To All,
Good Tuesday Morning August 13. I hope that your week has started well. Great classes last night getting the students ready for testing in early September. Looks like I will be working on the chicken cage today and it will be close to 90. Enjoy the week.
Warm Regards,
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HAGD
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/. Go here to see the director's corner for all 83 H-Grams
This Day in Navy and Marine Corps History:
August 13
1777 A spar torpedo made by David Bushnell is used unsuccessfully against HMS Cerberus, off New London, Conn. Bushnell and his brother, Ezra, also designed the first submersible vessel: Turtle. Two ships have been named after David Bushnell, USS Bushnell (AS 2), 1915-1940 (renamed Sumner), and USS Bushnell (AS 15), 1943-1980.
1812 During the War of 1812 and while returning to New York from Bermuda waters, the frigate, USS Essex, commanded by Capt. David Porter, engages the British brig HMS Alert in intense gunfire, broadsides the British brig and forcing her surrender.
1870 The armed tug, USS Palos, becomes the first Navy ship to transit the Suez Canal.
1945 USS Atule (SS 403) sinks Japanese Coast Defense Vessel No.6 and damages Coast Defense Vessel No.16 off Hokkaido. Also on this date, USS Torsk (SS 423) sinks Japanese merchant cargo ship, Kaiho Maru.
1952 While serving in combat with a 1st Marine Division Rifle Company during the Korean War, Hospitalman John E. Kilmer exhibits great heroism moving from one injured man to the next administering aid under intense enemy fire. While administering aid to a fallen Marine and using his own body as a shield, Kilmer is mortally wounded. For his "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity" at that time, he is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
1994 USS Stout (DDG 55) is commissioned at Houston, Texas. The sixth Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is named for Rear Adm. Herald F. Stout for his actions as a commander of USS Claxton during World War II.
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Today in World History August 13
1521 Hernan Cortes captures the city of Tenochtitlan, Mexico, and sets it on fire.
1630 Emperor Ferdinand II dismisses Albert Eusebius von Wallenstein, his most capable general.
1680 War starts when the Spanish are expelled from Santa Fe, New Mexico, by Indians under Chief Pope.
1704 The Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Austria defeat the French Army at the Battle of Blenheim.
1787 The Ottoman Empire declares war on Russia.
1862 Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest defeats a Union army under Thomas Crittenden at Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
1881 The first African-American nursing school opens at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia.
1889 The first coin-operated telephone is patented by William Gray.
1892 The first issue of the Afro American newspaper is published in Baltimore, Maryland.
1898 Manila, the capital of the Philippines, falls to the U.S. Army.
1910 British nurse Florence Nightingale, famous for her care of British soldiers during the Crimean War, dies.
1932 Adolf Hitler refuses to serve as Franz Von Papen's vice chancellor.
1948 During the Berlin Airlift, the weather over Berlin becomes so stormy that American planes have their most difficult day landing supplies. They deem it 'Black Friday.'
1961 Construction begins on Berlin Wall during the night.
1963 A 17 year-old Buddhist monk burns himself to death in Saigon, South Vietnam.
1978 Bomb attack in Beirut during Second Lebanese Civil War kills more than 150 people.
1989 The wreckage of a plane that carried U.S. congressman Mickey Leland and others on a humanitarian mission is found on a mountain side in Ethiopia; there are no survivors.
1993 US Court of Appeals rules Congress must save all emails.
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OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT Thanks to the Bear
Skip… For The List for the week beginning Monday, 12 August 2024 and ending Sunday 18 August 2024… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
From the archives of Dan Heller's world-class website rollingthunderremembered.com post for 10 August 1969… In the words of Robert McNamara in his 1995 book, "In Retrospect": "We were wrong." And he cites eleven reasons for our defeat in Vietnam.
OPERATION COMMANDO HUNT (1968-1972)
(Please note the eye-watering ongoing revamp of the RTR website by Webmaster/Author Dan Heller, who has inherited the site from originators RADM Bear Taylor, USN, Retired, and Angie Morse, "Mighty Thunder")…
To remind folks that these are from the Vietnam Air Losses site that Micro put together. You click on the url below and can read what happened each day to the aircraft and its crew. .Micro is the one also that goes into the archives and finds these inputs and sends them to me for incorporation in the List. It is a lot of work and our thanks goes out to him for his effort.
From Vietnam Air Losses site for "for 13 August this was one of very those early "Bad Days at Black Rock"
13-Aug: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=220
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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https://www.history.navy.mil/ is still the one to reach the NHHC site if you have trouble with the links in this H-Gram…skip
Navy H-gram 073 – Battle of Guadalcanal – 80th Anniversary & Taiwan
From: "Cox, Samuel J SES USN NHHC WASHINGTON DC (USA)" <samuel.j.cox4.civ@us.navy.mil>
Subject: H-gram 073 – Battle of Guadalcanal – 80th Anniversary
From: Director of Naval History
To: Senior Naval Leadership
This H-gram provides a synopsis of the Battle of Guadalcanal, which lasted from 7 August 1942 to February 1943, and included two major carrier vs. carrier battles (Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz,) five major night surface actions (Savo Island, Cape Esperance, Friday the 13th of November, Saturday the 14th of November, and Tassafaronga,) multiple submarine attacks (including the sinking of USS WASP) and air attacks (including the Battle of Rennell Island,) numerous smaller surface actions and shore bombardments (including "All Hell's Eve,") and near continuous air-to-air combat whenever weather permitted. U.S. and Japanese losses were extensive, and roughly even, but in the end, the U.S. could replace losses and the Japanese couldn't. It was Guadalcanal, more so in many ways than Midway, that truly turned the tide of the Pacific War, at great cost – about 5,000 U.S. Navy personnel lost to all causes, plus 1,152 Marines and 446 U.S. Army personnel ashore.
