Countdown to Kickoff

[Swayin]

USS Duluth, CL-87. 

 

[Cockyandproud]

Only us older guys will get it. 

 

[kingofnerf]

Only us older guys will get it. 

View attachment 2795

Never even thought of that one.  The beauty behind the brains would have been a good choice early on in the count.

 

[kingofnerf]

USS Sitkoh Bay, CVE-86.

Sitkoh Bay continued these replenishment duties until 1 April, when she joined up with the Special Escort Carrier Group, along with her sisters Hollandia, White Plains, and the Bogue-class escort carrier Breton. The escort carriers were screened by the Wickes-class destroyers Kilty and Manley, as well as the Clemson-class destroyers George E. Badger and Greene. Together, the four escort carriers had the task of delivering Marine Aircraft Group 31, of which Sitkoh Bay was assigned to transport, and Marine Aircraft Group 33, in total consisting of 192 F4U Corsairs and 30 F6F Hellcats to Okinawa. There, they would be the first land-based aircraft to participate in the battle, operating off of the captured Kadena Air Base.

The Special Escort Carrier Group departed from Ulithi on 2 April, and Sitkoh Bay arrived off of Okinawa on 6 April without much incident, although the screening destroyers dropped depth charges on the way to deter a suspected submarine. Therefore, she began transferring her air contingent to land. On 7 April, however, the escort carriers came under kamikaze attack. At the time, she was 60 miles (97 km) southeast of Okinawa, and at around noon that day, she began launching some F4U-4C variant Corsairs to Yomitan Auxiliary Airfield. By 15:28, she had already launched eight Corsairs, and the flight deck was being re-spotted when a Yokosuka P1Y kamikaze aircraft made an appearance. The kamikaze was engaged by five fighters of VMF-311 operating off of Breton, and although they did heavily damage the aircraft and set it on fire, the kamikaze was able to get close enough to make a dive for the bridge of Sitkoh Bay. The kamikaze was met by heavy anti-aircraft fire, and it wobbled, ultimately crashing about 100 yards (91 m) off the carrier's port beam, with the kill being accredited to Lieutenant John J. Doherty.  The following day, on 8 April, she left the area for Pearl Harbor, stopping at Guam. There, she returned to her previous replenishment routine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Sitkoh_Bay

 

[kingofnerf]

USS Shoup, DDG-86.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shoup

David Monroe Shoup (30 December 1904 – 13 January 1983) was a general of the United States Marine Corps who was awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II, served as the 22nd Commandant of the Marine Corps, and, after retiring, became one of the most prominent critics of the Vietnam War.

Born in Indiana to an impoverished family, Shoup joined the military for financial reasons. Rising through the ranks in the interwar era, he was twice deployed to China during the Chinese Civil War. He served in Iceland at the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II, and as a staff officer during the Pacific War. He was unexpectedly given command of the 2nd Marines, and led the initial invasion of Tarawa, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor and the British Distinguished Service Order. He served in the Marianas campaign, and later became a high-level military logistics officer.

Solidifying his reputation as a hard-driving and assertive leader, Shoup rose through the senior leadership of the Marine Corps, overhauling fiscal affairs, logistics, and recruit training. He was selected as commandant by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and later served in the administration of John F. Kennedy. He reformed the Corps, emphasizing combat readiness and fiscal efficiency, against what was perceived as politicking among its officers.

Shoup opposed the military escalation in response to events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs invasion, but his strongest opposition was to U.S. involvement in South Vietnam. His opposition grew in strength after he retired from the military in 1963; he was strongly opposed to both the strategy of the conflict and the excessive influence of corporations and military officials upon foreign policy. His high-profile criticism later spread to include the military industrial complex and what he saw as a pervasive militarism in American culture. Historians consider Shoup's statements opposing the war to be among the most pointed and high-profile leveled by a veteran against the Vietnam War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_M._Shoup

 

[kingofnerf]

USS Stevens, DD-86.  The battleship USS Oklahoma, which later infamously capsized and sank during the Pearl Harbor attack, is in the background of this photo taken in 1918 at Barehaven, Ireland.

