The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Col Kurtz and The B-17D "Swoose" (1941

Bob Clemens
B-17 Navigator, 463rd BG, 773rd Squadron
Foggia, Italy

I enlisted in the Army Air Forces in November 1942 at the age of 18, received my wings and commission in February 1944, and completed 50 missions on 12 September 1944 without a scratch. My first mission was to Wiener Neustadt, Austria, 16 June 1944. During July 1944 the Fifteenth Air Force lost 318 heavy bombers, and another 330 bombers were lost in August. When I returned to the USA in October 1944, only 150 of the 400 crew members who arrived in Italy in June 1944 could be accounted for.

27 June 1944 Our target was the marshaling yards in Budapest, Hungary. The purpose was to disrupt railroad traffic, especially trains carrying arms to the Russian front and oil from the Ploesti, Romania, fields. The assigned bombing altitude was 21,000 feet, but our actual altitude was 13,000 feet. Either is too low. The temperature at altitude was -19° F. Twenty-seven bombers flew the mission.

We took off at 6:50 AM. We made our bomb run at 21,000 feet in heavy flak. The target was clouded over, so we didn't drop our bombs. Instead we circled over Budapest while another group made their run. We finally made our run and were on the bomb run 10 minutes before we dropped our bombs from 13,000 feet. We were in flak for 22 minutes and were literally shot all to hell. JU 88s were dropping bombs on us from above. As we came off the target, we were down to 8,000 feet and were all by ourselves. The crew checked in: Cliff had a light flak wound.

About that time Willie spotted a speck in the sky at 7 o'clock high. He hollered, "Shoot." It was an FW 190. The leading edge of the fighter's wing lit up as he fired his 20-mm cannon. Willie, Klug, Louie, and Fritz all shot at him. They thought they had gotten him, and this was later confirmed by some P-38 escorts. But he had also gotten us.

One of the 20-mm shells blew a patch of hide off Fritz's calf and exploded in his radio equipment, moments after he had put out a call for fighter escort help. We spotted what we thought were a dozen P-51s at 9 o'clock. P-51s and ME 109s look a lot alike. These were 109s. Fortunately, a bunch of P-38s appeared at about 4 o'clock high and came on in.

A 20-mm cannon shell had put a hole in one blade of the #2 engine, throwing it out of balance, so it had to be feathered. Another prop had a big nick out of it. Because of the flak and cannon damage, we had only two engines running. We were alone and more than 500 miles from our base. So we started to strip the plane of anything heavy. We threw out machine guns, ammunition, flak suits, armor plate, and even the bombsight. The latter was my addition and an action for which I was later reprimanded. The Norden bombsight was considered "secret," but the Germans must have had thousands of them from wrecked bombers. We were ready to drop the ball turret if necessary to make it back over the Balkan Mountains, but we didn't have to.

We made it back, but we never heard of another bomber making it from that far away with two engines out and as badly crippled and shot up as we were. Our total time in the air was 6 hours 40 minutes. The ground crew counted 350 flak holes and 37 cannon holes and gave up counting. German pilots are reported to have said that in their experience, 14 or 15 hits from a 20-mm cannon would usually bring down a bomber. Only seven of our B-17s returned with all engines turning. Our plane required three new engines, three new props, and all new radio equipment.

After we landed, we were congratulated on a job well done, and we congratulated each other. Silently, as we reflected on what we had just experienced, we wondered how many of us would finish 50 missions. For me, there were 42 more to go.

Tail Markings of the 463rd BG

31 July 1944

The target was the Xenia oil field in Ploesti, Romania, one of my five missions over Ploesti. We bombed from 23,400 feet, where the temperature was -20° F. Twenty-five planes flew the mission. We were briefed to expect 15 ME 109s from Nis, Yugoslavia, and maybe 40 more from the Russian front. There were 201 heavy guns within range of us at the target.

Bombing run over Ploesti

At 11:14 AM we feathered the #3 engine and dropped behind the group. Black smoke was rising everywhere--from previous bombing and from our bombs. Two planes blew up over the target. When #5 in Able Squadron blew up, it showered us with debris. One chunk of flak flew through the astrodome and put a dent the size of a fist in my flak helmet. Flak also shattered the windshield in front of the pilot, and broken glass hit the copilot. No wounds. We limped home alone on three engines. We lost two bombers and their crews on that mission. Time in the air: 7 hours 45 minutes.

Lighter moments

In early September 1944, I flew 5th Wing lead with Col. Frank Kurtz, who had met Axis Sally at the 1935 Olympics, where Kurtz was a diver. We listened to her broadcasts because she played all the latest popular music of that era. That day she broadcast that the Germans knew where we were going to bomb (Budapest) and they would shoot down Frank Kurtz and "that young, pink-faced navigator from Minnesota."

773rd Squadron Patch

Another light moment occurred in October 1998, just before I had my left knee replaced at the Mayo Clinic. The anesthesiologist asked me to buy some lottery tickets for him because he thought that I must be lucky, having flown all those bombing missions without getting a scratch!

