To All
Good Wednesday Morning July 12 2023.
A lot of things today with no pictures. Remember Peruse at your leisure there is no test at the end
Regards,
Skip
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This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
July 12
1836
Charles H. Haswell is commissioned as the first regularly appointed Engineer Officer. In Oct. 1844, he is promoted to Engineer in Chief of the Navy.
1916
The AB-3 flying boat, piloted by Lt. Godfrey de Chevalier, is catapulted from USS North Carolina (ACR 12) while underway in Pensacola Bay, Fla. The launch completes calibration of the first catapult designed for shipboard use.
1921 - Congress creates Bureau of Aeronautics to be in charge of all matter pertaining to naval aeronautics.
1943
USS Taylor (DD 468) sinks Japanese submarine (RO 107), east of Kolombangara, Solomon Islands.
1951 - Ninth Naval District forces assist in flood relief work in Kansas City through 20 July
1953 - United Nations Fleet launches heavy air and sea attack on Wonsan; Major John Bolt, USMC becomes first jet ace in Marine Corps.
1988
Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci III approves opening the Navy's Underwater Construction Teams, fleet oilers, ammunition ships and combat stores ships to women.
1990
Cmdr. Rosemary B. Mariner becomes the first woman to command an operational aviation squadron, Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 34 (VAQ 34). She is one of the first women to become qualified as a Naval Aviator in 1974 and one of the first women to fly light attack aircraft. Mariner attained the rank of Captain before retiring in 1997.
2003
USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) is commissioned at Naval Station Norfolk. The ninth in the Nimitz-class of nuclear-powered supercarriers, the ship's motto is Peace through Strength, a phrase coined by President Reagan.
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Today in History July 12
1096 Crusaders under Peter the Hermit reach Sofia in Hungary.
1691 William III defeats the allied Irish and French armies at the Battle of Aughrim, Ireland.
1794 British Admiral Lord Nelson loses his right eye at the siege of Calvi, in Corsica.
1806 The Confederation of the Rhine is established in Germany.
1941 Moscow is bombed by the German Luftwaffe for the first time.
1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposes a highway modernization program, with costs to be shared by federal and state governments.
1957 The U.S. surgeon general, Leroy E. Burney, reports that there is a direct link between smoking and lung cancer.
1974 G. Gordon Liddy, John Ehrlichman and two others are convicted of conspiracy and perjury in connection with the Watergate scandal.
1984 Democratic presidential candidate Walter Mondale chooses Geraldine Ferraro as his running mate.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post
Thanks to the Bear for burning up the ether as he tried to send these yesterday numerous times and before but my computer was not receiving them.
Skip… For The List for Wednesday, 12 July 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 12 July 1968…
Fight's on: Da Bear v. RTR Hacker…
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip Vietnam Air Losses Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
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Thanks to Carl…..This is terrible news
(Considering the importance of attack submarines protecting our fleet, this is bad news! Why publish this info?)
Around 40% Of U.S Attack Submarines Out Of Commission For Repairs, Leaving U.S With Only 31
ByMI News NetworkJuly 12, 2023
Unexpected delays at major naval shipyards brought about by supply-chain problems and not enough employees have put almost 40% of Navy attack submarines out of commission, per a July 6 report received from the Congressional Research Service.
Typically, the Navy prefers that approximately 20% of its subs be in depot maintenance at any time, per the report. Eighteen of 49 nuclear-powered attack subs belonging to the Navy are classified as awaiting care or in depot maintenance, leaving the US at a disadvantage against China's more extensive fleet.
China boasts the greatest Navy in the world with almost 340 vessels and subs, including its 125 major surface combatants, per a November 2022 report from the Department of Defense, US.
Ronald O'Rourke, an experienced naval analyst, wrote the report that enhanced depot maintenance has substantially lowered the number of operational submarines, lowering the fleet's capability for meeting day-to-day mission-specific demands.
Excluding 2021, when the Navy similarly had just 31 operationally ready attack subs, the service has not had so few operational subs since 2008, per the report.
In a statement, the Naval Sea Systems Command blamed material availability, planning, and shipyard execution, per Bloomberg. As of the end of June, 32% of its fleet, 16 submarines, were out of commission, per the command.
Last year, the Government Accountability Office stated that the Navy lost more than 10,000 operational days between 2008 and 2018 owing to delays getting out of and into shipyards.
US subs, which can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles and torpedoes, are perceived as a strategic advantage over China's numerically superior Navy.
Submarines are one of those areas where the US retains its unchallenged superiority over China, Carl Schuster, the former director of operations at the Joint Intelligence Center of US Pacific Command, based in Hawaii and retired US Navy captain, informed CNN in April 2023.
This newly revealed backlog starkly contrasts the current governmental policy of projecting an increasingly visible display of force to Russia, China, and North Korea. For instance, repairs on the Seawolf-class USS Connecticut, which reportedly struck an underwater mountain in the South China Sea in 2021 (October), will not be complete until 2026, per Naval News.
Connecticut's repair activities underscore the US Navy's lack of repair surge capability, Diana Maurer, GAO's Director of Defense Capabilities and Management, informed Bloomberg in June. That further raises questions regarding how the Navy would execute battle damage repairs in conflict situations.
After an April meeting between Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korean President, and President Joe Biden, the leaders agreed that the US would expand the "regular visibility of the country's strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula.
In June 2023, the US deployed its advanced, nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Michigan, to South Korea as part of the deal between the two nations.
Reference: Annistonstar, Bloomberg, The Messenger, Freebeacon
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From the archives…I only flew F-8 and F-14 so I never had the capability for a coupled approach.
I do remember on my first NROTC Summer cruise on the USS Midway we had an F-8t and an F-4 that that had "Look Ma No Hands" painted on the side and I would watch them land at night. I did not realize until I flew the F-8 years later the size of the cojones on that F-8 pilot who would trap and his right hand was above the canopy rail.
I did like the auto throttles.
Interesting exchange from Shadow and Eagle
Random Thought
> On July 11, 2022 at 5:56 PM Roy <rwstafford1@comcast.net> wrote:
Someone asked me the other day what was it like to fly a "coupled approach" to the ship... had to tell him "I didn't know... never flew one"?
