(NAVSTA Rota) 30 April 2009 – an EA-3B Skywarrior is loaded aboard USS Wasp (LHD 1) for transport back to the U.S. This marks the first time in over twenty-years a Whale is chocked and chained to the flightdeck of a USN warship. How it got to that point is an extraordinary story of one…
Every so often, we as seagoers are reminded that the mundane may rapidly transform into the perilous, even without a human enemy. Such moments can bring out the best and worst in our nature. Twenty-one years ago today routine operations onboard the USS Bonefish (SS-582) and USS Carr (FFG 52) uderwent such a change. A…
Looking for anyone who was part of VMF-215 from 1943-45, aviator, ground-pounder or those who may have flown with VMF-215 in combined or associated operations during that period. Bryan Bender, a reporter with the Boston Globe, is looking for any of the above to flesh out a story he is working on stemming from earlier…
Lots going on right now – between events in North Asia, a one family attempt to stimulate the local construction economy and completing the first round of writing/editing for the BMD chapter for the book project there hasn’t been a lot of time to post. Still, there are a couple of irons in the fire,…
We noted last year that the Kitty Hawk would not be with us much longer…Today, forty-eight years after being commissioned, the mighty Battle Kat was finally silenced: Kitty Hawk’s Final Chapter “It ties a loop around almost half a century,” Capt. Todd Zecchin, the ship’s 34th and final commanding officer, said of the event. Martinelli, 68,…
*But were afraid to ask Available now via the Newport Papers online – print version still TBD. Be forewarned, this is a huge document (34M worth) and will take a while to download. This is an outstanding work by Dr. Hattendorf and Peter Swartz and has been long in the birthing process. It is the…
The Official press release: Marine Pilot Missing In Action From WWII Is Identified The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors He is…
17 December 1956. The icy fog of the mid-December morning had long dissipated when an odd appearing aircraft took the active duty runway. Twin-engines and a shoulder mounted wing marked its lineage to with that of the S-2 family, but a set of twn tails and more importantly, a huge, airfoil-shaped radome that stretched back…
14 Dec –Installation of the Pilot Landing Aid Television system (PLAT) was completed on Coral Sea, the first carrier to have the system installed for operational use. Designed to provide a video tape of every landing, the system was useful for instructional purposes and in the analysis of landing accidents making it a valuable tool…
As veterans of this epic action ever more rapidly dwindle and recede into history’s mists, we ask a question – does this date become a mere cipher on the calendar? We pose this question in part as we see September 11th being reduced to an optional head nod and thence continue business as necessary. The…
