The aircraft carrier Akagi (“red castle”) was one of the most powerful warships of its time. It began construction as a battlecruiser in 1923, but the passage of the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited the fleets of the major world powers, meant that Japan had to finish the ...
No existing aircraft in the British inventory could effectively fulfill this role; fortunately, the aircraft manufacturer Fairey was developing a versatile light bomber. Upon closer examination, it became clear that this aircraft could be adapted for carrier operations. The result was the Fairey Fulmar...
McCall was escorting the aircraft carrier Enterprise toward Wake Island on Dec. 7, 1941, when word came in of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The small carrier task force did not return to Pearl until the 8th, but it was back at sea on the 10th,...
Far across the Pacific and all of North America, the USS Intrepid sits in the Hudson River on Manhattan's West Side. She served for over 30 years, starting in WWII, and is now home to myriad aircraft, from prop planes to the Space Shuttle Enterprise. ...
This is Part 3.1 of a series of posts on the construction of a diorama depicting the Zeros of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Akagi aircraft carrier preparing to take off as part of the first wave attack on Pearl Harbor. This post only concerns Masanobu Ibusuki. To understand the concept of...
Get ready to command mighty warships in Naval Frontline: WWII Navy! Lead iconic ships like the USS Iowa or USS Enterprise. Or, if you prefer a sneaky approach,…
The attack on Pearl Harbor began at around 7:55 a.m local time when the first wave of Japanese aircraft reached their targets. Positioned 230 miles (370 kilometers) north of Oahu, the Japanese carrier fleet launched 185 aircraft, according to "Sunday in Hell Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute,...
The language grew so inflammatory on the bridge of theSaratogathat Rear Adm. Aubrey Fitch stormed off so he would not hear possibly mutinous talk and be forced to take action. One Navy officer aboard the carrierEnterprisedejectedly wrote, “It’s the war between two yellow races.” Even in...
Myth: The battleships in Pearl Harbor were always the primary targets of the Japanese attack. Fact:When planning for the raid began in July 1941, the Japanese knew the era of the battleship was giving way to the era of the aircraft carrier. Consequently, they focused their planned attack on...
feet. US aircraft bombing the Japanese light carrierRyujoon August 24, 1942, during the Battle of the Eastern Solomons. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto had set a trap for aircraft from the USSEnterpriseandSaratoga. But American planes chopped the enemy carrier to pieces without losing a single aircraft....