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What is in my Father's notebook?

Started by Walks_At_Night, October 13, 2018, 06:20:43 PM

Page 35 continues the discussion on Welding.  No line breaks, no paragraphs, no nothing.

Page 35


There was of course a Carrier based component to Naval Aviation.  At the time my Father joined up US Navy Aircraft Carriers carried three types of aircraft:   Torpedo Bombers, Scout/Dive Bombers and Fighters.  The Torpedo Bombers carried a single torpedo to be used against enemy shipping, the Scout/Dive Bombers were used for reconnaissance and also would swope down at an extreme angle and drop a bomb against ships or ground targets.  The Fighters were used to escort the bombers on their missions and of course to protect the fleet from the other guys bombers.

At the time the US Navy Torpedo Bomber role was filled by the Douglas TBD Devastator.  The first all metal, monoplane carrier aircraft ever built for the US Navy by Pearl Harbor time had passed the Devastor by.  It's replacement would be the famous Grumman TBF Avenger but these replacements were not yet operational and the US Navy had to fight with what was available.  The Devastator lived a charmed life during the first few months of the war they kind of rope-a-doped their way through some of the early battles.  However at the Battle of Midway 41 would be launched against the Japanese fleet.  Only 4 would return for a 90% loss rate.  There were never many of these aircraft built in the first place and those that remained would be withdrawn from active service.   There are no surviving examples today.

Douglas TBD Devastator




The Scout and Dive Bomber role was filled by the Douglas SBD Dauntless    With this plane, the US Navy was truly blessed. 
There were concerns about it as the war started - it was felt that it was too slow and it's range was too limited.  Those facts were true. 
However the SBD would sink more ships than any other aircraft during the war. It also was not something you wanted to mess with.  It had two forward firing .50 caliber machine guns and a twin .30 gun manned by a gunner behind the pilot.  While not a fighter, it was maneuverable
and it definitely could do unto others before it was done unto it.  It had a 3 to 1 kill ratio in aerial combat.   That means for every SBD that was shot down by an enemy plane it would shoot down three of the enemy.  Not bad.   Pound for pound and dollar for dollar it has to be up near the top of the carrier launched planes of all time.

Douglas SBD Dauntless
 


The fighter role was fulfilled by the Grumman F4F Wildcat.  A chubby, sturdy aircraft it was more than competent in doing the job
that it was asked to do. It typically would not come out on top in a one on one dogfight with the Japanese Zero (its main antagonist) or the German Me 109.  However with the proper tactics it would do just fine.  It would finish the war with a solid 7 to 1 kill ratio.

Grumman F4F Wildcat




Uncle Duke

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 24, 2018, 08:39:32 PM
There was of course a Carrier based component to Naval Aviation.  At the time my Father joined up US Navy Aircraft Carriers carried three types of aircraft:   Torpedo Bombers, Scout/Dive Bombers and Fighters.  The Torpedo Bombers carried a single torpedo to be used against enemy shipping, the Scout/Dive Bombers were used for reconnaissance and also would swope down at an extreme angle and drop a bomb against ships or ground targets.  The Fighters were used to escort the bombers on their missions and of course to protect the fleet from the other guys bombers.

At the time the US Navy Torpedo Bomber role was filled by the Douglas TBD Devastator.  The first all metal, monoplane carrier aircraft ever built for the US Navy by Pearl Harbor time had passed the Devastor by.  It's replacement would be the famous Grumman TBF Avenger but these replacements were not yet operational and the US Navy had to fight with what was available.  The Devastator lived a charmed life during the first few months of the war they kind of rope-a-doped their way through some of the early battles.  However at the Battle of Midway 41 would be launched against the Japanese fleet.  Only 4 would return for a 90% loss rate.  There were never many of these aircraft built in the first place and those that remained would be withdrawn from active service.   There are no surviving examples today.

Douglas TBD Devastator





In the late 80s, at the Chino Airshow I met George Gay, the only survivor from Torpedo Squadron 8 during the Battle of Midway. I still have the copy of his book he autographed for me. 

Page 36 finishes up Welding and then moves on to Brazing and Soldering.

What is in my Father's notebook? Page 36

The final major component of Naval Aviation for the United States Navy at the time that my Father entered the service, where the Naval Airships.  The US Navy used blimps to patrol both coasts. the Gulf, the Canal Zone and eventually all the way down into the south Atlantic as far as Rio. Later on they would also be moved to the Mediterranean at Gibraltar.   They carried radar. magnetic anomaly detectors and observers.
They would tool along up over the convoys and look for enemy submarines.  They carried a few depth charges and a .50 caliber machine gun but I think that was more for morale than anything.  I can find only one account where a Blimp locked horns with an enemy sub directly.  The Blimps job was observe and report.  From what I can tell they were quite effective.  Off the US East Coast almost 500 ships would be torpedoed by U Boats when there was not a blimp over head. Only a single ship was torpedoed with a blimp bird dogging up top. 

