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1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 20 – Guadalcanal – Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands: Discussion
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 20 (2/2) Who won? As the two navies carrier battle groups retreated from the fourth and last carrier battle of 1942, the Japanese by multiple metrics could be judged to have won the day. Both sides were damaged greatly in similar manner, but for the Japanese, in a singular way that would be unrecoverable and thereby fatal when next Japanese and American carriers dueled – their experienced squadron and section leadership was decimated. What Price Victory? American observers take a variety of positions on the outcome at Santa Cruz. Marine General Vandegrift termed the battle [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 19 – Guadalcanal – Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 19 (1/2) On the morning of 26 October, during the attack on the Enterprise, Task Force 61 Commander Admial Thomas Kinkaid remarked with pardonable hyperbole to AP correspondent Eugene Burns: “You’re seeing the greatest carrier duel of history. Perhaps it will never happen again.” John Hamilton’s depiction of fighting around the battleship South Dakota and carrier Enterprise during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. We come now to the fourth and final carrier battle of 1942, what the Japaneses referred to as the Battle of the South Pacific. Yet despite the task force commander’s [...]
Testimony of Pilot (19): Chapter 3 Ending -Such Men and Women
Testimony of Pilot# 19 “… They leave this tiny ship and fly against the enemy. Then they must seek the ship, lost somewhere on the sea. And when they find it, they have to land upon its pitching deck. Where did we get such men?” As the closing post in testimony’s Chapter 3 – Where did we get such men? – the purpose is first, to add to the collection a fairly well traveled but I think spot on piece The Fighter Pilot, by an unknown – obviously Air Force – author;and second, to provide some discussion of the characterization [...]
Testimony of Pilot (18): Eulogy For a Fighter Pilot
Testimony of Pilot# 18 They do tell stories about fighter pilots and indeed, fast mover combat pilots of the fighter/attack clan are seldom reluctant to pass on a little this is no s..t (TINS) with quite possibly some embellishment of their swashing of buckles derring -do over time. Most readers are familiar with Pat Conroy’s book and follow-on movie The Great Santini, and some most certainly are knowledgable about Conroy’s Marine aviator father Colonel Don Conroy. Even though there is most certainly a dark side to Don Conroy as a father, for me this series and particularly for a chapter [...]
Testimony of Pilot (17): Naval Aviation Culture
Testimony of Pilot# 17 Proceedings Magazine – September 2011 published an article by Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman “Is Naval Aviation Culture Dead?” discussing the fallout of Tailhook ’91 and the effect political correctness has had on a hard-earned mystique, noting The swaggering-flyer mystique forged over the past century has been stymied in recent years by political correctness. Secretary Lehman’s focal point and full text go beyond the scope of Testimony of Pilot Chapter 3, “Where did/do we get such men?” but his lead in defines our heritage very well. from Is Naval Aviation Culture Dead? by John [...]
Testimony of Pilot (16): James Bond Stockdale – Where Indeed?
Testimony of Pilot# 16 MEDAL OF HONOR citation… for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while Senior Naval Officer in the Prisoner of War camps of North Vietnam on 4 September 1969. Recognized by his captors as the leader in the Prisoners’ of War resistance to interrogation and in their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation, Rear Admiral Stockdale was singled out for interrogation and attendant torture after he was detected in a covert communications attempt… … Sensing the start of another purge, and aware that his earlier efforts at self-dis-figuration [...]
Testimony of Pilot (15): “Where you ask? Oh, I can answer that!”
Testimony of Pilot# 15 Where do we get such men? …From the farms and the fields of America, grown from boys who labor and look beyond the horizon toward better lives—for themselves and for their families. The fields of Lewis Alexander Hopkins were red Georgia clay, and he saw the horizon along the backs and between the plow harness of Tom and Golden, the mule and the horse. After a long day, Lewis would trudge back home to a farmhouse with loose-fitting boards that let in the wind, a front porch where the family visited with neighbors, and with the [...]
Testimony of Pilot (14): Chapter 3 begins – “Where did we get such men?”
Testimony of Pilot# 14 We begin Chapter 3 of testimony with the source of THE question from James Michener. I remember my parents taking me to see the movie when it first came out. I’ve watched it multiple times since and done some research on the original Korean War context. Can’t say I was ever in favor of the ending but both the book and movie were a significant factor in my early interest in flying and eventual desire for and then pursuit of wings of gold. It represents pretty well the way navy combat flying is in reality. from [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 18 – Guadalcanal -Battle of the Eastern Solomons Conclusions (3/3)
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 18 (3/3) The Eastern Solomons became the most intensively studied carrier action yet… Despite intensive analysis, the battle as a whole remained a mystery. Lundstrom Blindman’s Bluff (3) – An Empty Sea After the final near miss on the 24th and continued retreat on the 25th, the Enterprise air group was flown off to the Wasp, the Saratoga, and area islands. Freed from duty to the departing aircraft carrier, the North Carolina, the Atlanta, and two destroyers were sent to join the Saratoga group. After absorbing the brunt of the U.S. carrier strikes and seeing [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 17 – Guadalcanal -Battle of the Eastern Solomons Continued (2/3)
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 17 (2/3) To say the least we were in a bad predicament. All of our attack planes were committed on missions with the main enemy force still unlocated and his planes coming in to attack us. The best we could do was to get ready for an air attack and hope for the best. Captain Davis, Enterprise Blindman’s Bluff (2) – Incoming Afternoon of the 24th continued At 16:02, still waiting for a definitive report on the location of the Japanese fleet carriers, the U.S. carriers’ radar detected the first incoming wave of Japanese strike [...]
