The Event that Saved America's Super Carrier

Lieutenant Stanley "Swede" Vejtasa soared through the war-torn skies over the Santa Cruz Islands in his F4F Wildcat. It was mid-morning on October 26, 1942, and the 28-year-old sharpshooter was tasked with defending a vastly outnumbered US carrier fleet against the relentless onslaught of Japanese bombers.

Suddenly, he caught sight of the dark silhouettes of a group of “Val” dive bombers looming above him. Gritting his teeth, he pulled back on the stick, forcing his Wildcat to climb. The engine strained, the aircraft shuddering as it ascended through the fog. At 12,000 feet, Vejtasa broke through the cloud cover, only to find himself wing-to-wing with the enemy.

Vejtasa's heart pounded in his chest. He maneuvered his F4F behind the first bomber, fingers gripping the controls tightly, and squeezed the trigger. The Wildcat’s six .50 caliber M2 Browning machine guns roared to life. Tracers streaked toward the enemy, the bomber shuddering under the impact. Smoke trailed from its engines as it spiraled down in a fiery descent.

Vejtasa swung his Wildcat around, targeting the next bomber. He adjusted his approach, firing another burst of gunfire. The second bomber erupted in flames, debris scattering in the sky.

There was no time to celebrate. The battle was quickly spiraling into a disaster for the US fleet. One carrier, USS Hornet, was a smoldering wreck after a brutal twenty-minute assault that had claimed 118 American lives. Now, USS Enterprise was the United States’ last operational carrier in the Pacific, and its only hope of rescuing the Marines stuck on Guadalcanal.
Just then, a voice crackled in his headset—one of his fellow pilots had sighted a block of Japanese torpedo planes heading toward Enterprise. Vejtasa's eyes narrowed with determination. He and his comrades had to intercept them before they reached the carrier…

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As images and footage of actual events are not always available, Dark Docs sometimes utilizes similar historical images and footage for dramatic effect. I do my best to keep it as visually accurate as possible. All content on Dark Docs is researched, produced, and presented in historical context for educational purposes. We are history enthusiasts and are not always experts in some areas, so please don't hesitate to reach out to us with corrections, additional information, or new ideas. -

[DarkDocs]

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[McPh]

Swede Vejtasa was featured and gave commentary on a episode the the History Channel show "Dogfights" in the early 2000s about the Dauntless dogfight incident. The episode called "Long Odds."

[aa]

Vejtasa was also the only carrier pilot in WW2 to receive the Navy Cross for both dive bombing and aerial combat.

[KeithRanker]

Much of Hornet's damage happened because Kinkaid ignored advice and 😊ordered a less experienced officer to be the fighter direction officer. That FDO positioned the F4Fs several thousand feet below the attacking Japanese.

[sleepyhollow]

Who could have guessed that US Navy leadership would be so petty.
Truth will eventually rise to the top.

[johnzmuzic]

Like the film at 8.54 of RNZAF no6 squadron Catalina flying by . Rest of documentary is quite interesting .

[yugioht]

Yep it’s the legendary enterprise flight squadron.

[kenthigginbotham]

Read Joe Foss’s account of 6 50 cal guns.
By the time of the Midway engagement in June, the fixed-wing F4F-3 had been replaced by the folding-wing F4F-4. Although the new wings enabled the carriers to increase their fighter complement from 18 to 27, the F4F-4’s folding mechanism, coupled with the addition of two more machine guns, raised its weight by nearly 800 pounds and caused a falloff in climb and maneuverability.

[robertshaver]

They were rewarding "subs" for spotting damage make no mistake about it.

[PaulGAckerman]

Anyone else think this was going to be about Edward "Butch" O'Hare? Just me?

[gmanky]

So your thumbnail pix has a NOT F4F Wildcat with the pilot circled in red.
It a SBD Dauntless Dive Bomber.

[dizzywillow]

Thanks for that big fat red circle on your thumbnail! That really clarifies what your video is about for sure. Please give your CGI artist a raise, that is just breathtaking!

[bauhnguefyische]

What kind of watch did that guy have?
The one that says it time to take Kate out.

[Eddewardeke]

10.28, talk about Wildcats and show Avengers.... Every time these picture faults!

[auro]

and their bombers did not have fighter escorts as per your plans, isn't it?

[biketech]

Politics in the military is a great weakness . America has great workers and followers, but poor leaders, or so it seems to me .

[HerbSparks]

I don’t think I’m crazy, but is the pilot in the thumbnail using a steering wheel to fly a plane?

[donharrison]

scythe is pronounced with voiced TH, not unvoiced

[OldSloGuy]

Vejtasa was an excellent problem solver, buy not a very good errand boy. This bit him in the end. If there was a better way of doing something and it wasn't prohibited, he would do it. This disrupted some fancy pant's scheme with a hidden agenda. I was told he spent his entire Navy career without doing a tour in the Pentagon. While serving as CO of the Constellation, he was selected for Rear Admiral. After the 1963 Cincpac Weapons Demonstration, Chiang kai shek extended lunch by two hours while holding court in the ward room and telling war stories to the 59 assembled flag.officers. As a result, the time slot reserved for the American Ambassador's meeting with Chiang evaporated, and he complained to the State Department which told the Navy that Vejtasa wasn't a "Team Player." Vejtasa hadn't played the DC game and didn't get frocked. Vejtasa knew better than interrupting Chiang, the leader of Taiwan, while he was entertaining the brass. The problem was that people in the State Department had been vocal that it wasn't their fault that the ambassador was unhappy. Shortly after, it was revealed that Vejtasa had broken some ice diplomatically and the people who had so urgently covered their asses were out in the cold at the awards banquet. Vejtasa was the scapegoat. Dean Rusk was Sec. of State.

[sba]

I can’t take the ads because n the show. There are many other WW II channels that aren’t selling me watches.