Service history

Stevens departed Boston on 3 June 1918, and arrived in New York two days later. On 15 June, she sailed for Europe in the screen of a convoy and reached Brest, France, on 27 June. The following day, she headed for Queenstown in Ireland, arriving there on 6 July. Assigned to the United States Naval Forces, Europe, Stevens operated out of that port and protected convoys on the Queenstown-Liverpool circuit until mid-December. She put to sea on 16 December and, after stops at the Azores and Bermuda, entered Boston on 3 January 1919.

Upon her return to the United States, the destroyer was assigned to Destroyer Division 7, Squadron 3, Atlantic Fleet. In the spring of 1919, she cruised to Key West, Florida, and visited New York, before getting underway from Boston on 3 May to participate in the support operations for the first successful transatlantic flight. She put into Halifax, Nova Scotia, on 4 May and stood out again five days later to guard for the Navy seaplanes' flight to Newfoundland. After returning to Halifax on 11 May, she put to sea and, by 19 May, reached Ponta Delgada, in the Azores. Along the way, she assisted in the search for one of the two downed planes, NC-3.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Stevens_(DD-86)

 

[kingofnerf]

The 86th Fighter Bomber Group.

World War II

Activated on 10 February 1942, as the 86th Fighter Group at Will Rogers Field, near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with a cadre of five officers and 163 enlisted men. The unit made several moves before settling at Key Field in Meridian, Mississippi, where it began training on A-20 and DB-7 Havoc. In September 1942, the 86th was re-designated a dive-bomber unit and received A-24 Banshee, the Army Air Forces version of the US Navy's highly successful SBD Dauntless, and A-31 Vengeance aircraft, transferring its A-20s and DB-7s to the 27th and 47th Light Bomber Groups.

The new aircraft did not improve the 86th's combat capability. The Allies had found land-based dive bombers unsatisfactory for combat in Europe after the initial days of the war, so the A-24 and A-31 were as replaced as rapidly as possible. The transition began 20 November 1942, with the arrival of the first A-36 Apache (also christened the Apache or Invader), one of the finest ground-attack aircraft in the world at the time and a version of the P-51A Mustang.

After completing training, in March 1943 the 86th and its three squadrons, the 309th, 310th, and 312th Bombardment Squadrons (Light) embarked from Staten Island 29 April and sailed to Algeria, arriving at Mers El Khebir, a former French naval base at Oran, in May. Flying operations began 15 May from Médiouna Airfield, near Casablanca, French Morocco. The 86th and its squadrons then began a series of moves around the theater which would eventually lead to Sicily, Italy; Corsica, France; and Germany.

In the North African Campaign, the 86th engaged primarily in close support of ground forces, beginning in early July against German positions in Tunisia. The 309th Squadron flew the group's first combat mission on 2 July 1943 from Trafaroui Air Base, Algeria, and the group's other squadrons began combat operations on 6 July with attacks against Cap Bon, Tunis.

On 14 July, initial elements of the 86th embarked for Comiso Airport, Sicily. The entire group settled into the airfield at Gela West, by 21 July. The following day the group flew its first mission from that base, supporting the 1st Division of II Army Corps. By the time the Germans withdrew from Sicily on 17 August, the group had flown 2,375 combat sorties in Sicily and along the southern coast of Italy.

The group was re-designated the 86th Fighter Bomber Group on 23 August 1943, and its squadrons, the 309th, 310th, and 312th Bombardment Squadrons (Light) re-designated the 525th, 526th and 527th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons. On 27 August, the newly designated group moved to Barcelona Landing Ground, Sicily where the group provided air support for the first Allied landings on the European mainland at Salerno, Italy. On 10 September 1943, three days after the invasion of Salerno, advance echelons of the 86th moved to Sele Airfield, near the beachhead. Enemy shelling of the beaches caused considerable difficulty during the move, and the group did not fly its first missions until 15 September.

After the fall of Naples, the group moved to Serretella Airfield, then on to Pomigliano d'Arco where it remained for some time. Throughout 1943–44, the 86th FBG supported Allied forces by attacking enemy lines of communication, troop concentrations and supply areas. Then, on 30 April 1944, the 86th moved to Marcianise Airfield to prepare for the spring offensive against the German Gustav Line. It also attacked rail and road targets and strafed German troop and supply columns during late spring, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation (DCU) for outstanding action against the enemy on 25 May when the group flew 12 armed reconnaissance and bombing missions and 86 sorties, destroyed 217 enemy vehicles and damaged 245, silenced several gun positions, and interdicted the highways into the towns of Frosinone, Cori, and Cescano. The group suffered heavy losses—two aircraft lost, six others heavily damaged, and one pilot killed.