Overview
Since I wrote extensively about the Battle of Guadalcanal for the 75th Anniversary in 2017, this H-gram will provide a short synopsis of each of the previous H-grams along with a link to that H-gram.
"Any commander who is too busy to read will fill body bags with his troops as he learns the hard way," -- Gen James Mattis, USMC. Note also that the Chinese study the Guadalcanal Campaign as a means to understand how to persevere in warfare when two evenly matched sides are clubbing the hell out of each other.
Guadalcanal H-grams
H-gram 009 H-Gram 009 (navy.mil) provides an overview of the Battle of Guadalcanal and the first major night surface action, the Battle of Savo Island. The U.S. Marine landings on Guadalcanal on 7 August 1942 caught the Japanese completely by surprise, with minimal resistance on Guadalcanal itself and only spirited but short resistance on islands near Tulagi (across what would become known as "Ironbottom Sound") from Guadalcanal. The Marines captured the unfinished airfield on Guadalcanal, which would be subsequently finished and named Henderson Field and which then would become the objective of the fierce and bloody battles ashore, at sea, and in the air, to gain control of the airfield.
During the course of the Guadalcanal campaign, the U.S. would lose two aircraft carriers (WASP (CV-7,) and HORNET (CV-8,) five heavy cruisers (and an Australian heavy cruiser,) two light cruisers, 15 destroyers, and numerous other smaller vessels, plus extensive damage to many more ships. U.S. Navy and Marines would lose about 400 aircraft during the course of the campaign. At sea, the Japanese Navy actually lost somewhat fewer than the U.S. – about 3,800 men, but over 7,000 Japanese Army troops would go down with sunken troop transports, and over 20,000 would be lost on the island itself. The Imperial Japanese Navy would lose two battleships and a light carrier, plus two heavy cruisers and multiple destroyers. It was the loss of the two battleships that actually caused the Japanese Navy to quite feeding ships into the meat-grinder off Guadalcanal, in the end, limiting their efforts to inadequate attempts by destroyers (the "Tokyo Express") to resupply Japanese troops on Guadalcanal, before finally executing one of the most successful deception operations of the war covering the evacuation of the last surviving Japanese troops from the island in February 1943.
Although caught by surprise by the landing, the Japanese Navy reacted swiftly with characteristic aggressiveness, first with land-based air attacks on 7 and 8 August, and then a night surface action on 8-9 August. This first naval action would be known as the Battle of Savo Island, and would be the worst defeat at-sea suffered by the U.S. Navy in history. In what should have been an evenly matched battle between a Japanese force of five heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and a destroyer against an Allied force of four U.S. heavy cruisers, one Australian heavy cruiser, and six U.S. destroyers, the Japanese achieved tactical surprise and the result was a debacle. The heavy cruisers ASTORIA, QUINCY, VINCENNES and HMAS CABERRA were sunk, with only minimal damage to the Japanese (993 U.S. and 84 Australian sailors and 58 Japanese sailors were killed.) Fortunately the Japanese commander chose not to attack into the vulnerable U.S. troops transports and supply ships that were sitting ducks still in the act of offloading. H-gram 009 contains an overview of the Battle of Savo Island, and the attachment H-009-1 H-009-1 Defeat at Savo Island (navy.mil) has full detail of this disaster, termed by Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Ernest J. King, as "the blackest day of the war," most of which was kept secret from the American public during the war due to wartime censorship.
Following the defeat at Savo Island, U.S. surface forces quickly vacated the waters near Guadalcanal, followed a day later by the transports. The three supporting U.S. aircraft carriers had also moved further away due to concern for air and submarine attack. It was during this period that the myth that the U.S. Navy "abandoned" the Marines of Guadalcanal took root, when in fact the Navy was running supplies into Guadalcanal at night on four fast destroyer-transports, three of which would be lost in the process, losing more men than the Marines lost in the famous "Battle of Bloody Ridge. H-gram 010 H-Gram 010 (navy.mil) provides an overview of the challenges of supplying the Marines on Guadalcanal (so much so that it became known to those on the island as Operation Shoestring, rather than the formal name, Operation Watchtower.) This includes the sacrifice of TRANSDIV 12, plus the major Japanese Navy offensive push that resulted in the carrier vs. carrier action known as the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, as well as actions by Japanese submarines south of Guadalcanal.
The attachment H-010-1 H-010-1 Operation Shoestring (navy.mil) provides additional detail on the logistics issues at Guadalcanal as well as the valiant fight of the destroyer-transports (APD) GREGORY and LITTLE against a much superior force of Japanese destroyers; both APD skippers were lost in the battle with their ships, as was the TRANSDIV 12 commander, Hugh Hadley. (The destroyer named in honor of Hadley (DD-774) would be heavily damaged by kamikazes at Okinawa on 10 May 1945, but in the process shot down over 23 Japanese aircraft, the all-time record for a single ship in a single day's engagement.)
