Dark Earth Timeline Discussion

[Simon Darkshade]

Looking ahead to March 1976:

- French wine riots (zut alors!) and their own nuclear power plans
- Nadia Comaneci achieves something pretty big in a U.S. competition
- Refurbishment of the Maunsell Forts in the Thames Estuary
- The British budget comes out in an election year, with some different spending priorities given the lack of the national debt, a current account surplus, a burgeoning budget surplus, ever-growing oil and gas revenues, no significant inflation, and sterling not floating, as the Bretton Woods system continues. There is some more money for defence and intelligence, some notable investment in infrastructure and fusion power, industry, computers and space
- A bit of a look into Australia at 75 years after Federation
- A BBC programme leads to an increase in people wanting to move to Fiji, get a sheep and a cow, and raise horses
- The Cola Wars heat up, with the intervention of a master criminal revealing a certain formula and a list of 11 particular herbs and spices
- Springtime in America, or a DE equivalent to a well known advertisement in a different context
- A different outcome to a cable car accident in Italy
- Development of the planned replacement of the B-52 continues to gather pace. As of 1976, SAC is well on the way to replacing the B-47 and B-58 with the new B-76; a new tranche of B-70s and B-72 atomic powered bombers is being ordered; is building a very strong force of FB-111s (equivalent to the proposed FB-111H) in the intermediate/sub-strategic niche; and is fielding ALCMs, ALBMs and SRAMs on the B-52 force. The B-52 replacement would be something like if the child of the B-1A and the Tu-160 being dropped into magic potion as a baby. The issue is that replacing 2000+ B-52s of all types is going to be a costly endeavour
- New Politburo members emerge, and some old ones make some surprising returns
- Some developments in British immigration and emigration, including a possible inflection point of sorts, and demographic development downstream in Australia, NZ, South Africa and Canada, among other places
- A meteor shower in China has some interesting effects
- Discovery of oil off the Philippines
- Kentucky ratified the 13th Amendment
- Stabilisation in the Lebanon
- The wacky adventures of a yakuza kamikaze porn star
- Plans for the future of the Indian Navy are formulated
- The first episode of a new BBC television series on the Second World War, including new interviews with Monty, Churchill, Harris, Mountbatten, Fraser, Lawrence, Ratcliffe, Menzies, Eisenhower, Jock Campbell, Wingate, Biggles and more
- Portuguese forces experience setbacks in Angola and plans are laid in various capitals
- An almost entirely different Academy Awards, with some very big pictures competing against each other. Will Schwarzenegger win Best Actor for Conan, or will it be Alec Guinness or Roy Scheider?
- Several further new aircraft begin development, including a multirole fighter version of the Tornado and a next generation agile combat aircraft/air superiority fighter
- Opening of the Washington Metro

[Simon Darkshade]

US Armaments Production Infrastructure 1975/76

Artillery, Tank and Armoured Fighting Vehicle Shells

Shell Manufacturing Plants
Scranton AAP: 375,000 x 155mm shells per month
Milan TN AAP: 375,000 x 155mm shells per month
Mississippi AAP: 250,000 x 155mm shells per month
Iowa AAP: 250,000 x 155mm shells per month
Ashton ID AAP: 250,000 x 155mm shells per month

Rochester AAP: 375,000 x 125mm shells per month
Salina UT AAP: 375,000 x 125mm shells per months
Lone Star AAP: 375,000 x 125mm shells per month
Hays AAP, Pennsylvania: 375,000 x 125mm per month
Verdigris, OK AAP: 250,000 x 125mm per month
Owensborough, KY AAP: 250,000 x 125mm per month
Birmingham AAP: 250,000 x 125mm shells per month
Gadsden AAP: 250,000 x 125mm shells per month
Kalamazoo AAP: 250,000 x 125mm shells per month

Crane AAP: 500,000 x 4.2" mortar shells per month
St. Louis, MI AAP: 500,000 x 4.2" mortar shells per month
Sangamon IL AAP: 500,000 x 4.2" mortar shells per month
United States Ordnance, Monroe, LA: 500,000 x 4.2" mortar shells per month

General Defense Ordnance, Glen Wilton, VA: 1,000,000 x 81mm mortar shells per month
National Ordnance, Apco, OH: 1,000,000 x 81mm mortar shells per month

American Ordnance, Ulysses, KS: 200,000 x 203mm + 100,000 x 175mm + 50,000 x 240mm shells/month (1)
United States Ordnance, Hamilton, OH: 200,000 x 203mm + 100,000 x 175mm + 50,000 x 240mm shells/month (2)

American Ordnance, Cedar Rapids, IA: 500,000 x tank shells per month
United States Ordnance, Tulsa, OK: 500,000 x tank shells per month
General Defense Ordnance, Pittsburgh, PA: 500,000 x tank shells per month (3)
National Ordnance, El Dorado, AR: 500,000 x tank shells per month (4)

General Defense Ordnance, Denton, TX: 1.5 million x 50mm shells per month
National Ordnance, Tucson, AZ: 1.5 million x 50mm shells per month
United States Ordnance, Le Porte, IN: 2.5 million x 25mm shells per month
American Ordnance, Concord, NH: 2.5 million x 25mm shells per month

Republic Steel: 100,000 x 203mm shells + 50,000 x 175mm + 25,000 x 240mm shells/month
Kaiser Steel: 100,000 x 203mm shells + 50,000 x 175mm + 25,000 x 240mm shells per month
National Steel: 100,000 x 203mm shells + 50,000 x 175mm + 25,000 x 240mm shells per month
Bethlehem Steel: 250,000 x 155mm, 100,000 x 203mm shells + 50,000 x 175mm + 25,000 x 240mm shells per month
Midvale Steel and Ordnance Company: 250,000 x 155mm, 100,000 x 203mm + 50,000 x 175mm + 25,000 x 240mm shells per month

Explosives Factories
Indiana AAP
Joliet AAP
Louisiana AAP
Cornhusker AAP (Grand Island, Nebraska)
Holston AAP, Tennessee
Springfield, IN AAP
Casper, WY AAP
West Virginia AAP
Longhorn AAP, Texas
Green River AAP, Illinois
Alabama AAP
Pulaski, VA AAP

Small Arms

Small Arms Production
Springfield Arsenal, MA: 132,575 M16 battle rifles
Richmond Arsenal, VA: 72,510 M16 battle rifles
Harper's Ferry Arsenal, WV: 75,580 M16 battle rifles
New Haven Arsenal, CT: 22,545 M60 GPMGs + 40,119 M249 LMGs
Frankford Arsenal, PA: 144,723 M78 SMGs
Picatinny Arsenal, NJ: 47,249 M249 LMGs
Columbia Arsenal, SC: 96,792 M25 automatic rifles
Barstow Arsenal, CA: 5925 Maxims + 24,369 M96 90mm Super Bazookas

Private Small Arms Production
Colt: 196,924 M17 Colt Commando carbines + 52,368 M1911 pistols
Armalite: 120,000 M16 battle rifles
Browning: 29,478 M2 HMGs + 29,684 M60 GPMGs
Remington: 78,236 M16 battle rifles
Winchester: 82,429 M16 battle rifles
Smith & Wesson: 50,316 M1911 pistols

(Sturm, Ruger & Co)
(Military Armament Corporation)
(Iver Johnson)
(Auto-Ordnance Company)

