A Martin PBM-3D Mariner prepares to launch from a coastal Naval Air Station to patrol for German submarines, probably in late spring 1943. The landing gear had to be manually removed before takeoff and reinstalled before exiting the water. Mariners were one of the most effective of the Navy’s long-range flying boats.
Pictures from Walter Nödinger's estate (arrow point). In World War II he served as a sailor on the German submarine U-952, a Type VIIC U-boat whose career began with training at 5th U-boat Flotilla on 10 December 1942, followed by active service on 1 May 1943 as part of the 3rd Flotilla for the next seven months. On 1 February 1944 she transferred to serve with 29th Flotilla, based in La Spezia, for Mediterranean operations. In five patrols she sank two merchant ships, for a total of 13,374 gross register tons (GRT), plus one warship sunk and a further merchant ship damaged. U-952 was decommissioned on 12 July 1944 after being badly damaged on 5 July 1944 by US air raid. Her wreck was captured by French and broken up in 1946. The veteran crews met regularly for many years. Walter Nödinger passed away in May 2014.
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The carrier USS Franklin (CV-13) approaches Manhattan as it prepares to dock at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on April 28, 1945. The Franklin’s deck shows the melted and burned decking and aircraft parts resulting from a March 19, 1945, dive bomber attack while the carrier was involved in attacks on the Japanese home islands. Over 800 crewmembers lost their lives in the explosion and fires that resulted. When Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945, USS Franklin was still undergoing repairs. A few months later on Navy Day, 13 October 1945, she was opened up to the public and inspected by thousands of visitors. Her extensive repairs were finally completed on 15 June 1946, and two days later, she reported to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet for inactivation. On 17 February 1947, the carrier was placed out of commission at Bayonne, New Jersey.
US Navy Capt. David McCampbell wasn't just the top naval ace of World War II — he's considered the service's all-time leader in aerial combat. His spirit and leadership are what made his air group one of the war's most decorated, and they earned him the Medal of Honor.
McCampbell was born Jan. 16, 1910, in Bessemer, Alabama, to parents Andrew and Elizabeth McCampbell. When he was about 12, the family moved him and his older sister, Frances, to West Palm Beach, Florida.
As a teen, McCampbell moved north to attend the Staunton Military Academy in Virginia. His graduation in 1928 earned him an Army commission, according to the Army University Press. Instead, he chose to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he played football and was on the swim team. He also joined Navy ROTC, which led to his appointment to the Naval Academy. While in Annapolis, McCampbell became an accomplished swimmer and diver, competing in and winning various NCAA regional championships.
McCampbell graduated in June of 1933, but since Great Depression-related economic issues had affected the number of commissions that were available, he immediately went into the Naval Reserve. He returned to Alabama to work in construction and at an aircraft assembly plant for a year before finally receiving orders in June 1934 to report for active duty.
The young ensign's first duty station was aboard the USS Portland. By May 1937, he'd worked his way up in the ranks and began flight school in Pensacola, Florida, earning his wings in April 1938. His first few years as an aviator were spent serving on the USS Ranger and the USS Wasp.
World War II began while McCampbell was on the Wasp. The aircraft carrier spent the first half of 1942 in the European theater before being transferred to the Pacific. On Sept. 15, 1942, the ship was sunk during the Guadalcanal campaign. McCampbell, surviving its demise, was promoted to lieutenant commander and brought back to the U.S.
By late 1943, McCampbell was in command of a fighter squadron attached to the USS Essex. He was promoted to commander in January 1944 and put in charge of the ship's Air Group 15 — one of the war's most decorated air groups. It was in this position that McCampbell became one of World War II's great aces.
McCampbell took out his first Japanese aircraft on June 11, 1944. About a week later, during the First Battle of the Philippine Sea, he led several F6F Hellcat fighter aircraft against 80 Japanese carrier-based planes that were headed toward the U.S. fleet. McCampbell personally destroyed seven of those hostile aircraft — five bombers and two fighters — which helped his outnumbered men virtually annihilate the enemy. According to the Encyclopedia of Alabama, McCampbell's team accounted for about 68 of the 600 Japanese downed aircraft.