And then I got to thinking and realized I'd never flown an approach using "auto-throttles" either. And thinking further I couldn't think of any time I ever flew the A-4 or F-4 on autopilot during my entire career... except having it demonstrated during training. I always "Hand Flew" the airplane.. further I never truly trimmed the aircraft completely, always flew with a tad nose down trim; I that I felt I could feel the airplane better than if it was trimmed out completely.
Was I weird or using common sense?
>Shadow
Not wierd Shadow. I liked it slight nose down trim also and won "On the Ball" top hook for the whole ship on the 1973 cruise.
VF 92 my F-4 squadron along with VF96 were the first in the fleet to get coupled approaches on CV64 1971-72. Pax River spent most of the work ups with us certifying the system. The system reliability was fairly good during that deployment. Anytime we were coupled, one hand loose on the throttles and one ready to disconnect autopilot. That said we did have a couple incidents. Me for one. Was coupled at night and at about 1/2 mile got a pitch up signal. Took a hard scramble with both hands to correct and land it on that pass. Got a standing ovation in the ready room after that one.
Another one, a nugget and I came back from BARCAP on IFR day and flew coupled. The system had a ladder lite up in the windscreen would tell you when coupled or when it uncoupled. The kid was not paying attention and just outside 1/2 mile in the day, it uncoupled quietly with no change in the controls. It was trimmed up perfect that day and was ballistic the last 1/2 mile into the wires. Had Tech rep made the cruise with us who debriefed ever pass and during ACL debrief that day he said, " Gee Rod,sorry the system dropped you at 1/2 mile. He was ashen faced and could not believe.
Overall it was nice to have if you were experiencing a bad night, but we guarded the controls, like we were the first test pilot ----just in case. The jet was so stable coming aboard I just used it once in a while to prove it worked on that particular jet since I was Maint Officer.
EAGLE
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Thanks to Dr. Rich for forwarding this one. This is another good video from Ward Carroll. I was an F-14 instructor for a couple of years and this was not one of my favorite flights. I was ok when I was in the front seat but when we switched and I was in the back it was a different story. A couple were very interesting. We never spun one but did have a compressor stall and lost one engine during one of the flights when I was in the back. The only thing you could do was maintain your "God"voice and not ever yell at the student. Entertainment value was high….skip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QF2F51adjA&ab_channel=WardCarroll
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From the archives….I thought about this when I was on my trip last year
Thanks to Dr.Rich……I was scared just reading i
Man played dead, lived to tell about grizzly bear attack ...
GREYBULL — He resides in Buffalo, New York, but the victim in last week's grizzly bear attack near Meeteetse may be more familiar with Wyoming's high country than just about any other adventurer who hails from the Cowboy State.
Barry Olson, a 1971 graduate of Greybull High School, has been coming back to Wyoming every summer for more years than he can count, spending four to seven weeks at a time in his personal quest to reach the top of every 13,000-foot peak in the state.
He estimates there are "35 to 36" of them in all, and Francs Peak, a 13,158-foot summit southeast of Yellowstone National Park, was his 33rd conquest. He'd gone up Sunday, June 26, and was on his way back down Monday, June 27, when the attack occurred.
It was about 2 p.m. He was crossing into Meadow Creek Basin, at an elevation of about 12,000 feet.
"I was going down, over the ridge, and couldn't see that far ahead," said Olson. "We just happened to cross paths — I was going down, he was coming up."
When their eyes met, only about 15 yards separated them.
"I took one small step away from him, but then he started to move toward me," Olson recounted. "I tried to get to my bear spray — it had been clipped on my shoulder — but they move so damn fast. He was on me before I could even get to it."
What followed was 30 to 60 seconds of sheer terror.
"They say the bear attacked me five times, but I'd almost call it like one attack," he said. "After it got me the first time, bit me and shook me around, I tried to go for my bear spray again because he paused. But it was only a pause of a couple seconds. Then it was on top of me again. After that, I just played dead."
The fifth and last time, "the bear had me 3 or 4 feet off the ground, flipped me over and dumped me on the ground," he said. "Then … he just left."
Olson was badly injured, but never lost consciousness.
In hindsight, he's thankful for two things: One, it happened early in the day. "That would be my advice to others: Climb early, so if something happens, you've got some light to work with," he said.
The other was the personal locator beacon that he's made a habit of carrying for the past 15 years. "They're supposed to take the search out of search and rescue — and they work," he said.
Several hours after he activated the beacon, help arrived. A helicopter from Sublette County landed on the scene and whisked him to a ranch on the Wood River, where he was picked up again and flown to a hospital in Billings, Montana.
Olson said he sustained significant muscular wounds to both thighs and the triceps of his left arm.
"I'm luckier than hell, to be honest," he said.
He was discharged Friday, spent several days recuperating in Greybull (where his elderly mother Dawn Olson still resides), and on July 4 headed to Cody where he is staying with a friend.
The dressing on his wounds must be changed three times a week and he expects to have a skin graft on one of his legs in a couple of weeks.
Olson isn't looking too far ahead. First and foremost, his focus will be on healing.
He was hoping that this would be the year he finished his climbing quest, but that's no longer going to be feasible.
"It's a possibility down the road, but I promised my daughter that I wouldn't climb a mountain for at least a year," he said. "So I'm going to stay off mountains for a year, at least. But … this may be it for me."
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Interesting Naval Aviation History
A great history of naval aviation not about aircraft carriers
Thanks to Captain Billy who always has some great items for the List
No pictures but most of you can envision what is related…skip
The following is what my neighbor & ANA squadron mate, Perry Bishop, Capt. USN, Ret., sent & I forwarded to Dave Verret …
Sent from the apex of a Stearman loop 🙄
Heavier & Lighter than Air
Highlighting 150 years of non-carrier-based naval aviation in U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings.
By A. Denis Clift sent via Capt. Perry Bishop, USN Ret:
July 2023 Proceedings Now, celebrating both heavier and lighter than air.
Lieutenant Kirk Booth of the U.S. Signal Corps being lifted skyward by the giant Perkins man-carrying kite at Camp Devens, Ayer, Massachusetts. A similar man-carrying kite was tested on board the USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4) in San Diego, California, in 1911. International Film Service.