Small Arms Ammunition
Riverbank AAP, CA: 5 million rounds/day
Lake City AAP, MS: 5 million rounds/day
Twin Cities AAP, MN: 5 million rounds/day
Des Moines AAP, IA: 5 million rounds/day

Lowell AAP, MA: 1.25 million rounds/day
Allegheny AAP, PA: 1.25 million rounds/day
Denver AAP, CO: 1.25 million rounds/day
Evansville AAP, IN: 1.25 million rounds/day

Small Arms Propellant
Badger AAP, WI
Sunflower AAP, KS
Gopher AAP, MN
Pryor AAP, OK

Tanks and Armoured Vehicle Production

Tanks
Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant, MI: 42 M70 Marshall MBT/week
Lima Army Tank Plant, OH: 42 M70 Marshall MBT/week
Springfield Army Tank Plant, IN: 28 M70 Marshall MBT/week
Rome Arsenal Tank Plant, IL: 10 M124 Buford + 7 M120 Pershing + 1 M236 Scott/week
Waco Army Tank Plant, TX: 24 M76 Grant/week

Armored Vehicles
GM Defense Plant, Santa Clara, CA: 35 M2 Bradley/week
GM Defense Plant, York, PA: 35 M2 Bradley/week
GM Defense Plant Peoria, IL: 35 M2 Bradley/week
United States Ordnance Plant, Jackson, MS: 28 M2 Bradley/week

FMC Plant, Charleston, WV: 16 M113/week
FMC Plant, Hibbing, MN: 16 M113/week
FMC Plant, Sacramento, CA: 16 M113/week
FMC Plant, Las Vegas, NV: 16 M113/week

FMC Plant, Raleigh, NC: 10 LVTP-7/week

Chrysler Defense, Gary, IN: 20 M250/week
Chrysler Defence, Chattanooga, TN: 20 M250/week

Cadillac Gage, Warren, MI: 24 M706 Commando AMC/week
Cadillac Gage, Evansville, KY: 24 M706 Commando AMC/week

General Dynamics, Albany, NY: 20 M754 LAV/week
General Dynamics, Trinidad, CO: 20 M754 LAV/week

Ford Defense, Sandusky, OH: 16 M800/week

Pocatello, ID (AV Maintenance)
Anniston, AL (AV Maintenance)
Red River, TX (AV Maintenance)

Unarmoured Vehicles
American Motors Plant, South Bend, IN: 675 M809 5t trucks/week
Mack Truck Plant, Macungie, PN: 154 Mack M128 10t trucks/week
Oshkosh Plant, Oshkosh, WI: 40 Oshkosh M911 heavy trucks/week
Ford Truck Plant, Dearborn, MI: 80 Ford M656 10t 8x8 trucks
Chrysler Defense Plant, Sterling Heights, MI: 800 HMCVs/week
Ford Defense, Toledo, OH: 250 M151 jeeps/week

(Kaiser-Willys)
(Kenworth)
(GM)
(International Harvester)

Artillery
Watertown Arsenal: 28 M124 guns + 15 M6 90mm GP guns + 5 105mm SVAT/week
Watervliet Arsenal: 64 M224 + 40 M255 + 8 120mm mortars + 40 M124 guns/week
Rock Island Arsenal: 24 M198 + 8 M219 howitzers/week
Columbia Arsenal, MI: 8 M266 105mm automatic mortars + 3 M169 165mm + 2 M94 mortars/week

Detroit Tank Plant: 12 M125 SPH + 10 M270 MLRS/week
Cleveland Tank Plant: 12 M125 SPH + 4 M163 + 2 M249 + 1 M284

Pacific Car and Foundary, Renton, WA: 5 M110 + 2 M107 + 1 M123/week
Bowen-McLaughlin-York, PA: 12 M109 SPH/week

Missiles

Boeing: 240 ASROC, 50 LGM-75 Peacemaker, 240 SRAM, 240 Supernova ULRSAM, 120 UGM-89 Perseus STAM

General Dynamics: 2400 MIM-46 Mauler, 25000 FGM-17 Viper, 7200 AIM-82, 400 AGM-78 Standard, 1080 AGM/BGM-109, 240 RIM-116

Hughes: 2400 AGM-65 Mavericks, 5000 BGM-85 TOW, 400 AIM-54, 800 Sea Sparrow SAMs

Lockheed-Martin: 120 UGM-98 Poseidon SLBMs, 96 Pershing SRBM, 400 Sprint II, 400 AGM-83 Bulldogs, 320 AIGM-126 ASALM

McDonnell-Douglas: 100 MGM-100 Ranger LRBM, 40 Thor IRBM, 200 LIM-49 Spartan, 1200 AGM-84 Harpoons, 2400 AGM-112

North American - Convair: 54 Puritan MRBM, 600 AGM-53 Condor, 240 AGM-130, 960 AGM-124 Wasps,

Northrop-Grumman: 32 Hercules LRBM, 1200 MIM-72 Reaper, 1000 Hellfire, 800 AGM-62 Walleyes

Raytheon:10000 FGM-77 Dragon, 2560 MIM-104 Patriot, 5000 FIM-92 Stinger MANPADs, 600 AIM-102 LRAAM

Textron: 400 AGM-45 Shrikes, 2800 AIM-96, 360 RGM-60 Taurus, 1200 MIM-146 ADATS

Vought: 300 MGM-52 Lance TBM, 120 Subroc, 1200 RIM-66/67 Standards, 64 ASM-135 ASAT

(Redstone Arsenal)
(Curtiss-Wright)
(Fairchild-Republic)
(General Atomics)
(REPCONN)
(Rockwell)
(Honeywell)
(Sperry)

Chemical Weapons
Pine Bluff AR
Blue Grass KY
Deseret UT
Edgewood MD


Ammunition and Equipment Depots
Sierra, CA Army Depot
Hawthorne, NV Army Depot
Seneca, NY Army Depot
Tobyhanna, PA Army Depot
Pawnee, IN Army Depot

Tooele, UT Army Ammunition Depot
McAlester, OK Army Ammunition Depot
Savanna, IL Army Ammunition Depot
Navajo, AZ Army Ammunition Depot
Harrisburg, PA Army Ammunition Depot

MRE Manufacturers

Hormel Foods (Austin, MN)
General Foods (Des Moines, IA)
U.S. Foods (Gotham, NJ)
Kraft Foods (Chicago, IL)
Burns Foodstuffs (Springfield, IN)

1: American Ordnance is an arms and ordnance conglomerate owned by General Electric.
2: United States Ordnance is a similar arms and ordnance conglomerate owned by US Steel.
3: General Defense Ordnance is a subsidiary of General Dynamics.
4: National Ordnance is a subsidiary of DuPont.

[Belushi TD]

Is the Hercules gunpowder company not a thing in DE, or are they not large enough to be noted?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hercules_Inc.

Thanks
Belushi TD

[Simon Darkshade]

The explosives and propellant factories are all GOCOs, so that at least one of the above is run by Hercules, based on a lovely little U.S. Army monograph which I used for my research.

I can link to it tomorrow night, for illustrative purposes, as it is on my PC, but short version is Hercules, DuPont and various others run them. In addition, there are civvie gunpowder and explosives facilities that would be mobilised in the event of crisis or war.

