The Roundtable
Forum
Official
Newsletter of the Battle of Midway
Roundtable
15 July 2011
Issue
Number: 2011-17
Our 14th Year
~
AROUND THE TABLE ~
MEMBERS’
TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE:
1. The BOM in The War by Geoffrey West and Ken Burns
2. Aviation Art in “Featured Link”
3. Power Point Files on a Mac
4. VMSB-241 Pilot Photo
5. Stanhope Ring on Hornet (CV-12) Web Site
<> <> <>
<> <>
1. THE BOM IN THE WAR BY GEOFFREY WEST
AND KEN BURNS ( see issue #16 )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 July 2011
From: CAPT John W. Hancock, USN-Ret
Georgia
BOM vet, Seaman 2/c,
2nd Div., USS Yorktown (CV-5)
I enjoyed General Anderson’s
letter to the Roundtable. Earl Anderson
is a Marine’s Marine and a true gentleman in every sense of the word. It was my pleasure to stand watches with him
when he was on CV-5 and later to fly on patrol near him as we pushed the war
toward the rising sun. He is very
humble when he talks about himself, but very complementary of others. He has a law practice in Washington and is
highly respected by fellow bar members as well as anyone he comes in contact
with. After Yorktown was sunk,
he went on to fight as a mud Marine in the Solomons before going to flight
school. He was Assistant Commandant of
the Marine Corps before retirement.
I rise to complement his
statement concerning the AAF’s claim that it got a bomb hit on the Jap carriers
at Midway. That never happened.
When we survivors returned to Pearl, the soldiers at Hickam Field were
taunting us with shouts of “where was the Navy?” The Honolulu papers were claiming a victory by our Army
pilots. It’s tough enough to hit a
moving target at sea with dive bombers and torpedo planes. A horizontal bomber? Next to impossible. I just wanted to set the record straight
before the rest of us sail off into the mist.
As a matter of information,
there were 625 attendees at the Battle of Midway memorial in St. Augustine this
past June 4th, while the veterans of Midway were so sadly few.
Thank you for the great job you
are doing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<> <> <>
<> <>
2. AVIATION ART IN “FEATURED LINK” ( see issue #16 )
Ed.
note: in the last issue, I invited everyone to take
a look at image number 5 in the Featured Link, which purported to show two SBDs
from the Yorktown during the BOM.
My question was, “what’s wrong with this picture?” Here are your replies. The responses from Robert Armstrong and
Johan Lupander identify the one problem that jumped out at me: the squadron
numerals on the side of each plane’s fuselage.
Other members spotted some additional curiosities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 July 2011
From: Allan W. Cortese
Massachusetts
I see no markings on the tails providing identification.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 July 2011
From: Willie L. Lumpkin, Jr.
North Carolina
What’s
wrong? They’re flying on a
south-southeast heading.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 July 2011
From: Tom Hickox
Louisiana
With the sun to port at dawn, they are headed due
south, perhaps even a little east of south.
That isn't the direction they went.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 July 2011
From: Johan Lupander
Sweden
Regarding the painting, I notice that:
·
Both planes have
an "S" designation, which may intend to show them as
belonging to a VS-squadron. However, Yorktown
had no such squadron (only two VBs).
·
Both
planes are equipped with the "tube type" bomb/gunsight. I've reviewed SBD photos in "A
Glorious Page..." and find photos of SBDs there both with and without
the "tube" (such as on p.105).
·
If the painting
intends to depict the actual flight to Kido Butai, the sun is too low
considering the hour.
·
Ditto - if the
planes are on their cruising altitude (they do not seem to be
climbing) the cloud cover should be much lower.
·
Ditto - the
clouds were not that dramatic.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 July 2011
From: Bill Aicklen
Georgia
The SBD picture on page 5 shows them flying
at sundown. The attack on the Jap
carriers took place at 10:25 in the morning.
Enterprise SBDs had the diagonal stripe on the vertical surface
but I don’t believe the Yorktown’s did.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 July 2011
From: Capt. Robert B. Armstrong, USAR-Ret
Texas
My guess for the discrepancy in "Dauntless
Against A Rising Sun" is that the aircraft identifications look like the
type employed for VS-8 based on Hornet, not VS-5 on Yorktown.
The latter's planes omitted the letter designation in front of the
number, which was usually painted in black. Come to think of it, I
don't recall seeing LSO stripes on the tails of Yorktown's SBDs either.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<> <> <>
<> <>
3. POWER POINT FILES ON A MAC ( see issue #16, “Featured
Link” )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 July 2011
From: James H. Nicholson
South Carolina
Though I am not personally a Mac enthusiast, I would like to correct
the impression that there is any issue with PowerPoint and Apple’s pride and
joy [the Macintosh computer, or “Mac”].
PowerPoint is, and as far as I know, always has been a part of the Macintosh version of Microsoft
Office.
Likewise a free PowerPoint
viewer is also available for the Mac.
So none of our members will have to miss out on the wonderful aviation
art.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed.
note: thanks to James and also to Bill Shields and Rich Slonim
for pointing out that Power Point can be viewed on a Mac as explained
above. The one Mac I tried it on had
neither MS Office nor PowerPoint Viewer for the Mac, and I took the owner’s
word that it couldn’t be done. Lesson
learned.
<> <> <>
<> <>
4. VMSB-241 PILOT PHOTO ( see issue #16 )
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9 July 2011
From: M. E. “Mac” McCaffrey
Florida
We just visited the Marine
Museum at Quantico. Not to be
missed—extremely well done and thorough. In the segment dedicated to WW2
there is a short film of a returning Marine aviator who fought at
Midway. He returns to his wife and
infant son early in the war—he was Lt. Tom Moore.