The exploits of early naval aviators such as Eugene Ely, the first pilot to land a plane on a ship, the USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4) in January 1911, are well known and have appeared often in the pages of Proceedings. Less well known are some of the tried and quickly discarded naval aviation innovations. For example, in the October 1938 Proceedings, in his article "Man-lifting Kites in the Navy," Captain A. M. Charlton recounted his experience being lifted to more than 200 feet when Samuel Perkins tested a kite contraption on board the Pennsylvania not long after Ely's ground-breaking feat:
Mr. Samuel Perkins came aboard in Tiburon, California. . . . The apparatus, as used, consisted of muslin kites with cedar frames. . . . First there were sent up 2 pilot kites, 9 feet by 9, each on a separate line about 500 feet long. . . . [They were attached] in such a way that they rose at a steep angle. The pilot kite lines were attached to a separate line of 1¼ -inch manila to which were attached 4 to 6 secondary kites, 6 feet by 6 feet. The secondary line was attached to the mainline of two-inch manila to which were attached the lifting kites, 9 feet by 9 and 5 to 10 in number...
The system was tried out first with a sandbag weighing 160 pounds. . . . A day or two later, the Pennsylvania got under way at 13 knots, and steamed directly into a gentle to moderate breeze. . . . Lieutenant John Rodgers was sent to an altitude of 400 feet. . . . When it was decided to hook on more kites, and, because I was lighter than Rodgers, try for a higher altitude, I was all for it.
But as I sat in the narrow bos'n's chair with a life preserver on, binoculars hung around my neck, and a camera clutched to my chest, the kite string seemed a very flimsy thing to depend on. And as I felt myself going out and up over the stern of the ship, I didn't feel so happy.
The hospital ship USS Consolation (AH-15) off the coast of Korea in December 1951 lands a Sikorsky H-5 helicopter. This was the first air evacuation of casualties from the battlefield to a hospital ship.
U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
Needless to say, man-lifting kites were soon dismissed as the future of a young naval aviation community.
The Secretary of the Navy tasked Captain W. Irving Chambers with looking at possible roles for aviation in the Navy. In December 1912, Chambers wrote in "Aviation Today, and the Necessity for a National Aerodynamic Laboratory":
The work of established aerodynamic laboratories has transported aeronautics generally into the domain of engineering, in consequence of which aviation has reached a stage of development wherein the methods of scientific engineers have replaced the crude efforts of pioneer inventors . . . The naval powers of the world are now devoting large sums of money to this phase of development."
He offered his contemplated uses of "aeroplanes" in naval warfare:
A. They can be stowed, and used by all large ships [to]: reconnoiter an enemy's port, or to search out his advanced bases, and to assist in the operations of a blockaded or blockading force; [to] locate and destroy submarine mines, submarines, and dirigibles, and assist in the operations of submarines and torpedo boats; damage an enemy's docks; [and] provide means of rapid confidential communications.
B. They can . . . extend the "eyes of the fleet" in naval scouting.
C. They can be carried . . . on board any naval supply auxiliary . . . for scouting at advanced bases and for extensive use with expeditionary forces.
In 1914, 1915, and 1916, Proceedings had the pleasure of publishing its first articles by a Navy pilot—naval aviator number 14—Lieutenant (junior grade) R. C. Saufley: "Naval Aviation, Its Value and Needs," "The Work Ahead of Naval Aviation," "Seaplanes: Types Needed in the Navy," and "Aeroplane Accidents: Causes and Remedies." His overall premise was that aviation is a fact—let us get on with it. Saufley graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1908. Following Naval Aviation Camp, he was in the air. His articles captured his intense interest in advancing naval aviation and aviation technology, determining the aircraft required for Navy flight, and advocating for the important role of seaplanes. He crashed and died in 1916 on a flight attempting to better his own endurance record. Saufley Field at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, honors his memory.
Navy Lieutenant R. C. Saufley, also known as naval aviator number 14, at the controls of a Curtiss Model D Pusher aircraft at Naval Air Station Pensacola in 1916. U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive
U.S. Navy thinkers paid close attention to aviation developments among the great powers at the outbreak of World War I. An account of "The Development of Fleet Aviation During the World War," was presented in the September 1938 Proceedings by Lieutenant Commander C. R. Brown. He wrote,
At the outbreak of the World War, the airplane was merely a trick machine. It gave more trouble than service. The engine was never ready at the moment required. It needed constant tinkering, adjustment, and repair. The airplane had a limited range and used labor and transport far beyond its value. By contrast, the airship, the Zeppelin in particular, had reached an advanced stage of development and, within its particular sphere, was a reliable weapon. This gave the German Navy a splendid air scout. . . . The British, who realized that through the airship the Germans had an effective naval air service, were strenuously engaged in remedying this condition. In fact, aside from their airship program, the Royal Naval Air Service was perhaps the most progressive aviation activity in the world at that date. They had developed fighting planes and armed them with machine guns—something military aviation was months in coming to on the Western Front.
. . . With the outbreak of war, many plans had to be modified or abandoned for new ones formed to meet conditions arising as the developing situations unfolded. England was haunted by the fear of invasion. The immediate concern of the British Naval Air Service, in co-operation with the [Royal] Navy, was the defense of the East Coast from attack, whether by sea or by air, and the safeguarding of the Channel for the passage of an expeditionary force to France. The Germans, obsessed by the belief that England would make an early attack on Heligoland Bight, supplemented their surface pickets with seaplane and airship patrols over that area. [Meanwhile,] Japan laid plans for using her airplanes in the siege of Tsingtao.
A Richardson 82-A triple float twin-engine seaplane, designed and built at the Experimental Model Basin, Washington Navy Yard, in 1914. In the 1910s, there was intense interest in advancing naval aviation and advocating for the important role of seaplanes. International Film Service.
In May 1919, naval aviation took a leap forward when the Curtiss NC flying boat NC-4 crossed the Atlantic flying from New York State to Lisbon, Portugal, in 19 days, with several stops en route. That September, Proceedings carried a highly detailed, professional report, "Design and Construction of NC Flying Boats," by Commander G. C. Westervelt, replete with photographs and technical drawings, describing the building of the new aircraft.
Mr. Curtiss returned to Washington with preliminary plans for two types of flying boats, embodying in their general characteristics the conclusions of the bureau—one, a five-motor, 1,700 horsepower machine and the other a three-motor, 1,000 horsepower machine. Both were biplanes, similar in design and differing only in size. . . . The hulls of these machines differed greatly from the conventional design. They were much shorter than the conventional boat hull, were shaped more like the pontoons of a seaplane, and with the intention that the tail surfaces instead of being supported by the hull would be carried by a system of outriggers in part from the upper wing beams, and in part from the stern of the hull.
