Posted on 07/28/2004 10:52:03 PM PDT by SAMWolf
The Philippines showed just how unprepared for war we were.
I think we'd all be better off if we could just shut off the news for about a month or maybe forever!
Tuh-roo! Especially in Chicago. They didn't call it the Windy City for it's nice summer breezes, that's for sure. As kids, we used to wind surf on the icy sidewalks of Michigan Avenue. Just hold your coat out and away ya go. Heh.
(Sometimes I'm prone to exaggeration)
When ever I see anything about the USS Indianapolis I'm reminded of of Quint from Jaws.
"Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies / Farewell and adieu you ladies of Spain. / For we received orders for to sail back to Boston / And soon never more will we see you again."
Aircraft in the Philippines, December 1941: Douglas B-18A "
DOUGLAS B-18A "BOLO"
The Douglas Aircraft Co. developed the B-18 to replace the Martin B-10 as the Army Air Corps' standard bomber. The Bolo's design was based on the Douglas DC-2 commercial transport. During Air Corps bomber trials at Wright Field in 1935, the B-18 prototype competed with the Martin 146 (an improved B-10) and the four engine Boeing 299, forerunner of the B-17. Although many Air Corps officers believed the Boeing design was superior, only 13 YB-17s were initially ordered. Instead, the Army General Staff selected the less costly Bolo and, in January 1936, ordered 133 as B-18s. Later, 217 more were built as B-18As with a "shark" nose in which the bombardier's position was extended forward over the nose gunner's station.
By 1939, underpowered and with inadequate defensive armament, the Bolo was the Air Corps' primary bomber. Some B-18s were destroyed by the Japanese on December 7, 1941. By early 1942, improved aircraft replaced the Bolo as a first-line bombardment aircraft. Many B-18's were then used as transports, or modified as B-18Bs for anti-submarine duty. The B-18A on display was stationed at Wright Field from 1939 to 1942. The Museum acquired it in 1971 and restored it as a B-18A serving in 1939 with the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron.
More B-18 images...
http://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/modern_flight/mf2.htm
SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 89 ft. 6 in.
Length: 57 ft. 10 in.
Height: 15 ft. 2 in.
Weight: 27,000 lbs. loaded
Armament: Three .30-cal. guns (in nose, ventral and dorsal positions), plus 4,500 lbs. of bombs carried internally
Engines: Two Wright R-1820-53s of 1,000 hp. ea.
Crew: Six
Cost: $80,000
Serial Number: 37-469
C/N: 2469
Other Registrations: N58674
PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 215 mph. at 15,000 ft.
Cruising speed: 167 mph.
Range: 2,100 miles
Service Ceiling: 23,900 ft.
I grew up in Chicago and the winters there were brutal, especially near the Lake when those winter winds come in. BBBBBBBBRRRR
Brody (Roy Scheider): What happened?
Quint: Japanese submarine slammed two torpedoes into our side, chief. It was comin' back, from the island of Tinian Delady, just delivered the bomb. The Hiroshima bomb.
Eleven hundred men went into the water. Vessel went down in twelve minutes. Didn't see the first shark for about a half an hour. Tiger. Thirteen footer. You know, you know that when you're in the water, chief? You tell by lookin' from the dorsal to the tail. Well, we didn't know. `Cause our bomb mission had been so secret, no distress signal had been sent. Huh huh.
They didn't even list us overdue for a week. Very first light, chief. The sharks come cruisin'. So we formed ourselves into tight groups. You know it's... kinda like `ol squares in battle like a, you see on a calendar, like the battle of Waterloo. And the idea was, the shark would go for nearest man and then he'd start poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark would go away. Sometimes he wouldn't go away. Sometimes that shark, he looks right into you. Right into your eyes. You know the thing about a shark, he's got...lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eye. When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be livin'. Until he bites ya and those black eyes roll over white. And then, ah then you hear that terrible high pitch screamin' and the ocean turns red and spite of all the poundin' and the hollerin' they all come in and rip you to pieces.
Y'know by the end of that first dawn, lost a hundred men! I don't know how many sharks, maybe a thousand! I don't know how many men, they averaged six an hour. On Thursday mornin' chief, I bumped into a friend of mine, Herbie Robinson from Cleveland. Baseball player, bosom's mate. I thought he was asleep, reached over to wake him up. Bobbed up and down in the water, just like a kinda top. Up ended. Well... he'd been bitten in half below the waist. Noon the fifth day, Mr. Hooper, a Lockheed Ventura saw us, he swung in low and he saw us. He'd a young pilot, a lot younger than Mr. Hooper, anyway he saw us and come in low. And three hours later a big fat PBY comes down and start to pick us up. You know that was the time I was most frightened? Waitin' for my turn. I'll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went in the water, three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks ttook the rest, June the 29, 1945. Anyway, we delivered the bomb.
Or shut down the broadcasters for a couple of years. Imagine living in another galaxy and your tv starts picking up signals broadcasted from earth centuries ago.
'Hey, Mahkta! Come quick! You ain't gonna believe this. Something happened on Planet Earth!'
'Yoppers, Moohga. I knew the planet would self-destruct. Good thing we didn't have it on our vacation itinerary. Was it the 'BOMB?'
'Naw, just the usual. Auto-asphyxiation. The news transmitters finally burned all the oxygen out of the air.'
Strange looking plane, looks like it's pregnant. My memory of the B18 is from some Warner Brothers cartoon made in the late 40's. Where a "Mother" B18 and a "Father" B-18 have a baby but it turns out to be a jet. Just sticks in my mind for some reason.
A Great scene! It's a joy to watch good actors(politics aside) doing their craft.
Back tonight.
Happy Birthday Geddy! 
Rush -
IMHO, one of the best bands ever! 30 years and still kicking out good music.
Can you tell me where to find the Nooclear Wessels
Thank You Sam, nice to be anyplace every morning!! :-)
Thanks Sam. It's hard to read accounts like this. The ill-preparedness is hard to comprehend.
Detroyed by all the hot air from the newscasters! aaack.
You aren't the only one. Just another reason I'd like a flagpole at home. Watching Old Glory go up is thrilling, no matter how often I see it.
What my friends thought strange was I knew what he was talking about.
LOL! I loved that scene. :-)
Amen to that. :-)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.