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Posted on 04/21/2003 5:34:33 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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Commander Robert Barclay, the one armed senior British naval officer on Lake Erie, inspects his little flotilla with some pride. Although it was undermanned and the quality of the seamen was suspect, he felt they could give a good account of themselves against the Americans.  Commander Robert Barclay The corvette "Detroit" was without her proper guns and there was little prospect of them arriving quickly. She was designed to carry sixteen 24 pound carronades and four long 12 pounders. It was decided to split up the ordinance among the ships to arm her. The guns taken from the floating batteries were replaced by guns from Fort Maiden. The task of shifting the guns was not an easy one. The barrel of a long twelve weighed almost two tonnes and it's carriage just under half of that. For hours work crews strained with block and tackle to sway the guns aboard ship and to place them. When all was completed Barclay reviewed the ships under his command. They were: the "Detroit" of three hundred tons mounting seventeen guns and two Carronades, of which he took personal command; the "Queen Charlotte" of two hundred tons with three guns and fourteen carronades commanded by Commander Robert Finnis; the "Lady Prevost" of ninety-six tons with three guns and ten carronades, Lieutenant Edward Buchan commanding; the "General Hunter" commanded by George Bignell of seventy-five tons mounting six guns and two carronades; the "Little Belt" of sixty tons with three guns; and the thirty-five tons Chippawa commanded by John Campbell mounting a single nine pounder. In total Barclay could muster six vessels with thirty five guns and twenty-eight carronades. The crews of the squadron totaled four hundred and forty.  Despite the preperations that were made, there were some nagging problems. The guns fired by means of a flintlock similar to those used on a musket. However, the flintlocks in the Lake Erie squadron were so old and decrepit that the gun captains were forced to trigger their guns by firing a pistol at the vent. This greatly reduced the rate of fire. The American squadron commanded by Master Commandant Oliver Hazzard Perry consisted of the two hundred and sixty tonne "Lawrence" mounting two guns and eighteen carronades commanded by Perry himself; the "Niagara" of two hundred and sixty tons with the same compliment of guns and carronades; the eighty-five tons "Caledonia" with two guns and single carronade; the "Ariel" of sixty tons mounting four guns; the "Somers" of sixty-five tons mounting one gun and one carronade; the sixty ton "Scorpion" had same armament; the "Porcupine" , the "Tigeress" and the "Trippe" of fifty tons each with a single gun mounted on swivels rounded out the squadron. Unlike Barclay more than half of Perry's crews were from the eastern seaboard and many had combat experience. There were even some veterans from the "Constitution" that was refitting at Boston. The Americans boasted nine ships with crews totaling five hundred and thirty-two men.  Barclay waited for his expected reinforcements but when none arrived he gave orders to weigh anchor at 3:00 p.m. on the 9th of September, a Thursday. They sailed away from Amherstburg in search of the Americans. At dawn the next day a hail from the masthead shook the sleep from everyone's eyes, "Deck there, enemy in sight." Barclay steadied his glass with his good arm and watched the American squadron fighting it's way out of it's anchorage at Put-in-Bay. One thing was in his favor at least, the wind was blowing lightly from the southwest giving him the weather gauge, that is, his ships would be between the wind and the enemy. They were still five kilometres apart at 10 a.m. when the fitful breeze died away. To Barclay's chargrin it immediately returned but this time from the southeast. The enemy now had the weather gauge.  At 11:45 a bugle sounded aboard the "Detroit" and the entire British line broke into songs and cheering. The battle of Lake Erie was about to get underway. Barclay ordered the gunner to try a ranging shot and one of the "Detroit's" long 24 pounders belched fire and smoke. The round shot fell short. A second was seen to to strike the Lawrence on the forward bulwark and Barclay could picture the flying splinters raking the deck. The "Lawrence" began to close with the "Detroit" but the British gunnery was taking a terrible toll. Not only was the "Detroit" hammering away at the "Lawrence" but Master's Mate John Campbell had his "Chippawa" firing his tiny 9 pounder at her as well.  