Boeing B-17D The B-17D was an improved version of the B-17C. Changes included an improved electrical system, more extensive armor plating, self-sealing fuel tanks, and cowl flaps. One of the only external differences, and the easiest way to distinguish between the -C and -D, was the cowl flaps present on the B-17D. The Army Air Corps ordered 42 -Ds in 1940. Twenty B-17Cs were sent to the RAF, but the remaining 18 aircraft were converted to the B-17D standard.

A flight of B-17s enroute to Hawaii on 7 December 1941 were assumed to be the large formation of aircraft tracked on radar early that Sunday morning. This formation turned out to be the carrier-based attack and fighter aircraft of Japan. The B-17s arrived later in the day and became the first B-17s to see combat in the Pacific Theater of Operations during WWII.

TYPE
B-17D

Number Built/Converted
42

Remarks
Improved B-17C

Notes:

Serial Numbers: 40-3059 to 40-3100
Boeing Model 299H
18 B-17Cs were modified to B-17D standard
All B-17Ds became RB-17D in October 1942

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 103 ft. 9 in.
Length: 67 ft. 11 in.
Height: 15 ft. 5 in.
Weight: 48,500 lbs. gross weight (actual - normal load)
Armament: One .30-cal. and six .50-cal. machine guns and 4,800 lbs. of bombs
Engines: Four Wright R-1820-65 turbo-supercharged radials of 1200 hp. each

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 323 mph at 25,000 ft.
Cruising speed: 227 mph
Service ceiling: 37,000 ft.
Range: 3,400 miles (maximum ferry range)

Additional Sources:

star.event.com
www.merriam-webster.com
www.sisterstv.com
www.rootsweb.com
www.kewpie.net
www.463rd.com
www.volny.cz
www.flipnrip.com
www.wpafb.af.mi
8thmn.org

Note: The "Swoose" is the oldest B-17 Flying Fortress in existence. It also the only known U.S. military airplane to have flown a combat mission on the first day of the US entry into World War II and to remain in continuous military flying service throughout the conflict.

The aircraft is in storage at the National Air and Space Museum’s Paul E. Garber Preservation, Restoration, and Storage Facility at Silver Hill, Maryland.

Col. Frank Kurtz, 85; In WWII,
Army's Most Decorated Pilot

Col. Frank Kurtz, the most decorated Army Air Corps pilot in World War II, has died at age 85. He died Oct 31, 1996, at his home in Los Angeles of complications after a fall, his wife said.

He was an Olympic medalist diver and the most decorated Army Air Corps pilot in World War II, known for flying the last surviving B-17 Flying Fortress. Kurtz came from Missouri and, at the age of 14, hitchhiked to Los Angeles seeking top diving coaches. He developed as an athlete at Hollywood High School and USC. When Los Angeles hosted the Olympics in 1932, he competed in the high platform diving and won a bronze medal. Anticipating a career in commercial aviation, he joined the Army to train as a pilot.

1932 Olympic Games The three victors, for the United States in the high diving event is shown at the Olympics in Los Angeles. They are from left to right: Harold "Dutch" Smith, winner; Mickey Riley Galitzen, second; and Frank Kurtz, third. August 16, 1932

In the Philippines when the Japanese drew the U.S. into the war, Kurtz flew the last of the 35 planes stationed in the Pacific. When the plane was chewed up in combat, Kurtz and his crew dubbed it “part swan and part goose – the Swoose.” It has been called the most famous plane in the Pacific except for the Enola Gay, which carried the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

He then went to the European theater where he headed “the Swoose Group” and personally flew more than 60 missions over Italy and Germany. When Kurtz’s only child was born in Los Angeles during the war, news media immediately nicknamed her the second Swoose and the name stuck. She grew up to be the actress Swoosie Kurtz ’68. When he retired from the military, he became a top executive at the William May Garland development firm. Survivors include his wife and daughter.

Swoosie Kurtz

Swoosie Kurtz is the only child of author Margo and Air Force Colonel Frank Kurtz. Due to her father's job she moved 17 times during school, lived in 8 different states. At the University of Southern California she majored in drama; later she attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, collected Broadway's "triple crown" (the Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards) for her portrayal of Gwen in Lanford Wilson's "The Fifth of July". Since then she achieved much: has appeared in many TV shows and movies, got several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations and an Emmy for her guest-starring performance on Carol Burnett's comedy series "Carol & Company" (1990).

She was quoted in the September 1984, Esquire on her name: "I'm named after 'The Swoose,' a B-15 bomber, which my father - Colonel Frank Kurtz, the most decorated pilot in World War II - flew."

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.

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

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

Iraq Homecoming Tips

~ Thanks to our Veterans still serving, at home and abroad. ~ Freepmail to Ragtime Cowgirl | 2/09/04 | FRiend in the USAF

FALL IN to the FReeper Foxhole!

Good Wednesday Morning Everyone

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Good morning Snippy.

