Picture of the day

The latest Littoral Combat Ship for the US Navy has just been named USS Canberra (LCS-30), in honour of the Royal Australian Navy Kent class cruiser HMAS Canberra, lost at the Battle of Savo Island.
 
CV32 said:
The latest Littoral Combat Ship for the US Navy has just been named USS Canberra (LCS-30), in honour of the Royal Australian Navy Kent class cruiser HMAS Canberra, lost at the Battle of Savo Island.
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Any idea what the future USN Trump would look like ??
 
CV32 said:
February 23, 1945

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My uncle Jay Holt (actual he married my mother's cousin but we call them Uncle Jay and Aunt Helen) won the Silver Star on Iwo. Growing up I knew he was in the Marines and was wounded on Iwo but it was not until a year ago that I became aware that he won the Silver Star (https://valor.militarytimes.com/recipient.php?recipientid=36866), was jump qualified and was on the 1956 U. S. Olympic Greco-Roman wrestling team.
 
Donny Fenn1 said:
The US lost 3 heavy cruisers to Japanese gunnery in the initial one-sided engagement and suffered from shortcomings in the area of communications, poor intelligence, inferior tactical handling and damage control/fire fighting, plus the old mistake of underestimating one's enemy.

The more I read history the more I wonder how the US "wins" any wars.
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That's simple they learn and adapt. In the initial battles at Guadalcanal they were completely outfought but in the space of a few months they evolved their tactics to the point where the comprehensively outfought the IJN and prevented any meaningful reinforcement of their troops on Guadalcanal. Interestingly the USN suffered more casualties than the Marines on land did. There is a reason it is called Iron Bottom Sound. Also the USN is not the only service to underestimate the enemy. The IJN were also guilty of this.
 
purple said:
I'm in the process of reading "Neptune's Inferno" about US naval operations in the seas around Guadalcanal in 1942/43. The US Navy went through a very steep learning curve in their surface engagements with the Japanese Navy where the Japanese proved to have initial superiority as a result of intensive training in night operations and superior torpedoes.

The US lost 3 heavy cruisers to Japanese gunnery in the initial one-sided engagement and suffered from shortcomings in the area of communications, poor intelligence, inferior tactical handling and damage control/fire fighting, plus the old mistake of underestimating one's enemy.

Cruisers were outfitted with several catapult launched spotter planes which were known to present a severe fire hazard due to volatility of on board gasoline, stored gasoline and lubricants and ready use ammo. Japanese SOP was to jettison both the aircraft and the volatiles before entering a surface engagement whereas US doctrine was to leave this to the discretion of the individual ship's captains.

As it turned out the Japanese enjoyed the element of surprise and initiated contact in the night cruiser battle of Savo Island. The American ships were caught with their aircraft and associated flammables on board which quickly lit them up and provided a beacon for the Japanese. In addition to assisting Japanese gunnery the fires daisy chained through the ships leading to the detonation of ammo and propellants contributing to the loss of 3 US cruisers one Australian cruiser and damage to other ships.
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That's a well done book. You should check out 'The Last Stand of the Tincan Sailors' by the same author. At one point some destroyers are getting hit by 18 inch shells. The destroyers were so lightly armoured the shells passed right through the ship without detonating. Hope they wore their brown pants!
 
This terrible accident happened on the 14 of July 1955 when a Cutlass crashed on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hancock

A F7U-3 piloted by LCDR Jay Alikir, USNR of VF-124 “Stingrays” was to land on the carrier. The plane came in too low and insufficient motor power prevented the Cutlass from clearing the ramp. It struck the ramp and the airplane exploded, then spun off portside. The pilot was killed when the airframe sank, still strapped into the ejection seat.

Note the LSO (Landing Signal Officer) – often called the Batsman or Paddles – running for his life. His name was Ted Reilly and - against all odds - he escaped the crash! The hook spotter/talker jumped clear over the rail and was picked out of the sea OK, later. The other LSO's leaped into the net and rolled away OK. Seven of the arresting gear people in the catwalk all escaped with minor injuries.
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And now, in .gif from:

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