Happy National Send a Handwritten Letter Day, observed on 17 January, is dedicated to the practice of sending handwritten letters, citing Benjamin Franklin’s birthday as the reason for the date, as he was the first postmaster general.
Official period caption, circa October 1987, Persian Gulf: “A yeoman reads a letter from his wife while standing starboard lookout watch at an M2 .50-caliber machine gun station aboard the dock landing ship USS Mount Vernon (LSD 39).”
PH2 (Sw) Jeffrey Elliott. 330-CFD-DN-ST-88-03593
Note the talker set over his head and neck (the Mk II talker helmet is on the deck), the classic Navy dungaree cutoffs, and the sandbagged M60 GPMG on the bow. The Eastland boat shoes– a must-have in the 80s!– are most likely unauthorized while the Ma Deuce is probably older than the lookout.
The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Northland conducts a live firing of the MK 75 76mm weapons system while underway, on September 20, 2020, in the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo: USCG)
As we have discussed, the MK 75 OTO Melera 76/62C Compact gun has been sunset by the U.S. Navy and USCG after a 50-year-run, with the Ordnance Shop at the Coast Guard Yard taking ownership of the remnants of the program, tapped to support the guns on FFG-7 frigates and 378-foot cutters transferred overseas.
The CG Yard Ordnance Repair Facility recently completed a five-month overhaul of an MK75 gun mount for an international partner.
“This effort is part of a larger Foreign Military Sale Program, which prioritizes robust national security partnerships and U.S. global leadership.
The Yard is the only certified MK75 overhaul facility in the U.S. The Ordnance shop manufacturers and repairs critical components from decommissioned Navy donor guns, since these parts are no longer manufactured. After the overhaul, the weapon is boxed and shipped for transit to the international partner.”
Before:
After:
And packed up for return shipment.
Death in a box!
As to why it takes five months to refirb one of these mounts:
It takes that long because the shop has to remove/ship it, pre test, completely tear down, sand blasted all parts, send part for plating, source or get parts made that are no longer in the stock system, repair all corrosion, overhaul all hydraulic components with new gaskets/hardware, paint / repair everything, start assembling have QI come in for major sub component test, finish assembly, start the ISMAT / ISMEP testing, round 100 rounds, package the system, ship it, install it on new cutter/ship then Test it again on the ship and this is completed with up to a 3-4 man team while training new workers. It’s a big team effort, but rewarding the workers in that shop are really top-notch.
If you enjoy my always ad-free Warship Wednesday content, you can support it by buying me a cup of joe at https://buymeacoffee.com/lsozi As Henk says: “Warship Coffee – no sugar, just a pinch of salt!”
Warship Wednesday 14 January 2026: ‘A Complete Shambles’
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Catalog # 80-G-K—11242 (Color).
Above we see a great period Kodachrome showing the flight deck of the Commencement Bay-class “deluxe” jeep carrier USS Palau (CVE 122), looking forward past her tiny island, while operating in rough seas off the Florida Coast, 27 February 1950. The jumble of aircraft includes (left to right): a TBM-3S Avenger, an HO3S-1 helicopter (probably Bu #122528), and an “Able Dog” AD-3W radar picket Skyraider conversion.
While Palau was a war baby, commissioned some 80 years ago this week, she didn’t have a chance to earn any battle stars.
Nonetheless, this unsung little “jeep carrier” played an important role in naval, Marine, and aviation history and deserves more than a footnote– which is why we are here today.
The C-Bays
Of the 130 U.S./RN escort carriers– merchant ships hulls given a hangar, magazine, and flight deck– built during WWII, the late-war Commencement Bay class was by far the Cadillac of the design slope. Using lessons learned from the earlier Long Island, Avenger, Sangamon, Bogue, and Casablanca-class ships.
Like the hard-hitting Sangamon class, they were based on Maritime Commission T3 class tanker hulls (which they shared with the roomy replenishment oilers of the Chiwawa, Cimarron, and Ashtabula classes). From the keel up, these were made into flattops.
Pushing some 25,000 tons at full load, they could make 19 knots, which was faster than a lot of submarines looking to plug them. A decent suite of about 60 AAA guns spread across 5-inch, 40mm, and 20mm fittings could put as much flying lead in the air as a light cruiser of the day when enemy aircraft came calling.
Finally, they could carry a 30-40 aircraft airwing of single-engine fighter bombers and torpedo planes ready for a fight, or about twice that many planes if being used as a delivery ship.
Sounds good, right?
Of course, had the war run into 1946-47, the 33 planned vessels of the Commencement Bay class would have no doubt fought kamikazes, midget subs, and suicide boats tooth and nail just off the coast of the Japanese Home Islands.
