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Consolidated PBY Catalina In Royal Australian Air Force Service
Developed as a naval patrol aircraft, the Consolidated PBY Catalina was a widely exported flying boat during World War II. Over the course of the conflict it served with a number of different nations in a variety of roles. In the Royal Australian Air Force, PBYs and PB2Bs (a variant built by Boeing in Canada) served as multi role bombers and scouts, the type eventually earning great renown among Australian aircrews. The motto of the Catalina squadrons was "The First and Furthest." Background Originally designed by Consolidated Aircraft as a patrol bomber with a long operational range, the PBY was soon adapted to fill a multitude of roles. With war planners becoming increasingly conscious to the possibility of a future conflict in the Pacific Ocean, the U.S. Navy invested millions of dollars in the 1930s into developing flying boats. Flying boats had the advantage of not requiring runways, in effect leaving the entire ocean available for landing if weather conditions permitte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flying Boat
A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though the fuselage provides buoyancy, flying boats may also utilize under-wing floats or wing-like projections (called sponsons) extending from the fuselage for additional stability. Flying boats often lack landing gear which would allow them to land on the ground, though many modern designs are convertible amphibious aircraft which may switch between landing gear and flotation mode for water or ground takeoff and landing. Ascending into common use during the First World War, flying boats rapidly grew in both scale and capability during the interwar period, during which time numerous operators found commercial success with the type. Flying boats were some of the largest aircraft of the first half of the 2 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Singapore Strategy
The Singapore strategy was a naval defence policy of the United Kingdom that evolved in a series of war plans from 1919 to 1941. It aimed to deter aggression by Japan by providing a base for a fleet of the Royal Navy in the Far East, able to intercept and defeat a Japanese force heading south towards India or Australia. To be effective it required a well-equipped base. Singapore, at the eastern end of the Strait of Malacca, was chosen in 1919 as the location of this base; work continued on this naval base and its defences over the next two decades. The planners envisaged that a war with Japan would have three phases: while the garrison of Singapore defended the fortress, the fleet would make its way from home waters to Singapore, sally to relieve or recapture Hong Kong, and blockade the Japanese home islands to force Japan to accept terms. The idea of invading Japan was rejected as impractical, but British planners did not expect that the Japanese would willingly fight a decisiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
HMS Telemachus (P321) With RAAF Catalina March 1945
Two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS ''Telemachus'', after Telemachus, a figure in Greek mythology, the son of Odysseus and Penelope, and a central character in Homer's ''Odyssey'': * was an launched in 1917 and sold in 1927. * was a T-class submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ... launched in 1943 and scrapped in 1961. In addition, the Royal Navy employed a hired armed cutter between 1795 and 1801. {{DEFAULTSORT:Telemachus Royal Navy ship names ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Battle Of Mindoro
The Battle of Mindoro (Filipino: ''Labanan sa Mindoro'') was a battle in World War II between forces of the United States and Japan, in Mindoro Island in the central Philippines, from 13–16 December 1944, during the Philippines Campaign. Troops of the United States Army, supported by the United States Navy and U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF), made an amphibious landing on Mindoro and defeated Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) forces there. There was no significant opposition from the Imperial Japanese Navy, nor from the Japanese Army and Navy Air Forces, except for ''kamikaze'' (suicide) attacks on American ships. The Japanese force in Mindoro was not large, and was eliminated in three days. The Army was assisted in the campaign by guerrillas from the local Filipino population. The U.S. captured Mindoro to establish airfields there, which would be in fighter range of Lingayen Gulf in northern Luzon Island, where the next major amphibious invasion of the Philippines was planned. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manila Bay
Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Philippines and its neighboring countries,Jacinto, G.S., Azanza, R.V., Velasquez, I.B. and Siringan, F.P.(2006)."Manila Bay:Environmental Challenges and Opportunities" in Wolanski, E.(ed.) The Environment in Asia Pacific Harbours. Springer: Dordrecht, Netherlands. p309-328. becoming the gateway for socio-economic development even prior to Spanish occupation. With an area of , and a coastline of , Manila Bay is situated in the western part of Luzon and is bounded by Cavite and Metro Manila on the east, Bulacan and Pampanga on the north, and Bataan on the west and northwest.Jacinto, G.S., Velasquez, I.B., San Diego-McGlone, M.L., Villanoy, C.L. and Siringan, F.B.(2006)."Biophysical Environment of Manila Bay - Then and Now", in Wolanski, E.(ed.)Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fighter Aircraft
Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield permits bombers and attack aircraft to engage in tactical and strategic bombing of enemy targets. The key performance features of a fighter include not only its firepower but also its high speed and maneuverability relative to the target aircraft. The success or failure of a combatant's efforts to gain air superiority hinges on several factors including the skill of its pilots, the tactical soundness of its doctrine for deploying its fighters, and the numbers and performance of those fighters. Many modern fighter aircraft also have secondary capabilities such as ground attack and some types, such as fighter-bombers, are designed from the outset for dual roles. Other fighter designs are highly specialized while still filling the ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grumman F4F Wildcat
