The FReeper Foxhole Studies U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers - Part 2 of 2 - Feb. 1, 2004

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/cv-hist2.html ^

[snippy_about_it]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.


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A Brief History of U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers


Part IIa — The War Years (1941-1942)




Dec. 7, 1941 - Carrier aircraft of the Japanese Imperial Navy launched a devastating attack on Pearl Harbor and on the military and air installations in the area. The three aircraft carriers of the Pacific Fleet were not present. USS Saratoga (CV 3), just out of overhaul, was moored at San Diego. USS Lexington (CV 2) was at sea about 425 miles southeast of Midway toward which she was headed to deliver a Marine Scout Bombing Squadron. USS Enterprise (CV 6) was also at sea, about 200 miles west of Pearl Harbor, returning from Wake Island where she had delivered a Marine Fighter Squadron. Expanded information


Feb. 1, 1942 - Task Forces 8 (under Vice Adm. William F. Halsey) and 17 (under Rear Adm. Frank J. Fletcher, built around the carriers Enterprise and Yorktown, attacked the Japanese installations on the islands of Wotje, Kwajalein, Jaluit, Makin, and Mili in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. This was the first U.S. aircraft carrier offensive.


Feb. 27, 1942 - Early in the morning, USS Langley (AV 3) rendezvoused with her antisubmarine screen, USS Whipple (DD 217) and USS Edsall (DD 219) near Tjilatjap, Java. At 1140, nine twin-engine Japanese bombers attacked her. The first and second strikes were unsuccessful, but during the third strike, Langley took five hits. Aircraft topside burst into flames, steering was impaired, and the ship took a 10 degree list to port. Unable to negotiate the narrow mouth of Tjilajap Harbor, Langley went dead in the water as inrushing water flooded her main engines. At 1332, the crew was order to abandon ship, and shortly after all were clear, the two destroyers fired 4-inch shells and two torpedoes into her and she sunk about 75 miles south of Tjilatjap. Sixteen crew were lost.


Apr. 18, 1942 - Army Lieut. Col. James H. Doolittle, taking off from USS Hornet (CV 8), Capt. Marc A. Mitscher commanding, bombed Tokyo, the first American air strike against the Japanese homeland. Hornet's mission was kept an official secret for a year; until then President Roosevelt referred to the origin of the Tokyo raid only as "Shangri-La." Expanded information


May 4-8, 1942 - The Battle of the Coral Sea. In the first naval engagement of history fought without the opposing ships making contact, U.S. carrier forces stopped a Japanese attempt to land at Port Moresby by turning back the covering carrier force. In the battle, the japanese lost the light carrier Shoho and the U.S. lost the carrier, USS Lexington (CV 2). Expanded information


Jun. 3-6, 1942 - The Battle of Midway. A strong Japanese thrust to occupy Midway Island was led by a four-carrier Mobile Force, supported by heavy units of the Japanese First Fleet. Also, a diversionary carrier raid was launched against Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. The Japanese attack on Midway was met by a greatly outnumbered U.S. carrier force composed of Task Force 17 with USS Yorktown (CV 5) and Task Force 16 with USS Hornet (CV 8) and USS Enterprise (CV 6). In the ensuing battle, the four large Japanese carriers were sunk, carrying with them 258 planes along with a high percentage of Japan's most highly trained and battle-experienced carrier pilots, a blow to Japan from which she could not recover. Midway was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. Expanded information


Jun. 15, 1942 - USS Copahee (CVE 12), Cmdr. J. G. Farrell in command, commissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, the first of 10 escort carriers of the Bogue class.


Aug. 12, 1942 - USS Wolverine (IX 64) commissioned at Buffalo, N.Y., Cmdr. G. R. Fairlamb, commanding. Wolverine and USS Sable (IX 81), commissioned May 1943, were Great Lakes excursion ships converted for aviation training . Sailing Lake Michigan, they provided flight decks on which hundreds of student aviators qualified for carrier landings and many flight deck crews received their first practical experience in handling aircraft aboard ship.

Aug. 20, 1942 - The designation of escort carriers was changed from AVG to ACV.


Aug. 24, 1942 - USS Santee (ACV 29), under the command of Capt. W. D. Sample, was placed in commission at the Norfolk Navy Yard, the first of four escort carriers of the Sangamon class, converted from Cimarron class fleet oilers.


Sept. 15, 1942 - USS Wasp (CV 7), under the command of Capt. Forrest P. Sherman, is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine southeast of San Cristobal Island and sinks with a loss of 193 killed and 366 wounded. Expanded information.


