Who Knew WWII Aircraft Carriers Could Do THIS?

Six WWII Essex class aircraft carriers had a unique ability to launch an airplane sideways, and it was often a nightmare for the pilots.

But when a WWII aircraft carrier’s straight deck flattop was a chaotic mess or undergoing recovery operations, how do you go about rapidly launching emergency scout aircraft to keep an eye on the enemy?

WWII aircraft carrier engineers designed a catapult that ran across the beam of the ship. It was installed in the hangar bay, with big doors on each side. This way, a scout plane or two could be quickly launched when the top deck was fouled.

0:00 Intro
0:50 Why the need for a hangar deck catapult?
1:37 Which carriers had a hangar deck catapult?
2:16 How did the hangar catapult work?
2:50 Problems with this catapult design
3:19 What happened to the catapults?

Footage appearing in this video obtained from....

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[toupac]

Dude, I have seen every WW2 historical films to exist. How have I never known about this? Well played.

[chiphailstone]

My grandfather Frank was aboard the USS Heavy Fast Cruiser Tuscaloosa from 19378 until Dec 1945.
His battle station was as a gunners mate, #2 turret to an 8 inch rifle, while his duty station was working as the crane operator for the catapult launched spotter aircraft (Of various types over the course of the war)
He was skillfull at plucking craft from the sea, and placing them upon the launch, underway and in rough seas, he was given a commendation for his safe work, with no accidents over 7 years.

[timmccarthy]

I've seen the picture of the Hellcat being launched from the hanger but never thought about a TBF Avenger doing it. That is a huge aircraft. My grandfather flew Avengers off the Saratoga CV-3. I have his Log Book. "Torpedo attack 1 Jap. DD and 1 Jap. CL in Nov. 1943" and got a commendation medal the certificate signed by Admiral Halsey. Later he crashed on take off and flew 2 days later new plane obviously but with same crew nice to see everyone got out. After WW2 he flew Grumman F7F Tigercats and In the 1950's he had a cold catapult shot in a A-1 Skyraider and crashed in the sea and came very close to drowning. He retired in 1968 a Captain and lived in San Diego with 6 children and 12 grandchildren and for the rest of his 30 years refused to go anywhere in the city where he could see even a tiny bit of the ocean. I think he had plenty of memories and enough of the Pacific.

[terikennedy]

"Wing and a Prayer" (1944) has a hanger catapult launch with a TBF. Good flick I remember watching it as a kid and thought it was weird a plane was taking off from the side of the ship.

[geraldtrudeau]

Now, this is fascinating. I've been studying militaria for over 50 years, and this is the first time I've ever seen this. It just goes to show no matter how old you are or how much you've studied, each day can bring some new Wonder.

[ph]

The Yorktown-Class were fitted with hangar catapults. But weren’t used for the same reasons. Yorktown (CV-5) still had hers when she was lost at Midway. But Enterprise (CV-6) and Hornet (CV-8) had theirs removed after the Battle and before Guadalcanal.

[ed]

This is something I didn't know existence of, another great history fact Ken

[ExUSSailor]

Launching into a 25 knot + CROSSWIND must've been hellish for the pilots!

[ericepperson]

I can only imagine the resolve and courage it would take to launch an aircraft from a short catapult, into a crosswind, maybe a dozen feet above the ocean.

[enzoolz]

It is notable how little this is spoken of, and it comes a surprise to me, that it was widely used in so many familiar carriers of the era, with this detail somehow becoming lost over time.

[MonkPetite]

If your dig deeper you will see that the hanger can store aircraft on the roof.
The sideways cat was quickly abandoned as the disadvantages you mentioned.

[thomasellysonting]

*Raise Hand*

I knew about them long before this video.

This feature was illustrated in a 1990s educational book featuring cut outs of various ships throughout history. One of the ships featured was the Essex-class Lexington and has the hangar catapult not only clearly marked, but even has a plane just take off from it.

It didn't have a blurb giving more details though - possibly because its so obscure - but then again this is supposed to be a children's book so they probably wanted to highlight more important portions of the ship.

Not to go into a "good old days" rant, but it is a bit of a shame that small publishers like that essentially no longer exist, which largely killed off the cottage industry of researchers and illustrators who used to supply these books at this level of detail.

[ZuluLifesaBeech-]

Thanks for this video! My Dad was on the Essex CV-9 but, as you stated they never installed that catapult in her hangar deck. Haze Gray & Underway! 🇺🇸

[mitchellminer]

Ships had been using catapults to launch float planes for some time before carriers were a big deal. I can't recall the types, but the catapults were up high and rather short.

[cjford]

A new one on me... and when it comes to WW2, that ain't easy.
Well done!

[marksingleton]

Planes were launched from Cruisers for scout/patrol purposes as well. There were catapult arms that pivoted out from the stern to launch float equipped planes. Recovery was done with a hoist and they were lifted back aboard. Helicopters replaced them later on.

[covertopsZ]

I've known about this method for years. But it's never been a subject that has been given the attention it deserves.. Thanks for the excellent brief on this subject.👍👍

[hybridwolf]

Came from your short on this. 56 years and I am just now learning about this after watching every WW2 docu I can find. You just earned a sub, GJ.

[Strike_Raid]

The Japanese did it; they even built some that had a flight deck extending directly out from the hanger deck, below the upper fight deck. They had at least one carrier that had three stacked flight decks (one was very short, but it was there). They pretty much abandoned the idea by the time of WW-II.

[wcresponder]

It is a good day when you learn something new.