However, the war ended in Sept. 1945 with only nine of the class barely in commission– most of those still on shake-down cruises. Just two, Block Island and Gilbert Islands, saw significant combat at Okinawa and Balikpapan, winning two and three battle stars, respectively. Kula Gulf and Cape Gloucester picked up a single battle star.
With the war over, some of the class, such as USS Rabaul and USS Tinian, though complete, were never commissioned and simply laid up in mothballs, never being brought to life. Four other ships were canceled before launching, just after the bomb on Nagasaki was dropped. In all, just 19 of the planned 33 were commissioned.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves.
Meet Palau
Our subject was the first (and only as of 2026) U.S. Navy warship named for the island group in the Carolines, some 850 miles east of Mindanao, which was the focus of the Operation Stalemate II landings in September 1944. The ensuing nine-week campaign for the islands was an Allied victory, but at a hard cost of over 10,000 casualties. Palau today is part of the Federated States of Micronesia, linked to the U.S. since 1986 via the Compact of Free Association.
Invasion of Angaur, Palau Islands, September 1944. Two amphibious tanks with gunners race toward the flaming shore of Anguar during the invasion of this island in the Palaus by the 81st Army Division. U.S. Coast Guard Photograph. NHHC Photograph Collection, L-File, Wars & Events.
Laid down on 9 February 1945 at Todd Pacific Shipyards, Tacoma, as Yard No. 78, Palau was built alongside sisters USS Rabaul (Yard No. 77, CVE-121) and Tinian (Yard No. 78, CVE-123), which likewise broke the class’s “Bay” naming convention and were instead named for Pacific Island battles.
The future USS Palau slid down the ways– just a week before the Japanese signaled they would quit the war– after being launched on 6 August 1945, sponsored by Mrs. J. P. Whitney, the wife of Capt. John Perry Whitney (USNA 1922). Of note, Whitney earned a Navy Cross as skipper of the escort carrier USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) of Taffy 3 fame during the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944.
Launching of the USS Palau (CVE122) at the Tacoma Pacific Shipyards, Tacoma, Wash. L-R: Mrs. Charlotte Bridget Matron of honor; Capt. John P. Whitney, USN, and Mrs. John P. Whitney sponsor. 80-G-326722
80-G-326720
USS Palau (CVE-122) Going Down the Ways After Launching at Todd Pacific Shipyards Inc., Tacoma, Washington. August 6, 1945. 80-G-326721
With the pressure off Todd to rush Palau to completion post VJ-Day, she only commissioned on 15 January 1946.
Starboard broadside of the USS Palau (CVE-122), likely shortly after she commissioned. 19-N-91598
CVE-122 at sea, likely on trials. 19-N-91599.
Palau’s first skipper was Capt. Willis Everett Cleaves (USNA 1924), who retired six months after she was commissioned and moved to the Retired List as a rear admiral, capping 22 years in service, his last task was to complete the new carrier’s shakedown cruise off California with the Corsairs of VMF-461 aboard, and deployment to the Atlantic Fleet via the Panama Canal. Cleaves had previously earned a Silver Star during the Aleutians campaign as commander of the seaplane tender USS Casco.
USS Palau, CVE-122, shake down cruise
Following post-shakedown shipyard availability, Palau was laid up, still in commission but with just a skeleton crew, at Norfolk in March 1946.
West Africa
Reactivated on 22 May 1947, Palau was deployed for carrier landing quals in the Gulf and Caribbean, then picked for a special assignment.
Our little carrier represented the U.S. at the Liberian Centennial Ceremonies at Monrovia, Liberia, in the last week of July 1947, sailing to West Africa via Recife. This included a visit by Liberian dignitaries and civilians, and attending events ashore. She steamed into Monrovia with a big Liberian flag on her mast and her band playing the Liberian national anthem.
USS Palau (CVE 122) at Monrovia, Liberia. Photograph released July 25, 1947, with the one-star red-white-and-blue Liberian flag atop her mast. Although Palau was inactive from June 1946 to May 1947, she still wears her wartime Camouflage Measure 21.80-G-399807
The band learned the anthem by ear in an unusual way– hearing U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. sang it to them as they crossed the Atlantic. Davis had previously served as military attaché in Liberia from 1909 to 1911, taking a break from his company in the 9th Cavalry, and was requested by the Liberian government to represent the U.S. in the ceremony. At the time, Davis was in his 49th year in uniform, having volunteered to fight Spain in 1898.
