The Roundtable Forum
Official
newsletter of the
BATTLE OF MIDWAY ROUNDTABLE
To promote an
awareness and understanding of the great battle
and to
honor the men who fought and won it
1 AUGUST 2004
......................... Issue No. 2004-14 .........................
Our 7th Year
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AROUND
THE TABLE
MEMBERS' TOPICS IN THIS ISSUE
1. The Last Flight of Ensign
C. Markland Kelly, USNR
2. Midway Today
3. Obit for Helmuth Hoerner
4. Welcome Aboard to George
Bernstein
=========================================
"The
Last Flight of Ensign C. Markland Kelly, USNR" (see Now Hear This, issue 4-04; Clay
Fisher and Roy Gee, issue 4-09; Troy Guillory, issue 4-10)
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23 July 2004
From: Clay Fisher cfisher3@san.rr.com (BOM vet, VB-8 pilot, USS
Hornet)
(Ed. note: the following is
Clay's review of the Bowen Weisheit book.)
I spent considerable
time analyzing the book, trying to sift out probable facts from narrative
fiction. The author wrote an
interesting story after considerable research and speculation.
I first met Mark
Kelly in the summer of 1941, in advanced carrier operational flight training at
NAS Opa Locke, Florida. Mark had just
received his wings and commission. I
remember being in his BOQ room with a couple other pilots when he was showing
us his new aviation green uniform. Mark
had purchased the top of the line material for his uniform and it was very
impressive. He had just received orders
to Fighting Squadron Eight. I was
envious of Mark’s orders to fighters, but I guess fate dealt me a better hand
when I received orders to Bombing Squadron Eight. Only one Hornet SBD pilot was lost at the BOM.
I believe the order
of launch of Hornet aircraft was probably 10 VF-8 fighters (as shown in
the picture I previously provided), followed by VB-8 and VS-8, and finally
VT-8. The order of placement of aircraft on the flight deck was called the
“stack.” It took a lot of pushing and
shoving for the flight deck personnel to get all the aircraft arranged in the
stack. Maps of the arranged aircraft
were sent to each squadron ready room and the squadron flight officers assigned
a pilot to each aircraft. The pilots
were assigned to the aircraft positioned in an order of takeoff to facilitate
the pilots being able to join up in their assigned positions in the squadron
formation without a lot of shuffling around. There was some coordination
between the aircraft “spotters” and the squadron flight officers so each pilot
could be assigned to his own aircraft, but it wasn’t always possible.
After I had joined
on the left wing position of CHAG, we flew above and ahead of the SBD
squadrons. I did try to see VT-8 below
us, but we were flying over a couple thin layers of clouds and I could not see their them as we continued
climbing to somewhere above 12,000 feet.
I noticed that Bowen
Weisheit uses true compass headings all through his book. We all flew magnetic compass headings
that were normally computed from true headings by correcting for magnetic
variation. Roy Gee and I each
determined the magnetic variation for Midway Island on 4 June 1942 by
searching the Web. The magnetic
variation was 7 degrees east. You
subtract easterly variation from true heading to determine the aircraft
magnetic compass. We had a little
ditty to remember how to correct for easterly or westerly variation: “if the variation is east the compass is
least, if the variation is west the compass is best.” When I flew 200-mile searches in the South Pacific, the variation
was 10 degrees west. Frankly, I don’t
think an error in applying magnetic variation was a factor in the VF-8
navigation problems.
Walt Rodee, CO
of VS-8, stated in his interview that
he flew a course of 265 degrees true. I
feel he flew a magnetic heading of 265 degrees if that was the number he
remembered. I have to assume the
aircraft magnetic compass heading we all flew was determined by correcting our
navigation plot of 265 degrees true to be the course (track) to the estimated
enemy position. If the Hornet
radar tracked our SBD formations out at 265 degrees true we would have had to
be flying an aircraft magnetic compass heading of 265 degrees less about 7
degrees or 258 degrees magnetic. Unfortunately I can’t remember the actual course we flew.