Elsewhere the "Queen Charlotte" was having problems. The "Niagara" and the "Caledonia" were engaging her at a distance and she could not bring her guns to bear. To compound matters, in the early minutes of the battle a round shot killed Commander Finnis leaving Barclay without his most experienced captain. Lieutenant Thomas Stokoe who took over command also fell with a splinter wound. Command devolved to Provincial Marine Lieutenant Robert Irvine. By 2:30 p.m. the "Detroit" had reduced the "Lawrence" to a floating hulk and Perry was seen leaving her. He transfered his flag to the "Niagara", which had escaped serious damage to that point. As soon as Perry was clear, the "Lawrence" struck her colours. Perry took command of the "Niagara" and bore down on the "Detroit" to engage her with his carronades. Barclay watched the oncoming brig with much apprehension. The "Detroit" was in a bad way and the enemy almost unmarked. Then a blast of canister struck him in the back tearing his shoulder blade. Command of the ship fell to his second lieutenant, George Inglis.  The "Niagara" pounded the "Detroit" with her carronades and Inglis ordered the bow of the ship be brought across the wind bringing the starboard battery into action. A shuttering crash brought cries of alarm from the battle weary crew. The "Detroit" had collided with the "Queen Charlotte" entangling their rigging. The two ships lay wallowing helplessly. The "Niagara" crossed her bow and raked her stern to stern. The Niagara broke the British line pounding the British ships from both starboard and larboard batteries. The deck of the "Lady Prevost" was empty except for the tragic figure of her commander, Lieutenant Edward Buchan who was hanging over the rail screaming in agony from a terrible wound. Perry saw this and ordered his larboard battery to cease firing. The "Queen Charlotte" struck her colours as the "Detroit" broke free from their embrace. Inglis tried to get his ship under control but to no avail. Since the ensign had been nailed to the stump of the mast Inglis ordered that a white flag be waved as a sign of surrender. The Battle of Lake Erie was over.  Barclay tendered his sword, but Perry refused it telling all the British officers to keep their weapons as a sign of their gallant fight. Control of Lake Erie now passed to the Americans with grave consequences for the forces at Amherstburg.
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Air Power
Vought A-7 Corsair II 
The A-7 is a modern, sophisticated, integrated, highly versatile airborne weapon system capable of performing a variety of search, surveillance and attack missions. Often called the SLUFF (short little ugly fat fellow), it was called many other names, but beautiful isn't one of them. It is capable of carrying four external wing-mounted 300 gallon fuel tanks, coupled with a variety of ordnance on remaining stations. The A-7 can also conduct in-flight refueling operations and is capable of transferring over 12,000 pounds of fuel. The A-7 has a fully integrated digital navigation/weapon delivery system, and the integration technique is common to all current US Navy and US Air Force attack aircraft. The avionics system, based on state-of-the-art electronics, digital computing techniques, and an automation philosophy, provide unparalleled mission effectiveness and flexibility. With its Forward-Looking InfraRed (FLIR) capability, the A-7's night attack accuracy is equivalent to its day attack accuracy
As applied to an aircraft, the name Corsair has its origins in a series of famous biplanes built for the Navy by the Vought Corporation between World Wars I and II. Later, the name was applied to the famous Vought F4U series of fighters flown by Navy and Marine pilots during World War II. The modern-day descendant of these historic aircraft is the Vought A-7 Corsair II.
Compared with the F-8, the A-7A had a shorter fuselage with less sweepback on the wing, and without that F-8 Crusader’s adjustable wing incidence. Outboard ailerons were introduced on the A-7 wing, and the structure was strengthened to allow the wings and fuselage to carry a total ordnance load of 15,000 lbs on eight stations (two fuselage each with 500 lb capacity, two inboard on the wings with 2,500 lb capacity each, and four on the outer wings with 3,500 lb capacity each) for more than 200 combinations of different stores. The A-7A incorporated the 11,350 lb thrust Pratt & Whitney TF30-P-6 turbo-fan engine which had been developed for the F-111. The engine for the A-7, however, was not to have an after-burner.
