[phantom4570]

 

[SpecialEd]

phantom4570,

My Uncle Wayne, who was the Acting COB of the USS Champion (AM314) during WWII in the South Pacific, said (on the rare occasion that he would talk about his service in the USN at all) that "- - - - when the Corsairs came in to strafe, in support of the first wave, they were so low that that I was scared spitless, as the planes looked like the main gear was going to hit us. - Those guys had BALLS by the bushel."

My uncle evidently often went ashore as part of the landing party, on some of the islands to assure that they mission was being accomplished. = After he passed away we found that he had received 2 PHs for being WIA while ashore & 2 while onboard the Champion.
(One of those was from a kamikazi/OKA flying bomb hitting the ship. - a Piece of steel went though his belly.)

yours, sw

 

[CaptainGyro]

The last sound many Japanese troops ever heard.

Looking at the Corsair you can really see the design heritage of the 1930's air racers, with a long nose housing a monster engine and the cockpit set well back behind the trailing edge of the wing. Examples included the Gee Bee, the Hughes H-1B and the Napier-Heston.