Another reprint...
OK call me lazy if you wish...This was recently posted by me on USS APc-1 WWII...
I just finished watching "The Fighting Lady," a conglomerate of WWII combat and promotional footage presented as a feature film about an unnamed aircraft carrier (actually USS Yorktown CV-10)...I was hoping to see some glimpses of the smaller auxiliaries like our coastal transports, but as usual the big boys hogged the glory...Only one Hollywood star was listed in the credits, Robert Taylor as narrator, but listed as Lt. Robert Taylor USNR...All other cast members were also presently in Navy service including Adms. JJ "Jocko" Clark and John S. McCain Jr...Also seen was the legendary Captain Dixie Kiefer, who made the first-ever night takeoff from a warship...He served as XO of the the original USS Yorktown (CV-5) in the Battles of the Coral Sea and then Midway where the Yorktown was shot out from under him, shattering his right leg and knee...He recovered sufficiently in time to take command of the new USS Ticonderoga which was attacked by Kamikaze pilots during action in the Pescadores...
The first caused massive fires in the hangar deck...Kiefer immediately improvised by flooding port side compartments (an action unheard of until that moment), inducing a 10 degree list and causing the flaming debris to slide overboard...He then steered his ship upwind away from the floating flames where the second kamikaze hit near him leaving him with 65 separate shrapnel wounds and a broken arm...Disregarding his injuries, he stayed on the bridge in command another 11 hours...SecNav James Forrestal, after Kiefer's award of a second Distinguished Service Medal to offset his previous DSM and Navy Cross, called him "the Navy's indestructible man"...
Kiefer had also previously broken his left ankle and kneecap playing football, in addition to having a shattered elbow from being hit by the wingtip of a passing seaplane flown by a fellow pilot showing off by buzzing him a mite too closely...No word on the following aviation career of the showoff aviator...Kiefer's crew on the Ticonderoga said he had so much metal in his body that the ship's compass followed him wherever he walked on deck...
Even without any APc's in the supporting cast, "The Fighting Lady" is well worth an hour of your time...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments and critiques are always welcome, and will be reviewed before publication...They will not be seen immediately...Keep it clean please...