The List 5385 TGB

The List 5385 TGB


Good Saturday Morning

I hope you all have a great weekend.

Regards,

skip



Today in Naval History

July 11

1798 President John Adams signs an act that reestablishes the Marine Corps under the Constitution. The following day, Maj. William W. Burrows is appointed Commandant of the Marine Corps.

1918 Henry Ford launches the first of the 100 intended Eagle boats. These boats have a solid cement bow, especially built for ramming and sinking submarines. Note, production is halted after (PE 60), though some of the boats continue to serve as training and transport vessels until 1947.

1943 Gunfire from U.S. cruisers and destroyers stop German and Italian tank attacks against Army beachhead at Gela, Sicily. Troop transport SS Robert Rowan is set afire by air attack and explodes. USS Orizaba (AP 24) rescues all hands of 421 troops, merchant marines and guards.

1944 USS Sealion (SS 315), in the Yellow Sea off the west coast of Korea, near Shosei Jima, sinks two Japanese freighters.

1987 USS Helena (SSN 725) is commissioned at Groton, Conn. The Los Angeles-class nuclear attack submarine is the fourth named for the capitol of Montana.



Thanks to CHINFO

No CHINFO on the weekends





Today in History July 11



1302

An army of French knights, led by the Count of Artois, is routed by Flemish pikemen.


1346

Charles IV of Luxembourg is elected Holy Roman Emperor in Germany.


1533

Henry VIII is excommunicated from the Catholic Church by Pope Clement VII.


1708

The French are defeated at Oudenarde, Malplaquet, in the Netherlands by the Duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy.


1786

Morocco agrees to stop attacking American ships in the Mediterranean for a payment of $10,000.


1799

An Anglo-Turkish armada bombards Napoleon Bonaparte's troops in Alexandria to no avail.


1804

Alexander Hamilton is mortally wounded by Aaron Burr in a duel.


1862

President Abraham Lincoln appoints General Henry Halleck as general-in-chief of the Federal army.


1942

In the RAF's longest bombing raid of World War II, 44 British Lancaster bombers attack the Polish port of Danzig.

WWII@75: Japanese Resistance Ceases on Saipan

After more than three weeks of brutal combat, organized Japanese resistance ceased in the World War II invasion of Saipan, July 9, 1944, 75 years ago. Dubbed Operation Forager, the bloody battle's victory provided the Allies the opportunity to build airfields that would bring Tokyo into range of U.S. B-29 bombers. Although the operation was a success, it was costly. Americans suffered 26,000 casualties, 5,000 of which were deaths. At least 23,000 Japanese troops were killed and more than 1,780 captured. It was the deadliest campaign of the Allied Pacific offensive to date. To learn more, read H-032-1: Operation Forager and the Battle of the Philippine Sea by Director Sam Cox and Operation Forager: The Battle of Saipan by COD's Adam Bisno.


1972

American forces break the 95-day siege at An Loc in Vietnam.


1975

Archaeologists unearth an army of 8,000 life-size clay figures created more than 2,000 years ago for the Emperor Qin Shi Huang.


1995

Full diplomatic relations are established between the United States and Vietnam.





1804


Burr slays Hamilton in duel



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This is a repeat but worth a skim again

NHHC Webpage of the Week

This week's Webpage of the Week is a report recently published to NHHC's website that covers combat operations up to March 1, 1944, during World War II. Our Navy at War, an official report by Adm. Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief, United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations, provided the Secretary of the Navy a comprehensive report on the peacetime and wartime Navy, including combat operations up to that point. King's progress report notes "the importance and complexity of our naval operations and the tremendous expansion of our naval establishment since [the United States] entered the war." Check it out today and learn more about the U.S. Navy during the war.



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This was a year ago but I think we are in worse shape now.

Thanks to Donald

Military Readiness

5 minute video. It is scary huh??? WE AIN'T IN GOOD SHAPE!!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aU3Lx59MfxE&t=1s&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTmpBMlltTmxOV05pWkRsaCIsInQiOiJuYWRhRzBtVngyaENNeWNneTZwaW1ETUV4VERjOGs0dVwvZE1BTUdEejFiME82bXN0YWRLNWtxMFdrUUEwWVwvVzBhRmFJcHN2elBGMnFCSEc3WE9PTTZpbjhmMWxucDZIS3krclBoR3pyWU5mQWlPY3J5MElhbWJIK0RKMUNYOXZ6In0%3D

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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for July 11, 2020 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY



1914: R. A. D. Preston won the National Balloon Race by flying from St. Louis and landing at Point Pleasant, Ky., 305 miles away. (24)

1952: KOREAN WAR/Operation PRESSURE PUMP. Far East Air Forces flew 1,329 sorties, the highest daily total for the month. In the first raid, nearly every operational air unit in the Far East attacked 30 targets in Pyongyang, in the largest single strike so far of the war. Attacking aircraft destroyed three targets, including the N. Korean Ministry of Industry. Most others sustained heavy damage. (28)

1953: KOREAN WAR. Maj John F. Bolt became the first jet ace in Marine Corps history. He was flying an F-86 Super Sabre on temporary duty with the USAF's 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing. (16) (24)

1956: TAC's first KB-50 tanker arrived at Langley AFB.

1958: A KC-135 Stratotanker completed the first nonstop flight from Washington DC to Honolulu. It covered 5,000 miles in 11 hours 8 minutes. (9)

1960: The US emplaced the first Jupiter missile in an Italian missile base. (6)

1962: The USAF launched the second Titan II from Cape Canaveral. It flew 5,000 miles down the Atlantic Missile Range. (24)

1963: When SAC accepted three Blue Scout Junior launch sites at Wisner, West Point, and Tekamah, Nebr., th Emergency Rocket Communications System became operational. (1)

1967: In public ceremonies, Martin Marietta rolled out the X-24A, a manned, flat-iron shaped wingless lifting body for reentry studies. It was powered by a rocket engine. (16) (26)

1968: Two Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR) satellites, OVI-15 and OVI-16, were placed in an orbit to measure density and density variations at low altitudes. (16)

1971: Operation COMBAT VEE. Through 22 July, in a joint operation with the US Department of Agriculture, seven UC-123Ks from Langley AFB and Hurlburt Field, and eight C-47s from England AFB sprayed Malathion on more than 2.5 million acres in southeast Texas to combat Venezuelan Equine Encephalomeylitis. (16) (26)

1972: The USAF launched a giant balloon, 962 feet tall, to support NASA's Viking Project for landing an unmanned spacecraft on Mars in 1976. (16) (26)

1975: The 550th Minuteman III became operational with the 341 SMW at Malmstrom AFB to give the Air Force a force mix of 450 Minuteman II/550 Minuteman III missiles. (1) (6)

1979: Skylab, after 38,981 orbits, reentered the atmosphere.