On Oct. 24, 1944, during the infamous Battle of Leyte Gulf, McCampbell and a fellow pilot, Ensign Roy Rushing, took on 60 hostile Japanese aircraft that were approaching U.S. ships. Despite the overwhelming airpower against them, McCampbell shot down nine Japanese aircraft, setting a U.S. single mission aerial combat record. Rushing took out another six enemy warplanes. Their successes completely threw off the Japanese air group; the remaining aircraft abandoned their mission before any of them reached the U.S. fleet.
In a 1987 U.S. Naval Institute interview, McCampbell explained how he nearly didn't make it back to his ship after that engagement.
"When I got over the ship, I found they had a flight deck full of planes, and I knew that to launch all those planes would take a good 20 minutes, and I didn't have that much gas left," he said.
When the ship did make room for him to land, he said, "I ran out of gas on the deck. They had to push me out of the landing gear area. I found out from the mechanic that re-ammunitioned the guns that I had exactly six rounds left in the starboard outboard gun, and they were all jammed."
"But it worked out all right," he added nonchalantly.
McCampbell returned to the U.S. in December 1944. By then, he had become the Navy's all-time leading ace and top F6F Hellcat ace, having downed 34 Japanese aircraft during his months of aerial combat. His impressive tally made him the third-highest American scoring ace of World War II, behind only Army Maj. Richard Bong and Army Maj. Thomas B. McGuire, neither of whom survived the war.
For his bravery in the skies, McCampbell received the Medal of Honor on Jan. 10, 1945, from President Franklin D. Roosevelt during a ceremony at the White House.
After the war, McCampbell served in various positions, including as a senior naval aviation advisor to the Argentine Navy. After becoming a captain in July 1952, he also notably served as the captain of the aircraft carrier USS Bonhomme Richard and as a member of the Joint Staff in Washington, D.C. In the latter position, McCampbell helped draw up contingency invasion plans during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, according to a 1996 Palm Beach Post article.
McCampbell was married a few times and had three children, Frances, David and John. He finally retired from the Navy in 1964 after 31 years of service.
According to the Palm Beach Post, McCampbell "dabbled in real estate in the Bahamas" before setting back down near West Palm Beach, where he lived for the rest of his life.
McCampbell died on June 30, 1996, at a veteran's home he'd been living at for about a year. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
A U.S. PT boat crew runs through an air defense drill. During World War II, PT boats engaged enemy warships, transports, tankers, barges, and sampans. Some were converted into gunboats, which could be effective against enemy small craft, especially armored barges used by the Japanese for inter-island transport. Several saw service with the Philippine Navy, where they were named "Q-boats". Nicknamed "the mosquito fleet" and "devil boats" by the Japanese, the PT boat squadrons were hailed for their daring and earned a durable place in the public imagination that remains strong into the 21st century. Their role was replaced in the U.S. Navy by fast attack craft.
A Dornier Do 24N of the German Luftwaffe at Romania in 1941. The Dornier Do 24 is a 1930s German three-engine flugboot (flying boat) designed by the Dornier Flugzeugwerke for maritime patrol and search and rescue. A total of 279 were built among several factories from 1937 to 1945. The picture was taken by Kriegsberichter Horst Grund.
Generalmajor Julius Ringel visits the Küstenwachen (coast guards) in Crete. Austrian-born Ringel commanded the 5. Gebirgs-Division in Greece and Crete. On 22 May 1941 he was given control of all German forces on Crete and told to secure the island. While he achieved this objective, Ringel’s decision to push his troops eastwards towards Retimo allowed the bulk of British Creforce to escape south to Sfakia for evacuation. For his leadership during the battle he was awarded the prestigious Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes in June 1941.Source :
https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/photo/general-julius-ringel
Source :
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=272816367649866&set=gm.1685740691611347
https://normandyallies.org/d-day-allied-divisions/u-s-4th-infantry-division/
https://www.usmilitariacollection.com/boutique/bouee-de-sauvetage-m-1926-3-pressions-1942-neuve-de-stock/
Some nice air to air views of a No. 5 Squadron Sunderland NZ4113 'M' in flight over the Waitemata Harbour and the Auckland harbour bridge in 1944.
No. 5 Squadron RNZAF is a squadron of the Royal New Zealand Air Force formed during November 1941 in Fiji. It remains on active duty and logged 2,300 hours flight time in 2007.
