To All
Good Saturday June 20, 2020
Regards,
Skip
Today in Naval History
June 20
1813 - Fifteen U.S. gunboats engage 3 British ships in Hampton Roads, VA
1815 - Trials of Fulton I, built by Robert Fulton, are completed in New York. This ship would become the Navy's first steam-driven warship.
1898 - U.S. forces occupied Guam, which became first colony of U.S. in the Pacific.
1913 While piloting the B-2 at 1,600 feet over the water near Annapolis, Md., Ensign William D. Billingsley is thrown from the plane and falls to his death. Billingsley is the first fatality of Naval Aviation.
1934 Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, Rear Adm. Frank Upham reports to the Chief of Naval Operations, Adm. William H. Standley, that based on the analyses of Japanese radio traffic, "any attack by (Japan) would be made without previous declaration of war or intentional warning."
1941 USS O-9 (SS 70) sinks off Portsmouth, N.H., during a test dive. Salvage ships located her in more than 400 feet of water, but she had suffered crushing damage from the water pressure at that depth and all 33 men on board had been killed.
1943 - PBY patrol aircraft from (VP 84) sinks German submarine U 388 south-southwest of Iceland, in the first use of homing torpedo (FIDO) and damages U 420.
1944 - Battle of Philippine Sea ends with Japanese losing 2 aircraft carriers and hundreds of aircraft.
1945 The coordinated submarine attack group, commanded by Cmdr. Earl T. Hydeman, continues operations against Japanese shipping in the Sea of Japan. USS Tinosa (SS 283) sinks army cargo ship Taito Maru and freighter Kaisei Maru. Also on this date, USS Kraken (SS 370) sinks Japanese auxiliary sailing vessel No.58 Tachibana Maru in Sunda Strait, off Merak.
1976 USS Spiegel Grove (LSD 32) and LCU 1654 (a Landing Craft Utility vessel) evacuate 276 American and foreign national refugees from war-torn Beirut, Lebanon and transport them to Athens, Greece.
Thanks to CHINFO
No CHINFO on the weekend
Today in History June 20
451 | Roman and barbarian warriors halt Attila's army at the Catalaunian Plains in eastern France. | |
1397 | The Union of Kalmar unites Denmark, Sweden, and Norway under one monarch. | |
1756 | Nearly 150 British soldiers are imprisoned in the 'Black Hole' cell of Calcutta. Most die. | |
1793 | Eli Whitney applies for a cotton gin patent. | |
1819 | The paddle-wheel steamship Savannah arrives in Liverpool, England, after a voyage of 27 days and 11 hours--the first steamship to successfully cross the Atlantic. | |
1837 | 18-year-old Victoria is crowned Queen of England. | |
1863 | President Abraham Lincoln admits West Virginia into the Union as the 35th state. | |
1898 | On the way to the Philippines to fight the Spanish, the U.S. Navy seizes the island of Guam. | |
1901 | Charlotte M. Manye of South Africa becomes the first native African to graduate from an American University. | |
1910 | Mexican President Porfirio Diaz proclaims martial law and arrests hundreds. | |
1920 | Race riots in Chicago, Illinois leave two dead and many wounded. | |
1923 | France announces it will seize the Rhineland to assist Germany in paying her war debts. | |
1941 | The U.S. Army Air Force is established, replacing the Army Air Corps. | |
1955 | The AFL and CIO agree to combine names for a merged group. | |
1963 | The United States and the Soviet Union agree to establish a hot line between Washington and Moscow. | |
1964 | General William Westmoreland succeeds General Paul Harkins as head of the U.S. forces in Vietnam. | |
1967 | Boxing champion Muhammad Ali is convicted of refusing induction into the American armed services. | |
1972 | President Richard Nixon names General Creighton Abrams as Chief of Staff of the United States Army. | |
1999 | NATO declares an official end to its bombing campaign of Yugoslavia. |
1975 Jaws released »
I was on the USS Hancock at the time and we liked the phrase "We got to get a bigger boat" We thought so also.
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Thanks to Dr.Rich
Big Step….first F-35 Topgun grads
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Thanks to Carl
This is the complete article below
http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2018/06/fullbore-friday_15.html
Lieutenant-General Sir William Slim, KCB, CB, DSO, MC ("Bill") is 53, burly, grey and going a bit bald. His mug is large and weather beaten, with a broad nose, jutting jaw, and twinkling hazel eyes. He looks like a well-to-do West Country farmer, and could be one: For he has energy and patience and, above all, the man has common sense. However, so far Slim has not farmed. He started life as a junior clerk, once he was a school teacher, and then he became the foreman of a testing gang in a Midland engineering works. For the next 30 years Slim was a soldier.