Oct. 26, 1942 - The Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands resulted in a tactical victory for Japan, but a strategic one for the U.S. in that Japan was unable to dislodge American forces off Guadalcanal. While the Japanese suffer no losses, USS Hornet (CV 8) was sunk. Damaged were the Japanese carrier Zuiho and the carrier Shokaku, and the cruiser Chikuma. Expanded information.


Dec. 31, 1942 - USS Essex (CV 9), Capt. D. B. Duncan commanding, was placed in commission in Norfolk, Va., the first of 17 ships of her class commissioned during World War II.

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Part IIb — The War Years (1943)


Jan. 14, 1943 - USS Independence (CVL 22), begun as Amsterdam, (CL-59), commissioned in Philadelphia, Capt. G. R. Fairlamb, Jr., in command. The ship launched as CV 22 on 22 Aug. 1942 by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J. This was the first of nine light carriers of her class constructed on Cleveland class cruiser hulls.


Feb. 17, 1943 - USS Lexington (CV 16) commissioned , Capt. Felix B. Stump in command. The ship was originally laid down as Cabot 15 Jul. 1941 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., and renamed Lexington 16 Jun. 1942. She was launched 23 September 1942.

Feb. 25, 1943 - USS Princeton (CV 23) commissioned at Philadelphia, Capt. George R. Henderson, commanding. The ship was originally laid down as Tallahassee (CL 61) by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J. She was reclassified as CV 23 on Feb. 16, 1942, and renamed Princeton on Mar. 31, 1942. The ship was launched Oct. 18, 1942. Following shakedown in the Caribbean, she was reclassified CVL-23 on 15 July 1943.


Apr. 15, 1943 - USS Yorktown (CV 10) commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Capt. Joseph J. ("Jocko") Clark in command. The ship was laid down 1 Dec. 1941 at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. as Bon Homme Richard. It was renamed Yorktown 16 Sept. 1942 and launched 21 Jan 1943.

Apr. 21, 1943 - Capt. Frederick M. Trapnell made a flight in the Bell XP-59A jet Airacomet at Muroc, Calif., the first jet flight by a Naval Aviator.


May 25, 1943 - USS Bunker Hill (CV 17) commissioned , Capt. J. J. Ballentine in command. The ship was launched 7 Dec. 1942 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.


May 28, 1943 - USS Cowpens (CVL 25) commissioned, Capt. R. P. McConnell in command. The ship was launched Jan. 17, 1943, by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.


Jun. 17, 1943 - USS Monterey (CV 26) commissioned, Capt. Lester T. Hundt, commanding. The ship was laid down as Dayton (CL 78) Dec. 29, 1941, by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J. and was reclassified as CV 26 Mar. 27, 1942. She was launched Feb. 28, 1943.


Jul. 8, 1943 - USS Casablanca (ACV 55), first of her class and the first escort carrier designed and built as such, was placed in commission at Astoria, Ore., Capt. S. W. Callaway commanding.

Jul. 15, 1943 - New designations for carriers were established which limited the previous broadly applied CV symbol to Saratoga, Enterprise, and carriers of the Essex class, and added CVB (Aircraft Carriers, Large) for the 45,000 ton class being built and CVL (Aircraft Carriers, Small) for the 10,000 ton class built on light cruiser hulls. The same directive reclassified escort carriers as combatant ships and changed their symbol from ACV to CVE.


Jul. 24, 1943 - USS Cabot (CVL 28) commissioned, Capt. M. F. Shoeffel in command. The ship was laid down as Wilmington (CL 79). She was redesignated as CV 28 on Jun. 2, 1942, and renamed Cabot on Jun. 23. She was converted while building and was launched Apr. 4, 1943, by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J.


Aug. 16, 1943 - USS Intrepid (CV 11) commissioned in Norfolk, Va., Captain Thomas L. Sprague in command. She was launched 26 Apr. 1943, by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.

Aug. 18, 1943 - The Secretary of the Navy establishes the Office of the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air) with Vice Adm. John S. McCain as the first DCNO(Air).


Aug. 31, 1943 - USS Langley (CVL 27) commissioned, Capt. W. M. Dillon in command. The ship was originally named Fargo (CL 85) but laid down as Crown Point (CV 27) by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J. Apr. 11, 1942. The ship was launched on May 22, 1943.

Oct. 16, 1943 - The Navy accepted its first helicopter, a Sikorski YR-4B (later an HNS-1), at Bridgeport, Conn., following a 60 minute test flight by Lt. Cmdr. F.A. Erickson, USCG.