The attachment H010-2 H-010-2 The Battle of the Eastern Solomons (navy.mil) provides detail on the Battle of the Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942, the third major carrier battle of the war, and a narrow U.S. victory. The two surviving Japanese fleet carriers (SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU, veterans of the Battle of the Coral Sea, but that missed the Battle of Midway) and the light carrier RYUJO faced off against U.S. carriers ENTERPRISE (CV-6) and SARATOGA (CV-3,) with WASP (CV-7) missing the battle due to refueling. The RYUJO was sunk (by the re-constituted Torpedo Squadron EIGHT (VT-8)) and the ENTERPRISE was badly damaged. The Japanese withdrew.
The attachment H-010-3 H-010-3 Torpedo Junction (navy.mil) provides detail on the extensive Japanese submarine response to the U.S. operations around Guadalcanal. On 31 August 1942, I-26 hit SARATOGA with a torpedo that put SARATOGA out of action for months. On 15 September, I-19 fired arguably the most effective single spread of torpedoes (six) in history, hitting the carrier WASP (CV-7,) battleship NORTH CAROLINA (BB-55,) and destroyer O'BRIEN (DD-415.) WASP was sunk. NORTH CAROLINA was put out of action for two months. O'BRIEN broke apart and sank after transiting 2,800 miles trying to get to Pearl Harbor for repair.
The attachment H-010-4 H-010-4 Samuel B. Roberts (navy.mil) tells the story of Navy Coxswain Samuel B. Roberts, who was awarded a posthumous Navy Cross for sacrificing his life while drawing Japanese fire away from other landing craft extracting Marines who had become trapped behind Japanese lines on Guadalcanal. Three ships have been named for Roberts; the first, destroyer escort DE-413 went down off Samar, Philippines in October 1944 in one of the most valiant actions in the history of the U.S. Navy; the second, destroyer DD-823 had a distinguished Cold War, Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam War record; the third, guided missile frigate FFG-58, survived a devastating mine-strike on an Iranian moored contact mine in the Persian Gulf in April 1988.
H-gram 011 H-Gram 011 (navy.mil) continues the account of the Battle of Guadalcanal into September and October 1942, with an overview of the narrow U.S. victory in a night surface action known as the Battle of Cape Esperance on 11/12 October 1942, the second major night surface action, as well as the devastating bombardment of Henderson Field by two Japanese battleships on the night of 13/14 October, known as "All Hell's Eve." The overview also includes the fourth major carrier battle of the war, the Japanese "Pyrrhic Victory" known as the Battle of Santa Cruz on 26 October 1942.
The attachment H-011-1 H-011-1 Guadalcanal: Victory at Cape Esperance (navy.mil) provides detail on the confused Battle of Cape Esperance, where pretty much everything went wrong, but more so for the Japanese, whose commander refused to believe he was facing an American force (and not engaging in "friendly fire" with other Japanese) until it was too late. The Japanese lost a heavy cruiser and a destroyer, while the U.S. lost a destroyer. Luckily, superb damage control kept the light cruiser BOISE (CL-46) from being blown to smithereens by a magazine explosion, but at a cost of 107 of her crew.
The effect of the U.S. victory at Cape Esperance was short-lived, as on the night of 13/14 October the Japanese battleships KONGO and HARUNA arrived by surprise off Guadalcanal, opposed ineffectively by only four PT-boats, and proceeded to pump almost 1,000 14-inch shells into Henderson Field, destroying more than half the aircraft and damaging most of the rest, killing 41 Marines. The psychological effect of this bombardment was profound (and recriminations between the Navy and Marine Corps echoed for decades.) As this was happening 237 U.S. Navy crewmen on the destroyer MEREDITH (DD-434) and fleet tug VIREO (AT-144) died when the two ships were attacked by 38 Japanese carrier aircraft while attempting to bring critical aviation fuel to Guadalcanal; MEREDITH was sunk and the 100 survivors drifted in shark-infested waters for three days. The story of MEREDITH's valor and sacrifice is in attachment H011-2 H-011-2 Forgotten Valor (navy.mil).
The fourth major carrier battle of the war took place after Commander of the South Pacific Area, Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley was relieved of command and replaced by VADM William F. Halsey, who directed a much more aggressive posture against the Japanese. In late October 1942, the Japanese mounted a major naval offensive that was supposed to be timed with a major ground attack by the Japanese Army on Guadalcanal. The Army offensive was fiasco, but a Japanese force that included four aircraft carriers (fleet carriers SHOKAKU and ZUIKAKU, medium carrier JUNYO and light carrier ZUIHO) faced off against the carrier HORNET (CV-8) and ENTERPRISE (CV-6,) which arrived in the nick of time after repairing damage incurred during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. The forces engaged on 26 October 1942 near the Santa Cruz Islands northeast of Guadalcanal, trading air strikes. ZUIHO was knocked out of the battle early on by a lucky hit from two U.S. scout bombers, and SHOKAKU was subsequently badly damaged.
