12 Jun 1944: In the first deployment of a guided missile unit into a combat theater, elements of Special Task Air Group 1 arrived in the Russell Islands in the South Pacific. (ed: and in case you’re wondering – yes, there was a Flightdeck Friday on the subject. – SJS)
You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we…
23 July 1947: VF-17A becomes the Navy’s first all-jet squadron with the initial delivery of 2 x FD-1 Phantoms at NAS Quonset Point, RI and the era of props on carriers begins to close. This followed by a year, the first carrier ops of a jet with a FD-1 onboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt. Taking subsequent…
Intrepid (ɪnˈtrÉ›pɪd) —adj: fearless; daring; bold Most folks today, when asked about the USS Intrepid, will point to the Essex-class carrier (CVS-11) bearing the name and serving as a museum ship in New York City. While having a long and distinguished career (known as the “Fighting I” to those who sailed in her), that Intrepid…
So – just as I was making a serious dent in the pile of shame, in the mail today comes an advance copy of “The Admirals” courtesy the publisher, Little Brown, scheduled for release next month. The noted author Walter R. Borneman (Polk, 1812, and The French and Indian War among several) takes on the…
By any measure, fifty years is remarkable. Birthdays, reunions, wedding anniversaries – in all of these the marker set at fifty years is justifiably prominent and noteworthy. For aircraft — especially those in carrier aviation, it is signatory. This month the E-2 Hawkeye will celebrate 50 years, starting with the first flight of the prototype,…
