[ARC5] WWII Navy Pilots info

[Mkdorney]

There is one kind of sad story my dad told. Dad was based on Tinnian at the end of the war, and he flew in PBYs searching for survivors of USS Indianapolis. The one story he told was that they had spotted survivors, but could only drop supplies and inflatables because he was in an old PBY that was full of holes, and had they had tried to land, dad and his crew mates would have just joined those already in the water. But maybe a year before he passed, he saw a movie about USS Indianapolis. One of the scenes was of survivors climbing aboard the wings of a Grumman Goose to get out of the water. Dad said the scene was accurate, except the plane wasn’t a Grumman Goose, it was a PBY he was flying in. Well, dad had never told us about this, only about the dropping of supplies out of the old PBY. When we asked him how many sorties he flew on looking for survivors, dad all of a sudden got really quiet. Then we knew he had flown on more than just that one sortie, and we did not bring that subject up ever again. 

Mark
WW2RDO

“In matters of style, float with the current. In matters of Principle, stand like a rock. “.   -   Thomas Jefferson 

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 16, 2019, at 1:13 PM, revcom at wbsnet.org wrote:
> 
> ARC-5ers
> 
> This may or may not be of any interest, but thought would post it and see
> if anyone liked it.
> I ran across my notes just the other day.
> 
> 
> A couple years ago I did a 'mini-survey' with a couple of WWII Navy
> pilots. I was trying to find out the radio usage they experienced.
> 
> 1. Ray Lindsay, age 94, (my father-in-law, now deceased)
> -Rank... Ensign
> -Time in Navy.....1943-1945
> -What plane(s) did you fly?.....Hellcat-F6E
> -What carrier was you stationed on?...USS White Plains, CVE-66
> base out of Oahu.
> -Did you have any combat missions...No, mostly escort and training
> missions in the Pacific.
> 
> RADIO USAGE
> -Did you tune the radio sets....No, they were set up by flight crew.
> -Did you use the radio much?...Very little
> -Who did you talk to?...Got signals from carrier, no plane to plane
> conversations at all, used hand signals mostly.
> -What type of Microphone did you use?.....Throat, later a hand type.
> -Did you use code (CW) any?....No, but had to pass 12 word per minute
> in training.  Never used a key in the plane.
> -Did you utilize radio direction finding?...Got signal from carrier, a
> -To/From- signal.
> -Did you ever have to adjust the radios?...No
> -Where was radio equipment located?....Behind me I think, all handled by
> flight crew.
> -What was most memorable use of radio?...During a training mission in
> Florida, on a landing approach, my engine quit, I had a crash landing.
> The control tower said "get out, you are on fire!"  I did!  I had live
> ammo on plane.
> 
> 2. Freeman Knight, age 99 (still with us!!)
> -Rank...Lt JG
> -Time in Navy...1942-1945
> -What plane(s) did you fly?...Hellcat, Wildcat and Corsair
> -What carrier was you stationed on?...USS Wasp, CV-18
> based out of Boston.
> -Did you have any combat missions?...Yes, in the Pacific
> 
> RADIO USAGE
> -Did you 'tune' the radio sets?...No, they were set on channel
> by the  flight crew before we took off.
> -Did you use the radio much?...Not much at all.
> -Who did you talk to?...The ship, mostly, got mission summary from them.
> -What type of microphone did you use?...Hand type, hung up in cabin.
> -Did you use code (CW) any?...No, we got an "A" and "N" signal from ship.
> I did have to pass a code test in training.
> -Did you ever have to adjust the radios?...No
> -Where were the radios located?...Either on the firewall or behind the
> seat, I'm not sure, never actually saw them.
> -What was the most memorable use of radio?...I remember it very clearly,
> was August 15th, 1945. Was on a 'scouting mission'. We got a message.
> "Drop your ammo, the war is over!"   We all yelled in the radio then!
> 
> Both were interesting fellers to talk with.
> 
> 73
> Rod
> KØEQH
> 
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