago, I introduced the general situation of the second US Seawolf-class nuclear submarine "hitting the mountain" in the South China Sea, and today I will take a look at a unique tradition of the third Seawolf-class submarine and the Western submarine force. On September 11, 2017, the U.S. Navy's Seawolf-class nuclear submarine Jimmy S. The CARTER (SSN-23) returned to its home port at naval base in Kisap bango, Washington, where a huge black pirate flag, also known as the Jolly Roger Flag, was raised from the submarine's command tower.
"Jimmy. The Carter returned to Kisapbango Naval Base.
"Jimmy. The Carter is the last of the Seawolf-class nuclear submarines whose primary mission is to perform espionage activities. Its hull shape is different from its sister ships, and it is much longer than the other two. During the construction process, a multi-task platform was placed in the center of the hull, with an hourglass-shaped channel in the center, which could deploy super-large deep-diving probes, unmanned submarines, heavy machinery, cable spools, special forces supplies, various sensors and weapons, etc., and deploy and recover divers, special forces, etc. through the air-enclosed system. What is the significance of this submarine returning to raise the pirate flag? Let's move on.
"Jimmy. Carter's multi-task module hypothetical diagram
"Jimmy. Up-close view of the USS Carter bridge and the Pirate Flag
The navy that hates pirates the most raises the pirate flag
In fact, the use of pirate flags on submarines originated from the British Navy. It is said that in 1901, the world's naval powers began to vigorously develop submarines, and the First Secretary of The Sea of the British Royal Navy, Arthur. Admiral Wilson issued a statement: "Submarines are despicable and unfair weapons, and no one who pilots them is an English gentleman!" I will persuade the upper echelons of the Royal Navy to hang them immediately if they capture the crew of a rival submarine, just as they would treat pirates. The Navy Minister never imagined that 15 years later, during World War I, the British submarine HMS E9 had sunk the German cruiser SMS Hela while on patrol. Commander of the E9 Max. Horton ordered his crew to proudly raise a Jolly Roger flag as they sailed back to port. It is a unique interpretation of the British admiral's thesis about submarines, and the navy that hates pirates the most raises the pirate flag. Raising the pirate flag on the return voyage since then became a high-profile tradition for the E9 submarines, which, due to the lack of space on the mast, made a larger flag with not only skeletons and crossbones, but also a horizontal strip on each sunken enemy ship.
HMS E9
The seemingly strange but interesting traditions of the HMS E9 were soon embraced by the rest of the Crew of the British Submarine Force. Although not recognized by the British naval hierarchy, the Pirate Flag and the Jolly Roger became symbols of the independent spirit and cunning abilities of the submarine's crew.
It became popular during World War II
During World War II, the British submarine HMS Osiris ventured deep into the heavily guarded waters of italy's Adriatic Sea and sank the destroyer Palestro. When osiris returned to Alexandria, it was ordered to wait outside the submarine's protective net for a special package, which the commander of the First Submarine Group personally brought to the submarine, which contained a black pirate flag. The gift expressed the British Navy's recognition of the submarine's excellent completion of the mission, and also praised the bravery and perseverance of the crew. The crew of the Osiris raised the pirate flag high above their command tower and proudly drove into the berth.
The pirate flag of the Osiris during World War II.
Soon after, all British submarines were assigned a pirate flag after their first cruise, on which the submarine's record of the submarine's record was recorded, but the flag was only allowed when the submarine returned from a successful mission. Essentially, they became submarine logo art and submarine killing records.
The practice quickly became popular in navies, pictured above from left to right: 1) The Polish submarine ORPSokół returned to base in 1944, and the submarine raised the pirate and Nazi flags. 2) British Navy HMS Taku (N38) crew adds flag information on the pirate flag. 3) British Navy HMS Ursula (N59) officer and pirate flag of the craft.
This tradition has been perpetuated and passed down through the submarine forces of multinational navies. In July 1982, the British submarine HMS Conqueror sank the Argentine warship General Belgrano during the Battle of The Isle of Incama, and returned to the base of Lake Saint Infago with a large pirate flag decorated with the shape of a cruiser.
The Conquistador returns
After Desert Storm and the Second Gulf War, the number of sinking and injuring naval vessels gradually decreased. The tomahawk logo has become a staple of the Pirate Flag of Western Submarines. On 2 April 2011, commander Rob Dunn displayed the Tomahawk emblem on the pirate flag at the Plymouth military harbor in Devonshire, England, after a British Navy submarine fired the BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile during a patrol.
Rob Dunn
The British HMSTriumph returned after firing Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets in Libya
Pirate flag logo meaning
The main elements of the pirate flag consist of skeletons and crossed bones, and some of the symbols that the submarine can decorate the pirate flag and their meaning are shown in the following figure:
After reading it, the following picture is easy to understand, the first one, 4 secret activities were carried out, 4 engagements were carried out, 2 warships were sunk, 5 merchant ships were sunk, and 2 German "U" submarines were sunk. In the second, six Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired. In the third painting, 6 clandestine activities were carried out, 6 engagements were carried out, providing guidance for armed operations, sinking 1 warship, 1 German "U" submarine, sinking 4 merchant ships, wounding 2 merchant ships, shooting down 1 enemy aircraft, and capturing enemy soldiers. By the time a Western submarine returns home you can already guess with a high probability what mission it might be performing.
Example of a beautiful netizen
end
Let's go back to the beginning, "Jimmy. Carter's pirate flag for nuclear submarines uses crossed swords instead of crossed bones. This reflects that the submarine mainly performs a secret mission of "cloak and dagger", whose main function is not to engage. Since there are no more photographs of U.S. Navy submarines returning to sea online, I can only guess what it is that depends on your own imagination [smile] for its missions of patrolling specific areas, conducting sea trials, or even laying a communications cable in unfriendly waters and recovering fragments of missiles from the seabed. On October 2, 2021, the US Seawolf-class 2 USS Connecticut returned to its home port in a gray and slippery way, with only a withered American flag [Witty]. Do not comment, the viewer self-identify [smile]