The 86th was an active participant in Operation Strangle, the attempt to cut German supply lines prior to the Allied offensive aimed at rail and road networks, and attacking German troop and supply columns. While Strangle did not significantly cut into German supplies, it did disrupt enemy tactical mobility and was a major factor in the Allies' eventual breakthrough. During this period the 86th received P-40 Warhawks to augment its aging A-36s, but the obsolescent P-40s were only a stopgap measure. On 30 May 1944, the 86th received its final wartime designation, the 86th Fighter Group, but more importantly the group welcomed its first P-47 Thunderbolts a few weeks later, on 23 June. The tough, modern P-47 was welcomed by the group's pilots, as was their move to Orbetello Airfield, on the west coast of Italy, between 18 and 30 June.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/86th_Operations_Group

 

[Homebrewcock]

 

[cocky0]

Only us older guys will get it. 

View attachment 2795

Yep. I'm too young for that one. I missed it by that much.

 

[Cockyandproud]

Never even thought of that one.  The beauty behind the brains would have been a good choice early on in the count.

Yeah, I thought about 99 on day 98, so I waited for 86. 

 

[kingofnerf]

USS Colhoun, DD-85.

Service history

Colhoun was launched on 21 February 1918 from Fore River Shipyard and sponsored by Helen A. Colhoun, the daughter of Edmund Ross Colhoun. She was commissioned on 13 June 1918 under the command of Commander B. B. Wygant.  Reporting to the United States Atlantic Fleet, she was assigned as a convoy escort between New York City and ports in Europe, escorting ships carrying troops and supplies supporting World War I from 30 June and 14 September 1918.  On 18 November 1918, she reported to New London, Connecticut to assist in tests of sound equipment which was under development at the time. On 1 January 1919, she was rushed to assist the troop transport Northern Pacific which had run aground off Fire Island, New York. Colhoun assisted in transporting 194 of the troops off of the ship, who had been returning from Europe, to their destination port in Hoboken, New Jersey.

On 1 December 1919, she was placed in reduced commission at Philadelphia Navy Yard, and then underwent an overhaul at Norfolk Navy Yard.  Between 1919 and 1922, Colhoun remained assigned to the Atlantic Fleet on reserve status, based out of Charleston, South Carolina. She took part in sporadic fleet exercises and large maneuvers, as well as taking several midshipman cruises through the Caribbean and along the east coast. In mid-1922, she returned to Philadelphia Naval Yard and was decommissioned on 28 June.

Colhoun was towed to Norfolk Navy Yard on 5 June 1940, and began conversion to a high-speed transport. She was recommissioned into the fleet on 11 December 1940, and received the hull classification symbol of APD-2. Following this, she underwent a year of training exercises between Norfolk and the Caribbean, where she was during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the entry of the U.S. into World War II.

World War II

With the war underway, she sailed for the Pacific to join the U.S. Pacific Fleet. There, she joined Transport Squadron 12 based out of Pearl Harbor, and began conducting anti-submarine warfare exercises there for a time.  She arrived in Nouméa, New Caledonia on 21 July 1942.  With a shortage of combat ships at the beginning of the war, Colhoun served a dual role as both a high-speed transport and an anti-submarine warfare vessel. In this role, she began preparations for the invasion of the Solomon Islands. On 7 August 1942, she carried units of the 1st Marine Raider Battalion in the initial assault landings which began the Guadalcanal Campaign and continued to serve as both transport and antisubmarine vessel in support of the invasion.