Nov. 15, 1943 - USS San Jacinto (CVL 30) commissioned, Capt. Harold Martin, commanding. The ship was laid down as Newark (CL 100) on Oct. 26, 1942, by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J., and redesignated CV 30 and renamed Reprisal on Jun. 2, 1942. The ship was again renamed San Jacinto on Jan. 30, 1943, and converted while building to a light aircraft carrier. She was reclassified CVL 30.

Nov. 17, 1943 - USS Bataan (CVL 29) commissioned, Capt. V. H. Schaeffer in command. Built by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, N.J., she was originally laid down as Buffalo (CL 99) but was reclassified as CV 29 and renamed Bataan Jun. 2, 1942.


Nov. 24, 1943 - USS Wasp (CV 18) commissioned , Capt. Clifton A. F. Sprague in command. The ship was laid down as Oriskany on 18 Mar.1942 at Quincy, Mass., by the Bethlehem Steel Co.; renamed Wasp on 13 Nov. 1942; and, launched on 17 August 1943.


Nov. 29, 1943 - USS Hornet (CV 12) commissioned , Capt. Miles M. Browning in command. The ship was launched 30 Aug. 1943 by the Newport News Shipbuilding Dry Dock Co. Newport News, Va., sponsored by Mrs. Frank M. Knox, wife of the Secretary of the Navy.

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FReeper Foxhole Armed Services Links

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Part IIc — The War Years (1944-1945)

Jan. 31, 1944 - USS Franklin (CV 13) commissioned in Newport News, Va., Capt. James M. Shoemaker in command. The ship was launched Oct. 14, 1943.

Apr. 15, 1944 - USS Hancock (CV 19) commissioned , Capt. Fred C. Dickey in command. The ship was originally laid down as Ticonderoga 26 Jan. 1943 by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass., and renamed Hancock 1 May 1943.


May 8, 1944 - USS Ticonderoga (CV 14) commissioned at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 8 May 1944, Capt. Dixie Kiefer in command. The ship was laid down as Hancock on 1 Feb. 1943 at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., and renamed Ticonderoga on 1 May 1943. It was launched on 7 February 1944.

May 28, 1944 - At 2013, USS Block Island (CVE 21), while engaged in hunter-killer operations near the Azores, was torpedoed by the German U-549 which had slipped undetected through her screen. The German submarine put one and perhaps two more torpedoes into the stricken carrier before being sunk itself by USS Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686) and USS Ahrens (DE-575). Block Island was the only carrier lost in the Atlantic.


Jun. 4, 1944 - USS Guadalcanal (CVE 60), under the command of Capt. Dan Gallery, while on patrol in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa, captures the German submarine U-505 with help of USS Chatelain (DE 149) and USS Pillsbury (DE 133) . It was the only submarine captured by the U.S. Navy in World War II.


Jun. 19, 1944 - The Battle of the Philippine Sea began when USS Hornet (CV 12) launched strikes to destroy as many land-based Japanese planes on Saipan as possible before the carrier-based Japanese aircraft came in. The Japanese approached the American carriers in four massive waves. But fighter aircraft from Hornet and other carriers broke up all the attacks before the Japanese reached the task force. Nearly every Japanese aircraft was shot down in became commonly known as "The Marianas Turkey Shoot." Only 35 operational aircraft remained out of the 430 planes with which Japanese Adm. Ozawa had commenced the Battle of the Philippine Sea. U.S. air strikes also sank the Japanese carrier Hiji and so damaged two tankers that they were abandoned and scuttled.

Jun. 29, 1944 - Carrier Air Groups were standardized for all commands under the following designations: CVBG, large carrier air group; CVG, medium carrier air group; CVLG, light carrier air group; CVEG, escort carrier air group (Sangamon class); and, VC, escort carrier air group (C 3 and Kaiser classes).


Aug. 6, 1944 - USS Bennington (CV 20) commissioned , Capt. J. B. Sykes in command. The ship was launched 16 Feb. 1944 by New York Navy Yard.

Sept. 15, 1944 - USS Shangri-La (CV 38) commissioned at Norfolk, Va., Capt. James D. Barner, commanding.


Oct. 9, 1944 - USS Randolph (CV 15) was commissioned in Norfolk, Va., 9 October 1944, Capt. Felix Baker in command.


Oct. 24, 1944 - USS Princeton (CVL 23) was lost in an air attack in the Sibuyan Sea during the Battle for Leyte Gulf. Expanded information

Oct. 30, 1944 - While USS Belleau Wood (CVL 24) was patrolling with her task group east of Leyte, she shot down a Japanese suicide plane which fell on her flight deck aft causing fires which set off ammunition. Before the holocaust could be brought under control, 92 men were killed or missing.


