Pacific WW2 Carrier Action; Color and B&W; SBD F6F TBM

We've encountered a lot of official U.S. Navy motion picture footage from World War II, plus film of early aircraft carrier operations going back to the 1920s. And there's a batch of Korean War, Cold War, and Vietnam war film. Some is amazing Kodachrome color, some is gritty and stark black-and-white film.
We will present this film in an ongoing series of short programs. Please watch the Airailimages Channel for additions to this film collection.
The U.S. Navy did a good job training photographers, both still photo and motion picture, who captured a fleeting moment in time -- the World War II era of frantic carrier battles. The film you see here includes Kodachrome shot aboard an Essex-class carrier, possibly USS Lexington; Maybe USS Yorktown, around December 1944.
Durable Dauntless dive bombers move on the flight deck, their blue, gray, white camouflage looking smudged and battle-worn. F6F Hellcats land, sometimes with mishaps. A splash filmed to the side of the carrier is said to be the demise of a Japanese "Kate" bomber. Other color scenes show refueling at sea. And look at the F6F Hellcats landing -- at least one of them, probably an early F6F-3, shows a lighter blue surround to the national insignia, suggesting it replaced the short-lived red surround. Interesting quirks for model builders.
The black and white film, possibly from November 1943, shows activity said to be aboard USS Yorktown as sailors play a game on deck. Ammunition boxes are stacked. Men are transferred from a destroyer to the aircraft carrier; this is life at sea in World War II.

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[joeschenk]

Another great one...and a tribute to the brave men of the past. Thanks.

[ChiefAUS]

Keep these films coming. They are the record of what they went through. Thanks.

[davidmcleod]

I've never seen these films before awesome

[Spawn-tdbf]

Mr. Johnson, another piece of history saved from the scrap heap. And what a wonderful piece it is. Thank you very much for your hard work . I look forward to future clips. Take care and God Bless, Paul from Florida.

[martinpennock]

Thanks again Mr. Johnsen for a wonderful video. This was my father's theater of operation. He was stationed aboard the USS Sirius, which had the distinction of returning the captured admirals from the Hiru, Soryu, and Akagi after Midway for interrogation at Pearl Harbor. He actually was assigned guard duty for these men during the voyage. As always, God bless you and yours and thanks again for all you do! 👍🇺🇸😊

[johnosbourn]

Hey Fred, the naval aircraft color scheme, you described; Blue, Gray, and White, is actually the Tri-Color Scheme of Sea Blue, Intermediate Blue, over Insignia White. This was the standard paint scheme for all naval aircraft from Spring 1943, to Fall 1944.

[fredvanduyne]

My father was a gunner in the turret of an TBM with VT-10 on board CV-6 USS Enterprise. Thanks for this. I have never seen any of these images on other sites. Also the white circle on the tail of the aircraft are carrier specific . So it’s possible to identify the plane with the carrier.

[allgood]

Thanks for this... our RNZAF operated Dauntless, Corsair, and Avenger planes 👍✈️🇳🇿

[erikkunkle]

The channel never disappoints. What ya'll do is awesome and very important to our history. Thank you!!

[russdority]

The carrier in the colour footage I think is the Yorktown, you can just make out the number 10 on the flight deck. The destroyer alongside the tanker is a Bagley class, possibly the Helm which was my father's ship.

[markroberts]

I always get a rush of adrenaline every time I see these films. Hats off to the brave Airmen and the air Crews that service them

[rhark]

The game they're playing on deck looks like some form of mumblety-peg