Below is the cover page of the 457-page 4th Edition of "Joining the War at Sea 1939-1945"
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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.
Now, for illustrated readings, see linked pages:
Aircraft of World War II-"friendlies"
USS West Point AP23 War Cruise-part 1
USS West Point AP23 War Cruise-part 2
Ships and Aircraft of World War II
Cruiser aircraft perform scout duty at Casablanca, Sicily and Salerno in WW II
Copyright 2009
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.