THE ROUNDTABLE FORUM

 

Official newsletter of the Battle of Midway Roundtable

 

http://www.midway42.org

 

"To promote awareness and understanding of the great battle and to honor the men who fought and won it."

 

8 May 2005....................Issue No. 2005-18....................Our 8th Year

 

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.............................................. AROUND THE TABLE ...............................................

 

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MEMBERS' TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE

 

1.  Memories of the Coral Sea

2.  Radar on PBYs

3.  BOM Torpedoes Launched By VT Squadrons

4.  BOM Vet Interviews Available at National Archives

5.  Taps for Yorktown Vet Elton E. Brown

 

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"Memories of the Coral Sea"

 

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5 May 2005

From:  Richard Brown   yorktownbrowncv5@webtv.net   (BOM vet, RM2/c, CTF-17 Staff, USS Yorktown)

 

    This blurb appeared in the Chicago Tribute May 5th:  "In 1942 the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first naval clash fought entirely with carrier aircraft, began on this date during World War II." 

    As an aside, do all of us recall the licking the Yorktown took plus the sinking of the Lexington?  Remember the heroic efforts to save all of the Lexington's personnel, and then finally our own destroyers sending the "Lex" to her watery grave?  Remember the beating that we, the Yorktown, took that finally ended at Midway? 

    As I look back on that date, it reminds me that I was 24 at the time and now at 86 it is a proud memory to have served and to be a part of history, and a proud member of the Midway Roundtable and the Yorktown veterans group.

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"Radar on PBYs"

 

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4 May 2005

From:  Johan Lupander   pandionutv@tele2.se   (Sweden)

 

    Information on the availability of airborne search radar on some of the Midway-based PBYs is contradictory and scanty.  When mentioned, it is only in conjunction with the night torpedo attack, not as a presumably valuable tool when conducting searches in cloudy weather.

    Does somebody have information on this?  Were the radar sets, if any, US-manufactured or directly imported British ASV sets?

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"Torpedoes Launched By VT Squadrons"

 

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17 April 2005

From:  Robert Holzer   holzerrobert@web.de   (Germany)

 

    A question related to the BoM:  in Russel Sydnor Crenshaw Jr.'s book South Pacific Destroyer, I stumbled over the assertion that the torpedoes of the three U.S. VT squadrons were of the newer MK 13 type and that this was probably one reason why they failed to score any hits.

    So my questions:

1) How many fish were actually put into the water by all three VT squadrons?

2) Were they MK 13 torpedoes?

3) Is there any claim that a fish hit but scored no damage?

Best Regards to all,
Robert

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    Ed. note:  my guess for Robert was something like 20 out of the 41 TBDs may have actually launched their Mk 13 torpedoes at a target, although it would be very difficult to get an accurate figure due to the chaos of the attack and the fact that few witnesses survived the ordeal.  Can anyone give better answers to his three questions above?

 

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"BOM Vet Interviews Available at National Archives"

 

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6 May 2005

From:  Cal Cavalcante    bernard.cavalcante@navy.mil

 

    This is a collection of materials contained in Box 12:  interviews of various pilots, many of whom appeared to be relating to their experiences in the Battle of Midway.  Perhaps some of the folks in the BOMRT may have an interest in them.  The collection is located at the National Archives site at College Park, Maryland.

 

Box 12:

A7-1 Interview of Lieutenant N.A. Gayler, USN, VF-3, Temporary VF-2(4), USS

            LEXINGTON, 17 June 1942

A7-1 Interview of Lieutenant C. E. Dickinson, Jr., USN, VS-6, USS ENTERPRISE, 10

            July 1942

A7-1 Interview of Lieutenant Commander C.C. Ray, USN, Communications Officer,

            USS YORKTOWN, 15 July 1942

A7-1 Interview of Lieutenant Commander John S. Thach, USN, Commanding Officer,

            VF-3, USS SARATOGA, 26 August 1942

A7-1 Interview of Commander Frank Akers, USN, Navigator, USS HORNET, 10

            September 1942

A7-1 Interview of Lieutenant Harold H. Larsen, USN, VT-8, USS HORNET, 18 January

            1943

A7-1 Interview of Lieutenant H.A. Rowe, USN, Fighter Director, USS ENTERPRISE, 2

            March 1943

A7-1 Interview of Lieutenant H.B. Hayden, USN, Air Operations, USS ENTERPRISE, 4

            March 1943

A7-1 Interview of Major John W. Mitchell, USAAF and Captain Thomas C. Lanphier,

            USAAF, P-38 Pilots, Guadalcanal, 18 June 1943

 

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    Ed note:  I extracted the above list from Cal's very large Word document (105 kB).  These entries are the ones that seem to pertain to the BOM's ships & squadrons.  An exception is the last entry, in which many roundtable members will be interested--Captain Lanphier claimed to have shot down Yamamoto; a claim that didn't hold up under subsequent investigation.

    If anyone wants the entire document, I'll send it to you directly upon request.