I have always
maintained I saw the large column of black smoke from Midway at about 0945 to
1000, or about 75 minutes after departing the Hornet around 0830. We had unlimited visibility and were flying
above 14,000 feet, probably cruising at 145 knots while flying at least
170 miles. In Miracle at Midway by Gordon Prange, CDR McClusky,
leading the Enterprise SBDs, reports “some of the pilots on the
formation’s far left could see smoke rolling up from the stricken base.” None of the Japanese carriers had been
attacked at that time. According to the
time line in Prange’s book, the VB-6 dive bombers hit the Kaga about
1022.
Weisheit states (p.
47):
“Upon the Hornet’s
return from her shake-down cruise, the ship’s Navigation Officer mentioned in
his report that there had not been enough time to swing the magnetic
compass. In the Hornet’s report
of the June 4 operation, the flight launch, flight recovery, and the flight
attack course were reported as 20-30 degrees too high.”
This seems strange to me because if the
Hornet’s magnetic compass was that far off, I probably would not be
writing these comments. I flew ten 200
mile single-plane searches off the Hornet prior to BOM. On June 1st I flew a 200 mile search and had
no trouble with my navigation checking out.
After the BOM I flew another twenty-nine 200 mile searches. On a couple searches a very faint ZB signal
enabled me to find the Hornet
Until I read the
book I had always thought the VF-8
pilots had actually flown well beyond the range of their “point of no turn “
and had no chance to return to the Hornet.
The YE/ZB homing device was so simple and easy to use I really don’t
understand why the VF-8 pilots had so much trouble. All they had to do was fly
the magnetic compass course determined by the lettered sector. The sector
letter radio signal would have become stronger as the distance was closed to
the Hornet.
Each carrier in the
task force normally had different Morse code sector identification
letters. On our June 5th mission to
attack a reported Japanese cruiser, we were briefed that both carriers would be
transmitting the same YE/ZB homing signals.
Unfortunately, each carrier was transmitting different signals. My radioman told me he could very faintly
pick up a Hornet YE/ZB sector letter and that he could receive a much
stronger Enterprise YE/ZB sector signal that was different than the Hornet’s
signal. I decided to fly the Hornet’s indicated sector course. I was the first Hornet SBD to land as
the flight deck landing light were turned on. The Hornet pilots that
used the Enterprise signal became lost and finally located the task
force when a large search light was turned on pointing up in a vertical
position.
I have no clue as to
the status code cards of the YE/ZB signals transmitted from the Enterprise
and Hornet on the morning of June 4th.
Also, our SBD radiomen tuned our “ZB” VHF radio receivers. I’m sure the
radio receivers in the VF-8 fighters must have been pre-tuned by their pilots
to the Hornet’s YE/ZB. I think
the probability of the VF-8 pilots reading Enterprise YE/ZB signal was
pretty remote.
I have come to the
conclusion that the VF-8 pilots had the correct ZB letter sector and were actually
very close to the Hornet. As an
SBD pilot, if I identified a sector letter I knew, I definitely was not
lost! I can only assume the VF-8 pilots
just didn’t trust their ZBs.
Some of the real
heroes of BOM were the PBY crews making open sea landings and takeoffs in order
to rescue downed aircrews. The PBY
squadron’s doctrine was basically not to attempt an open sea landing if
you would jeopardizing your crew.
“Pappy” Cole, the PBY plane commander who rescued Ensign Gay took a vote
of his crew before he attempted to the rescue.
I cannot accept the
extreme weather version and sea conditions described in the book that the PBYs
were supposed to have encountered. The
weather and sea conditions had to be more favorable.
I think the author was
correct about his problems interviewing the various VF-8 pilots in that they
were reluctant to admit that some poor decisions had been made. If those surviving pilots had all been
debriefed when they arrived back at Pearl Harbor after the BOM, maybe a lot of
questions could have been answered.