[Simon Darkshade]

A little bit of a coda on military production that will become clear in March 1976 and subsequently:

- The USN is starting to give some consideration to the DE equivalent of the CVV/Aircraft Carrier Medium, which wouldn’t be particularly medium by our standards! Here, a ‘medium’ aircraft carrier would be around the size of the United States class CVAs or a tad smaller, at 87,000t to their 96,000t. What is their purpose? Numbers, and namely making up for the retirement of the Essex class ships. Having a cheaper carrier for operations in the Middle East, Indian Ocean, Caribbean, South America and such is seen as a bonus
- A decision hasn’t been made yet, so the matter is being studied
- Another gap in needs seems to be opening up for a conventional multirole destroyer, or basically the DE equivalent to the niche of the Spruances. They won’t be without AA missiles, but would have fewer than the Nimitz class DDGs
- The slightly cheaper DD helps run up the numbers. Another big Western navy may be in a similar position
- Finally, if, as anticipated at some point, the current DE/DEG fleet of the USN is rebadged as FF/FFG, there is a little perceived niche for a fleet ASW vessel larger than a frigate and smaller than a fleet destroyer. There is some interest from Britain, Canada and Australia for potential cooperation in a new Destroyer Escort
- Why not simply have it as a frigate? Good question. Logic doesn’t always apply to naval nomenclature, and the DLG and DDG are distinct types already

[Simon Darkshade]

A sneaky sneak preview of March 1976:

March 1: A Strategic Air Command RC-135 and its RB-74 Condor and F-108 escorts on regular patrol over the South China Sea south of Taiwan encounter a hitherto unknown Chinese jet bomber, seemingly on a test flight. Several very long range pictures of the elusive aircraft, provisionally given the designation H-8, are taken, with the bomber being of a similar size to a B-52, having eight engines and possessing a large crescent wing in the manner of the older models of the Handley-Page Vengeance. Whilst a number of analysts question whether the revelation of the bomber was a deliberate by Imperial China, and if so, for what purpose, the official line presented by SAC is that this new development goes to show that U.S. efforts at bomber modernisation have even greater justification. The timetable of the development of the planned replacement of the B-52 Stratofortress continues to progress forward, with competing prototypes expected to fly in 1977; the replacement of the aging B-47 and B-58 medium bomber fleet with the new B-76 Liberators will be complete in the latter half of 1976; the new tranches of the B-70 Valkyrie and B-72 nuclear powered bomber are in production; the FB-111 programme for an intermediate bomber is in full swing; and the fielding of new ALCMs, ALBMs and SRAMs on the B-52 force is providing it with a new scope of life in strategic terms.

March 10: British Chancellor Denis Healey releases the Barton Labour government’s budget statement for this forthcoming election year, anticipating a surplus of £62,000 million on the back of increased VAT revenues from burgeoning domestic consumption and growing oil and gas output from the North Sea, whilst inflation remains steady at 1.79%. The defence and space budgets are to see noticeable rises, along with continued investment in computing engines, electronics, fusion power and infrastructure. The positive outlook is welcomed by both the Liberals and Conservatives, with a cautionary note, particularly from the Opposition, that the growth in the size of state spending, even if it is not directly derived from taxation, can arguably serve as a curb on the long term health of the nation's economy.

March 12: Defence contractors begin refurbishment of the chain of twelve naval and four army Maunsell Forts in the Thames Estuary, with the seaborne platforms being strengthened and reinforced in order to support new radars, missile batteries and laser ray guns. Should testing prove this programme to be successful and efficient, there are plans for its extension, initially around further strategic estuaries along the East Coast of England, extending the depth of shore based radar and missile defences in the face of the evolving threat from the Soviet Union's air and rocket forces. A secret long term option is in place for the positioning of a large Floating Fortress in the vicinity of the Dogger Bank, which is not without its critics in high echelons of the Admiralty and Air Ministry.

March 14: A Soviet Navy battlegroup based around the battlecruiser Kursk begins its passage from Djakarta through the Sunda Strait into the Indian Ocean moves, ahead of an exercise off the East Coast of Africa. The increasing Soviet forays into the Indian Ocean have increased some calls by some advocates for the acquisition of a number of new ‘Aircraft Carrier(s) Medium’ or CVVs to augment the hulking atomic supercarriers of the USN in such secondary and tertiary theatres; there is a similar school of thought being cultivated across the Atlantic by elements in the Admiralty, and initial discussions on some measure of possible cooperation have been fruitful.

March 17: The USAF begins a new programme for an attack bomber to replace the A-6 Intruder, separating from the USN's VAX programme due to diverging requirements, with the AB-X specification calling for a mission radius of 850 miles, a top speed of at least Mach 1.5 and a bombload of at least 24,000lb. It is intended that the aircraft compliment the current A-10 attack fighters in the ground attack role, but also be able to strike targets immediately beyond the battlefield airspace; some critics regard the entire notion of the attack bomber as obsolete in light of the F-111 and other long range strike planes, contending that USAFE commanders are perhaps a little over-bedazzled by the RAF's Buccaneers and Tornadoes, whereas other commentators regard the aircraft as filling a discernable role between fighter-bombers and longer ranged strike fighters, strike bombers and light bombers. An RCAF liaison officer is briefly hospitalised after biting his tongue too much during a briefing on the issue, later indicating, partly by mime, that the Canadair Swiftsure is apparently chopped liver, whilst his RAF counterpart mumbled something about 'replacing Canberra, again' before going out for a walk that may take some time. Whatever the outcome of the question of attack bombers, it comes at a pivotal time for aviation developments for the putative European theatre, with new aircraft being revealed recently by the Swedes, the French Rafale, the multirole fighter development of the de Havilland Tornado and BAC's next generation agile combat air superiority fighter-bomber.

March 19: A BBC Panorama special on the idyllic tropical life experienced by a number of recent winners of National Premium Savings Bonds who have migrated to the South Pacific Confederation leads to a rush of inquiries at the Colonial Office to be one of the 500 Britons per month selected for the South Pacific Assisted Passage and Settlement Scheme. The lush greenery, warm sunshine and apparent boundless opportunity of the South Seas as shown on the special seems to have struck a chord, with many relating to Liverpudlian Merchant Navy technician David Cloister’s dream of moving to Fiji, getting a sheep and a cow, and raising horses.

March 23: A disillusioned Japanese ultranationalist and part-time actor in sexploitation films, Mitsuyasu Maeno, enraged and outraged to the point of homicidal fury by mounting revelations of the Lockheed bribery scandal involving his one time idol Yoshio Kodama, rents two Lockheed Big Dipper light aircraft at Chofu Airport in Tokyo in the company of a brace of comrade, all whilst they are quite curiously dressed in the uniform and trappings of kamikaze pilots. The trio laugh off curious observations of the incongruity of their attire by saying that they will be engaging in filming a special action sequence for a film about the Special Attack Units. After taking off, the pair of aircraft gaily flit over Tokyo for the better part of an hour, gathering footage, before Maeno indicates that he had business to attend to in Setagaya, where they homed in on Kodama's residence and circle it twice. A local radio enthusiast inadvertently hears Maeno's broadcast of 'JA3551. Sorry I haven't replied in a long time. Tenno haika banzai!' before the plane is rammed into the second storey of Kodama's estate. Maeno is remarkably flung from his aircraft by the force of impact in what Toyko Police later claim to be a one in a million change, and lands in a patch of bonsaied giant stinking corpse triffids, where he expires from his injuries, whilst his aerial delivery of reckoning to Kodama results in him grievously burning his toes and other unspecified tricky extremities, and being carried off to an ambulance in a comfy blanket by his shocked bodyguards. The Director-General of Training of the Imperial Japanese Air Force, Air Marshal Ito, states that the attack was 'very skillful. I give him the highest marks on that score.'

