JFM Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 Since I love to drool over carrier pictures, thought I'd start a post where everyone could contribute some to drool over. I'll start by posting a few I've gathered off the web or from friends over the decades. You can see these all over the web on a million sites, but nice to have a bunch centrally located here. We'll keep the subjects from the PTO in WW2--hopefully many of them will be in Combat Pilot eventually. Hornet fitting out at Newport News, 1941 Hornet at Newport News, 1941 View from approx same location on Hornet during Doolittle Raid takeoffs Enterprise, I think at Pearl Harbor, May 1942. She's the only one of the Yorktowns that had that massive ladder leading to the foretop like that. Enterprise, Pearl Harbor, 1942. In the original photo (some 5000 pixels wide), if you open to full-size you can read "CANADA DRY" on one of the boxes near the forward 1.1-inch mount. USS Yorktown, 1937 Saratoga, Puget Sound, May 1945 Someone can fill in any details of the below carrier shots. Shoho Hiryu Ryūjō, 1934 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javelina Posted May 26 Share Posted May 26 Wow, that is some good "stuff". Thanks!. Post more! 1 Quote 13900k , 64GB, RTX4090, Win 11, TMW, Virpil WarBRD, MFG Crosswinds, TrackIR, Reverb G2, PointCTRL, Buttkicker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted May 27 Share Posted May 27 Wonderful photo's, nice and clear. Many thanks JFM for posting. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted May 28 Author Share Posted May 28 I'll put up some more until others do, too. Kaga. For some reason, I love this big barn. Be awesome to see her in CP. USS Yorktown CV-10 USS Franklin Color views of Enterprise in 1941. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted May 31 Author Share Posted May 31 Hornet and Enterprise. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted June 3 Author Share Posted June 3 USS Wasp CV-7 USS Lexington CV2 USS Monterey CVL-26. I know the thread is titled "CV," but so what. 😀 USS Enterprise 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javelina Posted June 3 Share Posted June 3 incredible views, thank you. keep them coming! 👍 1 Quote 13900k , 64GB, RTX4090, Win 11, TMW, Virpil WarBRD, MFG Crosswinds, TrackIR, Reverb G2, PointCTRL, Buttkicker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelsup_cavu Posted June 4 Share Posted June 4 Nice images @JFM. 😎 Wheels Quote Download Missions, Skins, & Essential files for IL-2 1946 and several other game series from Mission4Today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted June 5 Author Share Posted June 5 Wildcat trapping on Enterprise Zuiho TBD on Enterprise Hellcats on Yorktown CV-10. Classic photo. Hellcats on Saratoga Avenger trapping on Enterprise Hellcat cat shot (said to be) off Gambier Bay CVE-73 Avengers taking off from USS Monterey CVL-26 Kate landing on Shokaku Zuikaku 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelsup_cavu Posted June 6 Share Posted June 6 Cool pics @JFM. Having to land knowing that you could not go around if you missed a wire had to be more than just a little bit nerve wracking. Wheels Quote Download Missions, Skins, & Essential files for IL-2 1946 and several other game series from Mission4Today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted June 13 Author Share Posted June 13 Kates attacking Yorktown at Midway. Yorktown at Midway. Devs, note that exploding AAA doesn't produce an immediate spherical puffball of smoke but rather the smoke is elongated/matches the shell's direction of movement at the time of its detonation. Over time the smoke spreads/disperses into the puffballs. No sim (AFAIK) has captured this trajectory realism. Hornet at Santa Cruz Enterprise at Santa Cruz Enterprise's forward elevator is blown into the air by a kamikaze strike 14 May 1945 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted June 13 Author Share Posted June 13 Saratoga and Illustrious 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper117 Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 31 minutes ago, JFM said: Enterprise's forward elevator is blown into the air by a kamikaze strike 14 May 1945 Flippin eck... what a picture! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted June 21 Author Share Posted June 21 Various shots of Hornet CV-8. 7 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boom Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 Luv the photo's, keep 'em coming JFM. A couple of comments. From what positions were Flight control directed from on Zuiho and Shoho. Not having an Island seems quite a drawback. And it always surprises me to see so many sailors watching flight operations, of any nationality. The bridge area's and deck always seem crowded by gawkers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javelina Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 On 6/21/2023 at 5:38 AM, JFM said: Various shots of Hornet CV-8. Looks like my approaches... 