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Elena Wicker @elenawicker.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Going full mad scientist in my kitchen replicating how the U.S. Army printed orders and maps in the trenches of the Western Front… (Just a very normal research day.)

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Robert Lock @robertlock.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The Swedish-Swiss Commission: Managed by Swedish and Swiss personnel under leaders like Paul Mohn and Emil Sandström, neutral Swedish-flagged ships (painted white with large Red Cross emblems) carried Canadian wheat and South American supplies directly into ports like Piraeus.

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Олександр Бузько @oleksa79buzko.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Hi! Assembling Vickers Wellesley bombers.

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BluFly 🛩 @blufly.media · 02/10/2026

Our ambition almost bested us this month, as we attempted one of our most ambitious undertakings to date. New analytics, charting—all sorts of bells 🔔 and whistles. 😗 In any event, a little late, and without further ado (we've all had enough 'do' for this month), here's the October issue. 💥 | 🛩️ 🥇

blufly.media

October, 2026

A humans-in-the-loop feed for the aviation community — if made by people and flying up to the Kármán Line you'll find it on BluFly 🛩️.

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ToughSF @toughsf.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The X-24A, M2-F3 and HL-10: a line-up of NASA's wingless lifting body research craft. www.dvidshub.net/image/749813...

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hush @hush-ndb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

1 As shown below, the 15-inch gun from HMS Ramillies is on display outdoors at the IWM. The tampion of this gun features a lion holding a white-hand-on-red flag, which is depicted at the top of the coat of arms granted to John Churchill, the victor of the Battle of Ramillies.

Imperial War Museum and 15 Inch Mk 1 Naval Guns (Creative Commons)

https://imperialwarmuseum.wordpress.com/2019/10/27/giving-victims-voices-contextualising-weapons-in-museums/

https://londonphotoroutes.com/2013/10/31/imperial-war-museum-iwm/imperial_war_museum-10/

https://europeanheraldry.org/united-kingdom/families/families-f/house-churchill-and-spencer/

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RN ship losses @rnshiplosses.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

2 Oct 1942 // Cruiser HMS Curacoa was rammed and sunk by RMS Queen Mary while she was escorting the liner north of Ireland. The Queen Mary, carrying US troops, was at full speed and cut Curacoa in half. 337 men were killed in this tragic accident. (IWM image: A 5807) #RoyalNavy #NavalHistory #WW2

Royal Navy cruiser HMS Curacoa. Image: Imperial War Museum A 5807. A two-funnelled warship at anchor with the shore visible behind and a barrage balloon overhead in the distance.

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Brian Dunn@briandunn.bsky.social‬ @briandunn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

HMS Hibernia was used as the flagship for the naval station at Malta from 1855 to her being sold for breaking up in 1902. Her timbers, covered in coats of paint from over 90 years, was used to fire the bakery ovens in Malta, leading to a severe outbreak of cases of lead poisoning. #NavalHistory

HMS Hibernia, a former 110 gun ship of the line, was used as the base flagship at Malta from 1855 to 1902. The Court-Martial for the loss of the Victoria was heard on her decks in 1893. She was broken up in 1903.

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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

1/x Which weather forecast has the distinction of being read during the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games, mentioned in songs by Radiohead, Blur, Jethro Tull, and Arctic Monkeys, as well as in a poem by Carol Ann Duffy?

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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

1/x Several times a day, the BBC reads out a list of sea areas, and one of them is named after a man. He took Darwin around the world, invented the weather forecast, was mocked in Parliament and the press for it, and died broken and in debt. Robert FitzRoy. A 🧵 #maritimehistory

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Sentando a Púa! @sentandoapua.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Bombarediro torpedeiro Fairey Barracuda da Royal Navy, carregado com um torpedo de 46 cm #aviação #militar #historia #WWII #bombardeiro #RoyalNavy #Barracuda

Avião militar histórico em voo sobre campos, vista lateral mostrando cabine envidraçada, hélice em movimento e um equipamento suspenso sob a fuselagem.