A reader sent along a recommendation of Slim's book, Defeat Into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945, and reading up on the man - someone who I only read about in passing - all I could think of is, "More Slim."
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for June 20
FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR June 20
THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
20 June
1913: Ensign William D. Billingsley became the first Naval aviator killed in a plane when he was thrown from a Navy Wright B2 seaplane and drowned. (20) (24)
1923: The Army's first all-metal airplane, the Gallaudet CO-1, Liberty 400, made its first flight. The Air Service engineering division designed the aircraft. (4) (24)
1930: The Army Air Corps dedicated Randolph Field in San Antonio as its West Point of the Air for primary and basic pilot training. (21)
1934: The Daniel Guggenheim Medal presented to William W. Boeing for his achievements in air transportation and aircraft manufacture. (24)
1951: The Air Force announced the first launching of its first B-61 Matador, a pilotless aircraft, at the Missile Test Center. (24) The first F-89 Scorpions were assigned to Hamilton AFB with the Western Air Defense Force. The X-5 completed its first flight at Edwards AFB.
1960: Operation BIG STAR. Through 27 June, SAC conducted four tests to check the feasibility of deploying Minuteman missiles on mobile railroad car launchers at Hill AFB. Four tests led to the activation of the 4062 SW [ICBM - Minuteman (Mobile)] at Hill later on 1 December. (1) (6)
1973: At Francis E. Warren AFB, SAC accepted the first Minuteman III missile flight. They belonged to the 90 SMW and the 400 SMS. (1)
1974: The DoD announced that the A-10 won a comparative fly-off with the A-7. (3)
1976: After entering Mars orbit on 19 June, the Viking I lander touched down on 20 June and began taking soil samples. (8) (21)
1980: GLOBAL SHIELD II. Through 29 June, SAC conducted this unannounced exercise at 44 bases. It involved over 100,000 people and 437 aircraft flying 1,035 sorties. (16)
1984: After a two-year operational test and evaluation program, the 384 AREFW at McConnell AFB received the first reengined KC-135R (Number 61-0293). (1) (26)
1999: Operation ALLIED FORCE. NATO officially ended the air war against Yugoslavia after Serb forces finished their withdrawal from Kosovo. (32)
2007: The Virginia ANG's 192 FW flew its last F-16 Fighting Falcon training mission. The wing would become the nation's first ANG unit to fly the F-22 Raptor, in associated operations with the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley. The 192d began moving from Richmond IAP to Langley in February 2006 to take on the F-22 mission. (All American Patriots.com, Virginia Air National Guard Wing Transitions at Langley, 20 June 2007)
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This day in US Military History
1864 – General John Bell Hood's Confederate force attack William T. Sherman's troops outside of Atlanta, Georgia, but are repulsed with heavy losses. This was Hood's first battle as head of the Army of Tennessee. Hood had assumed the command from Joseph Johnston just two days before when Confederate President Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston after Sherman backed Johnston into this key Southern city. For nearly three months, Sherman had pushed Johnston southward from Chattanooga to Atlanta. Johnston had blocked each of Sherman's flanking maneuvers, but in doing so he lost territory. Davis finally lost patience with Johnston, and selected the more offensive-minded Hood to defeat Sherman.Hood wasted little time. He planned to strike the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by General George Thomas, as it crossed Peachtree Creek. The waterway was deep, and the Confederates destroyed all bridges on their retreat into the outskirts of Atlanta. Hood suspected that the Yankees were most vulnerable when only part of their force was across the creek so he planned a two-pronged assault to hold part of Thomas' army at bay while the rest could be pinned against Peachtree Creek. It was a sound plan, but poor execution doomed the operation. Scheduled for 1:00 p.m. on July 20, the attack was delayed for three hours while Hood's troops shifted into position. The overall assault lacked a general coordination, so units charged the Union positions piecemeal. Twenty thousand Rebels assaulted the same number of Yankees, but the delay proved costly. The Confederates achieved some success, but could not drive the Union troops back into Peachtree Creek. After three hours, Hood ordered a halt to the advance. Hood was not deterred. Two days later, he attacked Sherman's forces again at the Battle of Atlanta.
Note. The Japanese had just lost the Marianas Turkey shoot
1944 – The Japanese fleet withdraws to refuel, believing that their aircraft have landed safely on Guam. US Task Force 58 (Admiral Mitscher) launches an air strike on the Japanese fleet in the late afternoon. The 216 American aircraft encounter 35 defending fighters and sink the carrier Hiyo. Two other Japanese aircraft carriers are damaged as are a battleship and a cruiser. US loses amount to 20 planes shot down and 72 crashing while attempting to land on their carriers in the dark. During the night, the Japanese fleet withdraws and are not pursued.
