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Does anyone know of any fun and good books about the cheka?
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Mar 2, 2015 02:26
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Baracula posted:Does anyone know of any fun and good books about the cheka? "fun" "cheka" 
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Mar 2, 2015 03:03
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OK, I can do this hilarity Ton ton macoute
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Mar 2, 2015 05:01
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Baracula posted:Does anyone know of any fun and good books about the cheka? The Mitrokhin Archive, a very good book based on leaked KGB documents, has a few chapters on the Cheka. There are many amusing anecdotes that end with "and then everyone involved was executed by firing squad."
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Mar 2, 2015 06:48
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Xiahou Dun posted:Lots of languages lack a voicing alternation, so I'm not shocked. Especially if the writer were German.
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Mar 2, 2015 07:43
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German Bombs, Rockets, Mines and more - Part 2 The manual I have has a very handy illustration showing off how the Germans marked their bombs.  Several differences are immediately noticeable, namely the different tails and the "Kopfring". The suspension lug is also worth going into detail. Tail construction For German bombs, two types of tails were employed. The first type was constructed of sheet steel and usually made in four pieces to form a cone with four fins. These fins could be unbraced, braced with tubular strusts or braced with a cylindrical strut. The second type of tail was of magnesium alloy and was cast as one piece, with a cone and four fins. The fins for the second type may be braced with cylindrical struts of the same material as the tail.  Suspension/stowage Several methods of carrying bombs, internally or externally, were used. Bombs up to and including some 500kg types could be stowed either horizontally or vertically. All other bombs were carried horizontally. Vertically suspension was accomplished by an eyebolt threaded into the nose of the bomb. 50kg bombs suspended horizontally was done with an eyebolt, 250 kg and 500kg bombs could be suspended either with a threaded eyebolt or threaded T-type lug. Anything larger had to use an H-type threaded lug. The H-lug was secured to a carrying band on the bomb, or directly to the bomb body. SC 1000 and SC 1200 type bombs have been known to use a U-bolt secured to the carrying band on the later models.  Kopfring Nose rings, as they are called, are sometimes fitted to the nose of SC bombs to prevent excessive penetration against land targets, and prevent ricochets against sea targets. Some SD 70 and SD 1700 bombs have been known to use Kopfrings against the aforementioned targets.  Anti-ricochet plates ARP, as I'm going to call them, function the same as Kopfrings except are entirely different in construction. Two types of ARPs are used, with Type I's being fitted to SC 250 bombs and Type II's attached to SC 50 bombs. The Type I was comprised of a conical cup and a dished plate welded to it. The conical cup was 3/16 inch steel and was designed to fit on top of the nose of the bomb. The dished plate, 10 inches in diameter, fit over the conical cup and was welded to it. The Type I is attached to the nose via a threaded bolt that passes through a hole in the apex. The Type II, used on SC 50 bombs, was made of a circular plate 5 3/4 inches in diameter and 15/16 inch thick, and machined conically to fit over the nose. Welded to the plate was a circular cup 2 11/16 inches in diameter, and the entire assembly was attached to the bomb's nose via a centrally mounted bolt.  Dinort Rods Dinort rods are secured to the nose of SD type bombs in order to obtain an air burst explosion. Two types of rods were used: steel, and wood. Steel rods consisted of a drawn steel tube with a circular steel plate welded to the base and a steel cup welded to the top. A threaded lug is welded to the upper end of the tub and passes through a hole in the cup. This lug screws into the suspension lug in the nose of the bomb. Steel Rods pre:SD 50 SD 70 SD 250 SD 500 Length of rod 23.6" 23.6" 14.8" 14.8" Diameter of rod 1.75" 1.75" 2.75" 2.75" Diameter of plate (base) 4.7" 4.7" 9.45" 12.6" Diameter of cup (top) 3.6" 5.5" Wooden Rods Overall Length: 22.6" Width of centre section: 2.25" (Square) Width of the base - Smaller square: 4" (square) - Larger square: 4.25" (Square)  SD and HL Hollow Charge Bombs / Hollow Charge Nose Device For SD 250 bombs with a hollow charge, the cavity is semi-circular in section. The cavity for a SD 500 bomb is a truncated cone, with the large diameter being 30cm and the small diameter being 11cm. The H.E. charge has a metal lining for the cavity which is supported on a flange, located at a distance from the nose approx. 