TheDigger
16-01-2008, 04:09
Ensign George Gay was the sole survivor of USS Hornet's VT-8 squadron descimated at the Battle of Midway. 15 Torpedo Planes were launched as part of a battle group from the USS Hornet and all were shot down.
During the Battle of Midway, Gay's unit found the main Japanese fleet and launched a suicidal attack unescorted by fighter planes. Gay was the first of his squadron to depart on June 4, 1942. Although he was wounded and his radioman/gunner was dying, Gay finished his bombing run on the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga.
As he attempted to return to his own ship (around noon), Gay was surrounded by Japanese planes and forced to ditch his plane. Floating in the ocean, he hid under his seat cushion and witnessed the subsequent dive bombing attacks that sank three of the four Japanese aircraft carriers present.
After dark Gay felt it was safe to inflate his life raft. He was rescued by a Navy PBY after spending over 30 hours in the water. Of the squadron's thirty pilots and radiomen, Gay was the only survivor.
The Battle
Japanese carrier-based planes were reported headed for Midway the early morning of the 4th June 1942. Hornet, Yorktown, and Enterprise launched aircraft, just as the Japanese carriers struck their planes below to prepare for a second attack on Midway. Hornet dive bombers were unable to locate their targets, but the 15 torpedo bombers of her VT-8 squadron found their enemy and pressed home their attacks. They were met by overwhelming fighter opposition about 8 miles (13 km) out and were shot down one by one .
Interesting note here is that the Americans launched a total of 41 torpedo planes and only six returned. Although these aircraft did not actually hit anything their attack run and their eventual sacrifice drew enemy fighters away from dive bombers of the Enterprise and Yorktown, which sank three Japanese carriers, with an indirect but crucial assist from submarine Nautilus (SS-168).
The fourth Japanese carrier, Hiryū, was hit late in the afternoon of 4 June and went down in the early hours of the morning on the following day.
The Americans lost the USS Yorktown during the engagement sunk by a combination of Dive Bombers and Submarine, this battle marked the beginning of the end of Japan’s Naval Aviation Units in the Pacific and they would never fully recover.
The Torpedo Plane used in the early part of the WW2 was the Devestator and like many of the American Military Aircraft they were no match for the nimble and hard hitting Zero. The Devestator was soon replaced by the Avenger a plane later flow by a future President of the USA George Bush Sn.
During the Battle of Midway, Gay's unit found the main Japanese fleet and launched a suicidal attack unescorted by fighter planes. Gay was the first of his squadron to depart on June 4, 1942. Although he was wounded and his radioman/gunner was dying, Gay finished his bombing run on the Japanese aircraft carrier Kaga.
As he attempted to return to his own ship (around noon), Gay was surrounded by Japanese planes and forced to ditch his plane. Floating in the ocean, he hid under his seat cushion and witnessed the subsequent dive bombing attacks that sank three of the four Japanese aircraft carriers present.
After dark Gay felt it was safe to inflate his life raft. He was rescued by a Navy PBY after spending over 30 hours in the water. Of the squadron's thirty pilots and radiomen, Gay was the only survivor.
The Battle
Japanese carrier-based planes were reported headed for Midway the early morning of the 4th June 1942. Hornet, Yorktown, and Enterprise launched aircraft, just as the Japanese carriers struck their planes below to prepare for a second attack on Midway. Hornet dive bombers were unable to locate their targets, but the 15 torpedo bombers of her VT-8 squadron found their enemy and pressed home their attacks. They were met by overwhelming fighter opposition about 8 miles (13 km) out and were shot down one by one .
Interesting note here is that the Americans launched a total of 41 torpedo planes and only six returned. Although these aircraft did not actually hit anything their attack run and their eventual sacrifice drew enemy fighters away from dive bombers of the Enterprise and Yorktown, which sank three Japanese carriers, with an indirect but crucial assist from submarine Nautilus (SS-168).
The fourth Japanese carrier, Hiryū, was hit late in the afternoon of 4 June and went down in the early hours of the morning on the following day.
The Americans lost the USS Yorktown during the engagement sunk by a combination of Dive Bombers and Submarine, this battle marked the beginning of the end of Japan’s Naval Aviation Units in the Pacific and they would never fully recover.
The Torpedo Plane used in the early part of the WW2 was the Devestator and like many of the American Military Aircraft they were no match for the nimble and hard hitting Zero. The Devestator was soon replaced by the Avenger a plane later flow by a future President of the USA George Bush Sn.