Following World War I, airship design,
experimentation, and application to warfare was a mainstream endeavor. In the October 1921 Proceedings, Lieutenant Commander Garland Fulton wrote in the first of his two-part article "Rigid Airships" (which included the following editor's note: "This article was submitted before the unfortunate R-38 disaster. It contains, however, much information of current interest in regard to rigid airships."):
The prospective acquirement of ZR-2 (ex-British R-38) [which crashed in England before delivery], and the construction in this country of ZR-1 mark the addition to the United States Navy of a new type of craft and make of current interest an outline of the characteristics of a modern rigid airship. . . . The first serious efforts to produce a rigid airship date to 1898 when Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin, a cavalry general of Franco-Prussian War fame, and formerly Prussian military attaché in this country during the Civil War, employed two engineers, Kober and Kubler, to assist in the design and formed a company for the building of the new type of airship he had long contemplated . . . later officially known as "Zeppelins." His early work was contemporary with that of Santos-Dumont with small airships of non-rigid and semi-rigid types. . . .
In the first years of the war a group of airships simultaneously patrolling the entrance to The Bight was sufficient to insure [sic] ample warning of enemy raids and to cause great annoyance to British submarines operating in the vicinity. . . . Airships were of outstanding importance to the operations of the [German] High Seas Fleet and were able to keep it fully informed.
The USS Shenandoah (ZR-1) first flew in 1923 and was destroyed by a storm two years later. In his 1924 Proceedings article, "Rigid Airships—United States Ship Shenandoah," Lieutenant Commander H. T. Bartlett captured the U. S. Navy's entry into the airship domain:
In 1917, the British, appreciating the value of rigid airships as fleet scouts, commenced building such ships, which construction culminated in the crossing of the Atlantic by the R-34 in the summer of 1919. Soon after this a wave of economy caused the British to close all airship stations and scatter the personnel. . . .
The Navy Department, therefore, through the Bureau of Aeronautics, after a careful estimate of the situation, enlarged its program of research and decided to push the design and construction of the Shenandoah, our first rigid airship. The great shed at Lakehurst was completed with docking rails of the German system, while a mooring mast of Scott's design was constructed for use in bad weather. . . .
The Shenandoah is filled with helium, which is one of the reasons we hope for success from our Navy rigids. Helium is found in certain of the natural gases occurring in a belt which extends from Texas north-eastward through Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. . . . Next to hydrogen, helium is the lightest known substance. . . . We must be very jealous of this gas, as its supply is evidently very limited, and once it has escaped into the atmosphere it is gone forever.
Rear Admiral William A. Moffett, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, converses with friends during the rigid airship USS Shenandoah's (ZR-1) visit to San Diego's North Island in October 1924. U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive
Advances continued across naval aviation, with the Naval Aircraft Factory in Philadelphia providing major support and development. In January 1926, Lieutenant Commander S. J. Zeigler wrote in "The Naval Aircraft Factory":
The reason for the establishment of the Naval Aircraft Factory was the problem of aircraft supply, which faced the Navy Department upon entry of the United States into the World War. The requirements of the Army for aeronautical material were so much greater than the Navy's that private manufacturers could only with great difficulty be persuaded to handle the Navy's business. . . .
Ground was broken August 10, 1917. . . . [Sixty-seven] days later the first machine tool was in operation . . . on March 27, 1918, . . . 151 days after receipt of drawings, the first plane was given its successful test flight; and on April 2, 1918, the first two planes left the factory packed for shipment to England.
In 1924, as part of war reparations, the Navy acquired a German zeppelin and commissioned her as the 659-foot rigid airship USS Los Angeles (ZR-3). In 1929, Rear Admiral William Moffett, Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics, sent for Lieutenant Ralph Barnaby, an early Navy gliding expert. As Barnaby recounted in his Naval Institute oral history, Moffett thought gliders could be put to practical use. Moffett asked Barnaby, "Do you think it would be possible to launch a glider from the Los Angeles?" Moffett told him to think it over, "because if your answer is yes, you're going to do it." Barnaby told him his answer was yes, if he could have the glider he had used in his soaring flights on Cape Cod.
Six months later, in freezing January 1930 air, Barnaby and his glider dropped from the airship at 3,000 feet over Atlantic City, New Jersey. The mission was a success.
A glider is secured to the underside of the USS Los Angeles (ZR-3). In freezing January 1930 air, Lieutenant Ralph Barnaby and his glider dropped from the Los Angeles at 3,000 feet over Atlantic City, New Jersey. U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive
The large airships carried a landing officer in case a landing had to be made at a place other than a Navy lighter-than-air base. When the airship was over the site selected, the landing officer would parachute down to organize those from the local fire and police departments as a landing crew. Why not have the landing officer glide down instead?
In his oral history, Rear Admiral Harold "Min" Miller looked back to 12 February 1935 when he was senior aviator in a heavier-than-air unit. He and his aviators flew trapeze-rigged F9C Sparrowhawk biplanes, taking off aloft and then hooking back to the belly of the 785-foot USS Macon (ZRS-5), one of the Navy's last two rigid airships. A fleet exercise was underway in the Pacific off the coast of California, and Miller's airplanes were flying forward and scouting over-the-horizon notional enemy units. On the second day, Miller and his three fellow pilots, having found the last of the enemy fleet's cruisers, came back on board the Macon.
I reported to the officer of the deck that there was quite a tough weather front up ahead. We kept going north, and suddenly the ship just went through some maneuvers. The nose kicked up and pulled over to the right, and it went up and it went down, on and on and on.
I was in the control car. The word came back that the ship was breaking up aft, that some of the girders had carried away. . . . As one ring would collapse, the broken aluminum parts would make holes in the next bag,and we would lose all that lift. . . .It was obvious the crew wasn't going to save the ship. At about 500 feet, we could begin to see the water and realize we were coming down. We landed in a horizonal position. Those with any sense lowered themselves into life rafts, and some didn't even get wet.
Then the ship assumed a slow upward movement to a vertical position. Those of us still aboard were all up around the nose cone. There was a whoosh of some currents of air or gases coming from the ship. I had always heard that helium can make your vocal cords inactive. I practically lost my voice at that time. . . . We started letting go of the lines and sliding into the water. She finally, sort of like an old dog, lay down. Away she went and disappeared.
