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The Hall PH flying boat was a development of the Naval Aircraft Factory PN-11. The initial XPH-1 first flew in December 1929. The US Navy ordered nine PH-1s which equipped VP-8 from 1932.

The PH-1 was replaced by the Consolidated PBY-1 Catalina in 1937.

In 1936 the US Coast Guard ordered seven PH-2s. These were similar to the PH-1 but with more powerful 750 hp Wright R-1820F-51 engines. Armament was omitted on the PH-2. In 1939, an additional seven PH-3s were ordered. These added an enclosed cockpit for the pilot and re-instated the armament.

Charlevoix, Michigan A small USCG boat makes its way under the raised US 31 Island Lake Outlet Bridge. The channel one sees here was dredged in 1870 to connect Lake Charlevoix with Lake Michigan. It is also known as the Pine River Channel.

This double-leaf bascule lift bridge, completed in 1949, is the fifth iteration to span the gap at this location. It goes up every hour and half-hour during the summer to let boats make their way to the “big lake” as we call in in these parts.

A series of interesting photos which were made during the Joint US-Canadian exercise "Northern Edge" in March 2001. "Northern Edge" was part of a long row of joint military exercises which were held in the far North of the United States, mainly Alaska for decades. During the Cold War such exercises had the major goal to prepare and train US and Canadian forces to defeat a possible "invasion" of Soviet Forces into Alaska. To read such words creates directly the imagination of a kind of full scale invasion like in the Computer Game "Command & Conquer Red Alert 2" or the iconic movie "Red Dawn". Much more possible would have been the penetration of US and Canadian airspace by Soviet aircraft of smaller Commando raids, also with Airborne Forces. To be prepared for all of such cases both Nations held dozens of large exercises in Alaska during the Cold War era.

But during the 1990s the situation changed in a major way. After the end of the Cold War, the major threat in the East, the USSR vanished. Russia became a kind of "nice neighbor" during the 1990s and early 2000s and was replaced step by step by a new major threat. International Terrorism. Interestingly "Northern Edge" in 2001 was not mainly designed as an Anti Terrorist exercise and kept it`s main military character.

The main objectives of the exercise were topics like securing of important ports in the exercise area, coastal operations by the US Coast Guard, training jumps into simulated enemy held areas in the Alaskan wilderness and the defense of cities alongside the coast. So yes, the US and Canada still prepared for possible Commando Raids into Alaska. Recall that as "Northern Edge" was held in March 2001, nobody ever thought that a direct terrorist attack in any significat size on US soil was possible. That changed of course few months later, but in March 2001 US and Canadian Forces focused on other topics.

The exercise included over 10.000 soldiers from the US and Canada, including several units of the Alaskan National Guard, the US Coast Guard, US and Canadian Air Force and Navy and supporting units. One photo shows also the US Amphibious Dock Ship USS "Ogden" at the port of Ketchikan, a city located in the far South of Alaska, close to the Border to Canada. The USS "Ogden" supported US and Canadian Operations during the exercise in a major way.

The US Coast Guard has held a week-long hearing into the Titan submersible tragedy, which resulted in the deaths of all five aboard during a deep-sea dive to the Titanic wreck. Investigators aim to determine the cause of the implosion and to prevent future similar incidents. Here are the key takeaways from the first week of hearings:

1. Crew's Final Words: "All Good Here" The last message sent by the crew of the Titan submersible was a brief "All good here." The message was relayed roughly an hour into their descent to the Titanic wreck at 3,346 meters, after which communication was lost. Despite patchy communication, no immediate issues were reported before the tragedy.

2. Witness Recalls the Crew’s Final Moments Renata Rojas, a mission specialist on the surface vessel, recalled the last moments with the crew as they smiled and prepared for their dive. She testified about the emotional shock of losing contact with the sub and described the mission as risky but not unsafe.

3. Whistleblower: Tragedy Was "Inevitable" David Lochridge, a former operations director at OceanGate, revealed that he had raised safety concerns in 2018, years before the accident. He testified that OceanGate overlooked critical issues, such as the use of carbon fiber in the sub's construction, which he believed made the disaster inevitable.

4. New Footage of Titan Wreckage Newly released footage from a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) shows the Titan submersible wreckage scattered on the ocean floor. The footage includes debris like wires, gauges, and parts of the vessel, providing a visual confirmation of the damage.

5. Leading Sub Manufacturer: Titan "Not Ready for Primetime" Patrick Lahey, CEO of Triton, a leading submersible manufacturer, criticized Titan's design and safety measures. After touring the vessel, he expressed concern over its build quality, calling it "amateur-ish" and said it wasn’t sufficiently developed for such deep-sea missions.