Welcome aboard Dave “Gus” Gustafson! Glad to have you on the journey sir!
Admin note: Going forward, any accident or crash that occurs on the flight deck and which is non-fatal, will be denoted in GREEN. An aircraft that crashes or ditches in the ocean and the crew is rescued, will be denoted in BLUE.
Princeton’s log entries for 12, 13 and 14 January detail the normal underway concerns of any naval vessel bridge team and watch standers as well as the details of training undertaken and accomplished during this particular at-sea period.
12 JAN 44
“At 0455 passed two friendly surfaced submarines on parallel opposite course abeam to port, distance three miles.”
“At 1147 sighted a barge adrift in approximate location given by tug during the previous night, distance five miles, bearing 100˚. Made report of barge’s location to Radio Honolulu.”
In addition to the day’s normal schedule, administrative issues were dealt with:
- At 1008 one F6-F and one TBF were launched to Ford Island “to deliver reports of material damage to the ship’s superstructure” from the previous days crash “and to deliver necessary work requests to the Navy Yard for advance work on repairs.”
No email or cell phones back in the day.
On top of the normal vigilance required, particularly in the crowded sea and air space that was the Hawaiian OPAREA during this time, the unrelenting pace of training (all training evolutions to follow will be underlined for emphasis) for both the ship and Air Group 23* continued:
- 0725 saw Princeton turn into the wind and begin the day with the launch of two TBFs for “A/S Patrol” to search and identify any air or surface units in the vicinity.
- 0809 completed launch of 14 fighter (VF) and 4 bomber (VT) aircraft for “Fighter Director problem”, i.e. radar identification, tracking and vectoring training for shipboard radar personnel, a skill that would be critical in the months ahead.
- 0833 saw the launch of 9 VF aircraft, 7 for combat air patrol training and 2 for refresher landing qualifications.
- 0920 “resumed base course 180˚ and commenced streaming towed spar.”
Right now you are asking yourself what a spar is, and I will tell you. The spar is an elegantly simple solution to the problem of providing aircrew a visual target at which to aim in an environment that, while in its own way overwhelming and beautiful, is utterly desolate and featureless in all directions. Recall that without a target there is no feedback from which to determine a bomb or bullet’s accuracy and without feedback, you’re just wasting time and gas. Attached to the end of a 1500’ to 2000’ line is a sled which is trailed behind the ship. This sled rides in the wake in such a way that it creates “white water” which is visually identifiable and can thus be used as a target. The spar can be deployed by any boat, from carriers to “smallboys.” Click the link below for a short, but very cool, clip showing exactly how it works. Somewhat amazing to me is that it is the same system we used quite often when I was in the Navy.
We had a saying in my time: “I’d rather die than look bad around the boat.” We said it in jest of course, but it reflected an undeniable reality. It was essentially an acknowledgment that whenever we were flying within sight of the carrier, everyone was watching and it simply wouldn’t do to be seen making a mess of things. Every rule existed for a reason, and more often than not those rules were written in blood. Your adherence to procedures while taxiing on the flight deck needed to be perfect. Your compliance with the airspace rules on launch needed to be spot on. Your formation flying needed to be flawless. Your entry into the landing pattern needed to be exact. Every single thing you did was a reflection not just on you as an individual but, perhaps more importantly, on your squadron. And if you were bombing the spar, and the spar was being trailed by the carrier, you knew that everyone was watching your performance. It could be ruthlessly hyper-competitive, but it was awesome and made everyone better. Long before he existed we were striving to live up to the standard that would be set by an amazingly successful future race car driver:
Well, I’m the best there is. Plain and simple, when I wake up in the morning I piss excellence. — Ricky Bobby
Princeton’s day continued…
- 0958 the air group commenced bombing and strafing runs on the towed spar.
- At 1050, an F6-F crashed into the barrier. No injury to pilot or personnel, but undoubtedly damage to the aircraft and to the barrier.
- 1340 19 VF, 2 VT launched for training exercises.
- 1403 VF began strafing runs, VT glide bombing runs on spar
- 1540 Air Group “made simulated coordinated attack on this ship.”
- 1850 “sighted a single U.S. Navy PV aircraft approaching from the east, followed by a PB4Y. These aircraft were assigned by shore base to conduct test and training of radar picket plane stationed over formation.
- 1852 “went to Torpedo Defense Quarters for night tracking drill
- 1900 PV aircraft commenced simulated low altitude torpedo runs
- 2103 completed night tracking drill and secured from Torpedo Defense Quarters
13 JAN 44
- 0646 began with the pre-dawn launch of 22 VF and 4 VT aircraft for rendezvous practice and fighter direction training
- 0740 air group simulated torpedo attack from port side
- 0850 air group simulated torpedo attack from starboard bow
- 0911 air group simulated torpedo attack from port bow
- 0945 air group simulated torpedo attack from starboard
- 1025 aircraft side number VT-9 landed and crashed through two barrier wires. No injuries to pilot or personnel.
-1119 Set Torpedo Defense Quarters and prepared for gunnery exercises. Aircraft with towed sleeves…
…reported on station from Utility Unit based ashore. At 1150 commenced gunnery exercises. Gunnery exercises complete at 1318.
The photo above is, I presume, a towed banner or “sleeve” used for air-to-air gunnery training. I presume this because the distance from the tow plane to the actual banner seems…err…rather short. If I were scheduled to fly this tow plane so that the ship’s anti-aircraft gunners could be trained to fire at moving aerial targets, I would suddenly succumb to the worst case of the “banner flu” the flight doc had ever seen.
At 1522 Princeton maneuvered in order to follow USS Essex and USS Cowpens through the swept channel and entrance bouys to Pearl Harbor, once again to berth X-17.
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