[jemhouston]

Canberra is aircraft that got everything right at the right time.


It is one of my favorite aircraft.

[Bernard Woolley]

The Canberra was one of the greatest aircraft of all time. Whatever the TL is.

Will Cloister be taking his cat with him?

[Simon Darkshade]

Chaps, the Canberra here is a very late WW2 light jet bomber that was excellent for the 1940s, fine for the early 1950s, starting to show its age in the late 1950s and replaced in the early 1960s. Primarily a Korean War era bomber, with a useful coda in the 1956 War, but two generations ago as of 1976.

It is regarded very fondly as a great plane of its time, and a worthy replacement of the Mosquito in many roles, but probably not quite as highly as @, given that the story of British aircraft development isn’t dwindling as of the 1970s, but burgeoning.

Bernard, Mr. Cloister is indeed taking his cat and goldfish with him.

[Simon Darkshade]

A little coda/expansion on aircraft:

- The '(Must) Replace Canberra Again' is a wry reference to a nickname jocularly given to the early stage of the MRCA programme
- Here in Dark Earth, there isn't a need for Britain to replace the Canberra again, as it did it right the first time with the TSR-2
- Said TSR-2 is a different looking aircraft, with a swing wing and a larger size that makes it broadly analogous in those characteristics to the Backfire
- The Canberra here was very much regarded as the successor to the Mosquito, serving variously in light/tactical bomber, strike bomber, recce, pathfinder, intruder, interdiction, maritime strike, carrier based nuclear strike and even ground attack versions/marks
- The Supermarine Eagle TSR-2 can do many things, but not all of the above
- Canberra stuck around in the RAuxAF all through the 1960s and to this day (1976) on account of there being quite a lot of them, and fundamentally still useful aircraft, if dated

- The mainstay of the RAF in the late 1950s was:
- Hawker Siddeley P.1121 Merlin,
- de Havilland DH.127 Spectre, the
- Hawker-Siddeley P.1083 Hunter,
- Gloster Javelin P.376
- Fairey Delta (based on the historical Fairey Delta 2 and evolved into a proto Mirage III. It was followed by by the Fairey Delta II, which is the equivalent to our Fairey Delta 3)
- Supermarine Sunstar (an original fighter. It has the wing shape of the North American Aviation submission to the USAF FX project, two afterburning Rolls Royce Olympus turbojets with 29,500lbf each, a twin tail and a fuselage that looks similar to the historical Vickers Supermarine Type 583),
- Avro Arrow (Not the baseline Arrow, but a more advanced version roughly somewhere between the proposed Mark 2 and Mark 3 in performance. Very long range)
- English Electric Lightning (a larger fighter-interceptor with two Rolls-Royce RB.106 engines side by side, a solid nose with an advanced radar, and a rather larger wing. Something like the altered picture here https://hushkit.net/2013/02/01/the-ulti ... lightning/ with the larger wing and different engine positions

These are all reasonably recognisable, either being derived from real aircraft or paper projects. What happened after this in @ was the 1957 Defence White Paper and the resultant cascade of decisions on British manned aircraft projects which delivered the killing blow to the industry, with the last purely British tactical fighter type being the Harrier.

That does not occur here.

Thus, we have an entire new generation of planes for which there are far fewer real world analogues. These can be viewed as equivalent in some cases to the 'Third Generation' of Jet Fighters.

Replacing the Canberra in its other niches were a number of different aircraft. They take us on a bit of a journey through Dark Earth aircraft in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s

Strike
A.) The de Havilland Tornado, which is very, very similar to the AFVG, albeit without the French part, is the RAF's frontline strike fighter, entering service in 1965. As such, it is a bit 'hotter' than our MRCA/Tornado in terms of range, top speed and bomb load, but has a similar role to the IDS version of the same.

For the first 10 years of production and export sales, the Tornado has mainly been focused on the strike fighter/heavy fighter-bomber roles, but as of March, the first moves into a multirole/air superiority fighter version are occurring.

B.) Her sister aircraft is the Vickers Thunderbolt, a larger strike/interdiction bomber with a similar swing wing and a longer range. The Thunderbolt is very much in the class and role of our F-111, even if she is closer to the size of our FB-111H.

Attack
C.) The Hawker-Siddeley P.1154 Harrier fills the light ground attack fighter/FGA role, particularly in Germany, with its particular VSTOL characteristics being an interesting complicating factor.

D.) In the light ground attack bomber role, there is the Blackburn Buccaneer P.250, designed to go very low and very fast, or not quite as fast whilst carrying a lot of ordnance. Its presence in the RAF is the result of interservice politics and being in part forced by a rather micromanaging PM and Defence Minister

E.) The Gloster Lion is the British counterpart to the A-10 and the Su-25 in the shturmovík role. It is built around a very powerful 37mm M250 rotary cannon.

Fighter-Bomber
F.) The Hawker-Siddeley Phantom is the British Commonwealth licenced production version of the McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom, and its entry into British service was wrapped up in negotiations over Vietnam, quid pro quo aircraft sales, basing agreements and half a dozen other factors. By and large, it replaced the Spectre and the Hunter as the bulk grunt work tactical fighter of the RAF, and its very capable air superiority capabilities haven't been particularly utilised as much.

Why?

Because British aviation companies, having not missed out on Gen 3 jet fighters, were working on Gen 3.5 and Gen 4 designs in response to RAF and RN specifications for them backed up by real money. That has yielded the Hawker-Siddeley P.1204 Hurricane/F-16 equivalent, Supermarine Spitfire/F-15 equivalent, English Electric Super Lightning and Fairey Delta III.

In a weird bit of symmetry, the mid 1970s have seen Britain finally give in and buy a token number of F-111s from Boeing/Uncle Sugar, and arrange for licensed production. They are intended for limited use in the Med and Scandinavia (on the flanks) as very long range fighter-bombers. How that turns out will be seen.

Maritime Strike/Carrier Strike
G.) The RN Canberras were virtually all gone by 1958, when the first of the new generation of the FAA and RNAS's maritime strike planes entered service in the form of the Supermarine Excalibur. Looking like the result of a larger version of the Blackburn B.39 and the BAC Type 584 having kittens whilst the A-5 Vigilante sits next to the nest, licking its tail and looking strangely pleased, the Excalibur is to smaller carrier planes as the Mosquito was to the Hurricane - larger, longer ranged, more capable, more firepower and just more.

So, for the British at least, the Canberra has been replaced over the last 18 years by an intermediate generation of excellent planes, and now new aircraft/Gen 4 planes which leave them behind.

[Simon Darkshade]

March 1976
March 1: A Strategic Air Command RC-135 and its RB-74 Condor and F-108 escorts on regular patrol over the South China Sea south of Taiwan encounter a hitherto unknown Chinese jet bomber, seemingly on a test flight. Several very long range pictures of the elusive aircraft, provisionally given the designation H-8, are taken, with the bomber being of a similar size to a B-52, having eight engines and possessing a large crescent wing in the manner of the older models of the Handley-Page Vengeance. Whilst a number of analysts question whether the revelation of the bomber was a deliberate by Imperial China, and if so, for what purpose, the official line presented by SAC is that this new development goes to show that U.S. efforts at bomber modernisation have even greater justification. The timetable of the development of the planned replacement of the B-52 Stratofortress continues to progress forward, with competing prototypes expected to fly in 1977; the replacement of the aging B-47 and B-58 medium bomber fleet with the new B-76 Liberators will be complete in the latter half of 1976; the new tranches of the B-70 Valkyrie and B-72 nuclear powered bomber are in production; the FB-111 programme for an intermediate bomber is in full swing; and the fielding of new ALCMs, ALBMs and SRAMs on the B-52 force is providing it with a new scope of life in strategic terms.