1944 – Vice Admiral Marc Mitchner, commander of the U.S. Task Force 58, ordered all lights on his ships turned on to help guide his carrier-based pilots back from the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
Note the battle for Okinawa started on 1 April and will last for 92 days. There are still many to go…skip
1945 – On Okinawa, Japanese resistance along the center of the line, held by the US 24th Corps, continues to be strong. The US 32nd Infantry Regiment (US 7th Division) reaches Height 89, near Mabuni, where the Japanese headquarters have been identified. On the flanks, the American Marines on the right and the infantry on the left advance virtually unopposed, capturing over 1000 Japanese and reaching the southern coast of the island at several points. The scale of surrenders is unprecedented for the forces of the Imperial Army.
1964 – Viet Cong forces overrun Cai Be, the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, killing 11 South Vietnamese militiamen, 10 women, and 30 children. On July 31, South Vietnam charged that the enemy troops involved in the attack were North Vietnamese Army regulars and that Chinese communist advisors led the attack. This claim was never verified, but it is likely that North Vietnamese regulars participated in the action. This incident and numerous intelligence reports indicated that North Vietnamese regular troops were moving down the Ho Chi Minh Trail in great numbers to join the fighting in South Vietnam. This marked a major change in the tempo and scope of the war in South Vietnam and resulted in President Lyndon B. Johnson committing U.S. combat troops. North Vietnamese forces and U.S. troops clashed for the first time in November 1965, when units from the newly arrived 1st Cavalry Division engaged several North Vietnamese regiments in the Battle of the Ia Drang Valley in the Central Highlands.
Congressional Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*O'BRIEN, WILLIAM J.
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army, 1st Battalion, 105th Infantry, 27th Infantry Division. Place and date: At Saipan, Marianas Islands, 20 June through 7 July 1944. Entered service at: Troy, N.Y. Birth: Troy, N.Y. G.O. No.: 35, 9 May 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty at Saipan, Marianas Islands, from 20 June through 7 July 1944. When assault elements of his platoon were held up by intense enemy fire, Lt. Col. O'Brien ordered 3 tanks to precede the assault companies in an attempt to knock out the strongpoint. Due to direct enemy fire the tanks' turrets were closed, causing the tanks to lose direction and to fire into our own troops. Lt. Col. O'Brien, with complete disregard for his own safety, dashed into full view of the enemy and ran to the leader's tank, and pounded on the tank with his pistol butt to attract 2 of the tank's crew and, mounting the tank fully exposed to enemy fire, Lt. Col. O'Brien personally directed the assault until the enemy strongpoint had been liquidated. On 28 June 1944, while his platoon was attempting to take a bitterly defended high ridge in the vicinity of Donnay, Lt. Col. O'Brien arranged to capture the ridge by a double envelopment movement of 2 large combat battalions. He personally took control of the maneuver. Lt. Col. O'Brien crossed 1,200 yards of sniper-infested underbrush alone to arrive at a point where 1 of his platoons was being held up by the enemy. Leaving some men to contain the enemy he personally led 4 men into a narrow ravine behind, and killed or drove off all the Japanese manning that strongpoint. In this action he captured S machineguns and one 77-mm. fieldpiece. Lt. Col. O'Brien then organized the 2 platoons for night defense and against repeated counterattacks directed them. Meanwhile he managed to hold ground. On 7 July 1944 his battalion and another battalion were attacked by an overwhelming enemy force estimated at between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese. With bloody hand-to-hand fighting in progress everywhere, their forward positions were finally overrun by the sheer weight of the enemy numbers. With many casualties and ammunition running low, Lt. Col. O'Brien refused to leave the front lines. Striding up and down the lines, he fired at the enemy with a pistol in each hand and his presence there bolstered the spirits of the men, encouraged them in their fight and sustained them in their heroic stand. Even after he was seriously wounded, Lt. Col. O'Brien refused to be evacuated and after his pistol ammunition was exhausted, he manned a .50 caliber machinegun, mounted on a jeep, and continued firing. When last seen alive he was standing upright firing into the Jap hordes that were then enveloping him. Some time later his body was found surrounded by enemy he had killed His valor was consistent with the highest traditions of the service.
