And the Brewster Corsairs were being manufactured and put into service with the USN in 1943 in OTL so likely in TTL as well. Some were sent to the British too. Poor chaps.
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Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
- Thread starter fester
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And the Brewster Corsairs were being manufactured and put into service with the USN in 1943 in OTL so likely in TTL as well. Some were sent to the British too. Poor chaps.
Dread it.
Run from it.
Pedantry still arrives all the same. And now it's here.
Or should I say ... we are.
To be fair, there's not much in Oklahoma to bomb from the air besides Tinker Air Force Base at this point, plus its a bit far from the West Coast...
By the Japs...No, by 'someone else?
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Randy
I'm not so sure about that. That base was huge and they would have been in different training pipelines. Running into Ted Williams though? That's very possible
The Brewster company's factory in Queens, NYC was located several miles from Roosevelt Field. I think that was the closest airfield. Usually aircraft manufacturers locate their factories at airports/airfields so the planes can factory inspected, company pilot tested and then flown off. In Brewster's case the partially assembled planes would need been shipped by train or truck either directly to the customer or trucked to Roosevelt Field or some other local airport where, presumably, a facility had been established to final assemble the main components, inspect everything and test fly the planes before they're flown to their users.
It seems like a very inefficient setup. And I would think it likely contributed to the poor quality control problems at Brewster. I don't know if they ever ran a final assembly and test flight facility at a local airfield or if they only shipped the partially assembled airplanes to their customers to assemble. The latter way is the worst way to maintain quality control especially in a company that had a pronounced integrity shortage.
It seems like a very inefficient setup. And I would think it likely contributed to the poor quality control problems at Brewster. I don't know if they ever ran a final assembly and test flight facility at a local airfield or if they only shipped the partially assembled airplanes to their customers to assemble. The latter way is the worst way to maintain quality control especially in a company that had a pronounced integrity shortage.
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Story 2372
Near the Puget Sound, December 30, 1943
USS Enterprise turned back into the wind. The ruined Avenger had started to sink beneath the waves a few dozen yards from where the flight deck crew pushed it into the sea. The ensign who piloted the bomber was unlikely to survive the afternoon. The two aircrew members were in sickbay already. One was in surgery. The other would need his broken wrist to be reset and the burns to be salved but he could eventually be back in the air.
Three minutes later, another Avenger smoothly landed and the flight operations continued.
USS Enterprise turned back into the wind. The ruined Avenger had started to sink beneath the waves a few dozen yards from where the flight deck crew pushed it into the sea. The ensign who piloted the bomber was unlikely to survive the afternoon. The two aircrew members were in sickbay already. One was in surgery. The other would need his broken wrist to be reset and the burns to be salved but he could eventually be back in the air.
Three minutes later, another Avenger smoothly landed and the flight operations continued.
Story 2373
Netherlands, December 31, 1943
The last Havoc caused havoc on the German fighter field. The string of bombs ripped open four fighters that shared a pair of revetments. The strafing attacks destroyed a trio of fuel trucks. The flames spread into the small motor pool that supported the base. By nightfall, a dozen vehicles would need to be written off and the squadron that had caused the 8th Air Force so much trouble would be lucky if it could generate half of its normal sorties for the next week.
The last Havoc caused havoc on the German fighter field. The string of bombs ripped open four fighters that shared a pair of revetments. The strafing attacks destroyed a trio of fuel trucks. The flames spread into the small motor pool that supported the base. By nightfall, a dozen vehicles would need to be written off and the squadron that had caused the 8th Air Force so much trouble would be lucky if it could generate half of its normal sorties for the next week.
Story 2374
The Ukrainian Steppes, December 31, 1943
The bomber regiment, flying American Havocs, tightened formations. The gunners looked for German fighters that the YAKs and Airocobra pilots had not seen in their sweeps along the front. They were nervous. This was the most risky part of any mission as the bomb runs were predictable and felt like forever. A quartet of German 88s started to fling shells into the formation. They were shooting high and slightly behind the group. Soon strings of lighter flak intercepted the wings of first one, and then another bomber. One soon exploded as fire spread to a partially empty fuel tank. The other staggered forward. And then the bombers lightened as they reached the drop point. Dozens and then hundreds of bombs rained down on a rail yard that was critical for the supplies of Army Group South.