1993: Through 1 August, after one of the worst floods in American history covered 16,000 square miles in eight midwestern states near the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, 20 C-5 and C-141 missions airlifted 800 tons of relief equipment, supplies, sandbags, and water purification systems to the area. (16) (18)

1999: A C-141 from the 62 AW at McChord AFB and a KC-135 (Hawaii ANG) left Christchurch, New Zealand, on a 6,375-mile round-trip journey to the South Pole. The C-141 airdropped emergency medical supplies near the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station to support the diagnosis and treatment of a physician who had discovered a lump in her breast. The continual darkness and extreme cold of the Antarctic winter prevented her evacuation until 16 October, when a ski-equipped LC-130 from 109 AW (ANG) from Schenectady Airport, N.Y., made the trip from Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station to McMurdo NAS. (22)



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Thanks to Carl,

This is another one I had never read before.

skip



http://cdrsalamander.blogspot.com/2020/07/fullbore-friday_10.html



Friday, July 10, 2020

Fullbore Friday


How in one FbF can you do justice to a ship with 20 Battle Stars like the USS O'BANNON (DD-450)? 17 in WWII (second only to USS ENTERPRISE (CV-6) ), and three in Korea.

We aren't the only US Navy that has trouble getting its Sailors armed with the right weapons and enough weapons ... and we aren't the only US Navy with resourceful Sailors.

From the Destroyer History Foundation and Ernest A. Herr - BEHOLD!

On 5 April 1943, DesRon 21 was returning from a night of shelling Japanese shore installations deep in the New Georgia area of the Solomon Islands. Our destroyer, the O'Bannon, as part of this force, picked up a radar contact that turned out to be a large Japanese submarine cruising on the surface and apparently unaware of our presence. The Japanese lookouts undoubtedly were fast asleep.

We approached rapidly and were preparing to ram the sub. Our captain and other officers on the bridge were trying to identify the type of sub and decided, at the last minute, that it could be a mine layer. Not wanting to blow up ourselves along with the sub, the decision was made that ramming was not a wise move. At the last moment, the rudder was swung hard to avoid a collision and we found ourselves in a rather embarrassing situation as we sailed along side of the Japanese submarine.

On board the sub, Japanese sailors, wearing dark shorts and dinky blue hats, were sleeping out on deck. In what could be considered a rude awaking, they sat up to see an American destroyer sailing along side. Our ship however, was far too close to permit our guns lowered enough to fire and since no one on deck carried a gun, not a shot was heard. Ditto on the Japanese sub, no one there had a gun either. In this situation, no one seemed sure of the proper course of action and it probably would not have been covered in the manual anyway. Therefore everyone just stared more or less spellbound.

The submarine was equipped with a 3-inch deck gun and the sub's captain finally decided that now was probably a good time to make use of it. As the Japanese sailors ran toward their gun, our deck parties reached into storage bins that were located nearby, picked out some potatoes and threw them at the sailors on the deck of the sub. A potato battle ensued. Apparently the Japanese sailors thought the potatoes were hand grenades. This kept them very busy as they try to get rid of them by throwing them back at the O'Bannon or over the side of the sub. Thus occupied, they were too busy to man their deck gun which gave us sufficient time to put a little distance between our ship and the sub.

Finally we were far enough away to bring our guns to bear and firing commenced. One of our shells managed to hit the sub's conning tower but the sub managed to submerge anyway. At that time our ship was able to pass directly over the sub for a depth charge attack. Later information showed that the sub did sink. When the Association of Potato Growers of Maine heard of this strange episode, they sent a plaque to commemorate the event. The plaque was mounted in an appropriate place near the crews mess hall for the crew to see. Well, it was the crew's battle.

BTW - as any WESTPAC guy will tell you, even today the Japanese have no idea what to do with a spud.





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Another from Carl

Just to put privilege into prospective.






Issues which Americans should consider in discussing the current fashionable concept of "White Privilege.






What really is Privilege?



1). Privilege is wearing $200 sneakers when you've never had a job.



2). Privilege is wearing $300 Beats headphones while living on public assistance.



3). Privilege is having a Smartphone with a data plan, which you receive no bill for.



4). Privilege is living in public subsidized housing where you don't have a utility or phone bill and where rising property taxes, rents and energy costs have absolutely no effect on the amount of food you can put on your table, which is largely covered by Government Food Stamps.



5). Privilege is having free health insurance for you and your family that's paid for by working taxpayers who often can't afford proper health coverage for their own families.



6). Privilege is having multiple national organizations promoting and protecting just your race alone --- that are subsidized by federal tax dollars.



7). Privilege is having access to a national college fund that supports only your race.



8). Privilege is having a television network that supports only one race.



9). Privilege is having most of the media news networks refuse to cover incidents wherein one race (one-eighth of the population) commits 50% of the crimes.



10). Privilege is the ability to go march against, and protest against anything that triggers you, without worrying about calling off from work and the consequences that accompany such.



11). Privilege is having as many children as you want, regardless of your employment status, and be able to send them off to daycare or pre-school you don't pay for.



12). Privilege is being able to vote in many states without showing a driver's license, voter ID card or other credentials -- just because your race claims they should be exempt from such requirements.



13). Privilege is being able to riot, loot, commit arson and tear down historic monuments without consequences --- just because you don't like folks such as Christopher Columbus, U. S. Grant or even Abraham Lincoln.



14). Privilege is having most of your life paid for by the working men and women who do have to deal with rising taxes and costs!

You know, those you now call "PRIVILEGED".







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July 11, 2020

This Day in US Military History



1798 – President John Adams signed the bill that re-established the Marine Corps. The Continental Congress had disbanded the service in April of 1783 at the end of the American Revolution. The Marine Corps, however, recognizes its "official" birthday to be the date that the Second Continental Congress first authorized the establishment of the "Corps of Marines" on 10 November 1775. To add to the confusion of the Corps' actual "historical" birthday, on 1 July 1797 Congress authorized the Revenue cutters to carry, in addition to their regular crew, up to "30 marines." Congress directed the cutters to interdict French privateers operating off the coast during the Quasi-War with France and thought the additional firepower of 30 marines would be needed by the under-manned and under-gunned cutters. It is unknown if any "marines" were enlisted for service with the Revenue cutters during this time.