1.5 times the diameter of the cavity, in order to permit the formation of a jet. The opening at the nose of the bomb is around 5 1/4 inches. The 250 H.L. will penetrate 35cm of armor plate, the 500 H.L. will penetrate 62.5cm of armor plate, or 350cm of concrete. Performance figures for the 800 H.L. are unavailable but, with a H.E. charge of 110kg, it was hoped to penetrate up to 100cm of armor or 6 meters of reinforced concrete. The special nose device, used with the SD 250 bomb, consists of a hollow charge that is attached to a standard type bomb. The charge weighs around 4kg and is detonated by its own fuze located in the nose of the device. To remove the possibility of damaging the bomb, the space between the charge and the bomb was filled with a mixture of sawdust and cement. It should be noted that information on Hollow Charge bombs comes from documentary evidence only, as stated by my book. The SD hollow charge bomb did not live up to its expected performance, and modifications were made which resulted in the production of the H.L. type of bomb. The special nose device for the SD 250 performs better at lower altitudes. It works by punching a hole in the armor for the bomb to subsequently pass through. The bomb has a short delay fuze so that detonation will occur inside of the target. Documents state that such a bomb will penetrate 7cm of armor plate. Next time: I might actually start talking about specific bombs!  (I'm taking photos with my phone, A.K.A. no re-sizing)
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Mar 2, 2015 08:51
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100 Years Ago General Joffre decides he'll have no truck with attempts to achieve surprise in Champagne, bigads. There's a whole truckload of bad news for Indian Expeditionary Force "D" in Mesopotamia, and a long-range bombardment of the intermediate forts at the Dardanelles succeeds only in slightly rearranging the geography. And a threat to the war effort is staved off again; thank God, cash is plentiful in the money market! (Today's financial news literally begins with "Nothing has happened recently." Gawd bless 'em.)
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Mar 2, 2015 12:23
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Trin Tragula posted:100 Years Ago They're so strangely insistent money is plentiful they must be hiding something. 
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Mar 2, 2015 14:53
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HEY GAL posted:Matthew Steiner, Regimentsschultheiß und -Secretarius of the Praiseworthy Mansfeldische Regiment Of Horse And Foot, is a German, but he knows enough Italian to translate Italian interrogations. Burschel liked to tell the story how he once had to translate a bunch of letters from Italian to German. Only they were written by a German who didn't speak any Italian and only wrote down what his boss said to him. Must have been fun.
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Mar 2, 2015 16:03
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Writing was basically a free-for-all until very recently in history. People just wrote it out however they wanted to approximate the sounds, which combines with lovely handwriting and a million local dialects to make translating anything a maddening experience. English writing at least didn't standardize until the printing press started to become a big force in the 16th and 17th century, and it still took a while.
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Mar 2, 2015 22:04
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I will never get tired of the little factoid that a certain playwright's name has been rendered in every possible combination of letters (and a few impossible ones), including by himself, but he appears to have not ever used the spelling "Shakespeare".
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Mar 2, 2015 23:23
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ArchangeI posted:Burschel liked to tell the story how he once had to translate a bunch of letters from Italian to German. Only they were written by a German who didn't speak any Italian and only wrote down what his boss said to him. Must have been fun. Edit: Also, all Spanish government documents in Milan (where these guys probably would have also shown up) from later than 1623 were destroyed by Allied bombing during WW2. It's a very good thing for me that this regiment's legal books got sent up to Dresden, since they're Saxon (mostly). HEY GUNS fucked around with this message at 01:04 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 01:01
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HEY GAL posted:I can recognize Milan and Gallarate in this regiment's documents, but the name of the town where their administrative center has been from December 25 to July 26 at least I can't find. They call it Bostugrande but I've been scouring Google maps for something like it and nothing. There's a Busto Garolfo between the two cities. That's pretty close. Ed: Actually, it's probably a reference to Busto Arsizio, based on this line from the web page on Busto Garalfo's history: quote:A partire dal principio del secolo XVI Busto Garolfo fu anche detto Busto Piccinino, in confronto a Busto Arsizio che, per la sua cresciuta importanza, era stato soprannominato Busto Grande. Translation: Starting from the beginning of the sixteenth century Busto Garolfo was also known as Bust Piccinino, in comparison to Busto Arsizio which, due to its increased importance, had been nicknamed Big Bust (Busto Grande). Deteriorata fucked around with this message at 01:49 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 01:09
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I'll be going up to the ren fest next weekend with my DSLR to get better shots and footage of the stuff, but I looked up their Landsknechts. This particular band is Das Fähnlein vom Goldenen Kreuz. Their page is here with a little of the stuff. Very neat group and one of my favorite places to visit. They crashed the Seahorse Pub the weekend before last in between lessons. 