The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlantic, the Wildcat was the only effective fighter available to the United States Navy and Marine Corps in the Pacific Theater during the early part of the Second World War. The disappointing Brewster Buffalo was withdrawn in favor of the Wildcat and replaced as aircraft became available. With a top speed of , the Wildcat was outperformed by the faster (), more maneuverable, and longer-ranged Mitsubishi A6M Zero. US Navy pilots, including John "Jimmy" Thach, a pioneer of fighter tactics to deal with the A6M Zero, were greatly dissatisfied with the Wildcat's inferior performance against the Zero in the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway. The Wildcat has a claimed air combat kill-to-loss ratio of 5.9:1 in 1942 and 6.9:1 for the entire war.Po ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kawanishi H6K
The Kawanishi H6K was an Imperial Japanese Navy flying boat produced by the Kawanishi Aircraft Company and used during World War II for maritime patrol duties. The Allied reporting name for the type was Mavis; the Navy designation was . Design and development The aircraft was designed in response to a Navy requirement of 1934 for a long-range flying boat and incorporated knowledge gleaned by a Kawanishi team that visited the Short Brothers factory in the UK, at that time one of the world's leading producers of flying boats, and from building the Kawanishi H3K, a license-built, enlarged version of the Short Rangoon. The "Type S", as Kawanishi called it, was a large, four-engined monoplane with twin tails, and a hull suspended beneath the parasol wing by a network of struts. Three prototypes were constructed, each one making gradual refinements to the machine's handling both in the water and in the air, and finally fitting more powerful engines. The first of these flew on 14 July ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Salamaua
Salamaua () was a small town situated on the northeastern coastline of Papua New Guinea, in Salamaua Rural LLG, Morobe province. The settlement was built on a minor isthmus between the coast with mountains on the inland side and a headland. The closest city is Lae, which can be reached only via boat across the gulf. History In the 1920s prospective gold miners used Salamaua as a staging post to explore for gold in the inland areas. Gold was discovered at Wau and miners came from all over and made for the goldfields via the rough Black Cat Track. The town was captured by the Japanese on 8 March 1942 during World War II and later retaken by Australian and United States forces led by General Douglas MacArthur on 11 September 1943 during the Salamaua–Lae campaign. During reoccupation the town was destroyed. Today the villages of Kela and Lagui occupy the site, as well as holiday houses that are mainly owned by expatriates based in Lae. See also * Invasion of Salamaua–Lae * Sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fall Of Rabaul
The Battle of Rabaul, also known by the Japanese as Operation R, an instigating action of the New Guinea campaign, was fought on the island of New Britain in the Australian Territory of New Guinea, from 23 January into February 1942. It was a strategically significant defeat of Allied forces by Japan in the Pacific campaign of World War II, with the Japanese invasion force quickly overwhelming the small Australian garrison, the majority of which was either killed or captured. Hostilities on the neighbouring island of New Ireland are usually considered to be part of the same battle. Rabaul was significant because of its proximity to the Japanese territory of the Caroline Islands, site of a major Imperial Japanese Navy base on Truk. Following the capture of the port of Rabaul, Japanese forces turned it into a major base and proceeded to land on mainland New Guinea, advancing toward Port Moresby. Heavy fighting followed along the Kokoda Track, and around Milne Bay, before the Jap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Australian Emergency Of March 1942
The Western Australian emergency of March 1942 was a series of local responses that occurred in relation to activity in northern Western Australia that gave Australian military forces serious concerns about the capacity of the Japanese to move down the Western Australian coast. The air raids on Broome and other locations in March 1942 caused the Allies to reinforce the military forces located in Western Australia to defend the state. The action was taken to defend against the possibility that a force of Japanese warships and planes would attempt to attack the cities of Fremantle and Perth. The speed and extent of Japanese expansion to this time was considered a major threat to the region. Extensive preparations and actions throughout the state of Western Australia were conducted to avert attacks and to prepare the population against possible invasion. Japanese propaganda was produced at the time to spread the idea of invasion or bombing of southern Australian cities. Autho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Attack On Broome
The town of Broome, Western Australia, was attacked by Japanese fighter planes on 3 March 1942, during World War II. At least 88 civilians and Allied military personnel were killed. Although Broome was a small pearling port at the time, it was also a refuelling point for aircraft, on the route between the Netherlands East Indies and major Australian cities. As a result, Broome was on a line of flight for Dutch and other refugees, following the Japanese invasion of Java, and had become a significant Allied military base. During a two-week period in February–March 1942, more than a thousand refugees from the Dutch East Indies—many of them in flying boats, which often served as airliners at the time—passed through Broome.Lt (j.g.) Paul D. Petsu, 2002, "USS Sides pays ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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