Laird "Super Solution"

Good morning, Snippy and everyone at the Freeper Foxhole.

Folks, be sure to update your anti-virus software. There's quite a few worms making the rounds.

aviation ping

Good Moring FRiends GOD bless America and GOD bless our Troops.

We have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God.

When life's afflictions batter you
Like waves upon the sand,
Remember to look up to God
And take His outstretched hand

To improve your outlook, try the uplook.

Today's classic warship, USS Alabama (BB-60)

South Dakota class battleship
displacement. 35,000 tons
length. 680'
beam. 108'2"
draft. 36'2"
speed. 27.5 k.
complement. 1,793
armament. 9x16", 20x5"; 24x40 mm., 22x20 mm.

The USS Alabama (BB-60) was laid down on 1 February 1940 by the Norfolk (Va.) Navy Yard; launched on 16 February 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Lister Hill, wife of the senior Senator from Alabama; and commissioned on 16 August 1942, Capt. George B. Wilson in command.

After fitting out, Alabama commenced her shakedown cruise in Chesapeake Bay on Armistice Day (11 November) 1942. As the year 1943 began, the new battleship headed north to conduct operational training out of Casco Bay, Maine. She returned to Chesapeake Bay on 11 January 1943 to carry out the last week of shakedown training. Following a period of availability and logistics support at Norfolk, Alabama was assigned to Task Group (TG) 22.2, and returned to Casco Bay for tactical maneuvers on 13 February 1943.

With the movement of substantial British strength toward the Mediterranean theater, to prepare for the invasion of Sicily, the Royal Navy lacked the heavy ships necessary to cover the northern convoy routes. The British appeal for help on those lines soon led to the temporary assignment of Alabama and South Dakota (BB-57) to the Home Feet.

On 2 April 1943, Alabama as part of Task Force (TF) 22 sailed for the Orkney Islands with her sister ship and a screen of five destroyers. Proceeding via Little Placentia Sound, Argentia, Newfoundland, the battleship reached Scapa Flow on 19 May 1943, reporting for duty with TF 61 and becoming a unit of the British Home Fleet. She soon embarked on a period of intensive operational training to coordinate joint operations.

Early in June, Alabama and her sister ship, along with British Home Fleet units, covered the reinforcement of the garrison on the island of Spitzbergen, which lay on the northern flank of the convoy route to Russia, in an operation that took the ship across the Arctic Circle. Soon after her return to Scapa Flow, she was inspected by Admiral Harold R. Stark, Commander, United States Naval Forces, Europe.

Shortly thereafter, in July, Alabama participated in Operation "Governor," a diversion aimed toward southern Norway, to draw German attention away from the real Allied thrust, toward Sicily. It had also been devised to attempt to lure out the German battleship Tirpitz, the sister ship of the famed, but short-lived, Bismarck, but the Germans did not rise to the challenge, and the enemy battleship remained in her Norwegian lair.

Alabama was detached from the British Home Fleet on 1 August 1943, and, in company with South Dakota and screening destroyers, sailed for Norfolk, arriving there on 9 August. For the next ten days, Alabama underwent a period of overhaul and repairs. This work completed, the battleship departed Norfolk on 20 August 1943 for the Pacific. Transiting the Panama Canal five days later, she dropped anchor in Havannah Harbor, at Efate, in the New Hebrides, on 14 September.

Following a month and a half of exercises and training, with fast carrier task groups, the battleship moved to Fiji on 7 November. Alabama sailed on 11 November to take part in operation "Galvanic", the assault on the Japanese-held Gilbert Islands. She screened the fast carriers as they launched attacks on Jaluit and Mille atolls, Marshall Islands, to neutralize Japanese airfields located there. Alabama supported landings on Tarawa on 20 November and later took part in the securing of Betio and Makin. On the night of 26 November, Alabama twice opened fire to drive off enemy aircraft that approached her formation.

On 8 December 1943, Alabama, along with five other fast battleships, carried out the first Pacific gunfire strike conducted by that type of warship. Alabama's guns hurled 535 rounds into enemy strong points, as she and her sister ships bombarded Nauru Island, an enemy phosphate-producing center, causing severe damage to shore installations there. She also took the destroyer Boyd (DD-644), alongside after that ship had received a direct hit from a Japanese shore battery on Nauru, and brought three injured men on board for treatment.

She then escorted the carriers Bunker Hill (CV-17) and Monterey (CVL-26) back to Efate, arriving on 12 December. Alabama departed the New Hebrides for Pearl Harbor on 5 January 1944, arrived on the 12th, and underwent a brief drydocking at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard. After replacement of her port outboard propeller, and routine maintenance, Alabama was again underway to return to action in the Pacific.

