And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Squadron of American Douglas torpedo bombers from the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise CV-6 in flight near Diamond Head, Oahu - Hawaii, in 1941.
Yes, Torpedo Squadron 8 lost every man except George Gay, who was subsequently rescued. But the silver lining was while the Zeros were down near the water shooting down the Devastators, the SBD Dauntless dive bombers showed up and were able to execute vengeance before the Zeros could climb and intercept. This is according to Naval Historian Samuel Elliott Morrisson.
DWEEZIL THE WEASEL, and that was precisely when and where Japan lost the war in the Pacific. Oh, the war wasn't over, but the Japanese were backing up from then on.
In war time technology advances pretty quickly and what was state of the art at first flight can become obsolete about the time they enter squadron service. Such was the Devastator. It wasn't alone and for every successful design there were many also rans and failures.
Douglas TBD Devastator to be precise.
ReplyDeleteThank you. I thought Dauntless was the name.
DeleteDauntless is the Douglas dive bomber.
Deletethis the plane that slung the torpedo at an angle, that is, not parallel to the fuselage?
DeleteNice shot.
ReplyDeleteThat’s some really great photography for 84 years ago!
ReplyDeleteShot with Kodachrome
ReplyDeleteAre those yellow wings the best choice? Really?
ReplyDeleteAs best as I can make out, yellow wings were the interwar livery indicating a nation's neutrality.
DeleteAnd the Japanese shot these planes down like clay pigeons.
ReplyDeleteYes, Torpedo Squadron 8 lost every man except George Gay, who was subsequently rescued. But the silver lining was while the Zeros were down near the water shooting down the Devastators, the SBD Dauntless dive bombers showed up and were able to execute vengeance before the Zeros could climb and intercept. This is according to Naval Historian Samuel Elliott Morrisson.
DeleteDWEEZIL THE WEASEL, and that was precisely when and where Japan lost the war in the Pacific.
DeleteOh, the war wasn't over, but the Japanese were backing up from then on.
To me, it was criminal that we entered the war with planes and tanks so obsolete, the lives lost to the stupidity of the inter-war years...very sad.
ReplyDeletean observation repeated across history, I'll forward.
DeleteIn war time technology advances pretty quickly and what was state of the art at first flight can become obsolete about the time they enter squadron service. Such was the Devastator. It wasn't alone and for every successful design there were many also rans and failures.
DeleteTen years of depression, poverty, and a balanced national budget didn't leave much for military spending.
DeleteMy dad flew those.
ReplyDeleteRespect to his memory.
Delete