US News, 1937

Scooby-Doo

Wednesday, January 28th 2009, 3:17pm

January 19, 1937 - Washington, DC

The Army chief of staff has been presented with a sketch of a heavy tank, with a proposed armament of a 4" howitzer and a 1.5"gun in the turret, a .30" machinegun in the commander's cupola, and 2 .50" HMGs and a .30" MG in the hull. Armor is heavy all around the vehicle, which stands almost 10' tall to the top of the cupola. Weight is expected to be over 55 tons, and the huge vehicle would be powered by a Wright G-200 radial engine. No currently available transmission would be suitable, however, given the requirements of the design, so it was proposed that work begin on developing one.

[A variation on the historical M6 heavy tank design. The 76mm gun on the original was replaced by the WW 4" howitzer, since the tank already carries the 1.5" gun for use against armored targets and the 4" howitzer will be superior against most types of targets in it's infantry support role. No decision on production at this time, of course, it really can't proceed until there's some idea of what sort of transmission to use.]

January 20, 1937 - Washington, DC

The new President of the United States, Huey P. Long, was inaugurated today with full pomp and circumstance.

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

Posts: 6,178

2

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 12:54pm

February 19, 1937 - Washington, DC

The US Army Air Corps has put out a request for a new medium bomber. This aircraft is required to carry a 4000 pound bombload, have a range of at least 2000 miles, have a defensive armament of at least 4 .50" or 6 .30" machineguns, and a top speed of at least 265 mph.

February 22, 1937 -Washington, DC

The US Navy has placed an order with the Douglas Aircraft Company for a version of the USAAC's A-20 light bomber. This aircraft, to be called the DB-1, differs from the current A-20 in it's radio equipment and in the provision to carry a Mk 13 aerial torpedo in the bomb bay, in place of the normal bomb load.

March 8, 1937 - Santa Monica, CA

The Douglas Aircraft Company has proposed to the USN that, instead of building the slightly modified A-20 the USN requested, that Douglas provide a new version of the A-20 to the USN. This new version is to be powered by the Wright R-2600 radial engine instead of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830, giving it better performance and the ability to carry a greater load. Additional upgrades include larger fuel tanks and better crew protection.

This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "Hrolf Hakonson" (Feb 8th 2009, 1:02pm)

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Red Admiral

Italian Stallion

Posts: 7,019

3

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 1:07pm

B-25/B-26 time?

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

Posts: 6,178

4

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 1:12pm

The USAAC request will result in those planes, yes, in the fullness of time. The A-20 is just too short legged and (in the early versions with the R-1830s) just doesn't carry enough bombs. The later versions with the R-2600s fix the load issue, but there's not enough room for fuel in the airframe to get the range up.

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Red Admiral

Italian Stallion

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5

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 1:32pm

You've got more room for extra crewmen and defensive weapons on the B-25/B-26 as well.

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Vukovlad

Me too !!!

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6

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 3:00pm

B-26 as in the Maruder ?

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

Posts: 6,178

7

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 3:11pm

Yep, the B-26 Marauder is one of the planes that will be designed in response to this request from the USAAC.

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Vukovlad

Me too !!!

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8

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 3:21pm

Just wanted to clarify since a lot of people associate B-26 with the Invader

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Red Admiral

Italian Stallion

Posts: 7,019

9

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 3:28pm

The Invader is usually the A-26 apart from postwar, whereas B-26 is the Marauder for this period. The Marauder isn't a wonderful plane but can get the job done. There are some interesting four engined derivatives over on the secretprojects forum.

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Vukovlad

Me too !!!

Posts: 4,137

10

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 3:30pm

Yes I know that the Invader was the A-26 during the war and the the B-26 and then the A-26 again

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

Posts: 6,178

11

Sunday, February 8th 2009, 5:39pm

Sadly it's a little too early to be working on the A-26.