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Hupple’s Cat @hupplescat.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Tired of NMF F-86s with yellow stripey things? There are options. Such as the North American FJ-3 Fury. Naval cousin to the Sabre. #SabreSaturday

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Олександр Бузько @oleksa79buzko.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

USS Sable (IX-81) TDN-1 drones parked on the flight deck, off Traverse City Michigan, during flight tests August 10th 1943

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saturnax1.bsky.social @saturnax1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

#SubSaturday #Submarines German Navy Type 212A-class Batch II diesel-electric/AIP attack submarine U-36 (S-186) coming into Leith, September 24, 2026. Photos by Dave Cullen. @sarahkirchberger.bsky.social @rstirn.bsky.social @covertshores.bsky.social @mikeplunkett.bsky.social @johannu96.bsky.social

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

OTD in 1959, a Navy P-5M Marlin submarine hunter on a routine mission in bad weather suffered an engine fire and loss of electrical power, forcing the crew to ditch about 100 miles west of the Oregon-Washington border. A Mark 90 “Betty” nuclear depth bomb—minus its plutonium capsule—was lost at sea.

A black and white photograph of a large P-5M on the ground, its nose facing to the left. Three standing men are visible near the nose of the aircraft, on the far side of the plane. They are dwarfed by it.

A black and white photograph dated March 16, 1955, of an unarmed Betty nuclear depth bomb on a short metal stand. The bomb's nose is facing left and angled slightly away from the camera while the parachute pack strapped onto the rear is fully visible. The aft half of the bomb casing is perforated by numerous small rectangular and circular holes. There is also a large dimple in the upper aft section. Two sturdy-looking brackets (for attaching the bomb to an aircraft) are atop the forward section of the bomb. The bomb's gross weight is listed as 1,243 pounds.

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Mika Paananen @painmike1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Good Morning from the land of the Finns, #Bluesky🌞

Firing a rescue line during a Helsinki Sea Rescue Society demonstration in Kaivopuisto in 1934. (HK19670603:13517/Finnish Heritage Agency)

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Stephen Schwartz @atomicanalyst.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Today in 1959, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev posed for photographers with President Dwight D. Eisenhower at Camp David, unaware the flagstone deck he was standing on had been built to conceal the recently enlarged presidential emergency relocation facility located directly under Aspen Lodge.

A black and white photograph of President Eisenhower (left) and Premier Khrushchev (right) illuminated by flashbulbs, smiling and posing for photographers in front of the entrance to Aspen Lodge at Camp David presidential retreat while standing on a flagstone deck. Eisenhower is wearing a dark suit while Khrushchev wears a lighter one, with two medals pinned to his left breast.

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Олександр Бузько @oleksa79buzko.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

O-46s and O-47s Maryland NG in flight 1940

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Олександр Бузько @oleksa79buzko.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95) loading Douglas SBD Dauntless Dive bombers from a barge, 1944

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Jim Leeke @jimleeke.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A 2022 article from the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch about my book The Turtle and the Dreamboat. A fascinating aviation story to research and write.— #avgeeks

How a flying 'Turtle' brought worldwide attention in 1946.
So to speak
Joe Blundo
Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY NETWORK
The airplane was called the "Truculent Turtle," it had a kangaroo on board and its unplanned landing after a record-setting flight briefly made Columbus the focus of international attention in 1946.
Local author Jim Leeke tells the story in "The Turtle and the Dreamboat: The Cold War Flights That Forever Changed the Course of Global Aviation" (Potomac, 248 pages, $29.95).
The Turtle, a twin-engine P2V Neptune built by Lockheed as a land-based patrol bomber for the Navy, lumbered off a runway in Perth, Australia, on Sept. 29, 1946. It was piloted by Commander Thomas Davies, a Cleveland native.
Overloaded with more than 8,000 gallons of fuel, a four-man crew and the kangaroo (included largely as a publicity stunt), there were fears it wouldn't even get off the ground, let alone establish a nonstop record by flying 11,236 miles to Ohio.
"They were aiming for Washington
D.C., and didn't have quite enough gas," Leeke said in an interview. "The Turtle pilot said he stopped (in Columbus) because he didn't want to land in a pasture in West Virginia." ...