USS Palau (CVE-122) at anchor, with F4U Corsair fighters parked on her flight deck. The original photograph is dated July 1947. NH 106720
USS Palau (CVE 122) with American Minister Lanier onboard at Monrovia, Liberia. Photograph released July 25, 1947. 80-G-399800/ President William V.S. Tubman delivers an address at Civic Center. Photograph released July 26, 1947 80-G-399830
Palau returned to the east coast on 16 August and, after another yard availability at Boston, was again laid up at Norfolk through March 1948.
Reactivated for a second time, she was prepped for a 3 June to 7 August 1948 deployment to the Mediterranean, schlepping a load of aircraft (surplus ex-USAF Beechcraft AT-11 Kansan trainers) to Turkey as deck cargo.
The first successful heavier-than-air powered vehicle, which took off briefly in 1903, had been in England since 1928, and was at the time on exhibit at the Kingston Science Museum in London, where an estimated 10 million visitors had filed past it. Its place in London was filled by a 1:1 replica; the original was shipped back across the Atlantic, carefully disassembled and stored in three crates for permanent exhibition in the U.S. National Museum (the Smithsonian)
Handed over to the custody of Livingston Lord Satterthwait, the American Civil Air Attaché in London, on 18 October 1948, the crates made it to Halifax aboard the liner Mauretania, riding in style. The director of the Smithsonian’s National Air Museum, Paul E. Garber, met the aircraft in Nova Scotia and oversaw its transfer to the bluejackets aboard Palau on 16 November in what became a Navy operation.
Palau had been part of a two-week amphibious assault exercise in the North Atlantic with the destroyer USS Hobson (DMS-26), and ‘phibs USS Colonial (LSD-18) and Donner (LSD-20). After being open to the public for tours, she received the Wright Flyer with orders to repatriate the aircraft to the U.S., arriving two days later at New York NSY in Bayonne.
While aboard the carrier, the crates were guarded by two armed Marines the entire time, and during the transfer ceremony at Bayonne, an honor guard of six Sailors, six Marines, and an officer of each service was in attendance.
19 November 1948 The original Wright Brothers’ aeroplane, the 1903 “Kitty Hawk”, 1 of 3 crates being unloaded from the USS Palau (CVE-122) at the New York Naval Shipyard annex in Bayonne, NJ on November 19, 1948 on Operation Homecoming, enroute from London, England to Washington DC, for permanent exhibition in the US National Museum (the Smithsonian). Two of the 3 crates were reported to have been originally built by Orville Wright himself.
Trucked to DC from Bayonne, the guard was more than just ceremonial; they remained with the aircraft until it arrived at the Smithsonian on 22 November, under the command of LT (j.g.) Arthur E. Grabill, USN.
The reassembled Wright Flyer has been on display since December 1948.
Marine One
On 1 December 1947, the first experimental Marine Corps helicopter squadron, HMX-1, was activated at Quantico. The Nighthawks started small, with only 7 officers and 3 enlisted men, then quickly grew to 18 pilots and 81 enlisted. In the spring of 1948, the squadron received its first helicopters, five Sikorsky HO3S-1s– aircraft able to carry just a pilot and three Marine passengers– then commenced pilot training and qualifications.
MCB Quantico, VA – Inventor Igor Sikorsky, the father of American helicopters, visits HMX-1 at Marine Corps Air Station Quantico, Virginia. In the background is an HO3S-1 helicopter, one of the first two “Whirlybirds” assigned to the U. S. Marine Corps. Photo By: National Archives Photo (USMC) 127-N-A322389
As detailed in the squadron history, the first Marine helicopter operational deployment occurred in May 1948 when five HMX-1 “pinwheels” flying off Palau conducted 35 flights to land 66 men and several hundred pounds of communications equipment at Camp Lejeune during Packard II, an amphibious command post exercise.
One of five Sikorsky HO3S-1s from HMX-l prepares to land on USS Palau (CVE 122) during Operation Packard II in May 1948. USMC Photo
The squadron’s commanding officer, Colonel Edward C. Dyer, described the initial 18 May fly-on as “a complete shambles. There were sailors running all over the place in mortal danger of walking into tail rotors, and the Marines were totally disorganized as well. It was complete bedlam; there was no organization and no real system developed.”
Dyer and his pilots, working with Navy LSOs and Palau’s crew, hammered out procedures to be able to safely conduct simultaneous rotor-wing operations from the baby flattop, and five days later made history.
On 23 May 1948, the first airborne ship-to-shore movement began at Onslow Beach, Camp Lejeune, N.C. The first wave of the assault commenced with all five HO3S-1s taking off from Palau and arriving 30 minutes later in the landing zone. HMX-1 pilots made continuous flights, putting 66 Marines in the right place at the right time.