March 2: Senator Robert F. Kennedy wins the Massachusetts Democratic primary, withstanding a very strong challenge from Senator Henry Jackson thanks to the formidable Kennedy political machine in Boston, the popularity of his younger brother Senator Edward Kennedy and the sprinkle of stardust supplied by the few targeted appearances by his elder brother, former President John F. Kennedy. The result represents an important rebound in momentum for Senator Kennedy, who has previously regarded New England as one of his heartlands of support.

March 3: French winegrowers in the Occitan town of Arquettes-en-Val protesting against the influx of cheaper Spanish, Italian and English wine clash with police, with the affray rapidly deteriorating into a full blown riot replete with an exchange of automatic gunfire and improvised explosive devices, resulting in the death of one local winegrower and one Gendarmerie officer. Order is restored by deployment of the Airmobile Reaction Force of the CRS, along with conciliatory statements by local politicians regarding the impact of national trade policy. Premier d’Ambreville sensibly decides not to visit the area, but makes a statement that France’s planned atomic and fusion powered revolution will see the energy costs of winegrowers fall by more than two thirds in the next decade and a half; current plans call for a total of 58 atomic plants (over a third being fusion powered) by the year 2000.

March 4: A number of new members are promoted to the Politburo, with Sergei Korolev, Nikolai Gerasimov, Dmitry Ustinov, Dmitri Kissoff, Grigoriy Romanov, Mikhail Sergetov and young Nikolai Ilyanov joining the body, along with the surprise return to favour of former Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and near forgotten veterans Lazar Kaganovich and Andrei Zhdanov. Sovietologists note that Vasily Stalin remains listed as a member, despite his putative stroke and subsequent allegedly disabled state, and following his first public appearance since 1966 last year.

March 5: TIME Magazine's cover story of Australia at 75 examines the development and progress of the Commonwealth over her first three quarters of a century, noting approvingly its economic development from a state that once 'rode on the sheep's back' and the considerable future potential of her resources and land, whilst also highlighting the extreme low level of population over much of the continent. A sub-story on Prime Minister Bob Hawke's defence modernisation and rearmament programme contends that the combination of nuclear missiles, over 1500 modern aircraft, a sophisticated fleet and an army of 300,000 make Australia the most powerful state in the Southern Hemisphere, a capacity that is magnified by her extremely close defence relationship with New Zealand.

March 6: Austro-Hungarian ski jumper Anton Innauer becomes the first man to jump over 600ft with his record-breaking 624ft jump at Oberstdorf in Germany, having previously set a world record with his gold medal winning effort at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck. A British judge obliquely mentions that there had been a report of a substantially longer jump, but that had not occurred under competition conditions, with the use of a parachute ruling it as inadmissible, before being hurried away by one of his compatriots who excused his strange comment as a result of his diet confining him to only a modest range of breakfast wines.

March 7: American, British and French commanders in Beirut report positive signs of general stabilisation in their ongoing intervention, with these being further supported by the deployment of field force sized contingents from Canada, Italy, Spain and Germany. It is planned that this Multinational Force will be sufficient to tamp down on the worse exigencies of communal violence as a circuit breaker for the Principality.
March 8: A large meteor shower in the Kirin Province of China sees several hundred large extraterrestrial rocks fall over an area of 200 square miles, with a number of them possessing exceptional size and seeming to give off an unknown signal when examined with special detection wands. Upon further examination, most of the meteors appear to be largely conventional in their elemental makeup, and most of the personnel involved in the investigation are released by the Imperial Guard, with only a very, very few taken away for further study at the special Imperial space facility in the Altun Shan after they exhibit temporary signs of possible contamination.

March 9: Governor James Carter wins the Florida Democratic primary, as expected given his Southern status, whilst Senator Henry Jackson barnstorms to a victory in the Illinois contest over a fast finishing Robert Kennedy. Amid these Democratic contests, the Reagan/Bush campaign releases a new advertisement, ‘Springtime in America’, showing upbeat imagery of positive life across America, interspersed with shots of spring emerging from winter and new construction.

March 10: British Chancellor Denis Healey releases the Barton Labour government’s budget statement for this forthcoming election year, anticipating a surplus of £62,000 million on the back of increased VAT revenues from burgeoning domestic consumption and growing oil and gas output from the North Sea, whilst inflation remains steady at 1.29%. The defence and space budgets are to see noticeable rises, along with continued investment in computing engines, electronics, fusion power and infrastructure. The positive outlook is welcomed by both the Liberals and Conservatives, with a cautionary note, particularly from the Opposition, that the growth in the size of state spending, even if it is not directly derived from taxation, can arguably serve as a curb on the long term health of the nation's economy.

March 11: Oil prospectors discover a new major oil and gas field off the coast of Palawan in the Philippines, sparking hopes for the type of boost to national development that petroleum reserves have granted Malaya. The potential source of growth is particularly seen as useful with the gradual draw down of US forces in and around Indochina as peace continues to hold there.

March 12: Defence contractors begin refurbishment of the chain of twelve naval and four army Maunsell Forts in the Thames Estuary, with the seaborne platforms being strengthened and reinforced in order to support new radars, missile batteries and laser ray guns. Should testing prove this programme to be successful and efficient, there are plans for its extension, initially around further strategic estuaries along the East Coast of England, extending the depth of shore based radar and missile defences in the face of the evolving threat from the Soviet Union's air and rocket forces. A secret long term option is in place for the positioning of a large Floating Fortress in the vicinity of the Dogger Bank, which is not without its critics in high echelons of the Admiralty and Air Ministry.

March 13: The USA wins the Third Test against New Zealand in Charleston by 1 wicket in a thrilling conclusion, making their unlikely target of 396/9 in the last over of the fifth day thanks to sterling batting efforts by Dutch Morgan with 83, Jack Ryan with 112, Billy Skyrowe with a courageous 78 despite multiple broken ribs and young towheaded Missouri allrounder Jonny Sawyer with an unbeaten 59*. The victory came despite the titanic performance of Kiwi Richard Hadlee, who took 7/93 to go with his 8/70 in the first innings and a magesterial unbeaten knock of 138. The victory continues the American effort to win every game in this bicentennial year.

March 14: A Soviet Navy battlegroup based around the battlecruiser Kursk begins its passage from Djakarta through the Sunda Strait into the Indian Ocean moves, ahead of an exercise off the East Coast of Africa. The increasing Soviet forays into the Indian Ocean have increased some calls by some advocates for the acquisition of a number of new ‘Aircraft Carrier(s) Medium’ or CVVs to augment the hulking atomic supercarriers of the USN in such secondary and tertiary theatres; there is a similar school of thought being cultivated across the Atlantic by elements in the Admiralty, and initial discussions on some measure of possible cooperation have been fruitful.