Nov. 25, 1944 -During the battle to oust the Japanese from the Philippines, planes from USS Intrepid (CV 11), and other carriers, continued to hit airfields and shipping in the islands. On 25 Nov., two kamikaze aircraft broke through the antiaircraft fire and crashed into Intrepid. Six officers and 59 sailors were killed in the attack but Intrepid maintained station, and in less than two hours had extinguished the blaze.


Nov. 26, 1944 - USS Bon Homme Richard (CV 31) commissioned , Capt. A. O. Rule, Jr., in command. The ship was launched 29 Apr. 1944 by New York Navy Yard.

Jan. 28, 1945 - USS Antietam (CV 36) commissioned , Capt. James R. Tague in command. The ship was laid down on 15 Mar. 1943 by the Philadelphia Navy Yard and launched on 20 August.


Mar. 19, 1945 - USS Franklin (CV 13), which had maneuvered closer to the Japanese homeland than any other U.S. carrier, was attacked by a single Japanese plane which dropped two armor-piercing bombs, devastating the hangar deck and setting off ammunition. Franklin was enveloped by fire. Casualties totaled 724 killed and 265 wounded. Franklin remained afloat and proceeded under her own power to Pearl Harbor for repairs. Extended information.

Apr. 16, 1945 - USS Boxer (CV 21) commissioned, Capt. D. F. Smith in command. It was launched 14 Dec. 1944 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.

Jun. 3, 1945 - USS Lake Champlain (CV 39) commissioned, Capt. Logan C. Ramsey, commanding. The ship was laid down at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va., Mar. 15, 1943.


Sept. 2, 1945 - World War II ends when representatives of Japan and the Allied Forces meet and Japan signs the instruments of surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB 63) in Tokyo Bay.


The FReeper Foxhole Studies U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers - Part 1 of 2 - January 25, 2004

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Today's Educational Sources and suggestions for further reading:

http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/ships/carriers/cv-hist2.html

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FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!



Good Sunday Morning Everyone

If you would like added to our ping list let us know.

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Veterans for Constitution Restoration is a non-profit, non-partisan educational and grassroots activist organization. The primary area of concern to all VetsCoR members is that our national and local educational systems fall short in teaching students and all American citizens the history and underlying principles on which our Constitutional republic-based system of self-government was founded. VetsCoR members are also very concerned that the Federal government long ago over-stepped its limited authority as clearly specified in the United States Constitution, as well as the Founding Fathers' supporting letters, essays, and other public documents.

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Tribute to a Generation - The memorial will be dedicated on Saturday, May 29, 2004.

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Actively seeking volunteers to provide this valuable service to Veterans and their families.

[Aeronaut]

Good morning Snippy.

[E.G.C.]

Good Super Bowl Sunday to you, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

I wonder what everyone is up to today. We're getting ready for the big game. It's cold rainy out today.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Aeronaut.

[snippy_about_it]

Good Morning EGC. We are sitting at zero degrees but the sun is out.

No plans today for me. You have fun watching the game.

[The Mayor]

This is a rebellious people, lying children, children who will not hear the law of the Lord.

Obedience is the pathway to joy

[Soaring Feather]

Good morning everyone.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Mayor.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning feather.

[Valin]

On This Day In History


Birthdates which occurred on February 01:
1552 Sir Edward Coke England, jurist/politician (defended common law)
1605 Isaac Aboab de Fonseca Portuguese/Netherlands rabbi/mystic
1763 Thomas Campbell founder (Church of Disciples in America)
1791 Charles J Sax Belgian music instrument builder(Saxophone)
1801 Thomas Cole US, romantic landscape painter (Hudson River School)
1807 William Bowen Campbell Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1819 Henry Lawrence Eustis Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1885
1827 Alphonse de Rothschild French banker
1829 John Potts Slough Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1867
1833 Henry McNeal Turner black methodist bishop
1859 Victor August Herbert Dublin Ireland, composer (Babes in Toyland)
1889 Gertrude Caton-Thompson British archaeologist (Zimbabwe, Southern Arabia)
1895 John Ford Maine, director (Stagecoach, Air Mail, Quiet Man)
1901 Clark Gable Cadiz OH, actor (Gone With the Wind)
1902 Langston Hughes poet/translator (The Weary Blues)
1906 Hildegarde Adell WI, night club singer (I'll Be Seeing You)
1908 George Pal Hungarian/US director (When Worlds Collide, Puppetoons)
1913 Jeffrey Kindersley Quill Test pilot
1918 Muriel Spark Edinburgh Scotland, novelist (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie)
1926 Stuart Whitman San Francisco CA, actor (Captain Apache, Ransom, Cimarron Strip, Revenge)
1931 Boris Yeltsin Ural Mountains USSR, president of Russian SSR
1935 Vladimir Viktorovich Aksyonov USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 22, T-2)
1937 Don Everly Brownie KY, singer (Everly Brothers-Wake Up Little Susie)
1937 Ray Sawyer [Dr Hook] Alabama, vocalist (Dr Hook-When You're in Love)
1937 Garrett Morris New Orleans LA, actor/comedian (Saturday Night Live, Martin, Carwash)
1938 Jimmy Carl Black rocker (Mothers Of Invention)
1939 Del McCoury bluegrass singer/musician
1942 Terry Jones Colwyn Bay North Wales, actor/comedian (Monty Python)
1952 Rick James [James Johnson], rock/soul/funk vocalist (Super Freak)
1954 Billy Mumy California, actor (Will Robinson-Lost in Space, Dear Brigitte)
1961 Daniel M Tani Ridley Park MD, astronaut
1965 Stephanie Marie Elisabeth de Grimaldi Monte Carlo Monaco, Princess
1968 Lisa Marie Presley Keough Jackson Memphis TN, (Elvis' daughter)