By the 1930s, the scientific effort to advance aviation in general was engaged at a breakneck pace. "It is impossible to overestimate the importance of research for naval aviation," Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics Rear Admiral A. B. Cook wrote in his October 1936 Proceedings article, "Naval Aviation."
Chemical and metallurgical laboratories develop new alloys of greater strength and less weight, of improved resistance to corrosion, with special properties for ease in manufacture. Testing laboratories develop new structural combinations that give more efficient use of materials. Wind tunnels develop new wing sections and new methods of reducing drag and increasing lift. Model basins develop improved floats and hulls. Engine laboratories develop new engines of greater power and lower fuel consumption with improved reliability. Many other laboratories work on details such as radios, instruments, ordnance, fuels, oil, protective finishes, and safety devices. . . .
Adequate shore bases with sheltered operating waters or suitable tenders are necessary for the operation of patrol planes. The Navy is responsible for protecting our commerce in our sea lanes and for giving timely warning of enemy forces approaching our coast. The only practical means of accomplishing these important naval functions is an adequate combined force of surface vessels and patrol planes.
Writers favoring both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air naval aviation continued to press their cases. In answering "Why Should the United States Have Airships?" from the June 1937 Proceedings, Lieutenant Commander F. H. Gilmer reviewed the successes of German and British airships in the World War—scouting, patrolling, mine and submarine detection, and convoy duties. He spelled out the differences between rigid airships—with their metal frameworks and gas bags within—and the nonrigid ships with no frameworks, their shapes and forms determined by the gas within their gastight outer skins. "The airship is the detection instrument par excellence. The spy basket which permits the airship to hide above a cloud bank without sacrificing its power of observation serves the same purpose as does the periscope for the submarine." Nevertheless, when he wrote these words, the United States had only 11 airships in its military aviation inventory.
The research and industry that Rear Admiral Cook described were producing a far more capable, far bigger generation of seaplanes and patrol planes, aircraft such as the Martin Mariner PBM-3 flying boats with protective armament, protecting sea lanes and hunting submarines when war came in 1941. Future Chief of Naval Operations and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Thomas Moorer was flying PBY Catalina seaplanes in Pacific operations in 1942 when he was shot down by Japanese fighters and had to crash land in the ocean, where a merchant ship rescued him and his crew. Following other missions as patrol plane commander, he would be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his extraordinary achievement and heroic conduct delivering supplies to a beleaguered garrison at the island of Timor and evacuating wounded men.
Meanwhile, some early efforts to take aviation into the jet age took place right next to the Naval Academy. In September 1964, renowned U.S. rocket engineer Captain R. C. Truax recalled in "Rocket Development":
During World War II, the city of Annapolis somewhat reluctantly became the cradle of American rocketry. The days, and sometimes the nights, were interrupted by stabbing flames and thunderous roars issuing from concrete emplacements across the Severn River at the Engineering Experiment Station. Wartime secrecy requirements made it impossible at the time to explain the rather mysterious and irritating goings-on. Early in 1943, however, a PBY airplane took off from the Severn River with these same flames issuing from cylindrical objects suspended beneath either wing. It then became obvious to one and all, and in particular the patrons of the Chesapeake Bay ferries which used to ply in and out of Annapolis, that the Navy was developing rockets to assist the take-off of heavily loaded seaplanes.
Jet-assisted take-off units were joining the ever-more-capable seaplanes in the war.
Early in World War II, the Nazi U-boat threat along the U.S. eastern seaboard galvanized renewed support for airships, in this case as a method to spot the boats and attack them with depth charges. In his October 1943 Proceedings article, "Blimps Blast Subs," R. G. Picinich Jr. wrote:
Naval officials were hard put to cope with the onslaught of the submarines, for since the start of their offensive, the Nazis have often maintained over a hundred U-boats in American waters. . . . The few blimps available were invaluable in their aid to naval vessels and heavier-than-aircraft. . . . The work of airships in helping to curb the submarine attacks . . . was so impressive that a bill was presented to Congress, and passed, authorizing the construction of 48 of the lighter-than-air craft. Even before these ships were all delivered, their performance exceeded previous expectations. Congress was again called on, and in June 1942, a bill was passed empowering the Navy to construct 200 airships.
Ultimately, 168 airships were built.
With ski-gear extended, the specially equipped P2V Lockheed Neptune was fully equipped for long-range search-and-rescue operations over the desolate Arctic and Antarctic. The plane could operate from conventional runways, snowfields, and the deck of an aircraft carrier. No carrier landings were ever made. U.S. Naval Institute Photo Archive
The Lockheed P2V Neptune came into the Navy in 1947—a big aircraft at 92 feet long with a 103-foot wingspan. The age of nuclear weapons had dawned. There had been initial thoughts about using the aircraft as bombers from aircraft carriers. Two launched from the USS Coral Sea (CV-43) in 1948, but no carrier landings were ever made. Patrolling from shore would be the P2V's life.
Future Rear Admiral Oakley Osborn was a Patrol Squadron (VP) 17 pilot and commander flying P2V Cold War missions out of Alaska over the North Pacific in the late 1950s. As he recalled in his Naval Institute oral history:
On board there was a pilot commander, copilot, two navigators, radio operator, electronic countermeasures operator, ordnanceman, plane captain, and second plane captain. The aircraft had two reciprocating engines and two jet engines. The jets were used to gain additional thrust for takeoff and also for high-speed, low altitude mining runs. If you ever lost a reciprocating engine in flight you could use one of the jets to assist. However, the jets were very inefficient on fuel consumption.
We were primarily conducting Soviet ship surveillance, low-altitude passes on merchantmen looking for military cargo. We also observed Soviet fleet operations and recorded ECM data, keeping 30 miles off the Soviet coastline. Some patrol planes were shot down. We were intercepted by Soviet aircraft three or four times during one deployment. Two MiGs would make the intercept. One would remain high and behind, while the other made a close pass. The year before, a patrol plane had been shot down in the Sea of Japan.
In his handsomely illustrated 18-page Proceedings article in the October 1961 issue, "Goodbye to the Gas Bags," Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Robert H. Rankin reported, "Nearly half a century of lighter-than-air flying is ending." Blimps would be deflated, preserved, and placed in war reserve storage. The last Navy airship organizations, Airship Patrol Squadrons One and Three and Fleet Airship Wing One, were scheduled for decommissioning on 31 October 1961.