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Mar 3, 2015 01:58
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Deteriorata posted:There's a Busto Garolfo between the two cities. That's pretty close. 
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Mar 3, 2015 02:11
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Did... did the thread just... actually contribute to historical scholarship? 
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Mar 3, 2015 03:07
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So the wreck of the IJN Musashi has been found. Here's a shot of the bow: https://twitter.com/paulgallen/status/572431062522982400
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Mar 3, 2015 03:14
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Arquinsiel posted:Did... did the thread just... actually contribute to historical scholarship? Edit: Dang, this place is huge, no wonder an entire regiment can be quartered in/near it. I was imagining a village or something. HEY GUNS fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 03:18
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HEY GAL posted:Yep. Thanks very much, Deteriorata. Are you from Lombardy or something? Nah, just kind of a lucky guess. I saw the two "Busto" towns and "Busto Grande" jumped out as a natural nickname, so I dug into the history a bit. I thought perhaps Grande was a corruption of Garolfo, but it was the other way around with the two. Also, my sister is a professor of Italian Renaissance history at Penn, so maybe I've got some of her genes.  Glad to be useful for something here.
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Mar 3, 2015 03:26
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It's very in character for my subjects to transpose the order of the vowels (Busto --> Bostu), they do that for other Italian words as well. Makes sense; to most of them, it's just syllables.
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Mar 3, 2015 03:52
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mllaneza posted:So the wreck of the IJN Musashi has been found. Here's a shot of the bow: Are there more pictures?
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Mar 3, 2015 05:37
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Saint Celestine posted:Are there more pictures? Sure  
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Mar 3, 2015 05:58
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100 Years Ago Another day of disappointing news for the Entente. Herbert Sulzbach gets some reinforcements, IEF "D" cops another kicking in Mesopotamia, even the official naval history thinks the Dardanelles campaign is being bungled, and the men in Glasgow go back to work, but they're working to rule until they get their wage increase. We've also got the "In March 1915..." round-up: the BEF (finally!) starts to introduce a Medium Mortar, Roland Garros is experimenting with shooting a machine gun through reinforced propellors, South Africa is about to invade German-held Namibia, and the blockade of Germany tightens its grip to include food. Oh, and apparently the Michelin Man knows the value of a strong, pure rubber as he swims grinning towards thankful Britannia with a phallic German torpedo in his hand and cigar in his mouth, presumably doing his bit to alleviate food shortages by keeping the birth rate down.
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Mar 3, 2015 11:01
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mllaneza posted:So the wreck of the IJN Musashi has been found. Here's a shot of the bow: This is really cool, I hope it gets a fraction of attention the Bismarck finding did (it probably will not).