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This is worth the repeat. It was in the list a while back, The fact was that this group lost more men than all the Marines lost in the Pacific is sobering. One of my uncles was a B-17 pilot and I remember him saying something about waking up in the barracks after a big raid and it being very empty due to all the losses the day before. Every time a B-17 went down 10 men went with it. They list 100s
A story of the mighty 8th Air Force in World War II - Author Unknown
I was a pilot in the 95th Bomb Group, in late 1944 and early 1945, and what follows is a typical mission, as I remember it, from a crew member's perspective.
Early in the evening, our Squadron Operations would post the names of the crews that were scheduled to fly the following day. There were two ways we could be notified if the Group had been alerted to fly. One was by means of lights on the front of the orderly room, and the other with raising of colored flags. If a green light was on, the Group was alerted, if a red light was on we would fly, and if a white light was on, the Group would stand down. The light was monitored frequently throughout the evening to learn our status and, normally, we would know before going to bed if we would be flying the next day.
On the morning of a mission, the CQ (charge of quarters) would awaken the crews about four or five o'clock, depending on takeoff time. The questions we always asked were, "What is the fuel load?" and, "What is the bomb load?" If his answer was," full Tokyo tanks," we knew we would be going deep into Germany. Shortly after being awakened, "6-by" trucks would start shuttling us to the mess hall. We always had all the fresh eggs we could eat, when flying a mission. After breakfast, the trucks carried us to the briefing room. All of the crew members attended the main briefing, and then the Navigators, Bombardiers and Radio operators went to a specialized briefing. At the main briefing, in addition to the target information--anti-aircraft guns, fighter escort and route in--we received a sheet showing our location in the formation, the call signs for the day and all the information we would need to assemble our Group and get into the bomber stream
After briefing, we got into our flight gear, drew our parachutes and loaded onto the trucks for a ride to our plane. We were now guided by the time on our daily briefing sheet. We started engines at a given time and watched for the airplane we would be flying in formation with to taxi past, then we would taxi behind him. We were following strict radio silence.
We were now parked, nose to tail around the perimeter, on both sides of the active runway, and extremely vulnerable to a fighter strafing attack. At the designated takeoff time, a green flare would be fired and takeoff would begin. Every thirty seconds an airplane started takeoff roll. We were lined up on the perimeter so that the 12 airplanes of the high squadron would take off first, followed by the lead and then the low squadron
Each Group had a pattern for the airplanes to fly during climb to assembly altitude. Some would fly a triangle, some a rectangle and our Group flew a circle, using a "Buncher" (a low frequency radio station) which was located on our station. The patterns for each Group fit together like a jig saw puzzle. Unfortunately, strong winds aloft would destroy the integrity of the patterns, and there would be considerable over running of each other's patterns..
Many of our takeoffs were made before daylight, during the winter of '44 and '45, when I was there, so it was not uncommon to climb through several thousand feet of cloud overcast. Also it was not uncommon to experience one or two near misses while climbing through the clouds, although you would never see the other airplane. You knew you had just had a near miss, when suddenly the airplane would shake violently as it hit the prop wash of another plane. It was a wonderful feeling to break out on top, so you could watch for other planes, to keep from running into each other. To add to the congestion we were creating, the Royal Air Force Lancasters, Halifaxes, and Wimpys would be returning from their night missions, and flying through our formations. Needless to say, pilots had to keep their heads on a swivel and their eyes out of the cockpit.
After take off, the squadron lead would fire a flare every 30 seconds, so that we could keep him located and enable us to get into formation quicker. The color of our Group flare was red-green. The first thing you would see, when breaking out of the clouds, was a sky filled with pyrotechnics, so you had to search the sky for the Group flare, which would identify the lead airplane of your Squadron. Once you had it located, you could adjust your pattern to climb more quickly into formation with him. As each airplane pulled into formation, they would also fire a flare, with the lead plane, making it much easier for the following aircraft to keep him in sight. I think most crew members would probably agree that the pyrotechnic show, in the skies over England, in the morning when the Eighth was assembling, was a rare sight to behold.
The order of progression for assembling the Eighth Air Force was to first assemble the Flight elements, the Squadrons, the Groups, the Combat wings, the Divisions and, finally, the Air Force. As soon as the four Squadron elements were formed, the high, low and second elements would take up their positions on the lead element, to form a Squadron. When the three Squadrons had completed assembly, it was necessary to get into Group formation. This was accomplished by having the three Squadrons arrive over a pre-selected fix at a precise time and heading. The high and low Squadrons were separated from the lead Squadron by 1000 feet and, after getting into Group formation, they would maintain their positions by following the lead Squadron.
