• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

USS Johnston Found, 21,000 feet down.

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
From reading the wiki account, it does sound like another of the stories from WW2 that really ought to be made into a movie (seems like there are a lot of them - the further away in time it gets the more astonishing the level of self-sacrifice diplayed by so many seems to feel). I can already see that Halsey guy being painted as a villain, followed by an avalanche of newspaper articles defending him and complaining about the portrayal.
 
BUTCH1 said:
From Admiral Nimitz: "Where is, repeat, where is Task Force 34? The world wonders". Halsey hung those people out to dry falling for the decoy further North, they fought like fucking lions anyway, to give a proper sense of just how badly mismatched it was the Johnston main armament were "5, the Yamoto's were EIGHTEEN inches!. Also of considerable note were the many aircraft that used whatever armament they could find to go after them including dry strafing runs when ammo ran out just to draw off fire, balls of fucking steel that generation had, balls of steel.
Click to expand...

The pilots of Taffy 1, 2, and 3 threw everything at them except the knives in the galley. Most of the planes weren't armed for anti ship action since they were supporting the landing when Kurita showed up. As a result you got them dropping HE and depth charges on cruisers and battleships instead of all armor piecing bombs or more of the limited stash of torpedoes CVEs carried.

Also major props to the good people who designed the fine 5 inch gun and its radar guided fire control system.
 
For those who want to read an excellent account of the battle I would recommend this book:
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour eBook: Hornfischer, James D.

Very good read with lots of personal accounts of the sailors involved, with maps and illustrations to help visualize how various stages of the battle progressed. (Last time the battle was in the news someone on this forum recommended it, I picked it up having read a brief description of the action in a magazine article once and wanted to know more.)
 
pmv said:
From reading the wiki account, it does sound like another of the stories from WW2 that really ought to be made into a movie (seems like there are a lot of them - the further away in time it gets the more astonishing the level of self-sacrifice diplayed by so many seems to feel). I can already see that Halsey guy being painted as a villain, followed by an avalanche of newspaper articles defending him and complaining about the portrayal.
Click to expand...


Agreed, although "Villain" is a wee bit strong; "stupid", or "foolishly ego driven"...absolutely.
 
feralkid said:
Agreed, although "Villain" is a wee bit strong; "stupid", or "foolishly ego driven"...absolutely.
Click to expand...

Yes, I see him being portrayed like one of those inept Star Fleet Commodores they always seemed to have in Star Trek (seems as if no officer senior to Kirk ever made a correct decision).
 
uallas5 said:
For those who want to read an excellent account of the battle I would recommend this book:
The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour eBook: Hornfischer, James D.

Very good read with lots of personal accounts of the sailors involved, with maps and illustrations to help visualize how various stages of the battle progressed. (Last time the battle was in the news someone on this forum recommended it, I picked it up having read a brief description of the action in a magazine article once and wanted to know more.)
Click to expand...
Thanks for that link, saw this on the page,
“This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”
Damm.
 
K1052 said:
The pilots of Taffy 1, 2, and 3 threw everything at them except the knives in the galley. Most of the planes weren't armed for anti ship action since they were supporting the landing when Kurita showed up. As a result you got them dropping HE and depth charges on cruisers and battleships instead of all armor piecing bombs or more of the limited stash of torpedoes CVEs carried.

Also major props to the good people who designed the fine 5 inch gun and its radar guided fire control system.
Click to expand...
Those sailors back then said "CVE" meant "combustible, vulnerable, expendable" LOL..
 
K1052 said:
I'm sure the guys in the Shermans would sympathize.

Underrated ships though. Extremely useful.
Click to expand...
Specially in the battle of the Atlantic, you don't need swarms of planes to counter the U-boat menace, just fly ahead of the convoy and attack and or force them to dive, once underwater they lacked the speed to get into a good attack position. Later in the war CVE's were part of "hunter-killer" groups that not only defended convoys but went on the offensive searching for U-boats. Even if just spotted the plane could report it's position to the escorts who could attack them.
 
BUTCH1 said:
Specially in the battle of the Atlantic, you don't need swarms of planes to counter the U-boat menace, just fly ahead of the convoy and attack and or force them to dive, once underwater they lacked the speed to get into a good attack position. Later in the war CVE's were part of "hunter-killer" groups that not only defended convoys but went on the offensive searching for U-boats. Even if just spotted the plane could report it's position to the escorts who could attack them.
Click to expand...

Yep, U-boats were pretty much screwed when CVEs started to sail with convoys in 43. Cheap portable airfields made a lot of stuff possible while also freeing up the big fleet carriers to go do their thing.
 
My first manager was a WWII destroyer sailor that served in the Pacific. He had a number of stories about how it got fucking real when the Kamikaze attacks first started.

My dad was the XO on a destroyer in the North Atlantic on convoy escort duty, and how the U-boats were the shit that kept you awake at night.

My uncle was on an LST and I still have a letter he sent home describing the invasion of Iwo Jima, from his vantage point on the ship. He didn't make it home, died in Japan during the occupation after the war ended.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top