There was a large amount of reorganization of the air groups, pilot
transfers, and new pilots being ordered in to the air groups. There just wasn’t time to worry about what
happened at the BOM.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A final comment on
this subject: you'll recall that an item of interest in the Weisheit book
was a photo (page 7) purporting to show ENS Kelly and the VF-8 escort fighters
launching on the morning of June 4th. The photo cannot be accurate, since
there are no other planes on deck, and we know the escort was spotted ahead of
two squadrons of SBDs. I've received a number of suggestions as to
what the photo actually shows, but I tend to favor Clay's opinion--he believe
the photo may show a CAP launch later in the day, possibly in connection with
the defense of the Yorktown, or perhaps with the launch of the Hiryu
strike. That's supported by the shadows of the planes and deck
personnel in the photo--the shadows suggest it was taken in late
morning or early afternoon, rather than during the early morning launch.
I've posted the photo on our web site, and you can see it by going to
the "Image Board" page and clicking Link 2. Or, here's
the direct URL: http://www.midway42.org/hornetairgroup.html
And before we leave
this subject, I want to again thank Otis Kight for generously donating a copy
of the book to the Roundtable.
*
* *
"Midway
Today" (See Phil
Garner, issues 4-07 and 4-13)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29 July 2004
From: Ed Fox efox81@sbcglobal.net (BOM
vet, 6th MarDefBtn, Midway)
Regarding the
article about Midway Today: I have sent issue 4-13 of The Roundtable
Forum to Jim Newberry, who is running for Congress in this
state. I explained our past efforts to oust the FWS from Midway
and designate it as a National Battlefield, and requested him to make it
an issue on his platform. I further hinted that should he consider
this, he would without a doubt draw support from veterans of all ranks.
This is just a
hint of what other members on the Roundtable could do at this time.
Obtain the support of your candidate, whoever it is, to bring
attention to the rape of Midway.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
* *
"Obit
for Helmuth Hoerner"
Ed. note:
Roundtable member Jim Garnsey sent me a copy of the obituary for CDR Helmuth
Hoerner, a VS-8 pilot at the BOM and Jim's former neighbor. We
discussed the passing of CDR Hoerner on the Roundtable late last year
(he died in Sep '03), but I subsequently learned that Dick Woodson (R/G for
VS-8 pilot Don Kirkpatrick in the BOM) flew with Hoerner later in the war,
chasing U-boats from a jeep carrier in the Atlantic. Here is Dick's
interesting report on that experience.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 July 2004
From: Dick Woodson
rtwoodson@mailbug.com
(BOM vet, R/G, VS-8, USS Hornet)
Helmuth
"Whiskey" Hoerner (he didn't drink then) was one of the pilots
in VS-8 on the Hornet (CV-8). He was awarded the Navy Cross
for action at the BOM.
I was wounded
at the Santa Cruz Battle and didn't see "Lefty" (he was drinking by
that time) until I was assigned to VC-58 at Sand Point NAS, Seattle,
WA. We were scheduled to fly dive bombers from a jeep carrier. We
transferred to Clover Valley NAAS, WA (near Anacortes) for more training with
new SBD4s.
That was around
June '43, but our orders were changed and we were issued TBF1s. After
some training, we proceeded to San Diego and were equipped with
rocket rails (four under each wing), then flew to Quonset Point, RI for
more training. We left Quonset and proceeded to NAS Norfolk and left
there in December '43 aboard USS Block Island, with four escorts
(DEs). We headed out into the north Atlantic to known German
submarine operating areas with our ultimate destination Casablanca, French
Morocco. Arrived there and after refueling, headed back out on our
return to Norfolk. Didn't see any subs or make any attacks this
trip.
I can't
remember the exact dates but I believe each round trip took around six or seven
weeks. During this time I flew with our CO, LCDR Clyde McCroskey, and we
only flew from sunrise to sunset due to the pilots not being qualified for
night carrier landings.
Our next trip was
aboard the USS Guadalcanal, skippered by CAPT Dan Gallery.
About a week before we were due to leave, LCDR McCroskey was killed
during night
field carrier landing practice, and I then transferred to Lefty's plane.
We flew only at night; from 2330 to 0430, five nights out of six.
Sometime in April I
got a return on our radar and we attacked and dropped two depth charges that
bracketed a German sub and blew in his ballast tanks. He couldn't
submerge and after our DEs arrived, the sub crew abandoned ship after
opening their sea-cocks, depriving CAPT Gallery the honor of capturing a
sub intact. (If you recall, he did recover a sub and towed it back to the
states on a later mission.)