That the lineage of the A-7 can be traced directly to the Vought F-8 Crusader fighter is obvious. Like the F-8, the configuration of the A-7 is characterized by a high wing, low horizontal tail, chin inlet, and short landing-gear legs that retract into the fuselage. Since the A-7 is a subsonic aircraft, however, no area ruling is incorporated in the fuselage, which is also shorter and deeper than that of the supersonic F-8. Because of the larger mass flow of the turbofan engine employed in the A-7, the size of the chin inlet is somewhat larger than that of the turbojet-powered F-8. These differences make the A-7 appear shorter and more stubby than the earlier fighter. The A-7 is sometimes unofficially called the SLUF (Short Little Ugly Fella) USAF crews.
The wing of the A-7 is closely related in geometry and physical size to that of the F-8. Leading flaps and single-slotted trailing-edge flaps are fitted to the wing, as are upper surface spoilers located ahead of the flaps. Not used on the A-7 is the unique variable-incidence feature of the F-8 wing. The shorter length of the fuselage together with the slight "upsweep" of the underside of the afterbody allow the A-7 to be rotated to a significantly higher pitch angle on takeoff and landing, without tail scrape, than was possible for the F-8. The higher available ground pitch attitude, together with the good augmentation capability of the high-lift system, no doubt played a large part in obviating the need for a variable-incidence capability in the wing. Speed brakes are located on the bottom of the fuselage about midway between the nose and the tail. A braking chute is provided for use in shore-based operations. The A-7A began Vietnam combat operations in December 1967, and proved to be one of the most effective Navy close support and strike aircraft in that conflict. A-7E Corsair IIs were part of the two-carrier battle group that conducted a joint strike on selected Libyan terrorist-related targets in 1986. Together with carrier-based F/A-18s, A-7s used anti-radiation missiles to neutralize Libyan air defenses. During Desert Storm, the A-7 demonstrated over 95% operational readiness and did not miss a single combat sortie.
The A-7 is one of those aircraft with a demonstrated capability of performing well in a wide variety of missions. Other aircraft are faster or have a greater range-payload capability or have a faster rate of climb; sometimes, certain of these characteristics is deemed so important that it dominates the entire design. What results is a "point design" aircraft that can perform one mission extremely well but is relatively much less effective in any other mission. The design parameters of the A-7 were chosen so that the aircraft has great mission versatility. It was successfully employed in just about every conceivable attack role during the Vietnam conflict where it first saw action in 1967.
Contractor: Ling-Temco-Vought (Prime, now Northrop Grumman Corp.)
Power Plant: Single Allison/Rolls Royce TF41-A-400 non-afterburning turbofan engine with a static thrust rating of 15,000 pounds
Accommodations: A-7E Pilot only
TA-7C Two seats
Performance: (A-7E/TA/7C) Maximum speed at 20,000 feet Mach .94
Range: greater than 1,900 nautical miles
External Dimensions:
Wing Span: 11.8m/ 38.73 ft
Length: overall 14.06m/ 46.13 ft
Height: overall 4.90m/ 16.06 ft
Weight: (with TF41-A-2 engine):
Combat (Clean A/P) 25,834 lbs
Maximum takeoff (Overload) 42,000 lbs
Maximum takeoff (Normal) 37,279 lbs
Maximum landing (Carrier) 25,300 lbs
Avionics & Countermeasures:
ALQ-119 ECM [Westinghouse]
ALQ-131 ECM [Westinghouse]
ALQ-123 IR countermeasures [Xerox]
ALQ-126 DECM [Sanders]
ALQ-162 tactical communications jammer [Eaton AIL]
ALQ-162 radar jammer Northrup
Armament: (A-7E/TA-7C) One internally mounted M61A1 20 mm six barrel cannon
Six wing pylons
Two fuselage launch stations
Pylons can carry a large single weapon, multiple racks capable of six weapons per rack, or triple racks with three weapons per rack.
