Ping
“Found” in the Coral Sea. Exactly where it sank 76 years ago. Where else would they find it?
How many men went down with the ship? Did the captain go down with his ship?
Along with the carrier’s hulk, the team also found at least one Grumman F4F “Wildcat” fighter aircraft and seven Douglas Devastator torpedo planes.
The TBD (Torpedo Bomber Douglas) was the most advanced aircraft of its type when introduced in the mid-1930s; by the time we entered WWII, it was hopelessly obsolete. Delivering a torpedo against an enemy ship required a long, slow approach to the target—it made the Devastators sitting ducks for AAA fire and enemy fighters.
Midway represented the last hurrah for the Devastator; of the more than 40 dispatched against the Japanese fleet, only four made it back to their carriers. Torpedo 8, led by LCDR John Waldron, was almost completely wiped out. Only Ensign George Gay survived, after an unsuccessful run against an Japanese carrier.
Of course, the sacrifice of the torpedo squadrons was not in vain. They forced the Japanese CAP down to the deck and many of the fighters had burned most of their fuel in pursuit of the Devastators. When Max Leslie and Wade McCluskey arrived over the enemy carrier force in their dive bombers, there wasn’t a Zero at altitude, and that “great silver wave” (as Jimmy Thach called it) changed the course of history in less than 15 minutes.
The Japanese aircraft carrier, Shinano, had the same origin. After construction, she was sunk by USS Archerfish with the final fit out workmen still onboard. Look up the story. Very interesting.
that is cool news.
I have often wondered how long it would take to locate the Lady Lex. After Ballard found the Yorktown, this one was next on the list.
have any of the four jap carriers sunk at midway ever been found? Kaga, Akagi, Hiryu, Soryu?