1804 – A duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton leaves Hamilton dead. Since New Jersey did not have a law against dueling at the time, Burr and Hamilton, both New Yorkers, crossed the Hudson to Weehawken, New Jersey. New York had banned the practice earlier, partly due to Hamilton's own campaign efforts after his son was killed in a duel. Dueling was outlawed in the North much earlier than it was in the South. The state of Massachusetts declared it "detestable and infamous." Duelists in that state could be punished even if they both survived the duel. A typical penalty would be to stand an hour with a rope around their neck at the gallows and then to spend a year in prison. Transgressors might also receive lashes from a whip. For duelists who died, there was still a civic penalty to be paid. The loser was buried without a coffin near the spot of the duel with a stake driven through his body. The winner could be prosecuted for murder, executed, and buried in the same manner. Even the mere threat of a duel had serious consequences: In 1818, George Norton challenged someone to a duel in New York for insulting his honor and was sentenced to a month in prison for his dare. In the South, dueling was much more popular and accepted, especially among upper-class society. The practice was so common that legislators were asked to take an oath to declare that they had never been in a duel. Even after dueling became illegal, the law was rarely enforced. The Burr-Hamilton duel was not the last high-profile case. In 1809, future senator Henry Clay and Humphrey Marshall were arguing over legislation in Kentucky's state house when Clay called Marshall a demagogue and Marshall responded by calling Clay a liar. Their subsequent duel was fought with pistols at a length of ten paces. Luckily for both, neither was a good shot (nor were the weapons particularly accurate), and they both recovered from their injuries.



1953 – Lieutenant Colonel John F. Bolt became the 37th Korean War ace and the only U.S. Marine Corps pilot to qualify as an ace during the Korea War. He also has the distinction of being the only jet ace in Marine Corps history and the only U.S. Marine to become an ace in two wars (World War II and Korea). Bolt was flying an F-86 Sabre, "Darling Dottie," attached to the Air Force's 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing.



1955 – The new US Air Force Academy was dedicated at Lowry Air Base in Colorado.

1979 – Parts of Skylab, America's first space station, come crashing down on Australia and into the Indian Ocean five years after the last manned Skylab mission ended. No one was injured. Launched in 1973, Skylab was the world's first successful space station. The first manned Skylab mission came two years after the Soviet Union launched Salynut 1, the world's first space station, into orbit around the earth. However, unlike the ill-fated Salynut, which was plagued with problems, the American space station was a great success, safely housing three separate three-man crews for extended periods of time. Originally the spent third stage of a Saturn 5 moon rocket, the cylindrical space station was 118 feet tall, weighed 77 tons, and carried the most varied assortment of experimental equipment ever assembled in a single spacecraft to that date. The crews of Skylab spent more than 700 hours observing the sun and brought home more than 175,000 solar pictures. They also provided important information about the biological effects of living in space for prolonged periods of time. Five years after the last Skylab mission, the space station's orbit began to deteriorate–earlier than was anticipated–because of unexpectedly high sunspot activity. On July 11, 1979, Skylab made a spectacular return to earth, breaking up in the atmosphere and showering burning debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.



The Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day



*CRAIG, ROBERT
Rank and organization: Second Lieutenant, U.S. Army, 15th Infantry, 3d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Favoratta, Sicily, 11 July 1943. Entered service at: Toledo, Ohio. Birth: Scotland. G.O. No.: 41, 26 May 1944. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life, above and beyond the call of duty, on 11 July 1943 at Favoratta, Sicily. 2d Lt. Craig voluntarily undertook the perilous task of locating and destroying a hidden enemy machinegun which had halted the advance of his company. Attempts by 3 other officers to locate the weapon had resulted in failure, with each officer receiving wounds. 2d Lt. Craig located the gun and snaked his way to a point within 35 yards of the hostile position before being discovered. Charging headlong into the furious automatic fire, he reached the gun, stood over it, and killed the 3 crew members with his carbine. With this obstacle removed, his company continued its advance. Shortly thereafter while advancing down the forward slope of a ridge, 2d Lt. Craig and his platoon, in a position devoid of cover and concealment, encountered the fire of approximately 100 enemy soldiers. Electing to sacrifice himself so that his platoon might carry on the battle, he ordered his men to withdraw to the cover of the crest while he drew the enemy fire to himself. With no hope of survival, he charged toward the enemy until he was within 25 yards of them. Assuming a kneeling position, he killed 5 and wounded 3 enemy soldiers. While the hostile force concentrated fire on him, his platoon reached the cover of the crest. 2d Lt. Craig was killed by enemy fire, but his intrepid action so inspired his men that they drove the enemy from the area, inflicting heavy casualties on the hostile force.

*ENDL, GERALD L.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U S. Army, 32d Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Anamo, New Guinea, 11 July 1944. Entered service at: Janesville, Wis. Birth: Ft. Atkinson, Wis. G.O. No.: 17, 13 March 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty near Anamo, New Guinea, on 11 July 1944. S/Sgt. Endl was at the head of the leading platoon of his company advancing along a jungle trail when enemy troops were encountered and a fire fight developed. The enemy attacked in force under heavy rifle, machinegun, and grenade fire. His platoon leader wounded, S/Sgt. Endl immediately assumed command and deployed his platoon on a firing line at the fork in the trail toward which the enemy attack was directed. The dense jungle terrain greatly restricted vision and movement, and he endeavored to penetrate down the trail toward an open clearing of Kunai grass. As he advanced, he detected the enemy, supported by at least 6 light and 2 heavy machineguns, attempting an enveloping movement around both flanks. His commanding officer sent a second platoon to move up on the left flank of the position, but the enemy closed in rapidly, placing our force in imminent danger of being isolated and annihilated. Twelve members of his platoon were wounded, 7 being cut off by the enemy. Realizing that if his platoon were forced farther back, these 7 men would be hopelessly trapped and at the mercy of a vicious enemy, he resolved to advance at all cost, knowing it meant almost certain death, in an effort to rescue his comrades. In the face of extremely heavy fire he went forward alone and for a period of approximately 10 minutes engaged the enemy in a heroic close-range fight, holding them off while his men crawled forward under cover to evacuate the wounded and to withdraw. Courageously refusing to abandon 4 more wounded men who were Iying along the trail, 1 by 1 he brought them back to safety. As he was carrying the last man in his arms he was struck by a heavy burst of automatic fire and was killed. By his persistent and daring self-sacrifice and on behalf of his comrades, S/Sgt. Endl made possible the successful evacuation of all but 1 man, and enabled the 2 platoons to withdraw with their wounded and to reorganize with the rest of the company.

