The U.S. Navy in WW II and Afterwards-- Part 1

From the July 29, 2022, 19fortyfive site  "Why the Navy dropped nuclear  bombs on aircraft carriers and battleships" by PeterSuciu.

At the outbreak of World War II, the British Royal Navy was the strongest  maritime force in the world.  However, by the end of the conflict the United States Navy had ovetaken it for strongest even though it was tasked with fighting a two-front war on the seas.

But the United States proved up to the challenge and produced a massive number of warships.  Even so, the U.S. fleet was a considerable force at  the outbreak of the wat.

In  1939, the U.S. Navy had 15 battleships, 5 aircraft carriers, 18 heavy cruisers and 19 light cruisers.  Even as a new class of battleships entered service during the war, the vaunted Iowa-class, the focus had shiffed to  aircraft carriers, of which 16 super carriers were built along with dozens of smaller carriers.

When the fighting ended in 1945, the United States had more warships than any other power and there was the consideration of what to do with all of the,.

For many of the older ones, they were used as test targets for a new kind of weapon.

Nuclear.

--GreGen

Chief Pharmacist's Mate James Cheshire Died on the USS Oklahoma

From the July 25, 2022, WHSA 11 ABC News "Pearl Harbor sailor from Nelson County laid to rest 80 years later" by Brooke Hasch.

Of the 429 sailors and marines killed on the USS Oklahoma during the attack, 394 had been buried as unknowns.  He was one of them.

James Cheshire joined the U.S. Navy at age of 18 and made a career of it for the next 22 years.  He had just reupped in 1940 so had he chosen not to continue his career, he wouldn't have been on the ship that fateful day.

As a pharmacist's mate, he would have been way down in the ship at his medical station where he rendered aid to the wounded.  Down there, he had almost no odds of escaping as the USS Oklahoma was hit at least five times, capsizing in 12 minutes.

He was buried this last weekend at Arlington National Cemetery.

Two of his cousins were on board the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor that day and both lost their lives.

--GreGen

Family Says Kentucky Sailor Killed on USS Oklahoma Is Finally Getting the Honor He Deserved: James Thomas Cheshire

From the July 18, 2022, WDRB News.

Eighty years after the attack on Pearl Harbor, remains of those killed are still being identified.

James Thomas Cheshire, better known as "Tom," is one of them.  He was on the USS Oklahoma at the time.  His remains were recovered, but identification could not be made.

Captain Robert McMahon is the director of the Naval Casualties unit and has been busy identifying those who lost their lives and were classified as unknowns.

Cheshire was born in New Hope, Kentucky, then moved to Louisville, where he enlisted in the Navy at age 19 in 1919.  He went on to reach the rank of Chief Pharmacist Mate and was serving on the battleship USS Oklahoma.

He was finally identified in 2018, using DNA from family members.  He received a full military honor burial Friday, July 22, at Arlington National Cemetery.

Navy Casualties said that there are still 33 USS Oklahoma sailors who remain unidentified, but work will continue until as many as possible are known.

--GreGen

Where the Remaining Battleships Are Located

From the Complete Pilgrim.

USS TEXAS  (BB-35)  Houston, Texas  (New York-Class launched 1912)

USS NORTH CAROLINA  (BB-55)  Wilmington, North Carolina.  (North Carolina-Class launched 1940)

USS ALABAMA  (BB-60)   Mobile, Alabama    (South Dakota-Class launched 1942)

USS MASSACHUSETTS  (BB-59)  Fall River, Massachusetts  (South Dakota-Class launched 1941)

USS IOWA  (BB-61)  Los Angeles, California  (Iowa-Class launched 1942)

USS NEW JERSEY (BB-62)   Camden, New Jersey  (Iowa-Class launched 1942)  Launched December 7, 1942, on the one year anniversary of Pearl Harbor.

USS WISCONSIN  (BB-64)  Norfolk, Virginia  (Iowa-Class launched December 7, 1943, the second anniversary of Peral Harbor).

USS MISSOURI  (BB-63)   Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.  (Iowa-Class launched in 1943)  Located by the wreck of the USS Arizona.