 

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"Taps For Yorktown Vet Elton E. Brown"

 

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6 May 2005

From:  Paul Corio   paulcorio@alltel.net

 

    I am saddened to report the recent passing of Midway veteran Elton Brown, who served proudly as a Fireman 3rd Class aboard the Yorktown CV-5.  [Ed. note:  the USS Fulton muster shows him an EM3/c in "E" Division.]

    Elton led a remarkable life. After leaving home at age 15, he traveled across the country to work in shipyards in the northwest before following his brothers Morris and Robert into the Navy at age 16.  All three brothers served aboard the CV-5; Robert, a plank owner, left the crew just before Elton came on board.  

    During the Battle of the Coral Sea, Morris was in the compartment devastated by a bomb hit which killed 50 men.  Immediately after the strike, Elton rushed into the still burning compartment, where he vainly searched through the carnage of blast damage and torn bodies, looking for some sign of his brother.  He eventually would find Morris--in sick bay, burned beyond recognition, one of just five survivors of Repair Party 5. 

    To everyone's amazement, the badly injured Morris stayed aboard Yorktown when the ship steamed for Midway.  During the June 4 dive bomber attack on the CV-5, Elton was stationed on the port catwalk manning one of several machine guns, blazing away at the attacking Vals when a bomb tore into the deck just aft of the island.  The blast, which  killed 16 of 20 men on Gun Mount 4 and several more on Mount 3, sent flaming debris rocketing across the deck toward Elton's position. Feeling himself suddenly showered with warm liquid, Elton turned to see that the sailor beside him had been decapitated by flying debris; Elton was awash with his blood.  He continued firing at the enemy until he ran out of ammo.  Just after he rushed below for more rounds, brother Morris came on deck to check on him; he was mortified at the sight of the decapitated sailor, which he thought was his brother. 

    A relieved Morris found Elton just before it came time to abandon ship.  As they hit the water, Elton helped pull Morris (who was too hurt to swim) through the thick oily sludge to a raft packed with wounded; Morris hung on and watched as the exhausted  Elton swam off for a distant destroyer.  Hours later, aboard a submarine tender, Morris watched tensely as a destroyer came alongside carrying the last load of survivors.  He had only been watching the first few men come up over the side when the other destroyers had off loaded, knowing his brother would be one of the first in line.  On this final load, Elton was in fact the very first man to ascend the netting. 

    I had the great pleasure of meeting Elton at the CV-5 club reunion in Mobile in 2002 after I addressed the club concerning my efforts in writing the screenplay The Charge of the Devastators (since completed).  Of the many CV-5 vets who approached me wanting to be interviewed, Elton was the most enthusiastic and one of the most prolific contributors.  I greatly enjoyed the conversations we had long into the night at the Mobile and Charleston reunions, when he regaled me with memorable tales from that special time.  Elton possessed more knowledge about the CV-5 than anyone I knew, and he greatly enjoyed hearing me say that.  Like all CV-5 men, he was proud of his service and loved his ship. When we walked the deck of the Yorktown CV-10 together at the Charleston reunion last year, he gave me a detailed, running account of how much better made his ship was compared to the CV-10.  He was a great champion and promoter of my screenplay, frequently carrying a copy of it with him, often showing it to complete strangers.  He was grateful and proud that I had worked his story of heroism and brotherly love into the screenplay.  The upcoming CV-5 reunion in Cincinnati will have a large piece missing without the presence of Elton Brown, the last of the Yorktown's famous Brown brothers.

 

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................................................. NOW HEAR THIS! ..................................................

 

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NEWS & INFO IN THIS ISSUE

 

--Anniversary Observance Aboard USS Midway, San Diego

--Final Sortie for "Casey" Cason

--IJN Ship Disposition List

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ANNIVERSARY OBSERVANCE ABOARD USS MIDWAY, SAN DIEGO   (see issue 5-17)

 

    Here's more info on the 63rd anniversary observance aboard CV-41 at San Diego.  It will be on Friday, 3 June 6:00-9:00 PM.  The general public is invited.  Standard museum admission charges will apply.  Refreshments will be served.  Attendees are requested to dress appropriately for this important commemorative occasion.  Written invitations to BOM veterans in the area have not yet been received, but are expected soon.

 

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FINAL SORTIE FOR "CASEY" CASON

 

    Roy Gee reports the passing of CAPT Arthur C. Cason, Jr., USN-Ret, on 22 April.  Captain Cason was an SBD pilot with VB-8 at the BOM, and thus a squadron-mate for Roy and also Clay Fisher.  Additionally, he was best man at Roy and Jeanette Gee's wedding on 24 December 1942.

 

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IJN SHIP DISPOSITION LIST

 

    Here's a web site that seems to list the final disposition of every warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy.  I've linked this URL on our home page for future reference.  It makes for very interesting reading.

 

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USNatWar/USN-King-A.html

 

You can also find this list at the following URL, although it's a simple text document--the one above is the better of the two.

 

http://sunsite.tus.ac.jp/pub/academic/history/marshall/military/wwii/CNO.reports/app_a.txt

 

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    For a glossary of abbreviations, acronyms, and terms used in The Roundtable Forum, click the following URL or go to our home page and click "The Roundtable Glossary" link.

 

http://www.midway42.org/glossary.htm

 

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