A few nights later
about 0230, again using radar, we came across another sub on the
surface. He submerged, so we dropped a sonic mine (HOTDOG), which is
battery powered and follows its target by sound. Within a minute the mine made
contact with the
sub and detonated. The sub blew apart and our ships recovered seven or
eight survivors. We tracked another sub later by sono-buoy, but he
escaped. We got to Casablanca and returned to Norfolk.
Our next trip
was aboard the Wake Island. Subs were getting smarter and we
made no contacts. We returned to Norfolk and were due to go aboard the Core,
but I had applied for flight training and was accepted, leaving the
squadron. Lefty went out with a new radar operator, Buttrey, and on
approach to the carrier he hit the fantail. Lefty and the turret gunner,
Von Spreeken, made it aboard but Buttrey was killed.
I didn't run across
Lefty again until after the war, in Jacksonville, Florida. He was a
good
pilot and we got along fine.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*
* *
"Welcome
Aboard to George Bernstein"
Ed. note:
it's with much pleasure that I announce the addition of another BOM vet to our
roster. George Bernstein is a Hornet air group vet, assigned to VT-8
in a non-flying capacity (fortunately). Here is George's introductory
letter:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25 July 2004
From: George Bernstein
gbernst1@san.rr.com (BOM
vet, SN1/c, VT-8, USS Hornet)
Glad to be aboard
BOMRT. A little info re myself. I reported to Torpedo Squadron 8
aboard USS HORNET in Norfolk, VA on 2 December 1941. I had just
graduated Aviation Machinist's Mate School.
As a Seaman
First Class, my duties in the squadron was as an AMM striker [trainee].
However, during flight
quarters and general quarters, I was in the flight deck crew spotting
aircraft, unchocking them for takeoff, and disengaging the cable from their
tailhooks upon landing. I had these duties during the BOM.
Prior to BOM, I had the privilege (?) of helping taxi Jimmy
Doolittle's plane into takeoff position for the first bombing of Tokyo.
My squadron was shot
down in the initial attack on the Japanese ships. When Hornet
returned to Pearl Harbor after the battle, I was transferred to the USS Enterprise.
I ultimately
transferred to the meteorological arm of the Navy and retired in 1967 as a LT.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NOW
HEAR THIS!
NEWS & INFO IN THIS
ISSUE
-- Happy Birthday DeLo!
-- BOM on "Command
Decisions" 30 July '04
===========================================
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DELO!
If my notes are
correct, today is Frank DeLorenzo's 90th birthday. Captain DeLorenzo, or
"DeLo" around here, had the distinction of having Admiral
Nimitz as a passenger on his PB2Y Coronado on 25 December 1941. The
admiral was en route to Hawaii to assume command of the Pacific Fleet. We
all thank you, DeLo, for that safe and successful flight!
And best wishes
for a great birthday! Among our Roundtable members, you've joined COL
Bill Lucius and Chaplain Matt Bouterse at that enviable nine-decades milestone.
*
* *
BATTLE OF MIDWAY ON "COMMAND
DECISIONS" 30 JULY '04 (See Now Hear This, issue
4-13)
There isn't
enough space in this issue, nor in future issues to tell you how dismal this
program was. It was undoubtedly the worst production about the
BOM since the 1976 Charleton Heston movie, which looks rather good by
comparison. They started out by repeating the myth that the "Midway
is short of water" ruse was an attempt to learn the meaning of "AF,"
and the program went downhill from there like a dropped anvil.
Ironically, one of
the interviewed experts on the show was Robert Cressman, lead author on one of
the most thorough and accurate BOM references available. Obviously,
Bob had no control over the final production, nor did anyone else who has even
a modest understanding of the battle's important details. And I won't
even bother about the horribly mismatched film clips, like B-24 Liberators
attacking the Hiryu!!!
A good, reasonably
accurate video production on the BOM is not that hard--Ollie North's War
Stories episode is perhaps the best of them. But the History
Channel should hang its head in shame after showing this farce. I would
think the network's management ought to be very concerned, for a presentation this bad
can only raise questions about the accuracy and quality of the rest
of their lineup. --RR
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