Alabama reached Funafuti, Ellice Islands, on 21 January 1944, and there rejoined the fleet. Assigned to Task Group (TG) 58.2, which was formed around Essex (CV-9), Alabama left the Ellice Islands on 25 January to help carry out Operation "Flintlock," the invasion of the Marshall Islands. Alabama, along with sister ship South Dakota and the fast battleship North Carolina (BB-55), bombarded Roi on 29 January and Namur on 30 January; she hurled 330 rounds of 16-inch and 1,562 of 5-inch toward Japanese targets, destroying planes, airfield facilities, blockhouses, buildings, and gun emplacements. Over the following days of the campaign, Alabama patrolled the area north of Kwajalein Atoll. On 12 February 1944, Alabama sortied with the Bunker Hill task group to launch attacks on Japanese installations, aircraft and shipping at Truk. Those raids, launched on 16 and 17 February, caused heavy damage to enemy shipping concentrated at that island base.

Leaving Truk Alabama began steaming toward the Marianas to assist in strikes on Tinian, Saipan and Guam. During this action, while repelling enemy air attacks on 21 February 1944, 5-inch mount no. 9 accidentally fired into mount no. 5. Five men died, and 11 were wounded in the mishap.

After the strikes were completed on 22 February, Alabama conducted a sweep looking for crippled enemy ships southeast of Saipan, and eventually returned to Majuro on 26 February 1944. There she served temporarily as flagship for Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, Commander, TF 58, from 3 to 8 March.

Alabama's next mission was to screen the fast carriers as they hurled air strikes against Japanese positions on Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai, Caroline Islands. She steamed from Majuro on 22 March 1944 with TF 58 in the screen of Yorktown (CV-10), On the night of 29 March, about six enemy planes approached TG 58.3, in which Alabama was operating, and four broke off to attack ships in the vicinity of the battleship. Alabama downed one unassisted, and helped in the destruction of another.

On 30 March, planes from TF 58 began bombing Japanese airfields, shipping, fleet servicing facilities, and other installations on the islands of Palau, Yap, Ulithi and Woleai. During that day, Alabama again provided antiaircraft fire whenever e nemy planes appeared. At 2044 on the 30th, a single plane approached TG 58.3, but Alabama and other ships drove it off before it could cause any damage.

The battleship returned briefly to Majuro, before she sailed on 13 April with TF 58, this time in the screen of Enterprise (CV- 6). In the next three weeks, TF 58 hit enemy targets on Hollandia, Wakde, Sawar, and Sarmi along the New Guinea coast; covered Army landings at Aitape, Tanahmerah Bay, and Humboldt Bay; and conducted further strikes on Truk.

As part of the preliminaries to the invasion of the Marianas, Alabama, in company with five other fast battleships, shelled the large island of Ponape, in the Carolines, the site of a Japanese airfield and sea lane base. As Alabama's Capt. Fred T. Kirtland subsequently noted, the bombardment, of 70 minutes' duration, was conducted in a "leisurely manner." Alabama then returned to Majuro on 4 May 1944 to prepare for the invasion of the Marianas.

After a month spent in exercises and refitting, Alabama again got under way with TF 58 to participate in Operation "Forager." On 12 June, Alabama screened the carriers striking Saipan. On 13 June, Alabama took part in a six-hour preinvasion bombardment of the west coast of Saipan, to soften the defenses and cover the initial minesweeping operations. Her spotting planes reported that her salvoes had caused great destruction and fires in Garapan town. Though the shelling appeared successful, it proved a failure due to the lack of specialized training and experience required for successful shore bombardment. Strikes continued as troops invaded Saipan on 15 June.

On 19 June, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Alabama operated with TG 58.7, providing antiaircraft support for the fast carriers against attacking Japanese aircraft. The ships of TF 58 claimed 27 enemy planes downed during the course of the action which later came to be known as the "Marianas Turkey Shoot."

In the first raid that approached Alabama's formation, only two planes managed to penetrate to attack her sistership South Dakota, scoring one bomb hit that caused minor damage. An hour later a second wave, composed largely of torpedo bombers, bore in, but Alabama's barrage discouraged two planes from attacking South Dakota. The intense concentration paid to the incoming torpedo planes left one dive bomber nearly undetected, and it managed to drop its load near Alabama; the two small bombs were near-misses, and caused no damage.

American submarines sank two Japanese carriers and Navy pilots claimed a third carrier. American pilots and antiaircraft gunners had seriously depleted Japanese naval air power. Out of the 430 planes with which the enemy had commenced the Battle of the Philippine Sea, only 35 remained operational afterward.

Alabama continued patrolling areas around the Marianas to protect the American landing forces on Saipan, screening the east carriers as they struck enemy shipping, aircraft, and shore installations on Guam, Tinian, Rota, and Saipan. She then re tired to the Marshalls for upkeep.

Alabama-as flagship for Rear Admiral E. W. Hanson, Commander, Battleship Division 9-left Eniwetok on 14 July 1944, sailing with the task group formed around Bunker Hill. She screened the fast carriers as they conducted preinvasion attacks and support of the landings on the island of Guam on 21 July. She returned briefly to Eniwetok on 11 August. On 30 August she got underway in the screen of Essex to carry out Operation "Stalemate II" the seizure of Palau, Ulithi, and Yap. On 6 through 8 September, the forces launched strikes on the Carolinas.