I'm more than thankful that I did not have to take part in the war but if I had to, I'm thinking that the blimp guys in Rio de Janeiro probably had a pretty decent go of it.   







Quote from: Uncle Duke on December 25, 2018, 09:38:19 AM
In the late 80s, at the Chino Airshow I met George Gay, the only survivor from Torpedo Squadron 8 during the Battle of Midway. I still have the copy of his book he autographed for me.

Wow.  That is really something Duke. 


albrecht

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 25, 2018, 06:55:42 PM
The final major component of Naval Aviation for the United States Navy at the time that my Father entered the service, where the Naval Airships.  The US Navy used blimps to patrol both coasts. the Gulf, the Canal Zone and eventually all the way down into the south Atlantic as far as Rio. Later on they would also be moved to the Mediterranean at Gibraltar.   They carried radar. magnetic anomaly detectors and observers.
They would tool along up over the convoys and look for enemy submarines.  They carried a few depth charges and a .50 caliber machine gun but I think that was more for morale than anything.  I can find only one account where a Blimp locked horns with an enemy sub directly.  The Blimps job was observe and report.  From what I can tell they were quite effective.  Off the US East Coast almost 500 ships would be torpedoed by U Boats when there was not a blimp over head. Only a single ship was torpedoed with a blimp bird dogging up top. 

I'm more than thankful that I did not have to take part in the war but if I had to, I'm thinking that the blimp guys in Rio de Janeiro probably had a pretty decent go of it.   






Yeah. Good posting what with the dancing girls, good weather, pre-favelas and crime, and the beaches and Charlie Chan had already solved the case down there so free of murderers.  On a more serious note it is interesting to see blimps gaining favor again for things like border security, Google world-takeover schemes, wifi/5-G delivery, etc.

Quote from: albrecht on December 25, 2018, 07:12:19 PM
Yeah. Good posting what with the dancing girls, good weather, pre-favelas and crime, and the beaches and Charlie Chan had already solved the case down there so free of murderers.  On a more serious note it is interesting to see blimps gaining favor again for things like border security, Google world-takeover schemes, wifi/5-G delivery, etc.

It seemed like a good thought didn't it?   I started to dig into it a bit and now I'm not so sure.  Pix taken during Carnival in Rio - 1943.


albrecht

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 25, 2018, 07:17:15 PM
It seemed like a good thought didn't it?   I started to dig into it a bit and now I'm not so sure.  Pix taken during Carnival in Rio - 1943.


Hmm, that seems a bit odd and not that fun. Only one girl at Carnival and a lot of femininely dressed men?

Quote from: albrecht on December 25, 2018, 07:19:58 PM
Hmm, that seems a bit odd and not that fun. Only one girl at Carnival and a lot of femininely dressed men?

Had to be more than that going on.  Too bad bellgab doesn't have the @ capability to tag users.   We need to summon the mighty
K_Dubb to see if he could round up some hot, wartime, Carnival action.


albrecht

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 25, 2018, 07:24:53 PM
Had to be more than that going on.  Too bad bellgab doesn't have the @ capability to tag users.   We need to summon the mighty
K_Dubb to see if he could round up some hot, wartime, Carnival action.
I'm sure more was going on. But folks back then were smarter and didn't take pictures etc of everything. Of course the tech was harder, also but "loose lips sink ships" "don't kiss and tell" "get pay docked for a social disease or drunken arrest" and all that also.

Quote from: albrecht on December 25, 2018, 07:27:42 PM
I'm sure more was going on. But folks back then were smarter and didn't take pictures etc of everything. Of course the tech was harder, also but "loose lips sink ships" "don't kiss and tell" "get pay docked for a social disease or drunken arrest" and all that also.

Oh yeah.  Plus the dudes as girls thing had to be better than this shit.   ;)



Uncle Duke

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 25, 2018, 07:09:26 PM
Wow.  That is really something Duke. 



By the way, that's the same airshow a very drunk Greg "Pappy" Boyington went berserk and tried to do grievous bodily harm to a guy who asked him to sign a book written by a Japanese pilot who claimed (fraudulently) to have shot Boyington down.

Quote from: Uncle Duke on December 25, 2018, 07:36:34 PM
By the way, that's the same airshow a very drunk Greg "Pappy" Boyington went berserk and tried to do grievous bodily harm to a guy who asked him to sign a book written by a Japanese pilot who claimed to have shot Boyington down.