During the Battle of Santa Cruz, the Japanese executed what was probably the best coordinated dive-bomber and torpedo-plane attack of the war, leaving ENTERPRISE damaged and HORNET crippled. Under continuing air attack, attempts to tow HORNET failed as did attempts to scuttle her after being abandoned, and she was left behind to be torpedoed and sunk by Japanese destroyers. With HORNET sunk and ENTERPRISE damaged, the U.S. withdrew (leaving the U.S. temporarily with no operational aircraft carriers left in the Pacific.) However, the cost to the Japanese for this "victory" was extremely high given the number of aircraft and aircrew lost to vastly improved U.S. shipboard anti-aircraft defenses (more than at Coral Sea, Midway and Eastern Solomons combined.) By the end of the Battle of Santa Cruz, the majority of Japan's experienced Pearl Harbor-veteran pilots had been lost; in fact losses were so severe that the Japanese carrier force would not give battle for another two years. The details of this crucial battle are in attachment H-011-3 H-011-3 Santa Cruz (Japanese Pyrrhic Victory) (navy.mil)
In H-gram 012 H-Gram 012 (navy.mil) the Battle for Guadalcanal reaches a culmination and turning point in two of the most vicious battles ever fought by the U.S. Navy, the night action between American cruisers and destroyers and Japanese battleships in the pre-dawn hours of Friday the 13th, November 1942 and a battleship vs. battleship action on the night of 14/15 November. Following a comparative lull as both U.S. and Japanese navies licked their wounds after the Battle of Santa Cruz, the Japanese mounted yet another major push to reinforce and retake Guadalcanal. With the carriers on both sides effectively out-of-action (but not Henderson Field,) the impending battles would be primarily surface actions.
The attachment H-012-1 H-012-1 The Battle of Friday the 13th (navy.mil) provides detail on the sea battle that occurred off Guadalcanal early on 13 November 1942, a ferocious and chaotic night melee, described as "a bar room brawl after the lights were shot out," with individual ship actions "like minnows in a bucket." The mission of the Japanese force of battleships HIEI and KIRISHIMA, a light cruiser, and 11 destroyers, was to administer another devastating bombardment to Henderson Field, so that a transport group with 7,000 Japanese troops could reach Guadalcanal. The mission of the hastily thrown together U.S. force of two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers, and eight destroyers was to stop the Japanese battleships, a mission recognized by senior American officers as "suicide." They were right.
By the time the battle was over, including the sinking of the severely damaged light cruiser JUNEAU (CL-52) by a submarine the next morning, 1,439 American sailors were dead, including RADM Dan Callaghan, RADM Norman Scott and CAPT Cassin Young (and all five Sullivan brothers on JUNEAU,) making this by far the most costly sea battle in U.S. Navy history. In addition to JUNEAU, the light cruiser ATLANTA (CL-51) and four destroyers were sunk, and heavy cruisers SAN FRANCISCO (CA-38) and PORTLAND (CA-33) and two destroyers were badly damaged. The Japanese lost only two destroyers in the battle, but the battleship HIEI was crippled and could not clear the area. Most importantly, the U.S. force, at extraordinary sacrifice, prevented the battleship bombardment. The next days, planes from Henderson Field, augmented by planes from partially operational carrier ENTERPRISE, sank the HIEI and most of the transports, with 5,000 Japanese troops going down with the ships (and all the equipment of the 2,000 who survived.) Five Navy personnel were awarded the Medal of Honor, including to Callaghan and Scott, and three (one posthumously) to men on SAN FRANCISCO who fought on after more senior officers were killed.
The Japanese didn't know how to quit, so on the night of 13/14 November, two Japanese heavy cruisers bombarded Henderson Field (there were no U.S. ships left to oppose them,) but their 8-inch guns did far less damage than those of a battleship. With Intelligence indicating a Japanese battleship force was heading back to Guadalcanal, VADM Halsey took a major gamble and committed the two new U.S. battleships WASHINGTON (BB-56) and SOUTH DAKOTA (BB-57) and four escorting destroyers to oppose the Japanese. The Japanese force was centered on the battleship KIRISHIMA (which had come through the Friday the 13th battle virtually unscathed) with two heavy cruisers, two light cruisers and nine destroyers.
The two forces engaged on the night of 14/15 November, southwest of Savo Island. The battle initially went badly for the U.S., as the SOUTH DAKOTA suffered a major power failure at the worst moment, and was hit numerous times and was on fire and out of action. The screening destroyers absorbed the Japanese torpedo attack; three destroyers were sunk and the fourth put out of action. WASHINGTON then fought on alone, and with superb radar-directed gunnery pummeled the KIRISHIMA, which sank, while dozens of Japanese torpedoes miraculously missed. The attachment H-012-4 H-012-4 The Battle of Saturday the 14th (navy.mil) provides detail on this action, the only one of two battleship vs. battleship duels in U.S. Navy history.
In H-gram 013 H-Gram 013 (navy.mil) the tide of battle at Guadalcanal had turned, although few realized it yet, as the Japanese inflicted another disastrous defeat on the U.S. Navy at the Battle of Tassafaronga on the night of 30 November/1 December 1942. The loss of the battleships HIEI and KIRISHIMA was a profound shock to the Japanese high command, as their entire concept of warfighting was based on husbanding battleships for a final "Decisive Battle" near Japanese home waters (after aircraft carriers, submarines and night torpedo attacks had attrited the U.S. force as it advanced across the Pacific.) However, Japan had no battleships to spare in this strategy. As a result, the Japanese Navy decided to no longer commit battleships or cruisers to waters around Guadalcanal. Instead, destroyers would be used to make high-speed re-supply runs to Guadalcanal, which became known as "the Tokyo Express."
