How the US Navy Shot Down 350 Planes in a Day - The Marianas Turkey Shoot

In this video, we look into the forgotten history and what you never knew about the Marianas Turkey Shoot - the aerial battle of the Battle of the Philippines Sea in June of 1944. This was made using the World War II flight simulator War Thunder. Hope you enjoy! Please like, comment, and subscribe. #WW2 #WWIIHistory #WarThunder

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[jonbanks]

My grandfather was a fighter pilot who fought in this very battle. John Albert Banks.

[bryancousineau]

You completely missed the most successful aviator in that battle. While Vraciu shot down 6 Japanese planes in the battle, Commander David McCampbell, flying from USN Essex, shot down 9!! that day, and his wingman shot down 5 more. McCampbell was the ace of aces in the U.S. Navy and yet virtually everyone misses his accomplishments. He won every medal including the Medal of Honour. Nobody else in U.S. aviation has ever equalled his 9 victories in one flight.His airplane was called Minsi ll, in honour of his wife.

[johnmcelhaney]

My dad has two letters of accommodations one from Admiral Halsey and another from admiral Nimitz . Held them both in my hands along with hearing so many stories of the seven invasions he was involved in out in the pacific . Love this history of the greatest generation

[TDdd]

We've been told the P-40 was not a good plane, but with professional pilots they dominated the Japanese Oscars. The reason our young pilots did badly was because they had insufficient training. The turkey shoot is the best example of veteran pilots with superior aircraft. It was a slaughter of the Japanese fighters.

[selewachm]

My Father served in this theater during WWII as a plane captain on a support carrier. I think he served on a couple but not sure. He did serve on the Independece which I think was involved with this. He passed before the internet got to where it is now but I wish I could ask him so many questions. Fun fact, he loved listening to the "Victory at Sea" albums.

[commonsensegunlaw]

Just listened to Clash of Carriers, detailed book on this battle, very well done. Hellcat was spawned from Wildcat pilots brought to Grumman to tell them what was needed. Hellcat tried to keep Zeros above 200 kts airspeed, as their elevators became really hard to move, and ailerons also. They also used boom and zoom, as the Hellcat had superb altitude rate of climb, and the use of Radar gave them far better warning to have fighter cap in place to defend.

[wayneyadams]

6:10 We also had the advantage of an industrial complex that could manufacture war material at a rate that Japan could never match, not to mention a vastly larger population from which to draw for replacements. It was a David and Goliath situation with David having no slingshot with which to slay Goliath. The Japanese never had a chance to win, and Admiral Yamamoto knew it when he made his statement about waking a sleeping giant.

[brucevetter]

It's astounding to me how CGI can make understanding history so exciting and useful. The people able to accomplish this magic need to know how much their work is appreciated. US Navy Submarine veteran, 1962-1966 USS Sailfish, SS572

[shadetreemech]

As I understand it, The AA ammunition (designated "VT" for variable time) was also of the new proximity fuse type that automatically detonated close to the incoming aircraft and that made a big difference in.

[SmedleyDouwright]

"The Operations Room" channel covers this too, but under the more formal name "Battle of the Philippine Sea". It covers the battle at a higher level. It is more fleet vs fleet than plane vs plane.

[ph]

Another fact was that the Battle of the Philippine Sea was the last time SBD Dauntless were used from US Fleet Carriers. Operated by VB-10 from Enterprise and VB-16 from Lexington along with a 5-plane section of VB-1 on Yorktown

[philchurch]

My grandfather was in the Navy on a DD USS Fargut and he was in every major battle in the pacific ..boy did he have true story's to tell..

[jameshendrixmizfit]

Love the video. Aces David McCampbel was a part of this. F6F Hellcat became known as the zero killer.

[wayneyadams]

20:11 Dick Bong was in the U.S. Army Air Force, not the U.S. Navy and he flew the iconic and deadly twin engine P-38.

[williamwiese]

Ive heard a bunch of war stories aboutthe Philippine seas, . grandfather was in the Battle of Leytte Gulf, the amount of crap these kids had to go through was absolutely nuts. He was aboard USS Birmingham escort cruiser (Cleveland class) they helped the CV USS Princeton (CV) put out fires after a Divebomber put one throut the flight deck.

[COACHWARBLE]

FM-2 Wildcat was the most under rated fighter in WW2. It was the fighter plane on the 90 Jeep carriers built by Kaiser ship yards.

[wbrunelle]

As mentioned, the Japanese lost two aircraft carriers to US submarines during this First Battle of the Philippine Sea. Not only significant losses in themselves but eliminating landing platforms for some of the Japanese aircraft that had survived and were returning. USS ALBACORE (SS218) sank the carrier TAIHO on 18 June 1944 and the next day USS CAVALLA (SS244) bagged the IJN carrier SHOKAKU. Tragically, ALBACORE did not survive the war, but CAVALLA served until 1968. I had the honor to serve in CAVALLA in 1963-1964. Video and simulation top notch except for one minor error. Japanese carriers had their islands on the port side rather than the starboard side. The rotation of their aircraft engines and thus the torque forces were the opposite of our planes. Sorry, there's always a "spoil sport" for every otherwise excellent video!

[drewber]

Alex Vraciu was the first Naval Aviator to shoot down a Japanese Zero, while flying the Hellcat. This is seen in a History Channel episode of Dogfights. It's worth a search.

[markforster]

Next, I would like to hear about when USN aircraft were launched to attack late in the day. Most, if not all, of the survivors returned after sundown. Admiral Mischer, who had ordered the attack, ordered the ships to turn on their lights.

[erictaylor]

16:05 Sadly, his sacrifice was for naught. The other torpedo struck the ship causing a major aviation fuel spill. The damage wasn't that bad, the ship continues along just fine until some time later. The crew had done well to avoid sparks setting off the fuel fumes rather than venting the fumes overboard they were vented into the ship. From there it was only a matter of time. Eventually the fumes found a spark and tuned the ship into a massive bomb.