On the morning of 30 August 1942, Colhoun ported at Kukum Point and unloaded stores for the U.S. Marine Corps garrison on Guadalcanal, and then exited the harbor to undertake anti-submarine patrols. Just before 12:00, an air raid siren was issued and Colhoun moved out to sea. A second alert was received at 14:00.  Shortly thereafter, a lookout spotted a formation of Japanese aircraft approaching using the sun as cover.  The Japanese aircraft, using clouds as cover, dove and released three bombs against Colhoun, two splashing nearby and one striking the after searchlight platform and a nearby boat. The bomb blew the after davits down and forward, blocking the after engine room hatches, and starting a fire from the diesel oil spilled by the boat.

Colhoun attempted to return fire with her anti-aircraft batteries, but the Japanese aircraft remained obscured by clouds. A second dive launched five or six bombs on her starboard side, knocking down the foremast and blowing two 20 millimetres (0.79 in) and one 4 inches (100 mm) gun off the ship. A lubrication oil cooler pump in the after engine room was blown through the bulkhead into the forward engine room. Another two bombs scored direct hits on the after deck house, killing all of the men there. An order was given to abandon ship, and several tank lighters arrived quickly from Guadalcanal to assist in taking in survivors. Colhoun sank at 09°24′S 160°01′E. Fifty-one men were killed and 18 wounded in her sinking.  She was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 11 September 1942. She received one battle star for her service in World War II.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Colhoun_(DD-85)

 

[kingofnerf]

USS Shipley Bay, CVE-85.

Service history

Upon being commissioned, Shipley Bay underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast to San Diego. She operated off the Southern California coast until 3 May, when she took on a load of aircraft and personnel, and ferried them to Pearl Harbor and stops in the South Pacific. She conducted these transport missions until October, making stops at the West Coast, Pearl Harbor, Majuro Atoll, Guadalcanal, and Tulagi. In these missions, she ferried a total of 496 aircraft.

After finishing her aircraft deliveries, she was designated the role of a replacement carrier, carrying aircraft to replenish battlefield losses. She was assigned to Task Group 30.8 within Task Force 38, and maintained a back-line, supply role. In three meetings, she transferred a total of 100 aircraft to front-line carriers. The first rendezvous was conducted between 17 October and 29 October 150 mi (240 km) east of Samar, as she provided replacement aircraft for the desperate Battle off Samar. Her second transfer occurred 450 mi (720 km) east of Luzon, between 10 December and 24 December, as landings and close air support began being conducted for the ongoing Battle of Luzon. Her third and final transfer happened between 26 December 1944 and 12 January 1945 whilst Shipley Bay was 350 mi (560 km) northwest of Luzon, as an armada of carriers supported the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf.

After finishing her duties as a replacement carrier for the Philippines campaign, she operated off of Pearl Harbor as a training carrier for the next three months. During her tenure as a replacement carrier, Captain Austin Wadsworth Wheelock took over as commanding officer of the ship. On 22 April, she departed Pearl Harbor, bound for Okinawa. Stopping at Guam, she arrived on 7 May and immediately began operations. Between 7 May and 16 May, her aircraft conducted 352 sorties supporting the Battle of Okinawa, bombing Japanese defenses and equipment. On 16 May, her aviation gasoline tanks were damaged by a collision, forcing her to retire back to Guam for repairs.

Once repairs were finished, she once again returned to the waters off of Okinawa, along with five other escort carriers. She resumed operations on 9 June, and her aircraft were assigned the duty of neutralizing the five airfields on Miyako-jima and Ishigaki-jima, from which kamikaze aircraft were operating. She bombed the airfields between 14 and 16 June, returning again from 18 to 22 June.[10] On 22 June, she left, bound for the West Coast, where she would undergo overhaul. She was moored at U.S. Repair Base, San Diego when the Japanese surrender was announced.[7]

On 26 September, she left San Diego, and joined the "Magic Carpet" fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. She cruised around the Pacific, making stops at San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, and Kwajalein, ultimately returning several thousand troops back to the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shipley_Bay

 

[kingofnerf]

USS McCampbell, DDG-85.

USS McCampbell (DDG-85) is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy. She is named in honor of Naval Aviator Captain David S. McCampbell, a Medal of Honor and Navy Cross recipient who was the Navy's leading ace in World War II.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_McCampbell

United States Navy

McCampbell's naval career actually began with a dismissal. Graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy in depression-era 1933, he was rewarded with an honorable discharge from a navy without funds. But in June 1934 McCampbell was called back and commissioned as an ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve on June 1, 1934. He went on active duty on June 14, 1934, and served aboard the heavy cruiser USS Portland from June 1934 to June 1937 before he started flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida.[1] He received his "wings of gold" on April 21, 1938 and was assigned to Fighting Squadron Four (VF-4) on the aircraft carrier USS Ranger to May 1940.

