Form 405: Fill & Download for Free

I broke down on the 405 near LAX. Pulled over to the shoulder. Put on the emergency blinkers. Hung out a white hanky/drivers’ side. Called AAA.A car stopped behind me. Out steps Vin Diesel. I open the trunk. He pulls out the jack and spare. Changes the flat tire.I thank him. Give him a hug and some handiwipes.He jumps back in his car and off he went.

I always thought the battle between the USS Borie and U-405 sounded like something that came from an action movie.The Borie was a Clemson-Class Destroyer commissioned in 1920, after a largely uneventful inter-war career with the Asiatic and Atlantic Fleets she was reassigned to begin patrols for submarines in the Carribean immediately after the United States entered World War II. The Borie would stay on in this capacity until mid-1943 when she was sent to the North Atlantic as part of anti-submarine activities and acted as an escort for the aircraft carrier USS Card.The Borie conducted three successful patrols in the North Atlantic, the fourth one would be her fateful encounter with the Type-VIIC U-boat, U-405.On October 31st, 1943 Borie, was being escorted by two Avenger torpedo bombers when the planes sighted two submarines on the surface, U-91 and U-584. U-91 dived almost as soon as was engaged by the Avengers, U-584 decided to stay on the surface for reasons unknown. Minutes later two more Avengers showed up and engaged U-584 from its port and starboard sides with acoustically guided torpedoes, both impacting the submarine which resulted in its nearly immediate sinking. All hands went down with the sub.This action led the captain of the Borie, Lt. Commander Charles Hutchins, to believe that a Type-XIV U-boat, which were used to refuel other subs, was operating in the area and set out to find and sink it.At 2010, still the 31st, Borie picked up radar contact from a surfaced sub, U-256, at a range of 6,500 yards. (Not a Type-XIV.) Radar contact with U-256 was lost at around 1,700 yards away and Borie began to fire off flares in hopes of finding the submarine. U-256 had submerged and this caused the loss of radar contact but this was immediately rectified when sonar picked up the sub.After losing sound contact with U-256 at a range of 150 yards, Borie started a series of depth charge runs, with the sub periodically resurfacing and submerging. Contact was regained and Borie made one last run and damaged U-256. At the time the captain of the Borie believed the U-boat had been sunk but it managed to recover and make its way back to port.Again, Lt. Commander Hutchins remained under the impression that a U-boat tender was operating in the immediate vicinity and continued the search. Radar contact was gained on a submarine at a range of 8,000 yards south of Borie, this was the submarine U-405.The time was now 0200 on November 1st and Borie began to steam toward U-405 at a healthy 27 knots. Radar contact was lost at 2,000 yards but sonar still had a track on the sub and after closing with U-405 the captain ordered depth charges to be used. However, this would prove to be “problematic” to say the least.Two stern depth charge racks malfunctioned and every single one was discharged into the sea. The simultaneous explosion of all the depth charges briefly lifted the Borie’s stern out of the ocean and pushed it forward.But with this malfunction came a bit of good luck, U-405 had been forced to surface and was spotted by a sailor on Borie’s stern. Radar immediately began tracking the sub and searchlights focused on it as well. They would continue to track the sub for the remainder of the action.Borie opened up with one of its 4in. gun batteries at 1,000 yards and three rounds struck just forward of U-405’s sail. These shells, quite literally, tossed the 88mm deck gun into the North Atlantic.Borie’s 20mm Oerlikon guns opened up to complement the 4in. guns and the 20mm also acted as a guide for targeting. Due to multiple hits from the 4in. battery U-405 was unable to dive and began to increase its speed to 17 knots and try to escape into the darkness.As U-405 was maneuvering radically her crew attempted to reach their deck-mounted machineguns but this was a futile act. The 20mm guns of the Borie killed every German who emerged and tried to make a dash for their guns. U-405 repeatedly tried to line up its torpedo tubes on Borie but they were unsuccessful every time.Machinegun and shell fire continued to hit U-405, her deck guns still out of the reach of her crew. By this time U-405 was almost dead in the water. It is possible that she slowed down, intending to strike her colors, since a German sailor stood up in the conning tower and appeared to try to signal Borie with hand signals but he was quickly cut down.Upon seeing the sailor Lt. Commander Hutchins tried to order his crew to