Fast forward a year later, and HMX-1, working again with Palau, had its act together with Packard III.
In May 1949, HMX-1 participated in another exercise, deploying eight Piasecki HRPs, three Sikorsky HO3Ss, and a single Bell HTL-2. The squadron and aircraft performed beyond expectations. Flying over choppy seas that swamped several landing craft, the HRPs—known as “Flying Bananas”—quickly put 230 troops and 14,000 pounds of cargo in the designated landing zone.
USS Palau (CVE-122) with Piasecki HRP-1 helicopters on deck.
It was thought that Packard III vetted the concept of 184 HRPs, operating from six CVEs, could lift a complete Marine regimental combat team ashore. Of course, only 28 HRPs existed, so there was that.
This would be repeated in Packard IV in May 1950, which led to the largest single helicopter formation to that time, taking place when six HRPs, six HO3Ss, and one HTL flew by a reviewing stand at Quantico.
An HRP “Flying Banana” troop-carrying helicopter takes off from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Palau (CVE 122), during exercise Packard IV conducted in the Potomac River near Quantico, Virginia, on 8 May 1950. An HO3S-1 observation helicopter hovers in the background.
This paid off in the real world in very short order.
On 13 September 1951, HMR-161, using more advanced Sikorsky HRS-1s carried to Korea aboard the escort carrier USS Sitkoh Bay, conducted operation Windmill I, history’s first mass helicopter resupply mission, lifting an 18,848 pounds of combat gear seven miles to a Marine battalion on the front lines, then evacuating 74 casualties to the rear. They followed that up with Operation Bumblebee in October when a dozen HRS-1s flew 958 Marines of the 3d Battalion, 7th Marines, in 156 sorties over 15 miles from their base to the crest of a mountain on the front lines to relieve another battalion in a little more than six hours.
“Operation Bumblebee marked an important point in the development of Marine Corps aviation, showing that helicopters could carry enough troops in the first wave of an amphibious operation to achieve mass on an objective in a relatively brief period of time.”
But back to our girl…
Other than Marine missions
Grumman TBM-3W Avenger early warning aircraft of Composite Squadron VC-12 on the deck of the escort carrier USS Palau (CV-122), off New York, between September 1948 and July 1950. Note the “potbelly” AN/APS-20 S-band search radar. NNAM 1996.253.1211
Project Skyhook involved the use of polyethylene balloons carrying instrument packages to altitudes in excess of 100,000 feet (30,480+ meters); these balloons provided a stable vehicle for long-duration observations and offered the opportunity of collecting highly specialized information and photographs.
November 1949 Project Skyhook balloon being prepared for launch aboard USS Palau (CVE-122). Corsairs parked aft belong to Marine Fighter Squadron 212 (VMF-212).
On 8 March 1950, Operation Portrex began on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. The exercise was the first use of airborne troops in support of an amphibious landing. The two-week-long exercise evaluates joint service doctrine for the combined operation. Among the brass in attendance were SECNAV Francis P. Matthews, SECDEF Louis Johnson, and Admiral Forrest P. Sherman, Chief of Naval Operations.
Palau was front and center, hosting the brass and the umpire group.
USS Palau (CVE 122) operating in rough seas off the Florida coast on her way to participate in Operation Portrex, 27 February 1950. Planes parked aft include AD-3W and TBM-3S types. National Archives photograph, 80-G-K-11249 (Color).
Douglas AD-3W Skyraider Radar Picket Aircraft ready for catapulting on USS Palau (CVE 122) during Operation Portrex, March 1950. National Archives photograph, 80-G-K-11718 (Color).
Douglas AD-3W Radar Picket Aircraft on the flight deck of USS Palau (CVE 122) during Operation Portrex, March 1950. National Archives photograph, 80-G-K-11721 (Color).
Grumman TBM-3S Avenger ready for catapulting on USS Palau (CVE 122) during Operation Portrex, March 1950. National Archives photograph, 80-G-K-11699 (Color).
Sikorski HO3S-1 Helicopter (probably Bu #122528) after landing on board USS Palau (CVE 122) during Operation Portrex, March 1950. National Archives photograph, 80-G-K-11715 (Color).
USS Palau (CVE 122) ZP2K Navy blimp takes off from the after flight deck, past TBM-3S airplanes, during Operation Portrex, March 1950. National Archives photograph, 80-G-K-11706 (Color).
USS Palau (CVE-122) underway, 10 May 1950. Note the anti-submarine Grumman TBM-3E Avengers on deck. Photo # CVE-122-554-(L)-5-10-50.
