Underwater Aircraft Graveyard

[HeadExam 1,783]

Great photos (not as great as those of Rita Hayworth) of 150 US aircraft laying in 130 feet of clear water in the South Pacific. None of these American planes were shot down, they were pushed off the sides of ships. I think that was about the time Rita Hayworth was touring the area possibly causing the American sailors to push everything overboard to make room, lol, just kidding, maybe

http://theaviationist.com/2015/07/12/airplane-graveyard-in-the-pacific/

[Triumph66 1,256]

A fascinating article and it's unbelievable that the hulks are still reconginisable 75 years after the war. I would have thought the U.S. Would have retained them as the Allieds were already thinking about the threat of Stalin in Post War Europe.

[HeadExam 1,783]

A fascinating article and it's unbelievable that the hulks are still reconginisable 75 years after the war. I would have thought the U.S. Would have retained them as the Allieds were already thinking about the threat of Stalin in Post War Europe.

And put American workers out of work, no way, politicians wouldn't like the government to save any money. They probably justified it by saying they would save on fuel on the trip home, yeah right

[Triumph66 1,256]

I think if the Allieds never landed in France back in June 1944, the Red Army would have steamrolled into Western Europe and changed the face of Europe totally. I suspect the Germans would have surrendered in Italy a lot quicker if this was the case and allowed the Western armies to quickly seize as much of Southern Europe as possible to act as a barrier between the West and East. It was well known that both Churchill and Roosevelt/Truman were always suspicious of Stalin's intentions. I firmly believe that the mass bombing and destruction of Dresden in 1945 was a clear signal to the advancing Red Army 'don't mess with us; this is what we can do to your cities'. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the atom bomb in Japan also halted Stalin's plans to push further into Europe. The Red Army was numerically superior to the British and American armies at that time.

Anyway, great photos of the planes by the way.

[HeadExam 1,783]

I think if the Allieds never landed in France back in June 1944, the Red Army would have steamrolled into Western Europe and changed the face of Europe totally. I suspect the Germans would have surrendered in Italy a lot quicker if this was the case and allowed the Western armies to quickly seize as much of Southern Europe as possible to act as a barrier between the West and East. It was well known that both Churchill and Roosevelt/Truman were always suspicious of Stalin's intentions. I firmly believe that the mass bombing and destruction of Dresden in 1945 was a clear signal to the advancing Red Army 'don't mess with us; this is what we can do to your cities'. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the atom bomb in Japan also halted Stalin's plans to push further into Europe. The Red Army was numerically superior to the British and American armies at that time.

Anyway, great photos of the planes by the way.

I believe the Red Army suffered more losses against the Germans than the Allies did in all three theaters, Europe, Asia, and Africa. They and the Chinese were very weak when the war ended, it was why MacArthur wanted to to nuke the Chinese during Korea, he thought if we let them rebuild they would come after the US in time, and not just Asia. Many military brass wanted to push the Red army back to Stalingrad after April of 1945, but our politicians saw too many lucrative defense opportunities in a Cold War that could last ten times as long as a real war. In all fairness the Russian people and Red Army were abused by the Germans almost as much as the Jews, Russian civilian losses went into the millions, When the tide turned for the Red Army they were out for blood and revenge, Russian style, not pretty when fueled by Vodka and Borscht.

[Triumph66 1,256]

The Soviets lost an estimated 20 million people (civilians and soldiers) during the war. During Stalin's reign, some 20 million people disappeared in the labour camps. I read somewhere that the crucial differences between the Soviets and the Nazis' camps was that you had a chance, albeit a slim one and in emerging in poor physical shape, of surviving the camps under the Russians. The suffering endured by the Jews and the Russians is hard to comprehend. I hope there will never be another total war in Western Europe ever again but I fear history will repeat itself.

[slf-uk 914]

Great article. On this site I also noticed this amazing article telling the story of landing a C-130 on an aircraft carrier, wow. http://theaviationist.com/2014/07/16/c-130-land-on-carrier/

 

Iain

[Triumph66 1,256]

One very skilful pilot. Rather him than me I think!

[HeadExam 1,783]

One very skilful pilot. Rather him than me I think!

Reminds me of Jimmy Doolittle and the Doolittle raid over Japan when he flew 16 B-25 bombers off the deck of the USS Hornet. But before the war Doolittle was quite the pilot and adventurer. In 1932, Doolittle set the world's high speed record for land planes at 296 miles per hour in the Shell Speed Dash. Later, he took the Thompson Trophy race at Cleveland in the notorious Gee Bee R-1 racer with a speed averaging 252 miles per hour.