Rankin traced the Navy's rigid and nonrigid airships from 1915 on, evolutions in design, wartime uses, successes, and failures. "With the advent of World War II, non-rigids came into their own. During the war, dirigibles escorted 89,000 surface craft in 55,000 operational flights. Not a single airship-escorted vessel was lost to enemy submarines. Significantly, only one airship was lost in action and then only after its bomb release failed to operate, leaving it helpless over a surfaced submarine."
A new mission emerged for the versatile P2V Neptunes. As the Navy expanded its annual Antarctic operations in the mid-1950s, Air Development Squadron (VX) 6 provided the aircraft. Over the next four years, while generating air support for the scientists, it photomapped thousands of square miles of the continent. Navy Chief Journalist Scot MacDonald recounted the long history of Antarctic exploration and mapping, including VX-6's mission, in his November 1961 article, "Charting of an Unknown Land: The Antarctic Continent." MacDonald wrote, "During its first season on the ice, the squadron used two R5D Skymasters and two ski-equipped P2V Neptunes. . . . The squadron normally uses ski-equipped P2V-7 Neptunes almost exclusively, though it has used an R7V Super Constellation and plans on flying a photo-configured ski C-130BL Hercules when it becomes available."
The early flights in what was known as Operation Deep Freeze in 1956 were not successful, and even tragic in the case of the second flight. But, by 1957, the Navy had proved it could land aircraft on the ice, and VX-6 began allowing detachments to winter over at McMurdo, Little America V, and Ellsworth Stations.
In another photo-rich article, "P-2 and P-3 on Patrol (Pictorial)," in the November 1965 Proceedings, Navy Captain S. Dombroff captured the ending of the Neptune era:
The two major aircraft of the Navy's land-based patrol squadrons are the venerable SP-2 Neptune and its ultimate successor the P-3A Orion. Over its life span, seven major versions of the Neptune have been produced. . . .
By 1958, a new aircraft was needed. . . . The answer is the P-3A Orion. This splendid aircraft, introduced into the fleet in August 1962, is a strengthened and modified version of the commercial Lockheed Electra. Powered by four turboprop engines, the P-3A has a top speed of over 400 knots but can "loiter" for long periods at speeds under 200 knots, permitting high-speed transit to submarine datum areas, with long on-station time.
In their August 1991 Proceedings article about Operation Desert Storm, "If It Was There, P-3s Found It," Navy Commander Richard Brooks and Lieutenant Commanders Skip Hiser and T. K. Hohl looked at the remarkable work of upgrading the P-3 Orion from the early 1960s:
As the Soviet Union introduced quiet, more technically advanced nuclear-powered and diesel submarines, the P-3 went through a number of acoustic package enhancements to ensure that the Navy's capability was more than equal to the threat. . . .Operation Desert Storm showed the P-3 to be even more useful and versatile. . . .
Within hours of the initiation of Operation Desert Shield, patrol aircraft commenced surveillance support of interdiction efforts on all sides of the Arabian Peninsula. . . . These detachments provided four or five missions per day that queried all merchant ships plying routes to Iraqi or Jordanian ports as well as activity in the vicinity of the Gulf of Oman. . . . The mobility and long range of the P-3s were complemented by U.S. Navy and allied helicopter missions, British Nimrods, and U.S. Navy Vikings. . . . The P-3 was the workhorse, logging in excess of 4,400 flight hours and querying more than 6,500 vessels during Operation Desert Shield. . . .
As Desert Storm commenced, the value of the more sophisticated patrol radar became immediately apparent. . . . The height of our support efforts was January 30 when we detected numerous Iraqi vessels, including patrol boats, minesweepers, and various support craft in the vicinity of Bubiyan Island and Kuwait Harbor. The subsequent wholesale defeat of the Iraqi naval force, commonly referred to as the "Bubiyan Turkey Shoot," was the inevitable result.
In the second decade of the 21st century, another heavier-than-air page would be turned. "The planned deployment of the six P-8A Poseidons of Patrol Squadron 16 War Eagles in December heralds a return to broad-area ASW search missions," wrote Lieutenant Commander Guy Snodgrass in his 2013 Proceedings article, "Naval Aviation's Transition Starts with Why."
A P-8 Poseidon from Patrol Squadron 8 on the flightline at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, in June 2015. In the 2010s, the Poseidon replaced the Navy's P-3C Orion, which had been a land-based antisubmarine warfare and intelligence collection mainstay for several decades. U.S. Air Force (Gustavo Castillo)
The P-8A, with its efficient turbofan engines, nascent high-altitude payload capabilities, and forthcoming sonobuoy sensors (dubbed "Multi-state Active Coherent") will greatly increase the ASW acoustic-search capability of a single aircraft over the outgoing P-3C Orion. . . .
The P-8A will rapidly meet or exceed P-3C capabilities over the next few years. It can transit faster, remain on station longer, and process more information, all while carrying more stores than the P-3C it is replacing. Moreover, the P-8A is also capable of remaining at high altitude during ASW operations, increasing its effective search area and improving its ability to employ non-acoustic sensors while reducing airframe fatigue. As a highly modular platform, the Poseidon will remain relevant throughout its service life by incorporating lower-cost payloads to adapt to changes in mission or environment.
The Navy's adoption of rotary-wing aircraft that began in the 1940s and accelerated after the Korean War made clear that the helicopter would play a vital role in the future of naval warfare. In his November 1951 article, "The Helicopter in Combat," Lieutenant Edward L. Barker explains this critical transition period of experimentation and adoption:
Appreciation of the helicopter's military value, however, came as no surprise to those working with it. In the Navy alone, the helicopter's tactical capabilities as a transport, a courier agent, and a plane guard during pre-Korean carrier operations had been demonstrated on numerous occasions. Experiments aboard the carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt [CV-42] during aircraft operations in the spring of 1947 proved that helicopters were far superior to "planeguard" destroyers in the rescue of downed airmen in the vicinity of the carrier. . . .In replacing the destroyer for planeguard duties, the capable helicopter has done a much better job at less expense. It has provided yeoman service in this stand-by role which has resulted in the destroyer being released for other important jobs. There are pages of helicopter rescues to be found in the carriers' war diaries with new accounts being added daily.