cease fire but his orders were drowned out by the noise of the gunfire. In addition, the gun captain of the 4in. battery engaging U-405 had become annoyed with the radio lines tangled up in his turret and flung them out of the battery, effectively severing communication with the bridge and fire direction.After the death of the sailor, which was largely unavoidable because of the fog of war, U-405 got underway once more and resumed the cat and mouse game of maneuver for a torpedo attack as well as an escape. This is where the battle takes a very strange, and at the time, almost unheard of turn of events.Lt. Commander Hutchins decided to ram U-405.Ram.Borie struck U-405 just forward of its tower and rode up on top of the sub, coming to a complete stop. The buoyancy, and need to survive the pressures of the ocean depths, of the sub kept both Borie and U-405 on the surface.Not all of Borie’s main guns could depress far enough to effectively engage U-405 so a sailor retrieved a fire ax and broke into Borie’s arms locker. Crewmen retrieved the few Tommy Guns and shotguns inside and continued to engage the German sailors who were still running for their machineguns and using small arms from U-405’s conning tower.Other somewhat bizarre things happened while the ships were joined together. Due to the lack of small arms for the crew of Borie, some of her sailors resorted to more improvised methods of engagement.One crewman threw a knife and impaled a German sailor in his stomach, killing him.Another used a flare gun to strike one of U-405’s crew in the chest, setting him alight and leading to his death.But the most “cartoonish”, would be the most appropriate word I suppose, “weapon” used was a 4in. shell casing. The gun captain of one of the batteries that couldn’t engage U-405 threw the casing and caused a German sailor to tumble overboard, likely killing him due to hypothermia, not necessarily the impact.After ten minutes the ships separated due to waves and the efforts of both admirable crews.U-405 immediately began to maneuver, making tight turns that Borie could not match, with the intent of escaping. The impact from the ramming had caused damage to both ships but Borie came out worse for wear in this respect.Lt. Commander Hutchins ordered the searchlights to be turned off in order to fool U-405 into thinking it got away but radar was kept on the sub the entire time. Once the sub was traveling away almost perpendicular to Borie he ordered the lights turned back on and the starboard 4in. batteries began to fire again.He then ordered another attempt to ram, though this was unsuccessful and U-405 attempted its own ram of Borie at the same time. Since both vessels narrowly avoided the ramming Hutchins ordered depth charges to be fired and three of them detonated within 30ft. of the U-boat.U-405 had been struck and her hull came out of the water. This did not dissuade the submarine. She turned and headed straight into Borie’s gunfire, intent on passing by and escaping by going straight by Borie’s stern.With the damage sustained, U-405 could not gain enough speed to outmaneuver Borie and Borie fired a torpedo which narrowly missed U-405’s bow. Almost as soon as the torpedo passed by several 4in. shells struck the submarine’s exhaust for the second time during the engagement. U-405 was now completely dead in the water.It was at this point that the surviving crew of U-405 began to fire multiple flares and this was seen as an act of surrender by the Americans. Borie started to move in to retrieve survivors but fate intervened yet again when it became obvious that this was signal to another U-boat when it answered with flares of her own. Borie began to maneuver erratically to avoid any potential torpedoes and had to leave the ~20 survivors of U-405 behind. None of them made it out of the engagement and Borie was not able to return to the area.Borie now had other problems to consider as morning arrived. There was a large hole in her forward engine room and the engineers were working in waist or neck-high water. Electric power had lost in many areas below.Orders were given to toss equipment and ammunition overboard to allow the ship to stay afloat for a little while longer. Only ten rounds per 4in. gun were kept in reserve, torpedo launchers were sent into the sea. The ship’s anchor was cut loose. Even the firing director wasn’t spared. All depth charges not yet used were sent into the ocean. Dedicated lifeboats were not spared this fate either, all that remained were some rafts. Every effort was made to keep Borie from descending to the locker.To compound the problems, Borie’s emergency radio generator was not operating and she had no way of contacting her sister ships or the carrier Card. Planes were launched to look for Borie but heavy fog and cloud cover made these