Ha!   That's even better than Aldrin punching that Moon Hoax dude.  Never heard of that story nor that book.  Now I have to look for it.  :D

I seem to remember seeing that on TV though................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKYcKwjBb7o

Uncle Duke

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 25, 2018, 07:38:46 PM
Ha!   That's even better than Aldrin punching that Moon Hoax dude.  Never heard of that story nor that book.  Now I have to look for it.  :D

Wouldn't waste your time or money, Kawato was a lying sack of shit.  He was the Douglas Deitrich of his day.

https://www.warbirdforum.com/kawato.htm


Quote from: (Sandman) Logan-5 on December 25, 2018, 07:53:17 PM
Awesome thread guys.
Awesome.     :)

Wasn't sure that anyone would find it interesting but it's gotten plenty of views and we've got some interesting stuff coming up.


albrecht

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 25, 2018, 08:04:09 PM
Wasn't sure that anyone would find it interesting but it's gotten plenty of views and we've got some interesting stuff coming up.
What is cool is that your dad kept all that stuff and that you can go through it in so much detail and post here. I wonder if some museum or school etc would also like to have for historical research?

Uncle Duke

Quote from: albrecht on December 25, 2018, 08:41:09 PM
What is cool is that your dad kept all that stuff and that you can go through it in so much detail and post here. I wonder if some museum or school etc would also like to have for historical research?

Almost certainly they would, but if Walks is thinking about doing that he needs to read the "fine print" before offering.  When my father-in-law died, his wife called the USAF Museum to see if they would be interested in stuff he had brought back from WWII, including his time in a German PoW camp.  They were really excited about a few of the items she had, and invited her up for their collection curator to review them.  Long story short, she did not give them up because of the stipulations she had to agree to, including giving the Museum all rights including trading or outright gifting those items to any other party that in so doing would benefit the Museum. The guy stopped just short of saying the Museum could sell them if they decided to, but implied similar things had happened.

Page 37 contains brief descriptions of Annealing and Tempering

Page 37

American torpedoes were powered by 180 Proof Ethyl alcohol and of course the Torpedomen had access to it. 
Which also meant that they were rather popular guys aboard ship.  Sailors being Sailors, some of this alcohol was lost due
to "wastage", "evaporation" or "spillage".   In other words they drank it.  The Navy of course, frowned on this.  So the Naval Bureau of Ordinance mixed some
Methyl in with the Ethyl in attempt to reduce "wastage".  Made it a real dangerous concoction, in that Methyl can fry your optic
nerve like an egg.  It was quickly learned that filtering the stuff through a compressed loaf of bread would produce a yield that would
not blind its drinkers.  The Bureau of Ordinance would then counter punch with something that could not be filtered and would
produce a horrendous case of raging shits.  The Torpedomen countered with something called a Gilly Still.  Eventually, a newer torpedo design would come out that was totally electrically powered, which also eliminated the tell tale bubbles in the torpedoes wake that one sees
in the movies.  So BuOrd would win in the end but the Torpedomen put up one hell of a fight.

The recipe for "Torpedo Juice" is two parts 180 Proof Ethyl Alcohol to three parts Pineapple Juice.  The gentleman on this website
has done his best at recreation and lived to tell the tale.  His description of it is an instant classic:

QuoteIt smells innocently of pineapple juice. It tastes like waking up five days later in a stranger’s bathtub with a toucan on your chest. Piercingly alcoholic, in a way that seems to ring out a siren song to abandon and oblivion. Plus tropical.

albrecht

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 26, 2018, 09:14:54 PM
American torpedoes were powered by 180 Proof Ethyl alcohol and of course the Torpedomen had access to it. 
Which also meant that they were rather popular guys aboard ship.  Sailors being Sailors, some of this alcohol was lost due
to "wastage", "evaporation" or "spillage".   In other words they drank it.  The Navy of course, frowned on this.  So the Naval Bureau of Ordinance mixed some
Methyl in with the Ethyl in attempt to reduce "wastage".  Made it a real dangerous concoction, in that Methyl can fry your optic
nerve like an egg.  It was quickly learned that filtering the stuff through a compressed loaf of bread would produce a yield that would
not blind its drinkers.  The Bureau of Ordinance would then counter punch with something that could not be filtered and would
produce a horrendous case of raging shits.  The Torpedomen countered with something called a Gilly Still.  Eventually, a newer torpedo design would come out that was totally electrically powered, which also eliminated the tell tale bubbles in the torpedoes wake that one sees
in the movies.  So BuOrd would win in the end but the Torpedomen put up one hell of a fight.

The recipe for "Torpedo Juice" is two parts 180 Proof Ethyl Alcohol to three parts Pineapple Juice.  The gentleman on this website
has done his best at recreation and lived to tell the tale.  His description of it is an instant classic:
That is hilarious. And so funny how people will resort to almost all methods to get booze. The stuff in prison, bootlegging and moonshining, bathtub gin, the whole hobo Sterno and sock deal. Crazy, and sometimes outright dangerous.  And the fights against it: taxes, "morality"  and regulations (I seem to recall some story of adulteration being used in Prohibition that killed a bunch of folks and I think they do something with ethanol fuel these days.)

