USS Lexington (CV-2) wreck found .. 4 March 2018 [revised]

[lmritger]

Might as well re-post these TBD detail photos in this thread as they seem to fit.

Mark .. that is a stunning collection of TBD photos, many of which I have never seen published, and filled with so many fascinating details. May I ask the source? Was it some kind of period internal Douglas company folder or a USN study? Great find and great stuff! Thanks for sharing.

Most of them may have originally come from a fellow modeler and TBD nut, Derek Brown; he's been gathering info on the TBD for close to 20 years now. He posted these in two threads over on Hyperscale earlier this week. A couple of the ones toward the bottom might have come from my old TBD page over on DetailSITE, I'm working on updating that now with better quality pics, copies of all the Petrel shots, and all of Derek's info as well; I may try to incorporate some of Tommy Thomason's ordnance info as well.

Cheers,

Lynn

[Mark Allen M]

Most all of the TBD photos in this thread I posted here on WIX several years ago in another thread. You can look that one up as well with a search under “TBD from the factory to the field”. I have a large file of collected TBD stuff from years of searches. These are some of the best out there.

Lynn is also correct as several came from his sources listed.

[lmritger]

OMG YOU GUYS. :-O

T-12; I've seen modern aircraft in worse shape than this. Note that the torpedo retaining straps are still in place!!!




T-11; his one looks like it's in the best condition of all.



T-4 atop T-9



T-8




T-5




T-3; I bet this is the one that we see getting blown off the back of the ship shortly before Lex went down.




T-1; LCDR Joe Taylor's ship!!! Note the forward antenna insulator is still attached to the antenna.




And drum roll please - Carl Winter, step up and collect your prize for being first to positively identify this as Gayler's ship!




Excitedly posting,

Lynn

[Courier Sportster]

I so wish Admiral Gayler could have lived long enough to see this day. This TBD famine to feast is one for the books alright. Thank you Paul Allen and R/V Petrel, you've made alot of folks thrilled beyond words, with this deep sea fishing expedition. I guess we can all stop feeling frustration at the disintegrating coral reef TBDs now.

[Courier Sportster]

oh, and do we suspect the F4F wing on the floor is part of Gayler's ship, or yet another? SOOO g e e k i n g out

[Stan_W]

Funny how the Felix emblem sits a tiny bit higher on the left side of the aircraft than the right. On this side it is farther above the panel line. Again, the markings perfectly match what we have noted on F-13 (and Gayler was officially assigned F-13). I`m praying they caught images of the buno, to see if this 3986 once and for all.

[kalamazookid]

Absolutely incredible! Thanks to all who have continued to post images and thanks to Paul Allen and his team for making so many available.

With the amount of wrecks that are now known throughout the world, it seems rare that we get something new to dream on these days. It's cool to feel the magic of the discovery again.

[Shay]

oh, and do we suspect the F4F wing on the floor is part of Gayler's ship, or yet another? SOOO g e e k i n g out

From another F4F .......the initial pictures of Gayler's Wildcat appear to show both wings in place. The image of the other wing panel is the port wing from a different Wildcat laying upside down on he ocean floor.

Very Exciting......GO Team Petrel!!

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[Shay]

Do these aircraft from this time period have Roundels on both Top & Bottom wing panel positions? It seems that less than a month after the Battle of the Coral Sea the red center was painted white, but when did the national insignia get regulated to only the topside Port wing and the bottom side Starboard wing?

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

[lmritger]

Do these aircraft from this time period have Roundels on both Top & Bottom wing panel positions? It seems that less than a month after the Battle of the Coral Sea the red center was painted white, but when did the national insignia get regulated to only the topside Port wing and the bottom side Starboard wing?

Shay
____________
Semper Fortis

There was a LOT of flux in marking regs between late 1940 and mid 1942... the first camo scheme applied over the golden wings scheme was an overall light grey, with single nat'l insignia above the port wing and below the starboard. This was then superseded by a dark grey or dark blue-grey topcoat, still with single insignia as noted above, and this was in place through Aug or Sept 1941 (going from memory here, don't shoot me if I'm off on the dates). Around Nov/Dec 41, the red/white tail stripes started showing up, along with double insignia above the wing... I think! I'll go back through my books when I'm home this evening to confirm that. Anyway, the double insignia remained in place until around Jul/Aug 1943 when the first insignia with the bars was introduced; the marking was then reduced to one above port and one below starboard again.

Here's a pic of CV-6's airwing in Oct 1941 from Peter Stackpole of LIFE:



Confused? I don't blame ya.

Cheers,

Lynn

[Mark Allen M]

I'm too amazed to be confused Lynn .... Xmas in March for many of us

[Mark Allen M]

A few observations that (to me anyway) are undeniable.

1. The F4F was indeed flown by Gayler, but also undeniably shows that another pilots name was painted over to allow Gayler's name to be applied.

2. Same as above for the 'F-5', this proof certainly helps with the argument that this particular F4F could very well have been flown by O'hare. Which is extremely cool.

3. Every aircraft shown in the photos shows where the life rafts were taken out and used to by the crew to abandon ship. You can see this on the F4F fuselage and the TBD wings. Also very interesting.

Quite a time capsule in those photos.

[dakoblue]

A few observations that (to me anyway) are undeniable.

1. The F4F was indeed flown by Gayler, but also undeniably shows that another pilots name was painted over to allow Gayler's name to be applied.

2. Same as above for the 'F-5', this proof certainly helps with the argument that this particular F4F could very well have been flown by O'hare. Which is extremely cool.

3. Every aircraft shown in the photos shows where the life rafts were taken out and used to by the crew to abandon ship. You can see this on the F4F fuselage and the TBD wings. Also very interesting.

Quite a time capsule in those photos.

Gayler said ,he saw the guys taking out the liferafts from planes

[Dan Jones]

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, but are there any shots yet of the SBD's?

[wendovertom]

Definitely Christmas in spring! One thing I am amazed by is how FLAT the bottom seems to be in the spot where the aircraft and ship came down. Maybe no SBD photos because they are trying to figure out how it came down and "landed" perfectly on the bottom

Tom P.