ROBERTS, GORDON R.
Rank and organization: Sergeant (then Sp4c.), U.S. Army, Company B, 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. Place and date: Thua Thien Province, Republic of Vietnam, 11 July 1969. Entered service at: Cincinnati, Ohio. Born: 14 June 1950, Middletown, Ohio. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. Sgt. Roberts distinguished himself while serving as a rifleman in Company B, during combat operations. Sgt. Roberts' platoon was maneuvering along a ridge to attack heavily fortified enemy bunker positions which had pinned down an adjoining friendly company. As the platoon approached the enemy positions, it was suddenly pinned down by heavy automatic weapons and grenade fire from camouflaged enemy fortifications atop the overlooking hill. Seeing his platoon immobilized and in danger of failing in its mission, Sgt. Roberts crawled rapidly toward the closest enemy bunker. With complete disregard for his safety, he leaped to his feet and charged the bunker, firing as he ran. Despite the intense enemy fire directed at him, Sgt. Roberts silenced the 2-man bunker. Without hesitation, Sgt. Roberts continued his l-man assault on a second bunker. As he neared the second bunker, a burst of enemy fire knocked his rifle from his hands. Sgt. Roberts picked up a rifle dropped by a comrade and continued his assault, silencing the bunker. He continued his charge against a third bunker and destroyed it with well-thrown hand grenades. Although Sgt. Roberts was now cut off from his platoon, he continued his assault against a fourth enemy emplacement. He fought through a heavy hail of fire to join elements of the adjoining company which had been pinned down by the enemy fire. Although continually exposed to hostile fire, he assisted in moving wounded personnel from exposed positions on the hilltop to an evacuation area before returning to his unit. By his gallant and selfless actions, Sgt. Roberts contributed directly to saving the lives of his comrades and served as an inspiration to his fellow soldiers in the defeat of the enemy force. Sgt. Roberts' extraordinary heroism in action at the risk of his life were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.


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The List 5383 TGB

 

WE NEED A MARKER FOR WHERE THE PHOTO(S) BELONG WITHIN THE TEXT FILE IN ORDER TO PROPERLY PLACE THEM

THANK YOU

RONDOIDS

The List 5383 TGB

To All

Good Friday Morning July 10. There will be another List later this afternoon. I have another Dr. Appointment this morning.

Regards,

Skip

Today in Naval History

July 10

Today in Naval History

July 10

1934 President Franklin D. Roosevelt travels to Cartagena, Columbia, by USS Houston (CA 30). His visit was the first by a U.S. president to South America.

1943 In Operation Husky, naval gunfire helps Allied troops land on Sicily, Italy. It is the first extensive use of LST's and smaller landing craft to deliver heavy equipment over the beach.

1945 USS Runner (SS 476) sinks the Japanese minesweeper (No.27) off Tado Saki, Honshu.

1945 - 14 carriers from Third Fleet carriers begin air strikes on Japanese Home Islands which end 15 August

1971 USS Ponce (AFSB 15) is commissioned. The final Austin-class amphibious transport dock is named after a city in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

1993 USS Nebraska (SSBN 739) is commissioned at New London, Conn., the 14th Ohio-class submarine. 

 

Thanks to CHINFO

Executive Summary:

•Numerous outlets covered the testimonies of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and CJCS Gen. Mark Milley before the House.

•Multiple outlets reported on USS Theodore Roosevelt's arrival in San Diego Thursday.

•Multiple outlets discussed the new Tom Hanks movie Greyhound about the World War II Battle of the Atlantic being released today.

Today in History July 10

1520		The Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes is driven from Tenochtitlan and retreats to Tlaxcala.
1609		The Catholic states in Germany set up a league under the leadership of Maximilian of Bavaria.
1679		The British crown claims New Hampshire as a royal colony.
1776		The statue of King George III is pulled down in New York City.
1778		In support of the American Revolution, Louis XVI declares war on England.
1850		Millard Fillmore is sworn in as the 13th president of the United States following the death of Zachary Taylor.
1890		Wyoming becomes the 44th state.
1893		Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performs the first successful open-heart surgery, without the benefit of penicillin or blood transfusion.
1925		The trial of Tennessee teacher John T. Scopes opens, with Clarence Darrow appearing for the defense and William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution.
1940		Germany begins the bombing of England.
1942		General Carl Spaatz becomes the head of the U.S. Air Force in Europe.
1943		American and British forces complete their amphibious landing of Sicily.
1945		U.S. carrier-based aircraft begin airstrikes against Japan in preparation for invasion.
1951		Armistice talks between the United Nations and North Korea begin at Kaesong.
1960		Belgium sends troops to the Congo to protect whites as the Congolese Bloodbath begins, just 10 days after the former colony became independent of Belgian rule.
1962		The satellite Telstar is launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, beaming live television from Europe to the United States.
1965		"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" becomes the Rolling Stones' first No. 1 single in the USA.
1967		Singer Bobbie Gentry records "Ode to Billie Joe," which will become a country music classic and win 4 Grammys.
1976		In Seveso, near Milan, Italy, an explosion in a chemical factory covers the surrounding area with toxic dioxin. Time magazine has ranked the Seveso incident No. 8 on its list of the 10 worst environmental disasters.
1985		Coca-Cola Co. announces it will resume selling "old formula Coke," following a public outcry and falling sales of its "new Coke."
1991		Boris Yeltsin is sworn in as the first elected president of the Russian Federation, following the breakup of the USSR.
1993		Kenyan runner Yobes Ondieki becomes the first man to run 10,000 meters in less than 27 minutes.

 

1940 The Battle of Britain begins as the Luftwaffe attempts to destroy the RAF in anticipation  of a German invasion  of England

1943 Allied forces commence the invasion of Sicily

1965

MiGs shot down as bombing of North Vietnam continues »

 

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Torpedo versus Torpedo

Full article on the torpedoes….Don't they remember it was John Wayne that solved the U.S. Navy  torpedo problem. I remember the movie….SKIP

 

First this from Barrett

Our Torpedoes v Their Torpedoes:

 

I correspond with the webmaster of uboat.net, arguably the finest naval site online.  (Up there in Iceland "Gummi" doesn't seem to get out much!)  Years ago he mentioned that some Kriegsmarine ordies who designed faulty magnetic detonators went to prison.  I had to say that ours made flag.  The worst of the worst was FLEET ADMIRAL Wm. Leahy who became FDR's briefcase carrier (got the 5th star so the Brit field marshals would return his calls.)  He headed BuOrd during design of the notorious WW II torpedoes and apparently restricted testing, with well known results.