Although not officially a competition, the Turtle was in a kind of contest with the Army's "Pacusan Dreamboat," a Boeing B-29 Superfortress bomber of the type that dropped the atomic bombs on Japan.
The Turtle and the Dreamboat were both seeking to establish new frontiers in long-distance flight, not to mention impress government brass who were in the midst of planning to create the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of the military.
The Army and Navy "were trying to prove their capabilities," Leeke explained.
The Dreamboat, piloted by Col. Clarence Irvine, took off from Honolulu on Oct. 4, 1946, flew over the North Pole - a rare and much riskier undertaking in those days - and landed in Cairo on Oct. 7, after a 39-hour flight that covered about 9,500 miles. The crew included navigator James T. Brothers of Dayton.
The media followed the progress of both flights intensely, which meant all eyes were on Columbus when the Turtle landed here after 55 hours in the air.
"The fliers were surprised by the size of the crowd," Leeke writes. "Uniformed Navy shore patrolmen struggled to hold back a surge of spectators..."
Columbus Mayor James A. Rhodes, a future governor of Ohio, greeted the crew and proposed that the kangaroo be given to the Columbus Zoo. (It went instead to the National Zoo in Washington.)
Leeke, 72, an Ohio State University graduate who served in the Navy and has worked as a journalist and written several books, said despite the Turtle's distance record (which stood until 1962), the Dreamboat's flight over the pole probably had the greater impact on aviation.
"Those (polar) air routes are still in
use today."
Both planes flew for a few more years before being decommissioned.
The Dreamboat was scrapped; The Turtle is in the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida.
Joe Blundo is a Dispatch columnist.

Photo of aircraft on tarmac. Caption: "The "Truculent Turtle," a Navy Lockheed P2V Neptune twin-engine patrol bomber at Port Columbus airport after a flight from Australia. FILE PHOTO"

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Ian Kikuchi @curatorian.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

There have been some aircraft and vehicle moves at Duxford recently, creating some new aircraft views, such as of this RAF Phantom.

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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

The Facial Expressions of Tethys by artist Julius von Bismarck. A suspended high-sea buoy that moves in real time. Sensors on a twin buoy out in the Atlantic Ocean send live satellite data to motors inside the museum. This makes the indoor buoy copy the exact, real-time movements of the ocean waves.

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Jamie McTrusty @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Here’s a thread of some of the more unusual or obscure aircraft to fly in Britain during the Second World War. Some were only intended as experimental or proof of concept designs, while others never progressed beyond the prototype stage.

Front left 3/4 view of a camouflaged Blackburn B20 flying boat/floatplane with RAF markings on temporary wheels outside a hangar. An unconventional design, its lower hull is separate from the fuselage, acting as a central float; in this picture, it’s shown extended on hydraulic struts. A twin engined design, it also features retractable wingtip floats.

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RN ship losses @rnshiplosses.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Good morning, just wanted to say thank you for reading my posts here and for all the reposts, replies, comments, questions and the rest of it. And big thanks to all followers, old and new. It's great to have such a level of interest in what I do here and it's much appreciated.

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Олександр Бузько @oleksa79buzko.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Finnish Army Renault FT 17 tank photographed during war games of summer 1939.

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Hupple’s Cat @hupplescat.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

If you get close-up to certain areas of this photo you might see some interesting things. This is the Marine encampment at the Battle of the Wilderness Battlefield, visited by Quantico Marines of the Advanced Base Force during the summer of 1921 on maneuvers.

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Bumblebike @bumblebike.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

@massiasthanos.bsky.social was sent this today, and thought you’d appreciate it as well! Photos on IG post www.instagram.com/p/DdjizfLiCV... Story here: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffol...

nationaltrust.org.uk

IRGON research solves Orford Ness mystery

Volunteer researchers solve mystery of 50m concrete ring on Orford Ness

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Thanos Massias @massiasthanos.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Rebikoff Pegasus footage for @covertshores.bsky.social 🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/87785 🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/87788

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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

1/x In the 1840s, a lame American naval officer, grounded at a desk in Washington, cut weeks off the world's ocean voyages without inventing a single machine. His raw material: a warehouse of logbooks nobody had ever read. Matthew Fontaine Maury, Pathfinder of the Seas. A 🧵 #maritimehistory

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BluFly 🛩 @blufly.media · 21/09/2026

With this issue's focus on aerial firefighting, it's a good time to mention the US Forest Service has a 282-page “A History of the USDA Forest Service Aviation Program” in PDF, including its use of the C-23A Sherpa, pictured here at a 2019 event. (📸 See ALT) | 🛩️ 🥇 | 🔗 www.fs.usda.gov/sites/defaul...

