Category Archives: world war two in the pacific

A Weekend of Old Navy Movies: Mister Roberts, The Caine Mutiny and In Harm’s Way

Well I have the duty pager for the hospital this weekend so I have been hanging out at the Island Hermitage with my dog Molly watching classic Navy movies. Friday night I watched the classic film Mister Roberts. Yesterday I … Continue reading

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The First Shot: USS Ward at Pearl Harbor

LT William Outerbridge was new to command. The Lieutenant and veteran of 14 years of service had taken command of the elderly destroyer USS Ward (DD 139) less than 24 hours before she began her weekend Anti-Submarine patrol of the … Continue reading

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Marking the Illusion of Peace: December 6th 1941

A great war was already going on in Europe, Asia and the Middle East but most Americans lived as if war would never happen.  It didn’t seem to matter that that Nazi Germany had conquered all of Western Europe and … Continue reading

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The Battle of Leyte Gulf: Sinking the Musashi

IJNS Musashi This is the second in a series of articles about the Battle of Leyte Gulf.  The first article in the series is liked here and is entitled The Battle of Leyte Gulf: Introduction and the Battle of Palawan Passage … Continue reading

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The Battle of Leyte Gulf: Introduction and the Battle of Palawan Passage

This is the first of a four article series on the Battle of Letye Gulf. The battle was the largest in history both in terms of the number of ships involved and the amount of area covered. The action was … Continue reading

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Wings of Gold: U.S. Navy Carrier Fighter Aircraft 1941-1945

F4F-4 Wildcat of VF-41 in 1942 In 1941 with war raging inEuropeand the Japanese continuing their war in China  and occupied French Indo-China theUnited States rushed to build up its Naval Air Arm and the Arm Air Corps.  New models … Continue reading

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Bloody Savo: Disaster at Guadalcanal

USS Quincy under attack off Savo Island On August 8th 1942 the U.S. Task Force supporting the invasion of Guadalcanal was tired. The crews of the ships had been in continuous combat operations conducting naval gunfire support missions, fending off … Continue reading

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The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot

U.S. Navy personnel observe the Air Battle from a Carrier The Battle of the Philippine Sea of 19-20 June 1944 was the largest carrier battle in history.  Twenty four aircraft carriers, 15 American and 9 Japanese embarking over 1400 aircraft … Continue reading

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Hawks at Angels 12: The Sacrifice of VMF 221 and VSMB 241 at Midway

One of the more overlooked aspects of the Battle of Midway is the sacrifice of Marine Fighter Squadron 221 on the morning of June 4th 1942.   The Marine aviators flying a mix of 21 obsolescent Brewster F2A-3 Buffalos and 7 … Continue reading

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Into the Valley of the Shadow of Death: The Death of the Torpedo Bombers at Midway

Half a league half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred: ‘Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns’ he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Alfred, … Continue reading

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