Picture of the day

purple said:
US-Japanese naval battles in the South Pacific in 1942/early 1943 are fascinating. The US prevailed by having bigger numbers and by the use of airpower. The Japanese did very well in surface actions around Guadalcanal where they consistently outclassed the US in ship to ship combat through superior tactical handling, training in night fighting and outstandingly effective torpedoes. The seabed around Savo Island is populated by far more sunken US ships than Japanese ones.

The US did have the advantage of radar in surface actions, but seemed to have a hard time exploiting it. In a strategic context the US had the numbers and the determination, as well as a massive production capability for aircraft and ship production; something foreseen by Japanese Adm Yamamoto before the war. US capabilities only got better while those of the Japanese diminished.
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Purple, I gotta disagree with you here.

The Japanese had massive superiority in ships and planes (we agree on that) - right up until Midway in June '42. Even then, with the loss of four front-line carriers (and their irreplaceable pilots) the Japanese still had more carriers, battleships, and cruisers in the Pacific than did the USN and the Allies. The USN had to rely completely on local superiority, radar, and a hell of a lot of luck to win any naval battle, right up until late '43 when war production of new ships (especially Essex-class carriers and trained pilots) started reaching the Pacific.

What the Japanese DIDN'T have was the ability to replace lost ships quickly. A Japanese admiral (not Yamamoto or Nagumo) once said that "if you lose a ship, it will take years to replace", reflecting on Japan's industrial capability vs the US industrial capability. Once US war production hit high gear, it was impossible for the Japanese to win just about battle in the Pacific.

As far as exploiting the advantage of radar, the Americans simply didn't have the expertise in '42-'43 that was needed to take full advantage of radar, primarily because of the dearth of training funds prior to Pearl Harbor. As you know, it's damned expensive to run training exercises, particularly with maneuvering fleets around the ocean and flying simulated air strikes - both of which were desperately needed to fully understand the capabilities and limitations of the new radar systems.

A perfect example of this is the Battle of Santa Cruz, where the Hornet was lost. The Hornet's Fighter Direction Officer didn't have the knowledge he needed of the radar system, and thus had positioned his fighter aircraft (Wildcats) BELOW the incoming Japanese air strike. While the Wildcat was a decent fighter for the time, it was NOT a good climbing plane (although it could dive very quickly, making height a major advantage) so the Japanese were able to roll into their dives while the Wildcats were still climbing toward them. Naturally, the Japanese blew through the climbing Wildcats and hammered Hornet with 16 Kate dive bombers (and the 20 Japanese torpedo planes down low were completely untouched).

The USN knew the Japanese were coming, but because of mistakes made by the Hornet's FDO, it cost the USN a valuable carrier. While the USN planes hit and damaged two Japanese carriers (Zuiho and Shokaku), they didn't sink so were able to return to Japan for repairs. It's a lot easier to repair a ship than it is to build a new one from scratch.
 
purple said:
US-Japanese naval battles in the South Pacific in 1942/early 1943 are fascinating. The US prevailed by having bigger numbers and by the use of airpower. The Japanese did very well in surface actions around Guadalcanal where they consistently outclassed the US in ship to ship combat through superior tactical handling, training in night fighting and outstandingly effective torpedoes. The seabed around Savo Island is populated by far more sunken US ships than Japanese ones.

The US did have the advantage of radar in surface actions, but seemed to have a hard time exploiting it. In a strategic context the US had the numbers and the determination, as well as a massive production capability for aircraft and ship production; something foreseen by Japanese Adm Yamamoto before the war. US capabilities only got better while those of the Japanese diminished.
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While this was true at the beginning it changed during the course of the battle. Radar was new to the US Navy and not all ships where equipped yet. It took a while to figure out how to effectively use radar. Unfortunately one US Admiral figured it out but was killed in his first major battle loosing what he learned. By the end of the Battle for Guadalcanal the Japanese could basically no longer supply during the night (not air power related) because they were being out fought by the USN. We love to dump on the US military but they learned a lot at Guadalcanal and basically after this they never lost a naval battle of any consequence and that was more than just air power and numbers. Once the USN learned they trained and executed very well.

It also pays to remember the USN paid a very steep price in the lives of their men in that learning process. The USN lost a lot more men than the land forces did in this battle.
 
Every year the Museum of Naval Aviation and the Naval Institute co-sponsor a symposium. Saturday is topic from history, Sunday is a look at topics that will be current or future concerns. In the late 80s when they held the first on the Museum was a client of mine. the history topic was the battle of Midway. It was a panel discussion. the panel members were Walter Lord, the author, the CO of one of the US dive bomber squadrons, the CO of one of the torpedo squadrons. On the other side of the stage the remaining panelists were the CO of an IJN fighter squadron, the CO of the IJN flagship and the 2nd operations officer on Yamoto's staff. It was supposed to be his chief of staff but he fell and broke a hip a couple weeks before the event. There was a reserved seating section for decorated Midway veterans. there were about forty of them introduced. George ### was selling autographed copies of his book in the lobby. (Still kicking myself for not buying one.)