March 15: Letters sent simultaneously to 60 major newspapers across the United States by the enigmatically and Gallicly named Remuant Plaisantin claiming that the author has possession of both the secret formula for Coca-Cola and the 12 secret herbs and spices in Colonel Sanders’ recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken and will reveal them to the American public unless a list of bizarre demands are met. The Coca-Cola Company makes no official statement, but the board of directors does hold an emergency meeting to consider all possible options, including contracting mercenaries to neutralise the threat; one director suggests that, if that option is taken, the Company also carry out a preemptive strike against Pepsi, but this dramatic escalation of the Cola Wars is voted down for the time being. Colonel Sanders makes no comment publicly, but arranges for a special delivery to an estate in Memphis.

March 16: Italy’s economic boom appears to not only be continuing, but entering a new phase of further growth, driven by the banking sector, new electronics and computing engine production, and the combination of increased energy production from oil and gas fields across the South of Italy and favourable import deals from the burgeoning Libyan petroleum sector. The cumulative impact of favourable resource conditions and emergence of new technologies has been magnified by the stable political and social climate and low levels of corruption and crime.

March 17: The USAF begins a new programme for an attack bomber to replace the A-6 Intruder, separating from the USN's VAX programme due to diverging requirements, with the AB-X specification calling for a mission radius of 850 miles, a top speed of at least Mach 1.5 and a bombload of at least 24,000lb. It is intended that the aircraft compliment the current A-10 attack fighters in the ground attack role, but also be able to strike targets immediately beyond the battlefield airspace; some critics regard the entire notion of the attack bomber as obsolete in light of the F-111 and other long range strike planes, contending that USAFE commanders are perhaps a little over-bedazzled by the RAF's Buccaneers and Tornadoes, whereas other commentators regard the aircraft as filling a discernable role between fighter-bombers and longer ranged strike fighters, strike bombers and light bombers. An RCAF liaison officer is briefly hospitalised after biting his tongue too much during a briefing on the issue, later indicating, partly by mime, that the Canadair Swiftsure is apparently chopped liver, whilst his RAF counterpart mumbled something about 'replacing Canberra, again' before going out for a walk that may take some time. Whatever the outcome of the question of attack bombers, it comes at a pivotal time for aviation developments for the putative European theatre, with new aircraft being revealed recently by the Swedes, the French Rafale, the multirole fighter development of the de Havilland Tornado and BAC's next generation agile combat air superiority fighter-bomber.

March 18: Kentucky formally ratifies the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution on the abolition of slavery, some 110 years after it had entered into effect during President Lincoln’s triumphant second term. The measure is passed unanimously by the state house and Senate before being signed into law by Governor Harland Sanders Jr. at the Governor’s Mansion in Frankford.

March 19: A BBC Panorama special on the idyllic tropical life experienced by a number of recent winners of National Premium Savings Bonds who have migrated to the South Pacific Confederation leads to a rush of inquiries at the Colonial Office to be one of the 500 Britons per month selected for the South Pacific Assisted Passage and Settlement Scheme. The lush greenery, warm sunshine and apparent boundless opportunity of the South Seas as shown on the special seems to have struck a chord, with many relating to Liverpudlian Merchant Navy technician David Cloister’s dream of moving to Fiji, getting a sheep and a cow, and raising horses.

March 20: CIA agents in the Congo report that an increased number of formal Soviet advisors attached to the Armée Nationale Congolaise, as well as the considerable presence of unofficial agents of influence. A recommendation is made to consider an increase in the number of US advisors in the quasi-autonomous province of Katanga, along with an increase in flight operations by the African branch of Air America, particularly in the light of apparent tactical setbacks experienced by Portuguese forces in Angola.

March 21: Former LAPD detective Charles Townsend, now forced into an unwilling retirement due to internal politics, recruits four new graduates of the women's course at the Police Academy - meter maid Sabrina Duncan, receptionist Jill Monroe, crossing guard Kelly Garrett and junior matron Clara Pilsky - to work for him as private investigators, acting upon the recommendation of his penpals John Steed and Colonel E. Chestbridge. The first case assigned to 'Charlie’s Angels' was an undercover investigation into suspected machinations at a high society restaurant in Hollywood, where, with the aid of vacationing Miami PD detective Kung Fury, they uncover the chef's nefarious plan to sell rib steaks to poor unsuspecting customers and charge them exorbitantly for an ostentatiously large portion of bone as a cover for laundering cash for opium smugglers, and successfully hand over the wretches to the grateful Captain Joe Friday and Lieutenant Bill Gannon.

March 22: A joint study by the Ministry of Health, HM Treasury and the Home Office is published, showing the apparent success to date of a raft of pro-natalist policies, tax allowances, education campaigns and incentive payments, with the projected national total fertility rate increasing in 1975/76 to 3.67 and the birth rate to 25.6 per thousand. It remains to be seen if this is a momentary statistical anomaly or a longer term shift in the trend. Some aspects of general population data are not completely precise in the period between censuses (although it is hoped that new computer systems will resolve this issue over the coming years), but it appears as if the voluntary repatriation programme is receiving greater uptake from the Indian immigrant population as compared to the West Indian populace at this time. Net migration from Britain remains a strong factor in the growth and demographic development of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, amongst other locations in the Commonwealth.

March 23: A disillusioned Japanese ultranationalist and part-time actor in sexploitation films, Mitsuyasu Maeno, enraged and outraged to the point of homicidal fury by mounting revelations of the Lockheed bribery scandal involving his one time idol Yoshio Kodama, rents two Lockheed Big Dipper light aircraft at Chofu Airport in Tokyo in the company of a brace of comrade, all whilst they are quite curiously dressed in the uniform and trappings of kamikaze pilots. The trio laugh off curious observations of the incongruity of their attire by saying that they will be engaging in filming a special action sequence for a film about the Special Attack Units. After taking off, the pair of aircraft gaily flit over Tokyo for the better part of an hour, gathering footage, before Maeno indicates that he had business to attend to in Setagaya, where they homed in on Kodama's residence and circle it twice. A local radio enthusiast inadvertently hears Maeno's broadcast of 'JA3551. Sorry I haven't replied in a long time. Tenno haika banzai!' before the plane is rammed into the second storey of Kodama's estate. Maeno is remarkably flung from his aircraft by the force of impact in what Toyko Police later claim to be a one in a million change, and lands in a patch of bonsaied giant stinking corpse triffids, where he expires from his injuries, whilst his aerial delivery of reckoning to Kodama results in him grievously burning his toes and other unspecified tricky extremities, and being carried off to an ambulance in a comfy blanket by his shocked bodyguards. The Director-General of Training of the Imperial Japanese Air Force, Air Marshal Ito, states that the attack was 'very skillful. I give him the highest marks on that score.'

March 24: The German Army issues a requirement for a new main battle tank for the 1980s to succeed their current generation of Leopards, with the vehicle of at least 60 tons to be capable of overmatching current and projected Soviet vehicles, be protected by advanced composite armour, carry a main gun of at least 125mm with compatible ammunition with the United States, Great Britain and France and have superior speed and mobility to foreign competition. It is intended for the development of the vehicle to be carried out in parallel with the construction of new armoured vehicle manufacturing facilities, so that productive capacity is ready by 1980/81 to begin to theoretically deliver over 200 tanks a month.

