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Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters for own shells in WWII (especially in the Pacific)

 
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Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters for ow... - 11/26/2012 9:05:54 AM   
Apollo11


Posts: 21608
Joined: 6/7/2001
From: Zagreb, Croatia
Status: offline 		Hi all,

Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters for own shells in WWII (especially in the Pacific)?


I read many book about WWII but I don't recall reading about any battle where own spotter catapult launched (usually biplanes) aircraft were used for observing the fall of own shells against enemy ships...



Leo "Apollo11"

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RE: Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters fo... - 11/26/2012 11:25:00 AM   
Gilbert


Posts: 232
Joined: 8/8/2009
From: Hendaye, France
Status: offline 		Hello "Apollo 11"

Yes! At least at the Battle of Samar:

25 October 1944: The Battle off Samar:
0335: San Bernardino Strait. Force A exits the strait and proceeds eastward.

0400: Off Samar Island. Force A changes course due south towards Leyte Gulf.

0523: YAMATO's Type 13 radar picks up enemy aircraft.

0544: Enemy carriers sighted on the horizon, hull down, bearing 60 to port, range 23 miles. They are misidentified as six fleet carriers, escorted by three cruisers and two destroyers.

0545: YAMATO opens fire on enemy planes.

0558: Force A opens fire at escort carriers of "Taffy 3": USS ST. LO (CVE-63), WHITE PLAINS (CVE-66), KALININ BAY (CVE-68), FANSHAW BAY (CVE-70) (F), KITKUN BAY (CVE-71) and GAMBIER BAY (CVE-73). Carriers screened by destroyers USS HOEL (DD-533), JOHNSTON, (DD-557), HEERMANN (DD-532), destroyer escorts USS SAMUEL B. ROBERTS (DE-413), DENNIS (DE-405), RAYMOND (DE-341) and JOHN C. BUTLER (DE-339).

Both of YAMATO's forward turrets open fire at a distance of 20 miles. Of her six forward rifles only two are initially loaded with AP shells, the remainder with Type 3s. YAMATO's F1M2 "Pete" spotter plane confirms that the first salvo is a hit.

Source is
http://www.combinedfleet.com/yamato.htm

Regards,

Gilbert


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RE: Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters fo... - 11/26/2012 3:13:20 PM   
crsutton


Posts: 6184
Joined: 12/6/2002
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Yes,

Actually very little information about Allied float planes as spotter but the Japanese used them. I wonder if the Navy was using light aircraft such as the army l4 piper as spotters late in the war. The army certainly put them to good use. The navy had a version but it says it was used for trainers. However, this type could easily have been flown off of CVEs. Anyone know more about this?

You will note from your ship upgrades in the game that the Navy was pulling float planes off of surface warships as the war progressed. I assume that they were becoming more of a liability than an asset and it cleared up space for more AA guns. But by then they had plenty of carrier decks.

< Message edited by crsutton -- 11/26/2012 3:32:16 PM >

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RE: Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters fo... - 11/26/2012 3:29:27 PM   
Omat


Posts: 536
Joined: 8/18/2004
Status: offline 		Hello

Battle of Savo Island:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Savo_Island

quote:

As Mikawa's force neared the Guadalcanal area, the Japanese ships launched three floatplanes for one final reconnaissance of the Allied ships, and to provide illumination by dropping flares during the upcoming battle.


and

quote:

At about the same moment that Patterson sighted the Japanese ships and went into action, the Japanese floatplanes overhead, on orders from Mikawa, dropped aerial flares directly over Canberra and Chicago


Source: Morison. Struggle for Guadalcanal

Hopde it helps....

Omat

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RE: Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters fo... - 11/26/2012 7:44:00 PM   
Apollo11


Posts: 21608
Joined: 6/7/2001
From: Zagreb, Croatia
Status: offline 		Hi all,

Thanks for info guys!


Leo "Apollo11"

_____________________________



Prior Preparation & Planning Prevents Pathetically Poor Performance!

A & B: WitW, WitE, WbtS, GGWaW, GGWaW2-AWD, HttR, CotA, BftB, CF
P: UV, WitP, WitP-AE

(in reply to Omat)
Post #: 5
RE: Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters fo... - 11/27/2012 3:23:02 AM   
fodder


Posts: 590
Joined: 4/11/2010
From: Daytona Beach
Status: offline 		I could be wrong, but wasn't it common pratice for U.S. ships to fly off their floatplanes and send them somewhere safe whenever a surface action was anticipated. If left on board ship they were considered a fire hazard.

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RE: Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters fo... - 11/27/2012 8:20:15 AM   
gradenko_2000

 

Posts: 568
Joined: 12/27/2010
Status: online 		Yes, it was common practice to dump floatplanes and all of their associated paraphernalia if surface action was expected, because all that stuff was extremely flammable. Or at least, it was *supposed* to be common practice, as a couple of ships in the Battle of Savo Island did not do this and suffered greatly for it, although I suppose that was just part and parcel of the tactical surprise achieved by the IJN.

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Post #: 7
RE: Semi OT: Were float planes ever used as spotters fo... - 11/28/2012 1:44:52 PM   
sprior


Posts: 7565
Joined: 6/18/2002
From: Nottingham, UK
Status: offline 		I believe they were used at the battle of the River Plate too.

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