Alabama departed the Carolines to sail to the Philippines and provided cover for the carriers striking the islands of Cebu, Leyte, Bohol and Negros from 12 to 14 September. The carriers launched strikes on shipping and installations in the Manila Bay area on 21 and 22 September, and in the central Philippines area on 24 September. Alabama retired briefly to Saipan on 28 September, then proceeded to Ulithi on 1 October 1944.

On 6 October 1944 Alabama sailed with TF 38 to support the liberation of the Philippines. Again operating as part of a fast carrier task group, Alabama protected the flattops while they launched strikes on Japanese facilities at Okinawa, in the Pescadores and Formosa.

Detached from the Formosa area on 14 October to sail toward Luzon, the fast battleship again used her antiaircraft batteries in support of the carriers as enemy aircraft attempted to attack the formation. Alabama's gunners claimed three enemy ai rcraft shot down and a fourth damaged. By 15 October, Alabama was supporting landing operations on Leyte. She then screened the carriers as they conducted air strikes on Cebu, Negros, Panay, northern Mindanao, and Leyte on 21 October 1944.

Alabama, as part of the Enterprise screen, supported air operations against the Japanese Southern Force in the area off Suriago Strait then moved north to strike the powerful Japanese Central Force heading for San Bernardino Strait. After receiving reports of a third Japanese force, the battleship served in the screen of the fast carrier task force as it sped to Cape Engano. On 24 October, although American air strikes destroyed four Japanese carriers in the Battle off Cape Engano, the Japanese Central Force under Admiral Kurita had transited San Bernardino Strait and emerged off the coast of Samar, where it fell upon a task group of American escort carriers and their destroyer and destroyer escort screen. Alabama reversed her course and headed for Samar to assist the greatly outnumbered American forces, but the Japanese had retreated by the time she reached the scene. She then joined the protective screen for the Essex task group to hit enemy forces in the central Philippines before retiring to Ulithi on 30 October 1944 for replenishment.

Underway again on 3 November 1944, Alabama screened the fast carriers as they carried out sustained strikes against Japanese airfields, and installations on Luzon to prepare for a landing on Mindoro Island. She spent the next few weeks engaged in operations against the Visayas and Luzon before retiring to Ulithi on 24 November.

The first half of December 1944 found Alabama engaged in various training exercises and maintenance routines. She left Ulithi on 10 December, and reached the launching point for air strikes on Luzon on 14 December, as the fast carrier task force s launched aircraft to carry out preliminary strikes on airfields on Luzon that could threaten the landings slated to take place on Mindoro. From 14 to 16 December, a veritable umbrella of carrier aircraft covered the Luzon fields, preventing any enemy planes from getting airborne to challenge the Mindoro-bound convoys. Having completed her mission, she left the area to refuel on 17 December; but, as she reached the fueling rendezvous, began encountering heavy weather. By daybreak on the 18th, rough seas and harrowing conditions rendered a fueling at sea impossible; 50 knot winds caused ships to roll heavily. Alabama experienced rolls of 30 degrees, had both her Vought "Kingfisher" float planes so badly damaged that they were of no further value, and received minor damage to her structure. At one point in the typhoon, Alabama recorded wind gusts up to 83 knots. Three destroyers, Hull (DD-350), Monaghan (DD-354), and Spence (DD- 512), were lost to the typhoon. By 19 December, the storm had run its course; and Alabama arrived back at Ulithi on 24 December. After pausing there briefly, Alabama continued on to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, for overhaul.

The battleship entered drydock on 18 January 1945, and remained there until 25 February. Work continued until 17 March, when Alabama got underway for standardization trials and refresher training along the southern California coast. She got underway for Pearl Harbor on 4 April, arrived there on 10 April, and held a week of training exercises. She then continued on to Ulithi and moored there on 28 April 1945.

Alabama departed Ulithi with TF 58 on 9 May 1945, bound for the Ryukyus, to support forces which had landed on Okinawa on 1 April 1945, and to protect the fast carriers as they launched air strikes on installations in the Ryukyus and on Kyushu. On 14 May, several Japanese planes penetrated the combat air patrol to get at the carriers; one crashed Vice Admiral Mitscher's flagship. Alabama's guns splashed two, and assisted in splashing two more.

Subsequently, Alabama rode out a typhoon on 4 and 5 June, suffering only superficial damage while the nearby heavy cruiser Pittsburgh (CA-7O) lost her bow, Alabama subsequently bombarded the Japanese island of Minami Daito Shima, with other fast battleships, on 10 June 1945 and then headed for Leyte Gulf later in June to prepare to strike at the heart of Japan with the 3d Fleet.

On 1 July 1945, Alabama and other 3d Fleet units got underway for the Japanese home islands. Throughout the month of July 1945, Alabama carried out strikes on targets in industrial areas of Tokyo and other points on Honshu, Hokkaido, and Kyushu; on the night of 17 and 18 July, Alabama, and other fast battleships in the task group, carried out the first night bombardment of six major industrial plants in the Hitachi-Mito area of Honshu, about eight miles northeast of Tokyo. On board Alabama to observe the operation was retired Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, the famed polar explorer.