March 25: Publication of a White Paper on the future of the Royal Indian Navy, outlining projections for the production and entry into service of at least six new aircraft carriers by the year 2000, along with new indigenously designed classes of cruisers and destroyers and the ambitious goal of building India's first completely indigenous super battleship. The projected fleet is to grow steadily, with an initial procurement level of half an escort flotilla each year until 1980 to be followed by an increased rate of construction as a major new naval shipyards at Cochin and Waltair to join current facilities in Bombay, Karachi, Calcutta and Madras. India is to acquire a number of atomic submarines from Britain in order to train and familiarise its submarine forces with the particular exigencies of nuclear propulsion, along with officers being detached to the RAN and RCN for experience in the type.

March 26: Opening of the Bethesda Station of the new Washington Metro, the deepest such station in the system to date, and possessing the longest escalator in the Western Hemisphere. It represents the completion of the first stage of the deeper level expansion of existing D.C. subway links to provide for faster and more efficient transport around the nation's capital and its suburban environs, with the system eventually to cover 164 stations across the Red, White and Blue Lines. Designer of the Bethesda Station, Mr. T. Howard, plays down reports of a man riding a horse along the walls, stating that 'All of this just works.'

March 27: 14 year old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci records the first ever perfect 10 from a U.S. judging panel at the American Cup gymnastics competition at Madison Square Garden, impressing all observers and marking her as a prodigal talent to keep an eye on during this year’s Summer Olympics, also to be held in New York City. In the aftermath of the day’s competition, NYPD detectives come across a curious incident in the parking garage, involving a headless body, a power surge and signs of a sword fight; they subsequently put the event down to a suicide due to frustration with the general standard of the gymnastics competition.

March 28: Polish engineer and sailor Krystyna Chojnowska-Liskiewicz sets out from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic in her sloop Mazurek, aiming to be the first woman and fourteenth person after Joseph Slocum to singlehandedly sail around the entire world. Her planned route is to take her to Barbados, then through the Panama Canal to the Pacific, onto Tahiti and Fiji before rounding Australia, going to the Cape of Good Hope via Mauritius and then returning to Las Palmas. Whilst such solo voyages are seen as less dangerous in the era of radio communications and the extirpation of the megalodon, her daring voyage still captures a great deal of global attention. Chojnowska-Liskiewicz‘s departure is given a particularly rousing reception by the 24th Destroyer Flotilla of the Royal Navy, steaming south for Ascension and the Falklands as part of Exercise Guildhall, alongside Eagle, Invincible, St. George, Hood, five cruisers and eighteen further destroyers.

March 29: The 48th Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, with The Star Wars winning Best Picture over Jaws, Conan the Barbarian, The Wind and the Lion and The Man Who Would Be King. George Lucas wins Best Director, Isabelle Adjani wins Best Actress for The Story of Adele H, Robert Shaw wins Best Supporting Actor and Arnold Schwarzenegger is a surprise but universally popular choice as Best Actor, showing off his mastery of accents in his joyous acceptance speech.

March 30: A gang of five heavily armed robbers attempt to hijack a Brinks armoured car outside of the Royal Bank of Canada in Montreal, and successfully subdue the driver. Unfortunately for their criminal future, their raid coincides with the entire 2nd Battalion of the Royal Canadian Guards being one street away at Montreal Central Station, entraining en route to Quebec City for pre-deployment exercises. When faced with hundreds of heavily armed soldiers rushing to surround them, the hapless gang decides that surrender just might be their most sensible course of action.

March 31: The first episode of a new 24 part BBC television adaption of Sir Winston Churchill's The Second World War, From War to War, is broadcast, featuring a special introduction by the Duke of London himself and detailing the events of 1919-1938. It includes restored and colourised archival footage, special computerised graphics and maps to illustrate the shifting flows of geopolitics, alliances and frontlines and outline the deployment and order of battle of different forces and interviews with a range of politicians, military men, historians and other witnesses to history; Churchill, Lord Harcourt, Field Marshal Montgomery, Air Marshal Bigglesworth, the Earl of Avon, Lord Butler, Sir Charles Ratcliffe, Lawrence of Arabia, Earl Mountbatten, Admiral Fraser, General Eisenhower, Marshal de Gaulle. Lord Wooster and Sir Robert Menzies are interviewed for the first episode. Initial reactions are positive, with an estimated television audience of 29.8 million putting it only behind England's World Cup victories, the coverage of the 1956 War, the Royal Weddings of Prince Charles and Princess Victoria and Princess Anne and Prince Christian, Sir Charles Ratcliffe's episode of This is Your Life and the debut of The World at War.

[Bernard Woolley]

Spotted quite a few entertaining and amusing Easter Eggs in the latest instalment. Nice work.

[Simon Darkshade]

I got on a bit of a roll with them in this month.

There will be a few more for Easter itself in April, including the traditional April 1 event, but I’m pretty proud of some of these. I’ll be surprised if all of them get picked up.

[jemhouston]

I have a large smile on my face after reading this.

[Jotun]

Loved the Highlander reference, including the sarcastic verbal middle finger McLeod gave the cops about it being a suicide because of frustration with the show.

Speaking of Oscars. Will Das Boot make an appearance?

[Simon Darkshade]

Loved the Highlander reference, including the sarcastic verbal middle finger McLeod gave the cops about it being a suicide because of frustration with the show.

Speaking of Oscars. Will Das Boot make an appearance?

Thanks Jotun, glad you liked it. The Highlander sequence wrote itself after realising where the competition took place, with the MacLeod/Nash line to the cops being their chosen explanation in this world at this time.

Das Boot will be making an appearance in a couple of years, with some slightly different plot points, including more of a trip towards US waters.

[Simon Darkshade]

I have a large smile on my face after reading this.

Thanks Jem. I tried to balance the storyline events with technical development signposting and then worked in some elements of humour and Easter Eggs into some of the more mundane historical events of that March.

[Jotun]

Loved the Highlander reference, including the sarcastic verbal middle finger McLeod gave the cops about it being a suicide because of frustration with the show.

Speaking of Oscars. Will Das Boot make an appearance?

Thanks Jotun, glad you liked it. The Highlander sequence wrote itself after realising where the competition took place, with the MacLeod/Nash line to the cops being their chosen explanation in this world at this time.

Das Boot will be making an appearance in a couple of years, with some slightly different plot points, including more of a trip towards US waters.

So the Old Man might be based on Reinhard Hardegen rather than Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock?

[Simon Darkshade]

The general character will be the same HLW, but the novel and then film script will meld the second patrol of U-123* with the seventh one of U-96*.

I asterisked the numbers of the boats above, as the DE war records are somewhat different due to earlier attrition.

