The FReeper Foxhole's TreadHead Tuesday - Matilda I,(A11) & Matilda II (A12) - Oct. 26th, 2004

www.wwiivehicles.com ^

[shield]

Good Morning....Foxhole Snippy ;o)

[SAMWolf]

1942 US ship Hornet sunk in Battle of Santa Cruz Islands during WW II

1942- The seventh HORNET (CV-8) launched 16 Army B-25s to strike the Japanese home islands in one of the most daring raids in the history of warfare -- the "Doolittle Raid." She went on to fight at the Battle of Midway and was lost to an overwhelming air attack at the Battle of Santa Cruz.

USS HORNET CV-12: THE LEGACY CONTINUES

1943 - The eighth HORNET (CV-12) was commissioned just 16 months after her keel was laid.

For 16 continuous months she was in action in the forward areas of the Pacific combat zone, sometimes within 40 miles of the Japanese home islands.

Under air attack 59 times, she was never hit.

Her aircraft destroyed 1410 Japanese aircraft, only ESSEX exceeded this record.

Her air groups destroyed or damaged 1,269,710 tons of enemy shipping.

10 HORNET pilots attained "Ace in a Day" status.

30 of 42 VF-2 Hellcat pilots were aces.

72 enemy aircraft shot down in one day.

255 aircraft shot down in a month.

Supported nearly every Pacific amphibious landing after March 1944.

Scored the critical first hits in sinking the super battleship YAMATO.

In 1945 launched the first strikes against Tokyo since the 1942 Doolittle Raid.

[SAMWolf]

Sam sounds excited about the store opening!

You should see Snippy. :-)

[SAMWolf]

Good Morning Shield.

[Colonel_Flagg]

Well, you'll just have to give hints. :)

[Iris7]

Morning, SAM and Snippy,

Four things.

Matilda shows that the most important thing for a tank is good protection. The crew has to feel and believe that they have a fighting chance for survival. They have to have faith in the armor. During the pre-gunpowder days it was said that "armor makes men brave." Nothing changes in the human heart.

Matilda had seven horse power per ton. So did the Marder. Believe it or not, this is enough in most situations. Makes much heavier armor practical.

Matilda's small size allowed good protection while allowing it to be transported by truck and to cross most bridges. This is the reason the Russian tanks are so small, of course.

The American designs historically have been poorly protected mostly because they were so roomy inside, being designed by men who did not have to fight in tanks.

Creighton Abrams did a lot of fighting with the old M4 Sherman and Abrams is responsible for the adequately protected (although only in the frontal arc) Abrams tank. There are superior designs in production in other countries, designed for "close ground", particularly for built up areas.

The Canal Defense Light (CDL) is interesting. The machine had nothing to do with canal defense, canals, or even defense. The name was designed to hide it's purpose.

There was a powerful searchlight in the turret set up to flicker at a speed that messed up the brain rhythms, probably about 5 times per second. It was made for night attacks, where the light was focused on the enemy's defenses. The enemy could not see anything but the light, which when looked into nearly paralyzed the mind. Friendly infantry then advanced while not looking into the light, which was tolerable but darned hard, but better than being shot at effectively by the enemy.

General J.F.C. Fuller, the very noted military historian and designer of Plan 1919 (worth a Foxhole), said that the CDL could have saved thousands of Allied lives had it been used. I suspect that the CDL was very hard indeed to tolerate even when you did not have to look directly into it, and so unpopular. It was also so secret that no one had any idea that it existed much less what it could do.

[shield]

Good morning....Sir Sam ;o)

[PsyOp]

Mornin' all.

[Professional Engineer]

Hiya Sam. I'm waltzing through the thread.

[Professional Engineer]

Hi miss Feather.

[Professional Engineer]

We want a distance shot in daylight. ;-)

Me too!

[Professional Engineer]

1947 Hilary Rodham Clinton First Lady/smartest woman in the history of the world (1993-2001)

Named in honor of a guy who climbed a mountain in 1953. Durn time travelers are popping up everywhere.

[Professional Engineer]

1954 Chevrolet introduces the V-8 engine

The secret password is: 18436572

[Professional Engineer]

Howdy ma'am.

I'm working on a better shot.

[colorado tanker]

Hi folks.

I just read a very poignant post about a "born tanker" who was killed on patrol in Baghdad. Seems an appropriate read for Treadhead Tuesday. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1257530/posts

[colorado tanker]

1 week til election day. Pray hard.

Amen to that. My oldest daughter just turned 18. She's a pro-life Republican and is volunteering for the 72 hour project. I am one proud papa.

[colorado tanker]

General J.F.C. Fuller

I've got a copy of his Military History of the Western World. He's highly opinionated, but very readable and very interesting.

[Professional Engineer]

Electric dragonfly for ya'.

[Iris7]

"I've got a copy of his Military History of the Western World. He's highly opinionated, but very readable and very interesting."

I also. His "The Generalship of U.S. Grant" I also like. It destroys the myth of Grant being incompetent. Well, except that most don't give a fig for the truth if they don't like what they see.

[Soaring Feather]

Way Cool!! Thanks so much!