It was in June 1950 that a young BM3 shipped aboard Palau, serving as a Motor Whaleboat Coxswain in the carrier’s Deck Division until the next November, when he left for USS Tripoli (CVE-64) and dive school. That young coxswain was the future BMCM(MDV) Carl Maxie Brashear, USN.
She also made four short deployments as an active ASW carrier out of Norfolk during 1951-52, backfilling larger fleet carriers that were parked off Korea, providing close support to troops fighting the Chinese. During these cruises, she carried a sub-busting squadron of Avengers or Guardians, augmented with an HO3S-1 helicopter det from HU-2.
One of the largest single-engine aircraft in Naval service, the AF-2W Guardian usually flew as part of a two-plane “hunter-killer” team, its role being the search for submarines (note the large radome) while the depth charge/rocket-carrying AF-2S Guardian attacked. With an 11-ton max takeoff weight, they had a 60-foot wingspan and 43-foot length. They were replaced by the “all-in-one” S-2 Tracker in 1955.
These deployments included a January- June 1951 cruise to the North Atlantic under 2nd Fleet orders with VS-32 aboard, and a follow-on deployment with VS-24.
A TBM-3W Avenger (BuNo 69476) from Anti-Submarine Squadron 32 (VS-32) “Norsemen” aboard the escort carrier USS Palau (CVE-122) in June 1951.
Palau in 1952 saw two short cruises to the Mediterranean to operate with the 6th Fleet: 19 April to 28 June with VS-31, and August to September with VS-27.
USS Palau (CVE-122) at anchor in Augusta Bay, Sicily (Italy), between 14 and 19 May 1952. The submarines USS Chivo (SS-341) and USS Burrfish (SSR-312) are visible alongside. Palau, with assigned AF-2W/AF-2S Guardians of Air Anti-Submarine Squadron 31 (VS-31) “Topcats” was deployed to the Mediterranean from 19 April to 28 June 1952.
Palau, designated for inactivation in early 1953, was retained in commission to perform one final ferry assignment, carrying planes to Yokosuka, Japan (8 August – 22 October). On her return, she entered the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, decommissioningon 15 June 1954.
The rest of her class soon joined her on red lead row.
The Commencement Bay class listing in Janes, 1954
The Commencement Bay class listing in Janes, 1960, by which time they had been redesignated AKVs
Berthed with the Philadelphia Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Palau remained a unit of that fleet until struck from the Navy List 1 April 1960 and sold, 13 July 1960, to Jacques Pierot, Jr. and Sons, New York for breaking.
The last of her sisters in active duty, USS Gilbert Islands (CVE-107),was converted to a Major Communications Relay Ship (AGMR) in 1963 and renamed Annapolis. This allowed her another decade of life in service that saw her transmit the first documented ship-to-shore satellite radio message, and she was decommissioned in 1969.
Epilogue
Of note, all eight of Palau’s skippers were pre-WWII Annapolis ring knockers who all retired as one-stars.
Some parts were salvaged from Palau at the scrapyard in Sestao, primarily the preservation igloos over her stern 40m mounts used while in mothballs, and were installed in Spain’s Picos de Europa as a mountaineers’ hut, the Cabana Veronica.
As for Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1), they are still very much around and have been in the business of ferrying Presidents since 1957.
And they still make carrier landings, as required.
251002-N-SK738-1122 ATLANTIC OCEAN (Oct. 2, 2025) A VH-60N Whitehawk attached to the “Nighthawks” of Marine Helicopter Squadron One (HMX-1) prepares to land aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) in preparation for the Titans of the Sea Presidential Review. (U.S Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Pierce Luck)
Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive
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Unlike many U.S. allies and Western fleets in general, which got into the submarine game post WWII, South Korea never operated surplus American fleet boats for a couple of decades, then upgraded to German SSKs– they just went German from the get-go.
South Korea’s first full-sized (not midget) submarine, ROKS Jang Bogo (SSK-61/SS-061), was recently decommissioned after nearly 34 years of service. A German HDW-made Type 209/1200 boat ordered on 12 August 1986, she was named for the 8th-century Korean admiral Chang Pogo. Launched in September 1991, she was commissioned in October 1992.
Most famously, Jang Bogo was reportedly never detected as a Red OPFOR boat during RIMPAC 2004, virtually firing 40 torpedoes, “sinking” 15 ships, including the super carrier USS John C. Stennis. A serious wakeup call to the USN when it came to ASW against a modern SSK.
