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Cranston Fine Arts  Naval Art World War Two Countries  United States |
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| Text for the above items : |
USS New Jersey, batten down the Hatches by Randall Wilson. USS New Jersey seen battling her way through a Hurricane in 1944. |
The Element of Surprise by Robert Barbour. On 20th October 1943, Wildcat and Avenger aircraft from the Carrier US Core, on patrol north of the Azores, surprised U378, a type VIIC U-boat which had been active in that area. The element of surprise was so complete that the submarines guns remained unmanned throughout the action. |
Operation Calendar by Simon Atack. The USS Wasp launches Spitfires of 601 and 603 Squadrons towards Malta in a desperate, but successful, attempt to defend the beleagurered island, April 1942. |
Night of the Hunter, USS Wahoo by Anthony Saunders. Known as the Silent Service, the men of the United States Submarine Force were the unsung heroes of the US Navy. In World War Two, Submarine Force alone was responsible for sinking over fifty percent of Japanese Shipping - but the success came at a high price - one in five submarines did not survive the war. Here USS Wahoo, arguably the most famous US Submarine of the war, is seen surveying a kill during her fifth war patrol in 1943. USS Wahoo (SS-238) would also fall victim, sunk by Japanese aircraft and Japanese submarine chasers 15 and 43 in Soya Strait, Japan on the 11th of October 1943. |
The Raid on Pearl Harbor, 7th December 1941 by Ivan Berryman The view across Battleship Row, viewed from above Ford Island as the USS Nevada gallantly makes her break for the open sea, coming under heavy attack from Japanese A6M2s from the carrier Hiryu. The Nevada was eventually too badly damaged to continue and was beached to avoid blocking the harbour entrance. In the immediate foreground, the lightly damaged USS Tennessee is trapped inboard of USS West Virginia which has sunk at her moorings, leaking burning oil and hampering the daring operations to pluck trapped crew members from her decks, while just visible to the right is the stern of the USS Maryland and the capsized Oklahoma. |
USS Tang, The Life Guard of Truk Atoll by Robert Barbour. On 29th and 30th April 1944, while surfaced close to jagged reefs, and Japanese shore guns, the USS Tang rescued 22 downed flyers from Task Force 58s strikes against enemy positions on the islands - This was the largest rescue of airmen by a submarine in the war. USS Tang (SS-306) would later be sunk by its own torpedo off Formosa, on the 24th of October 1944. |
Okinawa Landing - USS Colorado by Anthony Saunders. The USS Colorado holds the all time record of 37 consecutive days of firing at an enemy and the record of 24 direct enemy air attacks in 62 days both while at Okinawa. |
Battleship Row - The Aftermath by Robert Taylor. No text for this item |
USS Mississippi BB41 by Randall Wilson. USS Mississippi rides at anchor. A brief rest for the crew at the port of ADM Oldendorfs T.G. The ship is preparing for the Invasion of Okinawa. |
Guardian of the Fleet by Stan Stokes. The USS Kidd, a Fletcher Class destroyer, takes off in rough seas after an unwanted intruder while the USS San Francisco cruises off its port side. |
A Chance Encounter by Robert Barbour. On 17th June 1944, 780 miles west of Saipan in Mid Pacific, the Gato class submarine USS Cavalla dives after a lucky sighting of a Japanese Naval Task Force, which included the aircraft carriers Taiho, Shokaku and Zuikaku. The Cavalla then trailed the Japanese, attacking and sinking the Shokaku on the 19th. |
USS North Carolina, Saipan Bound by Anthony Saunders By June 1944 the US Fleet had made a huge leap across the Pacific to the Marianas, a small group of Japanese held islands of which Saipan would prove the most difficult to overcome. The landing were supported by the US 5th Fleet, which included USS North Carolina together with an increasingly powerful armada of battle hardened warships. |
Boiling Point - USS Missouri by Anthony Saunders Launched on the 29th of January 1944, USS Missouri was the last and one of the finest battleships of any fleet. With a top speed of 33 knots, she earnt the name Fast Battleship, as the Iowa class to which she belonged were known. Bristling with an assortment of anti-aircraft, Missouri was as much a floating anti-aircraft battery as a battleship. With these qualities Missouri was well equiped to counter the desperate aerial attacks faced when she joined the Pacific Fleet. Here Missouri is seen repelling a kamikaze attack on the 11th of April 1945, with the destroyers Melvin (left) and McCord. Although one of the kamikazes did get through the curtain of shell fire, little damage was sustained. |