 

Leahy was opposed to the Manhattan Project: "As an ordnance expert I can say that the atom bomb will not work."  Later he took the um humanitarian approach that the bombs were unnecessary and chastised the Army Air Force for barbarity (you can read between the political lines where THAT is concerned!)

 

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An early H-GRAM FROM Admiral Cox

H-008-X

S.J. Cox

28 Jun 17

Torpedo versus Torpedo

     In 1940, a Japanese "walk-in" source provided the U.S. Naval Attache in Tokyo with information on the Japanese Type 93 "oxygen torpedo" (known after the war as "Long Lance.")  The Type 93 had much longer range, was faster, and had a larger warhead than any other known torpedo in the world.  The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) provided this intelligence, from an "impeccable source," to the Navy Bureau of Ordnance, which evaluated and dismissed the report in the belief that the Japanese could not have developed a torpedo more advanced than our own, and that the use of compressed oxygen as an oxidizer was too dangerous.  Seven U.S. Navy cruisers, nine destroyers, and the abandoned aircraft carrier USS Hornet (CV-8,) and additional Allied ships were sunk by Type 93 torpedoes during World War II (over 3,100 U.S. Sailors killed,) in most cases when the target ships, believing themselves to be safely out of torpedo range, were hit by surprise.   The Type 93 and other Japanese torpedoes were reliable; U.S. torpedoes were not, despite being more "sophisticated."

U.S. Submarine Torpedo: Mark 14

    At the start of World War II, the newest operational U.S. torpedoes were the Mark 13 air-launched torpedo, the Mark 14 submarine-launched torpedo, and the Mark 15 surface-launched torpedo.  Although each torpedo was different, each version had significant components in common, particularly the Mark 6 magnetic influence exploder (on the Mark 14 and 15.)  As passive anti-torpedo defenses of capital ship designs significantly improved as a result of WWI experience, the U.S. sought to overcome increased armor, water-tight compartmentation, anti-torpedo blisters and other features by designing a torpedo that would pass underneath the target ship and detonate several feet below the keel using magnetic influence (similar to modern torpedoes.)   The Japanese approach to the same problem was to build a bigger, faster contact torpedo with a huge warhead. 

    U.S. submarine skippers were the first to realize that U.S. torpedoes had major problems, and they found out the hard way as a result of failed attacks.  The skipper of USS Sargo (SS-188) fired 12 torpedoes on 24 Dec 41 at four targets, the last four torpedoes with textbook perfect set up, and none hit.  USS Seadragon (SS-194) fired eight torpedoes on her first war patrol in Jan 42, for only one hit.  Numerous other submarine commanders experienced the same problem.  Even the great LCDR Dudley "Mush" Morton on Wahoo (SS-238) came back empty-handed from a patrol in May 1943, due to faulty torpedoes.  On 9 April 43, the skipper of USS Tunney (SS-282,) LCDR John A. Scott, had probably the most frustrating day in the history of the U.S. submarine force, with perfect short-range shots at three Japanese aircraft carriers (Junyo, Hiyo, and Taiyo,) firing all ten tubes without a single hit.

    The initial response from the Bureau of Ordnance(BuOrd) was to blame the submarine skippers ("operator error") because the torpedoes had worked fine in pre-war tests.  Actually, they hadn't.   Because of the expense of torpedoes (about $160K in today's dollars,) BuOrd's limited budget, and inability of the U.S. industrial base to produce anywhere near enough torpedoes required, the U.S. Navy conducted no tests before the war using production warshot torpedoes against an actual target.  (The Japanese conducted extensive live-fire tests against target ships.)  All U.S. tests used exercise warheads, with an upward looking camera substituting for the magnetic influence sensor, and since the exercise torpedoes passed under the target ships, as they were supposed to, the tests were deemed a success.

    The Mark 14 had several serious flaws, which masked each other.   The first flaw detected was that warshots ran about 10 feet deeper than set.  Shortly after assuming command of Southwest Pacific Submarines in Jun 42, RADM Charles Lockwood ordered a series of tests with submarines firing torpedoes into nets that conclusively proved that the torpedoes were running too deep.  By then Pacific Fleet submarines had fired over 800 torpedoes (a year's production worth, at that time) with very little to show for it.  When news of the tests reach CNO Ernest J. King, he turned his famous wrath on BuOrd, which however did not save a number of submarine skippers who had been relieved of command for supposedly being incompetent or not aggressive enough (in some cases true) but they certainly were not helped by torpedoes that didn't work.

    Once the Mk 14 depth control issue was recognized, many submarine skippers set their run depths to "zero," which increased the chance of a torpedo broaching, but even when the torpedoes ran at an appropriate depth, the number of premature detonations and duds greatly increased.  This is actually what happened to LCDR Scott on Tunney; seven of the ten torpedoes he fired at the three Japanese carriers would have been hits except that they exploded prematurely, resulting in only light damage to one carrier.  As submarine skippers began to suspect the Mark 6 exploder, nearly all requested permission to deactivate the exploder, which was denied.  As a result, some skippers deactivated the exploders anyway, and in their post-patrol reports inflated the estimated tonnage of their targets to justify expending more torpedoes per target.  RADM Lockwood, after he became Commander Submarine Force Pacific, used reports from submarine skippers as well as intercepted and decoded Japanese radio reports that documented premature explosions, to request permission from Admiral Nimitz to deactivate the magnetic exploders, which Nimitz promptly granted.  Deactivation was ordered on 24 Jun 43.

   The deactivation of the magnetic exploders solved the premature detonation problem, but revealed that the contact exploder had major design flaws as well, resulting in more duds.  LCDR Dan Daspit of USS Tinosa (SS-283) returned from a patrol with convincing data that the contact pistol was defective.  RADM Lockwood ordered another series of tests (drop tests and even firing torpedoes into cliff faces) that confirmed the detonators were defective.  In fact, torpedoes that hit the target at a 90 degree angle (i.e. a perfect shot) were more likely to fail.  The interim fix was for submarines to attempt to hit targets at more oblique angles, and this actually did help reduce the dud problem.

   The fourth major problem with the Mark 14 was a tendency to run in circles, with the risk to the submarine that fired the torpedo.  Although no U.S. subs are known to have been sunk by a circling Mark 14, this problem was never completely solved.  In fact USS Tang (SS-306,) LCDR Richard O'Kane commanding, was sunk on 25 Oct 44 by her own circling torpedo, a new Mark 18.  USS Tullibee (SS-284) was sunk by a circular run on 26 Mar 44, but the Mark of torpedo is unknown.

