A TARCAP with Belfast During the Korean War, HMAS Sydney supplied spotter aircraft for TARCAP (Naval Gunfire Support, shore bombardment). Early one day Belfast reported unfriendly fire from the Chinnampo Estuary area, so HMAS Sydney launched a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed “Duckshoot Alpha” Sub Lieutenant in the forenoon of 8 December 1951. Belfast performs a RAS […]
RAN Helicopters by Anthony HaighThis essay was a distinguished entry in the 2002 Naval Officers Club Literary Prize competition. Considering the relatively short time it has been around, the development of the Australian naval helicopter as a maritime weapons system has been impressive. Over a fifty-year period, and through nine different types, it has developed from […]
Australia’s maritime air power by Tom Lewis This essay was awarded first prize in the Naval Officers Club Literary Prize competition, 2003. It was published in the Naval Officers Club Newsletter Number 54, 1 September 2003, pp 1, 4-7. LEUT Tom Lewis (right) receives his $500 cheque from Vice President CDRE John DaCosta. In early […]
The “revolt of the admirals” The separation of the Army Air Force from the Army and the establishment of an American Department of Defense structure shortly after WW II set up a series of serious conflicts that took decades to resolve and probably caused unnecessary casualties, especially in the Korean War. The conflict triggered a […]
Naval aviation in Korea. by Fred Lane Paper presented at the Aviation Historical Society of Australia, Sydney, 7 July 2004. To understand naval aviation in the Korean War, it is necessary to understand the context. Before the Americans dropped the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atom bombs, a highly successful Pacific War had been waged between 1941 […]
The F-35…and beyond James Fallows, in an excellent article in the Atlantic Monthly (see Web page http://www. theatlantic.com.issues/2002/06/fallows.htm) described the political and commercial dogfights between lead companies Boeing and Lockheed Martin for contracts to build 6000-odd Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) aircraft, worth probably US$200 billion over 25 years. The Lockheed Martin team version (Lockheed Martin […]
Birdstrike This article was a distinguished entry in the 2001 Naval Officers Club Literary Prize competition. Written and compiled from LEUT Tristram’s personal account of the incident to the author.© Copyright 2001 This material must not be reproduced in any form without the written permission of the author. by John Winslow The cast of this […]
Baghdad: First strike report (This second-hand download, datelined Saturday May 2003, is attributed to an “L. Weeks”, who is not prominent in senior US naval aviation circles. The report rings true in many respects and it reads as though written by the CO of the Prowler detachment, but it might just as well be apocryphal.) […]
USN Fighters of WW II book review by Fred Lane Tillman B. and Lawson R.L. US Navy fighters of WW II. MBI Publishing: St Paul. 1998. Paperback 96 pp with index and photographs. US$20.00 This volume preceded the excellent US Navy WW II dive and torpedo bombers. It is an equally gripping and well-written tale […]
USN Dive and Torpedo Bombers of WW II Book review by Fred Lane Tillman B and R.L. Lawson. US Navy dive and torpedo bombers of WW II. MBI Publishing: St Paul. 2001. Paperback 128 pp with index and photographs.US$24.95. This highly interesting book, together with a companion piece, US Navy Fighters of WW II, vividly […]
