WW II in the Pacific

Add your posts and photographs about battles and other actions in this section
User avatar
Pelican
Posts: 9730
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:10 pm

WW II in the Pacific

Unread post by Pelican »

HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
User avatar
Pelican
Posts: 9730
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:10 pm

Re: WW II in the Pacific

Unread post by Pelican »

US Destroyers Raid Japanese Invasion Fleet - Battle of Balikpapan Documentary

See - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwY2uATMDe4 - LFT
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
User avatar
Pelican
Posts: 9730
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:10 pm

Re: WW II in the Pacific

Unread post by Pelican »

A portion of the British Pacific Fleet in 1945.

At the time, the core of the fleet was made up of six fleet carriers. Five of those fleet carriers are seen in this photo. The carriers are HMS Indomitable, HMS Indefatigable, HMS Illustrious, HMS Victorious, and HMS Formidable (HMS Implacable was the missing sixth fleet carrier). The carriers are joined by HMS Unicorn, a light carrier that served as an aircraft maintenance ship.
The British Pacific Fleet was the mightiest fleet ever assembled by the Royal Navy. In addition to the six fleet carriers at the core, it also had four light carriers, nine escort carriers, five battleships, two aircraft maintenance ships, eleven cruisers, four support cruisers, and numerous escort vessels in addition to the fleet train.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
User avatar
Pelican
Posts: 9730
Joined: Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:10 pm

Re: WW II in the Pacific

Unread post by Pelican »

Last letters from young kamikaze pilots provide rare insights into Japan’s feared special attack unit


Think of a kamikaze pilot and the image that comes to mind is probably a screaming face obscured by goggles embarking on a death plunge.

Or perhaps no face at all and just a fighter plane plowing into a warship.

It’s probably not a teenager weeping in a dank, half-underground bunker with his bedsheets pulled up over his head.

The youngest kamikaze pilot was Yasuo Tanaka, just 16. He flew an Okha – essentially a bomb with wings but no wheels dropped from a mother aircraft. He died on May 11, 1945. You can see his photograph at the Kanoya museum, on the grounds of a current Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force base.

Continues, including quality photos at - https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/travel/japan-ka ... index.html - LFT

Personal comment from Tim:

"Back in the 1980s I worked extensively in Indonesia, I had a friend whose family were hotel owners and tourism operators in Sulawesi. Through them I met a charming old Japanese chap who represented a tour company in Tokyo. In 1945 he had been nominated as a teenage kamikaze pilot, he finished his training and was imminently due for his one-way flight when the war ended. One weekend he suggested we all go for a picnic on one of the outlying islands not far from Jakarta, how to get there, I can rent a Cessna and fly us there he said, we didn’t know he was a pilot which is when he told us his story. We didnt go, no plane I think, but meeting him told me that these young lads were not just ciphers, they were actually someone’s son, brother, relative caught up in the madness of a war long since lost."
HMS Pelican 1938 - 1958 GGCV L86 U86 F86 What I Have I Hold ~ A wonderful bird is the Pelican its beak can hold more than its belly can.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic

Return to “Battles, other Actions and Naval History”