     By early 1944, with fixes finally implemented, the Mark 14 became a very reliable weapon that inflicted enormous damage to the Japanese Navy and merchant marine, but it could have inflicted so much more damage sooner had adequate budget resources been devoted to realistic testing and training before the war, and a more expeditious BuOrd shore establishment effort to fix problems identified by submarine skippers rather than trying to pass blame back to the sub skippers.

U.S. Air Launched Torpedo: Mark 13

    Like submariners, U.S. aviators quickly began to suspect that their torpedoes were frequently defective.  Dismal results with torpedoes during early carrier raids in the Marshalls and at Tulagi fueled suspicions.  Although some torpedoes actually hit the Japanese light carrier Shoho at the Battle of the Coral Sea, and worked as designed, there were actually significantly fewer hits than claimed, as many bomb near-misses were mistaken for torpedo hits.  No torpedoes hit the Japanese carrier Shokaku at Coral Sea, but none of the TBD Devastator torpedo-bombers were lost in that attack or during the attack on Shoho either, giving a false sense to U.S. commanders that the TBD/Mark 13 combination was a viable means of attack.  This notion was disabused at Midway when nearly every torpedo-bomber was shot down without obtaining a single hit.  Some reports claim that even before Midway, VADM Halsey had been so concerned about the TBD's lack of effectiveness and vulnerability that he had no intent to use them in future engagements until dive bombers had thoroughly worked over the targets well in advance.  Pre-war tactics ideally called for the dive bombers to drop on target just slightly ahead of the torpedo bombers in order to divert fighters and suppress anti-aircraft fire to give the torpedo bombers a better chance.  At Midway, the torpedo-bombers reached the Japanese carriers first, and paid the price.

      Due to high cost and production shortfalls, pre-war exercises with even exercise torpedoes were extremely rare, but even then showed that the Mark 13 was prone to running at errant angles, running on the surface or too deep, or not running at all, even when dropped at very low speeds.  In the case of air-dropped torpedoes, the reason for failure was generally because components of the torpedo were damaged upon impact with the water.  The U.S. Navy torpedo bomber at the beginning of WWII, the TBD-1 Devastator was not very fast to begin with, but additional speed and altitude restrictions meant to improve torpedo reliability made the TBD even more vulnerable to enemy fighters and shipboard anti-aircraft fire.  A sad irony is that extensive tests conducted after the Battle of Midway concluded that the stringent speed and altitude restrictions were actually counter-productive; the reliability of the torpedo had more to do with the angle it impacted the water than with speed or altitude of drop.  The slow speed and low altitude caused the torpedo to hit the water on a very flat trajectory that actually resulted in more component damage.

     Extensive tests in late 1942 and 1943 revealed twelve major flaws with the Mk 13 torpedo, which resulted in a dual track solution of making fixes to the Mk 13 while attempting to simultaneously accelerate the development, with significant technical risk, of the Mk 25 torpedo.  The development of shroud rings that reinforced the tail fins (frequently damaged in drops) and drag rings, which slowed the torpedo after drop (allowing the aircraft to maintain higher speeds and higher altitudes, while improving angle of entry into the water) had significant positive impact on Mk 13 reliability.  Although Mk 13 torpedo performance remained poor throughout 1943, by mid-1944 performance improved markedly, particularly with the addition of a radar to TBF Avenger torpedo-bombers that provided a precise range to the target.  By 1944, Avengers were able to drop the Mk 13 at altitudes up to 800 feet and 260 Kts, significantly increasing attack profile flexibility and aircraft survivability.

    Nevertheless, because of the torpedo bomber debacle at Midway (and the spectacular success of the dive bombers,) the U.S. Navy skewed carrier air group composition toward more dive bombers and fewer torpedo bombers after Midway.  The result was that fewer Japanese ships were sunk than might have otherwise been the case, which was a particular factor in the disappointing number of Japanese ship losses due to air attack at the Battle of the Philippine Sea in Jun 44.  Although Japanese aircraft carriers had design flaws that made them vulnerable to bombs, Japanese surface combatants were very resistant to bomb damage, and numerous Japanese surface combatants survived multiple bomb hits to fight another day.  Japanese battleships and heavy cruisers were almost impossible to sink with bombs alone, unless a bomb hit the torpedo banks on a cruiser.  The Japanese super-battleships Musashi and Yamato both absorbed numerous bomb hits and kept on coming; it was the improved Mk 13's that sank them (and even then, it took numerous torpedo hits.)

U.S. Surface-launched Torpedo:  Mark 15

    The Mark 15 torpedo was the standard torpedo employed by U.S. destroyers in WWII, and suffered most of the same problems as the Mark 14 submarine-launched torpedoes, except it took longer to detect the problems, because of fewer opportunities to employ the weapons in the early months of the war.  The Mark 15 was designed to have a longer range and larger warhead, which made it longer and heavier than the Mark 14.  Despite the differences, the Mark 15 and Mark 14 had numerous components in common, in particular the problematic Mark 6 exploder.   Problems with the Mark 15 were not actually solved until after the problems with the Mark 14 were first identified by the submarine community.

    U.S. Navy surface torpedo tactics were also seriously flawed, as they were developed in the 1930's without an appreciation for Japanese capabilities.  The U.S. Navy War Instructions (FTP 143) stated that U.S. cruisers were to avoid night fights unless conditions were favorable.  (U.S. cruisers had had their torpedo banks removed to save weight, whereas Japanese cruisers retained theirs.)  As a result, U.S. cruisers were unprepared for night fighting and suffered severely from Japanese torpedo attack during the Solomons campaign (which will become apparent in the next H-gram on Savo Island.)  Under FTP-143, U.S. destroyers were to attack first with guns, but to reserve torpedoes for capital ship targets.  The typical result was that Japanese ships (which held fire until after launching torpedoes) would fire their longer-range torpedoes at the U.S. gun flashes, and numerous U.S. destroyers were sunk before ever having a chance to employ torpedoes (despite the advantage of having radar.)  Not until the Battle of Vella Gulf in August 1943, after numerous battles in which U.S. destroyers suffered grievous losses, did U.S. Navy destroyers finally successfully execute a surprise night torpedo attack against a Japanese force.  Even at the night Battle of Surigao Strait in Oct 1944 (which was a debacle for the Japanese) the number of hits obtained by U.S. torpedoes relative to the number fired was dismally low.

Japanese Type 93 Sanso Gyorai "Oxygen Torpedo" (also known as "Long Lance")

    The term "Long Lance" was coined by U.S. Navy historian RADM Samuel Eliot Morison after World War II so was not used during the war.