040706-N-6811L-080 Pacific Ocean (July 6, 2004) – Republic of Korea Submarine Chang Bogo (SSK 61) heads out to sea during exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC). U. S. Navy photo 040706-N-6811L-080 by Photographer’s Mate 1st Class David A. Levy (RELEASED)
Eight of her sisters, upgraded by Daewoo, continue in operation in ROKN service at least for now, carrying the locally-made and very advanced White Shark heavy torpedo and submarine-launched Hae Sung anti-ship missiles. They are being replaced by a licensed copy of the German Type 214, the KSS-II/Sohn Wonyil-class, AIP-equipped 1,800-ton boats, made by HII and Daewoo.
Here we see the massive six-engine (four pulling, two pushing) French Latécoère 521 flying boat, Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris, at anchor while visiting Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, 14 January 1936. The aircraft, the only one of her type built, was at Pensacola during her travels to celebrate 300 years of the French in the Americas in 1935 and was damaged during a hurricane at the station, later repaired.
NARA 80-CF-4935-1
French Lieutenant de Vaisseau Paris being fueled on the beach while visiting Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, 14 January 1936. 80-CF-4935-3a
In its civilian service configuration, the FLVP was designed to transport up to 72 passengers in luxurious conditions, while simultaneously being the largest aircraft built in France and one of the first large passenger aircraft capable of flying trans-Atlantic routes. Powered by a half-dozen Hispano-Suiza 860hp V-12s, she was 103 feet long with a 161-foot wingspan.
Used by Air France on several record-setting proving runs in the late 1930s, when WWII came, FLVP was acquired by the French Navy’s air arm (Aviation Navale) and used for maritime patrol alongside her three upgraded Latécoère 523 sisters (l’Algol, l’Aldébaran, and l’Altair). As part of Flotilla E.6, based in Port-Lyautey, Morocco, they conducted patrols over the Atlantic.
After the fall of France, FLVP was flown to Berre, near Marseille, and remained there for safekeeping by the Vichy government until November 1942, and then by the Germans, who captured her intact after the Torch landings. Following the launch of Operation Dragoon by the Allies in August 1944 to liberate southern France, the aircraft was deliberately destroyed by the retreating German occupying forces.
The only surviving “Sprucan” has recently picked up a new paint job.
The ex-USS Paul F. Foster (DD-964), commissioned 21 February 1976 and struck in 2004 after a very busy 28 years with the fleet, is now simply referred to as the Naval Surface Warfare Center Port Hueneme Division’s Self Defense Test Ship, or the catchy NSWC PHD SDTS.
She has been at Naval Base Ventura County (Port Hueneme) receiving a fresh coat of haze gray as the conclusion of a $30 million Selected Restricted Availability package, awarded to Port Hueneme-based AdvantEdge Technology Inc, that has been taking place slowly since April 2024.
The repainting is slated to be completed later this month.
A worker with Ventura, California-based general contractor C.D. Lyon Inc. stands on a pontoon boat tied to the Self Defense Test Ship as he puts a primer coat on the hull to prepare it for painting Nov. 7 at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division. (U.S. Navy photo by Dana Rene White)
A worker with Ventura, California-based general contractor C.D. Lyon Inc. stands on a pontoon boat tied to the Self Defense Test Ship as he puts a primer coat on the hull to prepare it for painting Nov. 7 at Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division. (U.S. Navy photo by Dana Rene White)
She returned to her homeport at Naval Base Ventura County last summer after 14 months at BAE San Diego, looking, well, kind of depressing.
Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme Division’s Self Defense Test Ship (SDTS), ex-USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964), returns to Port Hueneme, California, from San Diego on June 12. The SDTS spent 14 months in the BAE Systems Ship Repair shipyard for maintenance and upgrades. (U.S. Navy photo by Dana Rene White)
The new paint should help.
Meanwhile, her veteran’s organization is preparing for her 50th anniversary in the coming weeks.
The crew of a twin-engine RAF Armstrong Whitworth (AW.38) Whitley Mk III medium bomber, likely of No. 4 Group, enjoy an YMCA tea car in attendance, 10 January 1941. This variant of the bomber used a four-man crew: First Pilot, 2nd Pilot/Navigator, Bomb Aimer/forward gunner, and Rear Gunner. Only 80 Mark IIIs, with their powered Nash & Thompson nose turret and powered retractable twin ventral “dustbin” turret, were made.
IWM (HU 104642)
The Whitley is all but forgotten as a WWII bomber, even though 1,814 were made across seven variants, with the stretched fuselage/Rolls-Royce Merlin-powered Mk VII being the most common with 1,465 constructed.
Originally built to the design of a transport, the Whitley had a 177-mile cruising speed and a 1,315-mile range in its Mark III variant, powered by twin 795 hp Armstrong Siddeley Tiger Mk IX engines.
