Rare 1941 Color US Navy aircraft USS Enterprise San Diego

[ronpaulforpresident6]

The Helldiver was not being used this early. The dive bomber is actually the Dauntless SBD-3 divebomber

[Tubes12AX7k]

@ronpaulforpresident6 No, actually, the Helldiver that they are talking about is the earlier Curtiss biplane Helldiver that you see in the very beginning of the movie clip, the Curtiss SBC Helldiver.

[Treetop64]

Devastators and Vindicators - in color(!) Looks like it was filmed yesterday. Remarkable footage. Thanks for sharing!

[bbbbbb666b]

I was a huge fan of this aircraft carrier when i was a school kid. Knowing she had survived tons of attacks by jnese airplanes throughout the Pacific war. Hat off to these crews on the ship.

From Japan ：）

[longr8nge]

even in 1941, tis was America's business end of their military arm . . . .

[starmanfaned]

Cool

[longr8nge]

Some observances: aircraft included are from Scouting Six ( Enterprise); Fighting Six (Enterprise); Torpedo Three ( Saratoga ); Bombing Three ( Saratoga ).

[rugersix]

This is GREAT!!!!!!

[Turnback]

That footage was stunning. If not for the primitive motion picture technology back then it could have been like this was was made a year ago. And also, the failure to preserve the Enterprise for future generations was an abomination. Instead it went to the scrappers.

[neptunisregis11]

This is unbelieveable! Thank God that it was preserved for posterity1. Some of these guys made the attacks at Midway. I can't help but be emotional when I watch this!!

[neptunisregis11]

This is unbelieveable! Thank God that it wa preserved for posterity1

[noob2top3210]

Wow it seems only yesterday they were just there...

[brimstonehill]

Excellent historical footage!

[TRINITYNTB]

Beautiful - Let us remember WWII and the enemy we are now facing.. again.

[BlackPhantomJambo]

itll be nice to see that many planes near san diego again, 

[Konabish]

I grew up on movies like this; you've done the film justice! Bravo-Zulu!

[BlackPhantomJambo]

from 5:08-5:18, in the upper right, is it a B-24?

[nldhstn]

@BlackPhantomJambo

My guess is a PB2Y Coronado

[BlackPhantomJambo]

eerie to say these devastadors would be the same ones shot down over midway

[mistersmith6000]

Could somebody please tell me the types of monoplanes here in this video?

Which one are the Devastators and are there any Dauntless dive bombers also? How you tell the difference? Are there any distinguishing features? Pardon my ignorance. This is a superb video. THank you for posting!

[nldhstn]

@mistersmith6000

Devastators TBD are the smaller mono planes. Vindicators are the dive bombers no Dauntless there. The bi-planes are I think the F3F.

[mistersmith6000]

@nldhstn Cool I got it I think. They both take off from the carrier

0:52 Vindicator 2 seater, flat canopy, gunsight sticking out on top of the cowling, cleaner lines

1.03 Devestator 3 seater, kinda curved canopy. Looks kinda fatter and more rounded

And both of these planes were toast soon after the war started, and yet they were newer than the zero??



[asprun]

Watch out King Kong

[robbourassaguitarist]

This is excellent. 

[SgtGrant23]

i watch this video over and over again, most of these tbd devastator's were lost in combat in midway great video and the sound is great too

[F14ace]

Too bad none of the devastators survived the war.

[JamesEndsor]

"Devastators and Helldivers and Vindicators, OH MY!" That is just too awesome!

[agentseventyseven]

Nice color footages, some of these pilots flew in the battle of Midway.

Yes, some Devastators from this footage were lost at Midway

[SgtGrant23]

did they usualy take off with the cowl flaps open cause their out at sea and the air is more hot a humid, so it help keep the engines cool when they take off and engines run

[DaManzMoney]

So this is b4 Pearl Harbour?

[shatchett0]

Wow, good looking stuff!

[w1zk]

Absolutely outstanding. Thank you for post this video.

[petragomes0608]

very nice video, thanks for showing this rare footage

[FLSTF014EVER]

Fantastic clip. Film of some of the men and women of the greatest generation. Had it not been for them, this country would not be here today.

[mbandarra3]

Excellent...many thanks

[skyraider1404]

Thanks for watching!....and to all the other folks who have enjoyed the clips!

[PlushGallade]

@skyraider1404 Biplane ? Still I Prefer Biplane More Than Monoplane :P

[PlushGallade]

@skyraider1404 Which U Prefer World War 1 Aircraft (Biplane) Or Modern Jet And World War 2 Aircraft (Monoplane)

[cxj810]

This must have been taken in 1940. Pacific Fleet was relocated to Pearl Harbor in ealry 1941, as I recall.

[ryanjb69]

awesome footage!