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1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 20 – Guadalcanal – Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands: Discussion
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 20 (2/2) Who won? As the two navies carrier battle groups retreated from the fourth and last carrier battle of 1942, the Japanese by multiple metrics could be judged to have won the day. Both sides were damaged greatly in similar manner, but for the Japanese, in a singular way that would be unrecoverable and thereby fatal when next Japanese and American carriers dueled – their experienced squadron and section leadership was decimated. What Price Victory? American observers take a variety of positions on the outcome at Santa Cruz. Marine General Vandegrift termed the battle [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 19 – Guadalcanal – Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 19 (1/2) On the morning of 26 October, during the attack on the Enterprise, Task Force 61 Commander Admial Thomas Kinkaid remarked with pardonable hyperbole to AP correspondent Eugene Burns: “You’re seeing the greatest carrier duel of history. Perhaps it will never happen again.” John Hamilton’s depiction of fighting around the battleship South Dakota and carrier Enterprise during the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands. We come now to the fourth and final carrier battle of 1942, what the Japaneses referred to as the Battle of the South Pacific. Yet despite the task force commander’s [...]
Testimony of Pilot (19): Chapter 3 Ending -Such Men and Women
Testimony of Pilot# 19 “… They leave this tiny ship and fly against the enemy. Then they must seek the ship, lost somewhere on the sea. And when they find it, they have to land upon its pitching deck. Where did we get such men?” As the closing post in testimony’s Chapter 3 – Where did we get such men? – the purpose is first, to add to the collection a fairly well traveled but I think spot on piece The Fighter Pilot, by an unknown – obviously Air Force – author;and second, to provide some discussion of the characterization [...]
Testimony of Pilot (18): Eulogy For a Fighter Pilot
Testimony of Pilot# 18 They do tell stories about fighter pilots and indeed, fast mover combat pilots of the fighter/attack clan are seldom reluctant to pass on a little this is no s..t (TINS) with quite possibly some embellishment of their swashing of buckles derring -do over time. Most readers are familiar with Pat Conroy’s book and follow-on movie The Great Santini, and some most certainly are knowledgable about Conroy’s Marine aviator father Colonel Don Conroy. Even though there is most certainly a dark side to Don Conroy as a father, for me this series and particularly for a chapter [...]
Testimony of Pilot (17): Naval Aviation Culture
Testimony of Pilot# 17 Proceedings Magazine – September 2011 published an article by Former Secretary of the Navy John Lehman “Is Naval Aviation Culture Dead?” discussing the fallout of Tailhook ’91 and the effect political correctness has had on a hard-earned mystique, noting The swaggering-flyer mystique forged over the past century has been stymied in recent years by political correctness. Secretary Lehman’s focal point and full text go beyond the scope of Testimony of Pilot Chapter 3, “Where did/do we get such men?” but his lead in defines our heritage very well. from Is Naval Aviation Culture Dead? by John [...]
Testimony of Pilot (16): James Bond Stockdale – Where Indeed?
Testimony of Pilot# 16 MEDAL OF HONOR citation… for conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while Senior Naval Officer in the Prisoner of War camps of North Vietnam on 4 September 1969. Recognized by his captors as the leader in the Prisoners’ of War resistance to interrogation and in their refusal to participate in propaganda exploitation, Rear Admiral Stockdale was singled out for interrogation and attendant torture after he was detected in a covert communications attempt… … Sensing the start of another purge, and aware that his earlier efforts at self-dis-figuration [...]
Testimony of Pilot (15): “Where you ask? Oh, I can answer that!”
Testimony of Pilot# 15 Where do we get such men? …From the farms and the fields of America, grown from boys who labor and look beyond the horizon toward better lives—for themselves and for their families. The fields of Lewis Alexander Hopkins were red Georgia clay, and he saw the horizon along the backs and between the plow harness of Tom and Golden, the mule and the horse. After a long day, Lewis would trudge back home to a farmhouse with loose-fitting boards that let in the wind, a front porch where the family visited with neighbors, and with the [...]
Testimony of Pilot (14): Chapter 3 begins – “Where did we get such men?”
Testimony of Pilot# 14 We begin Chapter 3 of testimony with the source of THE question from James Michener. I remember my parents taking me to see the movie when it first came out. I’ve watched it multiple times since and done some research on the original Korean War context. Can’t say I was ever in favor of the ending but both the book and movie were a significant factor in my early interest in flying and eventual desire for and then pursuit of wings of gold. It represents pretty well the way navy combat flying is in reality. from [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 18 – Guadalcanal -Battle of the Eastern Solomons Conclusions (3/3)
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 18 (3/3) The Eastern Solomons became the most intensively studied carrier action yet… Despite intensive analysis, the battle as a whole remained a mystery. Lundstrom Blindman’s Bluff (3) – An Empty Sea After the final near miss on the 24th and continued retreat on the 25th, the Enterprise air group was flown off to the Wasp, the Saratoga, and area islands. Freed from duty to the departing aircraft carrier, the North Carolina, the Atlanta, and two destroyers were sent to join the Saratoga group. After absorbing the brunt of the U.S. carrier strikes and seeing [...]
1942- The Year of the Aircraft Carrier; Part 17 – Guadalcanal -Battle of the Eastern Solomons Continued (2/3)
Blown Slick Series #13 Part 17 (2/3) To say the least we were in a bad predicament. All of our attack planes were committed on missions with the main enemy force still unlocated and his planes coming in to attack us. The best we could do was to get ready for an air attack and hope for the best. Captain Davis, Enterprise Blindman’s Bluff (2) – Incoming Afternoon of the 24th continued At 16:02, still waiting for a definitive report on the location of the Japanese fleet carriers, the U.S. carriers’ radar detected the first incoming wave of Japanese strike [...]