Then it was necessary to get into the Combat Wing formation. We were in the 13th Combat Wing, which consisted of three Bomb Groups: the 95th, the 100th and the 390th. Whichever Group was leading the Wing that day, would arrive over a pre-selected point, at a precise time and heading. Thirty seconds later, the second Group would pass that fix, followed by the third Group, thirty seconds later. We were then in Combat Wing formation. The navigators in the lead airplanes had a tremendous responsibility, to ensure that the rendezvous times were strictly adhered to.
There were three Divisions in the Eighth, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd. The 1st and 3rd Divisions consisted of B-17s only, and the 2nd Division was B-24s. The B-24s were faster than the B-17s, but the B-17s could fly higher, therefore, the two were not compatible in formation As a result the 1st and 3rd Divisions would fly together and the 2nd Division would fly separately.
Now that the Groups were flying in Combat Wing formation, it was necessary to assemble the Divisions. This was usually accomplished at the "coast out"--a city on the coast, selected as the departure point "fix." The Group leader in each Combat Wing knew his assigned position in the Division, and the precise time that he should arrive at the coast out departure point, to assume that position in the Division formation. The lead Group in the Division, which had been selected to lead the Eighth on the mission, would be first over the departure fix. Thirty seconds after the last Group in the first Wing passed that point, the second Wing would fall in trail, and so on, until all Combat Wings were flying in trail and the Division would be formed. One minute later, the lead Group in the other Division would fly over that point, and the Combat Wings in that Division would follow the same procedure to get into formation. When all of its Combat Wings were in trail, the Eighth Air Force B-17 strike force was formed and on its way to the target. At the same time the 2nd Division B-24s were assembling in a similar manner and also departing to their target
Meanwhile, as the bombers were assembling for their mission, pilots from the Fighter Groups were being briefed on their day's mission. Normally, 600 to 800 P-38's, P-47's, and P-51's would accompany the bombers to provide protection against enemy fighter attacks. Fighter cover was not needed by the bombers until they were penetrating enemy territory, therefore to help conserve fuel. fighter takeoffs were planned to give them enough time to quickly assemble after takeoff, and climb on course up the bomber stream to the groups they would be covering. The combined strength of the fighters and bombers brought the total number of aircraft participating in a mission to approximately two thousand.
A major problem that presented itself, on each mission, was that the bomber stream was getting too stretched out. It was not uncommon for the headlines in stateside newspapers--in trying to show the strength of our Air Force--to state that the first Group of bombers was bombing Berlin, while the last Group was still over the English Channel. It made great headlines but was a very undesirable situation. It meant that the Groups were out of position, and not keeping the proper separation. Furthermore, it was almost impossible for them to catch up and get back into the desired formation. This made the entire bomber stream more vulnerable to fighter attacks
Finally, our planners figured out what we were doing wrong.. When the first Group departed the coast out fix, it started its climb to what would be the bombing altitude. Then, as each succeeding Group departed that fix, it, too, would start climbing. The problem with this procedure was that, as soon as the first Group started its climb, its true airspeed would start to increase, and it would encounter different wind velocities. Now it would start to pull away from the Group in back of it, and the "stretch out" of the bomber stream would begin. By the time the last Group had reached the coast out, to start its climb, the first Group would be leveled off, with a true airspeed approaching 250 miles per hour, and the bomber stream would be really stretching out.
The solution to this problem that had been frustrating the Bomber crews for so long was pretty simple. We would no longer start climbing at the coast out, but instead, at a designated time, all Groups would start climbing, irrespective of position. This meant that we all would have similar true airspeeds and would be influenced by the same winds aloft. That took care of the problem. It was still possible for a Group to be out of position, because of poor timing, but the entire bomber stream wouldn't get all stretched out.
When you consider the way our Air Traffic Control system operates today, and all the facilities at their disposal to guide each individual airplane through the sky to ensure its safety, it's almost unbelievable that we were able to do what we did. To think of launching hundreds of airplanes, in a small airspace, many times in total darkness, loaded with bombs, with complete radio silence, and no control from the ground, and do it successfully day after day, with young air crews, with minimum experience, is absolutely mind boggling. The accomplishments of the Eighth Air Force have been and will be reviewed by historians from World War II on. There never will be another air armada to compare to it. I feel confident that they will never cease to be amazed by our ability to assemble hundreds of heavy Bombers, under the conditions we were confronting, into the devastating strike force we now fondly refer to as,
"The Mighty Eighth.
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Thanks to Mugs
Sounded crazy at the time, i'm sure. Now it sounds prophetic - very real. Like what's going on right now.
Mugs
Interesting fore warning. Too bad no one listens, but it's damn accurate.
https://facebook.com/PoliceWake/videos/295424581635292/
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