[Simon Darkshade]

1976 Statistics

1976/77 Largest GDPs
1.) USA: $16,140,135,504,485 (+ 9.26%)
2.) USSR: $7,548,647,674,728 (+ 7.34%)
3.) Japan: $7,244,846,552,775 (+ 9.42%)
4.) Germany: $6,956,857,681,687 (+ 6.95%)
5.) Britain: $6,657,937,753,103 (+ 7.82%)
6.) France: $4,662,537,712,097 (+ 10.38%)
7.) Canada: $2,893,775,018,577 (+ 5.57%)
8.) India: $2,828,491,039,582 (+ 4.89%)
9.) China: $2,580,051,735,842 (+ 5.42%)
10.) Italy: $2,354,085,815,978 (+ 8.81%)
11.) Brazil: $1,939,587,848,061 (+ 6.43%)
12.) AH: $1,893,316,322,176 (+ 9.54%)
13.) Benelux: $1,501,106,637,259 (+ 5.87%)
14.) Spain: $1,380,239,291,232 (+ 7.91%)
15.) Australia: $1,357,861,472,887 (+ 9.95%)
16.) Argentina: $1,329,275,578,575 (+ 10.29%)
17.) Mexico: $1,226,701,743,455 (+ 8.56%)
18.) Ottoman Turkey: $979,262,571,343 (+ 11.57%)
19.) South Africa: $945,524,937,151 (+ 9.94%)
20.) Sweden: $909,210,586,117 (+ 6.24%)

1976/77 Largest Populations
1.) China: 1,296,534
2.) India: 842,912,739
3.) Soviet Union: 435,162,525
4.) USA: 397,239,847
5.) Indonesia: 312,045,422
6.) Japan: 289,511,983
7.) Germany: 214,225,956
8.) Brazil: 215,879,300
9.) Mexico: 179,014,925
10.) Britain: 166,524,759
11.) France: 162,073,256
12.) Austria-Hungary: 144,017,592

1976/77 Share of World Industrial Output
1.) USA: 21.9%
2.) Japan: 15.5%
3.) Soviet Union: 12.4%
4.) Germany: 11.9%
5.) Britain: 9.4%
6.) China: 5.5%
7.) India 5.3%
8.) France: 5.1%
9.) Canada: 4.3%
10.) Italy: 2.8%
11.) Austria-Hungary: 2.6%
12.) Benelux: 0.9%

1976/77 Defence Spending
1.) USA: $1,614,013,550,448 (10%)
2.) Soviet Union: $1,132,297,151,209 (15%)
3.) Britain: $649,148,930,927/£37,094,224,624 (9.75%)
4.) Germany: $500,893,753,081 (7.2%)
5.) Japan: $492,649,565,589 (6.8%)
6.) France: $442,941,082,649 (9.5%)
7.) China: $335,406,725,659 (13%)
7.) Canada: $245,970,876,579/£14,055,478,662 (8.5%)
8.) India: $220,622,301,087 (7.8%)
9.) Italy: $174,202,350,382 (7.4%)
10.) Austria-Hungary: $164,718,520,029 (8.7%)
11.) Brazil: $114,435,683,036 (5.9%)
12.) Spain: $103,517,946,842 (7.5%)
13.) Australia: $103,197,471,939/£5,896,998,396 (7.6%)
14.) Argentina: $99,695,668,393 (7.5%)

1976 Steel Production (millions of tons)
1.) Japan 283
2.) USA 264
3.) USSR 243
4.) Germany 150
5.) Britain: 112
6.) China: 102
7.) India 96
8.) AH: 85
9.) Poland 80
10.) France 72
11.) Canada 67

1976 Coal Production (millions of tons)
1.) USSR: 823
2.) USA: 804
3.) China: 715
4.) Britain: 698
5.) Germany: 687
6.) Poland: 642
7.) Austria-Hungary: 569
8.) India: 554
9.) Australia: 378
10) France: 362
11.) South Africa: 329

1976 Oil Production (Thousands of bbl/day)
1.) USA: 20,534
2.) Arabia: 19,891
3.) USSR: 17,482
4.) Persia: 11,765
5.) Iraq: 9588
6.) Trucial States: 6047
7.) Canada: 5835
8.) Kuwait: 4674
9.) Venezuela: 4325
10.) Britain 4062
11.) Mexico: 3894

1976 Wheat Production (millions of tons)
1.) USA: 229
2.) USSR: 149
3.) Canada: 132
4.) India: 128
5.) Australia: 114
6.) China: 104
7.) Argentina: 92
8.) France: 81
9.) Britain: 79
10.) Germany: 74
11.) Austria-Hungary: 72
12.) Italy: 54
13.) Turkey: 49
14.) Spain: 47
15.) Poland: 41

1976 Barley Production (millions of tons)
1.) USSR: 94.2
2.) Australia: 47.3
3.) Canada: 42.5
4.) Germany: 32.6
5.) France: 30.8
6.) Britain: 29.6
7.) Argentina: 22.3
8.) Spain: 21.1
9.) USA: 20.5
10.) Turkey: 15.9
11.) Poland: 14.6
12.) Austria-Hungary: 13.2

1976 Potato Production (millions of tons)
1.) USSR: 173
2.) India: 102
3.) China: 91
4.) USA: 89
5.) Britain: 67
6.) Germany: 64
7.) Canada: 58
8.) France: 53
9.) Poland: 49
10.) Peru: 36
11.) Turkey: 34
12.) Netherlands: 32
13.) Persia: 25

1976 Corn Production (millions of tons)
1.) USA: 344
2.) USSR: 148
3.) Brazil: 120
4.) China: 105
5.) Argentina: 95
6.) Canada: 88
7.) India: 68
8.) Mexico: 60
9.) Indonesia: 42
10.) Romania: 37
11.) France: 36
12.) Australia: 32

1976 Automobile Production
1.) Japan: 16,853,227
2.) USA: 15,072,949
3.) Germany: 9,870,175
4.) Britain: 6,259,834
5.) France: 5,737,821
6.) Italy: 4,993,594
7.) Canada: 4,811,933
8.) Austria-Hungary: 4,126,790
9.) USSR: 3,742,829
10.) Mexico: 3,297,574
11.) Spain: 2,825,276

1976 Merchant Shipbuilding
1.) Japan: 47,560,482 tons
2.) Britain: 32,617,925 tons
3.) USA: 28,772,068 tons
4.) Korea: 10,012,337 tons
5.) Germany: 5,985,104 tons
6.) France: 3,906,752 tons
7.) Italy: 2,853,378 tons
8.) Canada: 2,472,839 tons
9.) USSR: 1,652,447 tons
10.) Sweden: 1,562,900 tons
11.) Poland: 1,400,837 tons

1976 Motorcycle Production
1.) Japan: 3,267,548
2.) USA: 2,914,233
3.) Italy: 2,007,678
4.) France: 1,762,890
5.) Britain: 1,689,236
6.) Germany: 1,544,379
7.) Canada: 1,237,884
8.) China: 1,222,039
9.) Soviet Union: 1,183,625
10.) India: 975,662
11.) Mexico: 813,755

1976 Civil Aircraft Production
1.) USA: 24,629
2.) Soviet Union: 12,993
3.) Britain: 8625
4.) France: 5987
5.) China: 4752
6.) Germany: 4269
7.) Canada: 3976
8.) Japan: 2851
9.) India: 2049
10.) Italy: 1826
11.) Austria-Hungary: 1243

1976 Military Aircraft Production
1.) USSR: 7027
2.) USA: 6982
3.) Britain: 3642
4.) China: 2816
5.) Germany: 1324
6.) France: 1208
7.) Japan: 1075
8.) Canada: 1052
9. ) India: 990
10.) Italy: 674
11.) Austria-Hungary: 662

(Includes fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, trainers and support aircraft)

1976 Tank Production
1.) USSR: 14,258
2.) USA: 6542
3.) China: 4395
4.) Britain: 4278
5.) Germany: 2255
6.) France: 1987
7.) Canada: 1379
8.) Japan: 1290
9.) India: 1250
10.) Italy: 1219
11.) Austria-Hungary: 1105

(Includes tanks, specialist variants and tank based armoured vehicles; for some countries, it includes the refurbishment or significant modernisation of existing tanks)