If you're a WWII buff, you should find this extremely interesting. It's about 9 minutes of actual Pacific carrier combat footage filmed in 16mm color. Color movies taken during the war are rare, as the process was expensive and not common. Bear in mind that what you will see is actual combat, and not colorized, but real. It will make you appreciate what carrier combat was all about during the war.

John



https://www.youtube.com/embed/9dR3h2HdnBQ

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Thanks John for posting that video. I had seen some of that footage before.

My dad was a career Navy man who served on carriers in the catapault and arresting gear department. He retired as a CPO. His last carrier duty was on the USS Ticonderoga. He was there when they picked up the astronauts.

I will never forget standing on the deck and reading the bronze memorial plaque placed on the island. It marked the spot where a Kamikaze hit the ship during WW2. It listed how many men were killed and injured. It also described how the ship carried on afterwards.

My dad gave me all of his cruise books. They are really pretty interesting to look at. Needless to say he has quite a few interesting stories to tell.

Takes a lot of guys (and gals, now days) to get a carrier plane in the air and back safely......


I counted 99, including the two in the foreground. This is just flight ops. Think how many more it takes to run the ship!

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/b...1.jpg~original

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

My old friend Frank carrier landed a shot up F4F which wound up standing upright on the prop.
That pic was published in Life Magazine, probably sometime in 1942.
I have seen that issue but do not own it.
Does this sound familiar to anybody?

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NRA LIFE MEMBER

I think I remember that photo.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Wow, that is neat! Thanks for posting...pretty incredible footage.

Brought back some memories...not of carrier combat, but of carrier ops.

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No good deed goes unpunished.

Is this the pic........

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

Otherwise, try this web link. It's some kind of Russian web site dedicated, apparently, to pictures of crashed Wildcats......

Click link for pictures

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~ S&W aficionado in training ~

plus the guys in the conning tower.

We had a father / son get together at Miramar. Dad flew Wildcats, son flew Tomcats, both for the same squadron. That was nice to see.

Another Tomcat pilot friend's Dad flew Thunderbolts. Dad and son had similar observations about flying fighters, ACM tactics, and pulling G's.

Flying off carriers today is tough and dangerous...it was even more so back in WWII, plus you had the added distraction of the enemy trying to sink your home.

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No good deed goes unpunished.