On the night of 30 November/1 December, a U.S. Navy force of four heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, and six destroyers intercepted and ambushed a Japanese Tokyo Express run of eight destroyers (six encumbered by supplies.) Despite the advantage of intelligence warning, radar, surprise and overwhelming power, at the end of the battle, the heavy cruiser NORTHAMPTON (CA-26) was sunk, and the heavy cruisers MINNEAPOLIS (CA-36,) NEW ORLEANS (CA-36,) and PENSACOLA (CA-24,) grievously damaged, and 395 American sailors killed, in what was probably the most successful surface torpedo attack in history, at a cost of one Japanese destroyer. A significant factor in the defeat, was that the U.S. still failed to believe that the Japanese had a torpedo that was much more powerful, much faster, and much longer-ranged than our own – the Type 93 Oxygen Torpedo, later known as the "Long Lance." The attachment H-013-1 H-013-1 The Battle of Tassafaronga (navy.mil) provides detail on this embarrassing defeat. After Tassafaronga, and like the Japanese, the U.S. stopped sending heavy ships into the confined waters of "Ironbottom Sound" off Guadalcanal.
H-gram 015 H-Gram 015 (navy.mil) covers the end of the Guadalcanal Campaign, specifically the Japanese Operation Ke and the Battle of Rennell Island. Despite their "victory" at Tassafaronga, the Japanese Tokyo Express that night had failed in their mission to deliver supplies to Japanese troops on Guadalcanal. Even when successful, the flow of supplies via the Tokyo Express could not sustain the Japanese troops, who were quite literally starving to death and dying of debilitating jungle diseases. However, in January 1943, all indications pointed to yet another major Japanese offensive push to get reinforcements to the island. Admiral Nimitz committed virtually the entire Pacific Fleet to countering this expected thrust, including carriers ENTERPRISE and SARATOGA, three modern battleships, and numerous cruisers, including three new CLEVELAND-class light cruisers. As it turned out, "Operation Ke" was actually a massive and well-crafted deception, covering the withdrawal of the remaining 10,000 Japanese troops from Guadalcanal (leaving 20,000 dead behind, along with a handful of dying cripples who mounted a surprisingly effective rear guard delaying action, such that it wasn't until 7 February that the U.S. Army forces (who had relieved the Marines) realized the Japanese were gone.) In addition to the Japanese dead on the island, another 10,000 were lost at sea, including about 3,800 Imperial Japanese Navy sailors during the course of the campaign since August.
The Japanese Navy got in their last blows at Guadalcanal at the end of January 1943, one of which was known as the Battle of Rennell Island, described in detail in attachment H-015-2 H-015-2 Battle of Rennell Island (navy.mil) On the night of 29 January, a force of elite Japanese Navy land-based bombers, specially trained for night aerial torpedo attack, hit the heavy cruiser CHICAGO (CA-29) with two torpedoes, near Rennell Island, southwest of Guadalcanal. Despite extraordinary damage control to keep the ship afloat, a series of tactical blunders left CHICAGO exposed to a follow-on torpedo attack the next afternoon. Hit by four more torpedoes, CHICAGO went down, the only heavy cruiser to have survived the debacle of the Battle of Savo Island. As one more sharp stick in the eye, on 1 February 1942, Japanese dive bombers hit the destroyer DE HAVEN (DD-469) off Guadalcanal, detonating her forward magazine and sending her to the bottom with 167 of her crew. (The last U.S. warship sunk off Guadalcanal was the AARON WARD (DD-483,) a survivor of the Friday 13th Battle, by Japanese aircraft in April 1943.)
With the Battle of Rennell Island and the end of Operation Ke, the Guadalcanal campaign was effectively over. After six months of some of the most vicious combat in the history of naval warfare, the increasingly strong U.S. Navy was in possession of the waters around the eastern Solomons. The cost to both sides had been extremely heavy, and roughly even at sea and in the air. On land, Japanese casualties greatly exceeded those of the U.S. Marines and U.S. Army.
The Battle of Midway in June 1942 stopped the Japanese advance, but the Guadalcanal campaign was the true turning point of the Pacific War. The cost to the U.S. Navy included two aircraft carriers, five heavy cruisers (plus one Australian heavy cruiser,) two light cruisers, 15 destroyers, three destroyer-transports, and one transport, plus about 615 aircraft (of all services, including 90 carrier-based) and just under 5,000 Sailors killed, including 130 naval aviators and aircrew, plus 49 Marines embarked aboard ship along with 92 Australian and New Zealand naval personnel. Almost three times as many American sailors died at sea defending Guadalcanal as American Marines and Army personnel died on it.
During the brutal six-month campaign, the U.S. Navy "abandoned" the U.S. Marines for a grand total of four days, yet that myth lives on. However, to the Corps' credit, they remember and venerate the extraordinary sacrifice and valor of the Marines who held that embattled disease-ridden island against repeated Japanese attacks, while the U.S. Navy has largely forgotten the extraordinary sacrifice and valor of those Sailors who enabled the Marines to hold fast.
