• Security incident: ISF was recently accessed by intruders. Please change your password, and change it anywhere else you used it. Read more

Trump wants to reduce capability of newest aircraft carrier.

JayUtah said:
Maybe he wants all his officers to look like Charleton Heston, Henry Fonda, and Robert Mitchum. Ironically those guys would probably be better at fighting an actual war than Pete Hegseth.
Click to expand...
Fonda enlisted in 43 as a quartermaster and ended up a lieutenant in the Pacific theater, and earned the Bronze Star Medal.

Mitchum enlisted but was an industrial deferment as he worked in a Lockheed aircraft factory.
He was drafted at the start of 45 and trained as a medic.

Charlton Heston enlisted in 44 and served in the Air Force, he was aircrew radio operator and aerial gunner on B-25 bombers.
He reached the rank of Staff Sergeant and was discharged in 46.
 
Last edited:
Andy_Ross said:
Fonda enlisted in 43 as a quartermaster and ended up a lieutenant in the Pacific theater, and earned the Bronze Star Medal.

Mitchum enlisted but was an industrial deferment as he worked in a Lockheed aircraft factory.
He was drafted at the start of 45 and trained as a medic.

Charlton Heston enlisted in 44 and served in the Air Force, he was aircrew radio operator and aerial gunner on B-25 bombers.
He reached the rank of Staff Sergeant and was discharged in 46.
Click to expand...
Jimmy Stewart was a pilot in bombers, and eventually rose to be a general in airforce reserve. I do admire those actors who could have avoided service in WW2 but chose to join up. I always thought the contrast between Stewart a genuine war hero and Wayne who played war heroes but never served was interesting.
 
Planigale said:
Back to the wooden decks that made US carriers vulnerable to Kamikaze attacks, unlike RN carriers with steel decks.
Click to expand...
The decks had wood cladding but steel underneath, the thing about them was they weren't armoured. US doctrine favoured size of air group over armour. RN doctrine was for armoured decks even though it limited the size of the air group as their expected theatres of operations were the Mediterranean and North Sea where they were more likely to face land based bombing attacks whereas the US carriers were designed for operations in the Pacific well out of reach of heavy bombers.

Consequently at the start of the war Lexington had an air group of 75 while Ark Royal carried 50 aircraft.

When both types were designed Kamikaze attack wasn't even a consideration. Not even by Japan.
 
WW2 carriers had fore-and-aft decks that were inefficient at marshalling and launching and landing aircraft quickly and safely. Modern carriers have angled desks for this reason.
 
Planigale said:
Jimmy Stewart was a pilot in bombers, and eventually rose to be a general in airforce reserve. I do admire those actors who could have avoided service in WW2 but chose to join up. I always thought the contrast between Stewart a genuine war hero and Wayne who played war heroes but never served was interesting.
Click to expand...
Often overlooked is Clark Gable.

Gable was trained as an air gunner, he enlisted in 1942 and was given an assignment: to make a recruiting film in combat with the Eighth Air Force to recruit aerial gunners.
He was sent on a movie camera course and assigned to the 351st Bomb Group as head of a six-man motion picture unit
He flew as an observer-gunner in B-17 Flying Fortresses between April and October 1943, earning the Air Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Quite a lot of the archive combat film of B-17s was filmed by him and his team. He went back to the US to edit and produce his film 'Combat America' He wanted another combat mission but was put on the inactive list after badgering by MGM who didn't want to lose one of their top stars. He was discharged in 44 as a Major.

Here he is with Stewart

1786914650927.png

1786914712642.png

1786914613209.png
 
Last edited:
Norman Alexander said:
WW2 carriers had fore-and-aft decks that were inefficient at marshalling and launching and landing aircraft quickly and safely. Modern carriers have angled desks for this reason.
Click to expand...
Introduced by the Royal Navy after the war partially because of the increase in size, weight and landing speed of the jets coming in to service. HMS Triumph became the first aircraft carrier to trial the angled flight deck in 1952.
 
I mentioned Heston et al. not just because of their actual service records but because they played naval officers of various ranks in various movies. Henry Fonda played Chester Nimitz in Midway (1976) for example.
 
Andy_Ross said:
Introduced by the Royal Navy after the war partially because of the increase in size, weight and landing speed of the jets coming in to service.
Click to expand...
Well, there you go, it's not a wholesome American invention. Trump just wants to get rid of foreign inventions like angled decks, optical landing sights and... er... steam catapults...

Hang on, I need to rethink this...

Dave
 
Dave Rogers said:
Well, there you go, it's not a wholesome American invention. Trump just wants to get rid of foreign inventions like angled decks, optical landing sights and... er... steam catapults...

Hang on, I need to rethink this...

Dave
Click to expand...
Don't forget full length flight decks
 
The first successful landing on a ship was achieved in 1911, by civilian pilot Eugene Ely. He landed his Curtiss pusher biplane on a temporary wooden platform built over the stern of the armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania.
1786963106225.png

First landing on a moving ship was in 1917. Squadron Commander Edwin Dunning landed a Sopwith Pup biplane on HMS Furious, the first purpose built carrier.
1786963501716.png

First jet carrier landing was in 1945. Royal Navy test pilot Eric "Winkle" Brown landed a de Havilland Sea Vampire on HMS Ocean.
1786963145883.png
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

ISF - Join now!

Every member here is approved by hand. No bots, no spam, just people who care about evidence and honest debate.

Membership is free!

Create your free account

Back
Top Bottom