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| Co-MVP - 2006 |
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Joined: Sat May 01, 2004 11:21 pm
Posts: 11475
Location: Salem, Oregon
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Quote: I am sure someone will correct me...
This is one of 2 runs the Wasp made to Malta ferrying
Spits there. The spits were flown off and 1 came back and
made a non-arrested landing.
for Torch the Wasp carried her normal Air Group.
Wasp departed Scapa Flow on 9 April, bound for the Clyde estuary and Greenock, Scotland. On the following day, the carrier sailed up the Clyde River, past the John Brown Clydebank shipbuilding facilities. There, shipyard workers paused long enough from their labors to accord Wasp a tumultuous reception as she passed. Wasp's impending mission was an important one—one upon which the fate of the island bastion of Malta hung. That key isle was then being pounded daily by German and Italian planes. The British, faced with the loss of air superiority over the island, requested the use of a carrier to transport planes that could wrest air superiority from the Axis aircraft. Wasp drew ferry duty once again.
Having landed her torpedo planes and dive bombers, Wasp loaded 47 Supermarine Spitfire Mk. V fighter planes of No. 603 Squadron RAF at Glasgow, on 13 April, then departed on the 14th. Her screen consisted of Force "W" of the Home Fleet—a group that included the battlecruiser HMS Renown and antiaircraft cruisers HMS Cairo and HMS Charybdis. Madison (DD-425) and Lang (DD-399) also served in Wasp's screen.
Wasp and her consorts passed through the Straits of Gibraltar under cover of the pre-dawn darkness on 19 April, avoiding the possibility of being discovered by Spanish or Axis agents. At 04:00 on 20 April, Wasp spotted 11 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters on her deck and quickly launched them to form a combat air patrol (CAP) over Force "W". Meanwhile, the Spitfires were warming up their engines in the hangar deck spaces below. With the Wildcats patrolling overhead, the Spitfires were brought up singly on the after elevator, spotted for launch, and then given the go-ahead to take off. One by one, they roared down the deck and over the forward rounddown, until each Spitfire was aloft and winging toward Malta.
Spitfires taking off from WaspWhen the launch was complete, Wasp retired toward England, having safely delivered her charges. However, those Spitfires, which flew in to augment the dwindling numbers of Gladiator and Hurricane fighters, were tracked by efficient Axis intelligence and their arrival pinpointed. The Spitfires were decimated by heavy German air raids which caught many planes on the ground.
As a result, it looked as if the acute situation required a second ferry run to Malta. Accordingly, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, fearing that Malta would be "pounded to bits," asked President Roosevelt to allow Wasp to have "another good sting." Roosevelt responded in the affirmative. Rising to the occasion, Wasp loaded another contingent of Spitfire Vs and sailed for the Mediterranean on 3 May. Again, Wasp proceeded unmolested. This time, the British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle accompanied Wasp, and she, too, carried a contingent of Spitfires bound for Malta.
The two Allied flattops reached their launching points early on Saturday, 9 May, with Wasp steaming in column ahead of Eagle at a distance of 1,000 yards (1,000 m). At 06:30, Wasp commenced launching planes—11 F4F4s of VF-71 to serve as CAP over the task force. The first Spitfire roared down the deck at 06:43, piloted by Sergeant-Pilot Herrington, but lost power soon after takeoff and plunged into the sea. Both pilot and plane were lost.
Undaunted by the loss of Herrington, the other planes flew off safely and formed up to fly to Malta. Misfortune, however, again seemed to dog the flight when one pilot accidentally released his auxiliary fuel tank as he climbed to 2,000 feet (600 m). Without the tank he could not make Malta. His only alternatives were to land back on board Wasp or to ditch and take his chances in the water.
Sergeant-Pilot Smith chose the former. Wasp bent on full speed and recovered the plane at 07:43. The Spitfire came to a stop just 15 feet (5 m) from the forward edge of the flight deck, making what one Wasp sailor observed to be a "one wire" landing. With her vital errand completed, the carrier set sail for the British Isles while a German radio station broadcast the startling news that the American carrier had been sunk. Most in the Allied camp knew better, however; and, on 11 May, Prime Minister Churchill sent a witty message to the captain and ship's company of Wasp: "Many thanks to you all for the timely help. Who said a Wasp couldn't sting twice?"
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Don't touch my junk!!
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