Can carry 15,000 pounds of payload
Compatible with practically all first line ordnance used by the U.S./USAF/NATO.
Mission and Capabilities: Modern, sophisticated, integrated, highly versatile airborne weapon system platform
Capable of performing a variety of search, surveillance, and attack missions
Can carry four externally wing-mounted 300 gallon fuel tanks, coupled with a variety of ordnance on remaining stations.
Can conduct in-flight refueling operations
Capable of transferring more than 12,000 pounds of fuel
Fully integrated digital navigation/weapon delivery system is common to all current USN/USAF attack aircraft.
The Boneyard
Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona
A-10 being brought back from the dead
You know I'd gladly overnight you a few cheeseburgers but can you imagine the shape they'd be in? Bleeech!
They're yours darlin', just holler. :)
 Photo courtesy of U.S. Navy Navy Lt. and F/A-18 pilot Nathan White, from Atsugi Naval Air Facility, was shot down and killed over Iraq April 2.  Michael A. Damron / U.S. Navy NAF Atsugi sailors bow their heads during the memorial service for Lt. Nathan D. White.  Michael A. Damron / U.S. Navy During the memorial service for Lt. Nathan D. White, a silent display portraying a man of duty, devotion, and courage.  Joshua C. Millage / U.S. Navy Servicemembers pay their respects to Lt. Nathan White during the memorial service inside the hangar of VFA-195 at NAF Atsugi. |
Lt. j.g. Mike Odom stood before 1,000 people in the flight hangar at Atsugi Naval Air Facility on Thursday and quietly spoke of the selfless devotion of his colleague and friend, Lt. Nathan D. White.
White died April 2, after ejecting from his F/A-18 Hornet over Iraq. He is the first member of Atsugi’s close-knit community — and from the USS Kitty Hawk Battle Group — to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
“Lieutenant Nathan White selflessly sacrificed himself above and beyond the call of duty,” said Odom, who is officer in charge of the beach detachment of Carrier Air Wing FIVE, of which White’s squadron was a part.
Before his death, White wrote his family in an e-mail: “Regardless of the destination, I feel I am trained and prepared for any mission or contingency. I have to have faith that those at the helm have fully weighed the consequences and have determined that the resulting good will far outweigh the bad.”
Odom said White, who went by the call sign “O.J.,” was born to serve. He graduated cum laude from Brigham Young University with a degree in Japanese and worked as a missionary in Japan for two years. As a pilot, he earned top honors from his air wing.
The memorial at Atsugi follows one at sea aboard the Kitty Hawk with the remainder of the air wing.
Odom read excerpts from letters sent by some of White’s fellow pilots and friends.
His roommate recalled late nights in the boardroom after flights, eating cereal and talking about loved ones at home.
Another friend praised White’s prowess as a pilot.
White, 30, leaves behind his wife, Akiko, and children, Courtney, Austin and Zachary.
“We are proud of our son, Nathan,” his parents wrote in a prepared statement from the States. “Aviation was his passion. He was a man who lived his dream. He died defending this country.”
U.S. officials believe an American Patriot missile may have downed White’s jet, but the incident is under investigation, according to U.S. Central Command.
Wearing green ribbons in honor of White’s squadron, VFA-195, servicemembers and friends, his wife and her family, fought back tears and together said goodbye.
“We are fiercely proud of Nathan,” said staff chaplain Lt. j.g. Russell Hale. “He gave his life in a cause of justice and freedom.”
You got my mouth watering.
Thanks Gator Navy. They announced his death the same day the POWs were found and I think he got overlooked in the celebrations of the POW recovery.
Love that graphic!
I'm giggling at your tag line! LOL
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