Over the next several months I will highlight several of the ships, whose crews performed with exceptional valor, such as QUINCY (CA-39) at Savo Island, JARVIS (DD-393) in independent action, SAN FRANCISCO (CA-38) in multiple engagements, LAFFEY (DD-459) in the Friday the 13th Battle, and ALCHIBA (AKA-6,) the only transport ever awarded a Presidential Unit Citation.
Very respectfully,
Sam
Samuel J. Cox (SES)
RADM, USN (Ret)
Director of Naval History
Curator for the Navy
Director Naval History and Heritage Command
202-433-2210 (work) 571-213-9392 (govt cell)
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Thanks to Red and Dr.Rich
A day that will live with me forever. Long life the Mars! . . #martinmars #coulsonaviation #aircraft #aviation #pilot #flying #goodbye #snowbirds #grummangoose #waterbomber #farewell...
Reel by Daniel Bolton
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Thanks to Mike
The USSS was sure more American than it is today.
On Mon, Aug 12, 2024 at 8:36 AM Mud <mudmarine@aol.com> wrote:
It would appear "Scarface Al" didn't stint himself.
- Mud
HERE IS A BIT OF HISTORY :
Hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941, the Secret Service found themselves in a bind.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt was to give his Day of Infamy speech to Congress on Monday, and although the trip from the White House to Capitol Hill was short, agents weren't sure how to transport him safely.
At the time, Federal Law prohibited buying any cars that cost more than $750, so they would have to get clearance from Congress to do that, and nobody had time for that.
One of the Secret Service members, however, discovered that the US Treasury had seized the bulletproof car that mobster Al Capone owned when he was sent to jail in 1931.
They cleaned it, made sure it was running perfectly and had it ready for the President the next day.
Al Capone's 1928 Cadillac V-8 "Al Capone" Town Sedan became the President's Limo in December 1941 .
Mechanics are said to have cleaned and checked each feature of the Caddy well into the night of December 7th, to make sure that it would run properly the next day for the Commander in Chief.
And run properly it did. It had been painted black and green to look identical to Chicago's police cars at the time.
To top it off, the gangster's 1928 Cadillac Town Sedan had 3,000 pounds of armor and inch-thick bulletproof windows.
It also had a specially installed siren and flashing lights hidden behind the grille, along with a police scanner radio.
Footnote: The car sold at auction in 2012 for $341,000.00.
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Thanks to Carl
From Teenage Pilot to POW: Col. Joseph Peterburs, USAF (Ret), on his World War II Service - MOAA
From Teenage Pilot to POW: Col. Joseph Peterburs, USAF (Ret), on His World War II Service
By: Amanda Dolasinski
AUGUST 11, 2020
(This article and others in MOAA's "Window Into War" series originally appeared in the May edition of Military Officer, a magazine available to all MOAA Premium and Life members. Learn more about the magazine here; learn more about joining MOAA here.
Joseph Peterburs flew his P-51 Mustang close to the B-17 bombers he was escorting through the sky above Berlin, just as he had on 48 previous missions during WWII.
But on his 49th mission, the Germans flooded the sky with fighters. Peterburs, an adrenaline-filled 19-year-old, soared through the sky chasing a German fighter he saw blow up a B-17 bomber. He closed in as it hit a second bomber.
"Just as he blew up the second, I came in from the rear," Peterburs said. "I saw smoke and fire on his left wing. He immediately rolled over and started to the deck. I just broke off the chase."
If the attack on Pearl Harbor hadn't happened four months prior, Peterburs would have been back in Wisconsin studying to be a priest. But now he was in German airspace — and spotted an airfield full of the enemy's aircraft.
"I was by myself, 19 years old," said Peterburs. "I made too many passes, and I destroyed at least five on the ground and set a hangar on fire."
Trouble Afoot
On his last pass, Peterburs was hit and his engine started to overheat. He had 90 miles to reach the airbase, but his aircraft was losing altitude quickly.
He debated bailing out when the aircraft fell to 1,000 feet, but then he saw a German Focke-Wulf 190 fighter coming at him. The 190 fired off rockets but missed, and Peterburs kept flying.
At 500 feet, Peterburs was devising a belly landing, but he kept going. At 300 feet, the right side of the aircraft caught fire. Peterburs waited too long and had to bail from the left side, which guaranteed he would hit the aircraft's tail on his exit.
Peterburs landed in an open field with townspeople yelling and running toward him. Peterburs was sent to a POW camp for the night. He escaped with a small group.
"There was very little security," Peterburs said. "Basically, it was just going down to the fence at night."
After their midnight escape, the group walked for about five miles toward Berlin when they were stopped by a Russian tank unit. Through the Russian lieutenant's English, the men learned the tank unit was headed to Wittenburg.
Peterburs said he was given a rifle and told to hop on. The Americans fought with the Russians for the next three days.
Peterburs finally got his break when an American patrol noticed his flight suit among the Russian tank crew camped out near the Elbe River. Peterburs was reluctantly turned over to the Americans and began his journey home.
Once he was back in the U.S., Peterburs married his girlfriend, Josephine, for whom he had nicknamed the Mustang P-51 that helped him destroy so many enemy aircraft on his 49th combat mission.
