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VF-15
Fighter Squadron 15 or VF-15 was an aviation unit of the United States Navy. Originally established on 1 September 1943, it was disestablished on 20 October 1945. During six months of combat in 1944 the squadron destroyed more enemy planes (312 in the air and 348 on the ground) than any other squadron in the Pacific War. Twenty-six of the squadron's pilots became aces. Operational history The squadron was commissioned under the command of David McCampbell at the Naval Air Station at Atlantic City on 1 September 1943. McCampbell had not flown for three years by the time he was given command of VF-15 and had trouble with his shooting skills. Pilots had to qualify in gunnery with a 10 percent score firing at a sleeve between towed behind another aircraft. In the best of two attempts, McCampbell had scored only 8 percent. Determined that he should remain their commander George Chamberlain Duncan and John Robert Strane, each made sure on the third flight that their bullets were pai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David McCampbell
Captain David McCampbell (January 16, 1910 – June 30, 1996) was a United States Navy captain, naval aviator, and a Medal of Honor recipient. He retired from the navy in 1964 with 31 years of service. McCampbell is the United States Navy's all-time leading flying ace (called Ace of the Aces in the Navy) and top F6F Hellcat ace with 34 aerial victories. He was the third-highest American scoring ace of World War II and the highest-scoring American ace to survive the war. He also set a United States single mission aerial combat record of shooting down nine enemy planes in one mission, on October 24, 1944, at the beginning of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, in the Philippines. Early life McCampbell was born in Bessemer, Alabama. When aged around 12, his family moved to West Palm Beach, Florida. He attended the Staunton Military Academy in Virginia, and one year at the Georgia School of Technology in Atlanta. There, he joined the US Navy ROTC, played football, was on the swim team, and w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Leyte Gulf
The Battle of Leyte Gulf () 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved. By late 1944, Japan possessed fewer capital ships (aircraft carriers and battleships) than the Allies of World War II, Allied forces had total aircraft carriers in the Pacific, which underscored the disparity in force strength at that point in the war. After the catastrophic Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944, senior Japanese military leaders understood that Japan's remaining naval forces were incapable of achieving a strategic victory against the Allies. However, the Japanese general staff believed that continuing to contest Allied offensives at sea was necessary, in order to both deter a future invasion of mainland Japan and to give the Japanese navy an opportunity to utilize its remaining strength. As a result, the Imperial Japanese Navy () mobilized nearly all of its remaini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Invasion Of Leyte Naval Order Of Battle
: ''For the Battle of Leyte Gulf, see Leyte Gulf order of battle'' On 17 October 1944, troops of the Sixth United States Army, United States Sixth Army under the direct command of Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, Battle of Leyte, invaded the Philippine island of Leyte. This operation was the beginning of General Douglas MacArthur's fulfillment of his Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines, promise in March 1942 to the Filipino people that he would liberate them from Japanese rule. MacArthur's formal title was Supreme Commander, Allied Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (command), Southwest Pacific Area. The amphibious landings were carried out and supported by the United States Seventh Fleet, including 1 British and 11 Australian ships, under the direction of Vice Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid. Seventh Fleet * Combat ships: 18 escort carriers, 6 old battleship#World War II, battleships, 5 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 34 destroyers, 17 destroyer escorts * 280+ amphibious la ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the semi-exclave of Alaska in the northwest and the archipelago of Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean. The United States asserts sovereignty over five Territories of the United States, major island territories and United States Minor Outlying Islands, various uninhabited islands in Oceania and the Caribbean. It is a megadiverse country, with the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest land area and List of countries and dependencies by population, third-largest population, exceeding 340 million. Its three Metropolitan statistical areas by population, largest metropolitan areas are New York metropolitan area, New York, Greater Los Angeles, Los Angel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Peleliu
The Battle of Peleliu, codenamed Operation Stalemate II by the United States Armed Forces, US military, was fought between the United States and Empire of Japan, Japan during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign of World War II, from 15 September to 27 November 1944, on the island of Peleliu. United States Marine Corps, US Marines of the 1st Marine Division and then soldiers of the United States Army, US Army's 81st Infantry Division (United States), 81st Infantry Division fought to capture Peleliu Airfield, an airfield on the small coral island of Peleliu. The battle was part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager, which ran from June to November 1944 in the Pacific War, Pacific Theater. Major General William Rupertus, the commander of the 1st Marine Division, predicted that the island would be secured within four days. However, after repeated Imperial Japanese Army defeats in previous island campaigns, Japan had developed new island-defense tactics and we ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Aircraft Carrier Zuikaku
