in honor of those fallen November 11, 2009

Below is the cover page of the 457-page 4th Edition of "Joining the War at Sea 1939-1945" Order Book ------- While serving as Gunnery Officer on the USS Edison, Dailey was confronted with the aviation technology used by German bombers attacking his ship and others. After transitioning to naval aviation, he experienced first hand many of the innovations in instrument flight that led to the book below. Order Book Now, for illustrated readings, see linked pages: SO3C by Curtiss Operation Torch Navy Aerial Reconnaissance Warships at Morocco-1942 Aircraft Carriers for Torch Battle for Morocco Bridging World Wars Supply and Support Husky, Palermo, Messina Bloody Salerno Luftwaffe Standoff Weapons Aircraft of World War II-"friendlies" Long "slog" at Anzio USS West Point AP23 War Cruise-part 1 USS West Point AP23 War Cruise-part 2 Part I, Briggs on Casablanca, Sicily Part II, Briggs on Anzio

Ships and Aircraft of World War II SO3C by Curtiss; Navy's Intended Replacement for SOC Aircraft on Cruisers Return to Table of Contents Contact Author Copyright 2009 (photos from U.S. Navy WW 2 Recognition Training Slide Set) This SO3C aircraft was designed and built for the Navy just before World War II . "SO" was the Navy designation for Scout Observation and "OS" was for Observation Scout . The appending alphabet letters were for manufacturers. The "C" in SO3C was for Curtiss. The "U" in OS2U was for Chance Vought. Some exciting moments were contributed by cruiser-based SOC scout aircraft in the "Torch" invasion that targeted Casablanca in November 1942. More such moments occurred off Sicily in July 1943. . Designed for catapault operation off a cruiser or battleship, the SO3C aircraft was normally fitted with a single large float underneath the fuselage and a smaller wingtip float under each wing. Intended primarily for at-sea launch and sea recovery from cruisers and battleships, aircraft in the Scout and Observation class could be fitted with fixed landing gear to operate off airfields. The then prevailing (late 1930s up to U.S. entry into WW II) floatplane models, SOC and OS2U, actually served through the war; the U.S. Navy priority for production went to the carrier-based fighters and bombers and it was not operationally persuasive to be introducing new aircraft of the scout or observation type to the fleet with a war going on. I do not recall ever seeing the SO3C aircraft on an operational ship in WW II. Its likely disposition was to be used for utility purposes in the continental U.S. In an early picture in this series on "Ships and Aircraft of World War II" web surfers will be able to pick out an SOC aircraft in the catapault area of a U.S. heavy cruiser that fought in World War II. The bottom four links (see link column to the left) represent U.S. Navy sailor (white hat) records of their eyewitness service in waters as far distant as the Mediterranean Sea, the South Atlantic, the Indian Ocean, South Asia and Pacific Ocean waters, all under combat conditions. The West Point story (in two parts) is told by a Quartermaster, and the action on the USS Brooklyn is told (in two parts, Casablanca and Sicily, then Anzio) by a Radioman 1/c serving as bridge 'talker' passing along 'calls' for his ship to fire on enemy shore installations to the gun director and to the Captain of his light cruiser. Franklyn E. Dailey Jr. July 20, 2007: Revised June 20, 2009

In series, left to right, the Mediterranean regained in WW II. The first link is the index page for this series:| SO3C by Curtiss | Operation Torch | Navy Aerial Reconnaissance | Warships at Morocco-1942 | Aircraft Carriers for Torch | Battle for Morocco | Bridging World Wars | Supply and Support | Husky, Palermo, Messina | Bloody Salerno | Luftwaffe Standoff Weapons | Aircraft of World War II-"friendlies" | Long "slog" at Anzio |USS West Point AP23 War Cruise-part 1 | USS West Point AP23 War Cruise-part 2 |