Unlikely Reunion
Peterburs left the war behind as a memory — until the late 1990s. That's when he received a letter from a German man who was just a boy when he watched Peterburs fall into the German farmland. The man tracked down Peterburs from a piece of the downed aircraft that he saved.
In 2005, Peterburs was surprised when again he received a letter from the man — this time telling him he had found the German pilot whom he had been chasing through the sky that April day in 1945. And it wasn't just any pilot — it was Walter Schuck, a top German pilot with 206 confirmed aerial victories.
Schuck claimed four American B-17s just before Peterburs shot him down. The men met for the second time, this time on friendlier terms, when Schuck traveled to the U.S. in 2005.
"Both of us reconciled the relationship by recognizing that we were each doing our job," Peterburs said.
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Thanks to History Facts
5 Little-Known Facts About Ellis Island
Under the watchful eye of the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island was the entry point for countless immigrants who came to America at the turn of the 20th century. For a little over 60 years, from 1892 until its closure in 1954, the U.S. Immigration Station on Ellis Island processed more than 12 million immigrants, forever changing the culture of the United States. Today, Ellis Island is a place with a past as complicated as it is influential. Here are five facts about the singular role this 27.5-acre island played in American history.
The Island Has Had at Least Seven Different Names
Before Europeans colonized North America, Ellis Island was known as Kioshk, or Gull Island, by Mohegan Indigenous peoples. In 1630, the island was purchased by the Dutch, who went on to call it Little Oyster Island for its abundance of, you guessed it, oysters. Later, in the 1700s, the island became the site of a number of hangings and got the nickname "Gibbet Island," meaning "gallows." Over the years, the site was also known as Bucking Island, Dyre Island, and Anderson's Island, until in 1774, the land was purchased by Samuel Ellis, who ran a tavern on the little spit of mud. Ellis died in 1794 and ownership of his namesake island remained with the Ellis family until 1806, when it was sold to a man named John A. Berry, who then sold it to the U.S. government in 1808.
Inspection Took Half a Day — and Not Everyone Passed
For European immigrants who deboarded their ships in good health and with papers in order, the inspection process lasted about half a day. Inspections consisted of a number of physicals as well as a reading test, along with a series of questions, including whether they already had family in America, if they'd ever been to prison, and if they were an anarchist. (The wave of immigration through Ellis Island coincided with a rise in fears about communism and anarchy in the United States.) Up to 20% of the immigrants who went into Ellis Island were detained for either political, legal, or health reasons, and around 2% were sent home.
More Than 1 Million Immigrants Were Processed in 1907
On April 17, 1907, Ellis Island processed its highest number of immigrants in one day: 11,747 individuals. That year was the immigration facility's most prolific, and it processed just over 1 million new arrivals. The island's heyday ended after 1924, when the National Origins Act (part of the Immigration Act of 1924) restricted the number of immigrants who could come to the United States.
Some 40% of Americans Can Trace Their Roots to Ellis Island
The majority of immigrants who came through Ellis Island arrived from Southern and Eastern Europe, escaping a number of difficulties ranging from poverty to religious or ethnic persecution. Today, it's believed that almost half of Americans can trace part of their ancestry back to Ellis Island. Modern visitors can stop by the Family History Center at the Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration to explore their families' roots.
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This Day in U S Military History
August 13
1779 – The Royal Navy defeats the Penobscot Expedition with the most significant loss of United States naval forces prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
1831 – Nat Turner sees a solar eclipse, which he believes is a sign from God. Eight days later he and 70 other slaves kill approximately 55 whites in Southampton County, Virginia, beginning the rebellion that bears his name.
1846 – The American flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles as a joint expedition led by CDR Robert Stockton seizes the city.
1898 – When the U.S. declared war against Spain in April it was to help the Cubans gain their independence from Spanish colonial rule. Nothing was said about Spain's other colonies, including the Philippines. However, as part of America's war effort, it was quickly decided to take the islands as a colony of the United States. Commodore George Dewey's decisive naval victory destroying the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay on May 1st opened the way for land forces to be used to capture the colonial capital city of Manila on the island of Luzon. By June American troops, most of them in state volunteer units, began arriving to besiege the city. Among these units was the "Utah Battery" actually composed of two batteries each armed with 3-inch rifled guns. As the U.S. soldiers arrived they were confronted by two armies, one composed of Spanish soldiers and the other of Philippine rebels who wanted their freedom from Spanish rule. American political leaders want the islands too, so a three-way stand-off was in the making. When enough American troops were in position around Manila it was decided to attack the city; however, Spanish officials agreed to surrender to the Americans only after a brief, honor saving, attack. So on this date the Utah batteries found themselves firing in support of almost uncontested American advances into the city. This soon changed when the rebels also attacked, trying to seize the old part of Manila, containing most of the government buildings. American troops got into fire fights with Filipinos while attempting to save Spanish lives from marauding rebels out for revenge. By the end of the day, most of the city was in American hands and an uneasy peace settled over the area. While coming under enemy fire at least once and forced to change position several times during the engagement the Utah units lost no men in action.
1945 – About 1600 American aircraft fly over Tokyo and other Japanese cities dropping millions of leaflets explaining the position reached in the surrender negotiations and the state of affairs in Japan. Most Japanese "hawks" still refuse to admit defeat. Japanese Sub-Lieutenant Saburo Sakai, the one-eyed fighter ace (with 64 victories), shoots down a B-29 near Tokyo during the night (August 13-14).