On 9 August, Alabama transferred a medical party to the destroyer Ault (DD-698), for further transfer to the destroyer Borie (DD-704). The latter had been kamikazied on that date and required prompt medical aid on her distant picket station.

The end of the war found Alabama still at sea, operating off the southern coast of Honshu. On 15 August 1945, she received word of the Japanese capitulation. During the initial occupation of the Yokosuka-Tokyo area, Alabama transferred detachments of marines and bluejackets for temporary duty ashore; her bluejackets were among the first from the fleet to land. She also served in the screen of the carriers as they conducted reconnaissance flights to locate prisoner-of-war camps.

Alabama entered Tokyo Bay on 5 September to receive men who had served with the occupation forces, and then departed Japanese waters on 20 September. At Okinawa, she embarked 700 sailors, principally members of Navy construction battalions (or "Seabees") for her part in the Magic Carpet" operations. She reached San Francisco at mid-day on 15 October, and on Navy Day (27 October 1945) hosted 9,000 visitors. She then shifted to San Pedro, Calif., on 29 October. Alabama remained at San Pedro through 27 February 1946, when she left for the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for inactivation overhaul. Alabama was decommissioned on 9 January 1947, at the Naval Station, Seattle, and was assigned to the Bremerton Group, United States Pacific Reserve Fleet. She remained there until struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1962.

Citizens of the state of Alabama had formed the "USS Alabama Battleship Commission" to raise funds for the preservation of Alabama as a memorial to the men and women who served in World War II. The ship was awarded to that state on 16 June 1964, and was formally turned over on 7 July 1964 in ceremonies at Seattle. Alabama was then towed to her permanent berth at Mobile, Ala., arriving in Mobile Bay on 14 September 1964.

Alabama received nine battle stars for her World War II service.

Good morning Sam, that plane sure went through a lot. I'm glad at least parts of it were able to be saved. Thanks for the story. I didn't know about the plane, the pilot or Swoosie Kurtzs connection to either of them.

Good morning Aeronaut. It looks like it's missing something.

Good morning EGC. I'm keeping it updated regularly, thanks.

Good morning snopercod. Thanks for the pings.

Good morning Gail. You're in early today. Good to see you.

Good morning Mayor. Coffee looks great this morning.

She served proudly. Nice picture of her big guns. Thanks aomagrat.

On this Day In history

Birthdates which occurred on February 18:
1404 Leon B Alberti Italian humanist/architect (Della Pittura)
1516 Mary I Tudor [Bloody Mary] Greenwich, (1553-58), 1st reigning queen of Great Britain
1632 Giovanni Battista Vitali composer
1677 Jacques Cassini French astronomer (rings of Saturn)
physicist/inventor (battery)
1751 Karl Haack composer
1781 Henry Martyn Truro, missionary
1817 Lewis Addison Armistead Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1817 Walter Page Lane Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1892
1829 Jean Jacques Alfred Mouton Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1833 James Deshler Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1836 Swami Ramakrishna [Gadadhar Chatterji] Indian mystic/Hindu leader
1853 August Belmont Jr breeder (Man 'O War)/founder (New York Jockey Club)
1857 Max Klinger German graphic artist/painter/sculptor
1859 Sholem Aleichem [Solomon Rabinowitz], author (Fiddler on the Roof)
1890 Adolphe Menjou Pittsburgh PA, actor (Front Page, Star is Born)
1890 Boris L Pasternak Russian poet/writer (Dr Zhivago)
1892 Wendell Wilkie Presidential candidate (R-1940)/author (One World)
1895 George "The Gipper" Gipp Notre Dame football star
1903 Nikolaj V Podgorny President of USSR (1965-77)
1913 Dane Clark Brooklyn NY, actor (Wire Service, Bold Venture, Perry Mason)
1913 Artur Axmann Nazi youth leader
1914 Pee Wee King Milwaukee WI, country singer (Pee Wee King Song)
1920 Bill Cullen Pittsburgh PA, TV game show host (over 20 different games)
1920 Jack Palance [Walter Palanuik], Lattimer PA, actor (City Slickers)
1921 Barbara Hale actress (Della Street-Perry Mason)
1922 Helen Gurley Brown Portland ME, author/publisher (Cosmopolitan)
1924 Günter Haese German sculptor/graphic artist (Guggenheim prize 1967)
1925 George Kennedy New York NY, actor (Cool Hand Luke, Airport, Blue Knight)
1927 John W Warner (Senator-R-VA, 1979- ), married Liz Taylor
1931 Toni Morrison Ohio, novelist (Tar Baby, Beloved, Song of Solomon)
1932 Milos Forman Cáslav Czechoslovakia, director (One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus, Ragtime)
1933 Yoko Ono Lennon [Mrs John Lennon], Tokyo Japan, singer(?)
1938 Manny Mota baseball outfielder (Los Angeles Dodgers)
1941 Herb Santiago vocalist (Frankie Lymon & Teenagers-Why Do Fools Fall)
1949 Cybill Shepherd Memphis TN, actress (Moonlighting, Last Picture Show)
1953 Robin Bachman Winnipeg, guitarist (Bachman Turner Overdrive-You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet)
1954 John Travolta Englewood NJ, actor (Welcome Back Kotter, Grease, Pulp Fiction)
1957 Vanna White [Rosich], North Myrtle Beach SC, TV game show hostess (Wheel of Fortune)
1964 Matt Dillon New Rochelle NY, actor (Flamingo Kid, Tex, Little Darlings, Kansas)
1968 Molly Ringwald Roseville CA, actress (16 Candles, Pretty in Pink)