was the second and last built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before the beginning of the Pacific War. ''Zuikaku'' was one of the most modern Japanese aircraft carriers when commissioned, and saw successful action throughout numerous battles during the Pacific War. ''Zuikaku'' started the war as part of Kidō Butai. Her aircraft struck airfields during the attack on Pearl Harbor that formally brought the United States into the war. She also participated in the Indian Ocean raid, where her dive bombers sank or helped to sink several major British warships. ''Zuikaku'' and her sister were detached from Kidō Butai to support Operation Mo, the invasion of Port Moresby, New Guinea, during which her torpedo bombers contributed to the sinking of the aircraft carrier at the Battle of the Coral Sea; however heavy airgroup losses and damage to ''Shōkaku'' resulted in both carriers missing the Battle of Midway. She and her sister fought US carriers at the Battle of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Aircraft Carrier Chitose
was a warship of the Imperial Japanese Navy that served from 1938 to 1944, seeing service as a seaplane carrier and later as a light aircraft carrier during World War II. In her initial guise as a seaplane carrier, she first saw service during the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1938, and subsequently played a key role in the Imperial Japanese Navy's development of a network of seaplane bases on the islands of the Pacific Ocean. After the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific, she took part in the Philippines campaign, the Dutch East Indies campaign, the Battle of Midway, and the Guadalcanal campaign, during which she was damaged in the Battle of the Eastern Solomons and also saw service related to the Battle of Cape Esperance. ''Chitose'' was converted into a light aircraft carrier during 1943, and subsequently took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was sunk in the Battle off Cape Engaño, one of several actions that made up the Battle o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cape Engaño (Luzon)
Cape Engaño is a cape and northern point of Palaui Island, an island off the northeasternmost point of the island of Luzon in the Philippines.Coast and Geodetic Survey. "Philippine Islands Sailing Direction, Third edition", p.32-33. Manila Bureau of Printing, 1906. It is administratively part of the municipality of Santa Ana in Cagayan province and is known for its lush green landscape, white sand beach and the Cape Engaño Lighthouse. It has given its name to the World War II battle off Cape Engaño, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf, although the battle actually took place some 200 miles (322 km) to the east, in open ocean. The Japanese aircraft carriers ''Zuikaku'', ''Zuihō'', ''Chitose'' and ''Chiyoda'' were repeatedly bombarded and sank, as well as three light cruisers and nine destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japanese Battleship Musashi
was one of four planned s built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), beginning in the late 1930s. The ''Yamato''-class ships were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing almost fully loaded and armed with nine main guns. Their secondary armament consisted of four triple-gun turrets formerly used by the s. They were equipped with six or seven floatplanes to conduct reconnaissance. Commissioned in mid-1942, ''Musashi'' was modified to serve as the flagship of the Combined Fleet, and spent the rest of the year working up. The ship was transferred to Truk, Japan's main wartime naval base in the South Pacific theatre, in early 1943 and sortied several times that year with the fleet in unsuccessful searches for American forces. She was used to transfer forces and equipment between Japan and various occupied islands several times in 1944. Torpedoed in early 1944 by an American submarine, ''Musashi'' was forced to return to Japan for r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. It has an area of , with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its Urbanization by country, highly urbanized population is concentrated. The combined Free area of the Republic of China, territories under ROC control consist of list of islands of Taiwan, 168 islands in total covering . The Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, largest metropolitan area is formed by Taipei (the capital), New Taipei City, and Keelung. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated countries. Tai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Okinawa Island
, officially , is the largest of the Okinawa Islands and the Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands of Japan in the Kyushu region. It is the smallest and least populated of the five Japanese archipelago, main islands of Japan. The island is approximately long, an average wide, and has an area of . It is roughly south of the main island of Kyushu and the rest of Japan. It is northeast of Taiwan. The total population of Okinawa Island was 1,384,762 in 2009. The greater Naha area has roughly 800,000 residents, while the city itself has about 320,000 people. Naha is the seat of Okinawa Prefecture on the southwestern part of Okinawa Island. Okinawa has a humid subtropical climate. Okinawa has been a strategic location for the United States Armed Forces since the Battle of Okinawa and the end of World War II. The island was formally controlled by the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands until 1972, with around 26,000 U.S. military personnel stationed on Oki ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryukyus
The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ryukyu Islands are divided into the Satsunan Islands ( Ōsumi, Tokara and Amami) and Okinawa Prefecture ( Daitō, Miyako, Yaeyama, Senkaku, Okinawa, Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), and Yonaguni as the westernmost). The larger ones are mostly volcanic islands and the smaller mostly coral. The largest is Okinawa Island. The climate of the islands ranges from humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification ''Cfa'') in the north to tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification ''Af'') in the south. Precipitation is very high and is affected by the rainy season and typhoons. Except the outlying Daitō Islands, the island chain has two major geologic boundaries, the Tokara Strait (between the Tokara and Amami Islands) and the Kerama Gap (between the Okinawa and Miyako Islands). The islands beyond t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