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Deaths which occurred on February 01:
0656 Sigebert III king of Austrasia, dies at about 25
1204 Alexius IV Angelus regent of Byzantium (1203-04), murdered
1328 Charles IV the Handsome, King of France (1322-28), dies
1650 Rene Descartes philosopher "I think therefore I am", stops thinking
1666 Sjihab al-Din Sultan C Shah Djahan mogol of India (Taj-Mahal), dies
1691 Alexander VIII [Pietro Ottoboni], Italian Pope (1689-91), dies at 80
1733 August II the Strong, King of Poland (355 children), dies at 62
1851 Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley novelist (Frankenstein), dies at 53
1869 Frederik W Conrad hydraulic engineer/railway pioneer, dies at 68
1878 George Cruikshank English illustrator (Grimm), dies at 85
1944 Piet Mondrian abstract painter (Composition in Blue), dies at 71
1957 Friedrich von Paulus German field marshal (Stalingrad), dies at 66
1966 Buster Keaton [Joseph Francis], US comic (General), dies at 69
1966 Hedda Hopper [Elda Furry], US gossip columnist, dies at 75
1967 Langston Hughes poet/translator (Weary Blues), dies on 65th birthday
1976 Edgar Pangborn sci-fi author (Judgment of Eve, Davy), dies at 66
1980 Jack Bailey TV host (Queen for a Day), dies at 72
1981 Donald W Douglas US aviation pionieer/builder, dies at 88
1983 Tullio Campagnolo Italian bicycle manufacturer, dies
1991 James G MacDonald cartoon voice (Mickey Mouse), dies at 84
1992 Irving R Kaufman federal judge (Rosenberg Case), dies at 81
1994 Fouad Fram al-Boustani Lebanese historian (Rawaeaa), dies at 88

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Reported: MISSING in ACTION
1966 ALM RICHARD A.---PAYALLUP WA.
1966 COATES DONALD L.---TIGARD OR.
1966 DENGLER DIETER---HILLSBORO CA.
[07/20/66 ESCAPED. ALIVE IN 98]
1966 HUMPHREY GALEN F.---ST JOSEPH MO.
1966 LOHEED HUBERT B.---MIDDLEBORO MA.
[REMAINS ID'D 08/23/94]
1966 LUKER RUSSELL B.---LANCASTER OH.
1966 PREVOST ALBERT M.---NORWALK CT.
1966 VLAHAKOS PETER G.---AUBURN ME.
1968 ADKINS CLODEN
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG, DECEASED OCT 1997]
1968 BLOOD HENRY F.
[07/69 DIC ON PRG LIST, REMAINS IDENTIFIED 02 JUL 98] 1968 BALAGOT ARTURO MENDOZA---PHILIPPINES
1968 GOSTAS THEODORE W.---CHEYENNE WY.
[03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE 1998]
1968 HAUKNESS STEVEN A.
[08/16/74 REMAINS RECOVERED ID'D 03/23/75]
1968 HENDERSON ALEXANDER
[03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG]
1968 JOHNSON SANDRA
[03/31/68 RELEASED] 1
1968 MURDOCK MICHAEL GEORGE---ROCKFORD WA.
[04/06/74 REMAINS RECOVERED]
1968 MANHARD PHILLIP W.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG HIGHEST RANKING CIV CAPTURED DECEASED 1998]
1968 MEYER LEWIS E.---SAN DIEGO CA.
[03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE 1998]
1968 NELSON MARJORIE
[03/68 RELEASED]
1968 OLSON BETTY ANN...NEW YORK NY.
[09/68 DIC ON PRG LIST]
1968 OLSEN ROBERT F.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG]
1968 PAGE RUSSELL J.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG, DECEASED]
1968 RANDER DONALD J.---BRONX NY.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG ALIVE IN 98]
1968 RUSHTON THOMAS---SANTA MARIA CA.
[03/27/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE IN 98]
1968 SPAULDING RICHARD---ENID OK.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE 99]
1968 STARK LAWRENCE J.---CHICAGO IL.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1968 WEAVER EUGENE A.---KENOSHA WI.
03/16/73 RELEASED BY PRG]
1968 WILLIS CHARLES E.
[03/73 RELEASED BY PRG, ALIVE IN 98]
1969 LUNA DONALD A.---HOUSTON TX.

