Non-US carrier aircraft on US carriers

Admiral Beez · May 13, 2021

pararaftanr2 said:
During Operation Dragoon, the invasion of Southern France, a RN Swordfish made an emergency landing on the USN CVE-72, USS Tulagi, but ended up in the barrier, so didn't stay aboard for long.

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Ouch. Did any WW2-era, British-designed and piloted aircraft ever land well onto a USN carrier? Seafires pranged, and now Swordfish?

pararaftanr2 · May 13, 2021

Admiral Beez said:
Ouch. Did any WW2-era, British-designed and piloted aircraft ever land well onto a USN carrier? Seafires pranged, and now Swordfish?

Actually yes. On 9 May 1942, 64 Spitfires were flown off USS Wasp and HMS Eagle headed to Malta. Canadian P/O Jerrold Alpine Smith, flying a Spitfire VC (with no tail hook), found after take-off that his long range fuel tank was unserviceable. Incapable of reaching Malta, he dropped it and returned to Wasp, circling until the deck was clear. At the time, future US Navy top ace David McCampbell was Wasp's LSO and he successfully guided Smith to a safe landing, the first ever for a Spitfire. P/O Smith was unofficially awarded US Naval Aviator's Wings aboard the Wasp for his outstanding feat.

Below is Smith after his landing, followed by McCampbell gifting Smith with his overseas cap and finally, Smith making his second takeoff from Wasp.

buffnut453 · May 13, 2021

This may not count since it was an American-made aircraft...but it's a foreign air force. A SVNAF Bird Dog landing on the USS Midway in one of the great escape stories associated with the Vietnam War.

nuuumannn · May 13, 2021

pararaftanr2 said:
but ended up in the barrier, so didn't stay aboard for long.

That to me looks as if it spent more time on the carrier than orignally intended!

Admiral Beez · May 13, 2021

pararaftanr2 said:
Actually yes. On 9 May 1942, 64 Spitfires were flown off USS Wasp and HMS Eagle headed to Malta. Canadian P/O Jerrold Alpine Smith, flying a Spitfire VC (with no tail hook), found after take-off that his long range fuel tank was unserviceable. Incapable of reaching Malta, he dropped it and returned to Wasp, circling until the deck was clear. At the time, future US Navy top ace David McCampbell was Wasp's LSO and he successfully guided Smith to a safe landing, the first ever for a Spitfire. P/O Smith was unofficially awarded US Naval Aviator's Wings aboard the Wasp for his outstanding feat

Had Smith pranged his Spitfire he might have lived past his death in August '42. Some good info from Veterans Affairs Canada. Jerrold Alpine Smith - The Canadian Virtual War Memorial - Veterans Affairs Canada

pararaftanr2 · May 13, 2021

nuuumannn said:
That to me looks as if it spent more time on the carrier than orignally intended!

And left a mess behind to clean up as well. Fortunately, the crew was safe though, and undoubtedly got to sample the flight surgeon's post-mission stock of medicinal brandy.

Thumpalumpacus · May 14, 2021

Here's an Albacore coming in on final aboard the USS Robin :

SaparotRob · May 14, 2021

Thumpalumpacus said:
Here's an Albacore coming in on final aboard the USS Robin :

View attachment 623174

That counts!

Admiral Beez · May 14, 2021

It's too bad the Anglo-Japanese alliance ended in 1921/23. Hermes and Hosho could have sailed together and exchanged aircraft.

Thumpalumpacus · May 14, 2021

Admiral Beez said:
It's too bad the Anglo-Japanese alliance ended in 1921/23. Hermes and Hosho could have sailed together and exchanged aircraft.

Who knows, they might not have come to blows 20 years later.

SaparotRob · May 14, 2021

While serving with the USN, was "USS Robin" flying American colors?

Thumpalumpacus · May 14, 2021

SaparotRob said:
While serving with the USN, was "USS Robin" flying American colors?