World War II

McCampbell served as a landing signal officer (LSO) from May 1940, surviving the sinking of the carrier USS Wasp (CV-7) by a Japanese submarine near Guadalcanal on September 15, 1942.  He returned to the United States, was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, and was stationed at Naval Air Station Melbourne, Florida as LSO Instructor until August 1943.

McCampbell formed Fighter Squadron 15 (VF-15) on September 1, 1943 and led the squadron before being reassigned as Commander of Air Group 15 (CAG-15) in February 1944 to September 1944. As Commander, Carrier Air Group (CAG) 15, he was Commander of the Essex Air Group (fighters, bombers, and torpedo bombers) when the group was aboard the aircraft carrier USS Essex. From April to November 1944, his group saw six months of combat and participated in two major air-sea battles, the First and Second Battles of the Philippine Sea. During the more than 20,000 hours of air combat operations before it returned to the United States for a rest period, Air Group 15 destroyed more enemy planes (315 airborne and 348 on the ground) and sank more enemy shipping than any other Air Group in the Pacific War. Air Group 15's attacks on the Japanese in the Marianas and at Iwo Jima, Taiwan, and Okinawa were key to the success of the "island hopping" campaign.

On June 19, 1944, during the "Marianas Turkey Shoot," Commander McCampbell shot down five Japanese Yokosuka D4Y 'Judy' dive-bombers, to become an "ace in a day". Later that afternoon, during a second sortie, McCampbell downed two Mitsubishi A6M 'Zekes' over Guam.

On October 24, 1944, in the initial phase of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines, he became the only American airman to achieve "ace in a day" status twice. McCampbell and his wingman attacked a Japanese force of 60 aircraft. McCampbell shot down nine—seven Zeros and two Oscars—setting a U.S. single-mission aerial combat record. During this same action, his wingman downed another six Japanese warplanes. When he landed his Grumman F6F Hellcat aboard USS Langley (the flight deck of Essex wasn't clear), his six machine guns had just two rounds remaining, and his airplane had to be manually released from the arrestor wire due to complete fuel exhaustion. Commander McCampbell received the Medal of Honor for both actions, becoming the only Fast Carrier Task Force pilot to be so honored.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_McCampbell

 

[Swayin]

DE-85 was laid down in the Bethlehem Steel shipyards in Hingham, Mass. in 1943, and upon completion transferred to the Royal Navy as part of lend-lease, where she was christened HMS Dakins, pennant number K550. 

Under the command of Acting Lieutenant Michael Geoffrey Henderson Arbuthnot, RNVR the ship served on patrol and escort duty. On 25 December 1944, she struck a mine in the North Sea 14 nautical miles (26 km) northwest of Ostend, Belgium, at 51°25′00″N 002°44′00″E. Although heavily damaged, she managed to limp back to Harwich on the east coast of England.

After sufficient repairs to make her seaworthy, Dakins steamed to Antwerp, Belgium, with a skeleton crew and docked at the John Cockerill shipyard in Antwerp's Hoboken district for assessment of what further repairs she required. Over the five to six months she was moored at Hoboken, no repairs began due to disruptions to port operations by German V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket attacks, and in the end plans to repair her were abandoned. After Victory in Europe Day on 7 May 1945, she steamed back to Harwich, where she served as a depot ship for smaller ships and craft being laid up there.

 

[Homebrewcock]

 

[Homebrewcock]

 

[Swayin]

USS Shipley Bay, CVE-85.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shipley_Bay#/media/File:USS_Shipley_Bay_(CVE-85).jpg

 

[Homebrewcock]

I think we are at 84.

 

[gamecock88]

I think we should be at 81 now?

 

[Homebrewcock]

Sept 4th is kickoff.  17 days left in June counting today.  31 in July and August and 3 in Sept.  17+31+31+3 = 82.  Does that seem correct?