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... No big deal, or is it?


VF-15 Grumman F6F Hellcat ready for a catapult launch off the starboard bow of the USS Essex CV-9, July 1944.


Essex turning hard to port into the wind to cat launch, first off is a VF-83 F6F-5, next up is a VB-83 SB2C-4. 1945.

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Interesting and also I noticed the difference in the paint finish between the two planes. The Hellcat finish is still pretty shinny. The Helldiver flat.

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Can't imagine being on a pitching deck with spinning props everywhere.

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The photos are a bit misleading as they show the two aircraft ready to launch, but not being launched yet. I am pretty certain that they will have waited until the deck angle was closer to level before launching the two aircraft. Still, it's a pretty impressive image and if it was me in that cockpit, I would be thinking really hard about the chains holding me to the deck, preventing me from sliding towards the edge.

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Not to be "that guy" but the photos show rolling motion not "pitching". Pitch, with the bow going up and down, is more of a concern, and cat shots did need to be timed in heavy seas. Perhaps the most famous video of this is the Stoof disappearing into a bow wave and surprisingly managing to stagger through and carry on. The roll shown in photo 1 is not that big of a deal, and photo two is as the carrier is turning into the wind, also not a big deal. The Midway, with her late hull blisters was notorious for roll, and cat shots were often done with a good degree of roll that could easily be corrected once off the cat.

And yes, working on a rolling, pitching, heaving, wet, deck with dozens of spinning props would give OSHA folks an aneurism.

I could be very wrong but the seas look relatively calm in those pictures. I wonder if the tilted deck is a result of the carriers maneuvering (maybe to align with the wind for launch/recovery) and causing the ship to roll.

That is exactly what it says in the caption for the second photo with "Essex turning hard to port into the wind to cat launch". Perhaps of note the Essex were designed to just fit into the Panama canal, and being long and skinny makes for a rolling ship. Quite a bit of roll when making sharp turns to head into the wind.

Not a launch, but still impressive throwing the medicine ball around.


F6F-5s of VF-27 on USS Independence (CVL-22), July 1945

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“Knowing what’s right, doesn’t mean much unless you do what’s right.”