K_Dubb

Quote from: albrecht on December 25, 2018, 07:19:58 PM
Hmm, that seems a bit odd and not that fun. Only one girl at Carnival and a lot of femininely dressed men?

Eh, that's kind of how Carnival was back then.  Our ancestors were crazier than we usually credit.  Respectable women simply didn't parade through the streets acting bawdy, so some men happily took their places in a pattern familiar from the stage.

The Nazis put a stop to the cross-dressing in Germany in the late '30s, but only after Goebbels was infamously photographed enjoying the show.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanzmariechen

WOTR

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 25, 2018, 08:04:09 PM
Wasn't sure that anyone would find it interesting but it's gotten plenty of views and we've got some interesting stuff coming up.
Glad you did it, Walks.  It is up there in the top 5 threads with Rix's 100 Years ago thread.  A nice diversion from the other drama and not something that we often get to see first hand.  Actually, it is too bad that your father is not here and contributing to this thread. 

So many of the voices of that war are now lost and the history with them.  I got to visit the aviation museum south of town where they were restoring a ME-109 with my Opa.  They gave us access to it, and by that time his mind was not as sharp.  At first he was telling them that it was not right (he thought it was the 163 rocket.)  Eventually he got it straight and he did enjoy the visit.  But it was not like it would have been a decade before that when I cannot imagine the vivid history that he would have given.

Now he is gone and while others have told their stories, he is one more voice who lived through it silenced and will not contribute to his unique observations. 

It is interesting to have access on this site to the book kept by just a "regular sailor". His notes are here and it is a pleasure to see what he took down real time during his training.  What was important enough to make note of, what made the cut as well as the other bits you are adding giving a nice historic overview of his experience.

Like I said- great idea for a thread and a very nice execution.

WOTR

Quote from: K_Dubb on December 26, 2018, 10:30:32 PM
Eh, that's kind of how Carnival was back then.  Our ancestors were crazier than we usually credit.  Respectable women simply didn't parade through the streets acting bawdy, so some men happily took their places in a pattern familiar from the stage.


More history that I simply did not know about... I think in some ways it may have been more "rowdy" and wild during that time than anything that we do today.  I think that the frequency that so many indulge their "wild side" takes something away from parties and detracts from them. What was once a party for a whole town or country a few times a year has become an extension of the weekend celebration of drunkenness.

*If course, I was not around back then. Maybe nothing has changed and I would have been romanticizing the parties of the middle ages.

ItsOver

Quote from: Walks_At_Night on December 24, 2018, 08:39:32 PM

...At the time the US Navy Torpedo Bomber role was filled by the Douglas TBD Devastator.  The first all metal, monoplane carrier aircraft ever built for the US Navy by Pearl Harbor time had passed the Devastor by.  It's replacement would be the famous Grumman TBF Avenger but these replacements were not yet operational and the US Navy had to fight with what was available.  The Devastator lived a charmed life during the first few months of the war they kind of rope-a-doped their way through some of the early battles.  However at the Battle of Midway 41 would be launched against the Japanese fleet.  Only 4 would return for a 90% loss rate.  There were never many of these aircraft built in the first place and those that remained would be withdrawn from active service.   There are no surviving examples today.

Douglas TBD Devastator





Interesting to read there are no surviving examples of the first metal carrier monoplane anywhere, such as museums.  Wiki notes the examples discovered by divers, on the bottom of the Pacific.  Not exactly an easy way to see the real deal. ;)

K_Dubb

Quote from: WOTR on December 27, 2018, 04:00:41 AM
More history that I simply did not know about... I think in some ways it may have been more "rowdy" and wild during that time than anything that we do today.  I think that the frequency that so many indulge their "wild side" takes something away from parties and detracts from them. What was once a party for a whole town or country a few times a year has become an extension of the weekend celebration of drunkenness.

*If course, I was not around back then. Maybe nothing has changed and I would have been romanticizing the parties of the middle ages.

The widespread abandonment of fasting during advent and lent has dampened the real holiday feasting considerably and I think we're all poorer for it, as we shove away loaded trays of cookies after a whole season of overindulgence.  It really is the same principle.

Page 38 discusses doors, hatches and fittings aboard ship.  They are labeled with letter V, W, X, Y and Z and each has a different meaning as when the labeled item should be closed.  For example. Dad has a line item "Z: Close in action".   A little research shows an interior water tight door on an American WWII era destroyer that has a Z prominently labeled.

(BTW - the R2D2 looking thing in the lower center, is a foam dispensing unit for fighting fires.)




Page 38


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