efforts futile.Around 1100 on November 1st one Borie’s officers had an amazing idea, power the emergency generator with all the lighter fluid and alcohol aboard Borie. (Alcohol really does solve all the problems, the duct tape and DW-40 of the human soul.) Shortly afterward radio contact was made with Card and she and her other escorts began to steam toward Borie.After the other ships arrived attempts were made to keep Borie afloat but they were all in vain. Rough seas prevented the transfer of freshwater to her boilers and her sister ships couldn’t pass over hoses to pump out seawater.At 1630 Lt. Commander Hutchins gave the order to abandon ship. This process took some time and darkness began to set in once more. Up until this point Borie had not suffered a single fatality. This was about to change.A destroyer, USS Barry, was part of the rescue operation and attempted to reach the survivors but due to the weather and darkness could not see them. One of the sailors from Borie attempted to signal the ship with a flashlight but the signal came too late. Barry started to turn but her starboard bow hit one of the life rafts, killing some of the sailors.Borie’s sailors tried to climb up the side of Barry but this did not work, none of them were able to make it. The remaining sailors from that raft clung on to the remnants of the raft or floated in their life jackets.Barry came about and, luckily, did not cause further harm to the crew of Borie. The crewmen were retrieved by the Barry and USS Goff. Twenty-seven sailors died during their retrieval from the stormy waters of the North Atlantic, none from enemy action.Borie was scuttled on November 2nd by TBF Avengers and is now resting at the bottom of the Atlantic.The crew of all ships involved, American and German, performed in a manner that is commendable beyond reproach. Both Borie and U-405 fought well beyond the means they were intended to and the circumstances of their encounter is astounding in every regard. From the beginning of the action to the very end, this is a story that would I have trouble believing but this happened. Everything about Borie and U-405 seems unbelievable but oftentimes real life is stranger than fiction. The loss of life is regrettable but this is the stuff of movies, Hollywood would be hard-pressed to write a story like this.Sources:[1][1][1][1] [2][2][2][2] [3][3][3][3] [4][4][4][4] [5][5][5][5]Footnotes[1] http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussborie/index.asp?r=21503&pid=21505[1] http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussborie/index.asp?r=21503&pid=21505[1] http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussborie/index.asp?r=21503&pid=21505[1] http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussborie/index.asp?r=21503&pid=21505[2] http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussborie/index.asp?r=21503&pid=21504[2] http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussborie/index.asp?r=21503&pid=21504[2] http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussborie/index.asp?r=21503&pid=21504[2] http://destroyerhistory.org/flushdeck/ussborie/index.asp?r=21503&pid=21504[3] http://destroyerhistory.org/assets/pdf/wilde/215borie_wilde.pdf[3] http://destroyerhistory.org/assets/pdf/wilde/215borie_wilde.pdf[3] http://destroyerhistory.org/assets/pdf/wilde/215borie_wilde.pdf[3] http://destroyerhistory.org/assets/pdf/wilde/215borie_wilde.pdf[4] Borie I (Destroyer No. 215)[4] Borie I (Destroyer No. 215)[4] Borie I (Destroyer No. 215)[4] Borie I (Destroyer No. 215)[5] The United States Navy Memorial[5] The United States Navy Memorial[5] The United States Navy Memorial[5] The United States Navy Memorial

They’re both 30 caliber, using bullets of about .308-.3095″ diameter. The 06 comes from 1906, the year of its adoption. US government cartridge, ball, model of 1906 is a bit of a mouthful, so it’s shortened to 30–06.The other cartridge you mention began life as the 30 WCF (Winchester Center Fire) cartridge. Marlin was not thrilled about advertising the name of a competitor and called the same cartridge 30–30. One of its many loadings used 30 grains of a smokeless propellant, so that supplied an excuse to name it that way (black powder cartridges had used that system, as 45–70–405 was the standard cartridge we know now as simply 45–70, because it was 45 caliber and used 70 grains of black powder to push a 405 grain bullet). It’s a bit silly, because that was only one loading of several options, and the powder was a proprietary one that nobody knew anything about, so there was actually no information communicated by that second 30 in its name.But if you’re looking for a general rule on cartridge nomenclature, there isn’t one. You have to keep asking this sort of question for every cartridge out there. Good luck!