   From the early 1920's, the Japanese understood that their Battle Line would always be outnumbered by the U.S. Battle Line, initially due to Washington and London Naval Treaty limitations, but also because senior Japanese naval leaders did have an understanding of, and respect for, U.S. industrial and ship-building capacity.  The Japanese expected a war with the United States to unfold in almost the same manner as the U.S. Navy did in War Plan Orange, specifically that the U.S. Battle Fleet would work its way across the Pacific to a climactic Mahanian duel of Battle Lines in waters near Japan.  Realizing their disadvantage, the Japanese embarked on an extensive effort to develop an asymmetric advantage (long before anyone came up with that term) to attrite the U.S. Fleet as it came across the Pacific so that the odds would be more even for the great surface battle.  The Japanese solution of choice was the night torpedo attack. 

   Throughout the pre-war years, the Japanese invested enormous resources in developing night torpedo attack capability, including extensive realistic nighttime training, despite the inherent danger.  By contrast, the U.S. severely curtailed realistic night training after the Point Honda disaster in Sep 1923, when seven destroyers ran aground at night at high speed doing exactly that kind of training (I will cover the Point Honda disaster in a future H-gram.)  The Japanese invested heavily in improved night optics, searchlights, pyro-technics, night scouting flights by cruiser-embarked float planes, and even lookouts specially selected for superior night vision.  Extensive live fire testing against actual target ships ensured torpedo reliability.

    The culmination of Japanese efforts was the development of the surface-launched Type 93 Oxygen Torpedo (and the similar, but smaller, Type 95 submarine launched torpedo.)  The Type 93 was a 24-inch diameter torpedo with a 1,080 Lb. warhead, that could range up to 22 NM at 35 Kts or 12 NM at 50 Kts, but would typically be employed between 6- 11 NM from the target (U.S. torpedoes were typically employed within 5 NM.)  Although U.S. torpedoes were technically more sophisticated with the highly secret Mark 6 exploder, the Japanese weapons were much more reliable, relying more on a brute force approach.  Nevertheless, the use of compressed oxygen as an oxidizer, which was the key to the Type 93's range and size, required the Japanese to successfully overcome numerous significant technological hurdles, which they did through extensive testing and lessons learned from a number of accidental explosions , and it took them from the early 1920's until 1935 to do it.  Both the British and the U.S. Navy had experimented with oxygen torpedoes (and the British Nelson-class battleships carried them in the early 1920's) their development had been essentially abandoned due to the inherent danger of the use of compressed oxygen.  Additional advantages of the Type 93 were that it could be fired from outside the range of U.S. searchlights, and the use of compressed oxygen resulted in very minimum bubble wake (caused by unburned nitrogen in other torpedoes.)  In many cases, U.S. ships were hit by Japanese torpedoes before they even knew the Japanese ships were there, sometimes believing that the torpedo had come from a submarine.

    Because the Type 93 torpedo was potentially as great a danger to its own ship as the enemy, the Japanese torpedomen were the elite sailors of the Japanese Navy and were very highly trained and extremely secretive.  The rest of the crew was generally completely unaware of what was really in the "secondary air tank" which stored oxygen for the torpedoes.  As the Japanese lost air superiority during the course of the war, ships facing imminent air attack had to decide whether to jettision their Type 93 torpedoes as a precaution.  At Midway, the Japanese heavy cruiser Mogami  jettisoned her Type 93's and survived a severe pounding, whereas Mikuma did not, and the explosion of her own Type 93's inflicted fatal damage.  At the Battle of Santa Cruz in Oct 42, the heavy cruiser Chikuma survived because she jettisoned her torpedoes, whereas at the Battle off Samar in Oct 1944, a desperation lucky 5-inch shot from the fleeing escort carrier USS White Plains (CVE-66) hit the heavy cruiser Chokai in the torpedo bank and she had to be scuttled.

    Despite the danger to themselves, the Japanese employed the Type 93 with devastating effect early in the war.  Allied Forces first encountered the weapon at the Battle of the Java Sea in February 1942, when a spread of Type 93's from the unseen heavy cruisers Haguro and Nachi sank the Dutch light cruisers De Ruyter (taking the task force commander RADM Karel Doorman with her) and Java, and only through luck were the USS Houston (CA-30) and HMAS Perth spared, but only to be sunk by the same weapons from the Japanese heavy cruisers Mogami and Mikuma at the Battle of Sunda Strait the next night.  Type 93 torpedoes were primarily responsible for the loss of HMS Exeter in the Java Sea; USS Quincy (CA-39,) USS Vincennes (CA-44,) and USS Astoria (CA-34) at Savo Island; the USS Northhampton (CA-26)  at Tassafaronga; the USS Helena (CL-50) at Kula Gulf, and 11 allied and U.S. destroyers.  Despite the pre-war intelligence report, U.S. operating forces remained ignorant of the Type 93's true capability until examples were recovered intact following the Guadalcanal campaign in 1943, at great cost.

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I really like these PBY stories from WWII. There were a number MOH awarded to those pilots and one of  them shot down  the first Zero fighter of the war and the exploits of them going in close to islands in the Pacific and dodging shore batteries to pick up aircrew are legendary.

Thanks to my friend  Pete for this bit of history. Pete was standing by with all his fire fighting gear  a few years ago as a fire got within a mile or so of his house in  the mountains East of San Diego near Alpine. 'we are glad he did not have to put on his scuba gear and go to the bottom of his pool if the fire got past him. What do you expect from a former F-8 Driver.

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            This morning's List mentioned a sub kill by VP-94 on this date:

 

1943—PBY (VP 94) sinks German submarine (U 590) at the mouth of the Amazon River, Brazil.

 

Attached are some BDA photos, taken from the step of 94-P-10, my dad's PBY, if you are interested. I've got the official action summary as well!

 

            My father was flying copilot in 94-P-10 (PBY-5A) that morning with his best friend (Ltjg Frank Hare) in the left seat (their lineal numbers were 1 # apart, and most crews alternated left & right seats on the long patrols). My dad spotted a sub on the surface, after another PBY (Ltjg Auslander 94-P-1) radioed that they had seen another 60 miles away. When Frank Hare rolled into the surfaced sub, their PBY was lit up by 50 cal fire from the sub. Apparently, the Germans were losing too many subs to the PBY's in the clear blue waters off Brazil, so they changed their tactics and decided to fight it out on the surface with the slow PBY's.

 

            The first shots killed Frank Hare immediately, wounded my father in the left leg, and seriously wounded the port blister gunner. My dad was able to pull out, circle the sub and re-attack it, dropping 2 depth charges which apparently crippled the sub, because it didn't dive again. They remained circling overhead, radioing for backup; both sides licking their wounds. Until later, when Auslander arrived in 94-P-1 and finished off the sub.