--GreGen

USS Iowa-Class Battleships-- Part 3: Saving One of Those Big Guns

There is yet another reasoon why we won't be seeing these warships returning to active duty again and that is a serious lack of spare parts.  Warships require specialized parts and to maintain the USS New Jersey museum, workers have to travel over to the nearby inactive fleet in Philadelphia Navy Yard to scavenge what they can find.

And, there us also the fact that the Navy continues its policy of getting rid of  equipment it doesn't need.

OVER A BARREL

Storing and maintaining equipment from  retired warships can be  costly, but recently it was reported that a nonprofit group managed to save several battleship barrels (cannons) produced for the U.S. Navy during World War II.  One that had been destined for a scrapyard will now get a new lease on life in Virginia Beach.

The Coast Defense  Study Group was able to acquire a 120-ton barrel, one of nine that had been stored in Chesapeake.  These were capable of firing a  projectile weighing between 1,900 pounds and 2,700 pounds for up to 24 miles.

It was manufactured during the war for the Iowa-class battleships.

--GreGen

USS Iowa-Class Battleships-- Part 2: A Tale of Eight Battleships

Another factor against their coming back is that there is no longer any U.S. Navy facility large enough for such an undertaking.

Today, there are eight  retired U.S. Battleships that have been  maintained as floating mseums.  In addition to the role of service each played, the elements have not been kind to these old warships.

The USS Texas is currently undergoing repairs as her hull is leaking.  (It is also the oldest battleship, havong taken part in World War I.)  Significant restorations were necessary to save the  South Dakota-class USS  Massachusetts.  A special cofferdam had to built to do work on another South Dakota-Class battleship, the USS North Carolina.

The other non-Iowa-class battleship is the USS Alabama.

The four Iowa-class battlewagons, which were the last battleships launched by the U.S., are in better condition, but the USS New Jersey recently underwent its first major replacement of its wooden decks in decades.

--GreGen

Will the USS Iowa-Class Battleships Ever Come Back?-- Part 1

From the July 12, 2022 1945 site "U.S. Navy Iowa-Class battleships broke all the rules (But stop asking for a comeback)" by Peter  Sucio.

The Iowa-class battleships were the best warships of the battleship era.  They were the largest ever built in the United States.  That would be the USS Iowa, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Missouri.

There are still some who call for their return.  And for some, including me,  there is just something too much about seeing one or more of our big gun fast battleships in service again.  And, they have all been preserved intact so it is possible for them to return to duty.

But is that possible?

Not likely.  Smaller and more mobile guided-missile destroyers are today able to do shore bombardment better.  These ships would require massive crews and would simply be too inviting of a target  in this era of hypersonic missiles and stealth aircraft.

And, then there would be the huge costs of modernizing them and operating them.

But Still Wishful Thinking.   Those Were Beautiful Warships.  --GreGen

33 Classic World War II Movies-- Part 3: "Flags of Our Fathers'

1998:  "The Thin Red Line"

2001:  "Enemy at the Gates"

2001:  "To End All Wars"

2001:  *"Pearl Harbor"

2004:  "Downfall"

2006:  *"Flags of Our Fathers"

2006:   *"Letters from Iwo Jima"

2008:  *Valkyrie"

2009:  *"Inglorious Basterds"

2014:  *"Fury"

2017:  *"Dunkirk"

--GreGen

33 Classic WW II Movies-- Part 2: 'Saving Private Ryan'

*  Ones I've seen.

1969:  "The Battle of Britain"

1970:  *"Patton"

1970:  *"Kelly's Heroes"

1970:  *"Tora,Tora, Tora"

1977:  "A Bridge Too Far"

1980:  "Big Red One"

1981:  *"Das Boot"

1985:  "Come and See"

1987:  "Empire of the Sun"

1992:  "A Midnight Clear"

1998:  *"Saving Private Ryan"

--GreGen

33 Classic World War II Movies from 'Stalag 17' to 'Dunkirk'

From the November 11, 2021, The Wrap  by Beatrice Verhoevan.

*  Means I've seen it.