These low-powered engines, coupled with the bomber’s rear stabilizer, earned it the name the “flying barn door” but allowed it to land at speeds of just 60mph, and would serve it well in night bombing.
When WWII began in 1939, the RAF had seven operational Whitley squadrons, six of those (Nos. 10, 51, 58, 77, 78, and 102) in No. 4 Group, the only standing night bomber force in the world at the time. Of those six squadrons, three flew Mark IIIs.
The group’s first operation was on the night of 3 September 1939, just 11 hours after Britain declared war on Germany, when 10 Whitley Mk.IIIs of Nos. 51 and 58 Squadrons took off on a leaflet-dropping (“Nickelling”) sortie in the Ruhr and over Hamburg and Bremen.
This leaflet was Britain’s first propaganda effort of World War II. It is printed on both sides by “His Majesty’s Stationery Office” and was dropped by aircraft on September 3-4, 1939. In part, it warns German citizens that the German government has forced a war on Britain, which promises to involve mankind in a greater calamity than World War I. The Führer’s assertions of peaceful intentions have proven as worthless as his claims that: “We have no more territorial claims to make in Europe.” “British Propaganda Leaflet Dropped on Germans” (1939). Bulmash Family Holocaust Collection. 2019.2.149. https://digital.kenyon.edu/bulmash/1513
By the end of September, the RAF had dropped around 18 million leaflets over Germany. So much toilet paper.
Operating forward from Villeneuve airfield in France in January 1940, Whitleys of 4Gp’s 77 Squadron dropped leaflets over Prague and Vienna, penetrating deep into the Reich.
Switching from paper to iron, 4Gp’s Whitleys rained bombs on the Kriegsmarine seaplane base at Hornum on 20 March 1940, on Operation Haddock– the first RAF bombing raid on Italy– in June, and then, during the Battle of Britain in August/September 1940, took part in eight raids over Germany stretching as far as Berlin.
Whitley Bombers Over Berlin by Margaret Nash IWM ART LD 827
After April 1941, 4Gp began transitioning from Whitleys to more advanced Vickers Wellington medium and Handley Page Halifax heavy bombers, with the shift done by May 1942. The last raid by Whitleys was done by 58 Squadron on the night of 29/30 April against occupied Ostend in Belgium.
In all, Whitleys flew 8,996 sorties with Bomber Command 1939-42, dropped 9,845 tons of bombs, millions of psyops leaflets, and suffered 269 aircraft lost in action.
Coastal Command Mk VII variants, with longer legs, remained in front-line service until early 1943.
The type finished the war in more secondary line and auxiliary support roles (training, freighter, glider tugs, SOE support drops, etc.), then unceremoniously discarded afterward.
Official period caption: “Pfc. Preston McKnight, 19th Inf. Regt. uses his poncho to get protection from the biting wind and cold in the Yoju area during a break in action against the Chinese Communist aggressors. January 10, 1951.”
Signal Corps photo by Cpl. E. Watson. (Army) 111-SC-356309. National Archives Identifier 531396
Constituted on 3 May 1861 as a regular Army outfit, the 19th Infantry earned nine battle streamers (Shiloh; Murfreesborough; Chickamauga; Chattanooga; Atlanta; Kentucky 1862; Mississippi 1862; Tennessee 1863; and Georgia 1864) in the West during the Civil War, including becoming a legend at one.
Then came the Indian Wars (another streamer, in the Ute campaign), the War with Spain (another streamer), the Philippine Insurrection (six streamers), and was part of the 18th “Cactus” Division during the Great War, but never made it overseas. World War II saw it as a key part of the 24th Infantry Division, fighting across the Pacific (five streamers and two Presidential Unit Citations earned from New Guinea through the Philippines).
It was while on occupation duties in Japan where the 19th Regiment was when the Korean War began. They spent the next 18 months heavily engaged with the Norks and the Chinese before seeing some rest and a final redeployment towards the latter stages of the war. The regiment took one hell of a beating during those 18 months, suffering 418 KIA at the Kum River alone in July 1950, fighting a critical delaying action.
Around the time the top image was taken, the outfit was holding the line near Inchon and was hard at it.
“10 February 1951 – Waiting for the counterattack, these men of 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, dig in after capturing a Chinese-held hill along the Han River, above Inchon. The photographer who took this picture was hit by Chinese Communist fire a few minutes later. 358067”
Over the past several years, she was “carefully restored by the museum team with the paint removed layer by layer and analyzed, enabling the original camouflage to be identified and repainted to its very original pattern.”