 

            My father never talked about this event in any detail; PTSD I suppose. I found out about it mostly in some books and war histories, and from some of his squadron mates.  I'm an F-8 guy; I can't imagine having your best friend get blown away two feet away from you, and continuing the mission for another 3 hours!

 

            Big day in my family! I was born 1 year later; probably conceived during his R&R recuperation!

 

Pete Phelps

Litning

 

 

Sub Kill report from 9 July 1943

The night of July 7-8, convoy TJ-1 was attacked in the Trinidad area, two ships being sunk and others damaged. Planes were immediately despatched from Belem to operate out of Amapa, taking over coverage of the convoys. On the morning of 9 July several sightings were made at a distance, both by planes and surface craft, indicating that the attack was being continued. BT-18 was entering the area from the South at this time and is was necessary for five planes in Belem and a limited number of pilots to give night and day coverage and fly daylight sweeps. Lt. (jg) Stanley Ernest Auslander, USNR, 104 673, Lt(jg) John Milton Elliot, USNR, 113 067, Lt.(jg) Frank Joseph McMackin Jr., USNR, 112 627, in 94-P-1, enroute to relieve on convoy coverage, sighted the swirl of a submerging submarine just before noon and advised the base that gambit tactics would be employed. At approximately 1230 Peter, 94-P-10 sweeping the area immediately east of TJ-1 sighted a surfaced submarine about 60 miles distant from the swirl sighting. Just after starting the first leg of the sweep at 1235 Peter, the co-pilot sighted the U-boat 12 miles distant at 03-54 North, 49-52 West. The submarine apparently did not see the plane until quite late for no attempt to submerge was made. At a distance of more than a mile from the submarine, orange flecks from the submarine's anti-aircraft fire were noticed, and almost immediately thereafter an explosive shrapnel shell enterd the bow on the port side exploding against the instrument panel, setting fire to the Sperry oil, and causing billowing smoke and flame. The pilot, Lt. (jg) Frank Fisher Hare, USNR, 112 640 was struck by shrapnel in the head, heart, and body. The run was continued and the two starboard depth bombs released. Interrogation of those of the crew who could see the drop of bombs indicated that they landed close together, approximately 25 to 35 feet from the stern of the submarine and about 45 degrees to starboard. There was no visible indication of damage. The bow gunner fired his .30 calibre guns continuously during the approach and the port blister ;.50 calibre gun was brought to bear after the drop. About 20 to 30 minutes after the original attack, the plane departed, the submarine being still surfaced. The evaluation of the attack was "no damage." 94-P-1 and 107-B-5 investigated the area about 1300 Peter, but found no traces of the submarine.

The complement of the aircraft included:
Pilot Lt. (jg) Frank Fisher Hare, USNR, 112 640
Co-Pilot Lt (jg) Jean Price Phelps, USNR, 112 158
Navigator Lt.(jg) Michael Carl Argento, USNR, 112 141
Tower Lombardo, Joseph (n), AMM3c, 316 78 75, USN
Bow Eisaman, Clifford Emery, AMM3c, 652 10 02, USNR
Starboard

Blister Testen, Andrew Frank, AOM3c, 613 99 69, USNR
Port

Blister Brown, Thomas Russell, ARM3c, 268 81 22, USN
Radio Lack, James Thomas, ARM3c, 356 66 90, USN

(4)

Lt(jg) Hare was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Purple Heart. J Price Phelps was awarded the Air Medal and Purple Heart for wounds sustained from the initial attack as well as for continuing the attack and probably damaging the sub; causing it to remain on the surface for Lt Auslander's later attack and kill. Meanwhile, 94-P-1 continued its gambit and at 1424 Peter, a surfacing submarine was sighted about three miles dead ahead, position 03-22 North, 48-38 West. The plane was flying at 3700 feet over a broken cloud base of .4 to .6 cumulus at 1700 feet and had just passed through a fairly heavy cloud. The U-Boat was about 2 1/2 miles distant. As the pilots could not see the submarine, the nose was pushed over to bring it into view. Water was running from its decks and within a few seconds it was fully surfaced, cruising at about 15 knots on 125 degrees true. The pilot held the plane in a dive directly toward the submarine, without changing course and threw on the bombing switch. Lt. (jg) McMackin blew the warning horn and rushed to the waist compartment to take pictures of the enemy underseas craft through the port blister. The throttles were cut, but still the plane attained a speed of 200 knots indicated. At an altitude of about 150 feet, Lt.(jg) Elliot released the depth bombs by intervalometer spaced at 73 feet. The submarine was fully surfaced, proceeding on course, and there was no evidence that the crew, three or four of whom could be seen in the conning tower, were aware of the approach of the plane. An easy turn to port was made after the plane was pulled out of its dive and while the spray was still visible. When the water subsided no trace of the submarine would be seen. All of the occupants of the waist hatch were thrown into the bilges by the pull-up. The gunner had been firing the .50 calibre and had sprayed the conning tower with 7 to 10 rounds. As he fell, the gun was apparently elevated, so that one or two bullets went through the starboard wing of the plane. No serious damage was done. While circling, a greenish-brown slick was visible and in the center of it, two swimming men, a large timber, several small articles and two boxes. A crew member then reported seeing three additional men in the water and Lt.(jg) Elliot spotted them on the next approach. Five were counted at this time, but three apparently sank very quickly. A life raft was dropped, but drifted away before the swimmers could reach it Four life jackets were dropped, two inflated and two uninflated and the survivors appeared to get into the inflated ones. Emergency rations were also dropped within reach. Four minutes after the drop a large amount of oil started to rise two or three hundred yards from the slick along the sub's track and observation showed the slick continuing to grow in length and breadth to a size of half to a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide. There was no forward motion to the oil slick. The attack was assessed as "probably sunk." 94-P-1 was manned as follows:

Pilot Lt.(jg) Stanley Ernest Auslander, USNR, 104 673
Co-Pilot Lt.(jg) John Milton Elliot, USNR, 113 067
Navigator Lt.(jg) Frank Joseph McMackin, Jr.,USNR, 112 627
Port Blister Denauw, Frank Joseph, AMM2c, 606 19 58, USNR
Starboard Blister Watson, John Harry, ARM2c, 406 77 87, USN
Radio Garren, Hoyt Edwin, ARM2c, 296 00 73, USN
Bow Smith, Elmer Bryant, AMM3c, 268 81 81, USN
Tower Mustone, Joseph James, Jr., AOM3c, 607 52 10, USNR

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