Part of the problem that the US Navy ran into when it went to war was that – like many military forces before or since – it had to learn some things for itself before it believed them. The British had over two years of experience fighting the Battle of the Atlantic at that point, but the Americans didn’t feel that they needed any advice from them on the matter. It didn’t help that Admiral Ernest J. King was an Anglophobe, in addition to having a generally abrasive personality. (His wife reputedly once said: “Ernie is the most even-tempered man I’ve ever met. He’s always in a foul mood.”) As a result, the Americans made mistakes in their early ASW methods of operations which could have been avoided. In fairness, the US Army had similar learning-curve problems in North Africa, notably at Kasserine Pass if I remember correctly.
You May Be A WWII Junkie
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Wasn’t sure where to throw these, but I found them today on some other forum and thought they were awesome.
Granted this is pre-war, but the re-colorization is amazing. Feels like you are there. This is either Yorktown or Enterprise; likely Enterprise judging by the air group markings. Man were those planes gaudy.
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Great pictures – thanks for posting them. I wonder if the paint jobs on the planes were intended to make them look nice and flashy for peacetime public relations purposes? In wartime those paint jobs would scream “I’m over here!” to potential enemies, so more sober, neutral, countershaded colours would definitely be preferable. :-)
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Yorktown sank at Midway
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Very nice Hoffman. Thanks.
Marc: what’s wrong with drawing attention to yourself, if you are the best? By 1944, the American planes were rarely shot down. Obviously, I can’t tell if these ones are meant to be early or late versions of Carrier Aircraft.
In WW1 Jasta 1 was intentionally bright and colourful, as if to say: come and get us, if you dare!Maybe I would have had a shorter life expectancy than you….
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I love those old paint schemes. Nice pics!
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@wittmann:
In WW1 Jasta 1 was intentionally bright and colourful, as if to say: come and get us, if you dare!
This has echoes of the line in the USAF Song which says “We live for fame or we go down in flame”. :-)
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@Imperious:
Yorktown sank at Midway
Yes…
… this is very pre-Midway. :roll:
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@CWO:
@wittmann:
In WW1 Jasta 1 was intentionally bright and colourful, as if to say: come and get us, if you dare!
This has echoes of the line in the USAF Song which says “We live for fame or we go down in flame”.  :-)
Love that saying
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awesome shots…looks like they were just taken yesterday with a smartphone camera
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awesome shots…looks like they were just taken yesterday with a smartphone camera
I know! I thought they were amazing.
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Uhmm… guy at bottom right?
TIME TRAVELLER? lol wicked costume, and definitely - a “WWII Junkie If” contestant of the century!
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Uhmm… guy at bottom right?
TIME TRAVELLER? lol wicked costume, and definitely - a “WWII Junkie If” contestant of the century!
As in?:

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Uhmm… guy at bottom right?
TIME TRAVELLER? lol wicked costume, and definitely - a “WWII Junkie If” contestant of the century!I don’t know the exact title these guys had, but he’s one of the carrier crewmen whose job is to give hand signals to pilots as they taxi across the flight deck to help them get into position for takeoff or park after landing. You can see them in action in the classic color WWII docu-drama The Fighting Lady. If you think their uniforms look dorky, their hand and arm signals look even more silly. Those signals, however, were standardized and weren’t viewed as a laughing matter by anyone on the dangerous environment of a flight deck where one mistake can result in someone being cut in half by a propeller.
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Aircraft Directors. On the Flight Deck aka Bears.
The one at the very bottom right could be a number of things though. It is hard to tell his jersey color.
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Aircraft Directors. On the Flight Deck aka Bears.
The one at the very bottom right could be a number of things though. It is hard to tell his jersey color.Thanks for supplying the position name. On my screen the guy’s outfit looks kind of yellow in colour, which matches what can be seen at 21:00 here:
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Oh for sure it’s a high-visibility Aircraft Director. It just looks funny! :P
Those signals, however, were standardized and weren’t viewed as a laughing matter by anyone on the dangerous environment of a flight deck where one mistake can result in someone being cut in half by a propeller
LOL - Absolutely agree.










