Ak 5

The Ak 5 or Automatkarbin 5 ("automatic carbine 5", "automatic carbine" being the Swedish term for assault rifle) is the Swedish version of the FN FNC assault rifle with certain modifications, mostly to adapt the weapon to the Swedish climate. The Ak 5 is the service rifle of the Swedish Armed Forces. The Ak 5 replaced the Ak 4 (a licensed-produced version of the Heckler & Koch G3) in Swedish service. Later versions also accept the Colt M203 grenade launcher attachment. The current standard issue version is the Ak 5C.

History

In the mid-1970s, despite the failure of the Nytt infanterivapen (New Infantry Weapon) program, the Swedish Armed Forces decided to continue to follow the general transition towards smaller calibre ammunition and directed the FMV (Defence Materiel Administration) to procure a suitable replacement for the Ak 4 capable of using 5.56×45mm NATO ammunition, which under STANAG 4172 is a standard cartridge for NATO forces as well as many non-NATO countries. The weapon was required to be highly reliable in the near-arctic climate of northernmost Sweden, as well as being easy to handle and maintain, while meeting a certain minimum level of accuracy.

USS Gulfport (AK-5)

USS Gulfport (AK-5) was a cargo ship acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.

Acquiring a captured German freighter

Gulfport, formerly SS Locksun, ex-SS Andree Rickmers, was built at Bremerhaven, Germany, in 1902 by Rickmers Aktien Ges. and was owned by the German Norddeutscher Lloyd Steamship Lines Co. In Pearl Harbor when the United States entered World War I, she was seized by Government orders and converted to a cargo transport at the Honolulu Navy Yard. She commissioned 1 September 1917 at Honolulu, Lt. Comdr. P. F. Johnson, USNR, in command.

World War I North Atlantic operations

In company with four submarines, Gulfport sailed from Hawaii on 30 October 1917, reaching New York 28 January 1918 via San Diego, California, Corinto, Nicaragua, Balboa, Key West, Florida, and Norfolk, Virginia. At New York she discharged her cargo, primarily pineapple, and was attached to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service.

Post-war operations

Until she decommissioned in 1922, Gulfport served as a cargo ship linking New York and Charleston with various Caribbean ports, particularly Guantanamo, Cuba; St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Port-au-Prince, Haiti; and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. During this period she made a total of 23 round trips to the West Indies, carrying oil and other necessary supplies to American troops based there and frequently returning with a cargo of sugar from the islands. Gulfport was detached from NOTS on 10 October 1919 and placed under the military jurisdiction of the Commandant, 6th Naval District, Charleston, for duty in the West Indies Freight Service.