"Joining the War at Sea 1939-1945"
The Second Edition of Joining the War at Sea 1939-1945 is pictured above. There are just four copies remaining. The new Third Edition of "Joining the War at Sea 1939-1945" is now available. Use the link above the picture for information on pricing.
"The Triumph of Instrument Flight: A Retrospective in the Century of U.S. Aviation"
In series, top to bottom, the Mediterranean regained in WW II. The first link is the index page for this series:
Aircraft of World War II-"friendlies"
Ships and Aircraft of World War II
Cruiser aircraft perform scout duty at Casablanca, Sicily and Salerno in WW II
Copyright 2005
USS New Orleans, CA-32
The USS New Orleans was the next heavy cruiser built for the U.S. Navy after the USS Augusta. New Orleans did not serve at TORCH but is shown here because she provides a good view of the neat little SOC aircraft on the catapault, amidships, aft of the second stack. This type aircraft actually flew as part of combat operations from Augusta during TORCH operations at Casablanca, November 8-11, 1942. The observation type aircraft like the SOCs on cruisers and the OS2Us on battleships, were launched off catapaults energized by black powder, and recovered by landing in the calm slick (knuckle) created when the recovering ship made a hard turn.
The heavy cruiser, USS Wichita CA-45, shown in a later page in this series, was the first in the heavy cruiser class to put hangar, catapault and recovery gear at the stern. The light cruisers (six-inch guns, but more of them) subsequently built for the Navy, adopted this configuration. USS Brooklyn, USS Philadelphia and USS Savannah, all active at TORCH and in later Mediterranean combat landings, had this improved aircraft handling configuration.
New Orleans and her six sister ships fought the war in the Pacific. Of the six, Astoria, Quincy and Vincennes were lost in the Guadalcanal campaign. In Augusta's group of six, three, Houston, Northampton and Chicago were lost during the war.