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wow, they found the Hornet... 3 1/2 miles down

Days

Commentator
Bloody Santa Cruz. Good day for the Japs, they more or less finished off the American carriers; sunk the Hornet and badly damaged the Enterprise. But the Japanese navy didn't have the landing craft needed to take back Henderson field. US Marines held out, against all odds, and totally on their own. The Enterprise returned as fast as she could, with nothing more than a deck, her elevators still not repaired. At that point, she was not able to go into battle, but what she did was launch planes that landed at Henderson field... and brought much needed supplies. Those planes included SBD Dauntlesses, which then took out the 9 troop transports the Japs had sent to take back their airstrip. The transports had already arrived, but rough seas had kept them from landing... it was a bloody miracle that we held onto Henderson field.

Japan really only had two new heavy weight aircraft carriers for the war; the Shokaku and the Zuikaku, both of which were damaged at the battle of the Coral Sea and went in for repairs, and were being repaired at Tokyo when the Japanese attacked Midway without them. America had three new heavy weight carriers for the war; the Enterprise, Hornet, and Lexington. The Lexington was badly damaged at Coral Sea also and put in for repairs at Pearl Harbor, but was sent out to the battle of Midway with about 100 dock workers and materials to finish the deck at sea. This turned out fortunate because the Lexington was damaged early in the battle but they were able to repair the deck again during the battle and the Lexington kept fighting. Finally, when the only carrier left for the japs, the Hiryu, launched all their remaining planes after the Lexington a 2nd time, they sunk the Lexington.

While Shokaku and Zuikaku were still repairing, the Enterprise and the Hornet bolted for Guadalcanal and launched a surprise raid that took the outpost airfield the japs had built to operate from and cut off Australia. This was the real turning point of the war. The Shokaku and Zuikaku then returned to battle against the Enterprise and the Hornet and took back control of the Solomons, albeit, they were not able to land enough marines to take back Henderson field, because they lacked troop transports. But the Zuikaku and the Shokaku managed to sink the Hornet and damage the Enterprise, so they won the day at Santa Cruz.

The Hornet sunk in deep waters... it was an amazing find. click on this link and watch the video; CBS was onboard doing a documentary on the search for the Hornet when suddenly they found the ship on their first attempt. They linked the ship's discovery with the last surviving crew member of the Hornet and they actually put a clear picture of his gun mount on the screen... amazing stuff.

Wreckage of World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet discovered
 
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Days

Commentator
Pretty good stuff there. Saw that posted on several sites yesterday and Monday I believe.
Did you like my concise synopsis of the carrier war in the Pacific? I was always frustrated reading various accounts of the war, that they failed to follow the theme of the new carriers entered and how they faced off in dramatic fashion. Most historians try to paint Midway as the turning point of the war, but if you concentrate on new carriers, the Japs really only lost 2 light carriers (the Soryu and Hiryu) to our heavy carrier (the Lexington). Then at the battle of Santa Cruz we damaged another new light carrier (the Zuiho) but failed to find the Shokaku and the Zuikaku, so it was payback for Midway and the Japs were in total control of the water after sinking the Hornet and badly damaging the Enterprise. Midway - if you ask me - was not the turning point of the war. Midway gave the American forces the hope of victory, but ask me, holding onto Henderson field was a turning point. Finally, we were on the offensive. And even though the Enterprise wasn't able to do battle, she was still able to deliver the airfield... it was an amazing turn of events.

But most Americans think that after Midway, our navy dominated the Japanese navy. Quite the opposite happened, their navy dominated our navy ... and yet we still managed to turn the Japanese back in the Solomons. Real victory in the carrier war came when we built the F6 hellcat... the entrance of new carriers filled with hellcats was what dominated the Japanese navy, not the victory at Midway.
 
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Days

Commentator
Yes I did like it. Not enough credit is given to the Silent Service too.
Stealing orders from the enemy was a huge factor in the war. America utilized native tribes for their communications, their native tongues were completely unknown to the enemy... that was a huge advantage. Give Nimitz credit for gambling on the small amount of communication they were able to steal before Midway; he set up our carriers perfect and held position when the other battle groups were detected, Nimitz rightly directed our carriers to look for Jap carrier group to come in from the Northwest, Nimitz was in Hawaii, had the Japanese been able to steal those communications to the carriers... wow, that whole battle would have gone completely different.

People don't realize that Midway was a trap that the Japs were laying for our carriers, and the centerpiece of the trap was a line of submarines that took position in between Pearl and Midway, ready to radio the whereabouts of our carriers when they came to defend Midway... but because we had stolen enough of their orders to understand the dates involved, we managed to slip our carriers past the submarine line the day before they arrived. So the Japs didn't believe our carriers were in the waters at Midway.
 
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Bloody Santa Cruz. Good day for the Japs, they more or less finished off the American carriers; sunk the Hornet and badly damaged the Enterprise. But the Japanese navy didn't have the landing craft needed to take back Henderson field. US Marines held out, against all odds, and totally on their own. The Enterprise returned as fast as she could, with nothing more than a deck, her elevators still not repaired. At that point, she was not able to go into battle, but what she did was launch planes that landed at Henderson field... and brought much needed supplies. Those planes included SBD Dauntlesses, which then took out the 9 troop transports the Japs had sent to take back their airstrip. The transports had already arrived, but rough seas had kept them from landing... it was a bloody miracle that we held onto Henderson field.

Japan really only had two new heavy weight aircraft carriers for the war; the Shokaku and the Zuikaku, both of which were damaged at the battle of the Coral Sea and went in for repairs, and were being repaired at Tokyo when the Japanese attacked Midway without them. America had three new heavy weight carriers for the war; the Enterprise, Hornet, and Lexington. The Lexington was badly damaged at Coral Sea also and put in for repairs at Pearl Harbor, but was sent out to the battle of Midway with about 100 dock workers and materials to finish the deck at sea. This turned out fortunate because the Lexington was damaged early in the battle but they were able to repair the deck again during the battle and the Lexington kept fighting. Finally, when the only carrier left for the japs, the Hiryu, launched all their remaining planes after the Lexington a 2nd time, they sunk the Lexington.

While Shokaku and Zuikaku were still repairing, the Enterprise and the Hornet bolted for Guadalcanal and launched a surprise raid that took the outpost airfield the japs had built to operate from and cut off Australia. This was the real turning point of the war. The Shokaku and Zuikaku then returned to battle against the Enterprise and the Hornet and took back control of the Solomons, albeit, they were not able to land enough marines to take back Henderson field, because they lacked troop transports. But the Zuikaku and the Shokaku managed to sink the Hornet and damage the Enterprise, so they won the day at Santa Cruz.

The Hornet sunk in deep waters... it was an amazing find. click on this link and watch the video; CBS was onboard doing a documentary on the search for the Hornet when suddenly they found the ship on their first attempt. They linked the ship's discovery with the last surviving crew member of the Hornet and they actually put a clear picture of his gun mount on the screen... amazing stuff.

Wreckage of World War II aircraft carrier USS Hornet discovered
Decade After Decadent Decade, Generation After Degenerate Generation


In World War II, the Japanese lost their worst while America lost her best. Our momentum lasted until 1960, but, like France after World War I, we've been going downhill ever since.
 
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