Posted on 06/04/2014 7:50:32 PM PDT by Retain Mike
I was there in April. The reason that it is located in Fredericksburg, 1300 miles from the Pacific, is that it is the home of Chester Nimitz, who left the hotel business to become a sailor.
If you're there at mealtime, head for Wheeler's Restaurant, a couple blocks away on Main Street--or Hauptstrasse, as they call it in Fredericksburg--for some barbecue or German sausage washed down with local Pedernales beer.
Against German and Japanese aircraft, the Brewster Buffalo was junk, but the Finns used it effectively against Soviet aircraft.
There were actually a couple of Finns that became air aces flying Buffalos. I guess that tells you how bad the Soviet planes were. I’m still trying to figure out how the Finns came to be flying Buffalos. We must have sold them to Finland before the war started.
The article overstates our peril. Those numbers of Japanese vessels were spread around in three different groups. The aircraft that “didn’t reach the carriers, but attacked a battleship” must have been going south, because there weren’t any battleships with the carrier fleet. The Buffalos were Marine aircraft based on Midway, not on the carriers, etc.
Parshall and Tulley’s recent book “Shattered Sword” is probably the most accurate account of the battle, and makes it clear that it was a near thing, but not Gordon Prange’s “Miracle”. Essentially, when our TBD’s jumped them before they could find us, the battle was over.
apparently finding each other was a tough thing in those days
After accepting the first eleven F2A-1s -- and discovering how inadequate they were -- the Navy refused the balance of the 50-plane order.
Which was then sold to the Finns...
Sorry...SBD’s.
Lentävä kaljapullo
Yeah, it had to do with there being this big wet area. The signposts kept sinking. Seriously, though, you’re right, both sides had moments where luck was the primary agent.
Da Finns, dey got Sisu.
The extent of my Finnish...
lol
Well... you know... I ought to stop relying on memory.
Re: the author’s description of an attack on a battleship, I remembered that the majority of the battleships were with the main force, approaching Midway from a different direction. Nevertheless, there were two battleships with the carrier striking force, and Marine medium bombers did attack one of them (Haruna) at 5:29 in the morning.
So, I stand corrected.
Shattered Sword is a terrific book.
Haruna and Kirishima were attached to Kido Butai. Haruna was attacked by aircraft six times over the 4th and 5th. No hits.
Kirishima was attacked twice by aircraft and once by submarine. No hits.
The British also used some Buffalos in the defense of Malaysia.
Do post your D-Day piece, and kindly ping me. Thanks.
A good pilot in a mediocre plane is usually superior to a mediocre pilot in a good plane. JMO
My father served on the USS Yorktown CV-5 from Dec 1940 until she was sunk at Midway. As an engineer, he was ordered back aboard her after Capt. Buckmeister (sic) realized she might be saved after her initial abandonment.
He was in #2 engine room when she was fatally wounded by torpedoes from a Japanese submarine. He spent the rest of WWII onboard the USS West Virginia BB-48.
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