1050L 24 Oct 1944. USS St. Lo (CVE-63) is under heavy air attack. After successfully fending off the superior surface force of VADM Takeo Kurita’s Center Force, “Taffy 3†is now defending against a surprise air attack that has lasted some 40 minutes already. One of the features of this attack is the use of…
Project CADILLAC (Part II)     Project Cadillac was more than just a program to develop radar – it would develop an entire AEW system — Radar, IFF, relay equipment, shipboard receivers, and airborne platform. Such an undertaking would be ambitious enough in peacetime, at the height of a critical stage in the…
Project CADILLAC (Part I) Ed note: Everything has a beginning and that beginning is usually quite humble compared to present conditions. Consider, a small spring at the headwaters of the Madison River in Montana is the source of the mighty Missouri River which itself empties into ol’ man river — the Mississippi, all of which…
Prelude 21 February 1945. Bismarck Sea (CVE 95) is sunk by kamikaze attack off Iwo Jima. In the same action, USS Saratoga (CV-3) was removed from action for what would be the remainder of the war and USS Enterprise suffered significant damage. April-May 1945. Kamikazes are extracting a heavy price during the invasion of Okinawa….
Project Cadillac (Part III) 1050L 24 Oct 1944. USS St. Lo (CVE-63) is under heavy air attack. After successfully fending off the superior surface force of VADM Takeo Kurita’s Center Force, “Taffy 3†is now defending against a surprise air attack that has lasted some 40 minutes already. One of the features of this attack…
Project Cadillac (Part II) Project Cadillac was more than just a program to develop radar – it would develop an entire AEW system. Radar, IFF, relay equipment, shipboard receivers, and airborne platform. Such an undertaking would be ambitious enough in peacetime, at the height of a critical stage in the war it bordered on a…
Project Cadillac (Part I) Ed note: In 1981 a smart-a$$ LTJG wrote a note to the editor of The Hook bemoaning the lack of VAW articles. Sensing an opportunity, the then editor, Bob Lawson, wrote back challenging the young jg to pick up quill and scroll and “write something!†The gauntlet was accepted and the…