[loreztaken]

really nice.

[haxanthrobo]

I grew up to the sounds of ww2 aircraft at Falcon Field AZ.Great footage here!

[rickc1945]

My film is not a interesting as your film but I had fun doing it. Very impressive footage.

[rickc1945]

My film is not as historic as your but it was fun shooting anyway. I hope you enjoy it

[vawlkee]

Clark did a bang up job on this montage. This has been a favorite film of mine since I was a kid....It has yet to be surpassed - and never will be.

The only REAL flaw was that tarted up Ryan PT22 that Toomey was ferrying on behalf of the RAF....

"I'd sure hate to have one of those babies on my tail" exclaims one of the pilots.....He'd need only need worry if he were riding on a kite.

Curtiz and Flynn hated each other but he could sure coax a good performance out of my favorite bad boy.

[longr8nge]

this video is in my favorites. when i want patriotic goosebumps, this is the one. brave men. by the way, didn't the pilots manually retract the landing gear?

[skyraider1404]

The Grumman fighters had manually-retracted wheels--up thru the F4F model.....

[SgtGrant23]

@skyraider1404 ya the Grumman fighters had manual retract gear thru the fm-2 it had manual retract gear, flaps, wings, tail hook.

[ufosty]

Great historical video, tks.

[airdeckstair]

too bad. ENTERPRISE was not spared from scrapping after the war. it was truly an amazing and historic warship in the whole world during WW II. so sad :(.

[blownglasslide]

Rest in Peace, Enterprise and her sailors. You will always be the best.

[lordhashi]

Amen

[SpacirP]

Very very nice movie. Perfect historical video

[Snowman374th]

Nice Video !!

[Jiggersfromsphilly]

This is footagfe from the movie DIVE BOMBER starring Errol Flynn and Fred MacMurray. It was filmed on location in Hawaii and San Diego and on board the USS Enterprise CV6 during 1940-1941.

[tbm3fan]

Great footage of pre-war US Navy aircraft in their bright colors. Little did the Navy know what the Japanese had in the way of aircraft to meet them. The Curtis and Vindicator saw no carrier action but the Devastator did as we all know. They were meat for Zeros without any covering fighters The Vindicators only action was by the Marines who had 11 on Midway as the Navy had transitioned to the SBD. After Midway all Vindicators were transfered to training units. There is only one at Pensacola now.

[rf8gcrusader]

This is a great vid but YouTube can't really do justice to the paint jobs on the planes. If you like pre-WWII Nav Air colors definitely get the whole movie on DVD.

[Fliegertruppe]

AWESOME footage dude, its really a pleasure to watch these beautiful old warbirds, even in color. Thanks for uploading it, best regards from Germany!

[skyraider1404]

Thank you!....interesting channel you have there.....your Lufthansa Marsch footage was excellent.....hope you post some more pre-war video....

[julosx]

WOW F3F "Fifis" and Douglas TBD "Devastators" in their delightful pre-WW2 colors ! 100 % AMAZING ! Thanks a whole lot for this !

[likepatsandGTOs]

What a historical treasure this movie is. Thanks for the excellent editing of the aerial sequences! What a shame that the Navy scrapped the Big E in 1959 instead of treating it with the dignity it deserved as a national monument. Seeing those aircraft like the Devastators, Buffalos and Vindicators that would be hacked out of the sky less than a year later made me shudder....especially for the brave crew who flew them.

[skyraider1404]

Yes...especially all these Torpedo 6 and Torpedo 3 Devastators seen here were virtually wiped out at Midway (and Hornet's Torpedo 8).....the courage of the aircrews was beyond exceptional...

[patertre]

Great video. Congratulations. My love for the american aircrafts and the brave pilots. My heart was there. Thanks a lot!!

[mig25pd]

Love this film. If anyone ever events a time machine I'm going back to the big E in the late 30s - cruising somewhere in the Pacific. Sun on my back, the smell of avgas and saltwater, the noise of piston engines and Artie Shaw on the radio. Devastators, Vindicators and Helldivers.

[Lockbar]

Thanks for the very cool planes and for dumping the corny acting.

[NAVC130VET]

Wow pre war and bi planes. Its nice to see my favorite carrier of WWII the Big E in color

[jimdavies020]

really brilliant enjoyed very much great sounds to !

[msuber]

The "Fighting E" was badass to say the least. Battle 360 on the History channel has been showing some great stuff about the Enterprise and how rugged it was. Check it out!

[cajunhornet60]

GREAT film thanx for posting!

[skyraider1404]

Glad you liked it!....hope to dig up more old rare footage......

[lazyjake32]

I have seen this movie several times over the years. It was filmed mostly at NAS North Island, in San Diego. I was there 10 years later, '50-'51. I recognised a lot of the buildings. Ironicly, they had a scene of a simulated attack on Pearl Harbor. I always wondered if the Japanese Admiralty watched it too.