Deaths which occurred on February 18:
0999 Gregory V [Bruno] 1st German Pope, dies
1478 Duke of Clarence forced drowning in a wine barrel
1546 Martin Luther biblical scholar/religious reformer, dies at 62
1564 Michelangelo Buonarroti Italian sculptor/painter/architect/poet (David), dies at 88
1587 Mary Stuart Queen of Scots (1560-87), beheaded at 44
1898 Frances Willard founder (Woman's Christian Temperance), dies at 58
1917 Charles E Barber US chief engraver (1879-1917), dies
1933 James Corbett (Gentleman Jim), heavyweight box champion (1892-97), dies
1963 Monte Blue silent film actor (Apache), dies of heart attack at 73
1967 Robert J Oppenheimer creator of atomic bomb, dies at 62
1973 Frank Costello US gangster, dies at 82
1977 Andy Devine [Jeremiah Schwartz], actor (Andy's Gang), dies at 71
1995 John Rhea "Yank" Lawson US jazz trumpeteer (Stormy weather), dies at 83
1998 Harry Caray sportscaster (Chicago Cubs), dies at 77
2001 [Ralph] Dale Earnhardt NASCAR driver/"The Intimidator", dies in crash during Daytona 500 at 49

Reported: MISSING in ACTION

1966 MURRAY JOSEPH VAUGHN---CHILLICOTHE MO.
1966 RUFFIN JAMES T.---DEATSVILLE AL
[REMAINS RETURNED 06/03/83]
1966 SPENCER LARRY H.---EARLHAM IA.
[02/12/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1966 SCHROEFFEL THOMAS ANTHONY---PITTSBURGH PA.
1967 DUART DAVID H.---CANTON PA.
[03/04/73 RELEASED BY DRV, ALIVE AND WELL 98]
1967 JENSEN JAY R.---SANDY UT.
[02/18/73 RELEASED BY DRV, DECEASED MAY 29, 1998]
1969 BRUCHER JOHN M.---CLATSKANIE OR.
[VOICE CONTACT, INJURED IN TREE]
1969 CHAPMAN RODNEY M.---ALPENA MI.
1969 JEROME STANLEY M.---DETROIT MI.
1969 SCHIMMELS EDDIE R.---LOS ANGELES CA.
1970 DAFFRON THOMAS C.---PINCKNEYVILLE IL.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/05/99]
1970 GILLEN THOMAS E.---KINGMAN KS.
1970 MORLEY CHARLES F.---WARRENSBURG MO.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 08/05/99]
1971 BERG GEORGE P.---BELFORD NJ.
1971 CRANDALL GREGORY S.---TACOMA WA.
[REMAINS RETURNED 1991 ID'D 06/18/93]
1971 DEMSEY WALTER E. JR.---GLENDORA NJ.
1971 ENGEN ROBERT J.---STOCKTON CA.
[REMAINS ID 30 OCT 91]
1971 JOHNSON GARY L.---MALIBU CA.
1971 LEWELLEN WALTER E.---NEW ALBANY IN.
[REMAINS IDENTIFIED 30 OCT 91]
1971 LLOYD ALLEN R.---ST CHARLES MN.
1971 WATSON RONALD L.---EL PASO TX.
1971 WOODS GERALD E.---SALEM OR.

