special ed
1st Lieutenant
- 6,573
- May 13, 2018
Sort of like the Republic Seabee's great grandfather
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She's a beaut!
Hi Flypaper,Berliner Joyce OJ-2 from VS-6, Souting Six, Staioned aboard the Battleship USS California. From passing in review to sinking.
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Hi Flypaper,
Having recently returned to the forum, I was please to see your recent posting on interwar Navy floatplanes. I've recently done a good bit of research on the subject, I've discovered a few things you might enjoy. The photo of California was taken on 31 May 1934 when she was flagship for Battle Force. She carried four Vought O3Us from VO-3 (aircraft 13, 14, and 15) plus the BatFor admiral's flagplane (the Admiral Blue O3U beside the high catapult on Turret 3.
The OJ-2s were light-weight float planes designed for the older Omaha class cruisers, carried from 1933-35. (They suffered in heavy seas and - from your photos - in light seas too!) By 1930 all cruiser aviation was organized in scouting squadrons, but battleship planes still organized in observation squadrons. The smaller Omahas only had room for two aircraft, with 6-S-1 and 6-S-2 assigned to Cruiser Division Three flagship Concord. (You can almost make out the ship name through the squadron commander's red fuselage stripe.) Observation squadrons painted each aircraft's entire tail in a squadron color (True Blue for VO-3), while most cruiser squadrons were distinguished by squadron colored tail bands.
Anyway, thanks for posting the great shots, which I thoroughly enjoyed!
Cheers
Dana
Thank you gents,
Sorry I was away for so long - my loss. And yes, that was me back in Albany in 1971. I'd been a modeler forever, but those folks gave me my start on archival research and writing!
Cheers,
I Still have 10/12 copies of "Flight Plan" published by J Mass and the Albany group. Still make for great reading with excellent info.