WW2 Carrier War in the Pacific - Raid on Truk

[prmskeepr]

Sorry folks, no Skyraiders in this video and TBDs were not out of the picture after Midway. Facts are facts.

[skyraider1404]

@prmskeepr Right you are....we know that....but 1950s documentaries were not really worried about plane types so much as telling the story....every serious WW2 Pacific buff knows that the TBD-1 last saw battle in June of 1942 at Midway.... This is still a great well-narrated clip....

[Artas1984]

Are you kidding me? All of these failed landings were from Truk lagoon battle? O my, the vulture nest sure had some fun that day!

[evildeathmonkey1]

2:25 That wasn't a zero. Looks like a Mitsubishi A5M4... Didn't know the Japanese still flew those by 1944. Or maybe again, pressed into service? The second one doesn't look like a Zero to me either... Looks like a B5n2 Mabel. Notice the long cockpit canopy. Finally the plane at 2:32 is no Zero but a KI-43 Oscar..

So where does the narrator see a Zero?

[skyraider1404]

@evildeathmonkey1 Narrators in the 1950s were not all that worried about plane types.....you are dead-on with your plane-identification.... 50s-era shows were all about telling the story.....  There actually were a handful of the old Claudes (A5M4) pressed into service that late in the war... There was a battle at Truk where 3 F6F Hellcats from USS Enterprise took 45 minutes to bring down a well-flown Ki-27 "Nate"--obsolete, but highly maneuverable...

[evildeathmonkey1]

@skyraider1404 Cool, I actually learned something new today on youtube. Thanks for the info!

I can imagine an older, slower model like the Ki-27 or A5M4 being able to dodge the much faster Hellcats by making them overshoot. (I'm not sure what the F6F's stall speed is, but I imagine it's much higher then the Ki-27.) That could go on until one of them runs out of fuel. Kind of a deadlock situation. The Ki-27 dodging the F6F's attacks, but not being able to strike back or flee from it.

[ceboym]

@evildeathmonkey1 you could be mistaken also in identifying japanese aircraft are you expert ? withe the WW2 japanese aricrafts? as you said*** Looks like **so you are not sure if you are sure you have to say It is B5n2 right ? be carefull mister

[sallyb3]

great video.. My Dad was in th e pacific theater aboard the Essex - fighter squadron 15 -Hellcat F6F-3

[nomadnametab]

i met a corsair pilot who said flying was fun until the first time he ran into a japanese fighter. when it suddenly hit him, "hey, that son of a bitch is trying to kill me." after he shot him down he felt much better again. bill collins, usmc

[joahyo23]

The real Japan -_-

/watch?v=GFa4h7uAcpg

[mgwilliams1000]

Nothing like the day-in, day-out life of the flightdeck crew. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no holidays and very little rest. Thanks for posting this. As a 30 year Navy Aviation mechanic just retired 3 years ago I love watching this. You were always in constant danger even when not in combat.

[TheRapper10000]

In this battle gave Japan their own version of  Pearl Harbor.

[tdr124]

What always struck me about American WW2 naval aviation was that most pilots were 18-24 yrs old (24 being ancient). I wished I could have been an aviator in WW2. An old war vet would say I am niave and dumb, but the 18 year old aviator would tell me he was a modern knight in shining armor.

[toqui1967]

Dear F4F, I think its a Helldiver bomber.

[f3victor7]

@toqui1967

it is a helldiver

[survivor8bit]

who is the dumb ass that did not like this?

[askjiir]

@survivor8bit

It was me.. : /

[survivor8bit]

@askjiir well well well well well well well well well well doing your mom =]

[askjiir]

@survivor8bit

Have mercy. I won't do it again.

[bclmax]

does anyone have a map of truk lagoon at a good resolution showing the IJN vessels? the wiki map is too low of resolution

[rockyc1963]

Good video. A nit: at about 1:40 into the video there's a shot of a US carrier taken from above. The film is reversed -- it shows the carrier with the island on the port side. All the US carriers hat the island on the starboard side.

Rocky63

[MadDawgAce03]

Yea I just noticed that I hate it when they reverse the images like that. Good video though :)

[F4FWildcat]

I ran out of room, but I wanted to go on and state that there is often a hitch when using stock footage. Having said that, this in no way takes away from the over all value of the piece. Some of us, like me, need to get a life. :o) Thanks again for posting this and God bless those once young men.

[F4FWildcat]

This is a great post. The war in the Pacific so brutal and in many cases very remote. Brave men indeed! Two minor things. Near the beginning, during the arming sequence. A brief glimpse on a particular aircraft starting up. It was an aircraft with a four blade propeller. It was an A-1 Skyraider. An aircraft not available to the Navy until after WW2. The second, some of the aircraft taxing to launch position were TBD's. These aircraft were out of the fleet after Midway. Still a great video!

[skyraider1404]

You are absolutely correct about the A-1 and TBDs in the video. Keep in mind this was a very old documentary--and they often clipped together pieces of footage without taking due care for dead-on accuracy. I liked the narration by Walter Cronkite....thanks for watching!

[TerryOS]

My father was onboard the carrier where a lot of the footage was taken. USS Yorktown CV-10. My dad flew the TBF Avenger, and was shot down while bombing Truk. The "white balls floating up lazily" that Walter Cronkite described, hit my dad's plane, severed an oil line and he had to ditch in the Pacific. He and his crew members were saved by the USS Sea Raven submarine. All survived. Great to watch thanks for uploading this video.

[skyraider1404]

TerryOS...thanks for sharing your story!.....that's why I put up these videos--so that people will know about men like your dad.....

[Toddinfantry]

Great story...thank you.

If your Dad is still alive please thank him for all of us for his service.

[TurkishHistorian1923]

Very good !

5 * * * * *

[TurkGucu3457]

5 *****

[XTR6602007]

Awesome clip!!

Really enjoyed it.

Thank you very much for posting!!!

[rickey5353]

It would be nice to get the whole Air Power series on You Tube.

[wqa680]

すばらしい!

[gocal777]

great clip, congrats!

[NAVC130VET]

That is some great footage and impressive, thanks for the video.  Exciting stuff

[skyraider1404]

Thanks!..I hope to dig up some more older clips....

[NAVC130VET]

Please do. I have a strong interst in WWII pacific theater. Truk, Santa Cruz, and others. Just great fascinating stuff

[skyraider1404]

Be sure to check out my 1941 color shots of US Navy aircraft taken from the movie "Dive Bomber"....great views of scarce old aircraft such as the TBD Devastator and the SB2U Vindicator....

[NAVC130VET]

Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about

[cajunhornet60]

GREAT Video!!!

[TheSanityInspector]

Excellent stuff, thanks for posting.