VF-111 Sundowner F-8D Crusader - USS Midway 8-24-65

Twilight time to dream awhile

In veils of deepening blue.... More practicing with the new camera

Terrier-Improved Orion Launch

Terrier-Improved Orion launched this week at NASA's Wallop's Flight Facility. The sounding rocket carried 17 experiments built by university instructors and students. The flight was successful and the experiments payload recovered.

New SLR - woot!

I finally got a nice digital SLR so I can seriously get back into photography. I was experimenting a bit last evening and took this twilight shot.

Junkers Stuka Recovery

Another recent warbird find and a rare one at that. There are only two other Stukas known in the world and this one is claimed to be restorable. Germans Recover Stuka Bomber Wreck from Baltic Sea

AJ Savage Refuels VF-64 Freelancer F3H-2 Demon

USS Midway - 3 Sept 1958

Flight of the Intruder | Photos | Air & Space Magazine

Flight of the Intruder | Photos | Air & Space Magazine

Great article on the A-6 and one of its earliest missions.

4-7 June 1942 - The Tide Turns

From December 1941 to June 1942 Allied forces suffered one loss after another. Pearl Harbor, Wake Island, the Philippines, and Singapore. The Battle of the Java Sea was especially demoralizing. Doolittle's Tokyo Raid had no real military impact and The Battle of Coral Sea ended up a draw. The US Navy could not outlast a series of draws that early in the war and would lose a war of attrition Admiral Yamamoto knew this. He knew Japan's best chance of making the war too costly for the US to continue was deal heavy blows within the first six months. Midway was to be another major blow that Yamamoto planned against the US carriers.

Through a number of events that favored the US forces and extreme bravery of Naval aviators the battle concluded with the loss of all four Japanese carriers and many veteran airmen. The most intense action occurred on the morning of June 4. Several squadrons of TBD Devastator torpedo planes attacked the Japanese fleet first and suffered horrendous losses including all aircraft of VT-8 lost and only Ensign George Gay surviving. No hits were scored against the ships, but the early action did one important thing, it pulled the Japanese fighter cover down to the dive bombers altitude and out of position. Before they could regain altitude squadrons of SBD Dauntlesses found the fleet and with little to no opposition on their bomb runs decimated the Japanese carriers. Within seven minutes three carriers, Kaga, Soryu, and Akagi were burning hulks and all would sink.

The USS Yorktown, damaged in the Battle of Coral Sea and barely able to make it to Midway would be hit in a counter-strike from the Hiryu, but damage control would have the ship under weigh later in the day. The US carriers launched a daring late day strike against the Hiryu sinking it. Both sides prepared for night action, though Yamamoto quickly decided to withdraw his remaining forces before daylight. In the following days the Yorktown would be lost to torpedo attack from a Japanese submarine and the cruiser Mikuma would be sunk by American aircraft.

The Japanese would never recover from the losses at Midway due to the lack of experienced pilots and dwindling resources lost through the US island hopping campaign. Add to that the massive build up of the US war machine, ability to adequately train aircrews before putting them in combat, and the unrestricted warfare from the US Navy's Silent Service sealed Japan's fate. The Battle of Midway compares with the Battle of Britain in that so much was accomplished by so few combined with tragic mistakes and poor judgement by Japan and Germany.

Visit a museum that has any of the aircraft used in the Battle of Midway. Walk around, peer inside and try to imagine what it was like to be one of the pilots or aircrew to launch off to battle not knowing what they faced, where the enemy was, and if your carrier would be there if you made it back. It's not easy to do.

70th Anniversary of The Battle of Midway Commemoration held aboard USS Midway Museum

I haven't been to the ship since the grand opening. In addition to going out for a reunion, I'd really like to make it out there for a "Battle of Midway" anniversary.

70th Anniversary of The Battle of Midway Commemoration held aboard USS Midway Museum