The Sand Pebbles -- More Gun Goofiness

[230RN]

I read the book in about late 1950s. Never saw the movie. My favorite line was when Holman first boarded and went down to the engine room to look over the old triple-expansion engine.

"Hello, engine," he said.

Bespeaks of the connection men have with machines.

Hello, gun.

 

[Cannonball888]

I saw The Sand Pebbles in the theater when it was released but was too young to remember it or to appreciate it. I now have it on DVD. Great flick. I like the scenes with the Springfield '03 and the BAR.

 

[revjen45]

Watched it yesterday with this thread in mind. I may have missed the specific scene in the original post, but the only autopistols I saw the Navy personnel using were M1911s.

 

[Roswell 1847]

I just remembered. The US Navy had its own variant of the 1811 made up by Colt around 1927. These were only used as target pistols as far as I know.
The Navy .45 target model had a passive firing pin block or lock that only disengaged it the trigger was pulled all the way. This allowed lighter trigger pulls with reduced possibility of doubling.
It may have been used by Colt in one or more of the later Commercial 1911 design upgrades, seems to me that it was.
I don't think the firing pin lock pistols were issued for combat though.

 

[Joe Demko]

I read the book not too long ago. The firearms references all seemed technically and historically accurate. The couple action scenes are well done; but the movie and book are really about the "society" that has formed aboard the San Pablo and how Holman upsets the uneasy equilibrium between the Americans and the Chinese. I haven't seen a movie as thought-provoking in a long, long time.

 

[Deanimator]

I would expect it to be a 1911, of course, but really, in 1926 I'm kind of thinking it would have been more likely to be a revolver?

In 1926, the M1911 was the standard sidearm of the US Navy. M1917 Colt and S&W revolvers were second-line issue.

 

[Joe Demko]

Forgot to mention: Even though the BAR is the "starring gun" in the movie, the San Pablo also has two Lewis guns...and I do love me some Lewis guns.

 

[Bart Noir]

Back to the cutlass....

And that is most certainly not "cut-less"

I found this:

From the Korean War comes a story of an American engineers' battalion which was being overrun at Inchon. Forced to fight with whatever came to hand, an NCO took his by-then ceremonial side-arm, a cutlass, and despatched one of the enemy.

at this site, but had heard of this before from some magazine article. Must have been a SeaBee who had the cutlass.

http://www.defence.gov.au/news/NAVYNEWS/EDITIONS/2000/05_29_00/story19.htm

Bart Noir

 

[Cosmoline]

They did pretty darn good with realism in that film in general, so I'd be surprised if it was a BHP instead of a WWI era Colt 1911. I remember seeing an article in Shotgun News awhile back about the firearms and weapons of the China fleet, and it reflected what was in the film. It's a fantastic movie in general, and has been re-issued and re-mastered in its full "roadshow" glory.

 

[Old Dog]

I'm in full agreement with Cosmoline. A superb movie, and the realism in The Sand Pebbles represents what Hollywood can achieve if only all filmmakers were as diligent ...

 

[CWL]

A great movie capturing the end of colonialism and the rise of nationalism. While Americans thought they were keeping the peace -there were no 'good guys' or 'bad guys' (how would we Americans like it if Chinese gunboats sailed the Mississippi and enforced China laws?)

The American forces tended to use whatever weapons were readily available to deal with local hostiles; river/coastal pirates where quite common during those times and there certainly was no lack of edged weapons still being used by all parties involved.

 

[Zeke/PA]

Hey!!!
Nobody mentioned Candice Bergan in the movie.
Wasn't she a sweetheart?
ZEKE

 

[Cosmoline]

would we Americans like it if Chinese gunboats sailed the Missippi and enforced China laws?

About as much as the Confederate States liked it.

 

[Wolfgang2000]

I've seen pictures of Marines carrying the cutlass during the Pacific campaigns. I believe the pictures were in an old Cold steel catalog.

 

[CletusFudd]

I remember marching in a parade with a boarding cutlass in Navy boot camp in 1968. I also remember practicing Repel Boarders. Arrrh!

 

[pete f]

in repelling boarders, one of the most important things to do even today is cut away any lines that have been attached to your vessel by the enemy as well as getting the vessel underway, which can mean cutting away mooring lines, I just keep an estwing ax under the cover of the port lazerette. I have only used it once, but that was when the boat next to me went up in flames while docked up, no time to stand in the heat and untie, it was chop the lines and float away.

I would assume that the Navy operating a shallow water fleet in china would have felt the most likely threat to be boarders coming by small boat. Yes, a cutlass would be very apropos.

 

[Avenger]

Sorry to semi-hijack the thread, but are Marine Corp dress sabres made of weapon-quality steel, or just mild or spring steel? Does the cavalry still issue sabres for their ceremonial troops? I seem to recall ranks of men practicing sabre drill from when my dad was at Ft. Knox in the 80s, but it may well have been something else.

 

[jrhines]

The Corpsman cutlass...

...was called a bolo, like this one.