1969 – The Apollo 11 astronauts are released from a three-week quarantine to enjoy a ticker tape parade in New York, New York. That evening, at a state dinner in Los Angeles, California, they are awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by U.S. President Richard Nixon.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
*KILMER, JOHN E.
Rank and organization: Hospital Corpsman, U.S. Navy, attached to duty as a medical corpsman with a Marine rifle company in the 1st Marine Division. Place and date: Korea, 13 August 1952. Entered service at: Houston, Tex. Born: 15 August 1930, Highland Park, Ill. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty in action against enemy aggressor forces. With his company engaged in defending a vitally important hill position well forward of the main line of resistance during an assault by large concentrations of hostile troops, HC Kilmer repeatedly braved intense enemy mortar, artillery, and sniper fire to move from 1 position to another, administering aid to the wounded and expediting their evacuation. Painfully wounded himself when struck by mortar fragments while moving to the aid of a casualty, he persisted in his efforts and inched his way to the side of the stricken marine through a hail of enemy shells falling around him. Undaunted by the devastating hostile fire, he skillfully administered first aid to his comrade and, as another mounting barrage of enemy fire shattered the immediate area, unhesitatingly shielded the wounded man with his body. Mortally wounded by flying shrapnel while carrying out this heroic action, HC Kilmer, by his great personal valor and gallant spirit of self-sacrifice in saving the life of a comrade, served to inspire all who observed him. His unyielding devotion to duty in the face of heavy odds reflects the highest credit upon himself and enhances the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for another.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for August 13, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
13 August
1917: The 1st Aero Squadron, which departed Columbus, N.Mex., on 5 August, sailed for Europe under command of Maj Ralph Royce. It was the first squadron to report for flying duty in the American Expeditionary Forces. (24)
1943: The Northwest African Strategic Air Force bombed Weiner Neustadt in the first mission from Mediterranean bases against targets in greater Germany. (24)
1944: Two GB-4 Glide Bombs, with television and radio controls, were launched against E-boat pens at Le Havre, France. Four additional GB-4s were sent against targets in France and Germany between 17 August and 13 September 1944. (24)
1950: KOREAN WAR. Advancing N. Korean Army forces caused two 35 FIG squadrons of F-51s to move from Yonil AB, S. Korea, to Tsuiki AB, Japan. (28)
1952: The USAF ordered the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, an eight jet heavy bomber, into full-scale production. (12) (24)
1953: The XC-99, the world's largest plane to date, made its first transatlantic flight from Kelly AFB to Frankfurt, Germany, with 60,000 pounds of cargo.
1959: Using a Thor-Agena rocket, the USAF launched Discoverer V, a satellite with nose cone reentry capsule, into a polar orbit from the Pacific Missile Range. A malfunction prevented the capsule's recovery, and the satellite fell from orbit on 16 September. (16) (24)
1960: Through 17 August, in the largest peacetime maneuver to date, AF Reserve troop carrier wings moved 10,400 men of the 101st Airborne Division from Camp Campbell, Ky., to Fort Bragg. (24)
1962: Ten USAF pilots completed a month-long stay in a simulated space cabin. (24)
1967: Through 16 August the Alaskan Air Command, assisted by the Alaska ANG and other Air Force units, conducted a three-day rescue and support operation after a flood hit the Fairbanks area. AFCS in Alaska provided emergency communications, while MAC provided airlift support. (16) (26)
1978: NEPTUNE III. Through 22 August, the largest joint airborne operations conducted to date occurred at Pope AFB, N.C. (16)
1987: The Marine Corps accepted five Kfir C-2 Lion Cub aircraft from Israel Aircraft Industries to use as aggressor aircraft in dissimilar air combat training at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station, Ariz.
1995: A 60 AMW C-5 Galaxy airlifted 75 tons of food from Germany to Croatia to feed war victims. (16) (26)
1998: At Altus AFB, a 54 AREFS KC-135 received the first Pacer CRAG and Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) modifications. The TCAS modification gave pilots the ability to see other aircraft and get advance warning of possible mid-air collisions. (See 2 June 1998 for details on Pacer CRAG) (AFNEWS Article 981260, 25 Aug 98) After 12 Americans died in a terrorist bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi on 7 August, a 437 AW C-17 from Charleston AFB returned 10 victims to Andrews AFB. In a hangar at Andrews, President William J. Clinton presided over a national ceremony of remembrance. On 12 August, a 436 AW C-5 from Dover AFB returned the eleventh victim, SMSgt Sherry Lynn Olds, from Ramstein AB to Dover, where a 375 AW C-9 from Scott AFB flew her remains to Panama City, Florida, her hometown. The twelfth American victim, married to a Kenyan, was buried in Kenya. (22)
2001: NASA's experimental, solar-powered, remotely piloted Helios aircraft reached a record 96,500 feet in altitude for UAVs in a 17-hour flight. (21)
2004: A C-17 flying for the AFFTC at Edwards AFB airdropped a 52,500-pound Army Stryker Engineer Squad Vehicle, equipped with a Mobile Gun System, from some 12 feet above the Rogers Dry Lake as part of a feasibility test. (3)
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