Quiz vedr Orion på Oshkosh

Helge Nilsen skriver:

Jeg tror du mener at dette flyet representerer 100 års jubileet, det fløy fra Atsugi Air base til Jacksonville og bandt sammen fortiden og fremtiden og hedret folkene som fløy PBY Catalina. Flyet var malt i "tactical blue/top gray colour". Catalinaen er jo veldig kjent for sine Stillehavsoperasjoner bl. a. slaget om Midway i june- 42.

 

Det stemmer Helge. Denne spesielle maskinen hadde call sign Strawberry five og oppdaget stillehavsflåten til japanerne, noe som var særdeles viktig for amerikanernes taktikk i slaget om Midway:

 

4 June 1942

Then LT Howard P. Ady, Jr., flying with VP-23 on Midway, was 'elected.' According to the intelligence reports coming in from HYPO in Hawaii, they new the Japanese were supposed to approach Midway from 320°. When Howard checked the blackboard at the Sand Island BOQ, he saw he was assigned to sector 315°. Because a sector was to cover seven and one-half degrees either side of the assigned bearing (in this case out 322½°, a dog leg, then back on 307½°), he knew he was in for a busy day.

Take off for the 22 planes of the morning search was a 0415- 11 PBY-5s from VP-23 from the lagoon, and 11 PBY-5As from Eastern Island. Around 0510, Howard and his crew spotted a single aircraft on a course to Midway. His first contact report of this historic battle was but a single word: "Aircraft." As was the pattern of the day, this was followed by a more detailed contact report. Then, around 0530, the curtain rose on the biggest show of his life. His radio began sending back reports:

0534 Enemy Carriers
0540 ED 180 sight 320
0552 Two carriers and main body of ships, carriers in front, course 135, speed 25

Even though Howard modestly claimed he was just 'elected,' his reports, along with the LT(jg) William E. Chase's plain English "Many planes heading Midway" at 0544, allow the airfield to be cleared at Midway. This meant that not one operational plane was destroyed on the ground when the Japanese struck, 100 plus planes strong, at around 0630. It was also was a beacon for the ten air strikes that would follow, culminating in the most spectacular six minutes in United States Naval history, when Akagi, Kaga and Soryu were hit by SBDs from Enterprise and Yorktown between 1022 and 1028.

Bildet viser Lt. Howard P. Ady.