Since the early days of aviation, Proceedings has captured the Navy's experimentation and development of all types of winged, nonwinged, and rotary-winged aircraft, both those heavier and lighter than air.
Blue Skies & Tailwinds….
Https://CaptainBillyWalker.com
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This Day in U S Military History…….July 12
1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs into law a measure calling for the awarding of a U.S. Army Medal of Honor, in the name of Congress, "to such noncommissioned officers and privates as shall most distinguish themselves by their gallantry in action, and other soldier-like qualities during the present insurrection." The previous December, Lincoln had approved a provision creating a U.S. Navy Medal of Valor, which was the basis of the Army Medal of Honor created by Congress in July 1862. The first U.S. Army soldiers to receive what would become the nation's highest military honor were six members of a Union raiding party who in 1862 penetrated deep into Confederate territory to destroy bridges and railroad tracks between Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia. In 1863, the Medal of Honor was made a permanent military decoration available to all members, including commissioned officers, of the U.S. military. It is conferred upon those who have distinguished themselves in actual combat at risk of life beyond the call of duty. Since its creation, during the Civil War, almost 3,400 men and one woman have received the Medal of Honor for heroic actions in U.S. military conflict. The Web site for the US Army Center of Military History:
1943 – Off Kolombangara, Admiral Ainsworth's Task Force (3 cruisers and 10 destroyers) encounter a Japanese squadron (1 cruiser and 9 destroyers) under the command of Admiral Izaki. The Japanese cruiser obliterated by the radar-directed gunfire of the American cruisers but the Japanese sink one destroyer and damage two cruisers with torpedo attacks.
1950 – In a series of desperate battles, the 21st Infantry Regiment fought delaying actions from Chonui to Chochiwon. Not only did the two under strength rifle battalions of the "Gimlet" Regiment delay two of the best North Korean People's Army divisions, but they turned in the best battle performance of U.S. troops in the war to that date.
1950 – The first Distinguished Service Cross of the Korean War was awarded posthumously to Colonel Robert R. Martin who single-handedly attacked an enemy tank with a rocket launcher. Martin had just arrived in Korean and had been commander of the battered 34th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Infantry Division for one day when he was killed in action on July 8.
1950 – Photographs of seven American soldiers found shot through the head by the communists shocked the world.
1967 – The Newark Riot of 1967 began with the arrest of a cab driver named John Smith, who allegedly drove around a double-parked police car at the corner of 7th St. and 15th Avenue. He was subsequently stopped, interrogated, arrested and transported to the 4th precinct headquarters, during which time he was severely beaten by the arresting officers. As news of the arrest spread, a crowd began to assemble in front of the precinct house, located directly across from a high-rise public housing project. When the police allowed a small group of civil rights leaders to visit the prisoner, they demanded that Mr. Smith be taken to a hospital. Emerging from the building, these civil rights leaders begged the crowd to stay calm, but they were shouted down. Rumor spread that John Smith had died in police custody, despite the fact he had been taken out the back entrance and transported to a local hospital. Soon a volley of bricks and bottles was launched at the precinct house and police stormed out to confront the assembly. As the crowd dispersed they began to break into stores on the nearby commercial thoroughfares. Eventually violence spread from the predominantly black neighborhoods of Newark's Central Ward to Downtown Newark, and the New Jersey State Police were mobilized. Within 48 hours, National Guard troops entered the city. With the arrival of these troops the level of violence intensified. At the conclusion of six days of rioting 23 people lay dead, 725 people were injured and close to 1500 people had been arrested.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
BALDWIN, FRANK D.
Rank and organization: Captain, Company D, 19th Michigan Infantry; First Lieutenant, 5th U.S. Infantry. Place and date: At Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 12 July 1864. Entered service at: Constantine, Mich. Birth: Michigan. Date of issue: 3 December 1891. Second award. Citation: Led his company in a countercharge at Peach Tree Creek, Ga., 12 July 1864, under a galling fire ahead of his own men, and singly entered the enemy's line, capturing and bringing back 2 commissioned officers, fully armed, besides a guidon of a Georgia regiment.
WRAY, WILLIAM J.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company K, 1st Veteran Reserve Corps. Place and date: At Fort Stevens, D.C., 12 July 1864. Entered service at:——. Birth: Philadelphia, Pa. Date of issue: 15 December 1892. Citation: Rallied the company at a critical moment during a change of position under fire.
CONNOR, JOHN
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company H, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 12 July 1870. Entered service at:——. Birth: Ireland. Date of issue: 25 August 1870. Citation: Gallantry in action.
ELDRIDGE, GEORGE H.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company C, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Wichita River, Tex., 12 July 1870. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Sacketts Harbor, N.Y. Date of issue: 25 August 1870. Citation: Gallantry in action.
MITCHELL, JOSEPH
Rank and organization: Gunner's Mate First Class, U.S. Navy. Born: 27 November 1876, Philadelphia, Pa. Accredited to: Pennsylvania. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: In the presence of the enemy during the battle of Peking, China, 12 July 1900, Mitchell distinguished himself by meritorious conduct.
STANLEY, ROBERT HENRY
Rank and organization: Hospital Apprentice, U.S. Navy. Place and date: China, 13, 20, 21, and 22 June 1900. Entered service: Aboard U.S.S. Vermont. Born: 2 May 1881, Brooklyn N.Y. Accredited to: New York. G.O. No.: 55, 19 July 1901. Citation: For distinguished conduct in the presence of the enemy in volunteering and carrying messages under fire at Peking, China, 12 July 1900.