I've seen no pictures of it.

SaparotRob · May 14, 2021

I just Wiki'd USS Robin. I checked it out on armouredcarriers.com. It's a great read. According to the site, although the planes carried stars, the ship flew English colours. There was a great captioned photo of USS Robin's flight deck with a big square patch painted on the middle the flight deck. This was a dummy elevator (lift) so that IJN bombers would aim for the vulnerable "elevator" which was in fact was the armoured part of the flight deck. Pretty neat!

Admiral Beez · May 14, 2021

Thumpalumpacus said:
Who knows, they might not have come to blows 20 years later.

Japan definitely chose the wrong side in WW2, deciding in Dec 1941 to throw away nearly fifty years (from the order of IJNS Fuji in 1894) of peaceful and (until the late 1930s) mutually beneficial existence with Britain.

Japan had three officers on board the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland.

Commander Chiusuke Shimomura, IJN. Killed on HMS Queen Mary. Shimomura, Chisuko - Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project
Commander Suetsugu Nobumasa, aboard HMS Colossus
Lt Commander Imamura Shinjiro aboard a light cruiser.

Nobumasa (1880-1944) later became an Admiral and was the Japanese Minister of the Interior in 1937-39. Vice-Admiral Imamura Shinjiro (1880-1969) became the Chancellor in 1936.

Thumpalumpacus · May 14, 2021

Admiral Beez said:
Japan definitely chose the wrong side in WW2, deciding in Dec 1941 to throw away nearly fifty years (from the order of IJNS Fuji in 1894) of peaceful and (until the late 1930s) mutually beneficial existence with Britain.

Japan had three officers on board the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Jutland.

Commander Chiusuke Shimomura, IJN. Killed on HMS Queen Mary. Shimomura, Chisuko - Battle of Jutland Crew Lists Project
Commander Suetsugu Nobumasa, aboard HMS Colossus
Lt Commander Imamura Shinjiro aboard a light cruiser.

Nobumasa (1880-1944) later became an Admiral and was the Japanese Minister of the Interior in 1937-39. Vice-Admiral Imamura Shinjiro (1880-1969) became the Chancellor in 1936.

The disavowed treaty aside, a breach in Anglo-Japanese relations was probably inevitable once the Japanese picked up the Mandates after Versailles, not to mention the accession of IJA radicals to positions of power in the 1930s.

gkjl · May 14, 2021

Admiral Beez · May 14, 2021

Thumpalumpacus said:
Here's an Albacore coming in on final aboard the USS Robin :

View attachment 623174

Looking at these sea and cloud conditions, I imagine finding one's carrier was a very welcome sight. I'd be out of that crate, debriefed and into the officer's mess for a hot drink and then hit the bunk..... unless I'm expected to be back in the cockpit for a quick turnaround.

Thumpalumpacus · May 14, 2021

Admiral Beez said:
Looking at these sea and cloud conditions, I imagine finding one's carrier was a very welcome sight. I'd be out of that crate, debriefed and into the officer's mess for a hot drink and then hit the bunk..... unless I'm expected to be back in the cockpit for a quick turnaround.

It's hard for me to judge those conditions with a B&W pic to work with -- can't judge the nature of the clouds very well.

Sea skies can be notoriously tricky for me to read even with the benefit of color. It does rather look like the June Gloom we got seasonally in SoCal when I lived there (fog in the morning, scud with low ceiling after two or three pm, sometimes burning off). Not the best flying weather, but not the worst.

Admiral Beez · May 14, 2021

Thumpalumpacus said:
Not the best flying weather, but not the worst.

Good point. This chap in the Martlet has it worse.

Thumpalumpacus · May 14, 2021

Admiral Beez said:
Good point. This chap in the Martlet has it worse.

View attachment 623214

There needs to be an exclamation-point smiley for pics like this. Good lord! I'm getting seasick looking at that pic.

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