A US Forest Service C-23A Sherpa aircraft is pictured on an airport ramp on a sunny day. Nearby, two men are engaged in a conversation. ℹ️ Caption from source: « The U.S. Forest Service Short C-23A Sherpa, from the Missoula Smokejumpers, is on display for visitors to walk through and ask questions during the 2019 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, July 24, 2019, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. » 📸 Preston Keres | US Department of Agriculture via Flickr in the public domain.

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Thanos Massias @massiasthanos.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

M4s performing an "artillery barrage" in 1944. 🎞️ catalog.archives.gov/id/23357

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Bart⚓️ @bartgonnissen.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

1/x You've probably seen this video in the news. I want to talk about the whole "She's a small boat; she should have given way to the large vessel" fantasy

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Svetovid @svetovid.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

😆

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Dreadnought Holiday @dreadships.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

So the regular reports on its condition are available online - the 2024 one has some stunningly detailed images. Once thing that likely informed the decision to take the masts off is that one section is slowly tilting and the forces will only go up. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Combined data from side-scan sonar and other sensing methods used to generate a three dimensional image of the Richard Montgomery. The ship has split fully in half, a few cracks in the hull are evident, and the bow tips noticeably downwards. The image is sufficiently detailed that deck gear is apparent.

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FreddyB Aviation Photography @freddyb-aviation.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

after its test returning with the F-15D chase to Edwards

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Drew @drewavery.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Soldier in black and white uniform to conceal him while climbing trees. He stands in front of a house camouflaged to represent a fence and trees. Company F, 24th Engineers. American University, D.C. Army Engineer Corps 14 Nov 1917

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Sentando a Púa! @sentandoapua.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Bombardeiro Consolidated LB-30 Liberator, do 397º Esquadrão de Bombardeio da USAAF, Zona do Canal do Panamá #aviação #militar #historia #WWII #bombardeiro #USAAF #B24

Bombardeiro militar da Segunda Guerra Mundial de quatro motores, com pintura de nariz estilo pin-up e insígnia de estrela branca dos EUA, estacionado em solo arenoso próximo a hangares.

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Panzer DB @panzerdb.com · 19/09/2026

Panzerkampfwagen I (M.G.) Ausf. B mit Abwurfvorrichtung (Sd.Kfz. 101) „Zerstörerpanzer“

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The Sub Hunter @thesubhunter.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Some nice shots of the project 940 Lenok NATO Codename India class

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Naval News @navalnews.com · 18/09/2026

Future USS Baltimore to Serve as U.S. Navy’s Elite Seabed Warfare Submarine 🇺🇸 The U.S. Navy and General Dynamics are converting the future USS Baltimore into an elite seabed warfare submarine to succeed the USS Jimmy Carter By @cjohnston.bsky.social www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2...

navalnews.com

Future USS Baltimore to Serve as U.S. Navy's Elite Seabed Warfare Submarine - Naval News

U.S. Navy and General Dynamics are converting the future USS Baltimore (SSN 812) into an elite seabed warfare submarine to succeed the USS Jimmy Carter.

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Hupple’s Cat @hupplescat.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

One more from the summer exercises at Civil War battlefield series. The Marines did bring their tanks. I think these are the M1917, an American built Renault-FT17. Guessing the one on the left is a wireless command tank. They would have been trailered to the battlefields.

M1917 6-ton tanks parked near a Civil War battlefield ca. 1921

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Jamie McTrusty @jamiemctrusty.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Polyanthus, Lagan, St. Croix and, later, Itchen, were all victims of the first deployment by U-Boats of the new TV/‘GNAT’ acoustic torpedo. Also during this action, HMS Escapade was severely damaged when one of her Hedgehog mortars exploded prematurely, killing 16 crew. 📷 IWM A19364/60/61/65

View from the quayside of the badly damaged foredeck of a destroyer, showing crumpled wreckage behind ‘A’ gun and a buckled and scorched bridge.

View from above the bridge, the front of which has been smashed inwards, leaving a mass of twisted metal.

View from the bridge of the destroyer’s ’B’ gun mounting, now empty with only some wreckage remaining.

View of naval officers inspecting the damage to the destroyer’s foredeck.

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Олександр Бузько @oleksa79buzko.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Newly converted USS Sable training aircraft carrier on her delivery trip to Chicago, Illinois upbound on Lake St Clair, Michigan, United States. Photo taken from the freighter Joseph Wood. May 24 1943.

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