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

Posts: 6,178

12

Thursday, July 2nd 2009, 3:18pm

June 6, 1937 - Washington, DC

The first months of President Long's tenure proved difficult, as getting any bills the administration wanted passed required negotiating a compromise that would attract votes from the other parties in Congress, even after several of the more progressive Senators from the left of the Democratic and Republican parties changed their affiliation to the Union Party. However, in addition to the failures, there were some successes. Negotiations began with Canada on arrangements for a railroad route to Alaska, for example, which fit with one of the President's goals, which was to open the Alaskan territory up to settlement and to make the exploitation of it's resources more economical. At the same time, the existing laws that required all goods going to or from Alaska to transit through Seattle were repealed.

June 19, 1937 - Washington, DC

The Army has ordered an initial production run of 70 of the new M-4 medium tanks. These tanks, armed with a 3" howitzer and 5 0.30" MGs, are a vast improvement on the light tanks of the M-2 and M-3 series, which currently constitute the entirety of the Army's armored forces.

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Rooijen10

Mr. Valentines Day

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13

Thursday, July 2nd 2009, 3:54pm

Who cares about a railroad route! Think of the future, be smart and build a highway. The Alaska Highway.

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Brockpaine

The Shadow

Posts: 15,109

14

Thursday, July 2nd 2009, 4:03pm

Where the railway goes, the highway will follow. Specially since the railway's surveyors will have already done all the hard work. (Railway surveyors are pretty darned accurate, and their monuments usually last for years. Seriously, once the railway gets there, the highway is almost going to be a done deal.)

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

Posts: 6,178

15

Thursday, July 2nd 2009, 4:57pm

In 1937, the railroad is much more efficient for moving cargo and people long distances than a highway, and long distances characterize the Fairbanks-Libby run. The idea is to lay the railroad up the Rocky Mountain Trench from the railhead at Libby MT to the Laird River plain, then up the Tintina Trench to Alaska. Of course, once the railroad is in place, it's quite probable that a road will be built roughly parallel to it, but the US government isn't looking at building that at this point in time.

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

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16

Monday, July 6th 2009, 9:35pm

July 8, 1937 - Washington, DC

In the interests of promoting the settlement of Alaska, the US government has released it's holds on a number of coal and oil fields in the southern part of the state. It is hoped that this action may allow the reopening of the Kennecott and LaTouche copper mines, along with other mines whose operations have been hampered by a lack of inexpensive fuel. The exploitation of the Chickaloon coal field will provide additional jobs in the Matunaska valley north of Anchorage, along with providing fuel for Anchorage and the Alaska Railroad that runs from Seward north through Anchorage to Fairbanks (where in future it should connect with the new Alaska-Canada Railroad). With the opening of new lands for oil development, the oil refinery at Katalla, which burned in 1933 and has never reopened, may well be worth reopening and providing fuel for the territory.

This post has been edited 1 times, last edit by "Hrolf Hakonson" (Jul 16th 2009, 3:56pm)

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

Posts: 6,178

17

Thursday, July 16th 2009, 5:31pm

July 18, 1937 - Cordova, AK

The announcement that the US government has released it's holds on coal and oil development in the southern part of the territory has set off great excitement in the area. Today, the Kennecott Copper Company has announced that it will build a smelter in Cordova, to save the expense of shipping raw ore to Seattle or Portland. The reduction in costs likely means that drifts and veins in the Kennecott mine that were regarded as unprofitable will suddenly become worth mining, allowing the mines to reopen those shafts that have been closed, and if the smelter has sufficient capacity it may allow the LaTouche mines to reopen as well. The company has not announced details of the smelter, but it is expected that it will burn either Bering River coal or Katalla oil, but most likely coal. Whether the Copper River and Northwestern Railway will build a line down to Katalla or the Bering River coal fields is also not yet known, an alternative would be for the fuel to be barged the approximately 90 miles between Katalla and Cordova.

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Hrolf Hakonson

Scooby-Doo

Posts: 6,178

18

Tuesday, July 21st 2009, 2:35pm

July 19, 1937 - Washington, DC

The news of the Battle of Ilo and the related operations of the Chilean navy off the south coast of Peru has raised concerns in Washington. A spokesman for the State Department commented, "The conflict between Peru and Colombia has now brought in some of their allies into open battle. This is how the slide to the Great War began. The United States hopes that both sides come to their senses VERY soon."

In other news, major USN ports began a sudden and unexpected burst of activity, as ships of the USN began taking on ammunition, stores and fuel, and leaves were cancelled.