The aircraft had been overpainted several times between 1940 and 1964 for various reasons, and all references to the very unusual original color scheme had seemingly been lost.
Only a few color images of these aircraft exist from the 1940’s, and due to color variations in image processing, have led to many debates about exactly what colors these aircraft were painted.
The wings, tail plane, rudder, and a few small panels still retained their original Grumman factory finish beneath the later over-painted layers, and after 6 years of skilled detail conservation work, the team has revealed and preserved these original and unique painted areas.
Sadly, the fuselage section had been stripped to bare metal before 1964, and so the team has recreated this missing portion with a newly painted finish.
Originally ordered by the French Navy, 81 of these aircraft were diverted to Britain with the fall of France in May 1940. By the end of the war, only a few of the French batch remained; by 1946, AL246 was the only known survivor.
AL246 spent most of her service life in Scotland at Donibristle and Machrihanish. From 1944, she was used as an instructional airframe at Loughborough Aeronautical College and transferred to Yeovilton in the late 1950s. In 1964, she was presented to the Fleet Air Arm Museum and has been on permanent display ever since.
Initially named the Martlet by the Royal Navy, they were re-named Wildcats in 1944 to align with combined U.S. and British operations.
A staggering 1,123 Fleet Air Arm Martlets operated in all theatres of war, including Norway, the Mediterranean, North Africa, and the Far East, making the stubby little Grumman catfighter one of the most numerous of British WWII RN aircraft.
Martlet fighters aboard HMS Formidable in the Mediterranean Sea, 1942
Martlet MkII British Fleet Air Arm F4F Wildcat No. 888 Squadron, parked at La Senia air base, Oran, Algeria, 14 December 1942, USN photo
Sub-Lieutenant Eric M.Brown, R.N.V.R., Fleet Air Arm, with a Grumman Martlet Mk. I, circa 1941.
Cold War, Soviet Ships. Mediterranean Sea. January 1976.
A Fighter Squadron 32 (VF 32), F-14A Tomcat fighter aircraft seen in full color livery while in flight near a Soviet “Kresta II” class guided missile cruiser underway below. The Tomcat was assigned on board the aircraft carrierUSS John F. Kennedy (CV 67).
Note that the Cat is “dressed for work,” carrying a mixture of Phoenix, Sparrow, and Sidewinder missiles.
Photograph received January 1976. U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. 428-GX-K-112540
The squadron has a lot of “firsts” on its sheet.
VF-32, the “Fighting Swordsmen” or “Gypsies” depending on which year you are talking about, originated on 1 February 1945, as Bombing Fighting (VBF) 3, after the old “Felix the Cat” Fighter Squadron (VF) 3 was split into two squadrons. VBF-3 joined Carrier Air Group 3 aboard USS Yorktown (CV 10) operating in the Pacific theater. Flying F6F-5 Hellcats, VBF-3 pilots became the first Navy carrier-based pilots to attack the homeland of the Japanese Empire. During heavy action, the squadron shot down 24 Japanese aircraft for which the Swordsmen received the Presidential Unit Citation.
By 1948, they had been redesignated VF-32 and were flying Corsairs, aircraft they would use to good effect in Korea from the deck of USS Leyte (CV 32). The squadron had Jesse Brown and Thomas Hudner for that cruise.
Ensign Jesse L. Brown, USN. In the cockpit of an F4U-4 Corsair fighter, circa 1950. He was the first African-American to be trained by the Navy as a Naval Aviator, and as such, he became the first African-American Naval Aviator to see combat. Brown flew with Fighter Squadron 32 (VF-32) from USS Leyte (CV-32). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. USN 1146845.
Finishing out that war, they were the first squadron to field the F9F-6 Cougar and later the Navy’s first supersonic squadron when they switched to a different Corsair, the F-8, which they flew during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
By 1966, in early F-4B Phantoms, they logged 940 sorties over Vietnam from USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVA 42).
Then they entered their Tomcat period in 1974– an aircraft they used to good effect, often from JKF, over Lebanon, Grenada, against Libya, Bosnia, the Gulf War, and OIF, also grabbing the Admiral Clifton Award numerous times.
They hugged the “Bombcat” a tearful goodbye in 2005, capping a 31-year run with the F-14 platform, and shifted to Rhinos, flying F-18F Super Hornets since then as the NAS Oceana-based VFA-32.
In addition to multiple GWOT deployments, on 14 July 2024, an unidentified female pilot in VFA-32 became the first American female pilot to engage and kill an air-to-air contact as part of 1,500 combat missions in support of Operations Inherent Resolve and Prosperity Guardian.