During the Q&A session someone asked the Japanese pilot about pilot losses and the conventional wisdom that the IJN lost most of its pilots. His answer was that he didn't agree, he claimed they only lost about 10% of their pilots. He said that he was shot down twice during the battle, once by an American pilot. he was picked up returned to his carrier and launched again. the second time was by his own AA fire will trying to defend the fleet. By the time he was recovered the second time there were no carriers to go back to.
 
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I think this is a Thompson chest.

aNzE7po.jpg
 
purple said:
US-Japanese naval battles in the South Pacific in 1942/early 1943 are fascinating. The US prevailed by having bigger numbers and by the use of airpower. The Japanese did very well in surface actions around Guadalcanal where they consistently outclassed the US in ship to ship combat through superior tactical handling, training in night fighting and outstandingly effective torpedoes. The seabed around Savo Island is populated by far more sunken US ships than Japanese ones.

The US did have the advantage of radar in surface actions, but seemed to have a hard time exploiting it. In a strategic context the US had the numbers and the determination, as well as a massive production capability for aircraft and ship production; something foreseen by Japanese Adm Yamamoto before the war. US capabilities only got better while those of the Japanese diminished.
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Agree.

At the onset of the war, the two navies had comparable capacities, but once the US industrial capacity went into full war mode, the output of the shipyards was staggering.

MHV made a telling video, showing the ships commissioned from 1942 through 1945 of the two navies, and the difference is staggering:


Makes you wonder if there was a shortage of champagne from all the christenings.
 
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The first aerial crossing of the South Atlantic was made by the Portuguese naval aviators Gago Coutinho and Sacadura Cabral in 1922, to mark the centennial of Brazil's independence. Coutinho and Cabral flew in stages from Lisbon, Portugal, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, using three different Fairey III biplanes, and covered a distance of 8,383 kilometres (5,209 mi) between March 30 and June 17.[1][2] Although the North Atlantic had already been traversed in a non-stop flight by John Alcock and Arthur Brown in 1919, Coutinho and Cabral's flight remains notable as a milestone in transatlantic aviation, and for its use of new technologies such as the artificial horizon.[2]

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Monument to the flight in Lisbon.
 
Presumably an excerpt from Wikipedia ...

Although the North Atlantic had already been traversed in a non-stop flight by John Alcock and Arthur Brown in 1919 ...
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A small and somewhat neglected monument to which is right here in St. John's, near the site of their takeoff...

alcock-and-brown-monument.jpg
 
CV32 said:
Presumably an excerpt from Wikipedia ...



A small and somewhat neglected monument to which is right here in St. John's, near the site of their takeoff...

alcock-and-brown-monument.jpg
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The streets of Gander, Newfoundland are named for aviation stars. I recall Nungesser, Brown, Bishop. Rickenbacker, McCurdy, Yaeger, Byrd, Lewington, and Hawker.

I had the honour of flying with Lewington on a seal-spotting mission in a Canso. And I met Yeager at the Shot Show and got to shake his hand.
 
Ganderite said:
I have a Thompson, with 20 and 30 rnd stick mags and one 50 rnd drum.

The chest is in a friend's collection. I think he has a Thompson, or more.
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Great that you have the correct Thompson for that transit box that would make a neat carpentry project to replicate.
 
XRCD011 said:
Great that you have the correct Thompson for that transit box that would make a neat carpentry project to replicate.
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I tried to make a dog house once. The dog preferred to sleep out side.

I have zero carpentry skills. But I suppose it would be a good idea to make some measurements and take more detailed pictures, so it can be replicated.
 
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During an explosive shootout in one of the trenches, Jackie was seen building a wall of stones around himself for protection. While he was preoccupied, a piece of shrapnel flew over his wall and hit his right leg.

The regiment’s doctors took Jackie via stretcher to the camp’s hospital and tried to save his leg, but unfortunately, it had to be amputated. Due to being knocked out with chloroform, and the unknown effects of chloroform on baboons, the doctors were not confident that he would recover. However, within a few days, Jackie had done just that.

For his bravery, Jackie was awarded a medal for valor, as well as promoted from private to corporal.

Eventually, near the end of the war, Jackie was discharged at the Maitland Dispersal Camp in Cape Town. He left with his discharge papers, a military pension, and a civil employment form for discharged soldiers.
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https://allthatsinteresting.com/jackie-the-baboon
 
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