Practice Makes Perfect by Stan Stokes. The first successful carrier landing and take off took place on January 18, 1911 in San Francisco Bay. It was performed using a Curtiss biplane, which was flown by Eugene Ely, a demonstration pilot who worked for Curtiss Aircraft. A flying platform was built on the stern of the USS Pennsylvania, and a primitive arresting gear was provided by a series of ropes with sandbags attached to each end. Ely took off from Selfridge Field and made the first trap on the Pennsylvania. Following a pleasant lunch he took off from the deck and returned to Selfridge Field. This event was a watershed in the history of naval aviation. Ely would be followed over the next 9 decades by tens of thousands of naval aviators who would experience both the fear and ecstasy of a carrier landing at sea. By the time America was involved in WW II, carrier-based aviation had matured. Victory in WW II, especially in the Pacific, was influenced more by carrier-based aviation then any other factor. By the end of WW II America had a massive fleet of more than 100 aircraft carriers including the fast Essex Class big carriers and scores of light and escort carriers. During the War many of the pilots who earned their Navy wings did their carrier qualifications on the Great Lakes. Two paddle wheel steamboats were converted by the Navy to serve as training carriers. They were the USS Sable and the USS Wolverine. These ships had small decks which were fairly close to the water. A significant number of aircraft were lost during these practice sessions and as in any military training operation there were casualties. The aircraft shown being waved off in Stan Stokes painting appropriately entitled Practice Makes Perfect is an SNJ. This aircraft was one of the primary trainers of WW II, and was utilized by both the Army Air Corps (AT-6) and the Navy (SNJ), as well as many other countries. Designated the AT-6 by the USAAC this capable aircraft was also known as the Harvard and the Texan. The Australians knew the aircraft as the Whirraway. More than 15,000 of these trainers were produced, and this capable low-wing monoplane remained in service for many years following the War. North American, better known for their production of the P-51 Mustang, evolved the AT-6 from an earlier design known as the BT-9. First production models reached service in 1940. Many pilots received aerial gunnery training in the AT-6. A fair number of these aircraft are still in flying condition and can be seen at many air shows throughout the world. Due a general appearance similar to Japanese fighters and dive bombers of WW II, a few of these aircraft have been modified to look like the latter aircraft. |
Off to the Turkey Shoot by Stan Stokes. At the time of the attack of Pearl Harbor the Japanese had superior aircraft and plenty of experienced pilots fresh from combat in China. By 1944 the roles were reversed. Anxious to commence B-29 bombing missions against the Japanese homeland Rear Admiral Marc Mitschers Task Force 58 was given the assignment of supporting the recapture of the Marianas. This proved to be the last major carrier battle of World War II. On June 11, 1944 large formations of Hellcats were dispatched to lure Japanese land-based fighters into combat. Enough Japanese fighters were destroyed to allow the Fifth Fleet to land 140,000 troops on Saipan and Guam on June 15th. Also on June 15th the Japanese main fleet joined up with its mobile fleet about 300-400 miles from Task Force 58. Vice Admiral Ozawa detached a force to use as bait to lure the Americans within range of the main fleet. His bait not taken, on June 19th Ozawa launched three air strikes with about 250 aircraft. The relatively inexperienced Japanese pilots now flying technically inferior aircraft were decimated by the Grumman Hellcats of Task Force 58. By days end Ozawa had lost 218 aircraft, and while unprotected his fleet had been attacked by American submarines resulting in the sinking of two of his carriers. Late in the afternoon of June 20th American Hellcats, Helldivers, and Avengers were launched at Ozawas fleet, resulting in the loss of one more carrier and severe damage to another two. As his airwings returned after dark Admiral Mitscher ordered his fleet to light-up, which enabled many of the American aircraft to return safely. About a third of the planes were forced to ditch with the loss of thirteen crewman. The Grumman F6F-5 Hellcat pictured, became the Navys primary carrier borne fighter plane during World War II. Over 12,000 Hellcats were produced, and the Hellcat was credited with 4,947 of the 6,477 kills of enemy planes downed by carrier pilots during the War. The Hellcat had a top speed of 375 MPH, a range of 1,089 miles and was armed with six machine guns. The aircraft was powered by an 18-cylinder Pratt and Whitney, air-cooled, radial engine which generated 2,000 horsepower. As depicted by Stokes is the aircraft of Squadron Commander David McCampbell of the USS Essex. McCampbell is the highest scoring US Naval aviator of all time. |
