Thursday, March 23, 2017

Big Ones

Navy pilots  had tough jobs that I never gave a thought to, float operations off ships, until I saw a clip on Kenny Kemp’s Facebook group WWII in the Pacific.

https://www.facebook.com/239233269867787/videos/268595446931569/


That started some looking on YouTube.


That recovery looks to be a hairy combination of flying skill and boat handling.

The internet is seductive. Once you start, when does it end?



My conclusion? Those crews had big ones!

9 comments:

LL said...

If you could come in on the lee of a big ship, you'd have a dollop of slack water. Those spotting aircraft were a great idea before aircraft carriers (with radar). Then you were dead meat. The USS Washington at Guadalcanal showed that you could engage capital ships using radar and sink them. (in the cited action, Washington closed to what is point-blank range with 16" guns and sank HIJNS Krishima without suffering much damage at all. The Japanese were focused on the USS North Dakota. Once radar came into its own, float planes became a severe liability because if they were hit on deck with gunfire or by strafing runs, the avgas, solvents, etc. needed for them inevitably caught fire.

But to your point, those guys clanged when they walked. Balls of brass.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

More learning - thank you. Skimming navsource it seems the Navy "used what they had" and found a variety of jobs these planes could do. Maybe not as well as purpose built planes but good enough.

Old NFO said...

LL is correct on all counts, and launches could get 'interesting' too, especially in rough weather and a rolling ship...

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Since my total naval experience is 14 days on a troopship (on what was scheduled to be 9 days) I don't dispute either of you.

Fredd said...

Those guys that fought the Nazis and Japs in WWII are heroes. Those guys that climbed those cliffs on D-Day at Pointe du Hoc all the while the Nazis were strafing them with machine guns, what kind of guts does that take?

Those guys were iron men back in the day. Unlike the snowflakes we are seeing now. What a difference.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Mostly agree. My medically retired Combat Medic son and his fellow soldiers in Afghanistan are no snowflakes.

Coffeypot said...

The sailors back in the day did have big'uns. Not so much today. Some of today's sailors even have ovaries. But if you want to see bravery, let a ship catch on fire or an explosion. Those guys walking into the danger to save the ship. They have too. The closest land is about 2 miles - straight down. And anytime we picked up a boat load of people or launched our own boat, it was always on the leeward side, even if the ship had to do a 180. Less waves and wind.

Coffeypot said...

Let me restate the comment about launching the boat. I was never part of lauching the ships boat under combat or in an emergency. Those Boatswains Mates could launch one in a typhoon if needed.

Well Seasoned Fool said...

Once again, mostly agree. I've known too many people with ovaries that were good to go. Was married to one.