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

On this day...
3102 -BC- Origin of Kali Era (India)
1129 Jerusalem taken by Emperor Frederik II
1503 Henry Tudor created Prince of Wales (later Henry VIII)
1536 France & Turkey sign military/trade agreement against King Karel
1563 Huguenot Jean Poltrot de Méré shoots General François De Guise
1634 Ferdinand II orders commander Albrecht von Wallenstein, execution
1678 John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" is published
1688 Quakers conduct 1st formal protest of slavery in Germantown PA
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's troops occupy Inverness Scotland
1787 Austrian emperor Jozef II bans children under 8 from labor
1804 1st US land-grant college, Ohio University, Athens OH, chartered
1815 Treaty of peace with Great Britain proclaimed
1841 1st continuous filibuster in US Senate began, lasting until March 11
1849 1st regular steamboat service to San Francisco CA starts: gold rush prospectors from east coast
1856 American (Know-Nothing) Party abolishes secrecy
1861 Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery AL
1861 King Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia becomes 1st king of Italy
1865 Evacuation of Charleston SC; Sherman's troops burn the city
1865 Union troops force Confederates to abandon Fort Anderson NC
1865 Battle of Ft Moultrie SC occupied by Federals
1884 Police seize all copies of Tolstoy's "What I Believe In"
1884 General Charles Gordon arrives in Khartoum
1885 Mark Twain's "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" published
1896 Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for 1st time in 50 years
1899 80º F, San Francisco CA
1899 San Francisco named as a port of dispatch for Army transports
1899 Stanley Cup Montréal Shamrocks sweep Queens University (Kingston Ontario) in 2 games
1900 Battle at Paardeberg, 1,270 British killed/injured
1900 British troops occupy Monte Christo Natal
1901 H Cecil Booth patented a dust removing suction cleaner
1913 French painting "Nude Descending a Staircase" by Marcel DuChamp displayed at Armory Show in New York NY
1915 Germany begins a blockade of England
1922 Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns his judgeship to work for baseball
1922 WOC-AM in Davenport IA begins radio transmissions
1924 US Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby ends term due to Teapot Dome-scandal
1927 US & Canada begin diplomatic relations
1930 Cow flown & milked, milk sealed in paper containers & parachuted
1930 US astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto
1943 Munich resistance group "White Rose" captured by Nazis
1951 3 City College of New York basketball players admit to accepting bribes
1951 Nepál becomes a constitutional monarchy
1952 4th Emmy Awards Red Skelton, Sid Caesar & Imogene Coca win
1960 Walter O'Malley, Los Angeles Dodger owner, purchases Chavez Ravine for $494,000
1962 France & Algerian Moslems negotiate truce to end 7 year war
1964 Papandreou government takes power in Greece
1965 Frank Gifford announces his retirement from football for broadcasting
1965 Gambia gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1967 Softball pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out 6 straight major leaguers
1968 10,000 demonstrators against US in Vietnam War in West-Berlin
1969 PLO-attack El-Al plane in Zurich Switzerland
1970 Chicago 7 defendants found innocent of inciting to riot
1972 California Supreme Court abolishes death penalty
1972 Giulio Andreotti sworn in as premier of Italy
1973 54-kg octopus measuring 7 meter across captured in Hood Canal, Washington
1978 1st Iron Man Triathlon (swim, bike ride, marathon) held, Kona HI
1979 -52º F (-47º C), Old Forge NY (state record)
1979 Snow falls in the Sahara Desert
1980 Pierre Elliott Trudeau's Liberal Party wins Canada's elections
1988 Anthony M Kennedy, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice
1995 Pamela Anderson (Baywatch) & Tommy Lee (Motley Crüe) wed

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

Gambia : Independence Day (1965)
Iceland : National Bun Day
Iran : Mohammed's Death
Israel : Mother's Day
Nepál : Constitutional Day (1951)
US : Pay Your Bills Week (Day 4)
US : Pancake Week (Day 4)
Wild Bird Feeding Month

Religious Observances
Christian : Commemoration of St Bernadette
Christian : Feast of St Angilbert
Christian : Feast of St Constantia (St Constance)
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of St Simeon, bishop of Jerusalem, martyr
Orthodox : Feast of St Leo I, the Great
Roman Catholic : Commemoration of Bl Fra Angelico, Florentine painter
Lutheran : Commemoration of Martin Luther, renewer of the Church

Religious History
1571 A group of Spanish Jesuits in the Chesapeake Bay area, led by Fray Batista Segura, were murdered by the Indians they had come six months earlier to convert. The massacre led ultimately to the withdrawal of all Jesuits living in Florida as well.
1678 John Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" was first published, in England. Bunyan was frequently imprisoned for preaching without a license. During these sequestered times, between 1660-72, Bunyan collected the ideas enabling him to pen this masterpiece of Christian literature.
1688 At a monthly meeting in Germantown, PA, a group of Quakers and Mennonites became the first white body in English America to register a formal protest against slavery. The historic "Germantown Protest" denounced both slavery and the slave trade.
1781 Birth of Henry Martyn, Anglican missionary to Persia. Martyn first sailed for the East in 1805. His great linguistic gifts led him to translate the New Testament both into Hindustani and Arabic, before his premature death at 31.
1867 The Augusta Institute was founded in Georgia. Established as an institution of higher learning for black students, it moved to Atlanta in 1879, and in 1913 changed its name to Morehouse College.

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

Thought for the day :
"Many a family tree needs trimming."

Question of the day...
The Scarecrow got a brain,
Tin Man got a heart,
Lion got courage,
Dorothy got home,
what did Toto get?

Murphys Law of the day...(First Law of Expert Advice)
Don't ask the barber whether you need a haircut

Amazing fact #65,872...
The first Kentucky Derby was run at Churchill Downs in 1875 with Aristides as winner.

Good morning everyone!