CONTENTS MAY 2020 • Vol. 53/No. 5 FEATURES DEPARTMENTS 8 FIST OF THE FLEET 4 SEA MAIL With the arrival of the F-35 Lightning II, the USN/USMC airpower News and views from the readers of Sea Classics assets have greatly increased. We present a photo salute to today’s naval airpower / by Robinson Green 5 INTEL FILE Discovering some historic ships on the Sacramento Delta / 16 WAR ON ICE by Roger Cain Wind-class icebreakers made possible Arctic operations that put an end to Nazi Germany’s persistent attempts to create weather 34 YOUR NAVY stations in the remote reaches of Greenland / by Scott Price Our monthly selection of the best images from the USN’s top photojournalists / by Howard Carter 26 THE PIGEON VALIANT Although this small tender became one of the most 50 LOST AT SEA decorated WWII , the exploits of USS Pigeon were More ships that will never sail again / by Susan Duprey overshadowed by the events of and / by A.B. Feuer COVER: Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Little Rock (LCS-9) in the Caribbean Sea on 16 February. Little Rock is deployed to the US 38 BOOZE, BULLETS, AND THE Southern Command area of responsibility in support of Joint Interagency COASTIES: RUMRUNNERS AT WAR! Task Force South Campaign Martillo targeting illicit drug operations. Concluding our history of the increasingly deadly sea battles (USN/Marianne Guemo) to stop the sea-going smugglers of the Prohibition-era / by Remo Salta THIS PAGE: An unarmed Trident II (DSLE) missile launches from the Ohio- class ballistic missile submarine USS Maine (SSBN-741) off the coast of 52 WHEN LEND-LEASE San Diego on 12 February. The test launch was part of the US Navy HELD THE LINE Strategic Systems Programs’ demonstration and shakedown operation Transferring 50 WWI flush-deck, four-stack certification process. The successful launch demonstrated the readiness of destroyers to Britain helped save that nation from the SSBN’s strategic weapon system and crew following the submarine’s the Nazi onslaught / by Robert Hucker engineered refueling overhaul. This launch marks 177 successful missile launches of the Trident II (DS & DSLE) strategic weapons system. (USN/Thomas Gooley)

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