😁 2 Quote 13900k , 64GB, RTX4090, Win 11, TMW, Virpil WarBRD, MFG Crosswinds, TrackIR, Reverb G2, PointCTRL, Buttkicker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted June 22 Author Share Posted June 22 11 hours ago, Boom said: Luv the photo's, keep 'em coming JFM. A couple of comments. From what positions were Flight control directed from on Zuiho and Shoho. Not having an Island seems quite a drawback. And it always surprises me to see so many sailors watching flight operations, of any nationality. The bridge area's and deck always seem crowded by gawkers. I'm not learned enough to say. Hopefully someone with that knowledge will chime in (and include some pictures!). 😀As far as all the spectators, in the 1930s/40s their lives weren't dominated staring at phones 24/7, and watching planes and other ships was cheap entertainment. I was not in the navy so I don't know how accessible areas of the flight deck would be to those not involved in the operations. But, as an example, George Gay wrote or said (I can't remember if I read it in his book or saw it in a video interview I have) he watched the Doolittle launches from a catwalk port-forward, pretty close to the area that the second and third photos in this thread were taken. So, he had no duty and was pretty much just gawking. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted June 29 Author Share Posted June 29 Japanese propaganda film. The first 60 seconds show Jills taking off from Zuikaku, including a fantastic rear cockpit view of the carrier. They could really crank their seats up for better vis when three-pointed. 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
javelina Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 (edited) would be cool to fly this mission Wolfgang Wurm Edited July 12 by javelina 6 Quote 13900k , 64GB, RTX4090, Win 11, TMW, Virpil WarBRD, MFG Crosswinds, TrackIR, Reverb G2, PointCTRL, Buttkicker 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ÆþelrædUnræd Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 44 minutes ago, javelina said: would be cool to fly this mission Why are those Wildcats on deck? They obviously can't have been there when the Mitchells took off, and the part of the deck that's left seems a bit short for 5 Wildcats to take off from. So if there's enough room to store them down in the hangar, why put them up there? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelsup_cavu Posted June 29 Share Posted June 29 53 minutes ago, javelina said: would be cool to fly this mission I tend to agree. Something I have never found is a diagram of where all 16 planes were staged for the take off. You can see that several were pushed back and their tails angled over the side of the deck but all the images I have found only show about 12 or 13 of the 16 aircraft that went on the raid. Wheels 1 Quote Download Missions, Skins, & Essential files for IL-2 1946 and several other game series from Mission4Today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trooper117 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 (edited) All B-25's were tethered to the flight deck. (16 aircraft I believe). Hornets aircraft would have been stowed away below in the hanger deck... Found this... https://uss-hornet.org/doolittle Edited June 30 by Trooper117 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calos_01 Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 (edited) 17 hours ago, javelina said: would be cool to fly this mission Making Mitchell just for one mission would be inefficient, so I hope we get another type of mission in that case.🙂 Edited June 30 by Calos_01 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFM Posted June 30 Author Share Posted June 30 Don't be too quick to chastise the painting for showing Wildcats on deck! Hornet's planes were in the hangar but some Wildcats were on deck. Why? Dunno. Maybe to make room in the hangar for working on other planes? Looks as if the forward and aft elevators were open for use. But, again, no idea. But I've seen some pics of Wildcats on deck with the Mitchells. Note that when they left Alameda, they had Mitchells tied down along the length of the flight deck up to the forward elevator. It was until (IIRC) the day before launch (if not, not long before) when they were respotted aft for takeoff. Wildcats way forward and to starboard. This shot shows a few Dauntlesses mixed in. Two to starboard, and looks like two to port (you can see the red/white striped rudders). Aft elevator appears open and unobstructed. You always read about how the raid took off in crappy, rainy weather, but photos reveal it was intermittently squally, with periods of sun. This shot below, for instance, was clearly taken in partial if not full sunshine, as overcast skies do not create such a heavy/dark shadow. By contrast, this one features no shadows and a wetter deck (although some of that was from bow spray). No matter the sun, the seas were rough. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelsup_cavu Posted June 30 Share Posted June 30 1 hour ago, JFM said: It was until (IIRC) the day before launch (if not, not long before) when they were respotted aft for takeoff. Which is what I am saying I can never find a good picture or diagram depicting. Wheels Quote Download Missions, Skins, & Essential files for IL-2 1946 and several other game series from Mission4Today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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