POW / MIA Data & Bios supplied by
the P.O.W. NETWORK. Skidmore, MO. USA.

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On this day...
0772 Adrian I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1587 English queen Elizabeth I signs Mary Stuart's death sentence
1662 Dutch garrison on Formosa surrenders for Chinese pirates
1669 French King Louis XIV limits freedom of religion
1709 British sailor Alexander Selkirk is rescued after being marooned on a desert island (Fernandez Island) for 5 years, his story is the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe"
1788 1st US steamboat patent issued, by Georgia to Briggs & Longstreet
1789 Chinese troops driven out of Vietnam capital Thang Long
1790 Supreme Court convenes for the 1st time (New York NY)
1793 France declares war on England & Netherlands
1810 US Population - 7,239,881; Black population - 1,377,808 (19%)
1814 Lord Byron's "The Corsair" sells 10,000 copies on the day of publication
1860 1st rabbi to open House of Representatives, Morris Raphall of New York NY
1861 Texas becomes 7th state to secede
1862 Julia Howe publishes "Battle Hymn of the Republic"
1864 Battle of Yazoo River, Mississippi
1865 13th amendment approved (National Freedom Day)
1865 General Sherman's march through South Carolina begins
1865 JS Rock, 1st black lawyer to practice in Supreme Court, admitted to bar
1867 Bricklayers start working 8-hour days
1871 Jefferson Long of Georgia is 1st black to make an official speech in House of Representatives (opposing leniency to former Confederates)
1883 French Lieutenant-Colonel Gustave Borgnis-Desbordes reaches Bamako on the Niger
1884 1st volume of the Oxford English Dictionary, A-Ant, published
1887 Harvey Wilcox of Kansas subdivides 120 acres he owned in Southern California & starts selling it off as a real estate development (Hollywood)
1892 Mrs William Astor invites 400 guests to a grand ball at her mansion thus beginning the use of the "400" to describe the socially elite
1893 Thomas Edison completes worlds 1st movie studio (West Orange NJ)
1896 Giacomo Puccini's Opera "La Boheme" premieres in Turin
1898 1st auto insurance policy in US issued, by Travelers Insurance Company
1902 China's empress Tzu-hsi forbids binding woman's feet
1906 1st federal penitentiary building completed, Leavenworth KS
1914 New York Giants & Chicago White Sox play an exhibition baseball game in Egypt
1914 Pennsylvania State Board of [motion picture] Censors appointed
1914 Tanganyika Railway opens
1917 Admiral Tirpitz announces unlimited submarine war
1918 Russia adopts Gregorian calendar (becomes Feb 14)
1920 1st commercial armored car introduced (St Paul MN)
1920 Royal Canadian Mounted Police forms as Royal Northwest Mounted Police merge with Dominion Police
1923 Fascists Voluntary Militia forms in Italy under Mussolini
1924 New British MacDonald government recognizes USSR
1926 Land at Broadway & Wall Street sold at a record $7 per square inch
1929 1st clean & jerk of 400 lbs (182 kg), Charles Rigoulet, 402½ lbs
1933 Dutch bishops forbid membership in non-catholic unions
1933 German Parliament dissolves, General Ludendorf predicts catastrophe
1934 Austrian Chancellor Dollfuss dissolves all political parties but his own
1935 1st "March of Time" newsreel premieres at the Capitol
1937 Stapleton, Staten Island becomes a customs-free port
1940 Russia begins new offensive against Finland
1942 2nd Norwegian government of Quisling forms
1943 German occupiers make Vidkun Quisling Norwegian premier
1944 US 7th Infantry/25th Marine Division lands on Kwajalein/Roi/Namur
1945 US Army arrives at Siegfried line
