Category: This entry was posted in Air Warfare, Aircraft, Naval History by MSW. Bookmark the permalink.

A great deal has been written about the battle for Saipan, including the Battle of the Philippine Sea, remembered today as having included “The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot.” However, certain events that could have turned the battle in any number of directions are often mentioned only in passing. One of these events is the role […]

Consolidated B-24 Liberator of No.120 Squadron (FL923 V). F/O J. K. Moffatt flying this aircraft sank U-189 in April 1943. However, this machine was shot down attacking U-539 in October 1943. It was being flown by the unit’s CO, W/Cdr R. M. Longmore, crashing into the sea with the loss of all its crew. As […]

The 15 fast carriers of Task Force 58 brought some 475 Hellcats to the Marianas in the second week of June 1944. Another 66 F6Fs were aboard three of the five escort carriers assigned to support the invasion beachheads in Operation Forager. It was by far the largest Hellcat gathering to date; nearly 550 of […]

Admiral Ozawa’s fourth and last raid was deployed in three parts, and nearly all its 82 aircraft were destroyed. Eighteen enemy planes aborted after searching in vain 100 miles southwest of Guam. An erroneous contact report had led them astray. While returning to their carriers, the ten Zekes and eight Jills came across a Lexington […]