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Mar 3, 2015 11:38
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German Bombs, Rockets, Mines and more - Part 3 SC 50 Bombs SC 50 bombs were used pretty much everywhere and by a wide variety of aircraft in the Luftwaffe's inventory. Medium bombers like the He-111 carried them in large strings, which varied depending on their bombload capacity, for a maximum of 32 x 50kg bombs; the Stuka dive bomber also supplemented any heavier bombs with 2 or 4 50kg bombs; fighters used in the CAS/Ground Attack role also used the 50kg, the Bf-109 could carry 4 of them at a time on an ETC 50 Rack; even Reconnaissance aircraft could be fitted with several SC 50's if needed. SC 50's were the smallest standard SC type bomb, and have several versions and "grades".  SC 50(-kg) Bi Data: Overall length: 46.1" Body Length: 30" Body Diameter: 7.9" Wall Thickness: 2.0 to 2.6 inches Tail Length: 16.1" Tail Width: 11" Filling: Cast TNT, Amatol, or Trialen Weight of filling: 24.4 kg Total Weight: 55.5 kg Charge/Weight ratio: 45.75% Fuzing: Series 5 or 8 Color: Dark gray or green overall Construction The Bi is a one piece cast steel body machined down, and all fittings are welded in place. The bomb is threaded at the base to accomodate a male base plate. A steel diaphram with a central hole is located 3 3/4 inches forward from the base plate. When being filled, the explosives only come up to thhis diaphram. The tail cone is made of 4 pieces of sheet steel welded together, which is subsequently secured onto the bomb by 8 screws. One transverse fuze pocket is located in front of the suspension lug. The back/bottom of the fuze pocket is welded to the opposite wall. The pocket is long enough to fit a normal sized electric fuze and 2 picric pellets. The nose has female threads for a eye bolt for vertical suspension. It may also accomodate a shock plate welded to the nose for use against water targets. (SC 50 Bi bombs are very similar to the Ja and L series)  SC 50 Grade I - Ja, L, and Stabo Data Overall length (Ja nad L): 43.3" Overall length (Stabo): 61.8" Body Length: 30" Body Diameter: 8" Wall Thickness: 0.16 to 0.24 inches Tail Length: 16.1" Tail Width: 11" Filling: Cast TNT, powdered Amatol, or cast Trialen Weight of filling: 21 to 25 kg Total Weight: 48 to 55 kg Charge/Weight ratio: 46% Fuzing: Series 5; 8; or 25B; ElAZ (38) for water targets. Stabo bombs may also take 17 or 57 Construction The Ja's body was built from drawn steel as one piece. The L is the same as the Ja aside from being seamless tubular steel. The Stabo is like the Ja, but with a threaded lug forged to the nose of the bomb. A steel spike, 18.5 inches long and 1.8 inches in diameter, can be attached to that lug. Like the Bi, the sheet steel tail cone is attached to the bomb with 8 screws. Later models had a collar welded around the neck of the bomb which the tail was secured to. Interestingly, the tail fins had holes in them, and screamers could be attached to them. The bombs could be modified for use against water targets by removing the tail fins. "It is claimed ballistics are not changed up to an altitude of 200 meters." When used against water targets, the ElAZ (38) fuze is used. This fuze had a maximum delay of 5 seconds, allowing 12 to 18 meters of water travel. An anti-ricochet plate is bolted onto the nose in this kind of attack, permitting a much smaller angle of impact without ricochet. Suspension Horizontal or Vertical (with an eyebolt) Color Sandy gray or dark green overall. Yellow stripes on each segment of cone.  SC 50 Grade II - JB, JC, J, J/2 Data Overall length: 43.3" Body Length: 26.4" Body Diameter: 8" Wall Thickness: 0.16 to 0.24 inches Tail Length: 16.1" Tail Width: 11" Filling: Cast TNT, powdered Amatol, or cast Trialen Weight of filling: 21 to 25 kg Total Weight: 48 to 55 kg Charge/Weight ratio: 46% Fuzing: Series 5, 8, and 25. ElAZ (38) for water targets. Construction The JB type was built as a one-piece nose and body, and the base was welded to the body. The JC was of pressed steel body and drawn steel body. The J is an early version of the JB, and is of identical construction. The J/2 is similar to the JC type, with the only difference being in the quality of steel used. The JC type was built only in small numbers. The sheet steel tail cone is riveted to a ring which is secured to the body by 8 screws. As with Grade I bombs, screamers can be attached to the holes in the fins. They may also be modified for use against water targets in the same ways as Grade I bombs. Suspension Horizontal or Vertical (with an eyebolt) Color Sandy gray or dark green overall. Yellow stripe on each segment of tail cone.
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Mar 3, 2015 12:17
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NaziBombs Question: Were the Luftwaffe specs in mixed units, or are you deriving from US/UK wartime/postwar intelligence, which I would imagine would use primarily imperial units?