1946 Trygve Lie, a Norwegian socialist, becomes 1st Secretary-General of UN
1946 Republic of Hungary proclaimed, Zolt n Tildy as communist president
1947 Aleide de Gasperi forms Italian government of Christian-democrats & communists
1947 Dmitri Shostakovich named professor at conservatory of Leningrad
1948 Palestine Post building in Jerusalem bombed
1948 Federation Malaysia forms from 9 sultanates
1949 200" (5.08-meter) Hale telescope 1st used
1949 RCA releases 1st single record ever (45 rpm)
1950 USSR demands condemnation of Emperor Hirohito for war crimes
1951 1st telecast of atomic explosion - US nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1951 1st X-ray moving picture process demonstrated
1951 -50ºF (-46ºC), Gavilan NM (state record)
1951 Alfred Krupp & 28 other German war criminals freed
1951 UN condemns People's Republic of China as aggressor in Korea
1953 "General Electric Theater" premieres on CBS TV; Reagan later hosts
1953 "You Are There" with Walter Cronkite premieres on CBS television
1956 WSAV TV channel 3 in Savannah GA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1957 1st black pilot (PH Young) on a US scheduled passenger airline
1958 1st US satellite (Explorer I) launched
1958 Egypt & Syria announce plans to merge into United Arab Republic
1958 WFTV TV channel 9 in Orlando FL (ABC) begins broadcasting
1959 Swiss males vote against voting rights for women
1959 Texas Instruments requests patent of IC (Integrated Circuit)
1960 4 students stage 1st civil rights sit-in, at Greensboro NC Woolworth
1961 1st full-scale test of US Minuteman ICBM is successful
1964 Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" 1st #1 hit & stays #1 for 7 weeks
1964 Indiana Governor Mathew Walsh tries to ban "Louie Louie" for obscenity
1965 Martin Luther King Jr & 700 demonstrators arrested in Selma AL
1965 Peter Jennings, 26, becomes anchor of ABC's nightly news
1968 Famous photo Saigon police chief Nguyen Ngoc Loan executes a Viet Cong officer with a pistol shot to the head
1968 Vince Lombardi resigns as coach of the Green Bay Packers
1968 Former Vice-President Richard Nixon announces candidacy for President
1969 Jim Morrison(The Doors) arrested for exposing himself in concert
1970 Ford Frick, Earle Combs & Jesse Haines elected to Hall of Fame
1972 1st scientific hand-held calculator (HP-35) introduced ($395)
1975 Otis Francis Tabler is 1st open homosexual to get security clearance to work for the Defense Department
1976 "Rich Man, Poor Man" mini-series premieres on ABC TV
1977 Heavy blizzard in New England claims 100 lives
1978 Director Roman Polanski skips bail & fled to France after pleading guilty to charges of engaging in sex with a 13-year-old girl
1978 Harriet Tubman is 1st black woman honored on a US postage stamp
1979 Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini returns to Iran after 15 years in exile
1979 Patricia Hearst is released from a San Francisco prison for bank robbery
1981 French government accord sends 60 Mirage fighter jets to Iraq
1982 "Late Night With David Letterman" debuts on NBC-TV
1985 -69ºF (-56ºC), Peter's Sink UT (state record)
1985 -61ºF (-52ºC), Maybell CO (state record)
1987 163 day strike against Deere & Company ends, workers accept wage freeze
1991 President F W de Klerk, says he would repeal all apartheid laws
1991 US Air & Skywest Fairchild commuter jet collide at Los Angeles Airport killing 32
1994 Large meteorite falls near Kusaie, Pacific Ocean
1995 Amtrak New York-Tampa run ends
2001 EX-President Clinton said he and his wife would return $86,000 in gifts they received in 2000 but would keep $104,000 worth of others they received prior to 2000