The bomber regiment, flying American Havocs, tightened formations. The gunners looked for German fighters that the YAKs and Airocobra pilots had not seen in their sweeps along the front. They were nervous. This was the most risky part of any mission as the bomb runs were predictable and felt like forever. A quartet of German 88s started to fling shells into the formation. They were shooting high and slightly behind the group. Soon strings of lighter flak intercepted the wings of first one, and then another bomber. One soon exploded as fire spread to a partially empty fuel tank. The other staggered forward. And then the bombers lightened as they reached the drop point. Dozens and then hundreds of bombs rained down on a rail yard that was critical for the supplies of Army Group South.
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Story 2375
Berlin, January 1, 1944
The all clear signal was loud and clear. Fire brigades were hurrying to the eastern suburbs. The RAF had struck again with almost the entire Main Force. Half a dozen small smoke plumes of downed bombers dotted the city. More would dot the country side.
The residents could do little but endure.
The all clear signal was loud and clear. Fire brigades were hurrying to the eastern suburbs. The RAF had struck again with almost the entire Main Force. Half a dozen small smoke plumes of downed bombers dotted the city. More would dot the country side.
The residents could do little but endure.
And they return to operations as soon as possible. This posting reminded me of a very evocative video.
The necessity for wartime expediency may appear a bit cold-hearted but burial at sea is an ancient and honourable naval tradition.
The ensign's body will be buried on land. The Big-E is in post refit shakedown and training and will be returning to the dock within 48 hours of the training death.
Probably Yaks rather than MiGs - the MiG-3 was never much of a match for Luftwaffe fighters, and I think had gone out of service by this date.
Story 2376
Southern Ukraine, January 2, 1944
The train slowly left the station. Several thousand tons of high quality iron ore would be dragged to the Ruhr with half a dozen switches and too many maintenance stops to count. The miners were local civilians who knew they needed to meet their quota to feed their families. Resistance and sabotage was common enough to be irritating but harsh measures against the guilty or the incompetents' families had kept most of the machinery working.
An hour later, the ore train slowed down and then stopped along a siding as another supply train headed to the front. A dozen new factory fresh tanks, several car loads of petrol, and enough shells to keep a division worth of gunners busy for a heavy week of fighting would arrive at the forward depots of the 6th Army that was holding this part of the front. The 6th Army had a fairly light summer and fall as it had needed to reconstitute itself as it barely avoided being destroyed in last winter's great offensive. Now they were covering the front where the Italians had once been responsible. The two attached Panzer divisions were almost back to full strength and for once, they were almost fully trained again. They had been sent up and down the front for four months until the mud and the snow stopped the Soviet offensives to anything more than local probes. Now the panzertruppen were in warm huts with plenty of food and enough spare parts to keep their complex machines running well enough. If they had a day to mount up and move, they would be able to attack into the flanks of any Red Army offensive.
The train slowly left the station. Several thousand tons of high quality iron ore would be dragged to the Ruhr with half a dozen switches and too many maintenance stops to count. The miners were local civilians who knew they needed to meet their quota to feed their families. Resistance and sabotage was common enough to be irritating but harsh measures against the guilty or the incompetents' families had kept most of the machinery working.
An hour later, the ore train slowed down and then stopped along a siding as another supply train headed to the front. A dozen new factory fresh tanks, several car loads of petrol, and enough shells to keep a division worth of gunners busy for a heavy week of fighting would arrive at the forward depots of the 6th Army that was holding this part of the front. The 6th Army had a fairly light summer and fall as it had needed to reconstitute itself as it barely avoided being destroyed in last winter's great offensive. Now they were covering the front where the Italians had once been responsible. The two attached Panzer divisions were almost back to full strength and for once, they were almost fully trained again. They had been sent up and down the front for four months until the mud and the snow stopped the Soviet offensives to anything more than local probes. Now the panzertruppen were in warm huts with plenty of food and enough spare parts to keep their complex machines running well enough. If they had a day to mount up and move, they would be able to attack into the flanks of any Red Army offensive.
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