Tokyo Bound by Nicolas Trudgian. On April 18, 1942, under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle, a small force of B-25 Mitchell light bombers set forth on one of the most audacious air raids of World War II. Launching in a rough sea from the heaving deck of the carrier USS Hornet, the crews knew that even if they achieved success, they were not to return. Their mission to bomb Tokyo and other industrial targets some 800 miles distant would leave them barely enough fuel to fly on to crash-land in China. Nine aircraft were attacked by enemy fighters, every one made it to the target, all but one aircraft were lost. But the raid was a triumph. The Japanese High Command were so alarmed by the Americans ability to strike at their homeland they attempted to expand the perimeter of activity in the central and southern Pacific - with disastrous results. Lt. Col. Doolittle was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in recognition of the extraordinary feat he and his gallant crews performed. Miraculously most survived to fly and fight again later in the war, Jimmy Doolittle going on to command the Eighth Air Force in Europe at the time of the Normandy invasion. |
USS Tennessee During the Landings at Iwo Jima by Anthony Saunders. In February 1945, 850 square miles of volcanic rock became the most strategically important island in the South Pacific. From Iwo Jima heavy bombers would be able to raid Japanese cities almost at will. Even with its overwhelming military might, the Americans would have to pay a heavy price for such a seemingly small island. |
USS Indiana, First Tour of Duty by Anthony Saunders To increase the strength of the US fleet in the Pacific during the critical early months of the war, USS Indiana went through the Panama Canal. On the 28th of November 1942 USS Indiana joined Rear Admiral Lee's aircraft carrier screening force. For the next 11 months, USS Indiana helped protect USS Enterprise and USS Saratoga, which had been supporting the US invasion on the Solomon Islands. On the 21st of October 1943 USS Indiana went to Pearl Harbor, but after only a couple of weeks left to support forces designated for the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. The battleship protected the carriers which supported the Marines during the bloody fight for Tarawa atoll. Then, in late January 1944, she bombarded Kwajalein for eight days prior to the Marshall Island landings on 1st February 1944. USS Indiana collided with the battleship USS Washington while refuelling destroyers, killing several men. Temporary repairs to her starboard side were made at Majuro and USS Indiana returned to Pearl Harbor on 13th February 1944 for additional repair work. The painting shows USS Indiana with one of the two carriers she protected. |
USS Maddox by Randall Wilson. USS Maddox engaging North Vietnamese torpedo boats with 5-in gunfire, August 2nd, 1964, in the Gulf of Tonkin. |
USS Oakland Escorting the Damaged USS Lexington by Ivan Berryman No text for this item |
Scramble for the Marianas by Nicolas Trudgian. On June 19, 1944 American Navy pilots ripped into wave after wave of enemy aircraft. As each new onslaught arrived there were more fighters there to meet them. Other squadrons joined in the melee and the radio circuits crackled with shouts and cries of encouragement. Hell this is like an old time turkey shoot! yelled one pilot - and thus the battle became known as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. By the late afternoon two Japanese carriers had been sunk by submarines, and an incredible 373 enemy planes shot down. The U.S. Navy pilots had won an historic victory. Seen hurtling off the deck of the U.S.S. Lexington is the F6F Hellcat of Lt. Alex Vraciu of Fighting Squadron VF-16. With 12 victories already to his credit, Vraciu would add a further 6 to his tally in the space of just 8 minutes on that momentous day. |
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