Initially, the squadron was equipped with Vickers Vincents. From the outbreak of hostilities with Japan, the squadron operated the Short Singapore Mk.IIIs (transferred in October 1941 from No. 205 Squadron RAF) mainly on maritime patrol and anti-submarine duties, rescuing more than fifty survivors of ditched aircraft and successfully attacking a Japanese submarine in the process with the elderly Singapores. These types were superseded by Consolidated PBY Catalinas, which aided the air-sea rescue capability. The squadron moved from Fiji in late 1944 to operate between Espiritu Santo and the Admiralty Islands. During this time the later conqueror of Mount Everest, Edmund Hillary, served with the squadron. In November 1944, the squadron moved to Luganville Seaplane Base on Espiritu Santo to carry out anti-submarine patrols and escort duty. In August 1945, the squadron was withdrawn to Fiji.
Source :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1675710325947717/?__cft__[0]=AZV6AaZA39GQ6sgMEarWLAWJyAEAXlLunSv1LPgYwPT7wJlD1HX72gjhxaYaAHdKusJJ-oQQaOP_3i0NaLdWlD6HP0I54NAaKO-JhTuc2zU3OlfRYkk5Pm48GLpGVgl1XFHYbktB2zVXtKqv0a9dhm29Y8tCgIBLqMKxXGdESjfMhgeWu0TJQncjLUWHbiR3qt4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
Captain Veikko Härmälä of the 2nd Flight of the 6th Naval Aviation Squadron of the Finnish Air Force in the cockpit of a captured Soviet-made SB-2M-103 reconnaissance bomber in flight over the Gulf of Finland, June 1944. Photographer: Niilo Helander.
Source :
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237076659811098/permalink/1657759404409476/?__cft__[0]=AZW-WKN084Jvvwzs7qGLPAjaESj1H93QqhVQBwkTwdUB_y7JjOQfwQwGudkaO_QVotMkBvAlELxtcv0Ropqbu-qERMg8Wzuf6ZJjcUJSg4DXg5ej0huDhelD_79E2Dh78o0iWU9fGgqgQe24RwsZ20S81cNwEEaL6Ow0_uLeAfvmJ0CiRJEKerfu6a8Ksr1N0IU&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
http://sa-kuva.fi/neo?tem=webneofin
LVT-1 Alligators maneuver off the western coast of Florida in the autumn of 1941. Designed by Donald Roebling, the Alligator revolutionized amphibious warfare and was the first true amphibian vehicle. The LVT-1 was the first in an evolutionary line of amtracs and is the forerunner of the AAV-7 tractor still used by Marines.
Autumn 1941, near Dunedin, Florida. Marines of the Amphibian Tractor Detachment practice water movement in a brand-new LVT-1 amphibian tractor. The detachment was formed in May 1941 near the Food Machinery Corporation plant in Dunedin, on Florida's western coast. The new tractors were delivered from the factory straight to the detachment. Such was the need that many of the initial batch of tractors were clad only in the red anti-rust coating. The Amphibian Tractor Detachment was assigned to the 1st Marine Division in December 1941, becoming the nucleus for Co A, 1st Amphibian Tractor Battalion.Source :
https://www.facebook.com/Fixbayonets1985/photos/a.114279460312369/232247321848915
Source :
"North Cape 1943: The Sinking of the Scharnhorst" by Angus Konstam
M.S. Hansestadt Danzig in service for Seedienst Ostpreußen. This color slide has unfortunately been heavily infected with mold, still showing nice color of this beautiful ship. Cloud-looking darker spots on the sky is the degradation of color. So the sky was actually very clean with little cloud. Also, the ship is entirely in white, cream-looking places are degraded colors.
M.S. Hansestadt Danzig built in the Oderwerke Stettin. Maximum speed 15 knots, 2431 GRT after conversion capacity: 1158-2061 passengers (depending on route) plus motor vehicles and bicycles.
Launched on 17 March 1926, the ship was operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd for the Seedienst Ostpreußen from 14 July 1926 to August 1939 as a passenger and car ferry, then used as a minesweeper for the navy with a crew of 83. It was sunk on 9 July 1941 near Öland, Sweden (by running into a Swedish-German mine barrier. The German captain as well as the OKM disregarded the Swedish warnings).
Source :
Akira Takiguchi photo collection
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10222657066008798&set=gm.1632475266937890
https://sites.google.com/site/seedienstostpreussen/die-schiffe?fbclid=IwAR0LqWjg2tUZhkV10e9NGPTAcyYskHzlw7vhg4_gD9aqPL_2XiT5d_QUtc8