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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Malaysia : Federal Territory Holiday (1974)
Nicaragua : Air Force Day
US : National Freedom Day
Switzerland : Homstrom-celebrates end of winter( Sunday )
Hawaii :Pepeluali
US : Muffin Mania Week Begins
Canned Food Month

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Religious Observances
old Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, martyr
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Brigid of Kildar, Irish nun

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Religious History
1750 Anglican clergyman and hymnwriter John Newton (author of "Amazing Grace"), 24, wedded Mary Catlett. Their marriage lasted 40 years, before her death in 1790. John lived another 17 years, and died in 1807.
1791 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'Probably I should not be able to do so much did not many of you assist me by your prayers.'
1803 Anglican missionary to Persia, Henry Martyn wrote in his journal: 'Oh, that I may learn my utter helplessness without Thee, and so by deep humiliation be qualified for greater usefulness.'
1949 The modern state of Israel formally annexed West Jerusalem.
1901 Pioneer American missionaries Charles (37) and Lettie (31) Cowman set sail for Japan. Later in the year they founded the Oriental Missionary Society. They labored in the foreign field until Charles' worsening health forced them to retire in 1917.

Source: William D. Blake. ALMANAC OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1987.

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Thought for the day :
"The whole point of Christianity is that everyone in the world, from Charles Manson to Mother Teresa, deserves to go to hell."

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Question of the day...
If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?

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Murphys Law of the day...(Woods's Laws of Procrastination)
1 Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.
2 Procrastinate today! (Tomorrow may be too late.)
3 NOW is the time to do things later!
4 If at first you don't succeed, why try again?

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Astounding fact #49...
Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.

[snippy_about_it]

Good morning Valin. I practice these three quite a bit!


1 Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.
2 Procrastinate today! (Tomorrow may be too late.)
3 NOW is the time to do things later!

[SAMWolf]

Morning Snippy. I never heard of the USS WOLVERINE.

USS WOLVERINE & USS SABLE
Lloyd Sime

At the 2000 reunion in San Diego the subject of the Paddle Wheelers of Lake Michigan came up. I was one of the few aviators in the VC-35/(VA)AW-35 Association who made his initial arrested landings on one of the Paddle Wheelers. I said I would try to write a brief column about these two very unique ships.

The U.S. Navy’s association with the Paddle Wheelers began in the early 1940’s shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Seeanbee had for many years been a sidewheel passenger excursion ship on the Detroit River, Lake Erie and the St. Clair River. Early in 1942 the Navy bought the Seeanbee, stripped off the superstructure and installed a wooden flight deck. On August 12, 1942 the USS Wolverine, IX64 was commissioned with a 550 by 85-foot flight deck. That same month the Navy requisitioned the Greater Buffalo, one of the largest side-wheelers in the world. She was commissioned on May 8, 1943 as the USS Sable, IX81, after the same conversion as the USS Wolverine. The Wolverine and the Sable had no catapults or hangar deck and the flight deck was a mere 26 feet above water.

Someone may ask, how did you become acquainted with these two unique ships? I finished Operational Training at NAS Sanford, FL in March of 1945. From there I reported to NAS Glenview, IL for carrier qualification. Fortunately, there were some FM2 Wildcats being used for carrier qualification on the USS Wolverine and the USS Sable, each of which was home ported at the port of Chicago. I had flown the Wildcat in operational training and I was ready for the initiation to carrier aviation, or so I thought.

On a clear, cold day in March, after making several field carrier practice landings on the previous day, four of us nuggets left NAS Glenview headed for the USS Wolverine. By sheer luck or the Grace of God, we found the ship sailing along on Lake Michigan. I looked down at the ship’s flight deck with a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach. It was not a large deck, but we made a sharp break over the ship and began our practice approaches.

The pre-flight briefing had emphasized that we would make several practice approaches with wave-off’s until the landing signal officers were confident that each of us would make safe arrested landings. I was making my fourth “practice” approach, confident of another wave off when on final I saw the “cut “ signal. My left hand immediately cut the power as my heart leaped into my throat. Fortunately, the tail hook caught an arresting wire and I came to a stop. When I was finally able to catch my breath, I realized I was standing on the brakes and a deck hand was frantically giving me a brake release signal. This began another frightening experience. About 20 sailors manned the wing and pushed me aft as far as possible. Remember there were no catapults on the ship, so it was necessary to make a deck launch. At this time I saw the Flight Deck Officer giving me a frantic full power signal. When I reached maximum power, the flight deck officer made a motion pointing towards the bow of the ship and I released the brakes and was rolling forward. The bow of the ship seemed to be directly in front of me and still holding my breath I tentatively raised the nose of my Wildcat and it flew off the deck.

I finally was able to breathe somewhat normally again and to my good fortune was able to make nine more successful landings and take offs and was certified to be carrier qualified.

After World War II ended in 1945 these two unique coal-burning ships were both decommissioned and sold for scrap. There was no longer a need for them due to the return of many operational carriers from wartime service.

I was one of over 15,000 aviators that made their first arrested landings on one of these two ships and it was an experience that I hope I will never forget.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Aeronaut

[SAMWolf]

Morning E.G.C. Have a favorite in the Game?

[SAMWolf]

Morning Mayor. I'll stick with the tea and hot chocolate again today.

[SAMWolf]

Hi Feather

[Aeronaut]

Hey Sam.

[SAMWolf]

1943 German occupiers make Vidkun Quisling Norwegian premier

My sincere hope is that someday the name William J Clinton will mean the same in the United States as Vidkun Quisling means in Norway.