1945:  " Walk in the Sun"

1949:  "Battleground"

1953:  "From Here to Eternity"

1953:  "Stalag 17"

1954:  *"The Caine Mutiny:

1957:  *"Bridge on the River Kwai"

1961:  *"The Guns of Navarone"

1962:  *"The Longest Day"

1963:  *"The Great Escape"

1967:  *"The Dirty Dozen"

1968:  *"Where Eagles Dare"

--GreGen

Sailor Killed at Pearl Harbor Coming Home to Mississippi: John Russell Melton

From July 3, 2022 Kicks 96 News.

In 1941, as the holidays approached, a Mississippi sailor from Liberty stationed at Pearl Harbor on the USS West Virginia wrote home to his family that he was looking forward to coming home for Christmas.  But Seaman First Class John Russell Melton never made it.

He was among those killed on the battleship USS West Virginia when it was hit by at least seven Japanese torpedoes and two armor-piercing  bombs on December 7, 1941.

His remains were never identified and were buried along with other unknowns in a grave in Hawaii.  But, they were disinterred in 2017 and sent to a lab for analysis -- and his family contacted for DNA samples which led to his identification.

And, he'll be coming home to Mississippi this Wednesday, July 6.  His remains will be sent to New Orleans and then a motorcade will head to his hometown where flags will be displayed and people will pay their respects.

Saturday there will be a funeral with full military honors.  The family intends to have him buried in a church cemetery along side his parents.

GreGen

Remembering Herschel 'Woody' Williams, Last WW II Medal of Honor Recipient

The Veterans Site Greater Good by Dan Doyle.

Died Wednesday, June 29, 2022.  Known as a Marine's Marine.  Sadly, also, he was the last surviving recipient of the Medal of Honor during World War II.

He was born in 1923 on a dairy farm in Weirton, West Virginia, the youngest of 11 children.  When the war started, he tried to join the military, but  was first denied because he was too short.  That didn't stop him and finally joined the Marine Corps in 1943.

Two years later, he landed in Iwo Jima on February 25, 1945, as a demolitions man with the 1st Battalion, 21st Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division.  Two days later he would be in the fight of his life against entrenched Japanese machine gun emplacements that were devastating his unit.

He would go forward to those emplacements armed with a flame thrower and supported by four Marine riflemen, two of whom would be killed in action protecting Woody.  Over the next four hours he would attack the machine gun nests, taking them out one by one.

He would go back to the rear several times to get more demolitions and refill the flame thrower.  On one occasion, he charged a machine gun bunker, got on top of it, stuck the nozzle of the flame thrower through the portal, and silenced the gun.

For his actions that day, he was awarded the nation's highest military honor, the Medal of Honor.

--GreGen

USS Oklahoma Unknowns: Joseph W. Hofman and George Price

From the April 19, 2022, 10 WBNS  Chillicothe, Ohio.

JOSEPH W. HOFFMAN

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA)  has announced that the remains of U.S. Navy  Musician 1st Class Joseph W. Hoffman were identified.

He was from Chillicothe and on board the USS Oklahoma that tragic day.

He is scheduled to be buried August 23.

***************************************

From the April 16, 2022, Herald-Whig Dallas City, Illinois.

GEORGE PRICE

Funeral service will be held May 4 in Dallas City, Illinois.

He was on the USS Oklahoma that tragic day.

--GreGen

World War II-era Boat Emerges from Shrinking Lake Mead

From July 1, 2022, OPB.org. by AP.

A sunken boat dating back to World War II is the latest item to emerge from a shrinking reservoir that straddles  Nevada and Arizona.

It is a Higgins landing craft  that was  originally  185 feet below the surface is now nearly half way out of the water at Lake Mead about a mile from the Lake Mead Marina and Hemingway Harbor.  It was used to survey the Colorado River decades ago, sold to the marina and then  sunk.

Higgins Industries in New Orleans built several thousand landing craft between 1942 and 1945.  Around 1,500 "Higgins Boats" were deployed on Normandy on D-Day on June 6, 1944.

The boat is only one of a series of objects appearing because of the declining waters of Lake Mead, the largest human-made reservoir in the U.S. held back by the Hoover Dam.  In May, two sets of human remains were found in the span of one week.

--GreGen