Trivia IV

Ok, at this point I guess I'm gonna have to practically give it away. I thought it would be easier to figure out.
Google "Leviathan" + Solitary, poor.
Read the balance of that statement

 

She was nasty and brutish, or in other words, somebody got a lot of holes in thier balsa.

 

And must not forget "short". For a battlecruiser, she was short.
British b/c's were long & narrow for speed. Germans went for stabilty & durabilty, so their's were comparatively short & broad. Plus, VdT had such an uncompromisingly simple superstructure. She looked exactly what she was, a nasty, brutal killing machine. And looks really cool in the hobby

 

So I guess I got it, sort of.......

Give me a little time to find something good.

 

I had thought that was the reference, the VdT just seems too graceful for me to call it brutish.

 

I guess it depends on who battles it. hehe

 

Then its the skipper who is the brute, the ship is still lovely.

 

That seems to be where the evidence points.

 

Hey now! I....kinda resemble that remark. Even more so when Baden gets back on the water w/ quad sterns

 

So now we know who should have been called "Leviathan".

 

Well, I'm poor. Single (solitary). But I'm 6', so I miss out on the "short". Nasty & Brutish will be up to the Allied skippers to decide

 

I guess I better get this thing back on topic.

Ahhhh, a question from one of my favorite topics.

Who was the first American to spot the Japanese at the Battle of Midway?

 

Howard P. Ady, Jr.
Rob

 

Nope.

 

4 June, 1942

Then LT Howard P. Ady, Jr., flying with VP-23 on Midway, was 'elected.' According to the intelligence reports coming in from HYPO in Hawaii, they knew the Japanese were supposed to approach Midway from 320°. When Howard checked the blackboard at the Sand Island BOQ, he saw he was assigned to sector 315°. Because a sector was to cover seven and one-half degrees either side of the assigned bearing (in this case out 322½°, a dog leg, then back on 307½°), he knew he was in for a busy day.
Take off for the 22 planes of the morning search was a 0415- 11 PBY-5s from VP-23 from the lagoon, and 11 PBY-5As from Eastern Island. Around 0510, Howard and his crew spotted a single aircraft on a course to Midway. His first contact report of this historic battle was but a single word: "Aircraft." As was the pattern of the day, this was followed by a more detailed contact report. Then, around 0530, the curtain rose on the biggest show of his life. His radio began sending back reports:
0534 Enemy Carriers
0540 ED 180 sight 320
0552 Two carriers and main body of ships, carriers in front, course 135, speed 25
Even though Howard modestly claimed he was just 'elected,' his reports, along with the LT(jg) William E. Chase's plain English "Many planes heading Midway" at 0544, allow the airfield to be cleared at Midway. This meant that not one operational plane was destroyed on the ground when the Japanese struck, 100 plus planes strong, at around 0630. It was also was a beacon for the ten air strikes that would follow, culminating in the most spectacular six minutes in United States Naval history, when Akagi, Kaga and Soryu were hit by SBDs from Enterprise and Yorktown between 1022 and 1028.​

 

Still no. Sooner.

 

For the sake of clarity, this question doesn't include the Aleutian Campaign.

 

Anybody????

Need a hint? The plane flown by the observer was not from a carrier.

 

Sorry Beaver, I think you've stumped us.

I came across a good one the other day:
June 6, 1944
A US Army soldier, miserably seasick and covered in vomit, shook his head and said "That guy ________, he sure ain't got no reason to be proud of these boats".
Who was "that guy"', and what "boats" was the soldier referring to? Bonus points if you can identify the book I got the quote from