*HARMON, ROY W.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company C, 362d Infantry, 91st Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Casaglia, Italy, 12 July 1944. Entered service at: Pixley, Calif. Birth: Talala, Okla. G.O. No.: 83, 2 October 1945. Citation: He was an acting squad leader when heavy machinegun fire from enemy positions, well dug in on commanding ground and camouflaged by haystacks, stopped his company's advance and pinned down 1 platoon where it was exposed to almost certain annihilation. Ordered to rescue the beleaguered platoon by neutralizing the German automatic fire, he led his squad forward along a draw to the right of the trapped unit against 3 key positions which poured murderous fire into his helpless comrades. When within range, his squad fired tracer bullets in an attempt to set fire to the 3 haystacks which were strung out in a loose line directly to the front, 75, 150, and 250 yards away. Realizing that this attack was ineffective, Sgt. Harmon ordered his squad to hold their position and voluntarily began a 1-man assault. Carrying white phosphorus grenades and a submachine gun, he skillfully took advantage of what little cover the terrain afforded and crept to within 25 yards of the first position. He set the haystack afire with a grenade, and when 2 of the enemy attempted to flee from the inferno, he killed them with his submachine gun. Crawling toward the second machinegun emplacement, he attracted fire and was wounded; but he continued to advance and destroyed the position with hand grenades, killing the occupants. He then attacked the third machinegun, running to a small knoll, then crawling over ground which offered no concealment or cover. About halfway to his objective, he was again wounded. But he struggled ahead until within 20 yards of the machinegun nest, where he raised himself to his knees to throw a grenade. He was knocked down by direct enemy fire. With a final, magnificent effort, he again arose, hurled the grenade and fell dead, riddled by bullets. His missile fired the third position, destroying it. Sgt. Harmon's extraordinary heroism, gallantry, and self-sacrifice saved a platoon from being wiped out, and made it possible for his company to advance against powerful enemy resistance.
*REASONER, FRANK S.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company A, 3d Reconnaissance Battalion, 3d Marine Division. Place and date: near Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam, 12 July 1965. Entered service at: Kellogg, Idaho. Born: 16 September 1937, Spokane, Wash. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. The reconnaissance patrol led by 1st Lt. Reasoner had deeply penetrated heavily controlled enemy territory when it came under extremely heavy fire from an estimated 50 to 100 Viet Cong insurgents. Accompanying the advance party and the point that consisted of 5 men, he immediately deployed his men for an assault after the Viet Cong had opened fire from numerous concealed positions. Boldly shouting encouragement, and virtually isolated from the main body, he organized a base of fire for an assault on the enemy positions. The slashing fury of the Viet Cong machinegun and automatic weapons fire made it impossible for the main body to move forward. Repeatedly exposing himself to the devastating attack he skillfully provided covering fire, killing at least 2 Viet Cong and effectively silencing an automatic weapons position in a valiant attempt to effect evacuation of a wounded man. As casualties began to mount his radio operator was wounded and 1st Lt. Reasoner immediately moved to his side and tended his wounds. When the radio operator was hit a second time while attempting to reach a covered position, 1st Lt. Reasoner courageously running to his aid through the grazing machinegun fire fell mortally wounded. His indomitable fighting spirit, valiant leadership and unflinching devotion to duty provided the inspiration that was to enable the patrol to complete its mission without further casualties. In the face of almost certain death he gallantly gave his life in the service of his country. His actions upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the U.S. Naval Service.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 12, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
12 July
1915: A board of officers at San Diego adopted aviation mechanic examination requirements. (24)
1940: Pan American's Alaskan Clipper, a Sikorsky S-42B, made the first flight from the US to Alaska (Seattle to Juneau). (24)
1942: The Curtiss-Wright Corporation delivered the first C–46 Commando to the Army Air Forces. The C-46 was developed from the unproven commercial aircraft design, the CW-20, which first flew in March 1940. Deliveries of AAF C-46s began in July 1942 for the Air Transport Command and Troop Carrier Command. During World War II, the USAAF accepted 3,144 C-46s for hauling cargo and personnel and for towing gliders. Of this total, 1,410 were C-46Ds. The C-46 gained its greatest fame during WWII transporting war materials over the "Hump" from India to China. C-46 flights on the treacherous air route over the Himalayas (seen here) began in May 1943.
1944: Operation MALLERY MAJOR. The US Tactical Force launched this operation in perfect weather to destroy bridges over the Po River, on the Italian front. (4)
1950: The 91 SRW at Barksdale AFB received SAC's first RB-50 (number 47-123), a "B-model" configured for reconnaissance. (1) KOREAN WAR. Four MATS airplanes flew from the US to Japan with 58 3.5-inch bazookas and shaped charges to use against North Korean tanks. North Korean fighters shot down a B-29, a B-26, and an L-4 for their first aerial victories.
The 92 BG, flying from its first mission from Yokota AB, bombed the Seoul marshalling yards. (28)
1952: KOREAN WAR/Operation PRESSURE PUMP. Through 12 July, B-29s flew 71 effective sorties, over 50 against the Pyongyang supply area. (28)
1955: The Air Force issued its operational requirement for the Atlas and Titan ICBMs. (6)
1957: The USAF cancelled the Navaho program. The Navaho provided technologies for other missiles: the Atlas and Thor used a modified Navaho booster, and the Hound Dog, Polaris, and Minuteman missiles used its inertial guidance system. (6)
1961: Midas III, a 3,500-pound infrared missile-scanning satellite went into a near-circular polar orbit from Point Arguello, Calif. With a "kick-in-the-apogee" technique, scientists maneuvered it from an elliptical orbit into a high circular orbit. It was the heaviest object orbited by the US to date.
1966: After launching from a B-52, Milt Thompson flew the M2-F2 Lifting Body for the first time. (3)
1968: Last USN flying boat SP-5B, the Martin Marlin, was formally retired from active service to the Smithsonian Institute.
1978: The USAF retired its last Boeing KC-97L Stratofreighter to the Military Aircraft Storage and Disposition Center at Davis-Monthan AFB. (16) (26)
1980: The McDonnell-Douglas KC-10 tanker-cargo aircraft made its first flight. (16)
1981: TAC retired the last CH-21B in the Air Force inventory. (11)
1990: The USAF received the 59th and last F-117A Stealth Fighter from Lockheed. (16) (26)
1997: From Edwards AFB, a Northrop Grumman crew launched a BQM-74 Chukar jet-propelled drone RPV to test its new JATO unit. It was designed as a high speed aerial target and has been used as a decoy over hostile territory. (3)
2002: Operation NOBLE EAGLE. The 119th Fighter Squadron (New Jersey ANG) became the first unit in the DoD to fly one thousand missions for this operation. Major Yarko Sos flew the mission in an F-16C fighter. (32)
2007: The 341st Space Wing removed the first Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile from a launch facility near Brady, Mont., to begin missile deactivation activities at Malmstrom AFB, Mont. The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review called for the removal of 50 Minuteman III missiles and closure of five missile alert facilities belonging to the 564th Missile Squadron. (AFNEWS, "Missile Deactivation Begins at Malmstrom, 13 Jul 2007.)
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