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Mar 3, 2015 12:45
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MrYenko posted:NaziBombs Question: Were the Luftwaffe specs in mixed units, or are you deriving from US/UK wartime/postwar intelligence, which I would imagine would use primarily imperial units? The book was written by the US Military, in 1946. My book is a 1969 reprint. Edit: I should note that their is an online PDF for the book, as well as a Technical Manual on German Projectiles and Projectile fuzes; Japanese Army and Naval Explosives; and French and Italian Explosives. I will be posting the link to them tomorrow in case anyone wants to skip my daily(?) format. The PDFs aren't in good shape though, and whoever scanned them lost a lot of detail on some photos (Being rendered almost entirely black) and tons of artifacts that obscure text in some cases. Edit 2: I forgot to mention a book on British Explosives, but I haven't found an online PDF for it. A book on Russian munitions exists but I cannot find a physical copy and the only location that has it has locked it to the public (The report is"U.S. GOVT. ONLY; DOD CONTROLLED"). I think a US Munitions book also exists, but I have to double check. At the moment, I've got the Japanese + French and Italian book incoming, so posts about their scarcely, if ever, talked about bombs can get some proper attention. Jobbo_Fett fucked around with this message at 13:06 on Mar 3, 2015 |
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Mar 3, 2015 12:49
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Why was this book written/compiled in 1946? To help UXO teams in postwar Europe?
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Mar 3, 2015 22:44
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Grand Prize Winner posted:Why was this book written/compiled in 1946? To help UXO teams in postwar Europe? Probably less so UXO teams and moreso the regular ordinance troops who were tasked with organizing/transporting/storing/destroying the ginormous as gently caress German wartime stockpiles and the equally ginormous as gently caress stacks of weapons and explosives that resulted when entire army groups just dumped their weapons and walked home at the end of the war. Seriously, central Europe was awash in that poo poo for about four years after the war.
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Mar 3, 2015 22:49
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You can still find this stuff in the East by digging almost anywhere.
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Mar 3, 2015 22:56
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Devlan Mud posted:This is really cool, I hope it gets a fraction of attention the Bismarck finding did (it probably will not). I'm still amazed how much punishment that thing took before it went down. I mean, I know that's what they were supposed to do, but even so, that was a fuckload of torpedoes it ate and stayed afloat.
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Mar 4, 2015 01:18
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Chamale posted:The Mitrokhin Archive, a very good book based on leaked KGB documents, has a few chapters on the Cheka. There are many amusing anecdotes that end with "and then everyone involved was executed by firing squad." Saint Celestine posted:"fun"
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Mar 4, 2015 01:51
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Trin Tragula posted:100 Years Ago These ads just keep on getting weirder and weirder. ("TREMENDOUS SLAUGHTER... in prices!" will still be my favorite forever, though. Holy Toledo.)
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Mar 4, 2015 03:02
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Baracula posted:if you cant have fun annihilating your class enemies/dumb menshevik jocks and wearing sick leather jackets i don't care about your opinions Yeah, running death camps while wearing sick awesome tailored suits and cool leathers and then going out and torturing a bunch of your political enemies to death before executing some of your own soldiers for dereliction of duty or retreating sure is loving  
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Mar 4, 2015 03:03
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Cyrano4747 posted:Yeah, running death camps while wearing sick awesome tailored suits and cool leathers and then going out and torturing a bunch of your political enemies to death before executing some of your own soldiers for dereliction of duty or retreating sure is loving dude, the SS may have been the worst thing that's ever happened to humanity but their outfits, you must admit, were boss
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Mar 4, 2015 03:06
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All military wear was downhill from landsknechts, really.
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Mar 4, 2015 03:08
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loving DELETE QUOTE POST MISTAKE.
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Mar 4, 2015 03:08
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HEY GAL posted:dude, the SS may have been the worst thing that's ever happened to humanity but their outfits, you must admit, were boss They stole them from Prussian Hussars and the Brunswickers. A minor thing considering the horrible poo poo they did, but hey who objects to more reasons to say gently caress the SS. Rincewind posted:All military wear was downhill from landsknechts, really. I'm sorry, but you are terribly terribly wrong about this. Very wrong in fact. Wrong wrong wrong! SeanBeansShako fucked around with this message at 03:24 on Mar 4, 2015 |
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Mar 4, 2015 03:08
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Phanatic posted:I'm still amazed how much punishment that thing took before it went down. I mean, I know that's what they were supposed to do, but even so, that was a fuckload of torpedoes it ate and stayed afloat. By hitting it on both sides the US torpedo bombers accidentally helped the Mushashi's counterflooding efforts. We applied the lessons learned to the Yamato, and by only attacking one side with torpedoes it sank more quickly and with fewer hits.
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Mar 4, 2015 03:11
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HEY GAL posted:dude, the SS may have been the worst thing that's ever happened to humanity but their outfits, you must admit, were boss I see what you did here
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Mar 4, 2015 03:13
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