I have a book, The Sky Is My
Witness, written by a Tom Moore who flew with Henderson's squadron from
Midway on 4 June 1942. He describes his homecoming to New York and his
infant son. If it's not the same Tom Moore, the coincidence is
remarkable.
The one problem is in the photo in the Roundtable
Forum of 4 July: Tom Moore appears to have a mustache while he does not in
the film clip in the museum. Yet. I think it's the same individual.
The book is an interesting look
into the life of the times in early WW2 in naval aviation and the Midway
action. It is hard to not recognize how
unprepared we were and how much the participants—the true heroes—were tasked to
do.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<> <> <>
<> <>
5 . STANHOPE RING ON HORNET (CV-12) WEB
SITE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 May 2011
From: Bob Fish
California
Trustee, USS Hornet (CV-12)
Museum, Alameda
In support of our mission to
educate the public about the history of naval aviation (especially this Centennial
of Naval Aviation year), the USS Hornet Museum decided to
expand the general public knowledge and awareness of a "mystery man"
from the Battle of Midway. In this case, the Hornet CV-8 air
group commander, Stanhope
C. Ring.
The initial biographical sketch
and photos can be found at
this URL.
One of the photos is quite
recognizable, the original of which (I'm told) is at NMNA. That is the Curtiss
F6C Hawk in flight, which has been on the web in several places (e.g.,
Bluejacket.com) for years without anyone identifying the pilot.
We will be adding to this bio
over time, with many more photos and personal information about VADM Ring.
The goal of this bio sketch is
not to delve into the "flight to nowhere" mystery at Midway, but
rather to view Ring’s career in a broader context, to shed more light on his
personality style and professional traits. He was born into a Navy family, went to the USNA, helped develop
dive bombing techniques for biplanes, was awarded many decorations,
etc. So it’s clear he was a pretty
smart fellow, not the type to engage in a flight of fancy in his very first
battle. He also had bailed out of a
burning aircraft in 1932 and was seriously hurt. In a later accident, his plane crashed into the sea while
attempting a landing at North Island.
Those who question his courage might ponder the fact he got right
back into the cockpit and flew for many more years.
Feel free to pass this URL on
to anyone who has an interest in naval aviation history or the Battle of
Midway. Let's keep the discussion
alive!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ed. note: I called Bob’s attention to one photo
caption error in his link, the reference to Ring as the commander of “Air Group
8.” For those who might not be aware,
the Navy did not have numeric air groups that early in the war. Ring commanded the “Hornet Air Group”
(HAG) at that time, which got him his familiar title as “CHAG.”
Also, I haven’t seen
anyone question Ring’s professionalism or courage during the BOM era. Rather, his subordinate pilots have offered
compelling testimony that his shortcomings were as an aerial navigator and SBD pilot
(some egregious examples are cited in No Right to Win). That’s a separate issue from his general
qualities as a naval officer, which have never been contested on the
Roundtable.
As for the “Flight to
Nowhere”....I hesitate to bring that subject up again, but it must be said that
Ring wasn’t exactly the decision-maker on the Hornet that day.
~ NOW
HEAR THIS! ~
NEWS
& INFO IN THIS ISSUE:
- 69th BOM Anniversary in Washington, DC
- Featured Link
- Editor’s Notes
<> <> <> <> <>
69th BOM ANNIVERSARY IN
WASHINGTON, DC
The last issue included a link to the BOM anniversary
speech by CNO Admiral Roughead at the Naval Memorial in Washington. Here’s a
good photo of the six BOM “vets” who were honored guests at the
proceedings. The word “vets” there is
qualified a little, since one of the gentlemen was the subject of some probing
discussion in issues # 11
and 12.
For a list of the veterans names, click
here.
<> <> <> <> <>
FEATURED LINK
Yorktown vet Bill Roy sent in a link for another very good YouTube
video, this one from the “Color of War” television series. It shows several scenes from WW2 carrier
operations, some familiar and some less so, and all in color. Included are interesting views of personnel
aboard the carriers during routine day-to-day activities as well as combat.
Click
here for the featured link.
<> <> <> <> <>
EDITOR’S NOTES
~ Speaking of the Hornet (CV-12)
museum, do take a look at this terrific collection of scale model BOM aircraft
now on display aboard the ship. Note
that the models aren’t just generic F4Fs and the like, but each is crafted as
an exact replica of specific BOM planes, like those belonging to Thach,
Leonard, Tomonaga, etc. Click
here for a fine photo set and detailed explanatory text, with sincere
thanks to long-time Roundtable member and ace modeler Chris Bucholz. Chris says the display can be seen aboard Hornet
through August. If you can make it
to Alameda, California any time between now and then (or any time), a tour of
CV-12 is a must.
~ Here’s another contribution from Chris, a blog
post in tribute to Frank “DeLo” DeLorenzo.
It’s the text of a lengthy interview that Chris had with DeLo in
2009. Very interesting.
~ If anyone hasn’t yet downloaded the aviation
art PowerPoint file mentioned above and in the last issue, I suggest you do so
soon. Due to its very large size, I
don’t intend to leave it on the web site after the end of this month. It will still be available as an e-mail
attachment by request.
~ Tora Tora Tora has
been re-released in Japan on Blu-ray DVD (very high definition). Australian historian and Roundtable member
James Bowen has an in-depth critical review of the classic Pearl Harbor movie on
his web site, which you can read here. Short version: the film’s Japanese
co-producers were a little loose with the facts in a few spots.