[YogaNate79]

I believe that the USS Enterprise within the Yorktown class was the 7th naval ship to bear this name. The current USS Enterprise in the Nimitz class fleet is it's predecessor, which might I add will be retired in the next couple of year when the USS Gerald Ford is commissioned in 2015.

[SgtGrant23]

thats prolly one of the best youtube videos ive seen of those sbc and sb2u's thanks for posting

[likepatsandGTOs]

What a treasure this movie "Dive Bomber" is. If they only knew in 1941 when the movie was made how outclassed the Devastators and Vindicators were...deathtraps to those who flew them early in the war

[Phenixe427]

Good point, both aircraft debuted in the mid 1930's. The Devestator was a great torpedo bomber but was far too slow and unprotected by the time WW2 broke out. The Vindicator was another good airplane just too old for the war, the TBF Avenger and the SBD Dauntless sure took care of those problems :-)

[R686Mack]

Too bad no TBD's survived. Would have been nice to have at least one. Such a piece of Naval history, the first monoplane in service and to use the Norden bombsight. Great video of these wonderful aircraft.

[HaganDave]

There are some of them in the water near Pacific islands, not very deep. Two of them ditched during WW2 and they are in quite good state, not very badly damaged. They only need to be picked up out of the water and need some restoration. But no one is interested in it.

[skyraider1404]

True...there are a pair of USS Yorktown's VT-5 TBDs in the water off Jaluit Atoll--some people want to bring them up, but there is difficulty with the government of the islands there--I can't really figure that as the planes are American and if it were not for American sacrifice, those islands would still be part of the Japanese Empire.

[jers59]

There is one off florida

[skyraider1404]

Yea...I read about that one--and the Navy's blocking of all salvage attempts. What kind of logic is there in letting the plane deteriorate on the bottom?--it was not a war grave as the crew escaped.

[jers59]

And 10 years latter the navy has still not recovered the aircraft

[jers59]

The navy will not let anybody salvage them and will not retrieve them. CATCH 22

[tbm3fan]

Correct. Unlike the Air Force the Navy is very strict with their planes. Any plane, any where in the world, in any condition is Navy Property and under the control of the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. You raise the plane without permission then you say good bye to the plane. Have dealt with them in the past and they will only deal with those who they trust will take care of their historical artifacts.

[orangelion03]

About the only thing you could restore on a warbird that has been in salt water for more than 50 years is the ID plate (if that). Not a single part on the wreck could be reused or rebuilt. May as well build a new one from scratch and attach the ID plate to it. Leave them be to return to the elements they were made from.

[skyraider1404]

Not true--the salt levels in DEEP ocean are far less than shallow water--many deep aircraft wrecks below 500 feet are in remarkable condition.

[NavyPilot400]

do you know if any Navy Devastators are still arround today

[skyraider1404]

No Devastators survived WW2--the last known example (used for training at NAS Miami was scrapped in 1944)....however, 2 sunken TBD wrecks from USS Yorktown's VT-5 have been located in the shallow waters of the lagoon at Jaluit Atoll where they ditched in 1942. No recovery attempt has been made yet....

[NavyPilot400]

that sucks. i was going to get a backround of a currently existing devastator. i guess i have to get the Vindicator. BTW Have you played blazing angels?

[thesab]

I recognized the green nosed planes as Vought Vindicators. Were there some SNJs there as well?

Check out the neutrality color scheme and insignia.

[skyraider1404]

The aircraft with green/part green noses and fuselage bands are TBD Devastators....the red-band nose aircraft are SB2U Vindicators. The pre-war scheme planes TBDs and SB2Us are all from USS Saratoga. The Navy was switching paint schemes while the movie was underway (fall of 1941)--note that most have the neutral overall gray paint--several planes were held back at the request of the movie producers to be used in the close-ups.

[ErrikuStewart]

The high vis color schemes are quite striking.

The Tophatters logo looks pretty much the same as it does today.

[GeorgePQuittlesack]

Notice the Yorktown class carriers (Yorktown, Enterprise, and Hornet) had arrester wires fore and aft. This was so the ship could recover her planes while in reverse(!) in case of damage aft.

[TJDOZIER1]

Outstanding clear video. Planes of Fame Air Museum operates 2 F3F's.

[skyraider1404]

Yea..I've seen pics of the Planes of Fame F3Fs... I read somewhere there are a total of four flyable F3Fs in the world--three of the -2 models and a civilian version.

I would very much like to see the recovery of those TBD-1s from the lagoon at Jaluit atoll.......or ANY TBD for that matter!

[NavyPilot400]

pretty cool 4 stsrs